‘Food is about making interaction. If we will talk to them, they will always tell you a story.’
Just dough it is a new and completely different kind of project that we started with. This project aims at making us familiar with the beautiful process of food design.
Food Design is a discipline that is concerned with everything around food and the act of eating.
Food design is a process of generating new and innovative ideas for any food or parts of complex food through extensive research. Food Design is a series of specifically designed tools and techniques.
The food design can be divided into several sub-categories like:
Right now, we are dealing with DESIGN WITH FOOD: the design of the food looks at it as an object and working with it as though it is your design project, taking on its usability, ergonomics, its shape, materials, naming, packaging, and rituals of use. This process aims to create new objects in terms of taste, texture, temperature, and color.
For this activity, we had a pre-task, we were asked to select a food item which should have dough as a key ingredient. Along with that, it should involve some form of cooking- steaming, frying, baking, boiling, etc. Most importantly, we should be comfortable cooking it in our home kitchen irrespective of whether you have cooked it earlier or not. These were some of the requirements we had to keep in mind before selecting our food item.
I chose the Rajasthani special- Baati. This food item is an integral part of a festive or a wedding menu. Baati is little doughballs made of wheat flour, ghee, and milk.
I was introduced to this food item from my sister. She learned how to prepare it from one of her Rajasthani friends. I feel in love with Baati when I had it for the first time. I still remember that flavor of ghee that I felt in that first bite. I never learned to make baati so I took this activity as an opportunity to learn how to make my favorite food. Also, I will have the delight of eating it every day.
Before finalizing the food item, I thought of reading about its history and origin. I came across some really interesting information. Baati is believed to have originated during the time of Bappa Rawal- the founder of Mewar. Back then, the Rajputs were establishing their stronghold in the region, and baati was preferred their wartime meal. The Rajputs used to bury the dough under thin layers of sand to bake under the sun. On their return from the battlefield, they would dig out perfectly baked baatis that was then slathered with ghee and consumed with curd made from goat or camel milk.
"Khamma Ghani,
Hamare rasoighar me apka swagat h. Aj hum bnana sekhenge baati."
ORIGINAL RECIPE
Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 spoon ghee
¼ teaspoon salt
1 spoon yogurt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
Water according to your requirement
Tips
Be generous with the amount of ghee. Don’t add too much ghee because you like it. Otherwise, it will be really soft and you will have to have to make the dough again as I did.
Cook the baati for at least 25 mins otherwise the atta will not be edible. And your mom will kill you because she asked to show some patience while cooking.
Isse Sabhi ke sath share Karen.
EXPLORATIONS
The second day of our activity was really adventurous. There were a lot of up and downs, moments of frustration, and happiness.
In continuation of the previous task, we had to experiment and explore. We had to select 1-3 elements of the recipe and start variating. The element could be an ingredient, proportion, cooking technique, temperature, size/ thickness, consistency, form, etc.
Along with the process, we had to observe and record what happens with every change that we made. Then, we had to find out the reason behind it. I did some brainstorming before making the dishes. I did research about each ingredient of the food item along with various cooking techniques and forms.
Exploration with the cooking method
Process
Exploration with the main ingredient
Photography during making
Hands while making the dough
Exploration with the ingredients
Experiment with the quantity of baking soda
Experiment with the quantity of Suji
FINAL OUTCOME
CHANGES MADE IN THE FINAL OUTCOME
Form: I have made the baati in a cone shape
Ingredient: I have replaced atta with MAida and tried to make it in the shape of a donut
Cooking Technique: Instead of boiling the baati, I have fried it.
Color: I have created a warm color palette to arouse a welcoming and pleasing feeling
PRESENTATION
Reflection
Initially, I was really confused. I didn’t know where to start? I couldn’t seem to find the logic of doing the cooking in design? I didn’t know what I was doing by adding Maida or butter? I was messed up with too many questions that I got really frustrated. Since childhood, I have seen everyone making food in a conventional way. These are your ingredients; these are the quantities and you have to apply certain techniques to make them. I never thought of analyzing food and its ingredients.
After messing up for an hour or so, then I thought of studying and doing research for a bit. I came across a topic named food design. I studied the topic thoroughly. Gradually, things started making sense for me. To organize all the clumsiness in my mind. I patiently sat down and started making a mind map. After finishing the map, I got a clear path that I had to work towards. Things got away simpler than I thought. Now, I had a plan in my mind.
I started working on the dough. I still had moments of frustration when I had to do the second attempt or when I saw my food item burning. I tried my best to keenly observe, record, and have fun at every part of the process.
I won’t be able to say that I had a nice day but definitely I had an unexpected, and different day. To be honest, I really liked the part about doing research and making mind maps. I got to know a lot about my food item along with food design.