thecookscottage

Floyd on Indian Food- Forgettable

Watching 'Floyd on France' many years ago, as a rerun in India, was a revelation. That someone could make food so interesting and amusing was new to me and he was a partly responsible for my  greater involvement in the subject. All that tongue in cheek France bashing was in good humour and without bite.
Compare that enlightening experience of food on the box to 'Floyd's India', shot in 2001 for Channel 5 in the UK, but being shown in India for the first time. It is now running on the Discovery Travel and Living channel (before Kylie Kwong comes up with her 'French buttah' and 'say solt'), and it has been a catastrophic failure.
The nice thing about Keith Floyd in earlier BBC series was his joie de vivre, his obvious love of the food he presented and the relish with which he drank copious amounts of wine while cooking. His disregard for the politically correct and the documentary form was all part of the show and it WAS a show, but with significant things to say about a cuisine and ways of approaching it.
Floyd on India, is dismal. He looks miserable, hot and bothered. He cooks in the open air, to do away with the need for lights and keep production costs low, on ugly setups without the slightest regard for display. And the food! Oh my God, the food he cooks is ghastly.
Anyone who knows a little bit about Indian food will find the way in which he flings in the 'Tyumeric' horrifying. With an abandon which is uncalled for. He obviously knows nothing about the ingredient, its properties or taste. He never cooks the onions, he adds sour ingredients before the spices are cooked and he makes a hundred and one unforgiveable faux pas.  The food and the series make an altogetherunappetising mash.
He never bothers to taste his concoctions and that is telling. Not even a little lick of the finger. And he is always in such a hurry. Can't blame him really. Who wouldn't want to get out of that burning sun.
He so obviously hates the whole venture from start to finish. He even looks as if he detests Indian food. I don't know if the recipes in the book which accompanies the series are any good. But a word of caution to all those who hope to pick up something about Indian cuisine by watching this series...forget it. Nobody I know uses spices in the way he does. Nor can you possibly savour any of the food the way he cooks it. "Ugh" is my honest opinion.

Hurda, Sweet Sorghum kernels and Bhimsen Joshi

Flashback:

Whenever I listen to Raga Megh Malhar I am reminded of two wonderful occasions. One, when I was introduced to the Raga, during a monsoon many years ago, with the sound of heavy rain on corrugated tin, since this sheet of metal served as the roof of our music room at the Film Institute. The other was a summer evening at Nishat Gardens in Srinagar. We had driven down from Gulmarg especially to hear Bhimsen Joshi sing in this lovely outdoor setting . He began the alaap in a leisurely way , slowly and easily impressing the notes of the raag on our minds. As he progressed into the raga, slight rain clouds seem to gather out of the blue. A gentle breeze stirred the brilliantly coloured cloth of the pandal under which he sat.We all sat still, crosslegged on dhurries placed on the grass of the lovely Mughal garden, mesmerised as he began to weave the tapestry of his song. As he sang, the skies became grey and tiny drops of rain began to fall. He continued undisturbed, gathering pace . Soon the cloth of the pandal lost its moorings to the bamboo poles and flew wildly about in the strong winds that spun about. The rain came thundering down. Nobody moved for cover. Bhimsen sang undisturbed. It was as if the heavens had taken inspiration from his wonderful voice and played a jugalbandhi with the sound of the wind in the tall walnut trees and the drum of the rain drenching the earth.

It was a hair raising experience . Nature and art had come together in front of our grateful eyes.We were all aware of something transcendental in that moment.

The onset of the rains has always been greeted with joy by earth and animals and humans. It stuns the awful dry heat into a bearable temper. It brings the vision of a full harvest to the farmer everywhere and the joy of greenery to a brown land.
Not so in the last two years though. Some days I lift up mine eyes with something approaching dread when the rivers are already in spate and the land satiated. Every evening the news brings more stories of floods and damage to crops, loss of life and pictures of vast areas under water. Then I cannot hear Megh Malhar. A tiny ditty runs over and over in my head like a broken record..Rain rain go away, Come again another day.

Yet we don't have enough water, at least not in the right places. An article by Sonu Jain in The Indian Express today gave a clear picture of those parts of India which have an excess of rainfall right now and those which are still deficient. Policies till now have been inadequate in addressing the needs of farmers across the country. Irrigation methods are wasteful and make too much use of ground water without clear means of replenishment. Obviously something has to change. Capturing rainwater in environmentally friendly ways is part of the answer. The government struggles to set up various authorities and bodies to cope with the problem while coming up with feasible ideas for the future...quickly.
Central Maharashtra has had too much rain. Now we hope for a continuation which is closer to the norm in September and October.

This decides the future of the jowar crop which is sown in October as a rabi crop in western India. By November the planting is generally over. With a growing period of approximately 100-110 days, in January, around Republic Day , we can expect one of the delights of the mild winter we have here...hurda.That is the local name for young green jowar kernels.

Hurda / Young Sorghum kernels

Cut from the plant and roasted over a coal fire it is sheer succulent sweetness . If removed from the cob I often make a delicate flavoured snack very simply. Saute some ginger garlic paste in a teaspoon of butter or ghee, add the hurda and a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook for a minute or two. Eat immediately.

My mouth is watering as I think of the good things to come.

28/08/06

Quick Rice Pancakes

Right now, around Pune, the paddy fields are full of water, having had a generous dose of rain. They are covered with the young and delicate, light green shoots of transplanted rice. The monsoon, which sometimes plays hide and seek , is out in the open, displaying its sound and fury on several dramatic occasions. It is the time for switching on the lights during daytime, for brewing cups of hot masala tea , for taking shelter from the rain in kindly places, for sharing snacks and long chats with friends.

Almost a meal,the only reason these rice pancakes have been classified as a snack is that they can be produced, at short notice , for people who drop by and are hungry for more than a bite.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup sour curd/ yogurt
• A pinch of hing/ asafoetida
• A pinch of haldi/ turmeric
• 2 green chillies
• 1'" piece of ginger
• 4 tbsp oil.

Mix the rice flour, curds, salt, hing and haldi powder. Make the chillies and ginger into a paste in a blender or with a mortar and pestle. Add to the flour/ curd mixture. Add 1 tablespoon oil and mix well together. It should make a batter of  a pouring consistency.

Heat a frying pan or tava. Add two teaspoons of the oil and pour batter with a big ladle. Turn heat low . Wet your hand and lightly spread the batter on the tava or with the back of a round spoon.Cover the frying pan.

After a few minutes take off the lid and flip the pancake over.With a teaspoon spread a little oil on the tava around the edges of the pancake. Leave uncovered.Remove from fire after a few minutes.

Eat hot with a green dhania / coriander chutney or any pickle to the soft drumming of  rain on the soundtrack of your day.

Mung Sprouts Salad with a Honey Dressing

Sprouts Salad

This recipe was sent by dear and old friend Amrita who has always produced inventive food, quite without fuss, while remaining a vocal and significant part of all discussions, arguments and conversations that were carried on in her hospitable living room.She sent it to share, in response to the Gajar Salad I posted a couple of weeks ago. It has the same health giving characteristics but tastes luxuriously different.

Ingredients:
250 gms sprouted mung
100 gms cubed or crumbled paneer /cottage cheese.(You could substitute feta cheese but if you do cut down the salt in the recipe)
1 cup chopped spring onions.( I used 1/2 a plain red onion as I had no spring onions)
2 tbsp whole pudina /mint leaves
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley (or coriander)
1/2 tsp zest of lemon or 2 tsp of orange
1 tsp salt
Dressing:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup lemon juice

Combine all the ingredients. Add salt and mix well. Combine the honey and lime juice and pour over the salad just before serving.

Taken twice a day this is supposed to be good for high blood pressure. Taken on an empty stomach it is said to reduce blood sugar.

Quick Quiche - Spinach And Spring Onion

Laura from Cucina Testa Rossa announced the theme for IMBB 23 a long time ago. As usual I was well over the last posting date but here is my entry based on Quiche Lorraine . It is said that a baker first made this in Nancy in the 16th Century  with a crust madewith ordinary bread dough. Later this changed to a shortcrust pastry for the base.

So its a long shot making this quiche without the most delicious bacon,the creme fraiche and french butter, all specialities of Lorraine.(The grated cheese was a later addition to the basic recipe)

Well at least mine has eggs, salt, and butter. And this recipe is not Maharashtrian! But with all the ingredients commonly available all over the country it can make a quick lunch for 4-6 people with a salad on the side.And it makes a nice change from the usual.

Palak / Spinach and Spring Onion Quiche

Ingredients:

Heat oven to 400 degrees

Make a Pate Brisee for 9" pan

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
6 tbs cold water

• Sift flour and add salt. Rub butter into flour with fingertips till it resembles breadcrumbs. Make a well in the centre and pour in water. Combine flour with water with quick stokes to form a ball of dough. Cover with damp cloth and rest in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

1 bundle of spinach. Wash and cook till wilted. Chop roughly. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of cooked spinach.
1/3 cup chopped coriander.

3 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion.chop fine. 1/2 cup
3 spring onions and greens, chop fine
3 green fresh garlic cloves , chop along with leaves
1 medium capsicum /simla mirch, chopped
2 green chillies deseeded and chopped fine (optional)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper.

2 cups milk
3 eggs.

• Heat the olive oil and fry onions. Add spring onion, garlic, capsicum and green chillies and saute till golden and soft. Add salt and pepper.Take off fire to cool.
• Beat the eggs and add milk. Add the cooked spinach and coriander.
• Roll out dough for quiche base on floured surface till about 1/4 " thick. Line oiled or non stick flan tin with this. Spoon the sauteed ingredients onto the base then pour in the spinach, egg and milk mix. Put into preheated oven and cook on high for 15 minutes. Turn down heat to 250 degrees and cook for another 25 minutes till done. Easy as pie..er ...quiche.

IMBB called for a nice french wine on the side but we did without,sadly.

I mean Sula is a sad substitute.

Tagged with: IMBB23 + French

To Market , To Market- EOMEOTE #13

Fast And Furious Eggs Sowari

This is an easy peasy recipe guaranteed to taste good and open to lots of little interpretations like the nursery rhyme:

To market, to market to buy a fat pig
Home again, Home again jiggety jig
To market ,to market to buy a fat hog,
Home again, home again jiggety jog,
To market , to market , no not a slog
(its)Eggs for Eomeote and my bliggety blog.

Eggs Sowari/ Pig Eggs- a very Indo Anglian dish well known among the khansamas of yore.

Ingredients:

6 boiled eggs
1 tbsp ham, finely chopped
6 frankfurters chopped into 1/2" bits
2 tbsps butter
1/2 cup tomatoes, peeled and cooked.
1 cup white stock
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp chopped parsley or coriander
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt
Pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Place the eggs, whole, in a baking dish. Make a sauce of the remaining ingredients, except the cheese and crumbs. Pour over the eggs. Mix the cheese and crumbs and cover the eggs.
Bake in a hot oven, about 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

P.S to peel tomatoes dunk in boiling hot water for a couple of minutes, then into ice cold water for a short while. The skin just slips off in a second.

Khansama=Cook

Pohe aur Matar/ Beaten Rice and Peas

This is a quick dish for breakfast. You can add a couple of boiled cubed potatoes as well.

450 gms powa/ beaten rice
1 tbsp til ka tel / sesame oil
1 tsp rai / mustard seed
225 gms green peas.
6 green chillies chopped.
Salt to taste.
1/2 tsp haldi / turmeric powder
2 tsps sugar
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/2 fresh coconut, grated.

Boil the peas till done.Wash and drain the powa. Heat the oil and fry the mustard seeds. As they pop add the chillies, the salt, sugar, turmeric, lemon juice , green peas and powa.Cook on medium heat till the powa is done.Keeping aside a tablespoon of coriander leaves and coconut add the rest to the mixture and cook for a few minutes.Garnish with remaining coriander and grated coconut.

Serves 12 or a very hungry 6.

Variations on a Theme-Patrani Machhi

When the Zoroastrians, who were fleeing from persecution in Iran, landed in Navsari , centuries ago , a large number settled in Gujarat itself, and their descendants are now known as the Parsis.

Several became shipbuilders (Wadias) or shipchandlers, and worked in small business and trade, in the port towns of Gujarat.They did well during colonial rule and, under the patronage of the British, several of the community rose to become well known businessmen.(Besides the famous Tata and Godrej, there was Readymoney, Screwvala,( yes I know, poor chap) Sodabottlelightbulbwala, and many others  who became known by the names of their businesses.)

When the first permanent British Cantonment was set up in Pune, Parsi merchants ,who followed the British army where they camped, to supply them with everything from soap to candles, came along with them.

One of them, Dhanjishah Wadia, constructed the first cement road in Pune in honour of the proposed visit of royalty from Britain...The Prince of Wales drive.Perhaps it is the only road in good repair in town today ?

Pune became the place, after Bombay, where the largest number of Parsis settled. And with them came their cuisine some of it with Persian roots and some a strange mix of Iran and England (chips and boiled eggs with biryani).

Parsis are famously known for their enjoyment of life and have a saying:

"Khanar pinar ne khodai apnar."  God gives in abundance to those who eat and drink. And it seems to be true for this fun loving and generous community, so much a part of the Poona landscape.

One of their most famous and mouthwatering dishes is Patrani Machhi, which literally means fish in leaves, and in this case refers to pomfret wrapped in a banana leaf.It is an absolute standard on every Parsi festive menu and must come from the community"s seafaring and coastal days.

Pomfret is a slim, pale grey to white, flat fish ranging in size from 14"   to 5 " and has a delicate flavour.Patrani Macchi calls for it to be filleted and stuffed, then parcelled in banana leaf and steamed.

Here is my take on the recipe... a whole lot quicker and with a more substantial fish -Surmai or King Fish. Surmai has one central bone and is a bit more oily than pomfret . This leads a more succulent result after baking  without wrapping, compared to pomfret.

• 2  steaks, 1/2 " thick, of a large (8" across)Surmai / King Fish.  Each about 1/2 kg in weight .
• 1 large bunch of hara dhania/coriander cleaned and chopped.
• 1 onion chopped.
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 4 green chillies
• 1 tsp jeera /cumin powder
• 1 tbsp dhania/ corainder powder
• 1/2 tsp haldi / turmeric
• 1/4 coconut grated (optional)
• 2 tblsp lime juice.

Throw all the ingredients into a blender with three tablespoons of water and puree till very smooth. Wash fish slices and put into a ovenproof baking dish . Pour a tablespoon of olive oil or any other vegetable oil over each slice of fish.Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and add salt to taste. Slather the fish with the green chutney to which two tablepoons of lime have been added. Let stand for a half an hour or more, turning once in between so the fiah can soak up the marinade.

Surmai Patrani Machhi Style

Bake in a preheated oven (about 350 degrees ) for 20-25 minutes till done.The fish should flake when tested with a fork  but should NOT be dry.

It is as  tasty as outstanding as the real Parsi thing. Promise.

The Root of the Matter- A Recipe for Arvi

Arvi/ C. Esculenta Plant

Among many forms of the pictorial, I love botanical paintings, and here is one of " Colocasia Esculenta" from one of the best painters in her genre, Mary Grierson, once the official artist for the Royal Gardens at Kew. It was easy enough to incorporate this beauty into this blog as I picked up some Arvi and proceeded to make it for dinner.

Arvi / colocasia , is a corm, a kind of extension to the stem of a plant. It is known as taro in most other countries and dasheen in the West Indies. Dasheen as in 'de Chine'- from China. Actually Colocasia is native to India, not China ( does this blog start to sound like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? ) Evidence exists of ancient terraced fields made on slopes and hilly areas and planted with this crop , fields now used for cultivating rice.

The plant was carried to South Asia and China much later where it became a common crop as it could grow in well in tropical conditions.From there it spread to the Pacific,the Samoan, Solomon and Hawaiian islands, places where it remains a major part of the diet and is known by a variety of names.

Arvi is very easily digested, which makes it a good choice for children who are allergic to milk as well as people who have problems digesting other types of starch. It has several medicinal uses and contains significant amounts of Vitamin C and B 1 and B12 .

It used to be a regular in the kitchen garden in rural areas here, as cormlets would grow from the last season's corm without much effort or care. In fact it remains an important plant in subsistence farming and could do with a revival in general as a source of starch, healthier than cereals or other grains.Colocasia leaves are also edible and there are many recipes in India for this huuuuge leaf the reason why the plant is also known as Elephants Ear.

Arvi, as long as it is not cooked to slimy sludginess, is pretty nice to eat just as it is, with a few little additions.Here is my recipe for a really quick dish.

Arvi Roast

Arvi Roast

Ingredients:

• 500 gms ( app. 1 lb) arvi ./ taro
• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tej patta / bay leaves
• 1 inch piece dalchini / cinnamon
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 green chilli ( optional)
• 1 heaped tsp dhania/ coriander powder
• 1 tsp jeera/cumin powder
• Pinch of jaiphal / nutmeg
• Salt to taste.
• 1/2 a lime.( App. 1 tsp lime juice)

Boil arvi /taro in water till done. How long this takes depends on the size. I used arvi about two inches in length and 1 inch thick at the widest point..It took about 20 minutes to cook after the water had reached boiling point. The arvi should remain firm when tested with a fork. Remove from fire and wash immediately in cold water. Remove the skins which should come off easily. Cut into thick pieces and set aside.

Heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil. When hot put in the bay leaves, cinnamon and peppercorns. Add the green chilli at this point if you want it spicy. When the whole spices brown a bit add the arvi and the masalas. Turn the fire down and fry till the the the arvi gets a little crisp. Add the nutmeg and salt . Squeeze the lime juice over the arvi and serve.

Vaishali and Young Love

Vaishali is an institution. Ask anyone who ever attended Fergusson College. Lectures began at 7.30 a.m and finished at 10 a.m. After that - Breakfast time! And where else but at Vaishali.

Opened in 1956 by Mahabali Shetty who came from Bantwal in the Mangalore district and is part of the community of Bunts who are now  famously the  owners of almost every Udupi restaurant in India.

As the Bunts are a matriarchal community, the ownership passed on to his daughter, and has been run by her husband, Mr J.B Shetty, ever since. From the  small restaurant it was with 3-4 workers and 9 tables under Mahabali it began to grow to the present size of 70 tables, 33 of which are in the expanded garden which now sport two beautiful full grown rubber trees.

'Jai Malhar' , resident of Pune, says,-

"Vaishali *sigh* my first 'date' was in Vaishali. The waiter drove us away saying we weren't ordering anything and then we walked up the hill and were chased down the hill by a marauding bull. Very demoralizing. It was weeks before I could recover my manly pride."

Which young Fergussonian will not empathise with Jai and his first date? Though most will remember the patient waiters under whose watchful eyes romance flowered. Many sweet nothings have been uttered within the four walls of this famous place between a bite of dosa and a dip of sambar.

But much has changed since those long gone days when Vaishali first opened its doorsin 1956; dating was a no no and boys did not dare to raise their eyes to look at the girls of their dreams. Vaishali was strictly purdah. Girls and family room one side, boys on the other.What is now the entrance was the family room, where girls giggled loudly. Boys sat far away, crooning little love songs from the movies. Everyone sat facing the entrance to keep an eye on who was coming and going. Onion Uttapas were 35 paise, and kachoris, 30 .

Today the purdah has been lifted and college students sit and talk animatedly.

Regardless of the time of day there is always a crowd and you might have to stand and wait for a seat. This is usually found in a couple of minutes because the service is so fast and Vishwanath who handles the seating makes quick and accurate decisions, based on an immediate understanding of age, number and space availability in all the nooks and crannies where chairs are placed in apparent disarray. I am always impressed at his unflappability even when surrounded by fifty hungry diners, but then he has worked there for 18 years, from the time he was brought to Pune after his graduation by an uncle from Udupi district.

One of my favourites on the menu is Onion Uttappa, in honour of which Neelam, one of my friends, named her boyfriend."Uttappa ugh mugh onion special". He was rather large and plump to be honest. Food is churned out at a terrific pace in a kitchen which is crowded and furnace like. The stove over which the sambar boils ceaselessly makes a sound all its own.

Dosas are formed like skirts of whirling dervishes and stuffed in record time, while waiters come and go ceaselessly to and from the service area, laden with trays, and always in the best of humour.

Here are Prachi's (now a resident of New York) recommendations for what to have at what time of day. Even though years from my daily dosa it sounds pretty much like what I'd have chosen.

"Mornings, after climbing the TekDi (hill at the back of Fergusson College) - Upit with chutney.

Lunch/Dinner: Kanda Uttappa. Always ask for the green chutney with it, or an extra mirchi with the uttappa, tastes much better. It's the only place where I'll ever have uttappa.

After 5 pm, Shev Batata Dahi Puri aka SBDP.

In our college days, if someone else was treating you, you added Cold Coffee with Ice Cream to the order. Penniless spongers, we were."

She goes on to tell how involved the waiters got in the lives of their 'regulars'.

Lingappa once famously told me to dump "the boyfriend" I was with, because the guy touched his hair and looked in the mirror at his reflection too often. Later when I took my husband to Vaish, he looked him over and said, "ivanu addi illa. (He'll do.)

Well Prachi, Lingappa, who joined Vaishali in 1968, is still there, and the dosas and Uttappas are now Rs 22 . Mr Shetty who is now 73 years old, comes to taste the chutney every morning and check on every single thing offered on the menu .

Which is why Vaishali is still the most popular Udupi restaurant in town, catering to 4000-4500 customers a day with every sign that the numbers will increase.

Vaishali
Fergusson College Road
Shivaji Nagar Pune 411005
A meal for 2 with a soft drink each costs approximately Rs 60-Rs 100.