Food Science Graduate Rajni connects to her roots with Every Bite
“You can just call me a food fanatic,” says Rajni, whose passion for food serves her well as quality coordinator at a local natural food company.
Now living with her partner in Hamilton, Rajni’s love of food began in India where she grew up.
“I was born and brought up in Mumbai, but I've also travelled a lot and lived in a lot of different places in India. So, you know, growing up in a secular country, you are introduced to a lot of cultures, a lot of food, a lot of, you know, different things.”
Fuelled by her love of food, Rajni was excited to join the Every Bite programme and learn some new ways to get the most out of her meals.
“My main motivation was to not buy fresh things every day, which was something we kept falling back into. If we did grocery shopping for a week, we still had three or four days where we were buying things from outside, or, you know, just ingredients. So I wanted to reduce that and use everything we have in our fridge and freezer - to slowly start chipping away with things, even the dry pantry.”
She was also tired of seeing the meals she’d worked hard to make go to waste.
“My partner has this habit of not eating the food that I make, or just leaving it in the fridge. My biggest challenge was to get him on board with the programme so he could learn by observing, as he has a tendency to ignore the food in the fridge and move on to a different exciting meal.”
I think that's how my upbringing was too. If food was going bad at home and I wasn’t eating it, my mum would feel very bad. You don't want that. So yeah, just trying to be respectful of others and who's cooking.”
It wasn’t easy at first, but as she moved through the programme Rajni started forming new habits around food.
“I think the most surprising part was how proactive I was in all of this. Every day I had to think about not falling back into going to the supermarket and getting something, and just using the stuff that I already have in my fridge or freezer.
But the Every Bite ‘Eat Me First’ shelf really helped, because I'm a visual person, so I like to see things in front of me. The shelf helps me visualise the food I have, which is very helpful in deciding what I can cook up.
I’m saving money too. I don't end up buying so much food from outside when I already know that I have stuff at home. I just have to be more creative.”
One of the most special moments for Rajni has been connecting with her mum in India over food.
“I miss my mum a lot. There’s a sweet dish, a dessert that we make out of carrots. And I remember we were invited to a get-together, and I had a bunch of carrots lying in my fridge, and I told them, right, don't worry about dessert. I’ll bring dessert.
And because I miss my mum so much, I actually called her up and asked her, can you tell me the recipe? She gave me the recipe and I made this dessert and it was so good.
I actually ended up taking it to Auckland, to my other friend, and gave him some of it too, leaving some for us. We came back home, and then just devoured it. I basically inhaled it, and that's all that I remember.”
Find Rajni's halva recipe at the end of this article.
Being more mindful of what she was making, and sharing that food, ultimately helped Rajni connect with her roots, and her family’s wisdom around valuing food.
“We do this thing back in Mumbai. My mum likes to host a lot, as Indian mums normally do, but if there was a surplus of food that was cooked, she would just pack it up in different boxes and just give it to people.
Like, it's not going to be any use for us to have this amount going to waste, right? And everybody else can actually enjoy this meal throughout the week. So, yeah, I think that was something good I learned from her.
There are so many people out there in the world who don't actually get to eat food and who go hungry to bed. So it's good to be mindful that you have this liberty, you have this leisure of food.”
Every Bite is delivered by the Zero Waste Network in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment.
If you’d like to take part in upcoming programmes, register your interest here.
Rajni’s recipe for carrot halva:
1.5kg carrots
6 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)
1 can of condensed milk
Some nuts (I used raisins and cashews)
Cardamom powder
Steps:
• Grate carrots to size of your liking
• In a pan, heat up some ghee and fry the nuts. Take them out once they’re done
• In the same pot, add more ghee and the grated carrots and fry until they are tender. Stir often. (15-20mins) Alternatively, you can pressure cook them to tenderise
• Once tender, add the condensed milk and stir until all mixed. You can taste and some sugar to your taste preference
• Add the toasted nuts and cardamom powder and it’s ready