The chicken story

Now let's talk about a homemade chicken curry.  I have some great memories of our Sunday dinner and some damn horrible ones too in preparation for it.!

My father would go down our cobbled back street to our local shop. In Gujarati we call it the Dukhan.  At street level the shop sold groceries, sweets, and household products.  Downstairs, yes, downstairs in the cellar they sold chickens. Live and clucking. Yuk!  

I decided one Sunday to go with my father in the hope that he would buy me some sweets. Instead, he left me waiting at the top of a flight of stone stairs which led to a chicken farm in the cellar. I waited and waited while he picked the feathered friend that would soon become our Sunday Lunch. In my impatience, I decided to take a  wee peek. 

As I crept down the stones steps to my horror I could not only smell "them chickens" but I could hear them clucking and I saw them flapping their wings as they scrambled over each other trying to escape.   After taking only three steps down I could hear my father telling me to stay at the top...  The next thing I knew was that the chickens were trying to make their way up the staircase.   I ran back up the steps screaming.    I thought one of them might take off and poop on my head. 

Now you may think that was funny but let me tell you I vowed never to eat any type of bird again! Not to mention hearing its neck broken and then seeing it plucked and smell from the rest being burned off.   Yuk yuk yuk!

Once we were out of the shop I thought the ordeal as we walked back home reluctant to hold my father's hand for fear of being chickenised if there is such a word !but Oh No!

Mother was in our 4ft by 4ft kitchen preparing the masala for the dish of the day and also covering up the kitchen ready for Dad s butchery.   He used a homemade circular wooden chopping block and a cleaver that only came out on Sunday for the Chicken chop. Wham!  He laid into the chicken with such vigour and passion.   I ran for cover and peering through a crack in the doorway between the hinges.

My mother would try to get him to calm down and to not mess up her spotless kitchen.   She reacted with the speed of light reaching for her masala tin lids and running around the kitchen like a headless chicken with a cloth wiping up the splatters.

When I thought all was safe I would come back into the kitchen to see the next stage. I would see the chicken in pieces in a big  Indian stainless steel bowl.  Each week I would say “Dad next week can you not put the long bony neck in the pot". To which he replied: "That's where the flavour comes from."  He told me not to worry because there was only one person in the house that would be served the neck. And that was his good self...

He always insisted that a good chicken curry should never be started with a thick base of onion and tinned tomatoes.    In our home, all curries were made with fresh tomatoes added towards the end of the cooking.   We never used onions as the main sauce of flavour or sauce base.  Instead, we used a combination of wet and dry spicing..   It was always just about balance and to bring out the best flavour of the main Ingredient.   We followed recipes that my mother has learned from her mother in law and my father's grandmother.

Anyway so then it was onto mum who would marinate the chicken pieces and prepare her garamasla mix and other spices. Our chicken curry was served with the finest aged fragrant basmati rice and vinegar onions and fresh chapattis 

Basmati rice means "queen of fragrance" in Hindi …My mother and father would buy a sack of rice and let it mature in a steel drum in the attic for between 1 and 2 years.   This improved the fragrance and flavour of the grain and it cooks better.  The onions accompanying the chicken curry were simply large Spanish onions cut into rings and soaked in brown vinegar.

So here's my recipe for chicken curry.   Actually, it is mum's recipe for which she became famous in the Bradford Indian community in the 60s and 70s.   Folk would turn up at our door with whole chickens ready for her touch! I guess Dad had sold how good her curry was to them. And I have to I agree.... .....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRE96rrKLBo

Classic Gujerati chicken masala

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 kg chicken beasts
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger pulp
1 tbp garlic crushed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp chilli powder (more if you like it hot!)
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
12 Spanish cherry tomatoes
1 large lime
11⁄2 tsp Garamasala
1⁄2 bunch of coriander leaves
300ml boiling water

To flavour the oil

4 cloves
2 sticks cinnamon bark
5 green cardamom pods

Preparation

Trim the fat off the chicken breast and chop into bite sizes pieces then marinate in the ginger, garlic, chilli powder, salt, turmeric for 1⁄2 an hour. Place in the fridge. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Chop the fresh coriander leaves. Squeeze the lime juice and set aside.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan, when hot add the cinnamon bark, cloves and cardamom; gently cook in the oil until the spices darken.
2. Mix in the marinated chicken and give it a good stir. Turn the heat to medium and allow the meat to absorb the spices whilst the marinade releases into the oil. Place the lid on the pan for 15 mins, stirring occasionally.
3. Turn the heat up and add the hot water, cumin and coriander powder. (The water should just cover the tops of the chicken pieces.) Add in the cherry tomatoes. Stir and simmer until the sauce has reduced by half (for approximately 10-15m mins).
4. Take off the heat, add the garamasala and a squeeze of lime and sprinkle over the fresh coriander leaves.

Tip: Avoid stirring the chicken too much as it will break up. A rested chicken curry is the best curry – giving the chicken time to absorb the flavors. For a drier curry do not add the extra water.

Enjoy!

Milan. Happy Birthday.

Earlier this year I lost a very dear friend.  Composer, electrical engineer, amazing guitarist, impresario, lyricist, manager, he was a remarkable person who lived life to the full.  He accomplished all that despite being afflicted with muscular dystrophy which greatly restricted his mobility. Although he used to say "just a little problem" 

He introduced me to jazz while I was still at school.   Not at a concert but at the rehearsal of his band he was managing.   He asked me to stand at the back of the auditorium and tell him how they came over.  I was flummoxed,  I knew nothing of jazz - it all sounded like discordant sounds to me - and even less of the technology of the equipment that conveyed those sounds. But over time I grew to appreciate the subtlety of the genre.

Another passion we shared was food.   He savoured the English roast with all its trimmings.   Particularly  Yorkshire pudding which is often served as a starter here In Yorkshire.   We looked long and hard for the perfect Sunday lunch. Mostly in vain.   Toby. Harvester, Berni - do you remember them? - Maybe we should have gone to Simpsons.

For logistical reasons I rarely cooked with him. But I think he would have appreciated this..  some of the best conversations we had were how a a good Yorkshire pudding should look feel and taste and how a good roast potato should crunch but best of all how meat should be craved to your dinner plate we ate well and enjoyed the classics tastes and talks of a good Sunday roast.

He remains in our memory as very special person, who was all about life and gave his time to many others  despite his own setbacks in life.

Here are a few tips for making these yummy creatures and a recipe. Perhaps in his memory you could cook them and continue remembering him and  also great sense of humour!

A quick and easy recipe:

4 large eggs- room temp, equal amount of flour to eggs and equal amount of milk to flour with a touch of water and a pinch of salt

1. Sieve the flour into a bowl and season with a little salt. Gradually add the milk and water mixture until a consistency of thick double cream is achieved. Leave to stand for at least an hour.Rest is best for Yorkshire pudding batter so longer the better.
2. Just before putting in the oven, whisk the eggs (with an electric whisk if possible) and add to the mixture, whisking the batter until smooth.
3. Make sure your fat is very hot in the tray before pouring it in- that way you will have light airy cooked pudding that have risen. Gas mark 7 22o oc for 30-40 mins.

Enjoy!

Feed Me Scotland

Do you remember when you were at school the first thing the teacher made you do on your first day back  was to write about what what you did on your summer holidays.   Well, as I have been away for a while I will tell you what I have been doing.

Last  year  I was fortunate  enough to visit Scotland again - not just once but twice and attended  the Pitlochry theatre festival. There I watched a The 39 Steps and The Little Shop of Horrors which is all about food.   Watch the video:

I sampled weird and wondrous food in Scotland - not just haggis which I mentioned in "Burns Night Bradford Style" 26 Jan 2012 - but white puddings, clootie dumplings, stovies, tatty scones, bridies and a wee dram or twa at Edradour. . and to finish with I sampled the finest chocolates at The high land Chocolatier  I am told that curried bridie, beans and "chups".were student staples at St. Andrews, especially when carrot soup and mutton pie were on the menu in hall, students dodging lodging fare. 

There are lots of lovely things to see near Pitlochry: the Queen's View over Loch Rannoch and Loch Tummel, Blair Castle with its Hercules gardens and private army, Salmon ladder  and the magnificent waterfalls known  as the Falls of Bruar.   Right next door to the falls is a shopping centre in the middle of nowhere called House of Bruar

I spent hours in the food hall exploring every counter - the bakery, dairy, deli, pantry, patisserie and even the butcher's which says a lot as I am not a conviction carnivore.   If you are worried about horse flesh that's where you should go for peace of mind.   I bought apple juice, lemon curd, scotish crackers, scrumptious Scottish cheese and a lovely book about potatoes . Who would of thought it that from its humble beginning in Peru it was transported to into every continent on Earth and beyond including a potato plant transported onto space aboard the space shuttle.

For a tiny town Pitlochry has more than its fair share of top notch restaurants.   I tried the Fern Cottage, Port Na Craig, Strathgarry, the theatre restaurant and the restaurant of the House of Bruar. My favourite?  The theatre restaurant commanded the most spectacular views over Ben Vrackie. Fern Cottage was possibly most friendly.   Strathgarry had a great atmosphere.  But the salmon at House of Bruar was delectable and excellent value.

I dined at some interesting restaurants on the way to Pitlochry - Henderson's in Edinburgh and Mother India in Glasgow and the legendary Ubiquitous Chip which merits a post in its own right.Which I will mention again later.

So here's my food tip:  For lovely roast potatoes part boil your spuds fro 10 mins drain & pat dry ,shake in the pan to roughen the edges, place then into hot fat and rotate and bake in a hot oven for 30 to 40 mins. Or you could try" my lovely potato and cahew nuts with cool cumber raita recipe                            

Potato with cashew nuts and lime leaves, served with cucumber raita

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

500g/1lb Potatoes part boiled
60g/2oz cashew nuts
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp paprika
1⁄2 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp onion seeds &  a handful of lime leaves
2 tsp dried coriander
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp of ginger pulp
1 medium dry whole chilli
salt to taste
Ground nut oil
1tbsp chives
Juice of a Large Lemon
Zest of a lime

For the raita

1⁄2 cucumber grated
250g plain yoghurt
1 clove garlic
1 small rocket chilli
1⁄2 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
1⁄4 tsp mustard seeds crushed

Preparation

Peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and part boil in salty water for 15 mins. Set aside. (For the raita) Prepare the grated cucumber and remove the water by squeezing it in your hands (For the raita) Crush the garlic, finely chop the green chilli and grind the mustard seeds in a pestle and mortar.

Method

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Lowu or shallow level pan, and lightly fry the cashew nuts, cumin seeds and add the limes leaves and stir.Now add in thre ginger and whole green chilli.
2. Add the potatoes and sprinkle in the onion seeds, paprika, chilli powder, dried coriander, salt and turmeric. Give it all a good stir and cook on a medium heat for 2-3 mins, add in the lime zest and lemon juice. (This brings out all the flavours.) Finally, after a good stir sprinkle over the chives.)
3. (For the raita) Add to grated cucumber: the yoghurt, garlic, chilli, and turmeric and give it stir. Add salt to taste and mix in the crushed mustard seeds.

Enjoy!

use of bruar

Holmfirth food and drink festival.

Holmfirth is a little town in the Pennines just south of Huddersfield.  In previous posts I mentioned the town's vineyard and icecream. Today I visited its food festival.  Holmfirth hosts a lot of festivals through the year. A folk festival and film festival in May. An arts festival in June and lots of other quirky events like a duck race and a torchlight procession.

Probably Holmfirth is best known as the scene of the long running TV sitcom "Last of the Simmer Wine". The series is about three senile delinquents who meet at an establishment (which really exists) known as Sid's Cafe.Today the car park opposite Sid's Cafe hosted an open air food court. A tempting aroma wafted from the Pan House with Wurst, goulash and other goodies.  Not being a great meat eater I ordered a veggie hot dog. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE MISTAKE. Really really yucky. My friend who is a carnivore fared better with a Stilton and apple pork pie.  For dessert I had a sticky toffee cup cake from Racheys and my friend a slice of lemon cake which were scrumptious. That made up for the hot dog.Fortified with lunch I toured the stalls. Those that caught my eye were the Autumn Harvest Mushrooms

(luscious mushrooms - yellow oyster, eryingi, pink oyster, shimeji, girolle, shitake as well as truffle and porcinin butter), the Old Bridge Bakery (the Handmade Bread Company having sold out its stock as per usual).A Spanish tortilla which  I served it with a fresh salad tossed in fruity olive oil and a pomegranate balsamic vinegar dressing. Refreshing.

An olive stall, a venison and red wine pie stall and heard great things from the lads that were tucking into them who were   encouraging me to buy one... and the usual cheese affair.                      Now who's for some bajias? Mushroom of course, try my delightful Dana Jeera mushroom bajia recipe  A good tip: let the bajia batter rest before dipping yr mushrooms in the batter and frying.
                                                                                                                                      

                                      Dana jeera mushrooms bajias
(Serves 4)

Ingredients

14 tbsp gram flour
3 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp green rocket chilli
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp cumin
1⁄4 tsp turmeric
Salt to taste
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
A pinch chilli powder
2 tsp ground nut oil
150ml luke warm water
750g whole medium sized chestnut or button mushrooms
Ground nut for oil for deep frying

Preparation

Grate the ginger and finely chop the green chilli. Prepare the mushrooms by cutting the larger ones in half and keeping the smaller ones whole. Wipe them clean and avoid soaking them in water as this will make the mushrooms limp.

Method

1. In a bowl, sieve the gram flour and add the ginger and green chilli. Add a little water and using your hand beat the mixture to form a paste, making sure to avoid lumps. Mix in some more water and continue to beat.
2. Once you have a smooth thick paste consistency, add the dry spices, 2 tsp oil and salt, and beat. Cover and leave the batter somewhere warm for 1 hour.
3. Approximately half-fill a heavy bottom Lowu or a heavy bottom wok with groundnut oil, and heat.
4. Take the batter and add a little more water to loosen the mixture to form a batter consistency. Mix in the fresh coriander leaves.
5. (Test the oil by dropping a little batter into the oil if it rises to the top within a few seconds and becomes crispy then its ready.) Dunk the mushrooms into the batter and then place them in the hot oil. Give them a few seconds then frequently turn them until crispy and golden brown, drain off the excess oil and eat whilst hot and crunchy. Enjoy!                                            

Preston Guild...well worth the wait.

Being a patron of Yorkshire I try to sure support and promote activities in my county rather than those next door. I have probably made more trips to the Punjab than I have to Preston. But this year I ventured twice across the Pennines to that exotic city because 2012 is the year of the Preston Guild. The last Preston Guild took place in 1992 when John Major was PM and the next one will take place in 2033 when goodness knows who (if anyone) will be in charge.

Preston Guild takes place once every 20 years - or 30 when there is a war on as happened in 1942.  It celebrates the granting of a charter by Henry II to hold a guild merchant in 1179.  Guilds were associations of craftsmen and merchants in medieval Europe and they existed in every city to regulate trade. Their importance diminished with industrialisation but there are still plenty of guildhalls around the country most notably in London. In Preston the guilds are remembered with a festival that takes place every 20 years.  There are ceremonies, concerts, dance, exhibitions, parties, processions and even dresses made from wallpaper.  It is the only festival of its kind anywhere in the world.   Traditionally the Guild festival takes place at the end of August and beginning of September of the Guild year.
I made two visits this Guild: the Vintage Weekend on the 2 September and the Finale on the 9.   Though I saw a lot of the Guild I missed a great deal more including all the processions, the Guild Court and a concert by Jose Carreras and Katherine Jenkins at which I am told that Jenkins changed her dress no less than 5 times. Great Girl!  (see Jane Lambert "Once in Preston Guild" IP Northwest 8 Sept 2012).

Arriving in Preston for the Guild I thought I had gone back in time.   Part of that impression was formed by the Vintage weekend in Avenham Park where there were old newsreels, vintage films an old Cadillac and plenty of stalls selling clothing from previous guild decades.             My impression was reinforced by the orange curry, orange tandoori prawns and orange bhaji  that were served up with 1950s Bollywood music and flock wallpaper at the Dilshad Tandoori  when it was time to say goodbye.  You don't see many of those places nowadays - at least not where I come from.

There was more history in Winckley Square which had been set up for the Square Food Festival.  There were stalls selling cheese, honey, sausages and goodies from Nimes Preston's twin city. I bought some lovely Lancashire creamy, cheese and would have bought some French onions had they not run out of stock but I was most impressed by musicians dressed as chefs.

a story teller who told some tall tales about the history of Winckley Square and "cake city" the principal buildings of Preston reproduced in cake.I ate my cheese melted on some toasted wholemeal bread from   

          Thehandmade bakery simple but truely yummy.

On my next visit Avenham Park was transformed into a theatre for "Les Commandos Percu", a dazzling display of dance, drumming and pyrotechnics.  The sky was ablaze as was the stage at times.
This was the finale attended by 14,000 thousands and more tuned away not only of the Guild festival but also of the finale of the North West celebrations for the London Olympic and Paralympic games.  Though it was the finale it was by no means the only or even the last show. There were concerts, exhibitions, plays and what can only be described as the transformation of ordinary human beings into celebrities.  The hair of a Marks & Spencer's employee, for example, was transformed into a sea of blue on which the artists planted a ship

What was my abiding impression of the festival? In a word "friendliness". Everyone was joyful, helpful and above all friendly.   A few miles from my home there is a neighbourhood near Halifax which is actually called Friendly (I kid you not). As I drove through Friendly I was reminded of Preston.

Happy India independence day,

Today is a national holiday in India to commemorate its tryst with destiny.  It's not been an easy 65 years with horrendous communal violence, wars with Pakistan, China and Portugal and the Emergency.   But India has survived.   To celebrate, some people will be flying kites. Others will be drinking fizz . Yet more will try to picnic .......in the monsoon! But a good time will be had by all.

For Humans and Hedgehogs

So we have won some medals at last! What a relief! Just imagine the embarrassment if we had come away empty handed. I am particularly pleased that our first medal winner comes from Otley, a few miles from Bradford. Well done Lizzie Armistead.

While the games were going on in London I prepared a scrumptious dinner:

      

Skate

Moroccan chicken 

My very own rice pudding

Selection of  North Country cheeses

Coffee

If you want to watch the sport over dinner the skate is a very easy dish to prepare. Here's the recipe. I took this recipe from a wonderful book I was given. Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes
.
                                    Burrida Alla Cabrarese 

            (Skate with tomatoes, saffron Garlic and sultanas)  

 I added a pinch of cinnamon to compliment the other sweet flavours, nutmeg to give it an earthy balancing affect and garnished it with slightly bitter char grilled courgettes drizzled in fruity olive oil. It can be eaten with some crusty bread or on its own with some great wine, we served it before the Moroccan Chicken dish. And finished off with a cute bowl of rice pudding topped with shavings of Almonds and Pistachios nuts served with fresh grapes.

While I was preparing dinner I had a little visitor.   I offered it a trio of mushrooms.shiittake, chestnut and button.  Hedgehogs love mushrooms.   As you can see my guest was very happy.   If  hedgehogs could only purr I am sure it would be purring.

Another option, of course, is a takeaway from the Olympic sponsor.  They have widened their menu, so I am told.   
Finally, Katrina Heron has written an interesting article about catering for the athletes and visitors (see "How the London Olympic Games will revolutionize Food." Daily Beast 24 July 2012).