Authentic Regional Cuisine of India E-Book

Anirudh Arora

• Herausgeber: IMM Lifestyle Books
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 200

Beschreibung

Authentic Regional Cuisine of India is a beautifully written and illustrated cook book, as well as a travelogue and history of the famous Grand Trunk Road since its emergence as India's first route for traders. The book follows Hardeep Singh Kohli's travels along this age-old route, starting in Calcutta and linking with Lucknow, Aligargh, and Delhi before curling north into the Punjab. This book takes a fascinating look at the food, culture and traditions that have sprung up along the road, with recipes that reflect the eating traditions of the real India.The recipes are provided by Anirudh Arora, head chef at Moti Mahal in London, who has devoted his career to researching the long-forgotten cuisine of rural India as found along the old Grand Trunk Road. Nostalgic favorites include 'bhalla papadi chaat', a dish discovered in the streets of North India featuring crisp-fried pastry and chickpeas with a tamarind and mint chutney. From the seductive barbecued flavours of the Punjab to the sublime dals and vegetarian food of Lucknow, this is an eye-opening look at Indian food.

Leseprobe

Originally published by New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd

Published 2015—IMM Lifestyle Bookswww.IMMLifestyleBooks.com

IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed in the UKby Grantham Book Service.

In North America, IMM Lifestyle Books are distributed byFox Chapel Publishing1970 Broad StreetEast Petersburg, PA 17520www.FoxChapelPublishing.com

Copyright © 2011, 2015 text Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh KohliCopyright © 2011, 2015 photographs IMM Lifestyle BooksCopyright © 2011, 2015 IMM Lifestyle Books

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holders.

eISBN 978-1-60765-310-3

1 3 5 7 9 1 0 8 6 4 2

Printed in China

The map used on pages 27, 65, 109, 137, 147 and 163 is taken from a historical map of India from 1882 (source: Wikimedia Commons). It is used for decorative purposes only and is not intended to be an accurate representation of any current geographical or political boundaries.

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

BENGAL & BIHAR

UTTAR PRADESH

DELHI

KASHMIR

NORTH WEST FRONTIER PROVINCE & AFGHANISTAN

THE PUNJAB

Glossary

Index

Acknowledgements

FOREWORD

ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO I dreamt of creating a concept that reflected the vast cultural and culinary heritage that is embodied along India’s arterial route. Two decades later, Moti Mahal’s wonderfully talented head chef Anirudh Arora and writer and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli, whose fathers were in the same Indian regiment, have written this book. Food of the Grand Trunk Road is a unique culinary reflection of India’s oldest and longest major road. Built in the 16th century by Emperor Sher Shah Suri to connect Agra with his hometown, Sasaram, the Grand Trunk Road now covers 2,500 km from Calcutta to Afghanistan. Having travelled the length of the route, once described by Rudyard Kipling as ‘The River of Life’, Anirudh has showcased the recipes inspired by those passed down among generations of families, villagers and vendors, whilst Hardeep’s words have brought them brilliantly to life. Anirudh has chosen recipes that define the journey from West Bengal, through Benares on the banks of the Ganges, on to Delhi, home of emperors and frontier cuisine, up to Amritsar where the dhaba wallas still deliver multi-layered parathas, through the hunting country of the Punjab, the rugged mountains of Peshawar’s Khyber Pass and into the heart of Kabul. Grand Trunk Road food satisfies the tastebuds with the sweets of Bengal, the tangy and spicy dishes of Uttar Pradesh, Mughlai cuisine and Murgh Makhani from the original Moti Mahal in Delhi. It showcases the richness of flavours created for royalty, Indian rural cooking, the biryanis of Lucknow and Punjabi tikkis. There are the robust dishes of the tandoors and the delicate lightness of seasonal vegetables. In every city and village along the GT Road, cooking special dishes for festivals and family occasions is an integral part of life. This is a culinary narrative highlighting long-forgotten recipes; a celebration of the rural bounty of India and its richly woven history and I hope it will create as many memories for you as these dishes have for me.

Puri, Moti Mahal

INTRODUCTION

Hardeep Singh Kohli and Anirudh Arora have joined forces to write this book, bringing together their vastly different experiences and backgrounds – Hardeep was brought up in Glasgow but has always been aware of his Indian heritage while Ani, born in India, has brought his heritage to Britain. What they share, however, is an intense love of the forgotten dishes of the real India. Here, Hardeep asks Anirudh what the Grand Trunk Road means to him.

Hardeep: How did an Indian chef like you end up cooking in the heart of London?

Anirudh: I spent five years at the Oberoi in Calcutta and decided that was enough time there. I had a choice: stay in India and become an executive chef, which would have meant cooking food from all over the world, or move to London, where I knew I could really focus on Indian food. The appetite for Indian food is bigger in London than anywhere else, possibly even bigger than in India.

Hardeep: Really?

Anirudh: Well in India you don’t have to choose Indian food – it’s all there is, it’s necessary to eat it. Whereas in the UK there is a genuine desire to eat Indian food. There is such a wide range of cuisines on offer which means that the quality of Indian food offered in London is better comparatively than the food in India.

Hardeep: Tell me your story…

Anirudh: I was born in Delhi. My father was in the army and my mother was a professor of zoology. When I was a boy it was decided that I would either be an engineer or a doctor, even before I was born! Just like in the Hindi movies. My mum wanted me to be a doctor and my dad wanted me to be an engineer. So obviously, as a kid, you decide that you don’t want to be what your parents want you to be. My dad then tried to make me become an army officer so he sent me to Bangalore to sit the entrance exam for the army. But instead of sitting that exam I applied to a hotel management college.

Hardeep: Whenever I have eaten food that you have created, I always have the feeling that the love of food is inside you rather than something you’ve learnt.

Anirudh: To cook good food you need to eat good food. As my father was in the Indian Army we were well looked after. There was the officer’s mess… amazing silver plates and cutlery… it was really special. And that was the first time I ever saw ice cream, hand churned for three hours by some private.

Hardeep: Can you remember the first meal that had a real impact on you?

Anirudh: It wasn’t a meal actually, it was breakfast. In the mess it was always English breakfast. Scrambled eggs, griddled tomatoes and mushrooms. And I had Marmite… you have to understand that back in those days there was no Marmite in India. Marmite was a big thing. There is no factory, it’s still imported. My father told me only the top people eat Marmite. I don’t know why he told me that! Perhaps because it was packed with Vitamin B! That breakfast changed me a lot – I was about nine years old.

Hardeep: When did you realise that you were going to become a chef?

Anirudh: I wasn’t great at school, so every now and again I would duck out of class and go and watch a movie. On the way back to school I’d pass a tiny petrol station – more a single petrol pump really.

There was this guy outside with a little barrow. All he sold was omelette and bread. Masala omelette and bread... I used to love eating that – I started to enjoy it more than the movie I had escaped school to see. I think that is where my love affair with food started. One day we didn’t have enough money for the movie tickets so this friend of mine and I decided to go home and cook something. Although we didn’t have enough money for the movie we had just about enough to buy two legs of chicken. We decided to make chicken curry.

Hardeep: How old were you?

Anirudh: Maybe 14. I had NO idea how to cook a chicken curry. My friend (and he’s still a good friend) told me that he had cooked a chicken curry – just once.

Hardeep: He’s probably a doctor or an engineer now, like a good Indian son!

Anirudh: No, he’s a businessman, making plenty of money. Anyway, we got our heads together and made chicken curry.

Hardeep: How was it?

Anirudh: It was good, actually. We fried the onions and then added some garlic. I wanted to add tomatoes but he wanted me to wait till the onions and garlic had cooked. We had a fight about it and I said that since it was my house we would cook it my way. Unfortunately when we came to taste the curry there were whole chunks of garlic in it. But otherwise it tasted pretty good. As we tasted it he said ‘I told you so’. And he was right. I should have fried that garlic a bit longer. I’ve never forgotten that experience.

Hardeep: Tell me about your relationship with the Grand Trunk Road. Why did you send me all the way along it through a particularly cold North Indian winter?

Anirudh: I love food. I’m a north Indian, a Punjabi. Punjabi food is limited – I love it but it is limited. The GT Road defines our menu, both at Moti Mahal and for Punjabis generally; it gives the food character, a story. The GT Road has inspired so many lives, so many stories for so many years. And it has inspired me.

Hardeep: Tell me about the road itself.

Anirudh: The GT Road goes through Delhi where I was born. I studied in Lucknow – the GT passes through there. I spent time in Calcutta where the road starts or ends, depending on your journey. I remember once I drove on a scooter from Lucknow to Delhi – 571 km in a single day. It was an unforgettable journey. I set off at five in the morning and at 7.30pm we reached Delhi. We had food at every stop – the most amazing street food and snacks – too many to remember. We had watermelon... you know in India these guys sit by the roadside with mountains of watermelons. When you stop they just slice one open for you and you eat it. There’s no better way to clear the taste of dust from your mouth! It was the best watermelon I have ever tasted.

Hardeep: Didn’t you fall in love in Calcutta?

Anirudh: Yes, I met my wife there. I was a chef at The Oberoi Grand, the best hotel in Calcutta. We were both working at the hotel. I was a trainee chef and she was the training manager.

Hardeep: So you fell in love with your boss?

Anirudh: I’ve never thought about it like that! We started going out to the movies and then stopping for egg rolls, kathi rolls. They don’t call them kathi rolls in Calcutta. Just rolls. We ate a lot of rolls.

There was good food everywhere, Chinatown in Calcutta is amazing. It’s less Chinese and more Indo-Chinese food. So I have some very fond memories of Chinatown.

Hardeep: There’s a lot of history on the Grand Trunk Road.

Anirudh: It’s always been in the back of my mind. When you study at primary school in India you hear a lot about the Grand Trunk Road. Almost everyone calls it GT Road. If you want to travel anywhere in North India you travel on the GT Road. It’s the lifeline of north India. So if there are millions and millions of people travelling up and down that road then it has to mean something – it creates its own story. And in India, everyone loves food. On the GT Road, food is happening almost everywhere. There are these dhabas on the GT Road. These are some of the most inspirational places I have eaten at. People in the UK talk about organic food. I never heard the term organic food before I came to the UK. Why? Because everything in and around the GT Road is organic. The dhaba is at the end of a keth, a farm. If the dhaba owner needs any mooli, green chillies, tomatoes, anything, he just opens his back door and it’s all there, growing in the ground. There are poultry, eggs, milk and butter all nearby. On the GT Road when they talk about fresh butter they mean butter that was churned half an hour ago. Delicious – straight into your dal makhani.

Hardeep: You have a lot of dishes on the menu from Kashmir and Kabul. I never realised the GT stretched so far east. You can’t have tasted those sorts of dishes growing up?

Anirudh: Maybe not growing up but my father was posted near the border in Kashmir. There was some exchange of food over the border, communities exist either side. This is one of the fantastic things about Indian food – it has changed and developed over centuries with every invasion, every migration. After the troubles in Afghanistan a lot of the Kabul Sikhs migrated to Delhi, near where I grew up. Though they are Sikhs they have lived in Afghanistan for generations. They brought their food culture with them. They cook Kabuli food and that food can now be found in West Delhi, where these migrants settled. I remember coming home one evening and seeing this man with his stall. I didn’t recognise what he was cooking. I looked closer and saw that it was lamb’s liver wrapped in fat – nothing else. Served with chutney and naan – but not naan the way I knew it – Kabuli naan is leavened. It’s thick and soft, like a pillow.

Hardeep: How does the food change as you travel across the GT Road?

Anirudh: Food changes with the geography. As the landscape changes so does the food. Calcutta is close to the sea so fish is abundant. They have more rivers in Bengal and so rice is their staple rather than wheat. As you travel into central north India there are fewer rivers and less flowing water is available. So they grow more wheat. Mustard leaves are a major crop so mustard oil is used a lot in the cooking. In Uttar Pradesh there is a big Nawabi influence – the Nawabs swept eastwards. Here the kebabs aren’t cooked in a clay oven, they are cooked on a steel pan, a tava. Delhi is a metropolitan city, influenced by a range of food cultures. Moving onwards you reach the Punjab, the most fertile state in India, where you will find an abundance of vegetables. The climate suits dairy farming so there is plenty of milk and butter in the cooking.

Hardeep: Whereas Kashmir has a much harsher climate so they use a lot of dried vegetables in their cooking. Isn’t the famous Kashmiri chilli dried?

Anirudh: Indeed. They also use a lot of meat since it’s more difficult to grow vegetables. Similarly in Afghanistan, there are very few vegetables. They have lots of wheat and so plenty of breads and meat, mostly goat. So you can see the food changing with the geography, with the road. For me, though, the Punjab will always be the most important area, from a culinary point of view, which is why I have featured so many recipes from that region, both from India and Pakistan, in this book.

Hardeep: We’ve ended the book with a triumphant chapter on the food of the Punjab; though not technically the end of the GT Road, it is a fitting end to a magnificent journey across northern India.

BENGAL & BIHAR

Bengal is predominantly a rice and mustard growing region, with a number of rivers including the Ganges and the Brahmputra crisscrossing the countryside. The main food staples are rice, seafood, green Bengal gram and sweets based on curdled milk. A meal without sweets is incomplete. Bengali dishes are generally flavoured with mustard. Bihar is on the Gangetic plains of central & eastern India, where farming carries the economy. Here you will find wheat, rice, pulses, river fish and vegetables.

ALOO DIMER JHOL

Egg curry with potatoes

SERVES 4

2 small potatoes, peeled

oil, for shallow frying

8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

4 garlic cloves

1 onion, chopped

3 tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

3 green cardamom pods

3 cloves

2.5-cm/1-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped

2 green chillies, slit lengthways

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon chilli powder

salt, to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander

Slice the potatoes lengthways. Heat some oil in a non-stick frying pan and shallow-fry the potatoes over a low heat until just cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside. Fry the eggs, whole, in the same oil as you cooked the potatoes for 2–3 minutes and set aside.

Put the garlic cloves, chopped onion and tomatoes in a blender or food processor and blend until you have a smooth purée. Set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan and, once hot, add the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, green cardamom pods and cloves, and cook for a couple of minutes until the flavours infuse. Add the ginger and green chillies and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato and onion purée, cover and cook on a medium heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the turmeric, cumin, chilli powder and salt. Add 250 ml water and gently simmer for a further 8–10 minutes, until the mixture thickens. Add the potatoes and eggs and cook for a further 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with chopped fresh coriander.

MANGSHO GHUGNI

Lamb and chickpea curry

SERVES 4

400 g/14 oz chickpeas (dried not tinned)

50 ml/2 fl oz mustard oil

2 bay leaves

3 green cardamom pods

3 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 onion, chopped

1 kg/2¼ lb boneless lamb from the leg, cut into 2.5-cm/1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon ginger and garlic paste (see Note)

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon chilli powder

½ teaspoon ground cumin

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

salt, to taste

1 teaspoon garam masala

few sprigs fresh coriander, chopped

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight. Boil in fresh water for about 1–1½ hours until soft. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid, and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the bay leaves, green cardamom pods, cloves and cinnamon stick. Allow to infuse. Add the cumin seeds and once they have crackled, add the chopped onion and cook until golden brown. Add the lamb and cook over a high heat until browned.

Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for 2–3 minutes. Add the ground turmeric, ground coriander, chilli powder, ground cumin and salt. Mix well. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until soft. Add enough of the chickpea cooking water to cover the lamb and cook for 25–30 minutes over a medium heat.

Add the cooked chickpeas and cook for 10–12 minutes, until the meat is tender. Add a little more water if it looks too dry. Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle over the garam masala and chopped fresh coriander.

Note Ginger and garlic paste is a simple paste made from roughly two-thirds garlic and one-third peeled ginger, peeled and blended with enough oil and water to make a smooth paste. It should keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to week. It is also available ready-made in jars from good supermarkets or Indian grocers.

KOFEE ALOO JHOL

Fish and cauliflower curry

SERVES 4

2 teaspoons chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

salt, to taste

4 fish steaks (eg sea bass)

2 medium potatoes

1 cauliflower, broken into florets

5-cm/2-inch piece ginger, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

100 ml/3½ fl oz mustard oil

2 bay leaves

3 green cardamom pods

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

1 teaspoon onion seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 lemon

Mix together ¼ teaspoon chilli powder, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and a pinch of salt and rub over the fish steaks. Set aside.

Wash, peel and cut the potatoes into quarters and mix them with ¼ teaspoon chilli powder and ¼ teaspoon turmeric. Mix well. Rub ¼ teaspoon chilli powder and a pinch of salt into the cauliflower florets and set aside.

In a spice mill mix the ginger and cumin seeds with just enough water to make a paste.

Heat the oil in a wok or large pan and add the cauliflower florets. Cook for 2–3 minutes, then drain on kitchen paper. Add the potatoes to the wok and cook until lightly golden then remove and drain in the same way. Finally shallow-fry the fish for a few minutes, drain and set aside.

To the same oil (if you feel there is too much remove a couple of spoonfuls), add the bay leaves, green cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and cloves and allow to infuse. Add the onion seeds and allow them to crackle. Once crackled add the ginger cumin paste and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining chilli powder, turmeric and salt together with the coriander. Mix well. Add 2 cups of water and bring to the boil.

Add the cauliflower florets, potatoes and fish, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Adjust the seasoning, squeeze over the lemon and serve hot with steamed rice.

GHANTE

Bengali vegetable curry

SERVES 4

6 baby aubergines

2 medium potatoes

150 g/5½ oz pumpkin

2 green (unripe) bananas

150 g/5½ oz runner beans

6 parwal (gourd)

3 tablespoons mustard oil

2 green chillies, slit lengthways in half

2 dried red chillies

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cumin

salt, to taste

few sprigs chopped fresh coriander

Cut the aubergines into 2-cm/¾-inch round slices. Peel the potatoes, pumpkin and parwal and cut into 2-cm/¾-inch pieces. Peel the bananas and cut into 2-cm/¾-inch pieces. String the beans and cut into 2.5-cm/1-inch pieces. Peel and cut the parwal into 2-cm/¾-inch pieces.

Wash all the cut vegetables and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the green chillies and dried red chillies for 30 seconds.

Add all the vegetables together and fry them till a golden crust starts to show around them. Add the ground coriander, chilli powder, turmeric and cumin.

Add 2–3 tablespoons water and salt to taste. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes until until the vegetables are just done.

Sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Note This makes a great accompaniment to Mustard fish and mango curry (see page 50).

PATUREE

Prawn and crab cakes

SERVES 4

200 g/7 oz prawns, peeled and deveined

200 g/7 oz white crabmeat

1 medium potato, peeled, cooked and grated

few curry leaves, chopped

few sprigs fresh coriander, chopped

3 tablespoons mustard oil

30 g/1¼ oz grated Cheddar cheese

¾ teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon garam masala

½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

salt, to taste

juice of 1 lemon

2 banana leaves

Mint and coriander chutney (see page 133), to serve

Wash the prawns, drain in a colander and roughly chop.

Mix together the chopped prawns, crabmeat, potato, curry leaves, fresh coriander, mustard oil, cheese, ground turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, dried chilli flakes and salt and mix well. Pour over the lemon juice.

Wipe each banana leaf with a damp cloth and then trim and cut each one into six pieces.

Divide the mixture into 12 and shape into patties. Wrap each one in a piece of banana leaf, making sure that the filling does not come out.

Heat a non-stick pan, sear the wrapped leaves then cook for 4–5 minutes on each side. Serve with Mint and coriander chutney.

CALCUTTA

SO IT BEGINS. Calcutta, Bengal. All the way over on the flight I found myself intermittently humming the Punjabi folk song, GT Road. (That and “Flying Without Wings” by Westlife; no doubt caused by some bizarre Freudian fear of flying lodged in my subconscious.) The irony is that I couldn’t be further from the Punjab, the object of the desire of that folk song, than when arriving in Bengal.

Amritsar is 1,153 miles away; a journey stretching over numerous states of India into Pakistan and beyond to Kabul. I have been to Calcutta once before and have strong, visceral memories of the city. It is a myriad of mayhem, a panoply of pandemonium; unsurprising given that it is calculated to be the world’s eighth largest urban agglomeration. (I don’t really know what that means but I reckon Calcutta must be one of the most densely populated cities in the world.) Mayhem and pandemonium.