Indian food is a tapestry into which the history of it’s people are woven because food, after all, tells so much more than any other artform. It tells of a genial fusion of both east and west, quietly and subtly and without forgetting the strong sense of tradition, it also tells of it’s tolerance of foreign cultures. Unlike so many other cultures of the world that allowed foreign influence to take over their existing cultures, the Indian people used the knowledge gleaned from the foreigners to their advantage and simply enriched their own culture. The India we know today is the sum total of invasions, occupations and traditions all interwoven

and re-woven into a magnificently complex and glorious contribution to the world of culinary arts. Whilst India has existed for much longer than human records, the records start only around 3300 BC when the era known as the Indus Valley Civilization was being formed. After that there were many periods, all of which influenced the culinary tradition of India and all partly responsible for the fact that India, quite probably, has the most sophisticated and complex cuisine on earth. There are no people that understand how to use spices quite like the people of India, nor is there any nation that can turn something as mundane as a dried pea into a feast. It is for this reason that it is only the scent that we can offer today – the rest will follow here weekly and you will become inspired to learn and discover for yourself. Homo erectus lived in India as long as 500,000 years ago but anatomically modern humans started living there around 75,000 years ago, originally coming from Africa, as we all know by now. The first inhabitants of India started to live in villages during the Indus Valley Civilization around 3,300 BC but it’s doubtful that their cooking styles would have any significant influence on Indian food as we know it today. Out of that civilization the Harappans were born and were already living in brick cities with effective, road-side drainage systems and multi-storied houses by the time that most other nations were only beginning to master the basics of building – the Harappans were civilized around the same time as the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians.

Above the Mehrgarh ruins dating back to 7,000 BC – illustrating the beginning of the early villages.

The Vedic period: important here are the texts of the Vedas which are sacred to the Hindus – they were still eating meat, vegetables and fruit, a variety of grains, milk and dairy products as well as honey and this formed the basis of a healthy diet. Sesame seeds and aubergines were cultivated, forest berries and venison were plentiful and a species of humped cattle had already been domesticated by this time. Mustard seeds, turmeric, cardamom and black pepper were used as spices to flavour food and even, in some cases, as medicine.

The Mahajanapadas Kingdoms: Tirthankara and  Gautama Buddha received enlightenment  in around 500 – 600 BC and Jainism and Buddhism became the two most important religions. Both required that vegetarianism, prohibition of animal slaughter and non violence become the norm and this meant that the cuisine changed to a largely vegetarian one and a food classification system categorised all ingredients as either saatvic, raajsic or taamsic. Each was deemed to have a powerful effect on the body and the mind supplemented by the sophisticated use of spices. Ayurveda was born. Ironically it was in this period that the caste system, a cruel and extraordinarily ‘violent’ practice (especially towards the souls of the people that suffered and still suffer from being in a lower caste) was developed and, sadly, it played an enormous role in the culinary tradition of India. Like or not, each time we lose ourselves in the tastes of India, we taste along with the history, the faith and the culture also the caste system.

SUBZI DALCHA

Vegetable and Yellow Split Pea Curry

Ingredients

• 250 ml yellow split peas
• 1 very large waxy potato, peeled and cut into 1 cm cubes (potatoes become brown if you don’t keep them in cold water before use, so submerge them)
• 500 g shredded green cabbage
• 250 g green beans, topped and tailed and cut in half
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick rounds
• 6 – 8 fresh green Serrano chillies
• 6 medium fresh garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ¼ tsp ground asafoetida
• 2 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp toasted chickpea flour*
• 200 ml fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 – 3 tbsp butter or ghee

Method

• Put the split peas in a large bowl and fill the it half way with water and rinse the peas thoroughly, removing any stones and grit and drain – carry on rinsing draining until the water isn’t cloudy anymore.
• Put the rinsed peas in a large pot, cover with a litre of water and bring to boil over moderate heat, skimming off and discarding any foam.
• Drain the potatoes and  add the cubes to the split peas and add, the cabbage, the beans and the carrots – cover the pot and cook until the cabbage wilts – it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
• Lower the heat, cover the pot and simmer until the vegetables are fork tender and the split peas are soft but still look firm – another 10 – 15 minutes.
• While the vegetables are cooking, heat the butter or ghee in a wok or skillet and add the cumin seeds until they sizzle and become a reddish brown colour and smell fragrant (this will take seconds only).
• Now stir in the asafoetida, the chillies and the garlic and stir fry until just before the garlic becomes brown and the chillies emit a pungent aroma.
• As soon as the vegetables are cooked, stir in the butter (or ghee) with the garlic and the chillies and a ladleful of cooking water – add to the wok and swish it around to get every last bit of spice, putting this in the pot.
• Stir in the chickpea flour, fresh coriander and grated ginger and raise the heat to medium high to simmer the curry, uncovered until the sauce thickens – about 5 minutes.
• Notes: you can use any vegetables in season and be generous with the chillies – chick pea flour will remove the heat from the curry.
• *If you don’t have chickpea flour – use 1 tbsp Maizena (cornstarch) to 2 tbsp water.

If we have to find a base, then, upon which to weave our tapestry of  Indian food, we’ll probably need to start with two things – firstly the use of spices because nowhere else in the world are spices so creatively and magnificently utilized and secondly, with the Hindu philosophy because, even though many foreign cultures influenced Indian cooking along the way, it is, essentially the principles of Hinduism that pervades – even though Hinduism is fluid – and different forms are practiced in different regions.

• The Indo-Greek period brought about by Alexander the Great in 326 BCE sees the Greeks influence the food of India in no small measure and we all know how sophisticated the Greek chefs were – after all, they were the ones that taught the Romans.

This was followed by a few busy periods and cultures and kingdoms invaded and were conquered, each time leaving the stamp of the chefs in the kitchens that were left behind, the food ever at peace, ever growing and ever improving.  Finally the Romans discovered India and it’s riches, more particularly the spices and they were elated – with the aid of the Greek chefs and the Indian spices, they were now set to take on the world in style.

• The Indian Hindu Renaissance and the Classical era, though terribly busy on the political front, didn’t cause any sweeping changes to the menus – the food only improved but it was much of a muchness and it was only when the Arabs and the Mongolians swept in that things changed – and dramatically so. Meat was on the menu again – there was no way that Ghengis Khan’s hordes would accept a vegetarian diet (even though he was one) and nor, for that matter, the sultans who were rather partial to spot of lamb.

BIRYANI BADSHAHI

Ingredients

• 500 g shoulder of mutton
• 250 gms rice – use ordinary long grained parboiled rice here
• 10 almonds, blanched and peeled
• 1 tblsp fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
• 250 ml melted butter or ghee
• 4  tbsp fresh lemon Juice
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves
• ½  tblsp cumin seed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 3 black cardamoms – look for fat ones
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil  – don’t use canola oil, it has been proven to extremely unhealthy so use anything else
• 4 whole fat fresh garlic pods, finely sliced
• 3 cloves
• 3 allspice
• 2 tbsp fresh, grated ginger
• ½ tbsp saffron strands
• 1 tbsp fresh green chillies, chopped
• ½ tbsp ground red chilli
• ½ tbsp cinnamon
• Sea salt to taste
• 500 g  curd (aka dahi)
• 125 ml coconut milk
• 700 ml water

Method

• Fry the onions until they  golden brown and set them aside.
• Soak the saffron in water and set aside.
• Place the curd into a piece of muslin cloth and allow the water to drain away.
• Fry the ginger, the ground red chillies, the garlic and the almonds and add this mixture to the mutton with salt to taste and stir-fry for 5 about minutes, add the water and cook over low heat until the mutton is tender and the liquid has reduced to about 250 ml.
• In a separate pot, boil the rice with the cloves, the cardamom and the cumin seeds and once it is just al dente, add the fresh chopped mint, the chopped green chillies, the fresh coriander and the drained curd as well as the saffron plus water and the lemon juice and add all of this to mutton.
• In a well greased oven dish, place half of the boiled rice over the mutton and then spread a layer of fried onion mixture and then another layer of rice.
• Cover with coconut milk and dot generously with butter and cover the dish well, sealing the edges with flour paste, if necessary.
• Bake on a 180 – 190 C oven for an hour and serve hot.

It was the traders, both the Arabs and the Portuguese, who introduced the New World vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes and chillies that are, today, staple foods in India and it was only under Islamic rule that the famous rich gravies came into being. The Muslims were largely responsible for the Mughlai cuisine and it was thanks to them that India now knows and loves plums, apricots and melons – peaches, however, originated in China. The Mughals became great patrons of cooking and generously saw to their own people – often when the poor were starving, they would prepare huge cauldrons of food for them – the famous Indian Biryani is actually of Islamic origin and it was the Arabs that taught the Indians how to make it. The Portuguese and British also introduced the cooking techniques like baking and if it wasn’t for the Portuguese, Indian food would not be making use of tomatoes to the extent that they do. The British influenced the cuisine of India by taking their own cuisine and adapting it and when they left, they took the Indian recipes home with them and curry became a national addiction too.

INDIAN BUTTER CHICKEN RECIPE

This recipe is unthinkable without tomatoes and without the Portuguese traders and the Indian tolerance for new ingredients and foreign influences the world would have been poorer – life without butter chicken is surely unthinkable!

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken breasts or thighs, skinless and de-boned*
• 400 g tin tomatoes, chopped
• 150ml natural yogurt
• 50g ground almonds
• 2 tsp ground red chillies
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3 dried cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 tbsp fresh grated  ginger
• 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed into a puree
• Sea salt to taswte
• 75g butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
• 4 tbsp fresh whipping cream

Method

• Take all the dried spices and grind them finely in a coffee grinder.
• Put  the yogurt, the ground almonds, the ginger, the garlic, the ground dried spices, the tomatoes and about 2 tsp of salt in a sizeable mixing bowl and blend together thoroughly before adding the chicken and pouring over the yogurt mixture and set aside for about 30 minutes.
• Melt the butter and the oil in a wok and then add the onions and fry until translucent and then add the chicken, sauce and all and simmer this for another 20 minutes until the chicken is tender.
• Stir in about half of the coriander and immediately thereafter the cream, combining it well with all the ingredients and bring to the simmer.
• As soon as it is cooked and soft (which it should be by now) garnish it with the rest of the chopped coriander to serve.
• *De-boned and skinned chicken thighs cook more quickly and tend to be more succulent because the meat is brown – should you prefer white meat, use the breast.