An Invitation To Indian Cooking

M adhur Jaffrey was one of the very first guest teachers at the Ballymaloe Cookery School, in 1986. I knew about Madhur from her BBC series, and my mother-in-law, Myrtle, had some of her books, including An Invitation To Indian Cooking, which we used to cook a lot from.

I had never rung America before [Jaffrey lives in New York]. It sounds ridiculous now, but it took courage to dial. She came with her husband, Sanford, and has been now four or five times. She's super elegant and gracious. The first time she came, she looked at our spices rather sniffily – she'd brought some with her. I remember her running her hands through the rice we had. She sent Tim, my husband, off with Sanford to the English Market in Cork to a shop there called Mr Bell's, and Sanford showed us how to recognise good quality rice through its smell and the texture.

An Invitation To Indian Cooking took the mystery out of Indian food for so many of us. We knew about cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, but other than that it was a mystery. I didn't know about different dals – what was toovar dal, or moong dal? There were so many new things to learn from her.

Early on, I was intimidated by the length of the list of ingredients in her recipes, but I remember Madhur saying in her class – as she does in the book – five or six of them will be spices, and all you need is a really good spice cupboard, then you just need to sprinkle them in. She encouraged people to buy spices whole and explained that each spice can have different flavours depending on how you used it – whether you use it whole or ground or dry-roasted, or in oil for tarka. And she told us good things can't be rushed.

The highest compliment you can give any cookery writer is that their recipes work. And Madhur's recipes really work. She does meticulous research, and then she does meticulous testing. She doesn't assume knowledge, particularly important in the very early days when she was introducing so many non-Indians to Indian food. And yet she doesn't patronise. She writes so beautifully about where a recipe comes from and how it tastes.

The other thing that is a great help is that she gives tips about what combinations of dishes to serve, which is also very important when you're cooking recipes from a different culture.

Nowadays, with so many people eating vegetarian and vegan, An Invitation to Indian Cooking is even more relevant than before. When I find a cookbook that I really love, I tend to cook from cover to cover. It's amazing how so many of these recipes have stood the test of time; you can still pick a recipe and off you go – it's not dated, it works perfectly.
Darina Allen is a chef, food writer and founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School, Co Cork, Ireland

Kheema – minced meat

This is the first Indian dish all Indian students abroad learn to make. It can be cooked plain or with potatoes, peas or mushrooms.

Serves 6
onion 2 medium-sized, peeled and coarsely chopped
garlic 4 cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
fresh ginger 1 piece, 2inches (5cm) long, peeled and coarsely chopped
vegetable oil 4 tbsp
cinnamon 1 stick, about 2 inches (5cm) long
cloves 4 whole
black peppercorns 4
bay leaf 1
hot red peppers (chillies) 1-2, to taste (optional)
ground coriander 1 tbsp
ground cumin 1 tsp
ground turmeric ½ tsp
tinned tomato 1 large or 2 small ones, chopped
finely minced lamb or minced beef 2lbs (900g)
salt ¾-1 tsp (or to taste)
lemon juice 1 tsp

Place onions, garlic and ginger in blender with 3 tbsps water and blend to smooth paste. Set aside.

Heat oil in a 10-12 inch (25-30cm) frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, and then the peppers. In about 10 seconds, when the peppers turn dark, add paste from the blender. Fry for about 10 minutes, adding a sprinkling of water if the food sticks to the bottom. Add the coriander, cumin and turmeric, and fry for 5 minutes. Now put the chopped tomato in, fry for 2-3 minutes, and add the minced meat and salt. Fry on high heat for about 5 minutes. Break up the meat and brown it as much as you can. Add ¼ pint (150ml) water and the lemon juice. Bring to the boil and cover. Lower flame and simmer for 1 hour.

To serve: spoon off any fat and discard. Serve with rice, or chapatis, or parathas, and any vegetables you like. If serving it with a rice dish, serve a moong dal with it.

Whole-wheat samosas

Samosas are deep-fried patties, filled with potatoes or ground meat. I have a simple version of them.

Serves 8-10
vegetable oil 3 tbsp (plus a little extra for brushing on dough)
whole-wheat flour 8 oz (225g)
salt ½ tsp
kheema for filling, 1 amount (see recipe on previous page)
vegetable oil for deep frying, enough for 3-3 ½ inches (7½-9cm) in pot

Combine oil and flour and rub together. Add salt and mix. Add about 8 fl oz (225ml) water, a little at a time, until you have a firm dough. Knead the dough well for 7-10 minutes, until smooth. Form into a ball. Brush with a little oil, and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside until ready for use.

Cook kheema until it is very dry with no liquid left at all. If any fat has accumulated, it should be discarded.

Divide dough into 28-30 equal balls. (Each ball makes 2 samosas so you'll end up with about 60.) Flatten each ball and roll it out on a floured surface until it is 3½-4 inches (9-10cm) in diameter. Cut each round in half. Taking one semicircle at a time, moisten half the length of the cut edge with a finger dipped in water. Form a wide cone with the semicircle, using the moist section to overlap ¼ inch (½cm) and hold it closed. Fill samosa three-quarters full with the stuffing. Moisten the inside edges of the opening and press it shut. Seal this end by pressing down on the outside with the tip of the fork, as you would a pie crust. Prepare the samosas this way and keep them covered with clingfilm. When you are ready to fry them, heat the oil in a wok, karhai or a utensil for deep frying. Keep the heat at a medium. When the oil is hot, drop a samosa in to check the temperature. It should start sizzling immediately. Fry for 2-3 minutes, or until it looks a warm brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Do all the samosas this way. If they brown too fast lower your heat. They can be reheated in a 150C, gas mark 2 oven

To serve: place samosas on platter and serve with fresh mint chutney with fruit (see below). The chutney is used as a dip.

Fresh mint chutney with fruit

Serves 4
fresh mint leaves ⅓-½ well-packed teacup, washed
lemon juice 4 tbsps
fresh hot green chillies 2
tart apple 1 medium-sized, peeled, cored and diced, just before blending
orange 1, peeled, seeded and cubed
salt 1 tsp

Combine all ingredients in the container of a blender. Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.

Moong dal

This is North India's most popular dal, and it is eaten with equal relish by toothless toddlers, husky farmers and urban snobs.

Serves 6
moong dal 10 oz (275g), hulled and split
garlic 2 cloves, peeled
fresh ginger 2 slices, peeled, inch (2½cm) square
fresh green coriander 1 tsp, chopped
ground turmeric 1 tbsp
cayenne pepper ¼-½ tsp (optional)
salt 1½ tsp
lemon juice 1½ tbsp
vegetable oil or usli ghee (clarified butter) 3 tbsp
ground asafetida a pinch
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
lemon or lime wedges

Clean and wash dal thoroughly. Put dal in heavy-bottomed three quart (3.5-litre) pot, add 2 pints (1.2l) water, and bring to the boil. Remove the froth and scum that collects at the top. Now add garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Cover, leaving the lid very slightly ajar, lower heat and simmer gently for about 1½ hours. Stir occasionally. When dal is cooked, add the salt and lemon juice (it should be thicker than pea soup, but thinner than porridge).

In a 4-6 inch (10-15cm) frying pan or small pot, heat the oil or ghee over a medium-high flame. When hot, add the asafetida and cumin seeds. As soon as the asafetida sizzles and expands and the cumin seeds turn dark (this will take only a few seconds), pour the oil and spices over the dal and serve. (Some people put the dal in a serving dish and then pour the oil and spices over it.)

Serve with plain rice, kheema and a vegetable for a simple meal. Most meat and chicken dishes go well with this dal. Since some people like to squeeze extra lemon or lime juice on their dal, serve some wedges separately.

Carrots pickled in oil

This is perhaps the simplest oil pickle you could make. It takes about a week to mature. It can then be refrigerated and kept for several months.

black mustard seeds 2 tsp
carrots 1lb (450g), medium thickness
salt 1 tsp
cayenne pepper 1 tsp
ground turmeric 1 tsp
vegetable oil 16 fl oz (450ml)

Crush, pound or grind the mustard seeds coarsely, so that they split at least in half, using either a heavy mortar and pestle or a few quick spins of the electric coffee-grinder.

Peel the carrots. Cut off the coarse top and the bottom. Cut each carrot in 3 pieces. Halve or quarter these pieces lengthwise according to the thickness of the carrots.

Place carrots in clean, dry 1½ pint (850ml) jar. Add salt, cayenne pepper, turmeric and crushed mustard seeds.

Warm the oil and pour over the carrots. Put lid on tightly and shake the jar well. Leave in a warm place for 7 days. Shake the jar once or twice daily.

To serve: shake the jar. Remove one or two carrot pieces per person, and arrange in a small bowl or relish tray. Do not serve the oil.

Chicken moghlai

This rich, elaborate, saffron-flavoured dish justifies the time taken in preparing by its exquisite taste and appearance. It has a burnt-red colour and smells of cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. It tastes even better if you cook it a night before serving it, thus allowing the sauce to act as a marinade for the chicken.

I use legs, thighs and breasts of chicken for this recipe, but you could buy a whole 2½-3lb 1-1.35kg) chicken and cut it into smallish serving portions. It may, then, feed only 4 people.

Serves 6
ground coriander 1½ tbsp
ground cumin ½ tbsp
chicken legs, thighs and breasts 2½-3lb (1-1.35kg)
onions 4 medium-sized, 2 peeled and chopped, and 2 peeled, cut in half lengthwise, then sliced into thin half-rings
fresh ginger 1 piece, about 1½ inches (4cm) long and 1 inch (2½cm) wide, peeled and chopped
garlic 8 cloves, peeled and chopped
vegetable oil 10 tbsp
cinnamon sticks 2 x 2½-3 inches (6-7½cm) long
bay leaves 2
cardamom pods 10, slightly crushed
whole cloves 10
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
ground turmeric ½ tsp
cayenne pepper ¼-½ tsp
yogurt 3 tbsp
tomato (tinned or fresh) 1 medium-sized, peeled and finely chopped
salt 1-1½ tsp
saffron 1 well-packed tsp, lightly roasted in hot frying pan and crumbled
warm milk 1 tbsp

Dry roast the ground coriander and cumin. Place both in a heavy frying pan over a medium flame. Stir for 2-3 minutes or until coriander turns a few shades darker. Be careful not to burn it.

Remove from heat and keep to one side.

Skin the chicken pieces. Quarter the breasts and divide the legs into drumstick and thigh. Pat chicken dry and set aside.

Put the chopped onions, ginger and garlic in the container of a blender along with 4 tbsp of water. Blend at high speed until you have a smooth paste.

In a 10-inch (25cm), heavy bottomed pot, heat 8 tbsp of the oil. Put in the sliced onions and fry, stirring, over a medium-high flame, for 10-12 minutes or until onions are dark brown and crisp but not black and burned. Remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl or plate.

Raise heat to high and put the chicken pieces in the same oil a few at a time. Without letting chicken cook too much, brown to as dark a colour as possible Remove each batch to a platter.

Turn heat down to medium high. Add remaining 2 tbsps of oil to the pot, and put in cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, cardamom pods, whole cloves and cumin seed. Stir and turn the spices once. Now put in the paste from the blender, and fry, stirring, for 10 minutes. Turn heat down to medium and add dry-roasted coriander and cumin powder, turmeric and cayenne pepper. Stir and mix for 1 minute.

Add at intervals, constantly stirring and frying, the yogurt, a little bit at a time, the chopped tomato, and after another minute, the chicken pieces and salt, and finally, after another 2 minutes, ¼ pint (140ml) water. Mix well, bring to the boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer gently, for 30 minutes, turning chicken pieces gently every 8-10 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, soak saffron in warm milk for 20 to 30 minutes.

When chicken is cooked, add the browned onions and the saffron-milk. Mix, cover, and simmer gently for another 5 minutes.

To serve: this royal dish can be served very simply with pooris and a relish or part of a banquet along with a pullao.

Pullao – rice with lamb

Pullao Classic Cookbook Madhur Jaffrey An Invitation to Indian Cooking Observer Food Monthly OFM — Pullao – rice with lamb. Photograph: Romas Foord/The Observer

Here is my mother's recipe for pullao, a dish of rice and meat cooked in flavoured broth. In India, the meat that is traditionally used for this dish is goat ribs, cut up in pieces about 1½-2-inch (4-5cm) in length. The meat is a little fatty, more bone and less meat. Rib meat in Britain tends to be very fatty. So I would suggest you use one of two kinds of meat: if you like meat pieces with bone, ask the butcher to chop up 2½ lbs (1.1kg) of shoulder or neck of lamb into 1½ inch (4cm) cubes. If you are trying this recipe for the first time and don't want to be bothered with bones, get 1½lb (700g) of meat off a leg of lamb and ask the butcher to cut it into 1-inch (2½cm) cubes. (I usually buy a whole leg of lamb and get some cut off into chops and some boned and cut into cubes. You can freeze what you don't need.) I find that the English prefer the boned, cubed meat. However, remember that traditionally pullao uses meat with bone and some day, if not today, you should try making it that way.

Serves 6
lamb or beef broth 1½ pints (850ml), tinned or homemade (not bouillon)
lamb 1½ lb (680g) of meat from leg, cut into 1 inch (2½cm) cubes, or 2½ lb (1.1kg) of meat and bone from neck and shoulder of lamb, cut into 1½ inch (4cm) cubes
onions 2 medium-sized, peeled
garlic 4 cloves, peeled
fresh ginger 1 piece, about 1 inch (2½cm) cube, peeled
black peppercorns 20
black cardamom pods 6 large (if available) or 14 small or greenish-yellow pods
whole cumin seeds 2 tsp
cinnamon stick 1 x 2½-3 inches (6-7½cm) long
whole coriander seeds 2 tsp
whole fennel seeds 2 tsp
bay leaves 4
salt 2 tsp
vegetable oil 5 tbsp
long-grain rice 12 oz (340g)

To make the yakhni, or flavoured broth, in a three-quart (½-litre) pot, put the broth and the pieces of lamb. Tie up in a piece of cheesecloth 1 peeled onion, the garlic cloves, the piece of ginger, the peppercorns, 4 of the black cardamoms or 10 of the small cardamom pods, 1 tsp cumin seeds, the cinnamon stick, the coriander seeds, fennel seeds, and bay leaves. Drop the cheesecloth into the pot with the broth. Add 1 tsp salt. Bring to the boil. Skim off the surface scum. Cover, reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer slowly for 35 minutes.

While the broth is simmering, cut the other peeled onion in half lengthwise. Now slice it finely into half-circles.

In a 10-inch (25cm) frying pan heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the onion slices and fry until they are a crisp dark brown (about 10 minutes). Don't burn them – adjust flame if necessary. Remove with a slotted spoon, draining the fat back into the frying pan. Spread onions on paper towels and set aside for later use. Turn flame under frying pan off, leaving its residue of fat. When the broth is made, fish out the cheesecloth, squeeze it slightly so as not to lose any flavours, and discard. Strain the broth and set aside. Reserve the meat in the strainer.

Heat the onion frying pan again over a medium-high flame. When hot, add remaining 1 tsp whole cumin seeds and either 2 large black cardamom pods or 4 small green ones. Fry for about 20 seconds or until the spices begin to expand and change colour. Now add the drained meat and fry for 3-5 minutes or until the meat is lightly browned on all sides.

In a 6-quart (6¾-litre) pot put 6oz (170g) of rice, half the meat, the second 6oz of rice, and the rest of the meat. Measure the flavoured broth; pour 28 fl oz (820ml) of it over the rice. If you have less (you shouldn't), add a little water. Add 1 tsp salt and bring to the boil. Cover, turn flame very, very low, and leave for 20 minutes. Lift cover and stir gently with a fork; cover again and cook another 20 minutes until the rice is done. (If upper layer is still uncooked, stir gently with a fork, cover again, and cook 10 minutes longer.) Turn heat off and leave covered on stove until ready to serve.

To serve: arrange the pullao on a large platter. Crumble the browned onions and sprinkle all over rice. Serve with plain yogurt or potatoes. Also serve a vegetable – perhaps a cauliflower dish – and a tomato, onion, and cucumber saladRemember that this rice dish will stay hot for 20 to 25 minutes after it is cooked if you leave it covered on the stove. Also, after rice is cooked, it is best to give the steam 5 to 10 minutes to settle before you serve.