Cook in a Curry

My love with all things sweet continues. And who can blame me! The start of October is like kicking off a good few months of indulgence, eating, celebrations and fabulous food. With Diwali, Halloween and the run up to Christmas it’s the best time of the year as far as I’m concern.

I have made so many Indian sweets this Diwali followed by a lot of happy eaters. There were gift hampers, dinner parties and friends dropping by most evenings sampling some of the delights on offer. A few leftovers to nibble on this week has been a bonus for me! Barfi is undoubtedly very popular during the festive season. Also on the blog is some gooey moist Coconut barfi which is equally moreish! My favourite by far is mango barfi (more the homemade variety rather than the commercial stuff) and till date it’s something I look for at Indian sweet shops in the UK.

One of the most popular one’s is definitely Chocolate Barfi but in this post I am spicing up a classic and one that I’ve made on numerous occasions for friends & clients alike. Recently rustled some barfi for my cookery demo at the Durham Food Festival and it went down an absolute treat! With a hint of ground cardamom (all time favourite spice!), crunchy green pistachio and some chopped ginger running through the chocolate; these little fudgy squares don’t last long. In this recipe I’ve used crystallised chopped ginger but stem ginger works really well too.

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Homemade naan bread is a great find and one that I bake often especially when I have friends around and need something fresh but easy to rustle up. Fresh from the oven, smeared with butter and topped with herbs or dried spices. It’s the perfect accompaniment for dunking in any Indian curry to be honest. I know a lot of people seem surprised when I say I cook my own naan. It’s easier than most people think. Give it a go I guarantee you’ll love it.

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I enjoyed a brilliant summer, but I feel like I’m yearning to stretch out the berry season. Found the most wonderful strawberries at my local farm shop over the weekend, sweet and bursting with flavour so I’m trying to make the most of it. Not commonly used in Indian dessert but I know a lot of Indian foodies adapt them into a lot of desserts we cook. And that’s exactly what I have done for this recipe.

Bhapa doi is one of my all time favourite Indian desserts. One that I remember eating at my Bengali friends’ homes back in India. Bengalis are known for their love affair with desserts & puddings. It’s a sweet that’s easy to put together with such few ingredients. A steamed yoghurt; with a texture quite like a cheesecake. My mother would make this over the hob & use a steamer to cook it through, hence the name (Bhap meaning steam). My recipe calls for making it in a conventional oven though if you prefer to steam it do so.

Traditionally bhapa doi is made simply with infused cardamom and maybe some saffron for colour. But I have added berry puree into the mix for an added flavour and presentation. All finished off with a few more strawberries and puree to serve. You can swap it for most fruits. It’s also a pudding you can make in advance for a dinner parties. Greek yoghurt gives that slight tang with the sweetness from the berries and the warmth of ground cardamom. Simply delectable.

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One thing I know for sure after cooking, teaching and writing about food is that no matter how lavish a dish is or even the list of ingredients nothing speaks volumes like simple home cooked food. Even when cooking as a private chef most people are taken by the dishes that are simple to cook, easy to follow and taste ever so delicious. Needless to say that’s what usually works for me too and easy to rustle up after a busy day.

Most people reading this might wonder why I decided to blog this recipe. But I think for the sheer simplicity of it. Dal is such a staple in Indian food and one that is eaten almost every day as part of a meal in homes all across India. I cook it regularly at home and even for work. But rather than making it far too complicated I wanted to stick to basic ingredients and almost in a way let them speak for themselves. Though its such a versatile dish that an addition of chopped spinach or fenugreek leaves add nutritional value making it a meal in itself. The pleasure is in a spoonful of dal that has flavour, taste and is hearty. Or like I enjoy eating, taking a small piece of chapatti dunked in the dal to scoop up the lentils.

The recipe features moong dal the hulled & split variety which by far is a personal favourite. But feel free to swap it for toor or masoor/ red dal variety if those are more readily available. Also one other thing; I love using (tons of!!) garlic as you can see in the photos but I have reduced the amount in the list of ingredients to suit everyone’s taste. The consistency of dal is another thing that with a lot of people is a personal preference. But most people prefer a thick dal that has substance. I can’t think of a better meal than hot steaming rice, with dal ladled over and a serving of some savoury pickle.

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I recently mentioned on my radio slot at BBC Newcastle and also tweeted about it on Twitter that I recently acquired a beautiful age old cookbook. Which I’m chuffed to bits about. It’s the perfect hand me down; one that I’m not just honoured to acquire but excited to continue cooking from. Recipes from four generations of various families in the 50’s and 60’s in India – from an era that has a mystery and fascination for me which is hard to explain. It’s a phase that reminds me dearly of my grandmother someone I wish I was able to spend more time with. The recipes in this cookbook vary from region to region so there is a lot to choose from. Parsi recipes in my mind are a part of a community which has had strong influences on me. To cook up meals with enthusiasm, sharing and revelling in the experience (of eating too!) is very much part of the culture.

Visiting Parsi family & friends when we were younger was always a treat and not just because they are so friendly and welcoming but the food was hearty, delicious and the flavours were just so unique that it encompassed the perfect meal you’d ever wish for. Every dish in the Parsee repertoire is unique and has its own individual flavours. Some of my favourite parsi dishes are; Salli Boti a meat based dish that cooked in spices and topped with slivers of fried crispy potato, also the quintessential Dhansak a lentil & meat based dish cooked with vegetables and served with a brown dhansak rice, it’s absolutely delicious and a must try if you ever visit a parsi home or a local restaurant.

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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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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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Every aspect of Indian food has a variety and the bread department does not fail to impress in that aspect. I love a basic naan bread, chapatti or deep fried Puris/ bhaturas. But when I want bread to be the star of my meal and also just simply don’t have the time to cook both a curry and some bread; a theplas, parathas or even south indian style crepes like dosas make it special.
Though theplas are synonymous with Gujarati cuisine, they are eaten in most parts of the country. Most regions in India have their own version of it this style of bread.

I remember travelling as a young girl with my family in India and always found people carrying this as a snack on their journeys with some pickle and maybe a little dry veggie dish to go. One of the reasons this is usually a travel snack of choice in India is because unlike other breads it stays fresher longer. More so in the hot summer when you need food to last through long journeys. This bread can be eaten warm or cold.  The use of yoghurt makes the dough more paliable and yield softer theplas which stay soft even when they are served cold. I haven’t used any water which would be the way they make it in Gujarati households but if you feel you might need a little water to help with getting the dough together add a couple of tablespoons. Though yoghurt alone usually does the trick.

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Batata Poha – Flaked Rice with Potatoes sautéed in turmeric, chilli & curry leaves

Poha as it’s commonly known is eaten all over India, though it is a speciality from Maharashtra. I have been eating this dish for breakfast like most people do since I was really young. This is one dish that can be eaten as a snack or amain meal.

When I was little and my family were visiting friends or relatives, the quickest thing that Indian housewives could put together was this dish, served steaming hot with some sweet & savoury pickles to accompany it. Maybe a bit of fresh yoghurt too.I think my fondest memories are of my mum making this for us on weekends and I do always going for seconds.

It is flaked rice, so if there is too much water left while it is soaking, there is a chance the dish might be lumpy. The end result must always be where the poha is light, flaky, with just the right amount of spice (chilli, mustard seeds or curry leaves) and a small amount of potato. Letting the main ingredient stand out. All garnished with fresh coriander and some lime juice. You can also garnish it with some roasted peanuts or freshly grated coconut.

I guess in a way, I do try and emulate that. Poha is a staple favourite every weekend and I make it fresh served exactly how my mother would be proud of me to serve it! Enjoy.
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