+ Follow

Photo by Nilanka Kariyawasam on Unsplash

Tarla Dala, probably everyone knows about her or might not if they don't follow cookery shows or cookbooks. I am not talking about today's trend. But She was trendy in her unique ways, her magical flavours through her experiment with pure vegetarian cuisine. She made a chef out of every woman through her inspiring journey of taste. She is the solitary and only chef who dared to continue cooking vegetarian only on international platforms. She never compromises through her cooking style. I am talking about the era of 2000, which was her peak at heights to reach every single woman's heart. She is the one I am crazy for her uniqueness and daring quality. I was in my teens and used to watch the COOK IT UP WITH TARLA DALAL cookery show. I loved it due to its spellbinding gestures of Tarla ji in a very sense of humour style. She became iconic for me because she was the only chef of vegetarian dishes. She never cooked non-vegetarians, not even she used eggs.

Recently, I watched her biopic movie, Tarla, starring Huma Qureshi. The magic of her old memories sprinkled in front of my eyes again. I related to the magic of her personality as it was in my sweet memories already.

Tarla the movie:-

Tarla movie is an average homely movie. The Tarla movie premiered on July 7, 2023, at zee5. But Tarla's magic made it unique. The storyline is simply a career-oriented girl whose goals are not clear, who is actually against marriage, but somehow how she married and from her cooking how she made herself a chef. But the correlation between Tarla Ji's cookery shows and watching Huma Qureshi act like her in typical Pune and Gujarati style is fascinating. Gets to know several personal information about Tarla ji from which I was earlier unaware, but this movie made me aware of Tarla ji's struggle too. Like me, she knew to do something but didn't know what to do something, in her life for livelihood. It is the most touchy factor for every girl that she can do everything but still strive for their identity in front of herself, and that is not concerned with family, society, or circumstances but with their existence, not in terms of earning money but earning name, attention or filling her deep desires like a dream. A housewife or a homemaker, she is a working woman herself in terms of managing home decor, kitchen productivity, hygienical safety, being alert to medicines available at home, care-taker of every home member, knowledge of traditional values, being crazy for trendy out the world and lots more. Still, in older times, she is not allowed to do jobs. At that modification era, Tarla ji ignited the hunger for a career in women's hearts from her cooking class and plate severed in the bride's destiny wedding. Yes, I am saying a wedding is destiny because it's the destiny changer for a couple and their belongings. You will surprised when you watch the movie.

Her cooking speciality turned into innovations and experiments when she saw once that her husband eats nonveg in his office without her knowledge, and she went completely out of her mind. In the movie, it's hilarious. If I think from a woman's inner feelings, it is seriously not less than any trauma. As an Engineer and housewife, it is interesting to see how her husband became the publisher of Tarla Ji's cookbooks. It made both husband and wife famous eventually. Her first cookbooks did not sell out, and they invested their money. She got depressed that after so much effort, as a reward, she did not at all have positive results.

Surprisingly, they went for dinner at a restaurant, and she tasted a new dish from that restaurant. Guess what? It was her dish with someone else chef's name he introduced in his restaurant just by reading her cookbook. I call him a silent appreciator or Tarla Ji's career game-changer. Rest you will find out through watching the movie Tarla how fascinating and motivating the journey of Tarla Ji is to set an example regarding every woman's career.

I understood by watching this movie and behind the screen how much she struggled and at what stage of life she started after having three big kids. I salute her dares to explore herself by involving her husband as her support. Tarla Ji sparked in me that it's never too late to start and pick up your career as a woman. With every little speciality you have, you can hit the floor of this world. Beyond any doubt, trust yourself.

Cook it up with Tarla Dalal:-

It is the only cookery show I have seen On television where the chef chooses to cook only vegetarian foodstuff. Ten minutes and your tasty dish is ready. If I remember correctly, it was twenty minutes, and in every episode, Tarla Ji cooked two dishes. And How can I forget the hosting of model Sudhanshu Pandey? Who later acted in so many shows and became a singer-Band of Boys. Nowadays, he acts in Serial Anupama as Vanraj Shah. I am focusing on him because he worked with her fascinating personality, Tarla Ji. So here, I want to share his experience working with her at the start of his career.

He said it was a very new and challenging experience for him as his skill is not good in cooking, and co-anchoring is out of his comfort zone. He only knew Tarla ji name top in cooking and nothing else before accepting the role, but when he first met Tarla Ji, he called her Grand Maa. He recognized her as the queen of vegetarian cooking. He was surprised by saying that the show had very natural dialogue, not scripted one. They shot for twenty-six episodes, which broadcast around two months. Tarla Ji mostly ordered him, Tu yeh kar; ab chammach utha; karahi mei jeera dal. It created interest in communication between the two. It provoked him to crack jokes at the show. Tarla Ji tried hard to control her laugh on the set while shot. And when she laughs too much, the shot gets interrupted. Tarla Ji gets used to being shy and conscious while facing the camera but disappears when she starts cooking. Rest everything was his responsibility, how to control the show by making it fascinating. She was affectionate towards everyone on the set. It was a globally hit show in 2000 and aired again in November 2013 after Tarla Ji's death. After the show hit, he met a few fans from the US at that time. He understood the power of her cooking, which made her an international brand. He mentioned its Western influence on Indian minds who, without thinking, choose non-veg just for protein intake. He said one must read Tarla ji's cookery recipes, and you will find everything in vegetarian intake. She put so much variety you can't try all in your lifetime.

Tarla Dala and herself:-

She was born on June 3, 1936, in a Gujarati family in Pune, Maharashtra. In 1960, she married an engineer, Nalin Dalal, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. She has a BA in Economics. She was an Indian food writer, chef, cookbook author, and host of cooking shows. Her first cookbook, The Pleasures of Vegetarian Cooking, was published in 1974. She wrote more than 100 books and nearly 10 million copies sold. Her recipes are to be issued in over 25 magazines. She was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2007 and Women of the Year by the Indian Merchants' Chamber in 2005. She started conducting cooking classes from her home in 1966. Her first book had 1.5 million copies, and through the movie, I explored the distribution work done by Scarp dealer for its sales. Her speciality derived from her husband's non-veg eating as she created several non-vegetarian cuisines into a pure vegetarian, and that transformation led to her fame in foreign countries. Her books are available in Dutch, Russian, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, and Bengali. In 2007, she started a total health cookbook series. Tarla Dalal had three children- Sanjay, Deepak, and Renu. Married to Nalil Dalal and lived in South Mumbai. Nalin died in 2005, and she died on November 6, 2013, due to a heart attack.

You can't compact her personality just in this limit. She is a milestone who gave way to several stories of women whose destination was pre-decided till marriage only what about after that. Many explored their ways by attending her cooking class and learning cooking was just for marriage. They understood it was just the key to opening up their world.

In 60's 70's, when not the power of social media, Talra created her magic internationally. She focused on the universal need, which is food. She made it simple. She spoke, wrote, and taught her dishes. She always learned from others through conversations, and she made the kitchen the most happening place. Tarla became the first female chef. When society had male chefs, only women were to be at home. She created more than 17000 recipes. Tarla Dalal Mixes came into by International Bestfoods in 2000. The Cook It Up with Tarla Dalal show was broadcast all over Southeast Asia, the Gulf, the UK, and the US.

Her books and cuisines:-

I come to know many surprises when I am about to know her more and more till now why I haven't explored her. She experimented with 4846 recipes and innovated them just of Indian recipes. I used to think she only experimented with Indian cuisine. Now I am surprised, and surely you will be too. There are 6851 cuisine recipes out of them, 41 recipes of continental food, 338 American recipes,175 French-style Indian recipes, 735 Italian vegetarian recipes, 92 Lebanese vegetarian recipes, 202 Mexican vegetarian recipes, and 139 Thai vegetarian recipes other than Indian. She has done numerous experiments like main course dishes, healthy recipes, quick recipes, and kids' corners. Several recipes are classified based on cooking methods, equipment, and occasional party recipes. We have only listened to a few years of gluten-free foods or pure vegan. I am surprised she has created many recipes for vitamin-rich, manganese-rich, even for heart, diabetic, and high BP patients. I have heard anti-ageing creams, but anti-ageing vegetarian recipes she introduced so many years back. The Apple Jalebi, Kaju Pista Rolls, and Honey Noodles with Vanilla Ice Cream are some of her celebrated cuisines widely appreciated throughout the country.

Sathya Saran, author and former editor of Femina, said that Tarla is the bible of Indian Vegetarian cooking. Go to her cookbooks or recipes and experiment in your kitchen if you are unaware of a personality like her. In 1970, Vakil & sons' publisher knew about classes Tarla Dalal's popularity, and they decided to publish her first book. It was Published in English and then translated into others. Tarla Dalal was the first chef of that time whose cuisines were archived digitally. Around more than 22,000 recipes are now under the care of her son, Sanjay Dalal. Sheela Bhatt, a journalist, mentioned Tarla Dalal changed Gujju's Dal-Chaawal routine. The most iconic chef, Sanjay Kapoor, also said that Tarla Ji inspired him to write a cookbook as a business idea. Meenakshi Ammal published her cookbook Samaithu Paar in 1951 in South India. Tarla Ji's recipes were popular, and they were fail-safe to try.

There are so many cookbooks of hers, 100 or nearly 170 books, I can't name them all. A few cookbooks namely Indian Vegetarian Cookbook, The Complete Gujarati Cookbook, Low-Calorie Healthy Cooking, Cooking with One Teaspoon of Oil, Easy Chinese Cookbook, Desi Khana-The Best Indian Vegetarian, Cooking under Ten Minutes, Zero Oil Soup Salads and Snacks, Mumbai Roadside Snacks, Forever Young Diet, Exotic Diabetic Cooking-Part1, Mexican Cooking, Healthy Heart, Nutritious Recipes for Pregnancy, Weight lose after Pregnancy, Acidity Cookbook, Saatvik Khana no onion no garlic, and lots more.

She has already innovated an ocean of nutritious diets for us, but we are still striving for that health and forcing youth to believe that Indian Food is just Oily.

Conclusion:-

Tarla is the girl who started cooking at the age of 12 under the supervision of her mother. Her husband is US-based, and that's why he was the broad-minded and helpful husband in that era. Nalin Dalal has done an MS in chemical engineering. Tarla Dalal moved to the US, and it's written somewhere on sites I am not sure about, and there she made Indian foodstuff for just her family but without realizing she had the potential and quality of a chef inbuilt herself. From 1966 to 1974, she took cooking classes and established herself as a cookbook author. One hundred twenty million Indian families are crazy for Tarla Dalal. Tarla Dalal is a wave or vibe through which those ladies who were not interested in cooking started loving it. For me, Tarla Dalal is no less than any Kohinoor. Being a girl, I know cooking is our need, and we enjoy it as our routine. But she has a blissful fortune with Goddess Annapurna. Specially gym lovers should follow her recipes for better results. The career-oriented ladies should follow her quick or ten-minute recipes. She is my inspiration and will be yours.

She experimented with and transformed non-vegetarian dishes into pure vegetarian in terms of taste, looks, and nutritional values. She is never afraid of who eats non-vegetarians, but she wants everyone to eat only vegetarians. Watch the movie Tarla and experience how interestingly she changed murgh mussalam to batata mussalam. A change of a few ingredients will change the non-veg into veg.

It's astonishing that from that era and till now, we know what taste of dishes we love, but it is hard to create repeatedly. Cooking is science, maths, worship, dedication, patience, concentration, and more if you are involved.  

References:-

.    .    .

Discus