Cook in a Curry

I have been meaning to get another perspective on Indian cooking for a while now but more importantly feature the same on my blog. And to be honest I couldn’t be more delighted to have Kavey write a guest post for Cook in a Curry. Her blog Kavey Eats has everything you’d want to know about events, restuarants/book reviews, cooking classes and recipes. Make sure to check her blog for my recipe of Green Coconut Prawn Curry. Hope you enjoy her post below & the recipe. Give it a go; its absolutely delicious!

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Cooking Paneer Malai with Kavey

You know how people sometimes talk about second generation immigrants as slightly lost souls – neither entirely comfortable in the land from whence their parents came nor completely integrated into the land of their birth?

Well, that’s not me.

I was born in London in the early seventies to two doctors who emigrated from India a few years before I was born. My sister came along 3 years (and five minutes) later. Throughout our childhood, we were brought up to have a strong connection to our relatives in India – indeed we visited them every few years, which we loved. But we were also brought up as British kids, free to take onboard our local culture, without the stricter cultural and behavioural strictures that many other second generation children were, in my admittedly subjective opinion, shackled with.

That applied to food too – mum regularly cooked Indian food but she also taught herself Italian, French, Chinese and, of course, British dishes from cookery books and by trial and error. We probably had Indian food once or twice a week, if that. And we travelled a lot too, in our holidays, to wonderfully exotic places and mum would often bring home a recipe or two such as peanut soup from South America, something she still makes today.

What all this boils down to is that, whilst we’d often help mum in the kitchen, we never really learned to cook Indian food in any meaningful way –  we didn’t pick up the techniques, the instinctive use of spices and wide repertoire of dishes that we might have resulted from a more traditional upbringing.

(Of course, I think my parents got it absolutely right – I feel a pride in my extra cultural heritage, I am very happy in my brown skin, I will always cherish my links with India. But I am first and foremost British).

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My fondness for all things street food continues! Frankly I think it’s not something I’ll ever let go. Like a lot of people; the fact that I only get a few chances to eat the real thing in India; the next best option is to cook it for family & friends introducing everyone to the flavours you reminisce about. And sharing the experience of how delicious a dish can be when you step outside the box.
Bhel puri is one such street food dish that is available everywhere you go in Mumbai/ Bombay. Every street corner, outside colleges, at Indian fast food restaurants you’ll find this ‘signature’ dish and it does help that it’s an all time favourite. Like a lot of dishes in India a few regions have their own variety of Bhel. The east of India has a similar version known as ‘Jhal Muri’.

What makes this dish so special is a mix of ingredients lending something different in every spoonful. Crispy puffed rice & puris with crunchy red onions, soft potato, tangy raw mango, sweet and sour tamarind chutney & a hint of spice with the minty flavour of green chutney. Gorgeous!  
I have to say THIS Bhel puri is as close as you can get to the Bombay Bhel! Once I made the dish I really couldn’t contain my excitement of sampling it and also realising how close I was to the real thing (a compliment from an Indian friend who popped over to sample some chaat). It’s a dish that’s easy to assemble once you have done all the prep work. But to get the most out of it Bhel puri must be eaten straight away for the crispy crunchy flavours. Once all the chutneys get soaked into the puffed rice, potatoes, onions they tend to get soggy if left any longer. Though saying that it still wouldn’t stop me from eating it!

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Eating “chaat” in India is something I will never get tired of. It has to be one of my favourite foods that I have experienced as a young girl. And even today one of the first things I do when I get to India is follow my MUST HAVE list; chaat is first on the list followed by a Frankie/ sandwich roll. “Chaat” essentially is a kind of food that encompasses a variety of savoury dishes that are eaten at street stalls primarily.
I frequent India often enough to hear people say that it must be eaten from clean & hygienic places; where they would use mineral water. And I must admit; I do try but I am equally guilty of eating it in places that just remind me of my experience when I was younger. One such place is most definitely Chowpatty in Bombay. But lets face it half the fun of eating street food is the fact that there is that rustic quality to it. The idea of sampling all these delights; in crowded areas with commotion around and traffic. The energy, hustle & bustle is in my opinion half the fun.  A lot of families even cook all the chaat dishes at home. Some of the best home chaat I remember having is at friends who were Gujarati/ Marwari. That’s not to say no one else makes it well but they just make it that tad bit better. This is the kind of food that most vegetarians would definitely make part of their fare but it’s equally popular with meat eaters too.

It is cheap & cheerful, makes a good meal and after you’ve sampled a few bites it’s the sort of things that keeps you wanting more. By the time you get to the end of the meal you’ve tried most things on the menu. There usually is Bhel Puri, Pani Puri, Dahi Batata Puri and also some fruit chaat for those who fancy something healthyish. The dishes could be endless to be honest but most stalls would definitely stock these dishes.

You might be wondering what the all these names above signify in terms of dishes. Trust me having eaten all of them I can vouch for how utterly delicious they are and can’t even begin to tell you the number of times I have tried to replicate them at home. Quite successfully at that! But one thing I would say is how hard it is to actually explain what each dish is. But I’ll try – here goes…

The puris generally used in chaat are small & crispy. My post is Dahi Batata Puri; which is yoghurt with potato filled in these crispy shells. There quite a few more components to the dish. Once the puris are filled with potato, onion and yoghurt, it is topped with ‘sev’ fried crispy noodle, tamarind chutney & mint chutney. I also put a sprinkle of red chilli powder and some black salt.

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One thing I do love about a place like Bombay is that no matter what part of the city you live in, you’re always guaranteed to be able to sample food from most parts of India all in one city! That is just pure joy and I have had the privilege of having a Maharashtrian lunch and then moving onto a Mughlai dinner. A South Indian breakfast of fresh steamed idlis (rice cakes) with sambar or Gujarati snack anytime of the day! I think that’s where my fondness for Indian food stems from. And by ‘Indian’ I do mean a variety of regional goodies that are cooked in households & restaurants everyday but still seem a tad bit special. Ingredients used are simple and fresh, with at least 4-5 different dishes served, including chapattis, rice, and even something to traditional to drink (like a lassi or chaas; yoghurt drinks that are perfect thirst quenchers for the hot weather) which summed up a delectable and flavoursome meal.

Growing up always holds special memories, with friends galore and not a care in the world. It’s when we look back at the years, we realise how our meals defined our eating experiences in every which ways. For me, having south indian, gujarati or bengali friends made the experience even more meaningful and interesting. As a young girl being invited to my friends for lunch or dinner was always a brilliant experience.  Getting to see their way of living, celebrating festivals, traditions and the best part was I got to eat a traditional home cooked fare.

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A plain boiled egg to me is like eating toast with any butter or marmalade. Let me be honest, how many times have any of you ever thought that eating a boiled egg would really make your day? Well this dish will definitely do just that.

I have been eating this curry since I was a little girl. On the menu was usually egg curry, some steamed rice, along with something crispy fried like papad (poppadums) to uplift the meal. Its the perfect dish for anyone whose a veggie and only has eggs or even meat eaters. The taste of the sour tamarind, spicy chilli and thick gravy, all of it coating the egg makes this dish really good. I prefer plan rice as you want the flavour of the curry to stand out. So even if you plan on having any Indian bread with it, a plain chapatti or naan would be ideal. I tend to use the left over eggs in a pulao. Which actually taste even better the following day.

There is something about the dish when you mix the spices with the eggs. The flavours come through perfectly.

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I must admit I love my meat and fish. It’s not something I can ever see myself giving up. But when it comes to vegetarian cuisine, Indian food is ace at having such a variety of options. Every culture within each region use lentils, vegetables, beans and pluses but it’s made with different cooking methods and spices.

Maharashtrian cuisine is as such synonymous with encapsulating, spicy, sour, sweet and tangy all at once in the same dish. The cuisine comes from the western region of the country where Bombay (or Mumbai as we know it!) is based.

Memories of this curry from my childhood are when my mum would cook it with the baby aubergines and the curry was part of a meal which included some dal, rice chapattis and salad or raita on the side.

Aubergines are a really versatile ingredient and come in different colours purple, green or white. Generally in Indian cooking the purple variety is most common. I tend to use it not just in Indian cooking but also if I’m making a quick dip or Baba Ghanoush. It works really well grilled and tossed in Greek salads or brushed with some marinade straight onto the barbecue. The meaty texture of this vegetable is what is appealing.

When used in Indian cuisine, aubergines or brinjal as it is known are cooked through offering depth to the curry, and a rich flavour. The purple colour deepens and almost like a sponge it absorbs all the flavours from the curry. This recipe is known for using the smaller variety but if you can’t find it any other would do too. The recipe has been simplified to make sure you’re able to find all the required ingredients. You can always swap cashew nuts with peanuts as well or if you can’t find jaggery, muscovado sugar or brown sugar will be a good option. Offering that caramelised consistency to the sauce.

There is something comforting about this dish, eaten simply on its own with some freshly cooked Indian bread and a cucumber raita to balance it out. I couldn’t really ask for more!

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