Cook in a Curry

I remember this Gujarati snack very fondly. Eating it at street stalls or at home in India with lashings of sweet tangy coriander chutney and a touch of tamarind chutney. This spongy savoury cake has just the perfect flavours drizzled with a tempering oil of gorgeous spices giving it that added moistness. Mustard seeds, sesame seeds and curry leaves give the ‘Dhokla’ the required texture with a hint of spiced chilli, fresh coriander & freshly grated coconut. Now doesn’t that sounds like a snack you want to delve into!

Traditionally the one I have eaten in India is usually made with ground lentils & rice; this however is the easier and quicker way to make it without all the soaking and grinding required. I add fruit salt to the gram flour mix which gives it the added light spongy feel. Dhokla with chutney and a cup of masala chai makes up for this gloomy January winter I promise you.

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There are simple pleasures in giving something that is homemade or even better home cooked! Easy to make, delicious and absolutely festive is what comes to mind when I put together a few treats for family and friends. It gets me in a festive spirit too. I have some perfect gifts for all those on your Christmas list.

There’s my favourite Pineapple & cracked black pepper chutney, Tomato & fennel chutney and also some warming cardamom & blueberry biscotti. All wrapped, jarred & labelled I guarantee they will be an instant hit!

Here’s a look at my recipes on the ITV FOOD website. Hope you & your guests enjoy the treats. Happy Christmas!

Pouring rain on a glooming evening. It’s cold with a chill in the air. The charcoal fire burning by the hawker stalls is probably the best way to keep warm when you’re out & about. That’s what’s I used to do but my excuse was to stop off at the street stall to sample their spicy roasted ‘makai butta’ slathered with lime, chilli powder & salt. ‘Butta’ or spicy corn on the cob is sold by a lot of hawkers & street stalls in Mumbai. The corn is roasted straight over the charcoal which in my opinion makes the taste that much nicer giving it that charred flavour to the sweetness of the corn niblets. Paired with fresh lemon, chilli and salt its makes for a perfect balance of sweet, spicy and tangy flavours. In the recipe below I have used Kashmiri chilli powder which is very mild in flavour but high on colour. You could swap this for a mild paprika if you prefer.

Though my memories of eating this were in the monsoons of India I make it often now during summer too. I have cooked this on the hob a few times and it gives a similar taste to the charred corn. But there really is nothing like cooking it on the barbie; the scorching heat with a fired up barbecue, meats galore and spicy corn is so worth it.

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Cheffing at events most of this week has meant that dinner isn’t always a well planned affair. But when all is quiet in the house and I yearn to cook up something that’s ‘a meal for one’, quick, delicious and ticks every late night snack requirement; this is JUST it!

‘Anda Bhurji’ or Indian scrambled eggs are something I know alot of Indians to have cooked at least once. It’s the easiest one pot meal (with very little washing up!) where chucking everything in hot frying pan is the norm. My most distinct memory of cooking this in India has to be late nights with college friends; chopping the onions, beating the eggs, sprinkling the spices was a team effort. Taking a break whilst studying for our exams and rustling up the eggs with crusty toast to satisfy our hunger pangs was the perfect excuse to take ourselves away from all that boring book knowledge.

The ingredients are basic store cupboard stuff but culminating into a dish bursting with flavours. The moist eggs spiced lightly with turmeric & chilli, fried in onions, coriander & tomatoes. A perfect recipe for the exhausted late night with a fiery kick.

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Fresh breads and biscuits in India is widely available everywhere. Bakeries have been around for a good few years in the country where influences stemmed from the British Raj, Portuguese and Iranian immigrants in the 1950’s and 60’s that brought in ideas and recipes starting out small shops that stand till this date. Most bakeries I have visited with my family make all the goodies fresh and are usually sold out by the end of the day. There are a host of biscuits available in these bakeries and some varieties are so popular that in spite of making 200-400 kilograms of them daily; they are sold out by 3pm!

Visiting a busy bakery is as much fun as it is hectic. My mother and I would get there early in the morning so we could get a fresh batch of warm white bread. Though we were always prepared to queue for at least half an hour because it was just so worth it. Freshly baked sour dough, biscuits and even Madeira cake were all made on the day and sold within no time. Coming back home all stocked up on the goods it was time for a cup of tea and warm crusty bread smeared with softened Amul butter – a local Indian butter which has a distinct taste and is a must try for anyone visiting. Even today there is nothing like warm buttered bread and hot cuppa. Or what I enjoy first thing most mornings; dunking freshly baked biscuits in a warm cup of tea.

I have to say my all time favourite biscuits from Indian bakeries have to be the famous ‘Naankhatai’ biscuits. They are moreish, not too sweet and very very comforting any time of the day. One of the reasons these biscuits are quite famous in India is they are eggless and appeals to vegetarians in the country (a large population in India) as a snack option. Also most cities have small bakeries where these are freshly baked but with the dearth of superstores opening naankhatais are also available pre packed and ready to sell with longer shelf life.

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The best part of the year has to be the festive season. Christmas for us like the Indian festival of Diwali spells joy, excitement, cheer, celebration & time with family. My partner is Anglo Indian and celebrated Christmas as a child, when we met I adopted that into our home and must admit I love every minute of it! Most importantly for me the festivities also mean, entertaining, indulging in my favourite food & drink and offering the same to those visiting us over the next few weeks.

I love doing homemade Christmas hampers for family & friends and fills me with delight to see how what I have made has come together and is looking lovely. This year the hamper will be including a homemade lime pickle, ginger bread cookies which I have made as tree decorations for kids to enjoy, sour cherry & pistachio fudge (I’ll be posting a recipe for that soon as well) and Blackberry vodka.

The vodka has been brewing for the last one month and the colour is now a rich ruby red with a hint of cinnamon & star anise flavour. Discard the anise and cinnamon stick and use the fruit for a boozy crumble or like I did, warmed through in a pan with a tiny bit of icing sugar,  and crushed through slightly in a bowl of cold custard. You can use it as a garnish in drinks or desserts but I have also frozen some as well to use later. This morning I decanted it into small bottles. Labels on and they are ready as a perfect home made present, not just for Christmas but anytime of the year really. Make sure you try it. A small measure topped some lemonade is lush.

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