STUFFED SNAKE GOURD IN GRAVY

1 kg beef or mutton mince
1 medium sized snake gourd scrape and cut into 2 inch pieces after removing the insides
3 medium sized onions chopped
3 large tomatoes pureed
½ cup coconut paste
A small bunch of coriander leaves chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoons chilly powder
1 teaspoon spice powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 green chilies chopped
3 tablespoons oil.

Wash the snake gourd and the mince. Marinate the mince with a teaspoon of chilly powder, turmeric powder, a little salt and some chopped coriander leaves. In a pan heat the oil and fry the chopped onions till golden brown. Add the ginger garlic paste and sauté for some time. Add the chilly powder, coriander powder, spice powder, green chilies, coconut and salt and fry for a few minutes .Add the tomato puree and fry till the oil separates from the masala. Now add 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Meanwhile stuff the snake gourd rings with the marinated mince. Pack each ring tightly so that the mince does not fall out. Slowly drop the stuffed snake gourd pieces into the boiling curry and cook on low heat till the gravy is sufficiently thick and the mince is cooked. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with coconut rice or plain rice.

CHICKEN FRITTERS

Ingredients
½ kg boneless chicken cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons chillie garlic sauce
3 tablespoons corn flour
3 tablespoons plain flour (maida)
salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Make a batter with the corn flour, plain flour / maida and salt with sufficient water. The batter should be slightly thick. Mix the chicken pieces with the sauce and mix into the batter. Heat oil in a pan and drop in spoonfuls of the mixture a little at a time and deep fry till golden brown. Use kitchen absorbent paper to remove excess oil. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Braised Ox Tongue

Serves 6
Preparation Time approx 1 hour
Ingredients

1 Ox Tongue
2 onions sliced
2 Carrots peeled and diced
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chillie powder
½ teaspoon spice powder or garam masala powder
3 tablespoons Oil
Salt to taste

Wash the Ox Tongue and boil it in salted water till tender. Cool then slice it.
Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions till slightly brown. Add the carrots, chillie powder, coriander powder, spice powder / garam masala powder, a little salt and about 4 tablespoons of the tongue stock and cook till the carrots are soft. Mash the carrots well. Now add the cooked slices of Ox Tongue and the remaining stock. Mix well and simmer on low heat for about 10 minutes. Serve with Bread or with rice and steamed vegetables

Savoury Brain Fritters

2 Sheep Brains or ½ kg Beef Brain
2 teaspoons pepper powder
3 tablespoons flour (Maida)
1 egg beaten
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Wash the Brains well and remove the veins etc. Cut them into 1” pieces. Make a batter with the beaten egg, flour, salt, pepper powder and a little water. Mix with the pieces of brain. Heat oil in a pan and when drop in the batter covered brain and deep fry till golden brown. Serve hot.

For a difference in taste, use Besan flour instead of Maida and finely chopped green chillies, green coriander and onions may be added to the batter

TOMATO PALAU (PILAF)

Serves 6
Preparation time 45 minutes
4 large tomatoes pureed and diluted with water to get 3 cups of juice or 1 pack of tomato puree diluted to get 3 cups of juice.
2 teaspoons chopped coriander leaves
2 large onions sliced finely
2 cups Raw Rice or Basmati Rice
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons chilly powder
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 cloves, 3 cardamoms, 3 pieces of cinnamon
4 tablespoons oil or ghee
2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint
Heat oil in a pan or a rice cooker and sauté the spices, onions, ginger garlic paste and chilly powder for a few minutes. Add the rice, salt, mint, coriander leaves and tomato juice and cook till the rice is done. Serve with salad and Chicken Curry or Pork Vindaloo.

Tracking down traditional Scottish food in India

MINCE AND POTATOES & EGG KEDEGREE

Article from the Scottish Times 12/04/09....Pamela Timms
In Bangalore,last week I met Bridget White-Kumar, an obsessive chronicler of all things Anglo-Indian and author of five recipe books crammed with such delights as “grandma’s country captain chicken” and “railway mutton curry”.
At first glance, Bangalore, the home of modern India’s IT miracle, is a city that more than any other has freed itself from every trace of the Raj. Yet I found a community that has held on to many Scottish and English food traditions and used them to carve out its own identity.
Kumar greeted me with tea and shortbread. When she rustled up mince and tatties and said I could borrow her precious old recipe books, I was ready for her to adopt me. They include a rare 1874 edition of the Madras Cookery Book, written anonymously by “an English resident’s wife”, which contains recipes — or “receipts” as the memsahib called them — for Caledonian classics such as Scotch broth, mashed turnips and scones.

Bridget is no misty-eyed imperialist but a member of Bangalore’s 15,000-strong Anglo-Indian community, descendents of Scottish and English families who came to seek their fortunes in the colonies.
After independence, one might have imagined Anglo-Indians would have been glad to see the back of meat loaf and sago pudding, but the community, although proudly Indian, identifies closely with Scottish and English traditions and food.
Bridget’s own grandfather was a Scot named Percy Edgar Joseph and, through the enthusiastic scribblings of her mother and grandmother, she has inherited a vast collection of Anglo-Indian recipes.
Her mince and tatties, although unsurprisingly more peppery than we’re used to, bears a striking resemblance to the one I grew up with. I was amused to hear that it occupied the same place in her family culinary repertoire as it did in my family's. “It’s what we have when I can’t think what else to make,” she says.
While we devoured the mince, kedgeree and semolina pudding, Bridget told me about her early life on the British-run Kolar Gold Fields, in Karnataka where her father worked. Although she can’t remember where the mince and tatties recipe came from, the fact she remembers more MacIntyres and MacDonalds than Malhotras and Methas in her community offers some strong clues.
I left Bangalore with a heavy stomach and even heavier heart, vowing to go back as soon as possible.

ANGLO-INDIAN VEAL CHOPS

Serves 6
Preparation Time 45 minutes
½ kg good veal chops (Flatten them)
3 or 4 potatoes (Boil peal and cut each in half lengthwise)
4 big onions sliced
2 green chilies slit lengthwise
2 teaspoons pepper powder
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons oil
Pressure cook the veal chops with a little water till tender letting some soup remain. Open the pressure cooker and add the onions, green chilies, salt, pepper powder and oil and mix well. Keep cooking on low heat till the soup dries up and the onions and meat are a nice brown. Just before turning off the heat add the boiled potatoes and mix once so that the masala covers the potatoes. Serve hot with bread or rice.

ALMORTH (Mixed Meat and vegetable Stew)

This dish is a combination of meat, chicken, pork and vegetables. It’s a very old Anglo-Indian recipe. However, any combination of meat could be used as per personal preference. The same recipe could be used with chicken only.
Ingredients
¼ kg Beef
¼ kg mutton / lamb
½ kg chicken
¼ kg pork
A few carrots and beans chopped into medium size pieces (or any other English vegetables)
3 potatoes peeled and cut into quarters
2 teaspoons chillie powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons pepper powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
4 dry red chillies broken into pieces
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
2 pieces cinnamon
5 cloves
3 onions sliced
2 tomatoes chopped
2 tablespoons chopped mint
3 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons coconut paste
2 tablespoons vinegar

Cut the meat, chicken and pork into small pieces. Heat oil in a pressure cooker or a suitable vessel and add the onions, cinnamon, cloves and chopped garlic. Fry till the onions turn golden brown. Add the mutton, beef, chicken and pork also the chillie powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt and tomatoes and mix well. Fry till the tomatoes turn to pulp. Add the broken dry red chillies, mint and the coconut paste and mix well. Add sufficient water and pressure cook for 10 minutes ( 6 to 8 whistles). Turn off the heat. Open the cooker when the pressure dies down and add the chopped vegetables and vinegar and simmer on low heat till the vegetables are cooked and the gravy is thick.
Serve with rice, chapattis or bread.