Cook in a Curry

Tikkas are little bites of meat or vegetables soaking in marinade, cooked in a tandoor with spices. Basted with melted butter while cooking the pieces get their charred edges giving it the rustic feel & sense of traditional charcoal cooking in India.

All too often on a late night out with friends the norm would be to visit a kebab house or street stalls churning out platefuls of kebabs, soft rotis, paneer dishes, parathas and variants of offal cooked in spices. All served with lassi, chilled refreshing fruit juices & sometimes even thums up. The stalls used to be chaotic with little place to sit so we’d always wait outside, place the order and eat on the go. I can assure you nothing beats a late night (3am!) snack fix like buttery melted cheese parathas, rotis, chicken/ lamb kebabs cooked in lashings of thick marinade all washed down with chilled fizzy thums up.

Food is very much part of the culture in Indian communities and kebab/ tikkas are also eaten with drinks to begin a meal (or even as a snack). Skewered, grilled, baked, fried meat chunks with flavours of fresh and powdered spices served with chutneys and dipping sauces is always a winner. A sprinkling of Indian chaat masala (a mix of spices; sour mango powder, cumin & black salt) before serving and some onion rings make a drool worthy addition.

There are many varieties of tikkas on offer and Kali Mirch Murgh is one such chicken dish that simple & easy to cook at home. Traditionally cooked in black pepper; it’s the coarse texture of the peppercorns that infuse the succulent pieces of chicken. I have added white pepper to enhance not just the heat but also the peppery flavour. Make sure to grind them quite coarse, as they cling on to the chicken pieces lending a bout of spice warmth with every bite. My recipe uses hung yoghurt which has been strained in a muslin. The marinade should be thick and creamy to coat the chicken. You can swap this for Greek yoghurt or Lebnah if you prefer.

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Pakora, Pakoda, Pakode same difference as far as I’m concern! What matters is the food itself. Delicious, crispy, deep fried and all scoffed with lashings of pudina (mint) chutney with a tang from the tamarind chutney or a few dollops of my favourite typical Marathi offering of fiery coarse chilli garlic chutney (Lasunachi chutney).

This street food addition is made all across the city of Mumbai and beyond. Street stalls make them in minutes and like most street food is cheap as chips. It used to be my ‘go to’ guilty pleasure and one that I still indulge in. What always gets me is the spicy potato mix encased with a crispy coating of the gram flour. Every bite of crisp batter, soft bread and spicy mashed potato with chutneys to accompany; all washed down with a warm cup of tea was (and still is!) pure pleasure.

The potato mix is easy to make, though the potato is best crushed by hand as you want a slightly lumpy mix rather than smooth mashed potato base. With the spicing, it is perfect to eat even rolled in chapatti or bread by itself.

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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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When I mention the use of pomegranate in Indian food it takes a lot of people by surprise. For some it’s almost unimaginable to think of it as a predominant ingredient in Indian curries as opposed to just a garnish of sorts. Pomegranate or anardana as its known; is quite commonly used in a lot of North Indian cooking. From curries, breads, raitas and tikkas the seeds are used fresh which are readily available in India; or dehydrated and sold dry. Dehydrated pomegranate seeds lend that required sweet & sour flavour in curries or chutneys. A lot of recipes also call for pomegranate powder or even juice.  It’s the perfect souring agent lending that tangy slant to a dish.

The menu on one of my classes recently featured this gorgeous ingredient as part of a chicken curry with chillies and garlic. Not surprisingly it went down an absolute treat. I remember visiting Mughlai/ Punjabi restaurants in India with my family and scrolling through the menu decidedly knowing what I was to order. For me the all time favourites were Reshmi Tikka (made with cream and ground nuts) also Kandhari Murgh; moist succulent chicken pieces coated in a thick marinade. Each bite was a perfect mix of heat from the chilli, tangy flavours from the pomegranate and warmth from fresh ginger and garlic. With a sprinkling of chaat masala for that added spice and tartness this dish was delicious dunking each bite in pudine ki (mint) chutney eaten with crispy onion rings.

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Over the past few years I have cooked this for a lot of clients and received rave reviews for it. It spurred me on to add it to my summer column of Food Quarter Magazine. And on the back of that have seen a lot of curry lovers email me requesting the recipe as they can’t get hold of a copy of the magazine. I am happy to oblige!

Think using basil in the marinade gives it a refreshingly distinct taste. As marinades go this one has spicy notes with the addition of coarse white pepper powder but with the perfect zingy and creamy flavours running through it too. I have used salmon but any firm fish would work well. Fish tikkas with fresh salad on grilled flat bread and a dollop of chutney or creamy dip would make for a perfect meal any day.

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There were 474 photos (to be precise!) in all taken during my trip spanning three cities to India recently. In Mumbai alone, I visited about 18 restos & a host of street food joints to relish what the city has on offer. For now though let me give you a taster of my ongoing love for all things Indian food. Click the more button to view the rest.

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It’s a special occasion and we had guests over for dinner. Mum always wanted everything pristine perfect and food undoubtedly topped that list. The house was sparkling clean, fresh flowers in the sitting room with music in the background, all her best china and shiny cutlery was laid out on the table (mind you we NEVER got to use it unless we had guests!). The food warmer was preheated with a few dishes that she had prepped for. An array of curries, boondi raita, fresh salad (or ‘salaaad’ as they called it!) and Ras malai chilled in the fridge to finish off an enchanting evening. But starters with drinks always started off the evening on a high. Drinks and kebabs have a love affair that I know every Indian would vouch for. With heated debates on politics, films or religion; the one thing that all guest unanimously gushed about was how delicious each starter was as an accompaniment to the drinks.

‘Hari Machhi kebab’ or Fish kebabs made with a green dry marinade were a family favourite. The fish mixed in with the marinade culminated in a melt in your mouth kebab. While mum was still frying them off I tuck into this crispy edged fish kebab; still piping hot and moist in the middle with a hint of ginger & spices. Dunking each morsel in a generous portion of tangy chutney. I was always the first in the kitchen to ‘sample’ the kebabs before the guests arrived and sneaking back to the kitchen for more while my parents weren’t around. Cooking them now takes me back to the aromas, sizzles & splutters when mum would make them in her kitchen. And nevertheless keeps me coming back for more.

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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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Chicken Shawarma

A whiff of cinnamon, cardamom, clove & nutmeg is in the air at the moment. Spices which are synonymous with Middle Eastern cooking. I can’t get enough of the food in that region, from the lamb, chicken, hummus and even falafels. I had been frequenting the gulf even as a young girl and some of the fondest memories every time I visited were eating at little markets and stalls; the food was rustic, full of flavour and comforting. In the winters on a cold day standing out close to the stall, I could not have asked for more than to eat some of the freshly baked hot Arabic bread seasoned with Zaatar and then bite into a Shawarma roll, all washed down with a glass of warm apple tea.

Last year we visited Dubai after a really long time, and for me it was like having all the various varieties of my favourite food under one roof! Which I think is what Dubai does offer. I came back loaded not just with memories of good eats but recipes and even an Arabic cook book. I have over the last few months tried a few recipes from the book but I think the only thing beckoning my attention all along was the recipe for a Chicken Shawarma. I decided to cook it this week.

The recipe itself has various components which compliment each other. The tahini which I think is a must and adds hugely to the flavour of the Shawarma. A lot places also serve it with a garlic sauce but with the tahini having its share of garlic I thought it worked well just on its own.

I used chicken breast and sliced them as thinly as I could, marinating it in olive oil, nutmeg, clove, cinnamon and cardamom. I did freshly grind the nutmeg, clove, cardamom and cinnamon powders which does make a difference. All wrapped in Khaboos which is like the traditional roti as that’s what they usually serve it in but pitta bread works just as well. Apart from the recipe for the Shawarma, I tweaked about a tad bit with the tahini. I made it less garlicky & used half the amount of the tahini paste along with yoghurt to make it a bit runny.

The result was a moist and succulent Shawarma roll with chicken, the sauce offering that hint of garlic and a creamy texture, pickled gherkins which gave it a tangy flavour topped with some fresh salad. Taking my first bite into the roll was like being back at the market stalls for a visit.

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