Taste of Indian papad
Even passengers need a fistful of valium and a good dollop of faith in the gods to face into the rush hour melee. Under the circumstances it’s understandable that tourists and travellers usually opt to hire a driver for the duration of the holiday.
After a day or two a certain dependency and camaraderie develops between both parties so, inevitably, if one is in the vicinity of the drivers’ home you will be invited to meet the family.
Food is a universal language. Our guide got very excited when he discovered that I was a cook and particularly interested in Rajasthani food. He arranged for his mother to teach me how to cook her favourite recipe for the beautiful mustard greens that were in full season in the local markets. Inder’s home in the suburbs of Udaipur was a typical three-storey house, a couple of rooms deep. When we arrived, it was obvious that word had got out already in the community; a drum beat to welcome us and herald our arrival and a cluster of youths had gathered in expectation.
As a general rule Indians live in extended family units of three and sometimes four generations. He and his wife lived on the first floor, his brother with his wife and family on the second floor and his parents on the top. Most of the day-to-day activity seems to take place on the roof-top terrace. When we emerged from the dark narrow staircase, into the sunlight, Inder’s father sat cross-legged on a woven day bed under a canopy playing with his grandchild. His mother was squatting in one corner beside a mud brazier cooking papad (poppodom) over a charcoal and dried cow dung fire. In India much of the cooking is still done with this fuel, which produces an odourless sustainable hygienic fuel. Her two daughter in-law’s were close by, one was rolling the poppodom. They were then flattened between two sheets of plastic on a cast iron papad press, which closely resembled a Mexican tortilla press. The other girl carefully peeled off the plastic and laid the paper-thin papad side by side with the others on a sheet of cotton sari spread out on the floor in the direct sunlight. They were all dressed as if they were going to a ball in beautiful coloured saris, but this is their everyday garb.
The papad take a few hours to dry and can then be fried to a lovely crisp in a kadi (cast iron wok) full of hot oil. I’d never seen poppodoms being handmade before. I assumed they were always factory made; even Madhur Jaffrey doesn’t give a recipe for how to make them from scratch in her books on Indian Food.
Equally fascinating was to look out onto the nearby roof tops where, mid-morning, all the neighbours were engaged in exactly the same activity. In each case three generations were working together in a gentle, convivial way. Inder explained that they were all making extra papad for the Holi celebration a few days later. Holi, the festival of colours marks the end of winter and the conquering of evil.
Homemade papad can be made from rice or cornmeal. Sometimes flavours are added, such as cumin or aniseed, garlic or chili. The ones Inder’s mother made were quite the most delicious I’ve ever tasted — most unsettling. Up to now I was totally happy with the packet ones. Now I’ll always feel that they are but a shadow of the home-made papad so lovingly made in Udaipur. Here is a recipe and some others I enjoyed when I had cookery classes in Nora Villa in Jodhpur.
http://www.noravillajodhpur.com/guesthouse.html
The chef at Nora Villa, a little bed and breakfast in Jodhpur, showed me how to make it.
Serves 4
1 small chicken — about 1.6kg (3½ lbs) — increase the other ingredients if the chicken is larger
4 tbsp (5 American tablespoons) sunflower oil
4 cloves
4 black peppercorns
1 Indian bay leaf
A small piece of cassia
1 black cardamom
Paste:
3 red onions, roughly chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, quartered
2 dstsp garlic, crushed
2 dstsp peeled and grated ginger
½ tsp turmeric
¾ tsp chilli powder
½ — 1 teaspoon salt
300ml (10fl oz/1¼ cups) water
2 tbsp (2 American tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) coriander, chopped
First joint the chicken into eight pieces.
Heat the sunflower oil in a medium sized stainless steel saucepan on a high heat. Add the cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, cassia and black cardamom pod. Stir for a minute or two. Add the chicken joints, stir and continue to cook until they’re golden.
Make the paste by whizzing the onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger in a food processor.
Add to the saucepan with the turmeric, chilli powder and salt. Stir and cook on a medium heat until the oil rises to the top — 15 to 20 minutes.
Add freshly chopped coriander. Continue to stir and cook until nice and brown. Add water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 15-20 minutes depending on the size of the chicken. Taste and correct the seasoning. Serve with rice and lots of fresh coriander leaves.
This is a cauliflower dish which includes potatoes. It is economical and delicious.
Serves 3-4
1½ small red onions
2 tbsp of sunflower oil
2 ripe tomatoes, pureed
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
300g (10oz) cauliflower florets
1-2 dried chillies
1 tsp salt
225ml (8fl oz/1 cup) water
Peel and chop the onions. Put a wok on a high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and the chopped onion. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Add two puréed tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the potato, toss and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the cauliflower florets, toss and add the chilli and salt. Toss and add the water. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until just tender, turning occasionally. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
One of my favourite Indian flatbreads. The dough needs to be soft and moist, otherwise it won’t puff up. In India chapati dough is rolled out on a small circle of flat stone.
Makes about 15
1 lb wholemeal flour, sieved or chapatti flour if available (Put the bran back into the packet)
1¾ pints water
½-1 tsp salt (optional)
Put the sieved wholemeal flour and salt into a bowl. Slowly add enough water to make soft dough.
Knead for four or five minutes until pliable. You can use the dough immediately or keep it in a covered box in the fridge for a day or so.
Heat a tava (a small concave iron griddle) or cast iron pan on a high gas flame. When very hot reduce the heat then take a walnut size piece of dough and roll between your palms. Keep the remainder covered. Dip the piece of dough in sieved whole meal flour, roll into a round, dip both sides into the flour again and continue to roll into approximately 5-inch round.
Slap onto the hot tava or pan and cook for a minute or so until it starts to bubble slightly and has a few brown spots on the underside. Flip over and cook for a further 20 or 30 seconds, then remove the pan from the heat. With a tongs lay the chapati directly on top of the gas flame for a couple of seconds until it puffs up. Flip over onto the other side for another two or three seconds and serve immediately. It should be soft and pliable.
Ideally chapatti should be eaten as soon as they’re made but if you’d rather serve them later, wrap them in a tin foil parcel and re-heat them in a moderate oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
There are a million recipes for Dahl, many of them don’t appeal to me, but this one was delicious.
Serves 4-6
2 tbsp ghee or ½ oz butter
1 tsp cumin
1 red onion, chopped
2 ripe tomatoes pureed
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp chili powder
½ tsp coriander
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
7 oz orange lentils
1¾ pints of water
Juice of ½ a lime
2 tbsp of freshly chopped coriander
Put the lentils into a bowl, cover and soak for 15 minutes while you prepare other ingredients.
Heat some ghee or butter in a saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and chopped red onion.
Stir and add pureed tomato and garlic and ginger paste.
Stir. Add turmeric, chili powder, freshly ground coriander and salt.
Stir and cook over a medium/high heat for five minutes or until the oil rises to the top and the garlic and onion are well cooked.
Add one tablespoon of fresh coriander and drained orange lentils. Stir and add 1¾ pints of water.
Bring to the boil and cook for approximately 5-7 minutes, or until the lentils are soft.
Add the juice of the half lime and two more tablespoons of freshly chopped coriander.
- For those of you who would like to learn how to grow their own vegetables, fresh herbs, or maybe keep a few chickens in their garden, note the following options.
The next meeting of the Shanagarry GIY group will be held in Shanagarry GAA Hall at 8pm.
- Cork Free Choice Consumer Group are having a Grow your own Vegetables talk in the Crawford Art Gallery Café, Thursday, March 25 at 7.30pm. Entrance €6 including tea and coffee
- When you’re going for a country walk look out for new season’s wild garlic. Use the tender leaves in soups, salads and pasta sauces- a taste of spring at last!
- The next GIY Midleton meeting will be held on March 18 at 6pm in Midleton Library. The topic is seed sowing and aftercare. The speaker is Michael Brenock, an experienced horticulturalist, home gardener and allotment advisor.
- Order your spring lamb for Easter from your local butcher today.
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