Haute Cuisine

I BEGAN cooking 27 years ago to impress my wife-to-be Shefali. I used to make the morning tea and bring it to bed, which furthered the image...

I BEGAN cooking 27 years ago to impress my wife-to-be Shefali. I used to make the morning tea and bring it to bed, which furthered the image of the sensitive male. Post-marriage, I kept up the cooking habit. I never follow recipes to the T. I add and taste as I go along. Involving the wife and the kids in the tasting process makes it a kind of community experience. Some of that passion is transferred into my restaurant chain Khaaja Chowk, which will be the McDonald8217;s of Indian food.

The measurements may be slightly off, as I cook largely by eye measure. The first recipe is my own concoction. The second is my wife8217;s, which I8217;ve institutionalised in my restaurant. It never ceases to amaze me how tasty and chatpata ordinary moong dal can be.

FRIED STUFFED PRAWNS

INGREDIENTS
1 kg king prawns with
tail intact
100 gm mutton mince
1 small bunch coriander
2-3 cloves of garlic
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Fish sauce to taste
Rice flour for dusting
2 eggs
Oil for deep frying

METHOD
Clean and devein the prawns. Split them open, but take care not to cut through. In a small bowl, mix mince and coriander including the stems well together. Be careful not to incorporate too much coriander, though.

In a food processor, grind garlic, pepper and fish sauce to a smooth paste. Add to the meat mixture. Separately, whip the two eggs together till light and frothy.

Now carefully stuff the meat filling into the prawns, making sure the mince doesn8217;t spill out. Dust the prawns with rice flour and keep aside.

In a wok or kadai, heat oil till really hot. Lower the heat and carefully lower the prawns into the oil. Fry till the outside coating of the prawns becomes a nice, appealing brown. Remove, drain on kitchen paper and serve hot with chilly sauce.

BIWI KI DAL TADKEDAR

INGREDIENTS
1 cup moong dhuli dal
Salt to taste
Pinch of turmeric
2 tsp ghee
Half tikki Kashmiri masala
2-3 tomatoes
2.5 cm ginger
Coriander, chopped

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METHOD
Wash the dal well and cook with salt and turmeric. Chop tomatoes, slice ginger into slivers. In a separate pan, heat ghee, add the Kashmiri masala, tomatoes and ginger. Cook till the tomatoes become pulpy. Pour the tadka into the dal and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.