Boneless Butter Chicken AKA Murgh Makhani (Rushina's replies to a recipe request)

Boneless Butter Chicken/ Murgh makhani picture courtesy Bharat Bhirangi and Mrigan Sharma.

Akanksha Malhotra of Delhi who has attended one of my cooking workshops at Natures Basket wrote in to on Facebook "I really need your help. I am looking for authentic boneless butter chicken recipe for a family dinner. If you could please help me with it. Would be great !" I replied to Akanksha, on Facebook but I thought I would post the recipe here as well because this is an evergreen recipe that can be handy to have lying around! 

I learnt this recipe from a Punjabi neighbour Sharma aunty who lived next door to the first home I lived in after we married. In fact putting the recipe down brought back some long forgotten memories. I remember how tough that first year was for me. Not only did I have to learn to manage a home and kitchen, I also had to get used to a 3 hour commute to and from work. So on days when i got home late, it was a boon when Sharma aunty would pop her head out of her door as I unlocked my house and hand me a casserole of some hearty rajma, mah dal or butter chicken. I am not sure how ‘authentic’ this recipe is, but it is the one I use, But nobody that’s eaten it has ever complained. In fact there are rarely leftovers! As a shortcut you can use ready tandoori chicken in a pinch as well.

Boneless Butter Chicken /Murgh Makhani (Time : 4 hours prep +45 mins cooking time; Serves – 4)

Ingredients

800 g Chicken breast pieces, boneless

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp Butter

For the marinade

1 c Yogurt

Salt to taste

½ tsp Garlic paste

½ tsp Garam masala powder

1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

2 tbsp Ginger paste

2 tbsp Lemon juice

2 tbsp Mustard oil

For the Makhni Gravy

50g Butter

1 tbsp Ginger paste

5-6 Green chillies, chopped

1 tbsp Red chilli powder

Salt to taste

½ tsp Dry fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) toasted lighly on a tava /griddle for a minute or so to crisp it up

1 tbsp whole garam masala

1 tbsp garlic paste

400g Tomato puree

½ tsp Garam masala powder

2 tbsp Honey/sugar

1 c Cream

Method

Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth for fifteen to twenty minutes to remove extra water (I find using ready yoghurt means there is less water  - in fact I love Danone natural yogurt and no I am not plugging it, it really is beautifully thick. Abroad I recommend Greek Yoghurt. Meanwhile halve the chicken breasts (Butter chicken is a hearty dish so aim for 1-2 nice big chunks per diner, nothing smaller) and make incisions with a sharp knife on chicken them. In a small bowl combine the red chilli powder, lemon juice and salt and apply on the chicken breasts, rubbing in well. Reserve for half an hour. Then combine red chilli powder, salt, ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, garam masala powder and mustard oil and apply marinade to chicken. Refrigerate for three to four hours. At this point remove from fridge and thread marinated chicken onto a skewer. Cook in a moderately hot tandoor or preheated oven (200°C) for 10 -12 minutes until the chicken is almost but not completely cooked. Pull out baste with a little butter and return to oven. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove and reserve. To make the gravy, heat butter in a pan. Add green cardamoms, cloves, peppercorns and cinnamon and sauté for 2 minutes, then add ginger-garlic paste and the chopped green chillies and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the tomato puree, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt and one cup of water and bring the whole thing to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for ten minutes. Stir in the sugar or honey and crumble in the kasoori methi. Add the cooked chicken pieces and simmer for 5 minutes. Swirl over the fresh cream and serve hot with naan or roomali rotis.

A NOTE on a new genre of posts.

I am revamping my blogs slowly as you might have noted. One of the mig requests I have is for recipes so I have already started a section called Rushina recipes where I put selections of recipes based on an ingredient, dics or cuisine. Requests for recipes and questions on cooking have also been on the rise so I am also going to be adding a section called Rushina repliesso my replies can benifit everyone. You can look forward to replies on Five spice powder, sichuan peppercorns, zaresht berries and star anise. And if you have a question on cooking or an ingredient or  even  a recipe request you can leave it as a comment and I will address it as soon as I can.

Summer Drinks

A gourmet 'gola' made with Moet at Ziya at the Oberoi.

Temperatures have skyrocketed, summer is definitely here and those winter cravings for steaming hot soup have been forgotten as on longs for a long cool cool something to cosy up to!  I am writing this as I sip slowly on a glass of Litchi squash made at home by my Ma-in-law from litchis from our own tree.

And the options are endless. India has an amazing variety of traditional drinks, that are appropriate in terms of health, nutrition, ecology, season and of course cost. However we are in danger of losing this diversity with the propensity we are developing toward aerated drinks. Not only do housewives prefer the convenience of the fizzy sugar loaded drinks to serve their guests (SHUDDER!), but our traditional beverages seem to be acquiring a status of old-fashioned and boring. A sad turn of events when we still follow the other traditions of Indian Cuisine which subscribe to the philosophy of a seasonal diet food that give importance to seasonal ingredients —tender tamarind leaves, gongura leaves, kokum and tamarind, lighter masalas and desserts based on cooling fruits like tender coconut and litchis in the summer and in keeping with this general philosophy a cornucopia of specific drinks to combat the vagaries of the summer months.  

Think back and you will surely remember some of the delicious cooling drinks our grandmothers served us. I remember the drinks my grandmother always had waiting for me in the summer, when I came home from school, melon juices; chilled ruby red watermelon full of chunks of the juicy fruit, velvety chilled Sugar melon juice that slid down the throat, milkshakes flavored with fruits or Rooh Afza, tangy Aam 
Panna made of sour green mangoes and in the years when our Coconut tree yielded fruit we would OD on tender coconut water and gorge on the silky flesh and a collection of squashes that would rival any “golawalla’s” lineup of jewel colored bottles; Lemon, Malta Orange, bel (wood-apple), Amla, Jamoon, and even Sandalwood have been trapped into bottles full of savor over the years because of their extremely beneficial effect on the body in hot weather. They maintain the digestive tract, tone up the system and keep it cool.

Much later in life, I discovered the delicious coolers of regional Indian Communities, like the time a friend brought me a bottle of tangy, purple concentrate that made a delicious drink. “It’s Kokum squash” she said. Kokum! Now I have often picked Kokkum out of my dal and discarded it but I never thought it could make a drink! KOKUM is a sour fruit that has no English name, because it is native to India, in fact even in India it is relatively unknown outside the Konkan region and parts of Gujarat - which is surprising, because it makes extremely cooling drink that is popularly served to combat heaty foods in the cuisines of South and West India. Besides Kokum squash it is also used to make Sol Kadhi in which it I soaked in warm water, he resulting liquor of which is mixed with coconut milk and drunk with heaty dishes.
At my first holi after I married, I discovered a savory, punchy drink called Kanji. Kanji is a traditional north Indian drink made from black carrots and mustard powder, a dark ruby almost magenta in color it is sold from huge glass flasks and ‘matkas’ in seaon but it is also made at home the process of making Kanji takes about three weeks. It has an overall cooling effect on the body and refreshes the mind due to the use of mustard. Another traditional drink popular in the north and especially in Punjab and Hryana is ‘Sattoo’ (powdered barley) that is served chilled sweetend with a sugar syrup. It is valued for the cooling effect it has on the body and its ability as a thirst quencher.  

My favourite part of my childhood was being amidst the ladies of the house on one of the squash making days helping with prepping ingredients immersed in the tradition – listening to the stories that accompanied every recipe, the subtleties of preparation that I learnt by watching alone and  that special banter that is only found between women in the kitchen! Start your own traditions, get your children involved, kids love feeling like they are important, they can help peel and prepare fruit and measure out ingredients and the attraction of something they have helped make might even get them to stop consuming all those dangerous aerated drinks. In fact let them go wild making their own ‘mocktails’ using these!

Remember the barricade of colored bottles that are displayed all around the Golavallas carts? Well there is nothing stopping you from rivaling that display! Take time out of your schedule to prepare for the coming hot season, bottle concentrates, sherbets and syrups and put then away while you can, so you can enjoy the freshness of fruit far into the summer when the fruit are long gone. What will you do with so many?  Think Golas doused in a salty sweet sour Kalakhatta or an icy mint Sorbet, just the thought of such treats brings relief to the heat addled brain! Your Syrups and squashes will come in handy to flavour Golas, Sorbets, Ice creams, Ice teas and Slushes right through the Summer.ANd do share your recipes for Squashes and syrups! What was your favourite childhood drink! 

With so much on offer we really have no reason to down sugar filled artificially flavoured aerated waters by the glassful, that do not benefit us in any way. Find new favourites for the coming summer months from recipes carefully nurtured over the centuries and do yourself a favour! No really! Let your imagination go wild! Here are a few favourite recipes to get you started - some inherited from my grandmother and some created by me.

Raw Mango Squash (Time: 30 minutes Makes: 750 ml. concentrate (approx.) Shelflife: 6 months or more)

Inspired by the Aam panna, this squash incorporates the cooling properties of Rock salt, Green mangoes and Cumin

Ingredients

1 c thick peeled raw mango pulp

2 ½ c sugar

1 1/2 c water

½ tsp Cumin powder

2 tbsk Rock salt

1/4 tsp. citric acid

Method

Place sugar and water in a deep vessel and bring to a boil. Simmer till syrup is sticky but not one thread. Add citric acid, stir till dissolved and remove from flame. Cool and add to mango pulp. Add Cumin powder rock salt and stir well. Transfer to sterilised bottles and store in the fridge.  

Spicy Pineapple Squash (time: 20 minutes Makes: 450 - 500 ml. squash Shelflife: 4 - 5 months)

Ingredients

1 c pure fresh pineapple juice

2 c sugar

1 c water

2 tbsp chilli flakes

1 tsp. citric acid (optional)

1/8 tsp. KMS (optional)

Method

Bring sugar and water to boil in a deep vessel. Simmer to make a sticky syrup, which is not one thread. Add dissolved citric acid, take off fire. Cool and add juice, dissolved KMS. Stir till well blended. Pour into sterilised bottles, seal. Refrigerate opened bottle.

Quickly done Infused and Simple Syrups (Yield: 1 1/3 cups.)

Simple syrup is a commonly used ingredient in many cocktails and other drink recipes. It's easy to make and handy to have ready in the summer. You can flavour simple syrup with just about anything, spices, like Cardamom and anise, herbs like lemongrass and mint even orange and lemon peel.

1 c white sugar

1 c water

Method

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool.

MAKE AHEAD The syrup can be refrigerated for up to 3 weeks.

To make Lemongrass Syrup take 10 lemongrass stalks, 6 stalks crushed and finely chopped, 2 stalks halved lengthwise, then crosswise. Prepare the as directed above, adding lemongrass, before bringing it to a boil. Remove from the heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain into a bottle and keep refrigerate for upto three weeks.

Mogra Sherbet

Mogra or Jasmine flowers are associated with romance in India. They bloom at night during the hot summer months releasing their heavy fragrance into the humid night air, cooling and perfuming it. This traditional drink traps the magic of the Mogra into a glass and makes an unusual cooling drink.

8 c water
750 g sugar
100 gms fresh mogra blossoms

Dissolve the sugar in the water and boil until you have a syrup of one string consistency. Allow to cool for a while, add the mogra blossoms, cover and leave to steep until syrup is completely cool. Stain, mashing flowers against the strainer as you go and then bottle. To serve mix into chilled water.

Kokum Squash (time: 20 minutes Makes: 500 gms. approx. Shelflife: 6 months or more)

The kokum is native to the western coastal regions of southern India and is rarely seen beyond this area. Even in India it is used only in the regional cuisines of Gujarat Maharashrta and several southern states where large glasses of kokum sherbet are downed during parched summer months. In this region the sweltering heat demands refrigerant (cooling) ingredients in food and drink. Kokum is well known to counteract the heat. The fruits are steeped in sugar syrup to make amrutkokum which is drunk to relieve sunstroke.

Ingredients

1 cup thick juice of kokum

2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp. citric acid

1/4 tsp. sodium benzoate

Method:

Place juice and sugar in a deep vessel and heat, stirring gently until sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes remove from flame and cool. Add sodium benzoate and mix well. Pour into sterilized sauce bottles, seal and remember to refrigerate after a bottle is opened.

For a quick drink stir 2 tbsp. juice into 200 ml water with a pinch of salt, plop in a few ice cubes and serve or make a slush. Make a stronger solution of Kokum squash, a pinch of salt, and water pour into a Tupperware glass and freeze.      

Use squashes fto make Golas!

Hygienically Golas are available on the menu at Soam restaurant in Babulnath 

Basic Ice tea

Makes: 1 glass iced tea.

Ingredients:

1 c water

1 ½ tsp. tea leaves

simple sugar syrup or flavoured syrup to taste

1 round slice lemon with peel

Method:

Bring water to boil. Add tea leaves cover and stand for 5-7 minutes. Stir well, strain and cool. Add 4-5 cubes crushed ice and syrup and cooled decoction Garnish with lemon slice and serve chilled. 

Basic Sorbet with any Squash

Ingredients:
4 c fruit

2 tbsp. Fruit juice that compliments syrup you are using

1 cup simple or flavoured syrup

Method:

Run cleaned fruit in a blender with the orange juice, till smooth. Sieve if required and stir in sugar syrup.  Set mixture in lidded container in freezer A (Tupperware glass is great for this) till softly set. Remove from freezer, beat till smooth, but do not allow to melt, return to container, refreeze. Beat again, and return to freezer, till well set. Serve in scoops, garnished with sprigs of mint and slices of fruit.

Mocha Mojo serves their drinks very innovatively in Little jam and Mason jars!

A Slush shot with a bit of vodka can be a great ice breaker!

Play with strawberry and Kiwi or other colors and flavours for vibrant Mixer slushies!

Black Grape squash (time: 20 minutes Makes: 500 gms. approx. Shelflife: 6 months or more)

Ingredients

1 cup thick juice of black grapes

2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp. citric acid

1/4 tsp. sodium benzoate

Method:

Put juice and sugar in a deep vessel. Heat and stir gently till sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes. Take off fire and cool. Add sodium benzoate and mix well. Pour into sterilized sauce bottles, and seal. Refrigerate after a bottle is opened.

Jamoon Squash (time: 20 minutes, Makes: 500 gms. approx. Shelflife: 6 months or more)

Ingredients

1 cup thick juice of jamoon

2 cups sugar

3/4 tsp. citric acid

1/4 tsp. sodium benzoate

Method

Put juice and sugar in a deep vessel. Heat and stir gently till sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, simmer for 2-3 minutes. Take off fire and cool. Add sodium benzoate and mix well. Pour into sterilized sauce bottles, and seal. Refrigerate after a bottle is opened.

Rim glasses for Black grape or Jamoon with kala namak!

Shaved ice concoctions; Golas and Snow cones

Rainbows - Try using two to four different colored syrups on your shaved ice to create a unique colorful rainbow effect.  Pour syrups in a straight line, one at a time, starting from one side of your shaved ice cup to the other.  Mixers – Similar to Rainbows but usually made with only 2 or 3 flavors. Combine flavors for a unique treat.  Some of the most popular mixers are listed below:

Milk and Cream Flavors – Give your favorite shaved ice syrup a creamy flavor and texture with the addition of Evaporated Milk.  In a separate container, combine 7 ounces of flavored syrup to 1 ounce of evaporated milk.  Stir well and pour the mix on top of your shaved ice to give it a rich, creamy texture.  Works best if the creamy mix is chilled before use.  This recipe is often used with Vanilla, Banana, Peach, Strawberry, Pina Colada, Coconut and Almond. Test your favorite syrup with evaporated milk!  To make a quart of cream flavor combine 28 ounces of your favorite flavored syrup with 4 ounces of Evaporated Milk.  Once evaporated milk is added be sure to keep the mix refrigerated.  The mixture will usually will last 5 to 7 days.

Snow Shakes – Instead of a milkshake try a snow shake!  Fill a 16 ounce cup full of shaved ice.  Add 3 to 4 ounces of your favorite shaved ice syrup along with 3 to 4 ounces of evaporated milk.  Stir or blend well!  Add more ice for thicker snow shakes.  Snow shakes are a great treat year round!

Dipped Delights – These shaved ice treats are very popular at neighborhood stands across the country.  Simply add a scoop of your favorite ice cream to the bottom of any cup, add shaved ice and top off with your favorite shaved ice syrup.  Eating the shaved ice and ice cream at the same time is great!   Try one and you will be hooked!

Gyan, Links and notes

Preservatives and flavours

To store for longer periods preservatives like Sodium Benzonate or potassium metabisulphite (KMS) are required. They should be used only in specified quantities. Otherwise they will spoil the texture of the drink, and also affect health if used in large quantities. You can leave them out but refrigerate your squashes in that case.

A virtual gastronomic tour of Dehra Dun to celebrate the start of my second book !

 

Breakfasts of parathas still warm from the griddle - delicious even without the accompanying freshly churned butter and homemade strawberry jam…. Fruit - sweet juicy and still warm freshly picked from one’s own garden… Steaming hot REAL basmati rice, doused in danedar desi ghee, and aromatic dal tempered with pharan, accompanied by rye greens from the kitchen gardens… Floury, buttery, bakery biscuits, delicious to dunk into evening tea… Momos, little parcels of pleasure dunked in spicy chutney… AND ... the sweet SWEET finales! Anytime in the day Stick jaws that separate the good teeth from the bad, soul satisfying Chaclat, Bal Mithai that is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and silken Rasmalais swimming in thick creamy Rabri… Dehra Dun has a hidden Smorgasbord of tactile delights for the taste buds that is just waiting to be discovered!

I signed on the dotted line for my second book Uttarakhandi Kitchen this week. This book has been six years in the writing, Technically it is my first book, because I started my career with an article on Uttaranchali cuisine for Savvy Cookbook. And have been working on this book ever since. It has taken me this long to get a publisher interested in it. Finally Westland Books, the publishers of my first book have taken it on. My only regret is, that my father in law, R D Ghildiyal, and my husband’s grandparents, Nanaji and Nani are not here to see this book materialize.

I may have married into the state of Uttaranchal, but it has come to mean home to me. Although the legalities have been finalized just now, I have been here in Dehra Dun for a month and a half now, working on it. So I thought I would celebrate this milestone with a virtual trip through some of the must try food experiences here for.

The City of Dehra Dun is situated at the Himalayan foothills in the fertile Doon Valley and famed for its unspoiled environment and natural beauty, it is also an important educational center of the country and home to many offices of Central and State Govt. including FRI or the Forrest Research Institute, which is a beautiful area (if you are visiting and can mange to wangle a room through a contact the FRI guest house is a great place to stay). With so much happening, Dehra Dun caters to most taste buds. And over the years I have come to the conclusion that the best thing to eat here is all the home cooked Pahari food we can manage.

 

Like all home cooked food of rural India, home cooked Pahari food is not to be found in any restaurants, but in its home kitchens. Unless you know a local whose home you can try out the food at, cross your fingers that one of the periodic Melas or Craft Festivals that is on, because they usually have Uttarakhandi food stalls. While it won’t be the real thing it will offer some insight to Uttarakhandi food which is one of the simplest I have either sampled or cooked. I have an unconfirmed theory that Pahari people were very hard working people and food out of necessity had to be simple, flavorful, filling and easily prepared. Pahari food is divided into two branches, Gharwali from the Gharwal area of Uttaranchal and Kumaoni from the Kumaon area of Uttaranchal. Look out for things like Mandua ki Roti, Tor and Gehat ki dal, Jhangore ki Kheer in Garhwali food and dishes like Bhattwani, Ras, Badil and Singhal in Kumaoni food.

When there is a decided nip in the air, at that time of the year when the stylish woolens are out and days of walking around in blankets are still not here is when one craves the deeply satisfying sort of food that is never found at home, but instead sold from handcarts, makeshift counters and ramshackle shelters across the length and breadth of India. No trip to India is complete, whatever the risks of falling ill, without a pilgrimage to the “theli” or street stalls of whichever city you are in.  Dehra Dun has its share of street – side eateries and they rival those of any other city in India.

Theli Soup!

Momos with fiery chutney!

Kebabs.

There is nothing to beat steaming “theli” soup on a cold foggy night in Dehra Dun or a steaming hot Massalla tikki on a chilly monsoon afternoon as a misty drizzle slowly drenches you. So hot you can barely hold the leaf cup it comes in and so mouthwatering with its sweet, spicy tamarind chutney that you almost burn your tongue in your impatience. All over Dehra Dun you will find vendors peddling everything from Ginger garnished chats to Idli dosa, and chow mien. On our last trip we discovered some fabulous kebab places as well. We plan to go back there next week so hopefully I will be able to post in delicious detail on those. Tara located near St. Thomas school does legendary fish pakoras that go down really well with drinks or try the Steaming hot soup from the Sardar in the lane adjacent to Astley Hall. It is a tomato based soup generously garnished with cream, chicken bits and some sort of signature masalla to spike it.

No discussion of Dehra Dun’s street food is complete without talk of the Momo and Thupka, the staples of Tibetan cuisine that have adapted so well to being a street food. With Uttaranchal sharing a border with Tibet, it is not surprising that they have made their presence felt in its capital. Momos some might know of them as Potstickers, are scrumptious steamed parcels stuffed with mincemeat rather like steamed wontons and native to Tibet and Nepal. They are served with a clear broth-soup and spicy chutney. Thupka is the Tibetan version of the Mongolian hotpot. Comfort food for the soul in which home made noodles, chicken bits, and vegetables are all poached in a meat broth and spiked with chilies and served up steaming hot. Remember do it all and down a couple of doses of homeopathic tummy medicine for dessert to preempt any upsets. A decadent way to live I know but what a glorious way to go!

For those who shy away from places that require a dose of tummy medicine after consumption, there are a lot of decent dining options in Dehra Dun as well. If you are in search of a quick meal while shopping or just because you want to eat out, there are numerous options available as well. The in-house restaurant at the President hotel is very popular, but has come to be a favourite for that one special meal we like to have out every trip. They dish out very club style Continental food, along with some pretty good  Chinese and Indian food. If you are looking for a full Indian Chinese meal try the Yeti and which also offers some Thai food. The Kumar Restaurant is good place for South Indian food like Idli Dosa and the like. The Great Value hotels in-house restaurant, “The Orchid” could rival a Bombay restaurant for décor, service and food. Their Indian, Chinese and Continental food are all very good and the blend of Antique wood furniture, moss green upholstery, and subtle décor make for excellent ambiance. A cozy, bar tucked away to the left, is ideal for drinks before dinner or one for the road.

For those between meal, snacky, cravingy moments when you are out taking in the sights or shopping, there are many things you could pick to take the edge off. Drop into one of the Dehra Dun’s bakeries for a Creamroll, pastry or Frankie, or have a mithaiee feast at one of the Sweetshops.

Sending their aroma out into the morning air, hooking mere mortals and reeling them in unceremoniously are the many Bakeries of Dehra Dun. Happy legacies of the Raj these bakeries offer biscuits, sweet confections and Savory delights that melt in your mouth and come in a plethora of avatars from bakeries big and small, new and old all over Dehradun. Drop into “old” Elloras (there are several of them in row so ask for the oldest one). This is where you will get the best VFM Chocolate éclair, piquant Lemon tarts and Flaky Cream rolls oozing delicious butter cream icing. But the best creamrolls by far are the ones made by Grand in the main market of Paltan Bazaar. Dehra Dun is also at the centre of an organic revolution and many bakeries are doing organic Mandua (Nachani) flour biscuits. This trip we have discovered a rather Please be warned these do become addictive!

No article on the gastronomic delights of Dehra Dun would be complete without Stickjaws Sticky toffees that literally shut you up while you struggle to get them of your teeth have been a legend amongst the boarding school grapevine in India with Welhams and Doon students carrying them wherever they go. Kwalitys bakery, established in 1947 and a sister concern of the restaurant mentioned above is attributed for inventing the Stickjaw and they still make them, along with a lot of other delicious baked goods so remember to pick up some for friends back home!

Another gastronomic landmark of Dehradun are the sweetshops. Kumar’s is the better-known and can be found smack dab in the middle of Ghanta Ghar Chowk, the centre point of Dehra Dun. Walk in at any time of day and the place will be full of people gorging on chaat and sweet treats. Bengalis a little up the road from Ghanta Ghar on Main Rajpur Road. They are famous for their Ras Malais. (Little flat dumplings of cottage cheese in a reduced milk sweet sauce) They have been around forever now, and a trip to Dehra Dun without a taste of their Rasmalai drizzled with a signature sprinkle of Gangajal would be incomplete. They are also where you will be able to sample the “chaclate” or Chocolate and Singhori in season. These are two famous Pahari sweet preparations. Chocolate is milk reduced to its solid form, set and then cut into chunks while Singhori is sweet milk solids sweetmeats stuffed into a leaf called the Malle Ka patta, resulting in little cone shaped sweets fragrant with the aroma of the leaf wrapping that melt in your mouth.

Summers of Sour and Heeng Ka Achar....

 

I have moved to the North until May to work on my second book on Uttaranchali cuisine. It was beautifully pleasant when I first got here but it’s getting hotter by the day. Afternoons are hottest, oppressive almost and often when the rest of the house is taking its afternoon siesta, I will be driven to the kitchen in search of something sour and spicy to eat. Sourness is cooling in hot weather perhaps because sweetness can be cloying and sleep inducing but an acid taste accentuated with some chilli and salt can invigorate you!

In Mumbai in the summer on these sort of days we would make our way to the corner kairiwalla.  Their species is dwindling but you will still find them wherever girls and women congregate. And with two schools and two ladies hostels in the lane parallel to the one in which my mother’s house is situated, there is still one guy that makes his way slowly around the area, daily. His pushcart loaded with piles of sour temptations to make your mouth water; fruit and dried fruit you would never find in the supermarket or even all together in your local market – plump oval purple jamun or tiny purple phalsa, small green avla (starberries, also known as Otaheite gooseberry), large yellow-green amla (Indian gooseberries), the attractively shaped carambola (starfruit) and/or its close cousin the bilimbi, tamarind both plain and in sticky red syrup, bel (woodapple) and so much more. And green mango, which based on your choice could be green and super sour or just beginning to ripen, its flesh tinged with gold, and sweetness just beginning to bleed into its sourness, curiously, accentuating the sourness! He would slice it up into a paper cone, add a sprinkle of masalla and wrap it up for a drooling gaggle of girls. (Unfortunately I do not have a picture of the kairiwalla, I have been meaning to get one but not gotten down to going and clicking one just yet. But you can get a look see here http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4390862891_97984f4b44.jpg)

Then one day I discovered the flavour of the Kairi wallas Kairi’s distilled into a bottle. In the form of my future Mother in Law’s Heeng ka Achar. (How portentous that was is a thought I often have!) It was the first thing made by her hand I ever tasted, and to date it remains my favourite of the huge repertoire of achaars she makes. The mangoes on our tree are just about ready to be made into Heeng Ka achaar and I am going to be making this years batch with my ma-in-law this week. Here are pictures from last year’s pickle making session. My Ma in law loves to do this pickle when I am in Dehra Dun because I am one of those cooks who can happily lose herself in hours of repetitive cutting that things like this pickle require. (Which is why chopping vegetables is often left to me at other times as well.)

Even now, when we are grown and married and my sister, Neha who shares my weakness for these goodies, and I are susceptible to the charms of the kairiwalla’s wares. On the rare occasions we are together at mom’s home, she will go and buy us an assortment of things, badgering the kairiwalla to give her an extra large helping of the spicy salt that comes with them and we will congregate over the scattering of newspaper bundles, feasting on the sourness of summer, zingy with salt and chilli!! Thinking of my siblings today and Summers of sour!

Heeng ka achar

Although it is called Heeng ka achaar, this is a green mango pickle made with green mangoes that are picked before their stones harden. That is not to belittle the role of Heeng in this pickle, for the magical quality it gets would be impossible without it. Its a simple pickle to make, but one of those marriages made in heaven. There are no substitutes for the Mango and the Heeng. No other sour fruit or vegetable would do. And without Heeng it would be a shadow of itself. And the quality of the heeng is really important. Heeng or asafoetida is a hard resinous gum, grayish-white when fresh, darkening with age to yellow, red and eventually brown. It is sold commonly as a fine yellow powder, sometimes crystalline or granulated but we use a solid form that is like lumps and far stronger than the commercial powder. It is also more expensive but so good that a little goes a phenomenally long way. It lasts more than a year, getting progressively better with age and goes with just about anything from khichdi and daal rice to mathri and parathas. And if you are feeling queasy, just nibble on a bit of this pickle and you will be ok!

Ingredients

2 kg raw mangoes-peeled and chopped

200-300g salt

1/2 c/ 75g chilli powder or to taste (mom uses a 1:1 mix of kashmiri chillis and spicy chillies from her garden.

A 5g lump of Asafoetida

Method

Cut your Mango into bitesized free form chunks. (You can reserve immature chunks to add to dals for delicious sourness.) Grind Heeng with salt and chilli powder. Place mango in a large steel bowl and add the spice mix a little at a time. You might not end up using it all. Aim to achieve a bright orangey red. And when you have this, taste the pickle, if it tastes right, stop mixing in spice mix. If not, add some more until you are happy with it. The great thing about this pickle is it tastes almost like it will on maturing at the mixing stage, the flavours only mellow with a little as the mangoes give forth their juices . When you are happy with your pickle transfer to a large glass jar and place in the sun for a few days, or just mature for a few days. I usually pick up the last bit in the bowl with the melting spice mix and settle down to savour it right away as my Ma in law cringes watching me (she can’t handle sour flavours)