Page 20 - Seniors Today October 2020

one stroke by way of an ordinance they took
An impulsive decision at Delhi station proved to be the bridge to a renewed life in Burma for the family
Return to Burma
That one decision altered the history of our
family for ever, I guess. He got in touch with
his old friends and contacts, and preferred
to work for himself rather than be an
employee. He set up a partnership with some
old contacts and soon established a healthy
trading firm dealing in textiles etc.
Alas, when my father was merely 18 years
old, Ramgopalji fell victim to the dreaded
disease of cancer and passed away at the
age of 40, leaving behind a widow and five
children!
Although Ramgopalji had separated
from his four brothers early on, it was
only because of the magnanimous act of
his brother Subhkaran ji who declared to
the rest of the family that the children of
Ramgopalji would be henceforth entitled to
one-fifth share of the family business.
In this backdrop my elder brother Suresh,
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younger sister Kiran and I were born in
Rangoon. The joint family business of the
Jatias was thriving since due to multiple
working hands we were able to expand
the emerging opportunities by leaps and
bounds.
Then suddenly in 1963 fate again played
a cruel blow and all of us had to leave once
again from Burma, only this time it would be
forever!
In a military coup, General Ne Win and his
band of 16 generals took over the reins of
power and shut out Burma from the rest of
the world. He nationalised all the businesses
and gave foreigners like us Marwaris and
the South Indian Chettiar community,
which basically controlled all the trade, just
24 hours to leave the country without any
compensation. The only choice they gave us
was to become “Managers” of our shops and
establishments on behalf of the state! With
away all our properties and wealth.
So for the second time our family was
forced to flee from Burma. Luckily for us we
had already established branches in Japan,
Singapore etc so it was easier for us to restart
after moving back to Bombay, but without
much capital.
But being very hardworking, disciplined
and determined, the Jatia family was able to
make its mark even on Indian shores even
though we had a very late start in 1963. And
as the family grew and prospered everyone
slowly branched out on their own, but the
bond of togetherness is still very strong due
to the saga which the family had to face as a
whole.
The origin of Khowsuey
It is said by many that the Jatia Family
is responsible for bringing back the now
very popular Burmese dish, Khowsuey, to
India. I can neither endorse that nor deny it,
but when our ladies started making it and
serving it at social functions and gatherings
it became an instant hit!
The origin is of course due to the very deep
ties our family had with Burma, with the
elders having spent most of their lives there.
By then we had adopted a lot of the
Burmese customs such as the wearing of
lungi and celebrating the Thingyan Water
Festival (similar to our Holi) with great
enthusiasm, etc. It was also but natural that a
lot of the Burmese food was introduced into
our homes. Since we were strict Marwari
vegetarians we had to improvise meatless
options from their dishes and I think that
is how my mother and aunts perfected the
most authentic and tasty vegetarian option
of the Khowsuey. There were other dishes
as well, but the only other one which we still
make today is called Khadi-samosa which
SENIORS TODAY | ISSUE #16 | OCTOBER 2020
The simple kadhi resulted in a fusion of desi vegetarian
and Burmese noodles
is basically a concoction of potato samosas
shredded with onion pancakes and served
in a hot coconut based kadhi and garnished
with many condiments.
Here is the detailed recipe and perhaps the
most authentic one I dare say of the original
Burmese Khowsuey (vegetarian).
Ingredients for kadhi
• 3 / 4 kg curd, sieved
• 100 gm besan (gram flour)
• 1 / 4 kg potatoes, boiled and pureed
• 1 inch piece ginger
• 10 green chillies
• 2 tsp saunf (fennel)
• 1 / 3 bunch fresh pudina
(fresh mint leaves)
• 1/3 bunch fresh coriander leaves
• Milk of 1 coconut with 1.5 glasses of water
• 1 inch piece dalchini (cinnamon)
• 4-5 glasses of water
• Salt to taste
Method: Grind all the masalas with a
little water and sieve it well. Then mix
with the sieved curd, besan mixed with a
little water and sieved, coconut milk and
pureed potatoes. Mix well, sieve the whole
mixture and add the water to the required
consistency. Then temper with oil with
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