SIMPLE CHOCOLATE CAKE

300 grams refined flour or Maida
50 grams cocoa powder
400 grams sugar powdered
300 grams butter
5 eggs
2 teaspoons Nescafe or any other Instant Coffee
1teaspoon vanilla essence
2 level teaspoons baking powder

Sift the cocoa powder, Nescafe, flour and baking powder together. Cream the butter and sugar together well. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Add the sifted flour and vanilla essence and fold in the mixture to form a smooth slightly thick consistency without lumps. Pour into a greased and papered baking dish or cake tin and bake in a hot oven for 30 to 40 minutes till done.

CHICKEN FRY

1 kg chicken cut into medium size pieces
2 onions sliced finely
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon chilly powder
Salt to taste
½ teaspoon spice powder or garam masala powder
Wash the chicken and marinate it with the salt, chilly powder, tumeric powder and spice powder for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions to golden brown. Toss in the marinated chicken pieces and mix well. Close the pan with a lid and cook on slow heat for about 15 minutes till the chicken is cooked. Add a teaspoon of ghee or butter and fry till all the gravy dries up and the chicken is dry. Serve with bread or pepper water and rice.

PEPPER CHICKEN KABABS

Serves: 6
Time required: 1 hour 25 minutes including marinating and grilling time

500 grams boneless chicken cut into one-inch size cubes
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
3 tablespoons yogurt
1 egg beaten
1 teaspoon all spice powder/garam masala
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Wash the boneless chicken pieces well and pat dry.Marinate the chicken with the pepper powder, ginger garlic paste, yogurt, egg, all spice powder, salt and lemon juice and set aside for 1 hour.Arrange the chicken on a skewer and brush with butter.
Grill over a hot charcoal fire or in an over till done,occasionally turning the skewers. Serve hot with Onion Rings and mint chutney

Alternately the kababs could be cooked in a pan with a little more oil on the gas.

LADY FINGER / OKRA CURRY

Serves: 4
Cooking time (approx.): 11 minute

300 grams ladyfingers/ okra cut into small (1/4") pieces
2 medium onions sliced finely
3 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon each of red chillie, coriander and cumin powders
½ teaspoon each of turmeric powder and garam masala powder
2 green chillies slit
A squeeze of lemon
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions. Fry till slightly browned. Add red chillie powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Fry again for a few seconds. Add the okra and the slit green chillies. Add a dash of lemon and sprinkle salt to taste. Mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 5 minutes or till the okra is cooked but firm.

SWEET COCONUT PUFFS

Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients
For the Dough:
250 grams refined flour or maida
50 grams butter
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ kg oil for frying.
For the Filling: 3 cups grated coconut and 3 tablespoons sugar mixed together

Sift the flour with the salt and baking powder. Mix in the butter and knead to a fairly stiff dough with very little water. Keep aside for 1 hour.
Take the dough on a floured board and roll out into a thin sheet. Cut squares of about 2 to 3 inches per side. Put a tablespoon of the sweetened coconut on half of the square. Fold the other half over in such a way to form a triangle. Seal the edges by dampening with a little water. Heat the oil in a deep pan till smoky. Slowly drop in as many puffs as the pan can hold and fry till brown on both sides. Remove from the pan and drain.

Note: These puffs can last for a fortnight if dry coconut or copra is used instead of fresh coconut

MEAT IN A GREEN MASALA GRAVY

Serves 6
Preparation Time 45 minutes

½ kg beef or mutton cut into medium pieces
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
4 green chilies
3 tablespoons coriander leaves
2 teaspoons poppy seeds (kuskus)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves, 2 cardamom,2 pieces of cinnamon
½ teaspoon tumeric powder
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons oil
3 potatoes pealed washed and cut into quarters
2 onions sliced finely
½ cup coconut paste

Grind the green chilies, coriander leaves, coconut, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and cumin seeds to a smooth paste in a blender. Heat oil in a pressure cooker and fry the onions till golden brown. Add the meat, ginger garlic paste and tumeric powder and fry for some time. Now add the ground masala and salt and mix well with the meat. Keep frying on low heat till the oil separates from the masala. Add the potatoes and sufficient water and pressure cook for 15 minutes. Serve hot. This curry is good with ghee rice or Palau rice

SOME BASIC PREPARATIONS... MASALA POWDERS

1 BASIC CHILLY POWDER
½ kg Red Chilies (long or round variety for pungency)
½ kg Kashmiri Chilies or any other non spicy chillies (for adding colour)

Roast the two types of chilies in a pan or in a microwave oven for a few minutes. Powder them at home in the dry blender or get it done at the mill. A teaspoon or two of this chilly powder can be used for any type of dish that calls for chilly powder. It can be stored for more than a year.

2 ALL PURPOSE CURRY POWDER
½ kg Red Chillies for pungency
½ kg Kashmiri Chillies or any other chillies for colour
½ kg coriander seeds
200 grams cumin seeds
50 grams pepper corns
100 grams mustard seeds

Roast all the above ingredients separately then mix altogether and grind to a powder in a mill.A teaspoon or two of this powder can be used for almost all curries both vegetarian and non- vegetarian. It can be stored and used for more than a year.

3 PEPPER WATER POWDER
¼ kg Red Chilies
200 grams pepper corns
200 grams cumin seeds
100 grams coriander seeds
20 grams tumeric powder

Roast all the above ingredients and then grind together to a powder
2 teaspoons of this powder should be added to 2 cups of water, juice of 2 tomatoes, a lump of tamarind and a little salt and cooked for 5 minutes to make instant pepper water. This pepper water should be seasoned with mustard, garlic and curry leaves.

4. VINDALOO CURRY POWDER / PASTE

50 grams mustard
¼ kg red chilies for pungency
50 grams cumin seeds
¼ kg Kashmir chilies or any other chilies for colour
10 grams pepper corns
50 grams tumeric powder

Roast all the above ingredients together for a few minutes then powder in a mill or dry grind in a blender. Use 2 teaspoons of this powder for every ½ kg of meat when cooking vindaloo along with the other ingredients as per the recipe. If stored in an airtight bottle this mixture will stay fresh for more than a year. The same mixture can also be made into a paste if ground in vinegar but it should be stored in a fridge.

5 ALL SPICE POWDER (GARAM MASALA POWDER)
1 teaspoon pepper corns
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon cardamoms
6 pieces of cinnamon

Roast all the above lightly for a few minutes then dry grind to a fine powder. A teaspoon of this spice powder can be used for any recipe that calls for all spice powder or garam masala.

CHILLIE CHEESE STICKS

Ingredients

500 grams flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chillie powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
200 grams butter or margarine
200 grams shredded cheddar cheese
½ teaspoon pepper powder
½ cup sour curds or yogurt

Mix all the above ingredients together and chill for about 2 hours in a refrigerator. Take out and leave to attain room temperature. Onto a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle shape about ¼ inch thick. Cut the dough into 3 inch stips about ¼ inch wide.
Heat sufficient oil in a pan and deep fry the strips till golden.

Alternately, place these strips on an ungreased baking tray and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes until the cheese straws are golden and puff up.

ANGLO-INDIAN BEEF STEAKS

The word “Steak” is derived from an Old Norse word “steik” meaning "roast”. It is a continental dish, popular all over the world, served in restaurants and Steakhouses with or without various accompaniments such as Potatoes, Vegetables, etc. Steak is actually a slice of meat such as Beef or Lamb from the most tender cuts of the animal such as the short loin, sirloin and rib areas with names such as Porterhouse, T-bone, Rib-eye, etc. It is cut on a slant, perpendicular to the muscle fibres, so that it can cook fast. The steaks cut from these parts are quite tender and range in thickness between half to one inch and are cut in a size intended to be one serving per person. Steaks from the short loin, rib, and sirloin are best when grilled or broiled / pan-fried. Steaks can also cut from the chuck, round, plate, and flank. However these are a bit tough if not cooked properly. However they should be marinated for a few hours then cooked. Steaks are typically grilled, but they are also often pan-fried or broiled, using dry heat, and served whole.The meat should be a bright red, the fat should be a creamy white and there should be thin streaks of fat running through the meat. Grilling makes it usually dry where as cooking or broiling it in a pan would make it more juicy. The perfect steak needs the right flavors, and different steak cuts are prepared differently. The amount of time a steak is cooked is a personal preference. The shorter the cooking time, the more juice is retained. The longer the cooking time would result in drier, tougher meat. A vocabulary also evolved over a period of time, to describe the degree to which a steak is cooked such as Raw, Blue rare or Very Rare, Rare, Rare, Medium Rare Medium, and Well done. Steak was first introduced in India by the British as early as the 16th Century. As was the case of almost all of our cuisine, which started out as insipid concoctions, in the days of the British Raj, the original “Beef Steak” introduced by them was quite bland and tasteless. Over the years many more ingredients and spices were added to this dish to make it more spicy and delicious as it is today. It has become synonymous with Anglo-Indian Cuisine, as our famous Anglo-Indian Pepper Steak and Anglo-Indian Masala Steak,. These dishes are relished by all of us and I’m sharing the recipes for them below. So let your steaks sizzle the old fashioned way in a skillet or heavy fry pan. However, the steaks could be grilled if desired using the same ingredients. 

  ANGLO-INDAN PEPPER STEAKS Serves 6 Preparation Time 45 minutes 1kg Beef Undercut or Sirloin cut into steaks 1 teaspoon turmeric powder 3 or 4 teaspoons fresh pepper powder 3 tablespoons oil 2 big onions sliced finely 2 big tomatoes chopped 3 potatoes peeled Salt to taste Wash the meat well and marinate it with the pepper powder, salt and turmeric powder in a flat plate. Pour the oil on top and keep it over night in the refrigerator (or for at least 4 hours before cooking), Pressure cook for just 5 minutes or cook in a pan for about 15 minutes along with the potatoes. Add the onions and tomatoes and continue frying on low heat till the tomatoes turn pulpy and the steaks and the potatoes are a nice brown colour. Serve hot with boiled vegetables and bread. 

 

  ANGLO-INDIAN MASALA STEAK Serves 6 Preparation Time approx 1 hour Ingredients 1 kg boneless Mutton or Beef from the Round portion cut into steaks 2 medium size onions sliced 2 medium potatoes sliced 2 cups water Salt to taste 3 tbsp Oil 1 teaspoon ginger paste 1 teaspoon garlic paste 2 teaspoons coriander powder 1 teaspoons cumin powder ½ teaspoon tumeric powder 1 teaspoon pepper powder Heat the oil in a large, wide pan . Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes. Remove half the quantity of onions and keep aside. Add the meat and stir-fry for 10 minutes until the pieces turn brown. Reduce heat to medium and add all the other ingredients except the potatoes. Mix well. Add the water and simmer covered for 45 minutes. Add the potatoes and salt to taste. Stir and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked. Now add the pre fried onions and mix well into the Steak

CHOCOLATE RUM CAKE WITH FRESH CREAM TOPPING

Serves 6
Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients

250 Grams Plain Flour / Maida
250 grams soft brown sugar
3 Eggs Beaten
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sunflower oil or any other cooking oil
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 tablespoons Rum
200 grams fresh cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
10 walnut halves

Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into bowl. Mix in the brown sugar. Add the beaten eggs, rum, oil, a little milk, and vanilla essence and mix well to a smooth batter. Pour into a greased and papered cake tin and bake for 1 hour in a slow oven or until the case has risen well and brown on top. Set aside to cool then remove from the tin.

Beat the Cream, Icing sugar and the remaining milk until thick and creamy. Pile on top of the cake and smoothen with a spatula. Decorate with the walnut halves.

PORK CHOPS & MASH POTATOES

Serves 6
Preparation Time 1 hour

½ kg good pork chops
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 large onions sliced finely
2 or 3 green chilies sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon chilly powder
1 teaspoon spice powder or garam masala
1 teaspoon pepper powder
Salt to taste
2 Tablespoons tomato sauce / ketchup

Wash the chops and marinate them with the ginger garlic paste, pepper powder, spice powder, vinegar, chilly powder and salt for about one hour. Heat oil in a large pan and sauté the onions, and green chilies for a few minutes. Add the marinated chops and tomato sauce / ketchup and mix well. Simmer for a few minutes. Add sufficient water and cook till the chops are done and the gravy dries up. Garnish with onion rings.

MASH POTATOES
Preparation Time 45 minutes
Ingredients

6 large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoon pepper powder
salt to taste

Method
Wash the potatoes and cook till soft.Remove the skins and mash well. Add the butter, pepper and salt and mix well. Serve with toast and Pork Chops

EGGLESS TEA CAKE

Serves 6 Preparation time 1 hour
Ingredients

200 grams flour / maida
200 grams butter
1 tin condensed milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon soda bicarbonate / baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sieve flour, baking powder and soda bicarbonate together and keep aside. Mix butter and condensed milk together. Add vanilla essence. Slowly add the flour. Beat lightly till well mixed. Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes.

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.

TROTTERS SOUP

Serves 6 Preparation time 30 minutes
Ingredients

6 to 8 trotters (mutton or pork) each to be chopped into 2 pieces
2 or 3 green chilies (optional)
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon pepper powder
1 tomato chopped
1 large onion chopped

Wash the trotters well. Place all the above ingredients together with the trotters and about 6 glasses of water in a pressure cooker. Pressure cook for about 20 minutes or till the trotters are tender and the soup is thick. Serve hot. This is a very nourishing soup.

SPICY PORK SPARE RIBS

Serves 6 Preparation Time 45 minutes
Ingredients

1 kg Pork Spare Ribs
2 teaspoons Coriander Powder
1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons chillie Powder
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 onions finely chopped
2 tablespoons Tomato sauce

Marinate the Pork Spare Ribs with the coriander powder, cumin powder, chillie powder, vinegar, tomato sauce and salt for one hour. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions and chopped garlic till golden brown. Add the marinated Pork Spare Ribs and mix well. Add sufficient water and cook till tender. Serve with rice or Bread.

PRAWNS AND TOMATO CURRY

Serves 6
Preparation time 45 minutes

½ kg medium sized prawns cleaned, shelled and de-veined
2 big onions sliced finely
1 teaspoon pepper powder
2 teaspoons chilly powder
2 teaspoons garlic paste
Salt to taste
2 or 3 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 cup coconut paste or coconut milk
2 tomatoes chopped finely


Wash the pawns well and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic paste for some time. Add the chopped tomatoes chilly powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, salt and a little water and fry till the masala separates from the oil. Now add the prawns and mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes till the prawns are cooked and the gravy is thick. Serve with bread,chapattis or rice

This recipe is featured in my Cookery Book FLAVOURS OF THE PAST

FISH MOLEY

Serves 6 Preparation Time 45 minutes
Ingredients

1 kg good fleshy fish sliced thickly
3 big onions sliced finely
8 to 10 green chilies sliced lengthwise
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
1cup thick coconut milk
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
3 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste

Wash the fish well and rub all over with the turmeric powder. Lightly fry the fish. When slightly cool place in a shallow pan and add all the other ingredients to it. Shake the pan so that all the pieces of fish get covered well. Cook on medium heat till the gravy thickens.
Serve with rice and papads

STEAM ROLLER CHICKEN

The Steamroller Chicken is also another Colonial Dish, which got its name only because the pieces of chicken used in its preparation would be cut lengthwise and then flattened with a cleaver or Rolling Pin. The Chicken eventually looked as if it was flattened by a heavy object such as a “Steam Roller or Road Roller”.

Serves 6
Preparation Time 1 hour
Ingredients

2 chickens each jointed into 4 pieces so as to get a total of 8 pieces
4 teaspoons pepper powder
Salt to taste
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons oil
5 tablespoons lime juice or vinegar
3 tablespoons corn flour

Wash the chicken well. Beat each piece with a large knife or cleaver and then flatten with a rolling pin. Marinate the flattened chicken with the pepper powder, salt and lime juice / vinegar and keep aside for one hour.
Mix in the corn flour and one tablespoon butter. Heat a little oil in a nonstick pan and fry each chicken piece separately on medium heat till tender. When all the pieces are fried put them all back in the pan, add 2 tablespoons butter and sauté the chicken for about 5 minutes on low heat. Serve with rice or bread.
(Alternately the chicken can be baked in an oven using the same recipe)

SPICY CHICKEN WINGS

Serves: 6
Time required: 1 hour 45 minutes including marinating and frying time

10 pieces chicken wings
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste
2 tablespoons onion paste
2 teaspoons red chilly powder
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon all spice powder
Salt to taste
2 eggs beaten
3 tablespoons bread crumbs
3 tablespoons oil

1. Cut the wing tips and remove the thin bone. Pull the flesh to one end of the thick bone and wash well.

2. Marinate the chicken wings with the ginger garlic paste, red chilly powder, onion paste, vinegar, lemon juice, all spice powder, beaten egg, oil and salt and keep aside for 1 hour.

3. Coat each chicken wing with breadcrumbs.

4. Place the chicken wings in a greased baking tray and cook in a moderate oven till golden brown.

4 Serve with tomato sauce and Onion Rings

DAK BUNGALOW MEAT CURRY

The Dak Bungalow Curry was another famous dish during Colonial times. It was prepared with either meat or chicken and served with rice and vegetables or bread to the British Officers when they stayed at the various Dak Bungalows, while on official trips around the country. The recipe for preparing this dish varied with each cook at the Dak Bungalows depending on the availability of ingredients in a particular place during the war.

DAK BUNGALOW MEAT CURRY
Serves 6
Preparation Time 45 minutes

½ kg mutton or beef cut into medium size pieces
1 teaspoon spice powder or garam masala powder
3 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 teaspoon chilly powder
3 onions sliced
salt to taste
3 green chillies
½ teaspoon tumeric powder
½ teaspoon pepper powder
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
½ cup milk or curds (optional)

Wash the meat well. Add all the ingredients mentioned above to it and marinate for about 1 hour in a suitable pan. Place the pan on medium heat and cook closed for about 5 to 6 minutes. Lower the heat, add enough water and then simmer for about 40 to 45 minutes till the meat is cooked and the gravy is thick.
Serve with steamed white rice or Bread

This recipe is featured in my Cookery Book FLAVOURS OF THE PAST