Great Indian Food: Curry - A Journey

Great Indian Food: Curry - A Journey

Curry - A Journey

Due to a childhood in the Middle East, I was practically brought up on curry. My first memories of it are eating curried goat in the fire station of Dubai airport in about 1962. My dad was the airport manager and the Chief Fire Officer and his family were our good friends and neighbours. The firemen cooked for our two families - fiery hot curry for the adults and a much milder version for us kids. Some of the men were of Arabic origins and some of Indian so I think the resulting meal was something of a mixture.
I remember we were offered chairs and cutlery but we preferred to sit on the floor and in the traditional manner, ate only with our right hands. This posed something of a problem for my mother as she was left-handed - she avoided making inexcusable gaffes by sitting on her left hand until the meal was over.
We learnt to roll rice into balls and with the aid of chapattis (wheat flour flatbreads), scooped up the curry and popped it into our mouths without making too much mess. I don’t think I ate curry again in that way until many years later when I visited Goa and, at a spice plantation, was once again faced with banana leaf plates and fingers only. Bizarrely, in a nearby clearing, was a pink porcelain, pedestal hand basin with a hose pipe attached to the tap, fully supplied with soap and hand towels.
During those days of being expatriates in foreign lands, the British developed a liking for curry lunch on a Sunday. Doubtless this originated in India in the days of the Raj but still found its way to the Middle East and Africa. A group of friends would gather either at one of their houses or the local club. There would be beers or gins and tonics first (cola or fizzy orange for the kids). There wouldn’t be a choice of curries, as I recall, it was always chicken and no matter where we ate it and it always tasted the same. The accompaniments didn’t vary much either but we didn’t mind. There would be poppadoms, mango chutney and a variety of sambals - chopped fruits and salad stuff which might include any or all of banana, pineapple, apple, tomato, cucumber, onion, desiccated coconut, peanuts and raisins or sultanas. With luck there would be chapattis too.
My next curry experiences were back in England. How different it all was. Indian restaurants furnished in red velvet with flocked wallpaper in gold. All sorts of different curries - not only the main ingredient but the mix of spices and flavourings. There were choices of plain or spicy poppadoms, different breads and vegetable curries and dahls as well, no sambals though! On the down side, these curries were often rather greasy and we always thought of them as being terribly fattening - naughty but oh so nice! The saviour, if conscience got the better of us was Tandoori-cooked meats. These were marinated in yoghurt and spice paste and cooked in a Tandoor (an earthenware charcoal oven), so were in effect grilled and much healthier.
Change again then when I finally visited India in 1988 and discovered that meat curries were the exception rather than the rule. Many Indians are vegetarians so paneer (similar to cottage cheese) is popular as are the many dishes made with pulses and vegetables. There was no trace of the greasiness found in restaurants in the UK and the flavours were quite different too.
This voyage of discovery culminated in a determination to learn how to reproduce Indian food in my own home but more of that in another article.

Indian Tandoori Cooking

Traditionally, tandoori dishes are cooked in a tandoor, an oval shaped clay oven with a small fire in the bottom. The heat rises gradually but ultimately reaches a much higher temperature than a barbeque.
A tandoor is normally used to cook naan bread, meats and kebabs (meat or paneer). The bread is stuck to the sides, the kebabs stood vertically and whole chickens rested on a grid over the fire.
For domestic cooking, a tandoor is not really convenient but the meat dishes can be reproduced on a barbeque or in the oven. The bright red appearance of tandoori meats which you may see in Indian restaurants is produced by a food dye which really isn’t necessary to enhance the look of your tandoori dishes.
I have a great fondness for tandoori style food. It has flavour, without being "hot" or high in calories or too filling. In fact it's an ideal dish summer or winter, if you fancy something a little different. As a bonus, it doesn't take hours to prepare. Of course you can take all the effort out of it and use a pre-prepared mix, but I think they have less flavour and you can’t use them for anything else, whereas if you use the individual spices, you can make other dishes as well.
You can easily make tandoori chicken (whole), tandoori lamb chops (pork would be more unusual, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t use it, if you prefer) and lamb tikka (kebabs) but my personal favourite is chicken tikka because it’s so quick so here’s my own recipe.
This recipe serves two people - multiply it for as many people as you want.
Ingredients
2 Chicken breasts 1 small tub Greek yogurt 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander ½ tsp ground turmeric ½ tsp ginger powder ½ tsp chilli powder (or to taste) 1 small clove garlic, crushed salt to taste 1 tbsp lemon juice
Cut the chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes and set aside.
Mix the spice powders and garlic into the yogurt. You can use low fat yogurt if you prefer. You can also use fresh ginger or ginger paste from a jar rather than ginger powder but go easy on the quantity as it can be quite over-powering.
At this point you can also mix in the salt and lemon juice but if you do so, don’t leave the chicken to marinade for more than about 20 minutes or it will become very dry when cooked. If you want to marinade it for a longer time, add the salt and lemon juice just before you cook the dish or sprinkle on to serve.
Thread the chicken onto skewers and either barbeque or cook under a grill using medium heat until the chicken is slightly browned and cooked through.
For a light meal, serve with salad, pitta or naan bread and lemon wedges or for something more substantial with rice and dahl.

Regional Indian Cookery - The Punjab

The Punjab is situated in eastern India and is divided by the Indian/Pakistani border. It is very fertile because of the rivers that cross here and as a consequence, agriculture is central to the economy. Wheat accounts for a large proportion of the crops, along with corn, mustard greens, sugar cane and rice.
Buffalo milk which is 3% higher in fat than cows milk, is also important to the Punjabis, who are not prey to worries about cholesterol. Every bit of the buffalo milk is used in some way or other. Some is used in tea or evaporated into a much thicker richer milk known as bhadoli, which in turn is set into yoghurt. The thick cream will be removed from the top of the yoghurt and churned into butter. Some of the butter will be saved as is and the rest will be warmed slowly and turned into ghee (clarified butter) by pouring off the clear butter and discarding the solid sediment. Yet more of the milk will be made into paneer, the Indian equivalent of cottage cheese. The milk is boiled then curdled by adding lime juice then strained of whey, leaving the curds which can be shaped into solid rounds.
The Punjab is predominantly Sikh, being the home of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, central to the Sikh religion, thus more than half of all Punjabis are vegetarian. No one goes hungry here and Sikh temples always offer simple free meals of bread and vegetable curry to all who turn up.
Bread is the most important part of the Punjabi diet. Rotis are made from wholewheat flour and water, formed into balls and flattened into discs which are then slapped onto the site of a tandoor or onto a tava (a flat griddle pan like a flat frying pan). Rotis are commonly eaten for breakfast with butter, fresh yoghurt and pickles, while for lunch or dinner there will be parathas which are much richer, being brushed with ghee, folded and rolled again before being cooked and brushed with more ghee.
Unlike most of the rest of India, rice in the Punjab is for special occasions only or for making rice pudding.
Lunch in the fields will often consist of paratha and a curry made from onions fried with garlic, ginger, green chillies, cayenne, garam masala, tomatoes, turmeric and salt. Potatoes are stirred in and coated with the spices before adding water and cooking slowly.
Breads may also be served for dinner with small black beans and kidney beans cooked with onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes and garnished with butter. Another favourite is paneer bhaji - tomatoes, chillies and ginger quickly fried with crumbled paneer added - or the same basic mixture with pureéd spinach and cubes of paneer added. Paneer can also be dipped in chick pea flour batter and deep fried, making pakora. Mustard greens may be cooked very slowly with green chillies then when soft, pureéd, thickened with cornmeal flour and added to fried onion, tomato and ginger and garnished with white butter.
For the non-vegetarians, there is tandoori chicken - whole chicken marinaded in yoghurt and spices, cut into pieces and cooked in a tandoor - or tikkas (kebabs) of chicken or cubed or minced meat mixed with spices, garlic and ginger.
Cheap fast food restaurants called dhabas are common in the Punjab and often have their own specialities - one may concentrate on paneer bhaji and another, tandoori chicken - but you can be sure that wherever you eat in the Punjab, you will be filled with nourishing, tasty food.

Indian Snack Food

Indian children love the Khomcha-Wallah. He wanders the streets, the busier the better, basket of goodies on his head and a cane stool under his arm. When he encounters a likely crowd he sets down his basket on the stool and starts to trade. The basket will contain the half-prepared ingredients of what is known in northern India as chaat - savoury snacks from traditional Hindu cuisine - which may be served in a banana leaf bowl.
One item might be Aloo Chaat which is fried, golden-brown potato cubes tossed with chilli powder, roasted cumin powder and chaat masala**.
Another, Dhai Baras which are split-pea patties. They will be already fried and softened in warm water. To complete the dish the Khomcha-Wallah may add beaten, creamy plain yoghurt with salt on top, and a choice of spice mixes. One mixture will be aromatic and probably contain roasted cumin, black pepper and dried mango powder, another will be hot a fiery with chillies, another sweet and sour like tamarind chutney.
Some Indian cities have become renowned for a certain sort of chaat - Jaipur for Paapri Chaat (similar to Dhai Baras but served with cubed potatoes chick peas) and Mumbai for Pau Bahji (spicy potato and vegetable curry served in a bun) but it is Delhi which is the chaat capital of India.
Some other chaats are:
Aloo Samosa - little pastry triangles filled with a spicy mixture of small diced potatoes and peas with chillies, chilli powder, fresh coriander, cumin and garam masala.
Keema Samosa - similar to above but including minced beef or lamb.
Aloo Tikki - mashed potato mixed with peas, cumin powder, corn flour, chilli powder and salt, formed into patties and fried until crisp and golden.
Tandoori Chicken Chaat - Tandoori chicken, shredded and mixed with diced green mango, onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and chaat masala**, dressed with lemon juice, oil and chilli powder.
**Chaat Masala is a spice mix made by combining the following ingredients.
4 tsp powdered dried mango 3 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground 3 tsp salt ½ tsp ground black pepper 1 tsp garam masala 1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp fennel seeds, roasted and ground (optional) ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Indian Cookery - Mixing Your Own Spices

While you can easily obtain ready mixed spices in most supermarkets or Asian speciality shops these days, you get a fresher, more authentic taste when you mix your own. It may be a little time consuming, but well worth it for the extra flavour. If you are going to mix your own flavourings from whole, rather than powdered, ingredients, you will need an electric coffee grinder or spice grinder, otherwise you will not obtain the powdery consistency. A much used spice mix, usually incorporated towards the end of cooking time, is Garam Masala (which actually means hot spice) and there are probably as many recipes as there are families in India. However, one of my favourite cookery writers is Madhur Jaffrey and in her book Indian Cookery, she recommends the following: 1 tbsp cardamom seeds A 2 inch (5cm) stick of cinnamon 1 tsp black cumin seeds 1 tsp whole cloves 1 tsp black peppercorns ¼ of an average-sized nutmeg Finely grind all the spices together and store in an air-tight jar in a cool dark place. Another recipe uses rather more ingredients as follows: 1 tsp coriander seeds 1tsp cumin seeds ½ a dried chilli ½ tsp nutmeg 1 tsp black peppercorns 1tbsp cardamom pods 1 tsp cloves 1 tsp fennel seeds 1 fairly large bayleaf Remove the seeds from the cardamom pod and if you don't want a hot mix, the seeds from the dried chilli. As before, grind finely and store carefully. For a slightly different, more aromatic flavour, dry roast the spices first in a frying pan. If you often cook in a hurry, you may want to have a pre-prepared curry powder to hand. Shop bought curry powder is not particularly flavoursome, so make some of your own as store as for Garam Masala. Don't make too much at a time as it will lose its flavour. 1 tsp coriander seeds or coriander powder Dried chillies or chilli powder to taste. 1 tsp cumin seeds or cumin powder ½ tsp garlic powder or garlic salt ½ tsp salt (omit if using garlic salt) 1 inch (2.5cm) cinnamon stick or 1 tsp cinnamon powder 1 large bayleaf ½ tsp cloves Seeds from 8 cardamom pods 1 tsp black peppercorns or powdered black pepper If you are using whole spices, you will need an electric grinder, but if you are using powdered ingredients, just mix them together in a bowl or jar and store as before.

Sweets and Savouries for Diwali

Entertaining family and friends is a large part of Diwali, so every home needs to be prepared to provide tasty nibbles for guests at a moment's notice. Diwali is a time of celebration and apart from the oil lights and candles which decorate homes, the puja and the prayers, special sweets, savouries and snacks are central to the festival. Sweets “mithai”, of which the Indians are inordinately fond, are given as presents”. These sweets are made with a combination of any of paneer (similar to cottage cheese), semolina, chickpea flour, thickened milk, wheat flour, coconut, grated carrots and spiced with any of cardamom, nutmeg or cinnamon with nuts and raisins added for texture. Here’s a favourite. Kalakand Ingredients: 500g paneer 1 tin condensed milk 2 heaped tbsp full cream milk powder Flavourings to taste 1 silver leaf (optional) Mash the paneer coarsely with a fork and add the milk powder and condensed milk. Mix well. Heat the mixture in a thick bottomed pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and spread onto a greased baking tray. Sprinkle cardamom powder or slivers of almonds or pistachio nuts on the top. Top with the silver leaf if using. Cool and cut into squares. Makes: 15-20 pieces Preparation time: 20 minutes Sweet and savoury snacks are consumed at home and might include pooris (deep fried bread, which puffs up almost to a sphere, made with cumin and green chillies or with sugar and cardamom), samosas (pastry triangles stuffed with spicy peas and potato), half-moon shaped pastries, filled with coconut, nuts, raisins and spices. Here’s a taste of both sweet and savoury. Besan Laddus Ingredients 250g Gram flour (besan) 300g Powdered sugar 400g Ghee or butter 3tsp Cardamom powder 2tsp Almonds, chopped 2tsp Pistachio nuts, chopped Method Heat the ghee or butter in a frying pan. Add the gram flour and stir well to mix. Fry on a low heat until it is pale brown and the flour is cooked. Allow to cool. Add the powdered sugar, cardamom powder, chopped almonds and pistachios to the flour mixture and form into small balls with your hands. Murukku Ingredients 90g rice flour 120g cup white gram flour 1 tsp Sesame seeds ½ tsp Cumin seeds ½ tsp Chilli powder ½ tsp Asafoetida 3 tbsp Oil Salt Oil for frying Method Mix the flours together and add the spices, seeds and salt. Rub in the oil and add water to make a thick dough. Twist the dough into circular shapes. Heat the oil until a pinch of the dough dropped in, rises to the top with bubbles around it. Fry until golden brown, turning occasionally and drain on kitchen paper. Cool and store in an airtight container. Another favourite snack, which is quick and easy to prepare for guests is Masala Cashew Nuts Just deep fry large cashew nuts in ghee or oil, drain on absorbent paper and sprinkle with a mixture of salt, red chilli powder and garam masala. Be sure not to try to fry too many at a time or the ghee may initially bubble up too fiercely then cool too quickly, leaving the nuts very greasy.