During the summer months, Tej has been experimenting with mango recipes at home, making dishes like mango falooda, mango lassi, and mango shrikhand regularly. Due to the high temperatures, there was a need for a matka to store drinking water since fridge water is too cold and filtered water isn’t as satisfying. This led to an exploration of how a clay pot keeps water at a constant, drinkable temperature.
Tej also needed a clay pot for setting curd. While shopping for it, he noticed many other clay items like pots, pans, and idols of gods. Once the clay pot was acquired, Tej began experimenting with making curd in different ways, such as changing the temperature, using various quantities of milk and starter, and trying different ingredients like chilies, lemon, and ginger to make curd/dahi. He watched videos, especially from the Masala Lab guy, to understand the science behind curd making.
The key learnings from these experiments were:
- Being consistent and repeating experiments.
- Reflecting on failures to understand what went wrong.
- Researching the topic thoroughly.
- Gaining a deep understanding of the process, including factors like product temperature, atmospheric temperature, ingredients, and types of vessels used.