Spice up your life
In the space of an hour, one can witness hand-pulled rickshaws, camel carts and ceremonial elephants, oxen ploughing the fields with bells tinkling from their gaily painted horns, side by side with brand-new tractors. There are all manner of enterprise and activity — roadside barbers lathering their customers’ chins, cross-legged tailors, chapatti makers, sweetmeat makers, spice wallahs, blacksmiths sharpening sickles to harvest the mustard crop — all alongside glitzy malls. Nowadays, the poorest stallholder is likely to have a mobile phone. Even though economic growth has slowed considerably, much is changing.
In the countryside, women in beautiful saris work on the roads and in the brickworks, carrying heavy loads on their heads with seemingly effortless ease. And everywhere one goes, people have a ready smile.
This time, we spent a few days in Pondicherry, a French Colonial town in south-east India. A wander along the promenade before sunset is an unforgettable experience. Food stalls sell sand-roasted nuts, pani puri, samosas and ice cream. Kids pedal candy floss, bubbles pipes and balloons, while brass bands belt out Indian rhythms alongside the huge statue of Ghandi on the march. I had several delicious meals in a restaurant called Satsanga, and the chefs there kindly shared their recipe for kiwi ice cream with me.
Rajastan in the north-west is possibly the most colourful part of India. This time we avoided the tourist magnets of Jodhpur and Jaipur and ventured out into the countryside to stay in a couple of the Rajput families’ houses. Many of these noble families have restored their castles and forts in recent years to entice a growing number of tourists. We loved Castle Bijaipur, about 40km from Chittorgarh (www.castlebijaipur.com). The family still lives there and welcome their guests warmly. The food, cooked by family retainers, was totally unlike standard hotel food, consisting of secret recipes handed down through the generations.
Closer to Nimaj, we found another place I long to return to called Chhattra Sagar (www.mahoutuk.com/chhatra.htm). We stayed in superb tented accommodation overlooking a dam which was built in 1890 to create a large water reservoir and turn dry scrub into prime agricultural land.
It’s also a bird lover’s paradise — over 200 birds have been recorded, many in significant numbers, while antelopes and blue bulls amble through the savannah below the tents. The owners organise wonderful tours of the local village and farms and the food was superb. I looked forward to every meal and when I expressed an interest in learning how some of the dishes were cooked, the owner’s wife, dressed in a beautiful embroidered sari, gave me and several other guests cooking classes before dinner. The tamarind, aubergine and tomato chutney recipes are from Chhattra Sagar.
Finally, we returned to Udaipur to possibly my favourite hotel in the world, the Lake Palace — which was built in 1743 by Maharana Jagat Singh II and was the original summer retreat of the Maharanas — in the centre of Lake Pichola. One gets there by boat and you feel like a princess when greeted by a bearer carrying a parasol to provide shade from the midday sun. Fresh limeade, marigold garlands and the perfume of jasmine scent the air. In the morning and at sunset, a resident flautist plays haunting Indian music. It’s a gentle, magical place. Although breakfast is delicious, overall the food is not great and rarely reflects the season or the produce of the region. Nevertheless, I love it there and Udaipur offers many other restaurant options. In the old town, I chanced upon a little cooking school run by Sushma Soni and spent some very informative hours learning more about Indian food.
CHAPATIS in varying sizes and thickness are eaten all over north India. If you cannot find chapati flour, use sieved wholemeal instead. Salt is optional.
The dough should be quite soft. The amount of water you need will vary with the type of flour and the general humidity in the air. Use extra flour to roll out easily.
In India, chapatis are traditionally cooked on a tava, a slightly concave, circular, cast-iron plate, which is heated slowly before the first chapati is slapped on to it. This preheating prevents the chapati from becoming hard and brittle. Use a heavy cast-iron pan if you haven’t got a tava.
Makes 16 servings
250g (9oz) sieved chapati flour or wholemeal (weigh after sieving)
170ml (6oz) water
¼ tsp salt, optional
Put the sieved flour in a bowl. Add the water, slowly mixing as you do so, to form a soft dough. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes until smooth. Put the dough in a bowl. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for half an hour.
If you are fortunate enough to have an Indian tava, slowly heat over a medium-low flame. Alternatively, use a cast-iron frying pan. When it is very hot, turn heat to low.
Knead the dough again and form into a roll, then divide in roughly 16 parts. It should be fairly sticky, so use a little flour when handling it.
Flour your work surface, take one part of dough and roll into a ball. Press down on the ball to flatten. Roll out into a 14cm (5½in) round.
Pat off the excess flour and slap it onto the hot tava or frying pan. Let it cook on low heat for about a minute. Turn the chapati over (use your hands or a pair of tongs). Cook for about 30 seconds on the other side. Take the pan off the stove and put the chapati directly on top of the low flame. It should puff up in seconds. This takes courage, but be brave, it’s worth it. They deflate again in a few seconds.
Serves 6–8
3 tbsp oil
3-5 whole red chillies
4 onions, finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp tamarind paste
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp red chilli powder
Salt, to taste
1kg (2¼lb) small aubergines cut in half (cut larger aubergines into 1½in chunks) and then deep-fried
Heat the oil; add red chillies immediately, followed by the onions. Fry over a medium heat until soft and add the garlic — be careful it doesn’t burn. Add the tamarind paste, brown sugar, red chilli powder and salt.
Stir and cook for a minute then add the fried aubergine, toss gently and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes.
Taste to correct seasoning and serve hot.
Makes 8-10
1kg (2¼lb) kiwi fruit
about 101 litre double cream
675g (1lb 7oz) icing sugar
3-4 kiwi fruit, to garnish
Fresh mint leaves, to garnish
Peel the kiwi fruit thinly and cut into four, puree in a blender and chill in the fridge.
Meanwhile, whisk the cream stiffly, add the icing sugar and mix well. Fold evenly into the chilled kiwi puree and turn into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen. Alternatively, pour into a plastic box cover and freeze.
Serve on chilled plates alone or with a wedge or two of kiwi and some fresh mint leaves.
Serves 4-6
225g (8oz) any kind of lentil — yellow, green or white (or beans) — soaked in hot water (to cover add ½ litre of water) for at least 1 hour
½ litre (17 fl oz) milk
3-4 tbsp sunflower oil or ghee
2 finely chopped onions
1½ tsp chopped ginger or paste
4 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
¼ tsp garam masala (hot spices)
Salt, according to taste
4–6 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
Rinse the lentils 2 or 3 times. Boil them with milk in a pressure cooker for 20–25 minutes or about an hour in an ordinary pan until lentils are soft. If you want the dhal to be creamy and rich, use milk, otherwise use water.
Melt sunflower oil or ghee in a heavy saucepan, add the onions and cook on a medium heat until pale golden brown. Add the ginger, garlic and spices and cook until the masala and the ghee separates, 4 -5 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and boil again. Now add the dhal, bring back to the boil and sprinkle with some fresh coriander and a pinch of garam masala. It should be quite liquid. Cover for 2–3 minutes and then serve.
Garlic and ginger paste is an essential basic in Indian cooking. The garlic is usually ground first in an oval-shaped pestle and mortar and then the ginger added, grinding them together to a paste. This mixture will last for 2–3 days in a fridge. You can use use it with macaroni, spaghetti, chickpeas, kidney beans, lentils, vegetables or mutton.
Serves 6 approximately as an accompaniment to curries or roast meats.
3 tbsp oil
¼ tsp black mustard seeds
¼ tsp kiraita (nigella seeds)
¼ tsp fennel seeds
4–6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
12 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
1½ tsp grated ginger
1 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
2 green chillies, deseeded and cut in strips
Heat the oil in a wok. Add the black mustard seeds, kiraita (nigella seeds) and fennel seeds, stir and fry for a few seconds, then add the chopped garlic cloves. Stir once or twice more and then add the chopped tomatoes.
Over a high heat, add the ginger paste and the red chilli powder, cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the chutney thickens and reduces. Add the sugar and cook until little droplets of oil rise to the top.
Finally, add the salt and the green chillies, stir, taste and correct the seasoning if necessary. Serve hot.
Serves 3–6, depending on how many dishes are served
200g (7oz) paneer (see recipe below)
6 almonds
6 cashew nuts 2
tbsp desiccated coconut
½ tsp grated ginger
4 medium onions chopped
1 tsp chopped green chilli
50g (2oz) butter
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala
Salt, according to taste
4–6 large tomatoes, peeled and puréed
2 tbsp double cream
2 cups milk
2 litres milk
1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
150g–200g (5oz–7oz) yoghurt
Boil the milk and, when it comes to the boil, add the vinegar or lemon juice and yoghurt — stir it well as it will curdle almost immediately. Pour the mixture through a muslin-lined strainer, until all the water drains out, then put a weight over it and leave it for two hours.
Cut the paneer into 1in cubes. Put the almonds, cashews and coconut into a grinder and purée. Separately, grind the ginger, onions and green chilli together and fry with butter in a kadhi (wok) until light brown, then add all the spices — the turmeric, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tomato purée, cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the double cream and the puréed nuts, simmering on a medium heat until the butter and masala separates, approx 3–4 minutes. Now add the paneer pieces and two small cups of milk, and cover for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with a pinch of garam masala and dried fenugreek leaves.
50ml (2 fl oz) best quality natural yoghurt
175ml (6 fl oz) ice and water
½-1 tbsp caster sugar
¼ tsp rose water or kewra rose petals, optional
Whizz all the ingredients, including the ice, in a blender. Pour into chilled glasses and serve immediately. Scatter with rose petals.
Steak sandwiches at Mahon Point Farmers’ Market: Gar Granville from Cobh serves steak sandwiches at Mahon Point Farmers’ Market every Thursday — beef that has been hung for four weeks, slathered with freshly picked horseradish sauce and homemade mayonnaise served on an Ockham bap, hot out of the oven from the bakery in Ballycotton for €6:50, www.mahonpointfarmersmarket.com.
Vegetable Growing Workshop: A two-hour hands-on workshop on growing vegetables will be held every Saturday at 2pm, beginning March 10. Cost €25 per week. Contact Barrie’s Nurseries, 086-8141133, www.barrysgardencentre.ie.
Sarah Raven comes to Ireland: Writer, cook and broadcaster Sarah Raven is the expert on all things to grow and eat from your garden. She will teach two classes in April at the Ballymaloe Cookery School; The Cutting Garden on Thursday, April 16, and Year Round Vegetables on Friday, April 17. Booking essential, 021-4646785.
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