Winter food in Mumbai Duck egg over spinach.

Now that winter is almost at an end it is time to explore what Mumbai offers to the good food seeker. You will all have seen strawberries, great for making compotes, crushes and syrups. Fresh garlic also makes an appearance and this is great for the Gujarati special, bajra ki roti and fresh garlic all crushed together. A very healthy and great tasting breakfast which only iproves with a spoonful of dahi.

Once at a Cypriot cafe in Philly I had their classic breakfast which was a duck egg with some kebabs. I decided to mix this up with the classic spinach and egg recipe and substitute a duck egg for the regular egg. So here goes.

Ingredients 2 duck eggs (I got mine in Chennai while I was there)

1 bunch of spinach, baby spinach is better

1 bunch of fresh garlic with the stalks

1 slit desseded green chilli

Haldi (turmeric, salt to taste)

Preparation

In an iron skillet add two tbsps of olice oil and the chopped fresh garlic and stir fry for a minute.

Add a small spoon of turmeric and the slit chilli and fry for about a minute

Add the washed, chopped spinach and allow to wilt and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Crack the duck egg over the spinach and cover with a lid and allow to cook for 5 minutes

The egg will cook in the steam. Inspect if you need to cook it more cover for another 3 minutes.

Place the skillet on a wooden board and serve with pau.

 

Cypriot breakfast meets Parsi breakfast in Mumbai. Bhaji par eedu.

 

 

 

 

Poor food in Mumbai and elsewhere

The best option for “good food” at a reasonable price is to cook in your own home.  In this case you can select the ingredients, get them fresh and ensure that the dish is cooked to perfection. However, eating out has its pleasures too and this is something which has changed from a casual experience to a terrifying and expensive proposition. I have been eating out in 2015 and each time the experience left something to be desired.

The worst on my list is the Taj group of hotels. Whenever we tried to order a wine or a spirit for our guests, it was unavailable and a more expenisve option was offered. The Taj does not realise that a “Menu” is a contract between the establishment and the customer. In case something is not available then the menu should carry a note to inform the guest well before she makes up her mind. This should be the job of the F&B manager each day.

At the Vista at Lands End on 21st November we had the buffet which had “Amristsari fish” I was told, upon asking, that the fish was basa, a cheap import from SE Asia, basa is actually catfish which is reared in rivers, many of whom are overloaded with chemical runoff. Basa is so cheap that everyone uses this as “fish”. The rather arrogant chef tried to tell me that delicate fish like pomfret do not sit well in a buffet and surmai and rawas smell too much. I have never heard such rubbish. The Taj is just trying to sell the cheapest ingredients at the most expensive price.

Lesson: Avoid anything which says “fish” at any 5 star hotel/restaurant.

On 4th November we went to Ellipsis an upscale restaurant in South Mumbai. I had read of the original chef’s departure and still took a risk. The cocktail was excellent and then the experience went downhill. The lamb burger was hard, undercooked and dry. Thankfully I sent it back and I was not charged for it. The prawns were overcooked and rubbery. We paid for them. End of the day a very bad dining experience. More to follow, the card machine could not pront out our recepit, it took them over 20 minutes to sort out our bill.

Lesson: Avoid Ellipsis till they get a better chef.

Royal China Bandra, When this place opened up it shook up the restaurant scene. the food was easily the best. Over time the food went downhill and service is non existent. They have the audacity to charge a 10% service charge for annoying customers. We ate there on 30th November. The food was just passable, closer to Punjabi Chinese than what it used to be years ago. Service was terrible. A large number of untrained wait staff who kept trying to take away my soup bowl even when it was half full. One server kept leaning across us practically shoving herself in front of our faces, to clear the plates. Prices have gone up and food and service have gone downhill.

Lesson Avoid this place.

 

 

 

 

Biryani!!!

Tags

biryani rice, Hyderabadi biryani, mutton

Ahh Biryani, one of the most fantastic foods on the planet. Also one to generate the most heat and passion when people meet. Essentially biryani is a dish of rice and meat assembled for the final preparation. I think biryani does not need a qualifier like chicken, mutton or fish or vegetable. I think biryani is made with meat, period. OK some people like to have chicken which is a battery hen fed on antibiotics and factory made feed. I prefer the free range, grass fed mutton we get in India is the only way to make biryani.
I have seen so many kinds of biryani in India that it boggles the mind. In Chennai Dindigul and Ambur are the reputed biryani capitals. Made with the short grain jiraga rice this biryani lacks the colour of the north Indian style and usually served with a boiled egg and ofcourse spiced with pepper, cinnamon and cloves. The Mopala biryani from Kerala is also made of short grain rice, is more like a pulao in my reckoning and served with a fantastic dahi kachumber and a papad fried in coconut oil. A great example of this can be found at the Grand Hotel in Ernakulum (their Karimeen is also great).
Moving up to Maharashtra there are the all time classics like Delhi Durbar which is a very greasy biryani which people rave about. The Olympia Coffee House on Colaba Causeway was one of Busybee’s favourites and they make a great Mehasana style biryani. Small portions at a lower cost for the regular clientele which is taxi drivers. Mumbai has also been overtaken by a surge of Bengali restaurants which bring their own style of pulao like biryani made without red chilli but loads of whole spice. Then there is the classic Hyderabadi biryani (best eaten in a Hyderabadi home)
THe Avadh style biryani is more my style and some people claim that the Dum Pukht style of biryani was actually invented in the ITC Hotel chains.

Coming back to Good Food and biryani, I think the best option is to make biryani at home with ingredients which you buy and then use to make what appeals to you. I suggest that you start with small portions and through a process of trial and error you will arrive at a dish which will bear your own style and will be good to make and great to eat and to serve to your guests.

Always begin with good mutton, make sure you go to the butcher and get good mutton with bone. Make sure the rice is a good fragrant long grain rice. Avoid the various branded packs and get half kilo samples from your local kirana shop. I get some fantastic “biryani rice” from a shop at Pali market.
You will need some ginger garlic paste which you can buy ready made, some whole spices like cloves, cardamom both green and black. some good curd (yoghurt).
Some people sprinkle rose water on the final biryani, I prefer good saffron.
A good biryani should have potatoes in it. Again, some people prefer to deep fry cut potatoes and then put them in the final dum. I think fried potatoes taste great.

The chilli you use will differ from time to time so make sure you stick to one place or brand to ensure consistency.

The cooking medium can be either groundnut or mustard oil but use a good cold pressed oil and avoid the fancy refined oils. Their health quotient is yet to be proved and the food made in them just does not taste like it should. Mustard oil is available easily but it is worth hunting for good unrefined groundnut oil.

Like I said before make a small quantity of biryani and taste it and then modify the quantities till you get something you like the taste of.

Starter recipe

500 gms mutton with bone
500 gms long grain rice
2 potatoes medium size
3 medium onions
4 cloves
4 green cardamom
2 black cardamom
stick of cinnamon

teaspoon of red chilli (taste and add more if required)
teaspoon of turmeric (fresh if you can get it in December from Wai near Mahableshwar)
1 teaspoon roasted and ground dhaniya seeds

Process

Mutton
add dahi, turmeric, red chilli and let it stand for an a hour in the frig.

Slice the onions fine and sautee in about 100 ml oil in a heavy bottom dish. ( I know someone who has welded an iron tava to a regular handi)
Stir till translucent and brown. Add the ginger and garlic paste and fry for about 2-3 minutes.
Add the marinated mutton and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
Add salt to taste and cook for a further 30 minutes on a low flame.

The add the cloves and green cardamom and continue simmering for at least another 45 minutes till the mutton is well cooked and almost falls off the bone.
Taste again and make sure the salt and chilli are to your liking. Shot off the flame and add the cinnamon stick.

Cut the potatoes into 4 and wash in cold water and then deep fry for about 10 minutes till brown outside.
Do not overcook

Separately wash 500 gms long grain rice and cook with a dash of turmeric to impart a nice colour.
When the rice is swollen but al dente take it off the flame and drain the water.

Taste the mutton once more to make sure it is well spiced and then add the fried potatoes to this and then add the rice on top of this.
Never mind the layers of mutton, rice, mutton, rice.

Take a pinch of saffron and add it to 100 ml of hot milk, stir and then pour over the rice in the dish.

Seal the dish with a heavy lid and put a weight on it. I use a grinding stone.

Place a tawa on the gas and then place the biryani handi on it.
Slow simmer for about 20 minutes and then stop the gas.

Let it sit for about 15 minutes and then open the id and serve with an onion and tomato kachumber.

Play with the ingredients, you may like to add a dash of rosewater to the biryani instead of saffron.
You may like to boil the rice with some cinnamon and cardamom

In about 4 trials you should end up with your own signature style biryani.
Enjoy!

Essential knives in a middle class kitchen

Tags

knives

I was trying to discuss the essentials of Kheema (minced lamb) as is made in India and there was quite a debate but along the way we got sidetracked into gadgets.
I recall watching cooking shows on TV and whenever a celebrity chef is making something the camera hovers over the knives, mixer or whatever the CC (celeb chef) is using, almost implying, that to get great food you need great gadgets. I was also a victim of this and was looking for these knives which I see on TV. Their prices made me balk.
I then put together the Middle class cook’s essential knives set.
The knife I use the most and have been using since 1998 was a relatively cheapo knife bought in a chain store. The handle is almost falling apart and I had to take it to a grinding wheel a few months ago but it cuts anything I want it to.
I also use a regular filleting knife for fish. Great comfortable handle and a keen edge all below US$ 35/- and I still have to sharpen after 5 years.

The pink knife is a cheap US $ 8/- knife which does great for chicken, vegetables and chopping onions. The handle is a bit puny for my large hands and maybe I will wrap some rope and slip a bicycle tube round it but for now it does a great job. Does a knife alter the taste of the food you are cooking??

Now back to the kheema, this is always minced lamd (goat) or in some cases beef. There are many kinds of kheema recipes but I tried to deconstruct the famous kheema from Mumbai’s famous Olympia Coffee House.
It is made in large quantities of oil, has a taste of fennel (saunf) and maybe methi (fenugreek)

A typical batch of kheema is of 500 gms minced lamb. Not ready minced but purchased as meat, deboned and then minced. It is twice as expensive as ready minced lamb but worth the cost.

2 medium sized red onions sliced fine and sautéed in 100 ml mustard or groundnut oil.
Once the onions are translucent, add a tablespoon of garlic ginger paste and let it cook over a medium flame.
Add the mince and brown it quickly and set on simmer.

roast one tablespoon jeera, one teaspoon dhania seeds, one teaqspoon of saunf (fennel) 6 cloves and grind in a pestle.
Add this to the kheema and let it simmer.

Chop one large tomato and fry it separately in a tablespoon of mustard oil and mash it up fine.
Add this to the kheema and spice and add a teaspoon of red chilly powder.
Add a bunch of fenugreek leaves (whole) and let the entire lot simmer slowly.

Some people add peas to this, I do not.

Let the kheema simmer for about 45 minutes on a very low flame turn off and then leave it for about an hour.

Great with local bakery pau and the next morning with a fried egg.

Enjoy

What is GOOD food?

Tags

good food, kitchen gadgets, masala

Food and drink generate more debates and heated discussions than almost anything else. The conversations about food also include various unverified medicinal or healing properties and repeated propaganda.

I would like to explain my concept of GOOD FOOD, to me this means food made using the best possible ingredients available, preferable fresh and where the food tastes good, is satisfying and is shorn of hype.

One difference I find between food in Europe and India is in Europe good fish means that the fish (or chicken or meat) has a great flavour and texture. The sauce or seasoning plays a role in enhancing this flavour and/or texture. In India when we say good food it usually means that the masalas used are tasty and almost drown the fish (or meat or chicken). I will talk about making good food, eating good food in restaurants, dhabas and stalls and how to set up a simple kitchen in a middle class home where value for money is as important as good food.

I recall a time (that is a giveaway about my age) when  refrigerators were rare, microwave ovens were not invented and non stick was not even a gleam in the eye of any one in the kitchens of India. I do recall large copper or brass vessels with “kalai” or zinc plating on them, huge sill battas of stone or a mortar of  cast iron and a wooden pestle. There were two knives, one small one for fruit which was made from a recycled hacksaw blade and a larger one for vegetables, meat and fish. One koyta or sickle made from the leaf spring of a truck was used to split coconuts and hack chicken and meat. These simple implements made good simple food, always bought fresh in the market and used right away.

Wheat was bought and taken to a chakki to get fresh atta and suspicious looks were directed at the miller while the atta was being ground. Rice was purchased in the harvest season and left to “age”. Groundnut (peanut) oil was bought in the crushing season and it was all cold pressed and UNREFINED!  Masala was ground at home or in Bandra, women would come and pound the famous East Indian masalas in your courtyard. With these simple tools and ingredients  moms turned out great meals, snacks and anything in between.

I am not a Luddite so I will try and walk a path between “essential” implements for the busy, working man who juggles a day job and cooks for the family and friends. (or a woman with a day job who juggles many more chores other than cooking). I scorn hyped gadgets especially those shown on TV as being overpriced and tough to maintain and take up too much space in a typical middle class Mumbaikar’s kitchen.

I prefer to go with seasonal fruits and vegetables and try and avoid food that has travelled from afar. Grain, beans, dals and oil keep well and are used all the year round.

Over the years I have started avoiding fish, most of what is served in restaurants is basa from exotic locations and in some places the streams which basa is grown in are not the cleanest. The cat fish is a bottom feeder and the fillets lack texture and flavour. I think of it as an organic sponge for sauces and flavours.  The waters around Mumbai are too polluted to yield good fish and we have almost fished out all the stock of large pomfret, mackerel and ravas. Sure there are places like Goa, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu where I have had good fish but in Mumbai chicken and meat is the way to go.

These ramblings are more a tale of my journey from a small middle class home to a slightly, still middle class kitchen in Bandra.

Raj