Hi Everyone, Choka is one of the most pleasurable of foods I’ve ever eaten. It’s one of those things that you crave for but don’t necessarily make often, well, because it involves quite a bit of time and effort. However, this is time and effort that is well worth it when all you hear from a roomful of people as they eat is, “uummmm.”
Choka refers to a method of preparing particular ingredients. It is about fire-roasting, pounding and grinding. The fire roasting is absolutely necessary to impart the highly-desired smokiness. The pounding and grinding is to obtain the right consistency and texture. Failure to meet these standards – smokiness, consistency and texture, results in you being looked down upon by choka aficionados as merely creating a wannabe choka. Yes my friends there are exacting standards when it comes to making choka.
In Guyana, and I’m sure the same can be said for Trinidad and Tobago, we essentially make six chokas – coconut choka, eggplant choka, tomato choka, potato choka, salt-fish choka and smoked-herring choka. After the ingredients are roasted, pounded or ground, they are seasoned lightly, some with garlic, onions, green onions, lemon or lime juice and always, always, with hot pepper. Chokas are often made and served in small quantities, it’s more a side dish than a main dish, and it’s mostly eaten with dhal and rice or roti.
In a previous column, I had mentioned coconut choka and how my sister and I always resented making it. It was not because we did not like coconut choka; it was because of all grinding that had to be done. The roasted and grated coconut had to be to ground so fine, releasing the oils and moisture that resulted in the mixture being able to be rolled easily into the shape of a ball! So Pat and I always cringed whenever mom said she was making coconut choka because that invariably meant that Pat or I were making the choka.
Chokas can be easily divided into the three meal-time categories, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eggplant, tomato and potato are the preferred chokas for breakfast and dinner served with roti while coconut, salt-fish and smoked-herring chokas are lunch time favourites with dhal and rice.
One fine Sunday morning, many eons ago, my sister and I thought we’d surprise mommy by getting up early and making eggplant choka and roti. You see, my mom thought that we were not interested in learning to make such kinds of food, but it was not that, rather, it was because of the exacting roti and choka-making standards, we often felt inadequate, not up to the task and that we were being forced to make these things.
The household woke up that morning to the aroma of roasting eggplant stuffed with slivers of garlic. Mommy was truly surprised but all she could muster was, “Which pillow did you all put your heads on last night?” In other words, what had gotten into us that resulted in our making such an elaborate breakfast? Her surprise was two-fold, one that we were actually making breakfast (my sister is also not a breakfast person) and two, that we’d to go to such lengths.
For me, choka is soul-food, and though growing up I disliked having to make it because there was always something “wrong” with it (it’s those exacting standards again), it is a skill and food knowledge that I treasure.
These days, I like making choka; I enjoy the thrill of making it for friends who know about choka and I like introducing people to chokas. This week, I set about making six chokas and a few other dishes to treat some friends. In the process of my cooking marathon, I confirmed a notion, that is, that the modern day food processor is a choka-making-girl’s best friend! Sure enough there’s the cleaning and prepping of the ingredients after the roasting but the grinding and pounding, which is what really takes up the time, can be done in minutes in the food processor. Sceptical? Go look at www.tasteslikehome.org and see for yourself. The biggest triumph was the coconut choka. After grating it with the box grater (hand grater) I added it to the food processor with the garlic, pepper, salt and lemon juice (I didn’t have any green mango) and let me tell you, when it was done, all I had to do was mould it into a ball. The salt-fish and smoked-herring chokas were perfectly frizzed, fluffy, and light. The pulse button on the processor helped me achieve the right texture for the eggplant and tomato choka. Oh and a potato ricer makes fast work of mashing the potatoes for potato choka. I should probably clarify something here about making potato choka, especially since one of the tenets of choka is fire roasting. What I do is boil the potatoes first and then char them on the open flames on the stove top to give them the required smoke-factor. Most people, however, simply boil the potatoes and mash them, adding onions, green onions, salt, pepper and a drizzle of oil.
Choka is a great way to introduce people to new tastes and flavours. It is also an exercise in patience if you do not have a food processor. Prior to this modern tool, the lorha and sil (large flat stone and roller), were the tools of choice. The mortar and pestle worked well too, but I find the lorha and sil best except in the case of the tomato choka where some liquid is involved.
So if you’ve never had a choka and would like to try your hand at making some, then come on over to www.tasteslikehome.org and have a look, I’d be more than happy to share a recipe or two with you. Who knows, soon you too can have a choka lime. Just don’t forget to send my invitation!
Cynthia
tasteslikehome@gmail.com
www.tasteslikehome.org
