Leftover food: The secret to abundance

In the Indian repertoire are rasams that find their origins in sambars, and chutneys and pachadis that often go into morukozhambu. (Representational image: Saveurs Secretes via Pexels)

When I started to write this piece on leftovers, I tried hard to recall what it was called in Tamil, my mother tongue, and to my surprise, there was no unique, compact word for it. Just something that says “old rice” or “remainder of yesterday” or some such.

Wikipedia defines leftovers as “surplus foods remaining unconsumed at the end of a meal, which may be put in containers with the intention of eating later.” Oxford and Cambridge do not speak of such intention at all.

But intention pretty much nails it. My mother, who has always had the best of intentions regarding food-wastage, mastered some innovative ways to up-cycle leftovers; some of which went unnoticed by my father who came from a family that considered it a “malpractice”. In her repertoire are rasams that find their origins in sambars or chutneys and pachadis that often go into morukozhambu (a south Indian version of the kadhi).

In the last decade or so, I have been running an efficient “table for two” for my son and I. But no matter what I do, there’s always something leftover. I guess I am in the minority when it comes to answering the question, “What do you do with leftovers?” innovatively. I simply eat it. I mean why do more work when the work is already done? Isn’t that the point of leftovers?

Leftovers ensure you don’t have a blank slate to start with. They are a starting point, a sort of continuity for the next day and the day after. Each time I add an element to something that is left over and attain critical mass, I feel a sense of abundance. Like having two sabzis instead of one on the plate, sometimes a sabzi and some chutney or raita.

(Photo by Saveurs Secretes via Pexels)

Like my friend Jugal says: “I mostly run a chain scene with leftovers. It gets added to any meal the next day and then whatever remains goes to the fridge and onto the next one and so on. Sometimes, things pile up and then that day you just gotta make one thing like rice/dal/gravy.”

Which is why Paromita Vohra’s Midday column on leftovers struck a chord, “And then there are those who love leftovers. I confess I am in that category. They cook too much at parties, force people to take doggy bags, and love yesterday's pork curry today. Everyday leftovers are also cause for joy because they turn the table into a smorgasbord, a kind of barkat max. They take pride in converting leftovers into something else. My grandmother would heat last night's mutton curry on a tava, and break an egg over it to eat with pao. My mother was famous for her leftover pies: everything from rajma to macaroni making its way into a pie crust and under a blanket of mashed potato browned nicely on top.”

To the nutrient and microbe-conscious ones that scoff at eating leftovers (apparently FOLO: Fear of Leftovers is now an official term in Australia), Krish Ashok, food scientist and author of Masala Lab, has this to say: “The single biggest loss of nutrients is by cooking food, not putting it in the fridge.”

Some foods, especially curries, biryani or spicy sour gravies actually taste better the next day, when the flavors are nicely rounded off. “24 hours later, as aromas mellow, umami dominates,” according to Krish who also believes that Indian food, with its spices and cooking techniques particularly lends itself to refrigeration.

(Photo: Rachel Claire via Pexels)

If you, unlike me, are dealing with a fussy bunch at home, here are 10 leftover hacks from my friends, real and virtual:

1. Air-fry any sabzi leftover with paneer and a spice rub for veggie burgers or frankie filling or as veggie meat balls.

2. Grind left over chips and use as breadcrumbs for tikkis.

3. Add isabgol to any finely chopped dry sabzi and cook in a paniyaram pan with soy sauce and hot sauce added for manchurian balls. Serve as is as a starter or tiffin snack.

4. Make leftover sandwiches with just about any sabzi!

5. Turn leftover rice into Risotto with veggies and cheese. Or tomato rice or phodni bhaat.

6. Turn leftover rotis into rolls with paneer or frozen nuggets. Can also be made into nachos or Roti Upma.

7. Leftover sundal + mashed veggies = cutlets.

8. Mash leftover rice nicely, add onions, green chillies, saunf, salt, and make into pakoda-like balls.

9. Grind leftover rice, adding besan or atta to make a batter, plus seasonings/ leafy veggies/bottle gourd and make dosas.

10. Turn leftover daal into daal parantha by adding wheat flour, raw onions, green chillies and fresh coriander. Mix it into a dough and roll hot paranthas with mustard oil or ghee. (The same can be done with palak paneer)

It’s interesting to note that most leftovers up north go into something paratha and those down south end up in something rice. And for the neither-here-nor-there, there is always the sandwich which has the unique capacity to hold it all. Plus butter makes everything better anyway.
But I would still say try and eat yesterday’s sambar or curry tomorrow with some roasted papads or salad may be? Give umami a chance!