The made for each other snacks that are irresistible

There was a famous advertising campaign run by Indian Tobacco Company ITC called “Made for each other” in the year 1989. The campaign was to promote Wills Filter cigarette. The made for each other signified – Filter and Tobacco perfectly matched. It was a period when cigarette companies could advertise which subsequently was banned.

For my friends who are still habitual smokers or belong to the non-smoker’s category, I have tweaked the tagline “Made for Each other”. Well, if the filter and tobacco can be perfectly matched, then there are many perfectly matched snacks. We can call them made for each other. A cup of tea is incomplete without a biscuit and a piece of toast is incomplete without butter.

A duet or a performance by two singers in the music industry has created magic for our ears. Look at Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, Nadeem-Shravan, and several others. They all have created music that is magical and still remembered. Similarly, when you come to the food world a duet works magic for your taste buds. It can be a Rajma-chawal, Kadhi-chawal, Chole-bhature, or daily snack items like Bread-butter, Tea-biscuit, etc. The combination creates a magic that our taste buds remember for a long time.

So, let us see why we love these combinations?

Tea and Biscuit: Made for each other

If you are sipping a glass of tea at any roadside Dhaba you will see 4-5 glass containers occupying the front shelf. Each container has biscuits of different kinds. One container may have the oval-shaped local bakery ones, the second is coconut flavored while the third one is the rectangular ones with a yellow tinge. Apart from the biscuits, there is a choice of mathri (hardened deep-fried salty flour pancakes), rusk ( sweetened baked bread), and fan (flaky baked bread).

Tea, being polygamic goes well with all the above combinations. And dunking a biscuit or a rusk in a cup of tea creates a piece of melodious music that makes the taste buds dance. Whether it is an early morning bed tea or an evening cup the made for each other serving is complete if it is accompanied by a couple of biscuits on the saucer.

A tea-break

A tea break in an office conference is the most looked-forward moment of the day. And the moment the boss announces the break you can see the entire team rushing for the tea corner filling their cups and moving to the side table to pick those delicious biscuits. Since the serving is unlimited people tend to have more than their quota. But being an official conference people avoid dunking. The biscuit keeps looking forward to getting that dip in the cup of tea but alas its wish remains unfulfilled.

For the biscuit taking a dip in a cup of tea is like taking a dip in the holy Ganges. It purifies the soul of the human being. However, dunking a biscuit in a cup of tea requires the fine art of balancing. After dipping the biscuit, the tea connoisseur has to ensure that the soggy biscuit reaches his mouth without losing a part of it in the tea or midway.

Bread and Butter: perfectly matched for each other

The love story between the made for each other bread and butter also has a villain in it, the knife. However, unlike other stories, the knife plays the role of a cupid here. It helps the butter spread its magical charm over the toasted side of the bread making it soft from inside.

Seeing the bread slice turning brown in a toaster the chilled butter just melts away. The knife realizes the love between the made for each other couple. It helps the butter conquer the heart of the bread. There are times when the bread starts flirting with others like the mouth-melting cheese or a half fry egg. However his love for butter is eternal and even while flirting with others, it first colors itself yellow as a mark of love for butter. Of course, few flirtatious ones cover themselves with white butter to show they are not engaged.

The world is made of different kinds of people and there is one category that believes the problems of mankind can be easily solved if there is no butter. From politicians to workplaces buttering leads to meritorious and deserving candidates getting left behind in the race. On the other hand, people who know the art of buttering use it for achieving their goals.

Bread and omelet, and the love story continues

This is one love story that emerged in a kitchen and became so popular that it’s now commercialized. The omelet stuffed with onion, tomato and dressed with green coriander was getting whipped in a steel bowl. The moment it went into the pan it created a sound that was music to the ears of the bread. The slice of bread getting toasted in a Philips toaster turned brown out of sheer excitement. It knew that her lover is not far away and that they both are going to meet soon at the breakfast table.

The sight of an omelet sandwiched between two slices of bread and served with tomato sauce on a plate is so sumptuous that one can’t just resist it. The bread can be plain or toasted with a layer of butter. To please the toast the omelet often gets dressed with a cheese topping. On the other hand, there is another suitor waiting to woo the omelet, and that is paratha. The omelet prefers dating the bread in the morning and romances with the parantha in the evening.

There are times when the bread soaks itself in an omelet and metamorphoses into French toast. And how can paratha be behind? Taking a dip in the omelet and getting fried on a tawa is a Kathi roll, the paratha’s answer to the French toast.

Made for each other poori and aloo

One of the most popular breakfasts on the Indian dining table is poori and aloo. Poori is a fried Indian bread where a wheat dough is rolled in a circular shape and fried in a wok. Aloo on the other hand is boiled and fried potato mixed with spices with a hint of turmeric.

Walk any street of Northern Indian cities like Lucknow or Allahabad and you will find vendors selling poori-aloo like hotcakes. The poori is freshly fried while the aloo is dressed with green chilies. The four-wheel cart is surrounded by people having a sumptuous breakfast on a plate made of dried leaves.

The multifacet poori

Poori works in multiple combinations and keeps changing its partners. During Navratras ( A 9-day festival to celebrate Lord Rama’s birthday and victory over Ravana) it’s the chana that temporarily becomes the poori’s partner. The chana (black chickpeas) cooked with spices is served with poori and halwa (porridge made of semolina). A bite of poori mixed with chana and halwa just takes you to another world.

The aloo-poori combination is the unofficial homemade food for travel. A journey on a train is incomplete without a round of poori-aloo and aam ka achar. And don’t think that you are the only lucky soul enjoying the made for each other poori-aloo in a train. The whole compartment is enjoying the same.

So keep enjoying the made for each other combinations. There are a whole lot of such combinations but I have listed only the popular ones.

You can enjoy reading more such stories on my blog. Click on the following link:

Aam ka achar: Creating spiciness in our daily monotonous life

The Tea accompaniments and the romance with the tea

Learn more about Indian recipes by clicking on the following link:

https://food.ndtv.com/recipes/indian-recipes