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Not only everyone on the sets of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi but even actors from other sets call me ba," says the diminutive dynamo, TV star Sudha Shivpuri.
Indore-born Sudha was brought up in Rajasthan. She worked for Jaipur radio before she met her husband-to-be, actor Om Shivpuri at the National School of Drama.
Sudha Shivpuri, who won Best Dadi in the Star Parivar awards for her performance as a genial grandmother, will be celebrating her 65th birthday on July 14.
Here is wishing her many happy returns of the day and many more awards.
Ba, whose entire conversation was punctuated with an affectionate "beta yeh" and "beta woh" shares her recipe and tips with us.
Sudha's thought for food
I begin my day by drinking a glass of water in a tambe ka glass, which I fill and keep a night earlier. It is supposed to be good for joint pains. Later, I take half-a-cup of sugar-free tea. I bathe and perform my puja for half-an-hour.
My breakfast comprises half a papaya and a glass of watermelon juice. At times I have a vegetable sandwich and a cup of tea.
While shooting I carry my own food. I have put on two to three kilos, so I now cook my food in minimum oil. I usually carry dry chawli or bhindi ki sabzi, palak ka saag and curd. Everyone loves my cooking. They say, "Jaldi se aap ka tiffin kholo."
Around 4 pm, I have a cup of tea, with biscuits. Sometimes I have a slice or two of papaya or an apple that I carry from home.
I eat frugally at night — Bowl of soup, either vegetable soup or a tomato soup, and a salad made from cucumber, tomato and patta gobi.
I have always been a small eater right from the beginning.
I am not a dessert person. Occasionally I enjoy eating hot gulab jamuns and ras malai.
I enjoy cooking non-vegetarian food but basically I am a vegetarian.
I have never liked non-vegetarian food but I was coerced to eat it by my in-laws. Hamare in-laws ke yahan prasad mein mutton chadta hai. When my husband Omji was alive we would cook a lot of non-vegetarian food at home.
Earlier I lived in a joint family. About 12 of us lived together. I learnt to cook Kashmiri food from my mother-in-law and my sisters-in-law. The first dish I learnt was a mutton recipe.
In Rajasthani food I love ghatte ki sabzi and dal baati.
I love all green vegetables, spinach, chawli, methi, bathua, muli and patta gobi. I relish palak paneer.
My daughter Ritu loves fish. Kitni bhi kaante wale machli ho, she will relish it. She is an excellent cook. She keeps telling me to come over to her house, as she stays very close by, but I tell her to look after her house and family and not to worry about me. Ritu is married to a south Indian boy. I love south Indian food.
I am not at all fond of eating at restaurants. Ritu keeps insisting that I accompany her to J W Marriot but I tell her to enjoy herself.
I cook non-vegetarian food for my son Vineet because after his papa's death, he would often complain, "Papa nahin toh aap khati bhi nahin aur banati bhi nahin." I cook chicken hara masala, palak chicken and white chicken for him. My range of mutton dishes includes mutton biryani, bhuna gosht and dal gosht.
I feel very happy when I see my son enjoying the food I cook for him.
My husband loved eating at home. After returning from outdoor shootings, he would say, "Ghar ki badiya dal roti banao."
The last time I went to a restaurant was about five to six months ago, when I went with Ritu's in-laws to a vegetarian restaurant in town. Her in-laws are pure vegetarians.
I get scared to eat out. I had been very sick some seven to eight years ago. I had lost a lot of weight and hair too. I even had jaundice. Ishwar ne mujhe bacha diya. I like to eat papdi chaat once in a while.
When my husband Omji was alive I would accompany him to China Garden.
Omji did not like the idea of an Indian woman drinking or smoking. I have just tasted beer on one occasion.
My favourite cooking ingredient is home-made garam masala. I dry roast a little khus-khus, cummin seeds, cloves, big cardamoms, whole peppercorns and cinnamon till aromatic and dry grind them. It enhances the taste of non-vegetarian dishes.
I specialise in making hare mirch ka achar — my son Vineet loves it. Sanjeev bhai and Kakaji (Rajesh Khanna) were frequent visitors to our house. Sanjeev bhai loved non-vegetarian food, unke yahan toh banta nahin tha.
He loved a Kashmiri dish called kabargha (mutton chops cooked for five to six hours in milk and fried as pakodas). These pakodas are so tender, you can even chew the mutton bones. He loved kheeme ke gole and pulao too.
Kakaji came very often for dinner to our house. He would bring Dimple along with him. He would say, "Bhabhi jaan, zara ho jaye dhabe ki dal (dal makhani) and jeera aloo." Dimple loved fish and mutton. Kakaji too loved kabargha and other mutton dishes, un dino chicken kam hi banta tha ghar main.
Useful tips: When there is excess salt in the gravy, cube two to three pieces of raw potato and add to the gravy. It will absorb the excess salt. Or make small balls of wheat flour dough, about four to five, and introduce to the gravy.
If the oil turns black after frying bhajiyas, add a piece of imli to the oil. The oil will clear out. If the tawa turns black after making parathas, put two to three pieces of imli with little water on the tawa and boil. Later, scrub the tawa with these pieces of imli.
Dal gosht
5 to 6 tbsp oil
4 cloves
2 pieces cinnamon
3 to 4 bay leaves
1 black cardamom
4 to 5 green cardamoms
8 to 10 black peppercorns
4 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
kg mutton, pieces of the shoulder, called the mushk
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
tsp turmeric powder
1 big bowl of curds
kg chana dal, washed
1 tsp home made garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, black and green cardamoms, and black peppercorns. Saut them for few seconds. Add the chopped onions, and saut on a low flame. When the onions turn golden, add the mutton pieces, salt and mix well.
Pressure cook till one whistle. Release the steam and open the cooker. Drain out the water from the mutton. Keep aside. Remove the mutton pieces. To the fried onions add ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Saut for few seconds on a low flame.
Add some of the water that has been kept aside and saut on a low flame till the masalas are well blended with the onions. Simmer. Gradually add the curds (spoon by spoon, to avoid curdling) and keep stirring. Saut till oil separates. Add the kept aside mutton pieces and left over water and mix well.
Saut the mutton in the onion and curd mixture on a low flame till oil separates. Add some more water and cook till the mutton is done. Pressure-cook the chana dal with very little salt and sufficient water. Cook till the dal is done.
Churn the dal lightly with a hand blender and add it to the cooked mutton and mix well. Keep it on dum on a low flame for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring at regular intervals. Evenly sprinkle garam masala over it and serve hot.
Indore-born Sudha was brought up in Rajasthan. She worked for Jaipur radio before she met her husband-to-be, actor Om Shivpuri at the National School of Drama.
Sudha Shivpuri, who won Best Dadi in the Star Parivar awards for her performance as a genial grandmother, will be celebrating her 65th birthday on July 14.
Here is wishing her many happy returns of the day and many more awards.
Ba, whose entire conversation was punctuated with an affectionate "beta yeh" and "beta woh" shares her recipe and tips with us.
Sudha's thought for food
I begin my day by drinking a glass of water in a tambe ka glass, which I fill and keep a night earlier. It is supposed to be good for joint pains. Later, I take half-a-cup of sugar-free tea. I bathe and perform my puja for half-an-hour.
My breakfast comprises half a papaya and a glass of watermelon juice. At times I have a vegetable sandwich and a cup of tea.
While shooting I carry my own food. I have put on two to three kilos, so I now cook my food in minimum oil. I usually carry dry chawli or bhindi ki sabzi, palak ka saag and curd. Everyone loves my cooking. They say, "Jaldi se aap ka tiffin kholo."
Around 4 pm, I have a cup of tea, with biscuits. Sometimes I have a slice or two of papaya or an apple that I carry from home.
I eat frugally at night — Bowl of soup, either vegetable soup or a tomato soup, and a salad made from cucumber, tomato and patta gobi.
I have always been a small eater right from the beginning.
I am not a dessert person. Occasionally I enjoy eating hot gulab jamuns and ras malai.
I enjoy cooking non-vegetarian food but basically I am a vegetarian.
I have never liked non-vegetarian food but I was coerced to eat it by my in-laws. Hamare in-laws ke yahan prasad mein mutton chadta hai. When my husband Omji was alive we would cook a lot of non-vegetarian food at home.
Earlier I lived in a joint family. About 12 of us lived together. I learnt to cook Kashmiri food from my mother-in-law and my sisters-in-law. The first dish I learnt was a mutton recipe.
In Rajasthani food I love ghatte ki sabzi and dal baati.
I love all green vegetables, spinach, chawli, methi, bathua, muli and patta gobi. I relish palak paneer.
My daughter Ritu loves fish. Kitni bhi kaante wale machli ho, she will relish it. She is an excellent cook. She keeps telling me to come over to her house, as she stays very close by, but I tell her to look after her house and family and not to worry about me. Ritu is married to a south Indian boy. I love south Indian food.
I am not at all fond of eating at restaurants. Ritu keeps insisting that I accompany her to J W Marriot but I tell her to enjoy herself.
I cook non-vegetarian food for my son Vineet because after his papa's death, he would often complain, "Papa nahin toh aap khati bhi nahin aur banati bhi nahin." I cook chicken hara masala, palak chicken and white chicken for him. My range of mutton dishes includes mutton biryani, bhuna gosht and dal gosht.
I feel very happy when I see my son enjoying the food I cook for him.
My husband loved eating at home. After returning from outdoor shootings, he would say, "Ghar ki badiya dal roti banao."
The last time I went to a restaurant was about five to six months ago, when I went with Ritu's in-laws to a vegetarian restaurant in town. Her in-laws are pure vegetarians.
I get scared to eat out. I had been very sick some seven to eight years ago. I had lost a lot of weight and hair too. I even had jaundice. Ishwar ne mujhe bacha diya. I like to eat papdi chaat once in a while.
When my husband Omji was alive I would accompany him to China Garden.
Omji did not like the idea of an Indian woman drinking or smoking. I have just tasted beer on one occasion.
My favourite cooking ingredient is home-made garam masala. I dry roast a little khus-khus, cummin seeds, cloves, big cardamoms, whole peppercorns and cinnamon till aromatic and dry grind them. It enhances the taste of non-vegetarian dishes.
I specialise in making hare mirch ka achar — my son Vineet loves it. Sanjeev bhai and Kakaji (Rajesh Khanna) were frequent visitors to our house. Sanjeev bhai loved non-vegetarian food, unke yahan toh banta nahin tha.
He loved a Kashmiri dish called kabargha (mutton chops cooked for five to six hours in milk and fried as pakodas). These pakodas are so tender, you can even chew the mutton bones. He loved kheeme ke gole and pulao too.
Kakaji came very often for dinner to our house. He would bring Dimple along with him. He would say, "Bhabhi jaan, zara ho jaye dhabe ki dal (dal makhani) and jeera aloo." Dimple loved fish and mutton. Kakaji too loved kabargha and other mutton dishes, un dino chicken kam hi banta tha ghar main.
Useful tips: When there is excess salt in the gravy, cube two to three pieces of raw potato and add to the gravy. It will absorb the excess salt. Or make small balls of wheat flour dough, about four to five, and introduce to the gravy.
If the oil turns black after frying bhajiyas, add a piece of imli to the oil. The oil will clear out. If the tawa turns black after making parathas, put two to three pieces of imli with little water on the tawa and boil. Later, scrub the tawa with these pieces of imli.
Dal gosht
5 to 6 tbsp oil
4 cloves
2 pieces cinnamon
3 to 4 bay leaves
1 black cardamom
4 to 5 green cardamoms
8 to 10 black peppercorns
4 medium-sized onions, finely chopped
kg mutton, pieces of the shoulder, called the mushk
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp red chilli powder
tsp turmeric powder
1 big bowl of curds
kg chana dal, washed
1 tsp home made garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, black and green cardamoms, and black peppercorns. Saut them for few seconds. Add the chopped onions, and saut on a low flame. When the onions turn golden, add the mutton pieces, salt and mix well.
Pressure cook till one whistle. Release the steam and open the cooker. Drain out the water from the mutton. Keep aside. Remove the mutton pieces. To the fried onions add ginger-garlic paste, coriander powder, red chilli powder and turmeric powder. Saut for few seconds on a low flame.
Add some of the water that has been kept aside and saut on a low flame till the masalas are well blended with the onions. Simmer. Gradually add the curds (spoon by spoon, to avoid curdling) and keep stirring. Saut till oil separates. Add the kept aside mutton pieces and left over water and mix well.
Saut the mutton in the onion and curd mixture on a low flame till oil separates. Add some more water and cook till the mutton is done. Pressure-cook the chana dal with very little salt and sufficient water. Cook till the dal is done.
Churn the dal lightly with a hand blender and add it to the cooked mutton and mix well. Keep it on dum on a low flame for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring at regular intervals. Evenly sprinkle garam masala over it and serve hot.
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