Vegetables Chops and Nostalgia

“At the hostel, we were only given a mug of tea – no milk or sugar – in the evenings. So our group of 5 would buy mudi (puffed rice) on the way back from college, take our mugs of tea and gather in one room. A sheet of newspaper would be spread open, the mudi poured onto this in a heap and the lot of us would settle down for an evening of gossip-tea-mudi. On special occasions, we would buy some vegetable chop for our evening snack,” said maa, thinking about her days as a student at the University of Calcutta, her face alight with memories as pishi (paternal aunt) taught me how to ‘shape’ a vegetable chop.

The idea of making vegetable chops came after Maa and Pishi returned home one evening, struggling under the weight of two overflowing bags filled with fresh vegetables.  “We couldn’t resist the sight of the fresh vegetables. So we bought them,” said maa. Astounding that they even had two bags to shop considering they had supposedly gone for an evening walk!

From the corner table, I observed as the mention of vegetable chops got Baba super excited.

“I remember buying them for a few pennies. Back in our days, they were served in paper bags with a handful of mudi and a slice or two of fresh coconut.”

With so much nostalgia swimming through the house and conversations in a Bengali that is too pure for my understanding, the day and date to make chops was decided in a jiffy. Of course, that meant yours truly jumped into the fray, eager to learn.

None of them, I mean none of them, however, told me this thing is NOT easy! It’s no rocket science and I would definitely put it in the healthy food category but for so much of grating! Lucky for me pishi was kind enough to do the prepping because I just could not get it right! And since I always end up grating my nails or fingers, it was deemed safer.

This vegetable chop, again, is something that is customised as per your taste. Add fresh green peas, replace the red chilli powder with chopped green chillies, spice up the vegetable chop by crackling some cumin seeds in the oil, the options are aplenty. I once tried seasoning the oil with some garlic granules before sautéing the vegetables. Not a bad idea I would say.

Do let me know what you think of the vegetable chops recipe in the comments section below. If you post a photo on Instagram, tag (and follow) From The Corner Table. You can also follow the blog on Facebook and Pinterest; subscribe to be a part of the mailing list for regular updates.

 Photos: Vaibhav Tanna