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Authenticity Of The Recipes

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Manjula Jain

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What are authentic recipes? An authentic recipe varies from province to province, family to family and even person to person. In my thinking an authentic recipe is whatever I had eaten the first time and enjoyed it as a new dish, it becomes my reference point. I have tried to replicate some dishes to that same taste from 50 years back, but have not always been successful. I would like to think that I cook many of the traditional foods, which are modified according on the availability of ingredients, and tailored to my family’s taste. I enjoy cooking because I am in charge, so these recipes are what my family and I enjoy.

Having said that, I value your comments and feel very flattered. My feelings are not hurt in any way by your comments and suggestions. I am learning lot from your comments and also by creating these videos.

Comments

8 responses to “Authenticity Of The Recipes”

  1. Shalini Mittal

    Dear Manjula Aunty, Regards

    I am a aspirant of cooking and very passionate for it. I have tried many a receipes of cakes but I never got that fluffy one I want, As I am baking through my microwave convection oven using its convection mode. Many times I have tried in Pressure Cooker Also, but I never get the good results. Would you please suggest me what medium i have to use for baking and I am ready to purchase any equipment for it. Thanks for your bengalli Rasgulla Receipe. Thanks a lot.

    Shalini Mittal

  2. Ivonne

    Dear Manjula!
    you have changed my life ;)! Discovered your web site and loved it ! 🙂 I don’t always get the dishes the right way, but I like to try. I am not Indian, but eat always Indian food, the best veggie food ever! :D. Now, I visited Bangalore and got some great dish for breakfast made of semolina with veggies, cilantro and there was a delicious source?… If you know what was that and can teach us, that would be great! There was also some rice with yogurth, cashew nuts and mustard seeds? …
    Anyways, thank you so much for these great veggie recipes!
    Love,
    Ivonne

  3. Jesse

    You are so generous and humble. You have brought so much to my life through your cooking! I don’t know if you realize how many people you have affected with your wonderful recipes. Some of my friends are vegetarians and they essentially make only your recipes. I agree with the comment above; your recipe is always the one I trust. Though I have yet to get gulab jamun to turn out well, every other thing I have made has been wonderful. I really honestly wouldn’t love being a vegetarian if it weren’t for your recipes, which have not done me wrong yet. Your site is my home page!

  4. Niki

    Dear Manjula aunty,
    Your recipes have given a new look to cooking and people around are wondering how come i started making such delicious dishes. Thanks so much for being there. I just wanted to request you to add a seperate section for kids tiffin recipes. I avoid sending a lot many things to my daughter in tiffin because of fear of sadding n decoming tender. I send her rotis, vegetables n parathas n now she is bored with it. Kindly solve this problem too.
    N yes the fav in my family is your palak paneer recipe. n i am just awaiting to try ur temptous kalakand recipe!!!

  5. priti

    Where can I find recipes for sheera, lapsi and kansar?

    Which oil is best for deep frying?

  6. Tyra

    Aunty Manjula,
    I have been following you for nearly two years now. In my kitchen you have become the “authority” and official face of Indian cooking. I have always been intrigued by Indian food. As a little girl, my dad took me weekly to dine at an Indian restaurant. And we were a bit of a peculiar sight, African Americans eating in an Indian restaurant in Boston in the 1980’s.

    In recent years I have poured over dozens of cookbook, trying to learn the beauty and nuance of Indian cooking by region. In all my research, all roads lead back to you. When I try a recipe out of a cookbook, I always say “let me see if Majula has made it first”. I so appreciate being able to watch you make the breads as that was my biggest learning curve.

    I thank you for your time and investment in sharing your passion with us. I have referred so many people to your site. Your recipes are prepared at least twice a week in my home. Be encouraged. Please continue to share. How I would love to be in the kitchen with you right now.

  7. Bailey

    Manjulaji,

    I love your recipes! I am an American male and my fiance is Southern Indian. I feel confident making your recipes for her and her family to enjoy! My fiance asked me the other day, “How do you make palak paneer?” I was surprised (and honored) that she would ask me. I actually have combined your recipe with another one that I love too and created a different, wonderfully delicious palak paneer. I guess it has authentic roots, but it is becoming a new authentic dish in our family. I like that you describe authentic as being variable to the region, family, or individual. I also like that we can start with a general guideline and make some minor changes and it can still be delicious! I may not ever be able to cook authentic Indian food, but at least I can make some delicious traditional dishes.

    Thank you Manjulaji for teaching me to cook delicious traditional Indian food.

    Best Wishes,
    Bailey

  8. Kruti

    Dear Aunty,
    You amaze me with your humility. Here I was, feeling so bad as my rasgullas didnt turn out well, and you say you too were in the same boat!!! I used to think ‘Aunty would never have spoilt her cooking- must have got it right on the first go’ ..
    SO nice to see this.

    You remind me so much of my mother, who, like you is just an amazing cook. Since we are south Indians, her areas of expertise vary slightly ( Idly’s dosas. etc) .. She too has been following ancestral recipes, which I try to imbibe.
    So, according to me, the authenticity of a recipe is dependent on the experience. It depends on how many days / months / yrs it has taken the person to master it. If I find a recipe that way ( which I see in your cooking ) it becomes the ‘Gita’ for me.
    I would prefer not to change it. HOwever, after I master it, by repeating again and again, one automatically gets the whole control of the recipe, so can then bring variations.

    However much ppl in my generation talk about innovations, creativity, etc, I feel its much more important to preserve the ‘recipe heritage’, do it perfectly well and THEN put in innovations. We can always create new recipes, isnt it ? It’ll be similar to these ‘remix’ music of old songs you hear .. they can hardly retain the old flavour, right ? 🙂

    Love
    Kruti

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