Food from social media feeds to our plate!
Tor kono khobor nei, tui bhalo aachhis toh?
Means, “I didn’t hear from you recently! ( precisely on WhatsApp and Facebook) Are you alright?”
Got this WhatsApp message from a Paratuto Kakima ( Aunt who lives in our neighbourhood) who lives in Calcutta!
I wrote back to her, said “Yes, we are doing well here in Melbourne!”
On the same day, one of my friends called me and said: “Hello, where are you these days? Didn’t see any updates from you! (again, on WhatsApp groups, Facebook ) Are you okay!”
I told her the same that we are doing well and after a long time, we had a good chat over the phone!
If I don’t share my content or any updates on social media more than a week, I got an Instagram message from one of my blogger friends, ” Kemon aachho? Tomader okhane ki obostha ekhon( how are you? what’s the situation at your place?) She is not only an extremely talented person but the most humbled person I met till now in our blogging community!
After all these discussions, I was thinking; there are certain things in our life that we use as a mode of entertainment, but they play such an important role in our life! For example the Internet and Social media!
The impact of social media is every aspect of our lives!
People use social media not only for entertainment or method of communication but in ways to shapes Fashion, culture, politics, education, facts and events and of course, food!
In this age, social media continually surrounds us. People are always on their phones, laptops posting pictures, sharing thoughts, updating status, liking, sharing, using emojis for expression, messaging back and forth! Self-expression, communicating with long-distance friends and family members, what not?
Even ten years back, the internet used to be a costly affair for middle-class Indian families. Facebook was a way to interact with long-distance friends! But, now it becomes a necessity for many people in rural parts of India.
Food on Social Media!
During my childhood, I heard “This is in fashion now”- it used to be a common line regarding cloth or jewellery items! I don’t know about you but for us Pizza Hut, Cafe Coffee Day, Barista these places used to be fancy and the food we used to get these places called food for modern generations! For my parents Biryani, Chilli Chicken these foods used to be nostalgic fancy food!
Food and Trend!
Those days, Entree, gourmet, exotic were buzzwords used to describe the food! In more recent times, a new generation of buzzwords arises. Artisan, Natural, Sustainable, Seasonal, Housemade; these are to name a few for eating word trend. These days, even for a daily meal, though we asked our family members what to cook for lunch or dinner, after getting some suggestions, still we search on Instagram or Pinterest for cooking inspirations! More than the season these days we are inspired by the trend! Aren’t we? Did you see the last two weeks Bread Making was a massive trend on social media? How can we forget about Dalgona coffee making trend?
I find this quite interesting!
They say the impact of COVID 19 on our social lives is huge! While physically social distancing is real, I find people are more socially active on social media.
Recently, I got a WhatsApp forwarded video where storyteller said that
“Sometimes we need to fall in sick to feel better“!
While this is a challenging situation for many people, it is also the time that brought us together! We all are either creating, sharing or consuming contents on social media. While some people are doing moral policing that one shouldn’t post about food, the other group of people trying to inspire each other by sharing recipes, food stories, food memories, meal ideas!
The inspiration behind this meal idea
Did you know that if you have a few florets of cauliflower and soya chunks in your kitchen, you can make a delicious Vegetarian Keema curry for your meal?
Honestly, I didn’t! And now I am thinking to recreate many recipes with this curry!
Now let me tell you how did I get this recipe?
In the past few weeks, Live video sessions are the new trends in social media, especially on Instagram! The best part is people are sharing food wisdom, trying to spread positivity and dreaming for a better world! One of my favourite live session is conducting by Shubhra Chatterji, known as Historywali, with amazing people, stories, knowledge! What an engaging live session it is!
Here I am sharing the impact of live videos in my life! Living in the southern hemisphere, at this time of the year when winter is upon us, I can’t think of making a Raw Mango dish with fresh Mangoes demonstrated by Sadaf Hussain! I have to wait until December when we will get delicious Mangoes from the country’s tropical states! But I saw a vegetarian keema recipe on his Instagram feed by using cauliflower and soya chunk! Voila! I told myself, Shyamali, No worries about Mangoes, try something new with Cauliflower and Soya chunk! At least you have something new to try!
In my mind I started singing” don’t worry, be happy”,lol!
But, I was wondering how it tastes like when the flavour of cauliflower combined with soya chunk, spices and turned into a savoury mock minced, the texture of the dish as well!
I was thrilled with the result! I guess the secret of this recipe is the proportion of the Soya chunk and Cauliflower, and that’s why the flavour of Cauliflower wasn’t overpowering at all! I experienced the granule texture of minced meat or Keema, and the taste was different but delicious! The first day we paired this with Paratha for lunch and leftovers we consumed the next day paired with Dosa for Breakfast. I followed the recipe pretty much same, and I will write the recipe in the blog for your convenience.
But, if you want to make the recipe right after reading this post, here is the recipe link for you! Watch and try the recipe, along with many other delicious recipes! Come back and thank me later 🙂
Here are some related posts where you can find some more meal ideas!
