Fajeto in Gujarati means a ‘mortification/discomfiture/embarrassment/humiliation/awkwardness’, a ‘faux pas/gauche-ness’ or something that ‘leaves one red in the face’; and thereby hangs a pretty tale.

Legend tells us that a family was resting late on a summer afternoon, after a large and sumptuous meal of ‘puris and Aamras’ (Indian fried bread with mango juice and pulp flavoured with condiments.).

Now, at the time of this tale in India, the lady of the house would soften the whole mangoes, and ease the pulp and juice out with her hands through the hole formed by removal of the stem.

This caused the seed and a fair part of the mango pulp to remain within the skin and stuck around seed. This remainder was discarded and fed to the cows in the evening.

So, back to our lady of the tale. While the family snored through its afternoon nap, who should arrive, but a large party of their daughter’s in-laws. Very important, very important guests, indeed! What were the parents to do? It was just past lunch time, so, no food and in the mango season too! It becomes imperative for the family to serve a lunch, mangoes included.

The clever lady washed clean the seeds and skin of the mango in a vessel of water; added some curds to this flavoured water, condiment, spices and voila! A delicious mango curry was born. This was Fajeto. She cooked some Khichri [a quick and easy dish mix of rice and dal boiled with salt and turmeric powder (http://www.mumbaiblogg.com/food/recipes/khichri/ )] to go with the mango curry and literally, hey presto! One of the most delicious combinations of Parsi-Zoroastrian cuisine was perpetuated –Khichri and Fajeto. To this day, I doubt if there is a better combination of foods.

I could not swear to the authenticity of the tale; but I promise the Fajeto curry is incomparable in taste and texture.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup pulp of ripe mangoes;

1 Cup curds (may be replaced with plain yogurt where curds not available);

1 tbsp gram flour;

3 green chilies;

10 curry leaves;

1 inch piece of peeled ginger minced;

½ teaspoon turmeric (Haldi) powder;

1 tbsp jaggery;

Salt to taste;

1 tbsp ghee;

2 tsp cumin seeds;

½ tsp mustard seeds;

2 dry Red Chilies;

2 teaspoons chopped coriander leaves.

METHOD:

Mix the curd with 3 cups of water to make a smooth liquid of pouring consistency, Add the gram flour

1 inch piece of peeled ginger minced, ½ teaspoon turmeric (Haldi) powder to this liquid,

Heat on medium fire for about 10 minutes,

Stirring gently but continuously.

Stirring helps to achieve a proper smooth texture ensuring that the curds and water do not separate nor do the curds curdle further because of overheating.

In a separate vessel, heat the ghee,

When hot but not smoking, add the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds,

When the seeds begin to splutter, add the Red chilies, the green chilies and the curry leaves. (Please take care when frying the chilies, these are likely to burst and burn the hands and face. The smartest thing to do is to immediately cover the frying vessel after introducing the chilies in it take the vessel off the fire. The chilies will fry in the hot oil off the stove.)

Pour the curd and water mix slowly into the tempering of the seeds, chili and leaves in ghee.

Equally slowly introduce the mango pulp into the tempered curd mix stirring gently but constantly to ensure a smooth curry.

Sprinkle finely cut fresh coriander leaves,

Stir constantly but gently and further cook the curry on medium to low fire for about 10 minutes. (Please watch out for curdling).

If the curry appears to be curdling, immediately take it off the fire.

DO NO LET THE CURRY BOIL AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECIPE.

Serve as a delicious soup of with Khichri (recipe at http://www.mumbaiblogg.com/food/recipes/khichri/) or with Savoury Dhebras or rice flour chapattis.

Dhebras in Gujarati literally mean ‘lumps or rough thick chunks’.

Dhebras are unleavened bread therefore, which are rolled thick; unlike the chapatti or roti and cooked on a griddle.

You have probably tried the Sweet Dhebras, which Dhebras are made purely of wheat, uni-grained bread. The Savoury Dhebras uses more than one grain and is quite different in its preparation, taste and use. The Savoury Dhebras can is eaten at any meal or as a snack. It makes excellent ‘travel food’; tasty, filling and long shelf-life.

Try it with the Ripe Mango Curry (Fajeto), or good old Buttermilk or any Lassi, tea or coffee or other beverage or cooked meat or vegetable. The Savoury Dhebras, Doesn’t do too well with Salads, but goes well with Soups especially soups with a stronger flavour like a Tomato soup or Mulligatawny.

For 6 Savoury Dhebras:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup gram flour (Channa ka Atta/ Chick pea Flour);

1 cup Pearl millet flour (Bajra ka Atta);

1 small bunch fresh coriander leaves, chopped fine;

6 green chilies, chopped fine;

2 cloves garlic;

1 inch piece ginger;

1 tbsp Sesame seeds (Til) OPTIONAL;

Salt and ground Black Pepper to taste

1 tablespoon ghee or oil or as needed (Ghee gives it a distinct and traditionally accepted flavour.).

METHOD:

Sieve together the Gram flour, Millet flour, and salt.

Peel and grind the ginger and garlic together into a smooth paste.

Now With water, knead the flour into soft fairly pliable dough.

Do not add Ghee to the dough

Add:  finely chopped fresh green coriander and Chilies, ginger-garlic paste, ground black pepper, Sesame (if using) and knead further.

Roll out into 6” roundels about 1/8^th of an inch / 0.3 cms/3 mm Thick.

Heat a griddle (preferably made of iron),

Brush ghee on both sides of the Savoury Dhebras,

Cook the Savoury Dhebras one at a time on the hot griddle on a medium flame,

Till the one side is brown,

Flip the Savoury Dhebras to cook on the other side equally brown,

Flip once again, and remove within 5 seconds.

Your Savoury Dhebras is ready to eat.

As a VARIATION and a more pungent version, one may replace the green chilies and the ginger-garlic paste with a paste of garlic, dry red chilies

pungent

and salt. In this case adjust the amount of salt added to the dough.

OR

For a more mellow taste, replace the green chillies with coarsely (very roughly) ground Cumin or Coriander Seeds or even whole Cumin or Coriander Seeds.

ONE more way to beat the heat is with this cooling Tomato Salad. According to Ayurveda, Tomatoes are one of the foods that have a cooling effect on the human body; a food highly recommended in one’s summer diet. Lettuce leaves are another cooling vegetable. Milk and milk products, including cream, are also cooling foods. Fresh herbs are used and no heat producing spices or herbs are used. So when one combines all these, well, what better way to beat the heat but the way of a Tomato Salad!

The Chinese say that cooling foods have a way of ridding the body of heat and toxins. It calms the blood and enhances the Yin in the body. Cooling foods eliminate or at least reduce irritating summer problems of excess perspiration and thirst, gastric discomforts like flatulence, constipation, pungent and odorous wind.

This is an old recipe from the times when flavours were not so complex with complicated ad mixes of spices, sauces and plethora of ingredients; its superiority lies in the simplicity of its purity of taste.  It is only on the palate that the flavours mix to enhance the refined experience

RECIPE: Serves One.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bunch lettuce (alternately you may use iceberg lettuce but the taste changes completely);

1 large tomato per person;

1 teaspoon of Whipped Cream per slice of tomato;

1 tablespoon of roughly chopped olives (black preferred);

2 tablespoons of finely chopped chives;

2 tablespoons of finely chopped parsley (try fresh coriander or cilantro for a change);

½ finely chopped medium sized onion (about 1 ½ inch in diameter), preferably pink or red (red/pink onions bring greater zest to the salad and contrast well with the juicy sweet-sour of the tomato);

¼ teaspoon honey.

METHOD:

Wash and dry lettuce leaves,

Halve each leaf and spread these in a dish.

Slice the tomatoes about 3 mm in thickness (half an index finger width),

Place a slice of tomato on each piece of lettuce.

In a mixing bowl:

Put the whipped cream, chopped olives, chopped chives, chopped parsley and chopped onions,

Mix well.

Now, place some mixture on each tomato slice.

To finish place a small drop of honey on the mixture.

If you prefer to eliminate the sweet taste of honey, replace it with a few grains of freshly ground pepper. I DO NOT RECOMMEND ELIMINATION OF HONEY. The surprise of the slight sweetness adds a twist of urbanity and chic to the otherwise forthright taste of the salad.

The Raw Mango Curry or ‘Kairi ni Curry’ is a seasonal dish. It is a sweet and sour curry made completely without chilles though spicy. The spiciness comes from the cloves, black pepper, cardamom and cinnamon.

The Parsi Zoroastrians of India celebrate the mango season! They look forward to adding raw or ripe mangoes to various dals, lentil stews, beans, sprouts, meat and vegetable stews. So, Ambakalyo, Bafaenu, Kairi Ni Daar, and Kanda Kairi Nu Gosh and of course, the Raw Mango Curry or ‘Kairi Ni Curry’ is something to which they all look forward.

The Raw Mango Curry uses no Chili, whether green or red, and no coconut or other nuts to thicken the gravy. The gravy thickens because of the amount of onions used. On its completion, the Raw Mango Curry comes out sweet sour and spicy

At the time when this recipe was written down there was either use of wood stoves or of a Primus Stove, sometime Around The 1920 it was obviously at the time considered a great delicacy and the cooking time required was over 3 hours

The mango pieces required about 20 minutes to cook and then another hour to make the mango syrup

the meat took an hour or more then after adding the first few ingredients it had to be cooked for a further 12 minutes and then, again for a further 20 minutes

And after adding the gravy cook uncovered for another 12 minutes

We’ve come a long way from that especially if one uses a pressure cooker. Do try the curry it sounds delicious the saffron is optional but would certainly enhance the flavours if used.

Ingredients:

500 Gms meat of a young male goat or meat of your choice (no fowl. For that you need different spices);

250 Gms ghee/cooking medium of choice;

500 Gms onions;

250 Gms peeled raw green mangoes;

1 tablespoon of sugar;

20 Gms large black currants;

1 inch piece of peeled ginger;

10 Gms (one fistful) leaves of fresh coriander;

10 cloves powdered,

½ teaspoon turmeric powder;

10 balls of black pepper

10 pieces of green or white cardamom (white strongly recommended. Parsis use the white in all their cooking.)

2 inch stick of cinnamon;

1 pinch Saffron strands or ¼ teaspoon saffron powder;

2 tablespoons lemon juice;

10 gms salt or as per taste.

PREPARATION:

Deseed the currants and cut into rough pieces (buy the largest currants you can find).  Put aside.

Cut the coriander leaves fine and grind to a paste. Reserve for later use.

Retain whole, the seeds of one cardamom and put aside.

Grind very fine: the peeled ginger, turmeric powder, rest of the cardamom seeds, powdered cloves, cinnamon and saffron.

Cut the meat into small pieces,

Hand wash in room temperature water, just once and put aside for later use.

METHOD:

Cut the mangoes to bite size pieces,                

Boil the raw mango pieces in a little water,

Cook till soft and well cooked,

Retain the water from boiling, if any;

Divide the mango pieces into two equal portions,

Drain one potion,

Retain the second portion with any water that may have remained after boiling;

Mash the drained portion of mango, with the back of a spoon, in to a fine paste;

Put the mashed mango aside, preferably in a crockery vessel.

Take the remaining portion of the mango pieces with any water that may have remained,

Add more water to cover the mangoes in 250 ml of water,

Heat,

Add the sugar and the lime juice,

Boil to made a one-string syrup (it is interesting to know that the original recipe, which was cooked on a wood stove, recommends a full hour of further boiling),

Once the syrup forms, take the mangoes off the stove,

With the back of a spoon mash the mango pieces into the syrup to make a paste of the syrup and mango.

Grate the onions,

Heat 200 grams ghee,

Fry onions until evenly brown,

Stirring occasionally to prevent onions burning at the bottom of the vessel,

Add the meat to the brown onions and fry till all the meat pieces change colour and begin to brown on all sides ,

Add all the ground coriander leaves,

Add salt to taste,

Fry for a further minute or two,

Add 900 ml of water let the meat cook till tender and edible (recipe on wood stove speaks of two hours or more, if required),

Add water if needed so as to ensure that there is about 200 ml of gravy left after cooking.

Remove the gravy from the pot and place aside for later use.

Add all the remaining ghee to the to the meat,

Further add the ground ginger and spices; and mix well,

Fry the spices and the meat together for another 2 to 4 minutes,

Add a few cardamom seeds, the mango pastes (the sweet and unsweetened), and the currants to the meat,

Cook for another few minutes for the meat to absorb the flavours of the spices.

Pour into the meat, all the gravy that was put aside and cook uncovered for another few minutes.

Serve with long grained white rice boiled with salt and a couple of cloves.

Serve a salad made of onions, tomatoes and cucumbers dressed in lime juice and salt (Cachumber).

Summer Potatoes — Quick and Easy Cool Parsi Recipe, for  your ever hungry brood’s summer vacation this year. Simple and delicious, leaves one asking for more.

Summer Potatoes is light and lovely, cooling, tasty and filling, a recipe so easy to make and so quick to serve. Summer Potatoes are an excellent accompaniment to your meats and other meals or it may be used as a main dish by itself, eaten with Dhebras.

‘Parsis love their potatoes’ and amongst the family recipes from as early as mid-1800s, other than the Summer Potatoes, I discovered at least four other Potato Salads; including the old German Kartofel Salad. I will share them all with you in due course.

INGREDIENTS:

PER PERSON:

2 large potatoes (if for a main dish, add 2 more  per person);

100 Gms curds or 150 ml buttermilk per person (use Yogurt, if you prefer; though Yogurt is not so cooling a food);

¼ tsp cumin powder or freshly, roughly crushed roasted cumin seeds;

¼ tsp black pepper powder or a sprinkle of freshly ground pepper (powder tastes better);

1 tsp finely cut fresh coriander leaves;

2 mints leaves (optional);

1 green chili or as preferred (CHECK {*} in the recipe below).

METHOD:

1) Boil or steam the potatoes whole,

Since in the old recipe the potatoes were put in a pottery vessel (matti nu vaasan) and buried in the embers of the wood stove, we at our place bake the potatoes whole. However, this is time consuming and steamed potatoes do just as well. Boiled potatoes turn up an equally tasty dish and save a lot of time. Any of the three ways will do.

2) Poke a knife into each potato to see if fully cooked all the way to the center. The knife must slide in easily. Any resistance means the potato is not ready.

3) When done, cooked and soft enough take off the fire, drain and run in cold water,

4) When cool enough to handle take the skins off.

5) Cut into cubes and put aside,

6) When the cubes cool completely:

6 a) Sprinkle fine cut coriander and mint leaves (ensure the leaves have been thoroughly washed before adding),

6 b) Add Washed and finely cut green chilies ( * if you want to reduce the zest of the chili, add slit the green chilies length-wise, leave                       then in the salad for five to seven minutes and then remove them from the salad and discard),

6 c) Sprinkle salt and Cumin powder and black pepper powder and salt;

7) Toss to mix well,     

8) Add curds mix with a spoon to coat the potatoes evenly (do this just before serving. Curds tends to become very sour if added before hand and kept. even if you refrigerate it),

9) Place into a serving bowl Sprinkle a little more coriander on top,

Serve Summer Potatoes cold, refrigerated or room temperature. If serving as a main course, Summer Potatoes taste marvelous with Sweet Dhebras.

VARIATION: A Few bits of left over pineapple or finely cut bits of Murabba make a delicious variation.

Sweet Dhebras recipe at:

Sweet Dhebras — Flat, Unleavened, Griddle-Cooked Parsi Bread

Sweet Dhebras are another of the lost-Parsi-Zoroastrian-recipes. The Sweet Dhebras are flat, unleavened, griddle-cooked bread. Though not originally Persian, the Sweet Dhebras was bread much enjoyed by the Parsis and is still spoken of with nostalgia.

After coming to India, initially the Parsis adapted a lot of the Gujarati cuisine and adapted it to suit their taste buds. The ingredients, for these adapted foods from this unfamiliar cuisine, were freely and easily available in their newly adopted home in the land of the Jadav Rana (Jadi Rana). Sweet Dhebras, were eaten with great relish with a number of ever delightful dishes like ‘Fajeto’, ‘Summer Potatoes’, ‘Kachi Kairi ni Kari’ (raw-mango curry), ‘Lasan nu Eedu (garlic scrambled-eggs) and umpteen such dishes.

Making Sweet Dhebras is as simple as making chapattis and the daily diet may very easily be substituted by the Sweet Dhebras. Versatile, the Sweet Dhebras lends itself to be also eaten as a snack (try it with sour curds or ‘Lasan or Nariel ni Chutney’ {Garlic or coconut Chutnies}, Methia nu Achar {mango or any other pickle}). Make it, Taste it, and Device your own combinations.

Closer to the original Guajarati Dhebras are the Savoury Dhebras made by the Parsis. Unlike the Parsi Sweet Dhebras, the original Guajarati Dhebras are basically made from Sorghum (Jowar) Flour or of Pearl Millet (Pearl Millet) Flour and are Savoury with the addition of some vegetable and dry spice powders. The modern Thepla and Guajarati Dhebras are interchangeable names for the same flat bread. In recent times, borrowing from North India, the Guajarati Dhebras is made also from Corn Flour (Makkai ka Atta). The Gujarati Sweet Dhebras are made like the savoury Dhebras the only difference being the additional ingredient, Sugar to sweeten the mix of flour, vegetables and Masala. The ingredients of the Gujarati Savoury Dhebras are not replaced by sugar, it is merely an extra ingredient included.

Parsi Dhebras, whether sweet or savoury, are always made from Whole wheat Flour (Atta) and the cooking method and ingredients are different for each.

RECIPE:

INGREDIENTS:

350 grams jaggery;

3 tablespoons Ghee/cooking medium of choice but avoid Olive Oil as it will alter the Indian Flavour of the bread;

2 cups whole wheat Atta;

½ teaspoon salt.

METHOD:

Cut the Jaggery into small bits,

In a thick-bottomed vessel, heat 2 ½ tablespoons of Ghee,

When fairly hot, put all the Jaggery into it,

Reduce the fire,

Melt all the jaggery, stirring occasionally so the jaggery does not stick to the bottom or burn,

And once all the jaggery has melted to a smooth rather viscous paste,

Take the vessel off the fire.

Once off the fire,

Sieve the Flour over the melted Jaggery,

Mix well, fast but not too vigorously (vigour will make the dough sticky and difficult to handle and cook),

When the dough is cool enough to handle,

Knead with your hands to make soft Dough (like for paronthas),

Add water while kneading, if necessary.

Roll the dough into a large circle, about a ¼ inch thick,

Dust the edge of a round mold, bowl or glass with dry flour,

Use it to cut the dough into small roundels,

Put aside.

Heat a griddle,

Grease the griddle with a little of the remaining Ghee,

Place each Dhebra on the Griddle and cook, like chapattis flipping over twice, until brown on both sides.

Grease the griddle each time you place the next Sweet Dhebra to cook.

A sprinkling of sesame seeds on the Sweet Dhebras before cutting into Roundels makes a tasty variation.

Albless Stew, an old Parsi Recipe, is virtually obsolete . Rarely, if ever, cooked and eaten today, how many of us have heard of the ‘Albless’ which is not a wedding venue?! Try ‘Albless’ on the internet and one will only meet with the Baug or the hospital. The famous tasty  Albless Stew is missing, altogether.

Despite it being very popular at the turn of the 20th century,  Albless Stew is today merely a name in the annals of Parsi cuisine. This tender , succulent dish is almost lost to us. I bring this delicacy out to preserve the unusual recipe and to rejuvenate it, if possible. Unusual in the ingredients (vegetables) used; the Albless does not cater to the jaded tastes for the standard stew vegetables of  potatoes, onions, carrots, peas and cauliflower and unusual again in its method of cooking. in fact these vegetables except the Parsi favourite ‘Papeto’, are missing altogether.  The Albless stew is delicious, delicate and wholly enticing.

Despite appearances, the Albless stew is very easy to make and takes the normal amount of time to cook. Once started, the cooking flows at the usual pace and time.

Albless needs to be made from tender meat of an adult male animal but not a full grown old one. The meat of the male goat is lean while that of the female goat tends to be fat.

From the ingredients, Albless stew is easily seen to be a  recipe for the late summer- early monsoon in India (late may to mid-July)  when the required  seasonal vegetables grow and the young kids born of goats in late winter early summer (January/early February)  are  beginning to grow into adults. Albless is a delicious stew recipe for the settlers in the village who kept a few dairy animals, fowl and grew their own seasonal vegetables in their backyards. Today we can use tinned or vegetables easily available and sold in the open bazaars.

In places where these vegetables are not available, one may use tender baby cucumber, zucchini instead of Ridge Gourd (Indian name Turai/Turiya), of course the brinjals/aubergines cannot be replaced as there is no vegetable remotely related of which I am aware.

The Albless though a popular delicacy at the turn of the last century, was at that time, a long and difficult treat to prepare; it needed great care to cook an Albless Stew.

 At the time this recipe was recorded for our family, before the oven became commonplace in the villages of our country, the Parsis of India cooked the dish in copper vessel coated with zinc or in an enameled vessel. An enameled box with an air tight lid was placed in the midst of hot ash and embers of  a wood stove were placed  on top and around the container.

After two hours of such cooking, the contents of Albless was  rotated, top layers sent  down and vice versa, and then returned to the embers.

 This process was not just hazardous but extremely difficult; to extract the hot box from the embers without harm to one’s face and hands, open the box thus suddenly releasing the steam,  stir the contents steaming from pressure and high temperature, and then close and return the box well sealed to the embers and hot ash for cook for a further hour or more until done. In the present day this process would be akin to opening a pressure cooker without releasing the steam. Imagine the disaster.

Today, modern amenities like the gas stove and ovens have made this Stew a dream to prepare and ingest.

INGREDIENTS:

I)  1 kg tender, on bone, meat of a young male goat (not kid) or lamb,

OR

2 ½ kg layer with bones (Chicken/Duck/any fowl still young enough to lay eggs);

II)  500 Gms Onions (preferably red);

III) 750 Gms Ghee

IV ) 50 Gms each of:

IV a) Root Vegetables: Potato, Sweet Potato, Yam (Suran), Purple Yam (Rataloo/ Kamodio Kan),

IV b) Beans:  flat beans /Papdi Na Dana, (Scientific name Dolichos lablab.), green peas, double beans, Bitter Vaal (Lima beans/ Field beans)

IV c) *Vegetables: small tender tomatoes (you may use cherry or plum tomatoes but the recipe really requires tomatoes that have just turned red), tender baby brinjals /aubergine/egg plant (preferably the long variety  ) which have not yet begun to grow seeds within, young tender Ridge Gourd which have not yet begun to grow seeds within.

V)     5 gms salt or to your taste;

VI)   Leaves of 4 bunch of fresh green coriander;

VII) 4 green chilies(large, not too hot);

VIII)  1 teaspoon fresh celery,

IX)    1 teaspoon fresh parsley,

X)    20 leaves of fresh mint;

XI)  1 inch piece of ginger;

XII)  2 tablespoons of Garlic juice (if not available, crush,

steep in 2 tbsp warm water for few minutes, drain and press garlic to draw out          the juice. Use all the liquid.);

XIII) 1 teaspoon of black pepper powder;

XIV) 1 level teaspoon turmeric powder.

METHOD:

1. Cut the meat into large pieces.

 2)  Marinate the meat for two hours in a marinade of all the:

Turmeric, black pepper, salt, garlic juice, and

Finely cut: coriander leaves, green chillies, celery, parsley, peeled Ginger and mint.

3) Cover the marinating meat and herbs with cheese cloth or a net and put aside.

4) Peel and dice the *vegetables into inch long pieces.

4a) Peel and cut/ dice very small half the quantity of onions, and mix with all the other vegetables and all the Beans and put aside.

5) Cut the rest of onions into halves and slice very fine horizontally;

5a) Fry till brown, the finely sliced onions; on very low fire but in hot oil, stirring constantly. Do not let the onions burn.

6) After the meat is well marinated for 2 hours take a vessel that closes tight and layer the meat and vegetables alternately in the vessel. 7) 7) Sprinkle the fried onions as the last layer on top and close the vessel making it air tight , if necessary seal with some dough.

8) Place The vessel in  a ** hot oven/ dry pressure cooker for an hour.

**If in an OVEN, without disturbing the contents, let it cook for an hour or until the meat is cooked and tender. The meat should be soft, ready to fall off the bone.

9) If in a COOKER, you need to open the cooker after an hour and mix the contents with a large, preferably wooden spoon, bringing the bottom layers to the top; to ensure even cooking.

10) Return to stove and Cook for another hour or till meat is well cooked.

WARNING : Open COOKER very carefully. BEWARE OF STEAM BURNS OR COOKER BLOW UP.

IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO  WEAR OVEN GLOVES AND STAND MORE THAN A FOOT FROM THE COOKER; AND THEN LIFT SLIGHTLY THE ‘METAL WEIGHT’/ ‘WHISTLE’ WITH A LONG WOODEN SPOON TO LET THE STEAM ESCAPE SLOWLY. ONCE ALL THE STEAM HAS ESCAPED AND THE ‘METAL WEIGHT’/ ‘WHISTLE’ STOPS HISSING, LET THE COOKER STAND FOR A FEW MINUTES AND THEN OPEN. IF YOU FEEL ANY RESISTANCE WHEN TWISTING OPEN THE COOKER’S LID, PLEASE WAIT A LITTLE LONGER BEFORE OPENING THE COOKER AND ROTATING THE LAYERS OF THE CONTENTS OF THE ALBLESS.

11) IF preferred sweet, hot and sour, after the dish is ready, add 1 ½ tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce or as per your taste and a bit of sugar. This is purely optional but enhances the taste.

PARSI LIVER CUTLETS – KALEJI NA CUTLETS

Parsis liver cutlets are no longer part of the Parsi everyday meals and perhaps, many of the present generation have not even heard of the Parsi liver cutlets.

Thought I’d induce some life in these good old Parsi liver cutlets by putting out this recipe. Do try it on a Sunday afternoon; or gladden your Granny’s heart by serving her something from her childhood.

INGREDIENTS:

1 liver of young goat/ Sheep/beef/pork;

250 Gms ghee/ cooking medium of choice;

1 tablespoon grated onions;

1 level teaspoon black pepper powder;

1 level teaspoon red chili powder;

10 Gms salt;

20 Gms ginger;

5 cloves of garlic;

3 eggs;

2 bunch of coriander;

Bread crumbs /semolina.

METHOD:

1) Pluck the leaves of the coriander wash and cut fine;

Peel the ginger and garlic;

Grind the ginger and garlic together to a smooth paste.

2) Wash the liver put it in a pot and add a quarter liter of water and 5 gms salt/ or as per taste and boil till hard;

When done cut the liver into fine slices and put aside.

Further boil the liver slices in a cup of water;

Add salt as needed;

Boil till the liver slices becomes soft and all the water has been absorbed;

Remove from the Fire.

3) In the meantime,

Fry the two grated onions in 5 Gms ghee;

Add the ginger garlic paste;

Fry till onion mixture turns golden.

4) Cover both sides of each liver slice with the fried onion and ginger garlic, Chili and black pepper powder;

Take care not to break the slices. They are very soft and difficult to handle.

5) Use a spatula/tavatha to lift the herbed liver slices and place in a plate of breadcrumbs/semolina;

Cover the herbed liver slices on both sides with bread crumbs or semolina pressing in the bread crumbs/semolina and adding at each stage to make a nice thick cover.

Treat all cutlets similarly and place in a separate plate.

6) Beat the eggs lightly;

Add a tiny pinch of salt per egg while beating.

7) Now again lift the bread crusted liver cutlet with a spatula and dip each one in the lightly beaten egg, one at a time; one side at a time.

8) Shallow fry in very hot almost steaming ghee/oil;

Flip the cutlet once the underside is done;

Add more beaten egg if necessary;

Flip once again and then remove.

Take care not to break the cutlets when flipping, they tend to be rather soft until fried golden brown and the cover is crisp.

9) Both sides of the cutlets should be golden brown and not dark brown.

Serve hot with bread or chapattis and any sweet and sour salad

With the gadgets now available to us and grilling made easy, if you prefer, and if you have a grill, you may grill the liver instead of boiling it, then slice it and then boil the slices to make them soft. In any event the liver slices must be softened before coating with herbs, crusting and frying.

Kurkuria is a Parsi snack long forgotten and lost in memory. I first heard of it from a Parsi Manager of an Agiary (Fire Temple) in Mumbai. Marzban Palsettia is from the Village of Nargol, in Gujarat and mentioned that ‘amongst other Parsi snacks, he even made Kurkuria for his colleagues’. I was intrigued. When I found this recipe  amongst the family recipes, I thought to share it with you, my readers. The taste imparted by using the Palm Toddy as ferment is distinctive; that, perhaps, adds greatly to the appeal of the Kurkuria as against other fritters.

There is more than one kind of Kurkuria to be had with Tea—some with fruit some without. Each is made differently; I will share the recipes in due course.

It is interesting to know that Kurkuria is also, the name of two villages in India; one in the State of Assam and another in West Bengal.

Both places also have a weather Bureau which are  named the Kurkuria Grant Weather – AccuWeather Forecast for Assam India and one by the same name for West Bengal.

INGREDIENTS:

250 Gms fine wheat semolina (Rava);

250 Gms plain wheat flour (Atta);

250 Gms finely ground white flour (Maida)

500 Gms powdered sugar (you may grind fine, sugar crystals of use icing sugar) ;

250 Gms plain wheat flour;

½ bottle of toddy (if not available add a flat tsp of fresh yeast and treat the flour accordingly);

250 ml milk with thick cream added to it (cream optional)

3 tablespoons rose water;

6 eggs;

5 Gms cardamom and nutmeg powder mixed;

1 tbsp ghee as shortening (butter used instead of ghee will destroy the earthy flavour of the Kurkuria Fritters);

Ghee / other cooking medium as required for frying.

Sieve the semolina and wheat flour;

Add tbsp ghee;

Mix lightly.

Beat the 6 eggs lightly and add to the flour;

Mix.

Add milk with cream, Cardamom-Nutmeg powder, powdered sugar;

Mix.

Do not knead the dough at any stage.

Add a little Toddy at a time and bring the mixture to a dropping consistency.

Cover the mixture and put it in a warm place. Allow it to rise.

When it has risen add the rose water. Mix.

Heat the ghee in a deep pan and drop the dough with a table spoon in the hot but not smoking ghee.

Keep each ball of the Kurkuria apart when frying; ensure they do not bunch up or stick to each other;

Deep fry the Kukuria to a brown and serve with Tea.

A few grams of blanched, peeled almonds crushed to a powder, if added to the Kurkuria dough would go a long way in improving its taste.

The Feature Image at the top of this Recipe of  ‘Country Captain Chicken’ is taken from Humayun Hassain’s third and last series of Anglo Indian Cooking. The Recipe itself is from my Family recipes as handed down.

THIS RECIPE WAS ADDED TO THE FAMILY RECIPE BOOK AROUND THE SAME TIME IN MID-1850S  WHEN THE DISH WAS IN ITS INITIAL PRISTINE STAGE.

LATER VERSIONS ARE SPOKEN OF,  AT THE END OF THE RECIPE.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE SIMPLICITY, TASTE AND SPEEDY COOKING OF THE ORIGINAL RECIPE.

COUNTRY CAPTAIN — A Parsi Chicken Recipe from India

Country Captain, really!! I laughed when I first heard the name. A friend asked me whether I had heard of this dish. I rolled my eyes. “Country Cousin Chicken is supposed to be very tasty”, she informed me, “but very difficult to make; and I want the recipe”. I let it pass then. Imagined it was yet another meat and Masala thing.

When I asked them at home and got to taste the dish. I wanted more. Unlike on the wood-stoves, today with the mixer and gas and pressure cookers it is very easy to make. Amongst the Parsis, the Country Captain Chicken does not contain the curry powder and other spices, nuts and dry fruits thrown in by the European and especially American chefs. It is more simple and more tasty . The name suggests a very tasty (deserving of a salute), straight laced  quick and easy cooking out in the country where facilities were few and far between. USA and a few others claim origin of the dish, but Could it have been a Parsi’s dry sense of humour ?! Country Cousin!!

I have changed the weights and measures of yesteryear (Ser and Ratal and Tola) to the metric system we use today. The recipe I give you is noted in the mid- 1800s about the time the Country Captain Chicken gained popularity and  traversed the three Oceans – Indian, Atlantic and Pacific- to the Southern USA via the British Isle, where it changed shape and colour and so, the flavours and became quite elaborate and developed a completely different and more spicy character, Arcadian in Nature (today called “Cajun Cuisine’) .

Some weights prescribed are most picturesque. The amount of saffron is described as ‘equal to the weight of a 2 Anna coin’.

After sharing this recipe with you a week ago, curiosity gained me a few interesting facts about this recipe with an  unusual name. I thought I’d share these with you and so, edited the publication, today. Country Cousin has had quite a history;  steeped in the romance of sailing ships and exotic trade destinations.  Do check at the end of the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1 young layer, (chicken /duck/ any fowl, young enough to still lay eggs);

2 large or four medium sized onions (preferably white);

450 Gms ghee/ cooking medium of your choice but the taste will change according to the medium used. (The original recipe calls for ghee);

1 heaped teaspoon salt;

5 grams saffron strands;

2 large dry Red Chilies.

METHOD:

Grind the red chilly to powder;

Separately grind the saffron strands;

Slit the fowl down the underside,

Remove all the organs from within;

Wash the chicken clean,

Keep it whole.

Grate  half the quantity of the onions and keep aside;

Cut fine the other half quantity of onions and fry them till golden brown stirring all the while.

Keep aside the fried onions for garnish;

Retain the Ghee in the same pot.

In the same pot, in the same remaining ghee,

Fry the grated onions till pink,

Add the ground chillies and Saffron to the pinked onions;

Add the fowl and salt;

Fry for a few minutes, sealing the fowl on all sides;

Cover and let the fowl cook;

Add a liter of water, cover and cook;

Stir from time to time and turn the chicken over so it is done on all sides but does not burn.

IF:

cooked in a pressure cooker reduce the quantity of water to 250 ml or as much as you would usually add, depending on the cooker.

Once the fowl is cooked, well done and is moist with a thick gravy say about 100 to 200ml,

Take the whole chicken out of the pot and Sprinkle the fried onions over it.

Serve hot with white crisp bread/ white rice and lettuce and tomato salad.

Mystery and Romance of the Country Cousin

By the mid-Nineteenth Century, ‘The Country Cousin’ was a popular enough meal for the recipe to see publication in Miss Leslie’s New Cookery Book in Philadelphia, America in 1857 —- the year of the Indian Sepoy Mutiny. The dish obviously pre-dates the publication of its recipe. In the early 20th century, it was served as part of his Menu by Alessandro Filippini, at Delmonico’s a restaurant on Wall Street, the Country Cousin’s simplicity was upgraded (?) to become a more elaborate ‘Cousin’.

In time, Country Cousin fan, President Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced General George Patton to the dish who became an instant adherent of the dish and today, two centuries since its origin — in 2000s  — the Country Cousin becoming part of U.S. Army’s Meal, Ready-To-Eat field Rations; all in honour of Patton.

The history of the dish is replete with romance of a “mysterious captain drifted into Savannah, (Georgia) via the spice trade and entrusted his recipe to southern (American) friends”; to “a British sea captain who originally introduced the dish in Charleston”. Savannah has always fought Charleston on claiming the origin of the Country Captain.

Documents also, points to probability of the dissemination of the recipe to the European and American Continents by the ‘country captains’ of Indian Merchant or “country ships” and the staple chicken curry on these trade ships.

In the first, still extant documentation of the recipe in the 1857 publication, Miss Leslie attributes Country Cousin is an “Indian dish and a very easy preparation of curry.” Leslie explains the name “Country Captain” signifies “a captain of native troops (or Sepoys) in the pay of England; their own country being India, they are there called generally the country troops.” Leslie ‘supposed’ the dish was “introduced at English tables by a Sepoy officer.”

Infinite variations stretched from inclusion of orange juice and tomatoes to currants, thyme and Curry Powder; from cooking it dry in a skillet to a curry eaten with rice; from retaining whole to serving it cut up in pieces (Leslie records a full, uncut chicken).

Ultimately, it all boils down to the original 18^th Century recipe — Chicken with a few Indian spices including Saffron (variations replace saffron with Turmeric Powder) — and the baroque early American (South) dating from nineteenth and 20 the Centuries (variations include adding white wine, bacon, chicken broth, celery, peanuts, almonds, currants, tomatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, peas, turmeric, mace, allspice, citrus, flour, butter, cream, a full spectrum of Curry ingredients and myriad others and omitting two main ingredients, ginger and saffron).

To demystify the Country Cousin in its place of origin and recipe would be to take away its romance and appeal. Cook it the Parsi way and await the accolades of your family and guests.