Haute Cuisine

I LOVE trying out different cuisine. In fact, I have a favourite restaurant in many cities across the globe. I am adventurous when it comes ...

I LOVE trying out different cuisine. In fact, I have a favourite restaurant in many cities across the globe. I am adventurous when it comes to food, but I steer clear of ‘extra-exotic’ fare like snakes and monkey brains.

On Sundays, or when I’m at my cosy house in Lonavla, I take time out for some leisurely cooking. I experiment with ingredients and recipes. Sometimes I try out simple recipes, and once in a while I venture into more elaborate stuff. The real fun, however, is on days when I’m cooking dhansak. My wife, Farida, is a Parsi and it’s quite a competition between the two of us to see who makes it better!

DHANSAK

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cup tuwar dal
1 cup chana dal
1 cup masoor dal
1/2 a pumpkin
300-500 gm mutton
tsp dhania-jeera powder
5 gm chopped garlic
5 gm chopped ginger
4-5 green chillies
Few curry leaves
1/2 cup chopped coriander
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp cooking oil
A pinch of turmeric
Salt to taste

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Method:
Cut the pumpkin into cubes and keep aside. Add the dhania-jeera powder, some of the chopped ginger and garlic, salt and turmeric to the pumpkin and steam in a pressure cooker.

Cut the meat into small chunks, add some salt and turmeric and steam that too. Make sure you remove the fat from the meat.

Take the chillies, curry leaves, ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes and coriander and grind into a thick paste.

Heat some oil in a pan and add the paste to it. Fry lightly. Now mash the boiled stock of dal and pumpkin and add it to the paste. Add some water and the boiled meat. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Serve with rice.

BARBECUED CHICKEN

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Ingredients:
5-6 succulent pieces of chicken
1 tbsp garlic paste
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 bowl curd, beaten
Salt to taste

Method:
This dish is all about marinating well. Smother the chicken pieces with a marinade made of curd, ginger-garlic paste, red chilli powder and salt. Leave for at least two hours. Then skewer it or grill in an oven. Garnish with onion rings and lemon wedges.

As told to Debanjana Chaudhuri

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