Chef Vanshika's Sheera is an Instant Pick-Me-Up
Chef Vanshika Bhatia shares a recipe for a simple yet soothing sheera — a recipe she inherited from her grandmother.
“Food is memory, eating is remembering,” states Maya Tiwari in her seminal Ayurveda: A Life of Balance. This line has followed me throughout my career, informing the way I eat and the way I develop a recipe. The health elixirs prepared by our grandmothers connect us to a simpler, slower and, maybe, wiser time. Central to their preparation was patience, the time it took to prepare something being symbolic of its resolve to cure. Alongside this is the intention of healing. In all medicine we place our trust— every morning taking a spoon of chyawanprash or quickly chewing a tablet of vitamin C. In some ways, trust is essential in proving the efficacy of medicine.
Growing up it was dadi who was doctor-at-home, providing us all with the perfect ilaaj (cure/ prevention/solution) borne from equal parts tradition, common sense & seasonal availability. What she and every grandmother across the country had in common was a wisdom of health, going beyond simple medicine. Instead, what they had was a holistic knowledge founded on care.
This sheera recipe is one of my favourites, and a go-to for when I am sick. My dadi always added both atta and besan for a more robust flavour, and I continue to follow her example.
Recipe: Vanshika Bhatia’s Sheera
Ingredients
1 tbsp atta
1 tbsp besan
2 tbsp jaggery
2 tbsp ghee
4 cups water
5-6 almonds
Method
In a large pan heat ghee slowly over medium heat, add cumin and lightly toast for 30- 40 seconds.
Together mix atta, besan and sliced almonds. Add to ghee and lightly roast until golden brown in colour.
In a separate pan add jaggery together with 4 cups water. Over low flame, let the jaggery dissolve into
water. Do not caramelise.
Whisk the jaggery water into the toasted flour mixture cooking over medium flame, to meld flavours together.
The consistency of this sheera should be very runny. Sip from a mug & feel the relief.
Note: After drinking this sheera, do not drink anything cold for at least an hour.
Chef Vanshika Bhatia has a degree in Culinary Arts at Le Cordon Bleu, London, and has trained with Chef Rene Redzepi, Gaggan Anand and Vikas Khanna. She now runs Together @ 12th in Le Meridien, Gurgaon.
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