In Balika Vadhu, Smita Bansal was shown as the docile mother-in-law of the child bride. It was her traditional clothes and jewellery that were the cynosure of all eyes. But when she metamorphosed onscreen into a woman who supports her daughter-in-law against her wayward son, she got the patina of an actress. Now, when you see her as Neelam in Bhagyalaxmi, she is a blend of personable looks and competent acting. But when it comes to blending ingredients for recipes, she says, “I can’t cook, I don’t cook, and I don’t want to cook. The only time I cooked was years ago when I had to make semi-solid food for my kids.” Believe it or not, even making Maggi noodles is a task for her.
My dietary preference: I’m basically a vegetarian. I sometimes eat eggs when I’m traveling. Since I am from the north, my favourites are rajma chawal and chole bhature, although I eat them rarely.
First thing that I have: An amla immunity drink, which the family has been having for quite some time now.
The amla immunity drink is made by: Adding a few curry leaves and ginger to amla, then grinding in a mixie with some water. Next, we freeze the amla water in ice cube trays. Every morning, we dissolve the cube of this amla mix in warm water and drink it.
My breakfast is: Something that I have very quickly because I’m leaving for work, but it’s also the one very important meal of the day for me. I have a few soaked almonds along with either daliya, poha, or upma. That’s my breakfast 99% of the days, and a little bit of fruit with it.
For lunch, I have: A bowl of moong dal or tur dal with two jowar rotis and any one vegetable like palak, methi, or doodhi, salads, and curds.
A must with my meals: Curds and salads. It may be a carrot-cucumber, beetroot, or sprout salad.
In the evening: If I’m hungry, I have roasted makhana or sukha bhel. It’s kurmura bhel with just a tinge of salt and roasted jeera powder—no onions or tomatoes.
My dinner is: Mostly a bowl of vegetable soup—vegetable soup, tomato soup, or palak soup—accompanied by stir-fry veggies.
My favourite desserts are: Caramel custard, gajar halwa, and Banoffee pie.
Foods that I consciously have are: Salads, green leafy vegetables, and paneer.
I avoid: Sugar. I don’t eat chocolates.
When the cook or house help has done the bunk, I make: Jacket potato. My daughters love it.
My favourite cooks in my family: My nani and dadi. My nani made excellent pickles with carrot, shalgam, mango, and lime. My dadi made excellent mithai—besan ke ladoo and kaju katli.
My mom-in-law’s twin talent: She cooks very well and very fast. Her rice kheer and gajar halwa are to die for.
My husband cooks: He doesn’t know anything about cooking, but my 12-year-old daughter loves to cook, she likes to bake cookies and cakes.
My childhood memories of food: Summer holidays at nani and dadi’s house. My mother belongs to a small town in Haryana, where dal was cooked on an angithi. My nana-nani had their own cow, from which we would get milk. We would go to the fields, pluck fresh mooli and carrots, wash them, and eat them on the spot. We drank kanji; I don’t think today’s kids have ever tasted kanji.
My dadi made: Excellent ladoos’, kaju katli and barfi. We would finish it up so soon, she began locking it up.
The idea of a romantic meal: At a romantic outing, I would only be bothered about the company and the conversation, so I would order a non-messy meal, like pasta or risotto. I may order a glass of wine.
My favourite cuisine is: Mughlai, and I love the black dal at the Grand Maratha.
My favourite beverage is: Black coffee.
During winter: When I was in Jaipur, I used to enjoy saag and makai ki roti and carrot and green peas sabzi with gur and white butter.
Tip on food: Eat a tad less than what you have an appetite for—it’s sane advice from my nani, dadi, and bua, and it has stuck in my head.
Recipe of Rasgulla Ice Cream Dessert with Crushed Marie Biscuits
Ingredients:
1 medium pack vanilla ice cream
10-12 Marie biscuits
6 rasgullas
1 mango (cut into small cubes)
8 to 10 almonds (finely sliced)
Method:
Finely grind the Marie biscuits in a dry grinder and set aside. Completely squeeze out the syrup from the rasgullas and cut them into halves. Set aside. In a bowl, melt the ice cream. Once melted, add the crushed biscuits and rasgullas. Gently mix until the rasgullas are well coated with the ice cream mixture. Garnish with mango pieces, sliced almonds and refrigerate for a few hours until set.
PS: To garnish, you can use any seasonal fruit like mango/ strawberries
