thecookscottage

Goda Masala-Maharashtrian Spice mix

Every year my mother would get her years supply of masala from a little old white haired woman who lived on the corner of Fergusson College Road and Bhandarkar road. She ran what was known as the Anand Khatya Vastu Bhandar. As soon as we entered, in fact from well around the corner, we could smell the spices. The building was made of granite stones , typical Pune solid stuff, with wooden balconies running the length and width of the building.The kota floors were swept completely clean and shone,and the spices filled each room.From here we got our Goda Masala, stone ground by a happy, chatty lot of bai's in nine yard sarees.

This is how every mother-in-law made sure her son would always have food 'like mama made it" She gave daughter-in -law the source of her masala.
Many years ago AKVB shut down but goda masala is sold at every general and provision store in Deccan Gymkhana, one of the best being available at P.Y. Vaid on Fergusson College Road.

The main reason why home cooked food tastes different from house to house is the way in which these masalas are made. The amounts of spices and the degree to which they are roasted makes all the difference.

Recipe for Maharashtian Goda Masala

250 gms small green dried dhana / coriander seeds

1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp badi or masala elaichi/ cardamom
2 tbspdalchini/ cinnamon
1 tbsp lavang / cloves
6 tej patta/ bay leaf
5 gm badalphool/ star anise
5 gm dagadphool/ lichen
1 tbsp nagkeshar/ Cobra's Saffron-Mesua ferra

1/2 cup jeera/ Cumin seed
2 tbsps hing/ asafoetida pieces ( or powder)
1 tsp dried haldi / turmeric pieces.(or powder)

50 gms dried red chillies
1 tbsp salt.

50 gm til / sesame seeds
1 cup grated copra / dried coconut

Sort and clean coriander seeds.
Heat half the oill and add the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves , nagkeshar, star anise ,lichen, bay leaf one after the oher. Fry lightly, then add the cumin, the turmeric and asafoetida pieces.Keep aside.
Now roast the red chillies and keep aside. Add the salt to the red chillies.,
Roast the following seperately till light brown in colour- grated copra, sesame seeds.
Heat the rest of the oil and fry the coriander seeds in it till light brown in colour.
Now put the first lot of spices in a blender and grind till fine.Pound the red chillies into small bits and add to the mixture along with the salt.
Take out and grind the coriander seeds till it makes a fine powder.
Add to the other spices and grind/blend all together again.Remove and set aside.
Grind the copra and sesame seeds till it makes a fine paste. Add the paste to the dried maalas and blend with finger tips till it as well mixed. Give the entire lot of spices one final turn in the blender.
Bottle in clean sterilised jars.
This will keep for well over a year.

How to make Paneer/ Cottage Cheese

Home made paneer / cottage cheese is so different from what you buy outside. I am always a bit concerned that shop bought paneer has something added as a thickener. Blotting paper ? That used to be a favourite thickener for kulfi /boiled down milk icecream, or so I was told several years ago.

In any case, if not for reasons of strange additives, then for reasons of taste, you should try making your own paneer for just once in your life. One good reason to do so, in India, is that you can then eat it without cooking . Sliced wafer thin, topped with lettuce or cucumber, with salt and pepper or chaat masala it makes a mouthwatering and healthy sandwich or veggie burger.

Milk products are a haven for bacteria especially here where we get raw milk. Our milk man, who owned a large herd of buffaloes, was known for increasing the daily yield by the simple method of adding water from the garden tap.
He is now our local corporator.

I don't know if this proves anything about milk or corporators but at least he insists on giving all visitors a cup of tea to drink before which he will not attend to any complaints or requests.

Another story about adulterated milk is the one about tankers of milk making their way from farm to city, stopping enroute to be topped up with water and soap suds (of a particular brand of soap, which I shall not name) that had the right milky colour.
A friend who distributes rennit and yeasts to produce different types of yogurt and cheese can keep an evening going with his tales of dastardly deeds done to milk in India and it will make you swear off raw milk forever, unless you have a stomach made of iron, one that will not turn easily.

Okay, so the main issue here is that most commercially made paneer is formed at a degree below boiling point and is therefore bacterially suspect. Not only that, covered as it is with fine muslin, soaked in heaven knows what water, to keep it damp, about which flies hover and dive bomb.....need I say more?

So are you are now ready to try your hand at making paneer at home? If so this is what you do: Get your paneer making tools together.

• Large stainless steel pan


• Slotted spoon


• Paneer strainer


• Measuring cup

Squeeze two lemons and keep the juice ready.Take one litre of cow's or buffalo's milk. Heat is till it boils. Turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 5 minutes.

Very slowly start pouring the lime juice into the simmering milk while stirring it in at very leisurely pace with a slotted spoon.

The milk will start to seperate. Continue to stir very gently while adding the lime juice.

The curds should now form a large mass.When it does so, stop stirring and take the pan off the heat.

Let the curds sink to the bottom of the pan. Then pour off the whey into another pan. Keep aside for other uses *( see below).

Turn the curds into a paneer maker or a sieve and let stand without pressing till water is further released from the curds.

Cut the curds to release any extra liquid and let stand till well formed.

The top of the paneer should remain wet not dry. 1 litre of milk makes about 250 gms of paneer.

The paneer can now be used to cook , grill or fry.It can also be used as is, in salads, sandwiches, toppings or in a cheesecake.By the way paneer made from buffaloes milk is white and that made from cows milk is a pale creamy yellow.Homemade paneer must be refrigerated and used within 3 days . If you intend to use it later, keep it covered with water, like tofu, in the fridge, till you are ready to use it which should not be more than 5 days after making in any case.

*The whey of the paneer is full of nutrients and can be added to wheat flour when kneading it for chapathies.This makes the chapathies very soft.It can also be added to the gravy if you are making paneer curry or to any other curry to add flavour.

(Thanks to Leela for her expertise generously shared with me. She began making superb Gouda, Edam, Cheddar and several other cheeses in Pune long before anybody else did. Sadly she is too busy with her environment camps and Eco-Park to do that anymore and we now look to Amul for a new range of cheeses.)

I used cubes of this cheese, well salted,to make Melissa's yummy Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spicy Feta -Olive Salad . It was nothing like Feta but tasted good nevertheless.

Maharashtrian Thali

Driving through the madness of Fergusson College Road, where half the road is taken up by parked cars and two wheelers, I caught sight of a little restaurant, behind the temple that has been built plumb on the corner of F.C. road and Ghole Road.It was two in the afternoon and we were starving.The best time to tackle a thali meal.

Cutting across the road in time honoured Poona fashion, through the intertwining traffic made up of vehicles of all shapes and sizes, we found a place to park. What an achievement. Worthy of self congratulation.This was done loudly and with great satisfaction. Lunch loomed appetizingly large on the horizon.

Drenched in perspiration,( with the high humidity levels one swims through the day) we made our way to Shabree.

I like the name so here is the story behind it-Shabree was a tribal devotee of Rama who waited her entire life to meet him. Everyday she picks fruits from the forest and waits for him. Year after year, when all have abandoned the ashram, Shabree waits for Ram to grace her with his presence. When he finally comes , she is old and blind, but still full of devotion . She feeds him berries picked that morning and tasted by her in case they prove to be bitter. Ram eats the berries and by doing so blesses her as a true "Bhakt". (one who reaches God through unwavering love)

It was a quiet day for them or we were very late. In any case, attention was showered upon us by a group of waiters, all dressed like the Peshwa's. There is no menu as they only serve a Maharashtrian thali meal here , with typical Pune cooking. It is an 'unlimited' thali and the sweet is included in the price of the meal on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

We got a typical toor dal / lentil soup made with kala masala, a kadhi / yogurt based soup, a matki usal, / a vegetable curry made with sprouts, palak paneer / spinach and cottage cheese, beetroot raita beetroot in yogurt, Pitle bhaji / a dish made of gram flour with onions and other spices, alu bhaji , kothimbir vadi's /deep fried coriander and gram flour slices , alu pakora / potato dipped in gram flour and fried, a katori of dahi / a small bowl of curd AND 3 types of chapathies PLUS 2 types of rice . I forgot to give a mention to the choice of four pickles.

The matki usal was very chilli hot which led to another outbreak of perspiration, but the rest were a mix of tastes, slightly sweet (kadhi and raita) and slightly spicy.Home cooked pitle and matki is somehat different but what they served was a good approximation.The dal and kadhi were very authentically Pune.

We loved the bhakri/flat breads, one made of jowar and the other made of bajra. The wheat chapathies just about melted in the mouth. The result of eating all the chapathies made it impossible to even taste the masala rice. We were stuffed to the gills.

On the whole a very filling experience..the food was produced the moment we sat down, with no waiting at all. And it kept coming till we had to throw up our hands in weak protest.

Do not plan on eating for the next 24 hours.

Shabree
1199/1A F.C. Road
Pune-411 004
Tel: 25531511

Thali meals- Rs 70-80( $1.75-$2) per person.

The changing face of food

Our little cooperative vegetable market, housed in a something like a garage, stocks most of the essentials needed for Indian cookery. Green coriander, coconut, kari patta i.e. curry leaves, ginger, garlic, green chillies, lime, leafy vegetables, khatta bhaji, chawlai /amaranthus, methi sag, /fenugreek leaves, root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onions, arvi/colocasia and seasonal vegetables,

like Tonli, padwal /snake gourd, bhindi /okra, green beans, cabbage and so on.
For anything special one had to go to the main market in the Cantonment area ...Shivaji Market.
Now what do I see pasted on the wall recently?

This:

We have gone upmarket, we have become fancy, we are changing. And in case you can't read the writing on the wall, it says...Basil, Broccoli, Curd (yogurt), Parsley, Celery.

This means I can cook up an Italian meal without going out of the way , as some of the fresh ingredients are readily available to me. Thyme, sweet basil, red and yellow peppers, asparagus and so on are also more commonly seen in local vegetable shops.

None of these vegetables and herbs are imported. They are grown locally by enterprising farmers who find a ready market in hotels and restaurants in Pune, and the local population who are much more open to trying out new recipes and other cuisines besides their own.

This is a matter worthy of some rejoicing as we always had to look around for substitutes when recipes specified certain herbs or vegetables .

Today I can make a mean Crostini di fegatini di pollo as I can get celery, rosemary, sage, parsley, extra virgin olive oil, anchovy fillets, capers and a fairly good white wine right here. The only thing I need to substitute is a a Broon( fresh baked crusty bread) for a Tuscan baguette.

But that is as good , (at Rs 4, maybe better) than the Real thing.

Olive and Spinach Surprise: Alu Palak bonda

The Paper Chef is a brilliant initiative begun by Owen of Tomatilla. It is for all those who cook as well as the armchair cook, that most demanding of people, who slavers at the description of ingredients, and puts it all together in his mind to create a feast that defies any other to come up to scratch.

As a new-ton to most events in the online food world I was late again but this list was too much to pass up . (Well the time difference saved me as I am typing this up well beyond 12 o'clock but ....that's my 12 o'clock.) The olives, potatoes and cheddar cheese were already there. All I needed was some nice fresh spinach.So I rushed off to the market.

First, I thought a salad would be good, but on second and a half thoughts the salad idea was shelved for something a bit more adventurous. At the market I saw gavraan lasun that is wild or indigenous garlic which is characterized by its small cloves . That became one of the other ingredients. Baby spinach was also found, if a trifle wilted. So with the addition of a few other spices from my masala rack I was all set to go.

Ingredients:

4 medium potatoes
1 cup of cooked spinach/ about 1 bunch of palak
1/2  grated cheddar cheese
10 green pitted olives
5 cloves of garlic/ lasan chopped very fine
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup gram flour/ besan ka atta
1 tsp rock salt
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder/paprika
½ tsp turmeric powder/haldi
1 tsp cumin/jeera powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 - 1/2 cup water

Boil and skin the potatoes. Grate the cheese fine and add to hot potatoes. Mash together till smooth. Add salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper.

Cook the spinach on low heat without any water. Pour off any liquid then measure 1 cup. Squeeze out all extra water from spinach and flatten it into a rectangle about 1/4" thick.

Heat one teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Toast the garlic in the oil till crisp and brown but not burnt.Spread the toasted garlic on the spinach and sprinkle on some salt.Cut the spinach into strips and roll the olives in each till the spinach strip encircles the olive.

Divide the mashed potato into 8 equal parts. Take one part and shape it into a ball (like a clay pinch pot ) with a well in the center. Place the spinach covered olive into the well and again pinch the top of the potato pot together and roll it lightly between the palms to make a perfect circle.Make all 8 the same way.

Heat up a pint of vegetable oil. While it is heating up make a batter of the gram flour, the spices and baking powder. Add the water bit by bit,( reserving any if it seems to be getting too thin) stirring till all lumps dissolve and it forms a thick batter.
Dip/coat each ball in batter and fry in hot oil till golden brown and crisp on the top.
Serve as a snack or an appetizer.

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The toasted garlic spread on the spinach along with the olive oil tasted yummy and added texture to the whole with its crunch. Since the olives I had were nothing special, the oil added that extra taste it required. The cheese blended well with the potatoes and the masalas mixed in the batter did not overpower the the rest, just adding that bit of tang to make it more interesting.

P.S. for Meg in Paris. The dedication continues...darn it if the lights didnt shut down again as soon as I put the potatoes on to boil!

P.P.S. dated july 18 . This recipe has been awarded the Best Foreign Feature  by Sarah  in the finals of  the Paper Chef # 8  Golden Tomatilla  Awards. Thank you thankyou.

German Bakery

Pune reaches out to a different kind of tourist. Many of them are here for study courses and their holidays are activity based. New age therapy travellers, yoga enthusiasts, academics doing Phd's in temple architecture, dancers learning the intracacies of Bharat Natyam, and many other kinds of tourists as well , back packers and guru seekers, looking for an exotic and inexpensive holiday, stop by from Varanasi or Dharamshala via Bombay on their way to Goa.

After a month of dal, rice, sabzi and hot curries, it is not surprising that many look out for food more recognisable to their intrepid but weary tastebuds. Besides pizza and burger outlets , of which there are many, a little caffe und kuchen is what the tourist yearns for. And a busy, on-the-road sort of cafe, good for people watching and being watched, is even better.

So you have Cafe Coffee Day and Barista, which are very much teen crowd hangouts. The first is for young people who earn their own pocket money, and the next for those whose allowance is generous (and from a parental pocket). Most of them seem to be talking into their mobiles and not to their companions at the table, so there is very little to distinguish the two. 

And then there is the German Bakery, of which several versions exist, in Nepal, Kashmir, and Goa. They offer whole wheat breads, cakes, pies, desserts, soft drinks, herbal teas, lassi, fruit juices, Nutella sandwiches, Darjeeling tea and coffee.

Their Pune customers are often from the Osho Ashram close by, dressed in maroon or white depending on the time of day and their status within the organisation.

Others sport rasta hair and multicoloured clothing, all a bit ethnic and brocadey, with flowing clothes, shimmering gowns at breakfast, and other garb more exotic than even their surroundings, conducive to living out an oriental fantasy. Fantasy being a non violent activity, they are accepted and treated well by most residents.

Sound in the German bakery is a babel of languages mixed with the squawking horns of the rickshaws, cars, and trucks passing inches away. In earlier and presumably better days, German bakery had usurped part of the main road and kept growing with little shacks extending in all directions.

Then the PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) decided to undertake road widening on North Main Road, cutting a swathe through 400 year old trees and the popular Bakery, as well as several establishments of doubtful nature.

Ancestral homes were reduced in size as well, so the pain was felt all across the social board. A road, as anyone knows, is only as wide as its narrowest part. Therefore traffic on North Main road is just as mad as it always was , as 'lanes' of three or four abreast merge to form one, and spread out to reform into four to six lanes as the need arises.

As a result, GB is at the heart of the hustle and bustle. Trade does not seem to have been affected, and the cafe is just as full as it always was.Their notice says it succintly " Please do not sit for a long time" which is why I listed this blog under Fast and Furious. However I did not feel any pressure to vacate my table in a hurry.

I ordered a carrot nut cake and ginger lemon tea . Both were good and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the place.It was very holiday like and made me want to get on the bus and head for the laid back beaches of Goa as well.

German Bakery
North Main Road
Koregaon Park
Pune 411001

Lamb with a Plummy accent /Mutton Aru Bokhara

Having lived in Srinagar for several years , crossing the bund in a shikara ( a type of gondola) to school every day, eating cherries sitting in a cherry tree in the garden, making giant snowmen from ankle high snow in the winter, I have several fond memories of the place, people and cuisine.

Decades later we had the chance to relive many happy moments when we returned to stay in Brene Village ,which is across the Dal Lake, in a quiet corner of the road that leads into Srinagar.

Here Moiuddin , a cheerful man with a wonderful smile , who was the cook for our stay, would produce some great meals, all accompanied by a yogurt, made from goats milk, set in an earthenware pot. One of his best productions, besides the 'mouldy apple' dish he made, was this...mutton curry with dried plums.

Mutton is the leanest meat to eat here. Not an ounce of fat can be seen. In any case most Indian recipes for meat or chicken call for the fat, skin and and muscle to be trimmed. Chicken for Indian recipes is best when it weighs about 650 gm to 900 gms a bird.
Few people eat meat floating in the saturated fat that you see in Indian restaurant curry, in India or abroad.

The major flavour of plummy Lamb is one of cinnamon, as it calls for a fair amount, but it tastes very different with the combination of garlic and tamarind. Many of the constituents of this recipe are soaked in water, so that the the tastes are subtle and the gravy is left without traces of the original ingredient.

• 1 full hind leg of mutton approximately 1 and1/2 kg.( 3 lbs) cut into fairly large pieces. i.e. 1 1/2 " cubes.
• 1/2 cup dried plums.
• 2 tsps salt.

Spices:

• 12 elaichi / cardomoms
• 6 lavang / cloves
• 8" of dalchini /cinnamon in 1"-2" bits
• 1 tsp haldi /turmeric

Soak:

• 1/3 cup tamarind in 2 cups of hot water. Boil for ten minutes till all tamarind is soft. Let stand.Then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• 1/3 cup garlic minced in a blender with 1/2 cup water till frothy. Let stand.Then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• 2 large teaspoons of kashmiri chilli powder in 1/4 cup water.( Kashmiri chilli is a bit like paprika, it gives the dish a good colour without being too hot.)

Boil 2 kettles of water, pour into a big pan and dunk all the mutton into it. Bring to the boil again over stove , and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour off the hot water and any scum that may have  collected on top and wash the mutton again in cold water.

In a heavy bottomed pan put 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil. Add the elaichi, lavang and dalchini, /cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, / as well as the chilli water, garlic water and salt. Cook for 12 minutes on high heat stirring all the time till water dries up.

Add 750 ml water to the meat and let it come to the boil. Lower heat and cook covered on medium for 1 hour. About a cupful of gravy should be be left in the curry.

Now add the tamarind water, the haldi /turmeric and cook for another 20 minutes. Add the plums and cook for 7 mintes till the plums are soft and just a bit of curry remains.

By the way the monsoon is in full force now and it has been raining non stop for over 15 hours. Being so grey and dreary, this curry was perfect to warm us up a bit. I would imagine it is perfect for winter days (of which we have few here) instead of the same old stew.

Cooking this dish, with its lingering scent of cinnamon, reminded me of brilliant days spent in Kashmir, . Looking out the window I could almost see the majestic and swaying chinars.