ENO

ENO is a fruit salt and is used as a bubbling antacid to temporarily relieve upset stomachs. James Crossley Eno, an English pharmacist and entrepreneur was the inventor of this fruit salt. ENO is a global brand and is marketed in over 40 countries with India being the largest market in the world. In fact, it is the leading antacid brand in India. It is made up of baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, citric acid and salt.

I did not know for many years after I arrived in Australia that this fizz-making fruit salt called ENO ever existed and further it was used as a leavening agent to bake and make a variety of Indian preparations such as dhoklas, uttappam, idlies, dosas in addition to neutralising gases in the stomach.

Sometime back, a Gujarati friend of mine invited me to her place for afternoon tea. When I arrived there, she was steaming khaman dhoklas. I was so over the moon to see that she was steaming dhoklas as I had never eaten home-made dhoklas before that. She had this bottle of ENO sitting on her benchtop and I saw her add a teaspoon of it into the batter. I was fascinated to see the batter frothing and rising instantly. I could not contain my excitement and directed a few questions at her about this product that was foreign to me. She explained it’s uses for symptoms of acidity and in furthermore in cooking. My curiosity was reasonably satisfied, and I could not wait to make these pillow like dhoklas in my very own kitchen.

I enjoyed the soft spongey dhoklas she made and from then on ENO is a staple in my pantry. I buy ENO at my local Woolworths store. It is possible you can buy it at your local pharmacy also however I have not bought it from a pharmacy. It also comes in many flavours but for my dhoklas I have used only lemon flavoured ENO. I have used it from time to time in my dhoklas, idlies and uttappams and found the pillow like texture of the snacks simply irresistible. Even my husband and son found a distinct difference in the dhoklas and the idlies I made after I started using this product. Mind you, these snacks are done seldom in my house and they are relished whenever I can make them. Thanks to Rekha, my Gujarathi friend, for introducting me to ENO and now I can share this news with all the readers who have not used it in their cooking before. Mind you, I would recommend you use it in your cooking in moderation because I believe anything used in moderation is good for you.