Add the aroma of mustard oil to your dishes

I was 11. My mom, baby sister and a couple of relatives were on the Gitanjali Express from Mumbai to Kolkata.

- NANDITA IYER

The train was a few stations away from the final destination when a food vendor came into our compartment selling what looked like bhel puri. Being a Mumbai kid, chaats like bhel puri and sev puri were my big favourites but I was seldom allowed to eat street food by my hyper-cautious grandparents with whom I lived. Now having endured the 30-plus hour train journey, I have a feeling my mom felt sympathetic towards me and bought me the "bhel puri' in the train. I was delighted to get my way with mom and hastily chomped on a mouthful of this bhel from a paper cone. My instant reaction was, "What in the world is this?" It was my first brush with the pungent taste of mustard oil along with the piquant taste-bud numbing chopped green chillies. Whatever this was, it was not even the same pin code as the bhel puri I loved. To say I hated it, is an understatement. Years later, I realised this was jhal muri and not my beloved bhel puri.

Like they say, everything you hated in childhood, turns into adulthood favourites.

I don't remember what that turning point in my life was when I started stocking mustard oil in my kitchen, liberally dousing dishes like begun pora (Bengali-style roasted brinjals) and jhal muri with this liquid gold. I even use mustard oil as a part of the oil component in salad dressings (Kohlrabi Salad With Kashmiri Flavours, using ginger and fennel powders). The sharp and pungent flavour can be attributed to allyl isothiocyanate.