Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India, page 21
4–6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 fresh hot green chilies
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup olive or other vegetable oil
2 large black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
4–6 whole cloves
One 2-inch stick cinnamon 4–5 green cardamom pods
2 medium onions (10 ounces), peeled and finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes, grated on the coarsest part of a grater, or enough to yield 1½ cups (see headnote on page 255)
½ teaspoon Kashmiri red-chili powder (or cayenne)
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
¾ teaspoon salt
Combine all ingredients for the meatballs, mix well, and form 24 meatballs with wetted palms. Arrange the meatballs in a single layer on a plate, cover, and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
Make the sauce: Put the ginger, garlic, green chilies, ground coriander, and ground cumin, along with 3 tablespoons water, into a blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
Pour the oil into a wide, heavy pan or sauté pan, and set over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the black cardamom, cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon, and green cardamom. Stir once or twice, and put in the onions. Fry over medium-high heat, stirring for about 8 minutes, or until the onions are reddish brown. Add the ginger paste, turn the heat down a little, and stir for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes and red chili powder. Stir and cook over medium-high heat until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick, dark paste and you begin to see the oil. Turn the heat to medium, and add the yogurt, a tablespoon at a time, until it blends with the sauce. When all the yogurt has been added this way, pour in 2 cups water and the salt. Stir to mix. Slide in the meatballs, making sure they lie in a single layer, and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer gently for 50-60 minutes, shaking the pan every now and then but never stirring with a spoon.
Lamb with Spinach (Saag Gosht)
SERVES 4-6
There are so many good recipes for Lamb with Spinach. If you look through my cookbooks, you are bound to find at least three or four. I have to confess here that I have been trying for years to make a dish that tasted like what my Muslim friends at Queen Mary's Higher Secondary School used to bring in their tiffin-carriers (see pages 175-76). I had little success at it. What was I missing? I so desperately wanted that Muslim taste, not the rich Moghul version of it, but the common-man dish I had eaten under the tall shade trees at my old school.
In 2005, I was in Delhi to write about two famous local restaurants, the Bukhara and Dumpukht, for London's Financial Times. I was in their common kitchen—both restaurants are in the Mau-rya Sheraton Hotel—and the Muslim chefs there were showing me how to prepare some elegant, highly elaborate meat dishes, all worthy of emperors. “But,” I asked one of the chefs, Nisar Waris, “how would you cook a simple saag gosht in your own home? I am looking for an everyday recipe.” To me it is these home dishes that, rather like Italian food at its best, form the heart of our great cuisine. The chef paused in his stirring. Indian chefs are always surprised when you don't show a preference for their grand recipes. He thought for a bit and then went back to stirring as he rattled out a rough recipe, “Put some mustard oil in a pan …” Ah, here was a difference already. The oil. My notebook and pencil were already poised. I began writing. I noticed that there were no onions in the recipe, only ginger and garlic. Another difference.
A year passed without my testing the recipe, but when I did, the gratification was instant. Here was the dish that I had been dreaming about for so many decades.
If you do not wish to use the strong-tasting, pungent mustard oil, which I happen to love and which has been used in India since ancient times, try an extra virgin olive oil instead. They have entirely different flavors, but both are intense in their own way.
One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 good-sized cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less, if preferred)
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons mustard or extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds boneless lamb from the shoulder, cut into 1½-inch cubes
1 pound spinach, washed and chopped finely (cut stacks of leaves crosswise into fine ribbons first, then lengthwise into small pieces)
6 tablespoons coarsely grated fresh tomato (1 medium tomato) (see headnote on page 255)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garam masala (see page 295)
Put the ginger, garlic, and 5 tablespoons water into a blender. Blend until smooth. Add the turmeric, cayenne, and salt. Blend to mix.
Pour the oil into a large, wide, preferably nonstick sauté pan and set over medium heat. When it is hot, put in the meat pieces and stir them around for about 2 minutes. Add the paste from the blender. Continue to stir and cook for 2 minutes. Drop in a handful of spinach and stir it in until it is quite wilted. Add all the spinach this way, a handful at a time. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook 30 minutes, checking the meat every now and then to make sure there is some liquid in the pan. Remove the cover. Put in the grated tomato and turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir and cook the meat until all the liquid has evaporated and the meat just starts to brown, about 10 minutes. Now add ½ cup water, stir it in, and turn the heat down to low. Cover and cook another 15-25 minutes, or until the meat is tender. There should be a little bit of liquid left in the pan to make a thickish sauce.
Sprinkle the cumin and garam masala over the top and stir them in. Cover and cook on very, very low heat another 5 minutes.
Maya's Meat and Potatoes (Aloo Gosht)
SERVES 4-6
Maya, Bhaiyyadada's wife, is the creator of this recipe. In India, this dish is always made with goat. Pieces with bone from the neck and shoulder and marrow bones (which are smaller than lamb marrow bones) are combined with boneless pieces, such as those taken from muscles.
You could try making this with goat, which is now widely available in ethnic markets. If you can't get it, you can always fall back on either boneless lamb or a combination of some lamb pieces with bone and others without.
Grating tomatoes is not something that was done at home. I remember watching my mother cook in London when she and my father had come to visit my sister Lalit and me. She put whole, chopped tomatoes into the pan for whatever sauce she was making, and then, once the pieces had softened, painstakingly picked off all the skins. It was years later, when I was in the Pun-jab collecting recipes for a BBC program, that I learned this other, clever trick, which I have used ever since. Tomatoes can be grated on the large, coarse holes of a grater to provide a fresh purée … and the skin stays behind. Just hold one side of a tomato against the large holes, push a bit, and start grating. Sometimes the coarse skin needs to be cut off, but I never bother. I just persist. Keep grating until you have most of the tomato skin left in your hand. Flatten your palm, and grate the tomato flesh off the skin.
4 medium waxy potatoes (such as red potatoes), a little less than 1 pound total
Salt
Ground turmeric
One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
10–12 medium cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
Olive or other vegetable oil
8 whole cloves
2-inch stick cinnamon
2 large black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
8 green cardamom pods
2 medium onions (about 10 ounces), peeled and very finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, grated on the largest holes of the grater (you need about 1 cup)
1½ teaspoons Kashmiri red-chili powder (or ½ teaspoon cayenne plus 1½ teaspoons good sweet red paprika)
2 pounds lamb (or goat), boned or not, cut into cubes of about 1 inch (see headnote)
1½ teaspoons salt, or a bit more to taste
Boil the potatoes in their jackets until tender. Allow them to cool completely, then peel. Cut into halves or quarters, depending on size. You need large, chunky pieces. Rub a little salt and turmeric on them.
Put the ginger, garlic, and ¼ cup water into a blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste.
Pour about 2 tablespoons oil into a medium, well-seasoned frying pan. Add the potatoes, and brown lightly on all sides. Lift carefully out of the oil without breaking them, and set aside.
Pour 5 tablespoons oil into a wide, heavy pan, and set over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the cloves, cinnamon, black cardamom, cumin seeds, and green cardamom. Stir once, and put in the onions. Stir-fry for 6-8 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste, and fry for another 2 minutes, turning the heat down slightly. Now put in the tomatoes and the red-chili powder. Stir and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes are reduced to a dark paste and the oil begins to show.
Put in the meat. Stir it around for a minute. Add ¼ cup water, and cover. Cook the meat over medium heat, stirring now and then, until it has browned a bit. Don't let it burn. Add another 1½ cups water and the salt, and bring to a boil. Cover, and let the meat simmer gently on low heat for 60-80 minutes, or until tender (goat takes longer). Add the potatoes, and shake the pan. Cover, and cook over very low heat for 5 minutes.
Bimla's Chicken Curry (Dahi Murgh)
SERVES 4
This recipe comes from Bimla, who married my cousin Shashi, Saran Bhua's son. The recipe is very like my mother's, only Bimla keeps the sauce thick and clinging to the chicken pieces. It is utterly delicious.
I buy a 3¼-pound organic chicken and get the butcher to skin it and cut it into small serving pieces. Legs should be separated into drumsticks and thighs, and each breast should be cut into two pieces.
Serve with rice or phulkas.
3 medium onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
20 medium cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
One 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
8 green cardamom pods
Two 2-inch sticks cinnamon
8 whole cloves
14 whole peppercorns
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red-chili powder (or ½ teaspoon cayenne plus ½ teaspoon of a nice sweet red paprika)
1 medium chicken, preferably organic, skinned, cut, and chopped into small serving pieces, net weight about 2 pounds 10 ounces
1½ cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
Put the onions into a blender. Add the garlic and ginger, and blend until you have a smooth paste.
Pour the oil into a large, heavy sauté or frying pan set over medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and peppercorns. Ten seconds later, add the onion paste and the red-chili powder. Now stir-fry for about 10 minutes, turning the heat down to medium if necessary, until the paste has turned a rich golden brown. Whenever it seems to stick, sprinkle in a little water and stir it in.
Now add the chicken pieces, a few at a time, and stir them in. Again, sprinkle in some water if the sauce sticks to the bottom. When all the chicken has been added, begin to put in the yogurt, a tablespoon at a time, and stir it in just as you did the water. When the sauce sticks, add yogurt and stir it in. Do this for about 10-12 minutes. When only ½ cup of yogurt is left, put it all in and stir it around. Add the salt as well, and stir to mix. Now cover, turn the heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
Uncover and stir, making sure the sauce is clinging to the chicken.
Chicken Cooked in a Yogurt-Almond Sauce (Murgh Korma)
SERVES 4-6
This is one of my favorite dishes when I am entertaining. It is relatively simple to prepare, looks rich but isn't (as I use nonfat yogurt), and tastes heavenly. It is also authentically Moghul/ Delhi in style.
The chicken needs to be cut for a curry: First, it should be skinned. Each breast piece should be halved, and legs must be divided into drumsticks and thighs.
One 2½-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
4–5 good-sized cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons blanched, slivered almonds
1½ cups plain yogurt
1½ teaspoons garam masala (see page 295)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½–1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
1½ teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
2 medium onions, peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into fine half-rings
Two 2-inch sticks cinnamon
8 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
3¼ pounds chicken, cut into 8 pieces (see headnote)
2 tablespoons golden raisins (sultanas)
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
Put the ginger, garlic, and ¼ cup water into a blender. Blend until you have a smooth paste. Add the almonds and another 2 tablespoons water. Blend again until you have a smooth paste.
Put the yogurt in a bowl. Whisk it lightly with a fork or whisk until smooth. Add the garam masala, ground coriander, cayenne, and salt. Stir well to mix.
Put the oil into a large, preferably nonstick sauté pan and set it over medium heat. When it is hot, put in the sliced onions. Stir and fry for 10-12 minutes, turning the heat down, if necessary, until the onion slices are reddish brown. Remove the onion slices with a slotted spoon, squeezing out as much of the oil as you can with the back of a second spoon, and leaving that oil behind in the pan. Spread the onion slices over a paper towel-lined plate.
Put the cinnamon, cardamom, and bay leaves into the same pan over medium heat. Stir, once or twice. A minute later, put in the chicken pieces, only as many as the pan can hold easily in a single layer. Brown the chicken pieces lightly on both sides, removing them to a bowl when done. Do all the chicken pieces this way. Add the golden raisins. Stir a few times and then add the paste from the blender. Stir and fry for 2 minutes. Now put in the contents of the bowl with the chicken, including all accumulated juices, the contents of the yogurt bowl, and the fried onions. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer, still on medium heat. Cover, turn the heat to low, and cook gently for 25-30 minutes, stirring gently now and then, until the chicken pieces are tender. Sprinkle with the chopped cilantro and serve.
Classic Duck Curry with Coriander and Cardamom (Battuck Lajavaab)
SERVES 4
Here is one of my favorite dishes for small dinner parties. It cooks with relative ease, may be made ahead of time, and is exquisitely delicious. Even though it was made in our family with the mallards that were routinely hunted by the menfolk in the winter months, I make the dish with fresh-killed Peking (Pekin) ducks sold by most butchers and available in most Chinese markets.
Ask the butcher to cut up the duck for you as he might a chicken. Each leg should be divided into drumstick and thigh, and the two breasts should each be halved, creating four breast sections. These are the eight pieces that I serve guests. But I cook the entire duck. The rest of the pieces may be served, family style, more informally. Besides, they add flavor to the sauce. These include the neck, which should be cut into 2-inch lengths, the back, the sternum, the gizzard (not the liver), and the wings. Cut off and discard the wing tip, though. When you bring the cut-up duck home, examine each piece, one by one. Cut off all fat and skin that hangs from the sides or ends, leaving only the skin that sits firmly on top of the meat. You need this to hold the meat together. You should, however, remove all the skin from the neck and any blobs of visible fat.
All Indian spice shops sell cardamom seeds already removed from their shells.
One 4-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
6 good-sized cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
4 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
½ teaspoon whole cloves
One 2-inch stick cinnamon, broken up
1 teaspoon Kashmiri red-chili powder (or ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper)
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 tablespoons olive or peanut oil
One 6-pound duck, cut and skinned partially, as suggested above
2 medium onions, peeled and very finely chopped
8 tablespoons plain yogurt
1¾ teaspoons salt, or to taste
Put the ginger, garlic, and ¼ cup water into a blender. Blend thoroughly until you have a smooth paste.
Combine the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, cloves, and cinnamon in a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder. Grind as finely as possible. Empty the spice mixture into a small bowl. Add the red-chili powder, turmeric, vinegar, and about 3 tablespoons water to make a thick, dryish paste.
Pour the oil into the largest sauté pan you own, or into a large, deep frying pan, and set over medium heat. When it is hot, put in as many duck pieces as will fit easily, skin side down.
Brown the duck on one side. Turn the pieces over and brown the second side. Remove them to a bowl. Continue to brown all the duck pieces this way.
Put the onion into the same hot oil. Stir and fry until the onion pieces turn reddish. Add the ginger-garlic paste and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir and cook about 2 minutes, then add the spice paste, stirring and cooking over medium-low heat for another minute. Add 1 tablespoon of the yogurt. Stir and cook until it seems to disappear. Add the remaining yogurt in the same way, a tablespoon at a time. Now put in all the browned duck and any juices that may have accumulated in the bowl, the salt, and 2¾ cups water. Stir and bring to a boil. Cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer gently for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the duck is tender. Stir gently every 10 minutes or so during the cooking period, turning the duck pieces over now and then.
Lift out the duck pieces and place them in a bowl (or serving bowl, if eating soon). Tilt the cooking pan and spoon off as much of the fat as possible from the sauce. Pour the defatted sauce into a blender and blend it finely. Pour this sauce through a course sieve right over the duck pieces, pressing down on the sieve to extract all the possible juices. The duck may be reheated and served the same day, or it may be refrigerated and served a day or two later.
