Watching Ram Gopal Bajaj in the kitchen is a theatrical experience. Thespian Ram Gopal Bajaj's mix of sattu sherbet was just what we needed after a generous dose of the summer sun. Added to the glass was a dash of lemon, jeera powder and salt to taste, and as we sipped on it eagerly, our chef for the day got straight down to chopping and churning.
"Did I tell you about my amle ki khichdi? Funnily, I chanced upon the recipe by accident, when I mistook amla for potato. It's now a favourite with friends," he tells me.
Growing up in Bihar in a Marwari family, Bajaj was a vegetarian till he arrived at the National School of Drama. But even as a kid he recalls being pretty keen on observing what was at play in the kitchen. "Cooking styles and languages: those are two things I easily pick up," he says.
Over the years, Bajaj been a man of many roles "" on TV, film and stage; directing, acting, script-writing; doing translation and poetry recitation "" but we all are, after all, born actors, he says matter-of-factly. "We are acting constantly, aren't we?" He's dismayed, though, that acting is not taught in regular schools.
"It should be incorporated at the primary level. Fortunately, TV, which at one point took attention away from theatre, is now an agent that's helping bring in more acceptance for the stage. Now that kids are on TV, parents don't mind letting them do theatre as well," he says, stressing on the socio-political background of the taboo that dramatics, song and dance has faced in society.
Snapping back to the pots and pans that are hot on the stove, there's bhindi in one, sookha matar in another, kadhi in the third and daal in the fourth. They all might sound fairly unexotic, but there's a twist to each one of them.
Dismissing protests that there are far too many dishes to handle, Bajaj excitedly talks about his recent Greek tragedy-like production, an adaptation of the classic love story of Layla-Majnun. "It was staged at a theatre festival in Guwahati in April this year, and we're going to start rehearsals for performances in Delhi at NSD at the end of July," he says.
When I ask him about the life-size Madhubala and Charlie Chaplin posters on his living room walls, he does a little Chaplin imitation,"Do you notice a vacant look in his eyes? There is a sadness there," he observes.
What about Jackie Chan, I ask "" Bajaj played his guru in The Myth, shot in Hampi. "Oh, he's a professional," he puts in. And in between conversations, a spice here, a spice there "" we see a delightfully flavourful meal emerging.
Something as simple and usual as daal is made with a tadka that looks pleasantly promising "" clove, elaichi, dalchini, peppercorns, red chilli and jeera in ghee. As we sample it all, Bajaj, confessing to being a Bengali food and pickle fan "" insists we eat the food with chane ka papad, and try it dipped in daal too. "It tastes different," he assures "" and it sure does.
FAVOURITE RECIPES
KADI PAPAD
50 gm besan
2 tbsp curd
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp methi seeds
1/4 tsp heeng
3 cups water
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp sonth
3-4 papads
4-5 peppercorns
1/2 tsp jeera
A few specks of dalchini In a bowl, mix besan and water. Add curd, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt to taste. In a pan, heat oil and add sonth, dalchini, pepper and jeera to it. Add the besan-curd mix to the pan. Separately, cut three papads into small pieces and add to the kadhi while it simmers in the pan.
BHINDI RAITA
250 gm bhindi
100 gm curd
1 tsp jeera powder
Salt to taste
2 cups water
In a bowl, mix curd and water to attain a thickish consistency. Add jeera powder and salt to taste. In a pan, fry the bhindi (cut in small pieces). Put the fried bhindi in the curd only while serving, else the bhindi will lose its crispness.
