Meeta’s story:
The first thing that came to my mind when I read about this project is ‘mau bhaat’ which is just soft rice that my mother cooked for me when I came back from the hospital after giving birth, around 18 years ago. It’s not fancy or anything. She made me mau bhaat because it’s soft and easy to digest. I love the taste of it too.
Apparently bai, my nani, her mother made her the same mau bhaat when she had me.
My experience cooking, eating and feeding soft rice:
- I know this person and have had the privilege of meeting her mother, naniji, too. So I called naniji to ask her the recipe and where she got it from. She told me that her mother, bai, who is now 80 used to make it for her when she had children. In the past, I have met bai too. She is enthusiastic, soft, and has a laughter that makes you laugh without knowing the joke. I know this person’s daughter and can imagine her inheriting the soft rice from them; it makes me smile. I like to think that this soft rice, in its journey from one generation of women to another in this family, took a slight detour to come wave at me at my window.
- Mumma and Dadi ate mau bhaat while it was steaming hot and dadi asked for multiple servings.
Recipe
Ingredients
Rice – 1 cup
Water – 2.5 cups
Salt – to taste
Red chilly powder – a pinch
Steps
1. Mix all ingredients and put in a pressure cooker.
2. Put on medium heat till you get 1 whistle and for a few minutes extra.
Optional
Eat with lemon pickle