Floyd's India

S c a nned&Conv er t edt oPDFbyF F Cc ot t a ge

Map of India 6

The Recipes 50

Introduction 7

Madame Masala 54

Letter from India 10

Thali 76

Rice 64

Kerala &Cochin 12

Chicken 86

Goa 22

Tandoori 100

Madras 26

Fish 112

Bombay 34

Meat 132

Rajasthan 38

Vegetables 150

Calcutta and West Bengal 44

Chutneys, Pickles and

The Punjab 48

Relishes 172 Sweets and Drinks 182 Index 190

•Madras Chennal

K ERALA Codlin•

ski LANKA

Inchon Ocean

ntrod uction 11 7

once upon a. time a 14-year-old boy caught a perch in a lake near Bishop's Lydcard in Somerset. It was late summer. eady 71Illmn. There were blackberries in the hedgerows and

r

Iteechnms underfoot. In his tackle hag

Site,:

the young angler had a loaf of stale

„bread from the (Softie. Hill bakery in Wivcliscombe. This he soaked in _ ter to make small pellers of bread paste for bait. He had cycled 12 in before dawn ro be at the lake. sunrise. By noon his keep no tontained six perch, one coin.. carp and TWO small tench. Contented. he opened the.addle hag on his bicyle to take out the dwiches that his father had pmpared. The thermos /Ink of soiree was ere with a mist of blue sup, paper with sugar inside, hut not the dwichcs. He had forgot ten the picnic. bur he did have a packet of ()Nelson filncr-tipped cigarette and a box of Swan marches. With his sheath knife he scaled. de-finned and gutted a couple of perch. c cur some twigs from a tree and made thing, that later in life he vexed were kebab sticks. He picked blackberries and shelled beechnuts stuffed them into the soaked stale bread. then he formed the bread into cries and toasrol them over a fire of pine nines. He speared the fish on twigs and vt cross-legzed 2, he held them over the fire until they were cooked. With his hands. he ate the scorched fruit-and-nut-stulTed bread

•

patties and succulent morsels of barbecued perch. A hundred years later, by the mast bizarre route. that boy became a restaurateur and what is obscenely called, nor only obscenely bur totally without justification. a relev ■ sion celebrity chef. Over Ill or 1

7 years he

travelled the world. eating, cooking and learning matching the legs being

ripped off live Frogs in a

Singapore marker,

drinking the Mood and the sdB-

pulsaring heart of a cobra in Viernarn, cooking salmon fishakes wrapped in pig's caul in Northern Irefirtid. staring car the Southern Cross in the top end of Australia, eating ribs orbse{ and /icing in fear of being bitten

by

king brown lone of The worid's most pnisonous snakes - Australia has eight our of ten of the most poisonous ones). He cooked pasta in Bologna. couscous in Morocco. moussaka in Creme. iantbalaya in New Orleans, paella in Spain. bouillabaisse in France. dumplings in Prague, goulash in Budapest, puffins in the Arctic Circle. hem no the Russian border, carp in Czechoslavakia hog's pudding and lava bread in Wales. salmon and haggis on the banks of the river Tay. Nib perch stuffed with raisins and nom in Luxor. and Freshwater crayfish rooked in beer in Sweden nn a mad midsummer nighr. He prepared tomyang kum in Bangkok and beef rendang in Kotabura in Malaysia, sowed wildebeest in a

paiki pm in

Zambia. cooked cakes and schnitzels in Vienna. cooked pig's trotters Icruboans) and bacon and cabbage in Cork city, and the rest and more. Weary of airpons and hotel lobbitn. taxis and studios, absurd locations and television directors. producers and hook editors who know absol u rely bog all about the subject (except Mar it is poptslar)lnoruc novtgl Eekl, this boy - who is now a man but still remembers being 14 anti remembers the words of Confucius, 'Give a man a fish and he will live for a day, teach a man so Pub and he will hoe f aver'-his had enough. He decides to move to the Mediterranean, where the olive, the kmnn, the tomato, the aubergine and the wine are the lc-web in the glittering culinary crown. Then, one fine day. he gets a fax. 'Go and do a series on India', it says don's know anything about India'. he replies. 'I )on't worry', they say.

'We wvll send

you all the inforrnarion. All you have ro do is pop on to a

plane and get cooking.' And SO they Jid.'Hte facts as presented . me by Nick Parcen, my director. and my esteemed researcher, Rol Ran, I have incorporated into ray letter from India thar scans on page I 2..

Letter from India Kerala...sketches from coconut country The big orange sun is rising slowly, llfominaring she hazy morning,. the plane begins seri. of long. slow, gentle so.nops downwards no Cochin airport in rite soothen, Indian or of Kerala. Endless coconut plauratis,hirarner grey-silver. slam and green. don 5 411 washes throng], whisps of cloud old beams on endless meandering waterways, eke rnately gold and sits., stretching faraway. On the dopes there are ▪

and tea plantations_ Whitewashed comonia] Portuguese or Dosch churches ore

scattered In clearing,. Neat villas and verandahed larmitouses pop up in shafts of bright sunlight. Cows, bullocks and goats wander across *mina dried-up deltas char criss-cross rho verdant landscape. The swissIng waterways and lagoons giro way to huge wide rivers and antics. erg runing ships glide lazily along, while alIntanner of brightly coloured femmes. fishing boats and traditional craft. lanteen-rigged. double e nded. high prows and sterns sweeping up like a cobra poised ro strike, sail serenely. outrageously overladen with mountains of hay or sculpted pyramids of coconuts, procarhousiy but precisely stacked. edging steadily into harbour. Al the plane sweeps low over the water for its final approach, I can sec loIncloth. clad. sinewy men throwing big circular nets from the tiny narrow canoes under the long concrete bridge that the spans Tho ynoiolord and Willingdon Nand- The bridge is mooting...Oh pedcwiaus, mimetic- coloured tuittsks and brightly painc,d, oven lade.. 'scud, OM high with hessian sacks of rice and pepper, cucohots or bananas.

On top of their cargo. their harks to the oncoming traffic, sir the workers. huddled against the morning smog and dust, thcir mouths wrapped in bright bandannas_ Even at this early hour. the air A hot and slightly choking as we walk across the rarnmc of the neat yellow airport. The runways are fringed with coconut palms and, although quire new, the airport buildings boo the quaint. unburned an of a genteel colonial outpost. You present papers. rickets, passport and boarding cards several diner ro offibats. soldiers and policemen. They are polite, insisrant and bewildering. Behind the harder in she baggage hall hard routs, porters, relatives. more !oldie.. .xi drives, noes, hippies and bawls joule. In the confusion I am on by two. hut rival. chauffeurs, each sent by a different company ro pick op Tess. my wife. and me and our I? pieces of luggage. A polite man in a safari shin and pressed chinos, carrying a clipboani and briefcase...ides the dispute.' Mink! But do I pay in too? One driver will take Tess and me. and the other our luggage. but nor before our nulleys have bean hijacked by about six itinerant ponces. Lesson once mnybundles of small dcnomination notes or hold 011M your luggagc like hell and, more importandy. make sum the man who 1.1)1 he is hereto escort you is genuine: They all want so take you somewhere, so don's arrive drunk or you may end up anywhere! The acne! view I had enjoyed as we came into land appears. Bur soon we are beaming along the centre left or risks of the road. charging at oncoming window. less, garish buses hkr a wounded buffalo or swerving past on Mc inside of furne.belching trucks and weaving craaily between the screams of tuktuks. scooters and motorbikes. wildly and narrowly missing the oxen. buffaloes. cows a nd goats (goats, aka mutton. non Iamb, on menus/. Hugc clephants. carrying their breakfast under their trunks - they <mahout 300 kilograms of fodder pet day - pad morosely towards their daily toil And all don whdc our driver. Johnny P.J. on I name to know him in Mc course of

our visit), has his hand Brrnly pruned on his fm one horn. HOE up a fag. my first for hours.shur my ere!. and hope for she hest. The tossing, turning, jolting. stornads-churning jeep slows down. After nearly an hour of relatively rapid progress, we arc entering the morning rush in Cochin. Tha din. mayhem and confusion is inkmal. yet strangely peaceful. Thera is a gentle feeling. Brightly clad women and neatly uniformed school kids wilt steadily along In dusty streets. The stalls and shops no sleepily opening. Mud forecourts no being swaps wish short-handled stick brush.. Vic traffic is, in ram, not aggressive, it is rust the noise from their horns, not the drivers themselves. It seems to be a cam offer live. In die, bur withum nmlice of any kind. I ask Johnny P.I. if he knows somewhere good where we can stop for breakfast. He shakes his head sideways, and a kw moments later pulls up in Irons of a singlestore building on the cornet of a very enawckd 1VIty are we mopping?' I ask. 'You said bteakfass:

lrOe nom wad

13

'Hass. you said No. Imply. He shakes his head sideways again. I am beginning 10 undermand. He opens the door 21114 we duck inns the low doorway of the Hotel Unikrishna. Abovr faded reel formica tables on spindly and reecenr metal leggs rbree-winged fans spin lazily from srretched wires astir the fetid 24, while chaltering loinclorhed men 'gear. righwbandedly caring their breakfam. Wairers, buret-nos or in sandals, carry meaning tin plates_ In a cerner behind a ramshackle barrivcar (teal boys juggle wish iong-spouted tin teapots, a huge um of boiling milk and a cauldron of boiling water, pouring both milk and to from a great height simultanommly into glasses and fin mugs with the panache of a Nov York city cocksaii barman. I ha, not been able sr take curried eggs seriously as a dish bccause ceche- Goon Show catch phrases No muse curried eggs lee me', bur hard-boiled eggs masaLa — with a curry 77114e — served with uppanto (a cake of sicamed scowl -ma muffed with curry lama, runmard seeds and chillies) and coconut and coriander chutney Cue page 1741 is a terrific way ca wars the day. l In fact. / was so ta ken with spicy vegetarian Indian hreakfasss char I did not cat a Europerwsisie breakfast For she entire- eiso and a balfmonrhs of my visic) There are other good dishes too, such as idli, a-steamed rice- sponge cake served wish vegerable mauls, chickpeas. lenrils and potatoes in a rich onion and sommr-based grasp. appam. a rice flour pancake with spicy potatoes simmered in inns milk mid chilli= and idapparn, thin rice paadics garnished with grated fiesh commis, sensed wish black bean mauls. These and many. many other dishes are available for an average cost of a few pennies. I drink fresh lime juice wish coda and wilt (if you like weer drinlo, shin honey can subsrinned Fox Mesabi The tea, nude among and with hot hailed milk, is too rich

Id

L41141 limn Ionia

for mt. There area dozen cooks in the lean•ro shack Mat is the kitchen. It is fiercely hot and gloomy. with lust a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Before a long low stone. - I....ugh which blazes a fire fuelled by wood • Loconut husks. the cooks squat. swanning • huge brass or aluminium pots, sliming contents.111cy wear only a small piece of grubby sheet tied around Their waist. In another corner a boy sits Lion-legged. peeling and chopping a mountain of tiny. rangy red shallots. On makeshift griddles over wood lives. cooks are rolling out pancakes..111tirons bubble and gurgle. and steam 1. 1.1 chokingly into the ceiling with the acrid tame of eye-watering wood smoke The tin plates, once empty. are rinsed under a cold waxer rap mourned on the wall above an open drain- A yeri.ble black culinary hob of Cochin and not a place for the weak-stomached or the faint.hearted. After breakfasr we visit the banana market and the produce market. which is dins, flyinfested and stinking like the fetid, polluted river Styx. yet peopled by brightly dressed, cheerful shoppers who stare curiously. uncomprehendingly or no as I do she dim, tor's bidding. For rumple. buying a bunch of curry leaves four times from the same stalk holder, who has clearly not been on relevision course — much to the frustntion of ;Dick, the diregior — and, instead of -obediently serving rue in this absind way (with no °planation as to why). keeps looking at the camera.; cardinal sin in a director's cy.! Just as rho stallholder has recovered from this bizarre intrusion into his daily business. Kim, our stills photographer. manifests himself from behind the bewildered C(01.1 of onlookers and mks bins to repeat the proms. 'Please. jmt for me, if you don't mmel.Thank you: lie clicks the rho itcr. The man relaxes.

teller 100. , 51. 15

'b., one more, please, No, please doort look ar dine:mem Fur look ar Mr. Floyd.' I can sense hint Thinking, 'Who

A Mr. Floyd'.

'Thanks, lovely. Ern just going to change the 1[719: 1 can hear roc man thirkluss 'Change the lens. For a bunch of curry leaves! Why 'Terrific, thank you. Now It but do a wide angle. No. don't look at the camera. Jost explain to Mr. Floyd the joy of unk.: (aside ro me, -,,Vhar are chose things?) 'Corry leave,' 'Oh, yes, ran,/ leaves: 'Thank you' Through./ the hot, hazy afternoon we cramp round ro tilt pepper orchange, take tokruk rides and shoot emotive pieruros oEshis bugling nit, As the sun !nil ns so sink even Big Mike, the camerman. is wilting under the weight of his camera and the oppressive heat. Gratefully. we clamber in co our vehicles and head, albeit slowly, through dense cacophonous mai' rn and the screaming pedestrians back ro rho Iranlliry of our hoick a bath, change of clothes, a sriffdrink and di nue, We hake ban unveiling and working since 3.001m. and by 9.04m everyone in the crew has gone to bed. Tomorrow we scan at 4.00ain. From the balcony of our room, I. overlook the outlerolihe Vembanad Lake,which flows inro rho Arabian Sea. Across the sound, the lighthouse flashes its pale light, occasTonally illuminating a ghouly container ship slipping out on the. night tide rn the Middle Ent. Africa and beyond. The rooks char charrered so hosehly io the redflowered Mayflower trees as asleep and odes. and a SWIldry guard in a neatly pressed uniform is !caning against a tree having a smoke as he stares 9,055 the black water , 1 Enish my drink and climb happily ink, a cool. Rene bed_ Si warred along I'ndia'n south wesmoast, Kerala 'o a lush, green cur:pie-al paradise. From the fabled Malabar Spice Com, it stretches east to the mountain peaks of she Western Ghats. Kerala is 603 kilonserres Inng hut only 75 kilometres wide a, its broadest point. The interior is riddled

inland waterway, known as the backwaters,

CRIcr.ding )Torn the coast far inland and, as is Venice, these act as roads. Houses and

schools are built on the banks and people navel by hoar and buraring wares buses. ThRC RT.-. arc fill ofeocontet paten and paddy 6elds — rice is Krrald'snvin grain and

eatenevery at meal. indeed, Kerala means 'Land of duCo Coconuts'.and coconut is a common flaroming iu the local food. Anosher widespread rror is the curry leaf tree whose sweet and spicy leaves give she local dishes a disrinenve aromatic flavour. The

lm-al 11as-flutings of totemic and spices are combi ned with incr. fish and vegetables in &she, such as prawn ularchiyarhu (prawns in comma, milk). beef ularthiyadm la dry beef curry), or vegetable stew (called mall, rraditionally garnished with quickly fried fresh curry leaves 4see pages 114. 134 and 1551. The cosurasr benkeen rhe liSSIC commanitiesand. villages clustered along the watet's edge, or in clnrodcomponods under the coconut palms. =Id cashew trees, and ducky

14

lager Irani lead®

la strikingly vivid.The shallow waterways arecovered in lilies and.. you glide pasi the link seLdernents with their nen gardens of vegnabks and the black pigs, chickens, dusk., and goais munching in the undergrowth, kid, are playing cricket with hony made ban add booboo stia: Women. waist-deep in ware, beat and rinse the washing. Met throw nets loom narrow canoed. Huge. brilliant kingfishers swoop like M irage iust above the tranquil water and nilgiri birds- known. the-laughing thrush - ecmch hysredcally in the rich, Tangled bamboo. School children. immaculate in blue shoos or skirts. white shirts and Nue ries. clamber on to the little-ferries that cross the river to take them home from school. While nice and coconuts an the main crops. on An higher mound grow the more valuable coif= tca, cocoa. rubber, pepper and cardamom. Kerala is the 'Immo( many spices and these have liSracked merchan t from all oacr thc oodd. Ir is t h e nahlral habit. of black peppo and cardamum and singe , and osmotic are oho grow, India poaddm one third of the world's pepper vld mud] of it corn. Fern Kerala. Before

India in the 16th century, the Indians only had pepper m hat up their dithes. There is a interesting wholesale spice market in Cochin and the city alsc has the distinction of having die fast church built by Europeans in India, St Francis Church. which was starred in 1503. Tropicd (nits are also abundant in Kerala, in particular pineapples and bananas. including rho rare redskinned variety that is supposed to be good for your hnIth. All An while. nlinost in a drum. I am siting on the shaded deck of a highly polished and varnished den barge, sipping a cool beer under a lazy Fan. waiting for my laical a-cabbage and mustard seeds cooked in coconut milk, beetroot with chillns, fresh misonut bread and chicken. This long, elegant ctafr once transported rice and fruits, nuts, bananas. hay or building materials The length and breadth of the area. In former times the hulls were fastened with coconut twine Not a river or a the Porru,nese in tEoduced chillies into

tarter from Ind. 17

tnr,ai fmteomg was used and, on the open strockes. a s]rtgle. hug. pregnant rail drew them gracefully along.Today,we drift gently along with a 25 hp outboard motor fixed on the side, and where once she rice was stored, Lk., a, now quaint, charming. wooden bedrooms and a plant potted in a brags urn This is pQradiu_ Or, tarher, it would be LIE did not have re do pieces to camera and pose, cherrfully, thoughtfully, happily or excitedly as I deliver what are supposed tn be words rich in informachnn, with wit and anshudasm, and describe my food wirhout speaking with my mourh fidl.orhavinga (..e OK, Ws one hell of a job. But, as they say,sorneene has to do it. Lourni ng suddenly round the hood is a h ugc floating Ivy rick 6 or 7 metres high, amazingly piled on co a narrow-beamed. I 2-meat shoe boar.Thchay overhangs the bulwarks either side. It has been loaded on ro the boat with incredible precision and it passes us With*. thr sl ighnesr wobble nr oven the r01101057 Chance that it could topple over. One man is sitting smoking an the long-necked prow, another sits in the a rent. his feet trailing in the water es he steers dm tiny outboard anginc than prorls Ihcamel.

IR Less, from mere

Apart CM. some hi eds laughing in she jungle and the lap of the water rushing under du hull, all is peaceful, Bugger she director. F think have a fag and 2 _slurp. The deck hand placcs a bottle of lndiao whisky, a bottle of mineral water and a bucker flare on the mahogany table. The sun is going down fast over the Chinese fishing nets, their cadaver.us cantilever limbs Loom in a sinister way like huge praying mantises in the Fur-falling dusk_ The coastline is cloned 'vial these vast fishing nett that seem introduced ro the acea by mei-chains in the time of Kuhlai Khan. Consisting of five teak gobbs siting up TO 30 Illettng in the air, they scoop up fish as they swim by at high tide. The nets arc considered so valuable than brides' families even offer them as dowsic, in marriage. Fish b the spegialivy here and mak. up a Inge parr of the Kerr]. dint- Munambarn Harbote is theism:anion °rancor the manylc..I fish aucrio. Fishing boors that left in the middle of the night mann in the late afternoon...she sun cane its golden evening hue over the Arabi. Sea_ Bost, crowd the docks, five or six deep. and as soon as the day's such hiss the I.d the auction scans. The noise is terrific 25 buyers shunt onh prices and fishermen haggle over thc value ofrhe catch. The nearby prawn factory has no mechanisation at all. About 160 women squat on the ground, peeling prawns 2t I ightsming sized and caning them into differenr sixes. They are paid 1,v:right-so they wield their sharp kniveswirh superb precision and can peel up TO (k. prawns a minute. Sono the idyll is over and it is rime ro stair the nab for which 1 have travelled to India to learn to .cook Indian food. At 9.00am. non days Lacer, I present myself 10 the .ocadve thefof F. luxury Tai Malabar horn] on AXIL i ngdon Island. M.A, Rasheed (where 1 am, of emirs,. staying in unbridled huniry with Tees and the rest of the gang), put on my apron and begin to Learn about I-nasal. Talk about walking GYM hot coals. more like walking ewer hoc chillies! ••,s

•.

••

Fong, r■ ., brain

.9

and 11 e.1, la a My learn a ma.11,0 ne enu.se na,

Cochin

20 Lotter -from India

Goa From Kerala we went nth — to (Spa. There we had a lot of fun on our brief visit. We stayed at the Tat Fort Ague& beach coon where we were given a fabulous bungalow which dud been butt. along with several others. specificity for Malting hinds of state fora Commonwealth conferencemmeyean previously. I was quite fielded to be given the bungalow that Mrs Thatcher had stayed in. This was the second Lime our virtual paths had crown'. The last time was in the bodero (.114n) of Gonzales Byas in Jerez, Spain where 1 was invited to sign a barrel in the hall of fame adjacent 10 a barrel signed by Mn T. Piene note this is not a sign of my political leaning, in any sense of the word. but I think it is about rime she came back as the President of Great Britain. Goa is a tropical idyll with superb sandy bashes, which have made it a favourite winter sun destination. Galva Beach. 21. kilometres of pure white sands, is one of south Asia's most spectacular beaches. The beaches are, however. only pan of the picture. Inland is a lush patchwork of paddy fields and cocornm cashew and Aiwa plthlarions. Further east are the jungle-covered hills of the Western Ghats and the drier Deccan Plateau. The Dinihsagar waterfall on the CoMKamataka horde, is the second highest watmfall in India —WO messes from top to bottom. The tiny stare of Goa feels quite sliffermu from the rest of India. due to the fact that for ai I years. whik the rest of India was under Mogul and British rule. Goa was a Portuguese stronghold. The 'mate nce of the Portuguese occupation is plain to see through the charming brightly painted villas and farmhouses in the merry towns and villages. It is this southern European influence that is said to account for du difimence in the primal attitude of its people and the food that they mt. Whereem you go. you can find mares of Pornagomc domination_ The food bknds a Latin love of (Mat and

nee., teareee

fish with India's predilection for spices. on add vinegar to many dishes, giving them a very distinctive Favour. Alcohol is also prevalent — more than 6,000 bars amund the scale are licensed m serve sdeohol, including the Local brew. reel. a rocker fuel spirit d isi Med from coconut sap or cashew frisk. Away from the coast arc tree ruins of Ehe Portuguese capital Old Goa. a sprawl of Catholi: . ■ hedrals, conven, and rharchcs ihar drAWS Christian pilgrims from all over India. Soaring above Sheranopy o F palm poets, the colossal. cream cathedral /oe, w belfaie and dome: welco me yuu ont ofrhe +11,91 groups,,! Renaissance arc hitecture in the wood_ Further

inland, The rhi.ckly wooded non ruyside around

Panda harbours Itualerou3 temples_ SO,: Lave. Away, been one of the area: principal exports, even berme the Porthgneseartived. and there are :even) large :picr plantations around Fonda 'hat can he visited. .Festivals celebrated in Goa include Id-ul-Fin. in JanuaryfFebrualy, a Muslim fean to celebrate the end of Ramadan: the carnival in February/Much. which 'is three days of FenAnduced mayhem. and Shigrno. held in FehmarylMarch. This is Cioa's version of the Hindi holy fesUval held over thcfull moon period to mark thennsr

nF

spring. It includes procession', of floats. music and dancing. ma well as the usual throwing of paint bombs.

Lour hum l ■-■-d.a

23

In Goa is is quite Fenny It, sec Thar the pony-wiled. bandanna-wearing Bower children of rho sixth, are now in their sikries and still haying a bail, although the pony tails have turned grey. or indeed rvhire, h siras boor that we inn a couple or cxrellent occenrrLus. Derck and Beryl— heft refired srockb roker of die old school. and 13cry I who was just lovely, kind, cheerful and rorally passionate about India and the Indians. They spent six mondis of every year travelling throughout India. Matsu they were such long.sranding suss. of the hard. they were accorded all kinds of privileges. one of which was an outrageously delicious mango chutney sent down from MunrhaL specifierdly for their toe. Sri, every nighr we would meet for evening [En —I don't cam what you think tiffin is, ask, as l am concerned ifs a lugs Bombay Sapphi N gin with is and flesh limn — and dove.. a pile of freshly mark poppadoms coveted in the best chutney I have ever Lasted. Oh. and by the way, talking about food. I recommend ro you two great Goan diahos. the Goan lobster curry (see page 12.91 and t h e beef or chicken vindaloo (sec page 139. a dish that bears no relationship m the ones rhar we all used to eat with a belly full of beer on Saturday nights many years ago.

Madras (now known as Chennai) Barg n, the sixties in England. office dross code was Iclaxed on Sara rdav5 and you ■ ,u I d do your morning's work wearing a sports jacket ore blazer instead of the

Monde-so-Friday suit. Chaps Tended to wear their sports club tics and hastened quickly Through their desks ro be in rho Whirr EIrphara by 12.30prn. The,. mod M their dozens. Lit bp at their feet. foaming pion in hand. Boys drank I.PA, the men drank Worthington E Objective: to down 23 many pints as possible before piling into old bangers or shiny M.G.a and heading For one of the many Brigol Combing. on Rugby Football grounds where. in The amicable brutality of Club Rugby 13ristol Combination srylel they would, in the hot and PATEty scrum. gag on the Worthingion-favoured farts. throw ups half.time. or an orange and have 2 quick dragon a Senior or a Nelson. After you had lost and taken she corn munal bath. d plornatic relations were restated between the two sides. Bruised and broken. as one they piled back Uno she motors and headed off to the manorial ground to wata the no 1 5 minutes nf nriatol thrashing Cardiff or Llanelli. Harlsquins or Coven, and, clutching rm., pints, ,inu woold wonder why Bill Redwood and John Slake had nor been ,I,cr,d for the England side. As rime .sent hr. the her got honer, tales of Rugby daring got voices w2re

pion were :pat,

and birds were e,d Inot not pulled berauw they were fur tilegr,aL

men rat the Rd..] lot \l'_ In ■ how,min2

halcyon day, Rd:L.1w. in Glun‘a-ateLAi,, and th, pub, an, err

10.30pm. but. niithne, away, actosn the Clifton suspension bridge was Somerset. where the apiendid hortelde,,tayed open until 11.00pm and there was rho possibility that the 6n: fiord niLghr just serve one more afro rime as he rang she bell. Everybody.

26 Loner from Indio

by now. was in complete elisuray. Evcrybexiy had probably drunk between 10 and 29 nuns of beer siriec the first dignified pinyin the WI fro Elepihmr. Two nr ■ Iva would have Fallen by the wayside, quire lirera3ly. some of the sensible ones would have returned to their wines. bur the dingle guys were hung, A leader einerges as a time uf C -45 - 1.- ...M.h. One who :moden the rabic. pinyin haml. ties unknoerni. shin linden, who, bright eyed and calf ed out 'Who's for the Cur, House' And K. ,erIce apin, we piled back in ro the vehicles, more crowded rhan before because one or two had disappeared, and headed hack over the Clifton suspension bridge. down to the city centre, past rhe bus Mei. and along so Soak. Croft wluoe a flicker ing yellow neon sign announced the C[iSicnu of the Koh I Naar Indian Restaurant. 'unclothe di rung roorn.with .14 tables standing on a slightly sticky, thichcarpod each table had a !lightly soiled but very sduched tablecloth. The wade were [P.C.-Cd in tawdry flock and the exhausted.. hors. in their stained dinner jackets whirl, were almost a deep. dark green through years of wear, odjwicEl their clip-on bow tide and prepared for the onslaught-They had @Pair of unlined acquiescence. Each table uan dressed simply with nsdr and mire, pot and a :taint., steel sugar bowl filled with white sugar lumps_ The was for —Ed.,. that% ail there really was —sir chicken vindalno, nine mean Madras, font plates of evil smelling. deep.fried. crispy Bombay dark and mango chutney and, of course. 15 pines °Hager. The bewildered waitcr more din outer on a series of Unleduplinec pads and headed for the kitchen only to beaked back by the blue-cyed fiv-hadwirb tinkly blond hair, who was miningro be an aceou nem,. and from bin position of authority or. the main table he would say, 'Make that dB pines: Evenunddr, on white plates, the pungent curries and mountains of plain boded sire arrived. There was. of course, not enough cheap gainless 5..C. [WIC, to go emend. The Madras was hot, fiery and acrid. the di ndalcm was dhloofcnl. ate by one. chaps would go to the bog buo one by one, rhos didn't anon heave the old bands knew that- o.PVL could climb our of the v. indow red then you wouldn' t have to pay youmhare of the bill_ -So, every Satmday nigh/ uar a mad Madras nigh, Well, dear reader, that was in another rime. irwas beForelndianmetaurants became a culinary force ro be reek° nnd wirh. before silver leaf garnished Fragrant biryanis. It was before Karain had ever heard of a nndoor oven. but lit was at a Ume nix so Long after India gained independence from G rear Britain and the country was still awash wirh ex-colonials who waned to continue eating their meal Madras or chicken Madras and their Bombay duck. In realist, the conceprof a meal Much. curdely figment of the British imagination. but that is something 11.mr lunch later in life_ In the meantime. and hoping to fulfil some kind of youthful g.tronomic holy grail, I left the wen coast Kill of aneicipation for my visit to Madras. But, they've changed the named., okay, Medms was the tint importanr British set denim in India and yes. quite correctly, the India. band given it back its original name. Chennai, hut now nat. you now go inns your favourite curry shop after a hard game and say, h meat Chenhais and 30 pines of lager, pleased Lot. from Ind. 27

Chennal is India's founh largest ciny.thecapital of Tamil Nadu. It it a young city by Indian standards. lu fouodatino in the nth anon, by the East India coop, also markoi the foundation irfthe I3riEish empire_ When the Innification - called r.“ Sr George - was completed in 1640 the wall, protected the Part India Company'.

fart., and mho Emnpran nadir, sofirments. Its for El...was to serve af a low For British agents to prevent local merehano controlling the price

of good.. It later

became the ci ty of Madras. As it grew. the local Tamil people ass gned the name C.hranal tc the city. whereas the British stuck to Madras. In recent years. however. it has been decided that the offteiil name of the cityshould be Chennai. The gin,. is the home ofcurry powder, which was originally developed in Madras for the nostalgic British wishing to re-capture the flavours of I mita after they rnurned home from the Raj. Huge quantities of curry powder arc still manufactured in machines dwr rerembleconcretenaers, but it isall for capon. No Indian covk would dream of using British buildings dominate the arm. The Ice House was built m morn is imported from Bonmn until it was toed to cool the gin and tonics ofshr British ,olden. The Madras Ciub WS built as a plane when the Britith elite could drink the G et Ts. The chief reminder of colonial days. howown is the High Court, the largest court of law building in the world outside London. To the south. 20 hroanoofnarrew lanes form the eity's largest market. Kothawal Chavach, which includes a colourful fruit and Hower section. On the 0111dUrt, of the ciry is Asia's biggest film studio complex. just beyond the iawsol-a fake shark which grads MC R Film City. On this enormous site. funded by the state government. are 36 sem standing ready for use. Toimnts me some. nmes ingned to be orporiglly in liaj-era films. Now, in the inter.ning 40 yea. between eating my first meat Madras and my firm visa to Chomai. I have learned a lot and I certainly was not expecting to find an

28 Lone, horn I ndla

bor.,

srme,

authentic mrac Madras in Madras, any more than 1 would orptcr so find a spaghetti Bolognese in Bologna or a chop scary in kkiring. Thrsc, and many other internation. ally known dishes a., again, concoctions created by bewildered ea-patriots. I did. however. ewe:ton find errquisLte food. but I was disappointed. As with all big cirrus the wothr. ovr, it is hard— not bp Say nearly impossible-10 find the gastronomic heart of that plzee. I stayed at the Connemara Hotel where they had a specialist restaurant devoted so the Cheninad cuisine, which is fiery, hot and spicy and should he delicous. but II was not.

lJzi ng allthe resources available rte me, I sought out the ..,ealled good o-staurruc. 1.11, quite frankly, you will probably ear beam in Southall or Birmingham, and that is

not to m ention how hard ir is to p. up with the inc,orAblc povary and squalor which gi.es hi nh co begging and harassment. So then you ha, rook

are

finding this 5o offensice, why are you heir in the first place. Will, this fact is the cooking in India :an be one oCrhe great expericrica of life but iris best enjoyed ar the home

or

rids tar prim- they might be. They amt their produce with such love and such cam. They prepare than ramsalas with the same sort of love with

which V. Gogh must have inked big nil:. I spent some time ter a magnificent palace where a family cif four or six people were attended by over two hundred staff. The dichotomy lies in the Fact that the pa. ean't afford to car in restaurants. so More arc hut absolutely fundamentally bade equalid soup kitchens, while the rich arc so well off they can afford co have CO.OhY ter home, so no matter what you read in the othrnviu absolute!, essential Lonely Nan, Gni& 1,7 hodia, rake their nstaorant entries with a pinch of chillies. 11,no do cat in the wrens OF a ny of the big three cities, Chennai. Calcutta and Murnbai, and you choose a plaue win vecy,cry busy, you will usually eat well for a kw ptnnies.cen or diner.

latter from in,.

29

However. if you arc in °tension make a point of eating at Hotel Sawa. BhananTh Ls is the ultimate in Indian Fast food restaurants. They have a menu of oner three hundred different dishes- mostly vegetarian. They serve up to 4.000 meal, a- day lay the way, it is not a ham'. the word 'hotel' in many parts of India means restaurant tar canteen). You get a tray on which are eight- nine or ten little dishes. hot, sour, k is called a &al'. (see page 7(11 and the first person who replicates this brilliant concept Lin rnanys.says nor di_ssimila, to Spanish wpm). in London will make a fortune and cna as, rhc gastconorok mindset of a nation already obsessed with Indian food_ A, body prepared to put sest nal million quid into my idea can buy nor eXpErliSC, My knowledge and my passion but they will also have dinexelustve

right rhic /Larne of this amazing chain demerits and, with due apologies ro Paul Sant, n- will be known as "f he Lut flays of the Floyd', We ground nut of Chennai through the appalling traffic SO the village of Sriperumbad se where, from a distance, you can see water buffaloes barhung and high-rise ancient tern phts which. ifiyou squint, rem ndyntiof(lodsani Cim Wesaw the ancient reservoirs, so-called rank, where the lepers cleanse- themselves and the lueils do their washing, bur it ain't like a visit to Salisbury Cathedral: It was quite funny on the day that we

went there to In what is actually a very

Incaunful and fascinating place. On the my my belosed director. V ick. somehow got it into his head that the I IldISISS grow a lot of rice and we should acluwwiedge that fact incur relvLsion programme. You hare to remember, however, that there is nothing real in television /and. Some 30 or 40 hapless 'Indian WORMS were planting rice in a paddy Eeld but, gmel barren, on the shady side of the field- This is. of course. twally unacceptable, for Television purposes they .131 be in the sunshine to awiEthhadn.. so char rhc colours are Wight and vibrant. To make- maners worse, it wa5 impossible ro

k ger a shot of these people from rho rood bemuse rhr cameo Anglo would nor ha correcr.So, ar rho behest &Nick, our long-suffering rescarrhari Raj. was instructed to tell thc srmaillean - which is French for seed sower, - to move over In roc other side of the field end replant collar they had already planted for the heriefii of oar camera. In the meantime. Sun. my manager. on this day dressed in somber kit, drawing qua cigar and for ail the world /oohing like Stormin' Norman, hijacked and occupied roe adjacent hospital. He stormed rho operating theatre. where bewildered so rgeosi were ball Winn, allowing hint - in mid.opciation - to ?Lace thc camera on she roofso that roe world could sec romething that they have probably never seen before, since the dawn of television, a load of women planting rice. interlude at kenchipuram Some 40 or 50 marmot out or Madras them. 4 splendid Taj hotel called Fisher. man's C.nve at Covelong Beach, near Kanchipmarn in Tamil Nadu-The beaches are u nspoilt. there tae spectacular views, regular rooms in the hotel complex and utterly enchanting guest bungalows on the beach. Here, with Tess, I spent sa magnificent days as the guest of Sambicer Singh. the general manage. Diming that rime !learnt how no make some equisitc ashes. including the subai poriyal (ce knch spicy b,-etnoon with coconut) and kathirikai rcara kulanrou epic:aubergine dish) on pages 153 and 356. from roe hotel's executive chef Fabian. I stem or remember he had a couple of hit, in the charxs in the lace fifties. IjoIce: Rrok-'n-rollers know. what 1- mean.) Kanch [potato is the Golden Tow, of 1,000 Temples, one of india's anon most sacred cities. Nowadays only 126 templossarrsa but Ma of these are considered oil, standing. They are closed between noon and 3 ❑ fspor and are host visited do the atiernoon. On roe same arrerch of roroline ra Covelang Reach is the famous Shore Terripla at Mamaliapuram, probably the beat-known sight in:mid-lens Ind._ Loner 1000 India 31

Bombay (now known as Mumbai) So, on a high from the Fisherman's Cove.enth culinary circus rolled on to Bombay (or Mumbai as it is now known). birthplace of Rudyard Kipling in 1855. and a piry famous for its red double-decker buses. Home or ihr wealthy and glamorous. Mumbai is ihecom roe wiz' hub of India. Here there is a hugc1,0011R0 be,«n the rich and the poor. The pity elm i

indeed ind Inore million:11TE, Than Manhattan, and them two people in the dry do not

2111100 osteriious dip!, wedth, tar have acth.i to a toilet, ssv mill inn go

ro drinking warer and over half the

population of 16 million people live in slums or km the sneer. The huge notes) harbour it the mason who commerce bloxsornad in Mumbai. helped by she npeaingof Indids first railway!' ne which starred in Mumbo. Elaphama I:Land in the middleof the harbour has magnifithni rock-cur cave temples...0e ofthe ciry's main iourisr attractions, and in Fchnury a fesrival of music and dance is held at these cane temples. Mundiai is elm the borne oIBollywoad. rho Indian version of Hollywood. which produces more Sinn than any other ciry in the world-- 120 FrATUrc Sims per year-In

Ate.

nghltwo.a...very

Mumbai you can stal savour the glamour anached io the notion of going to the movies at one of the glorious art deco cinema, The city also has over 501aoghter clubs. Members gather in parks. Jos, the dry each morning and laugh themselves silly, in dte belief that happMesiand health wroth -tamed end drawmg on anuant yogic rears that highlight the beneficial effes-Nof laoght, hlumbai has a unique lunch service. Hot lunches are delivered to workers in their offlocs direct foam their homes by something akin to a postal service. Before noon, dalA, ever-hot lunch boxes, co nraini ng a he me.cooked meal are collected from residdneics by slabbarvelk, They are sent ro the city by main and dropped ar various stations for lunchtime delivery by other reams of dablhaeuelLn. Ownership and location cloth lunch box is identified by markings decipherable by the datedion/lar atone After lunch the whole moons is reversed. Crawford Market and the bazaars of Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar sell everything from mangoes to tobacco to Alsatian puppies: if you can eat st or stroke it. you can pmbahly fintrd here We stayed at the Tid Mahal Hotel on the waterfront next to the Gmcway of India. a huge tentrimhal arch built in 1924 ta commemorate a visit by George V and Queen Mary. The lass nit!, British troops leaving India by sea passed through this led. Nowadays the massive stone arch 4 used mainly as an embarkation point for ferries taldrig roods, to the Elephants caves oi down the coast to Goa. According to the Lonely Planet Guidem b.did {TH.)(Taos in sta y -Top End_ 'ThcTaj Mahal Hold. nem so the Gateway of India k one nf the heti 1-thwis thiithry Taj is secs and hornet° umbai's Lie and bat ever:Luncei,lble facili,Lincludirigthicc quaky rcaraurame. scverai bars, a coffee shop, swimming pith!, gym nasium and Wilde I am the znawsr fan of the Lonely Planet guides, I can only disagiee with their description of the Tar Mahal Hotel -1 think it is the worst hmel f have eves staved

lever from Ina 'a

15

C)no of the fow &hens oFsra,ing in an Indian hare[ it &tears-gent Laundry serykte. gtease-splateered, turrnefie-gained shiers would coma whizzing back. splendidly clean and immaculately pressed. and vrry quickly and cheaply ton. Bur. they are nor washed in gleam Mg Launders-nes — they arc lire:alb:Bogged clean in Bombay's municipal laundry. locally Isnown as the 1)&01M Ghar me Malulumi. Here, in a labyrinth of open-air atone and concrete buins, thousands of men scrub. wash. rinse and dry [0,19 of di try clothes brought hum over the city all day. Then, after they have been Through hand-operated spin dryers, the eforhos are apirad out on some rusty old roof to dry. alter which they arc immaculately pleased. with charcoal-Fired smoothing lions. You get a great view of this phenomenal place from the railway bridge near Mahalaruni Station which is five stops up from Churohgate Station-

36 seeet gom incha

Rajasthan...of polo, midnight feasts and other stories The whnIn ernw -Mikn thn ,winnramati, Martin the sound wontdin, Nick th, &wet, Wendy the produciion manager. Rai the researcher. Stan the pialueer, .1.51211L. nurse and wanspon manager. Murry, my Indian chef. my wife Tess and myself had found u may hard going in Mumbai but everyone was in immensely high spirice.as we hoarded the plane ro Jaipur in Rajasthan. despiw the fan that it was Indian Airlines. By the wy, iFyon arc travelling internally in India, whenever possible taw }ct Ainvays -a surth privaick owned airline and one thasscrmscwellan food fin Club class anywaiti. Rajasthan in northwest India may he a deem sum. but it is bursting with colour and enubcnnec. Jaisalnur is by far the oldest Raiput city. In imposing fon. built in lb. is like achy in itself, with houses. shops, hotel, and the towering maharaja's palace. The fon resembies a giant goidensandcintle rising oui of rho dawn, Like some. thing out of the Ten/ oftlIn roan Nigh. The [may or the Jain [envies here also leaves visitors breathless- (Jneofthe largest FC5S1•11 , in Jai-clime , 15 the desert festival in Jainiary and February ,henvillasersandinwnipcopledno rradiiional gob, thecamcb ar, ,Lbnratnly decomted and there is traditional dancing and inusi..and carrel poloThi, Mt Dn,n competition morns a swag of mustachioed hopnful, Ir is an ideal iimn toit tin local sand dun... Bdri in a. popoiar Rajasthan bread. traditionally buried in the sand and lei to bake in the scorching desen sun, Jaipur. the capiral of Rajasthan. is called the Pink City, ahhough in in it is terra. ones-oaloured. Ir was palmed in the tradisional Indian colour of welcome in honour

-a Len,' irora rn na

of the adsit of Prince Albert in 11383 and has remained that colour ever since. Founded by Makamja Sawa' Jai Singh 11 in she 1729, is is a. toga[ city with bustling bauars. beautiFil amhite,-um and colourful cideensand, despite neglect, overpopulation and chaotic wile—

41C..1 rickshaws. trucks, moron-yin. bicycles, cars. Ionics.

elephants, hu1Faloes, camels, ton, dogs, moles, goats and, of course. thousands upon thousands of pcdestnans — it it a delight to shit_ Talks the Hansa Mahal or Palace or Visinds. for example. This is a Folly in the grind moaner_ It is not a palace at all, bur a Ilve.srorey wall of windows that nods built ,.uutuuncl for privileged Ladies to obeuve the srreed le and protessi.nm helm,. while the west wind blew gendy through its 953 glassless windows ro keep them cool. Today it is a museum. Throughour hisrory, feuding Maharajas, Arabs, PerWand and Turks all tried and Failed ro conquer Jaipur. This is heedsar the dry is surrounded by strategically placed For linked by a wall S6 kilomerres in circumferance. Even the British did nut CP11quer the placer they just came to a cosy financial deal with the ruling Maharaja, The pi 3Ce is littered with spectacular palaces and oven F. as a confirmed non. tourrw, thewoughly enjoyed visiting them. Parr of the tin. Palace is trill the raidence of the former ruling family It is also great Fun ro hire on elephant and plod up ro she Amber Fors Another bonus in Jaipur was diseowering — rather coo late on our journey

the

hotels operated by the Oberol and Trident group. rho Oheroi hotels are dead posh and the Trident hood are dead good, and 11:recline firm friends rents both rho manager of the Tridenc. Tufa:. Ghotht. and the head chef, Sandhu. Ir war Sandhu who taught me how to make rho perfect bilyani I see page 70), along with many other d'ohn. One of she highlights of our stay there was meeting anorher rwo remarkable coccurrics in their late 60s. Ken and Ed. who stay at the Trident For sir,mourhs of every year. Every evening rhey dressed For dinner in a different, sumptuous k char [P.Me. How their wrists had the strength to suppun their outrageously jewelled

rings.lredliycarit imagine. To occupy themselves in the daytime — that u to say when

Leger ham innia

39

theywerent shopping Jr, eNor.T.. ewel pieces fare of their many csoJic

sib s objen d'art, dorbus and bits arid 1round

wodd- Keawntked, without

pay. In the hotel laundry 'Aar IT dressed in immacourtly taiiorni chefs whites, wish his elegant Salvador DJ] i aso mtaEhu, wafted mound the kitchen and dining nonto for all the world as if he was Eseoffier hirnseif. For his own amusement, much to

the delight of the chef, the manager and the test of the staff. he. in his unpaid capacity as a visiting revl gastronome, made muffins and exquisite cakes. Tsp... divesting earning playinge1.9.hane polo. which is apparcndy unique to JaJp1m. barns. you see. when the Maharajas of Jaipur weren't shooting tigers, playing widens and badmaremon or unteeraining the Prince of Wahl or 3ukir Kennedy. they had the odd chukka on elephants. This dynamic and fast-moving game (sit) has horn played. I am told. in Jaipur for 300 years. Nehilew to say. tress wagers were p6C,I. hot it was only after the Maharaja ofJaipur kJ, a. lo a d ■ P the XbharajaaEjudhpur char he add edthj, eery pertinent rule to the gurnEt No elephant may Ledo.w buna.mo the goal posts: The hut bit ofoor lokal rn was when Tess and 1. Sandhu, Tufir, Ken. Ed and a few nth, friends broke into the Tiger Fort 'm the dead of night. It was a surd jngly clear. wan, day and From high on the hal the nrainkling lights of the whole city of Jaipur were spread beneath saga Ed brought the cakes. 5andhu brought the tandoori kebabs and sun bread. Tufan brought the beer and I brought the whisky. Four hours later we woke up the drjvcr of our limousine. who was asleep on the roof, and made it back to the hold for a substantial breakfast of samba:. a delicious spicy. hot, lentil-based curry, washed down with foaming glasses of iced. salted lassi. We wne very sad toleaveJaipur, but they telephoned ahead to our cot Tthienr hotel in thelake-city of Udaipur.There. thetTradscp and allthesmif 'nada os inuedildywekome. and the mums of roan, of the dishy I Lowe the ...things of dui tbada.up. We had a fine time. The state of Raiasthan gets my-ante. the ha. IV. of India both For the hospitality ofthe Ample. the n‘cenent food and the mag,11 setae of hisrolyand Indianness.

40

hoar from irdm

Crfr Fame

[...Ere.

.

Travelling south from Rajnallan you mar the scam of Gujarat, India's mon wenerly region, In maid kaadon on the edge ofrhrgrabian SGA and the Gujarat's" flair for mar. Write and nicrcan tile pursuits has meant that theme has always eajoycd good trading, enabling dia wealstiv rulers TO build fabulous palaces and templet with their trading profits. Water has always been precious in the desert uld =minivans. arcs Guljarar. In medieval time, when the kings of rhe raglan dig-overed undeignumd spring shay protected it by housing n in an nlabnracely camel unicitim known as a step well Instead of rising upward, a step well -a kind of mini paLaee - spirals down. burrowing into the ash to the sou sae of the precious liquid. One the fincsr otamplos is Adalai tray, a 15th. emir my nee 20 kilarnatesnoni ofAhmadabad. the oneuirnn capital of' the stain. In din far suarh the state about 40 kilometres north of Sornnath. is the Sussn National Park, a Lou sanctuary that is one or the lass places in the world where Atiatie bong can be seen'n dank uatmal habira,

In Gularar die main crops are grains and pulse, Instead of rice. you find breads and pastas and noodles made from en istkpna flour_

Irom Inch 41

tom Shemlbar Rat Jetr,

42 Letter from

maw

Leifer korn Alla 43

Calcutta and West Bengal la rhc 18th and 1.1sth centuries CaJeurca was known 19 the dry of palaces. People still care in the crumbling skeletons of these palaces which nn be over the city. Cahuxxa is a living museum of MN years of amhintcru re. It is also the inael I [MIA Mark Twain described Calcutta's weather If being hoe and numidenough m maize a dual- knob musky_ In Nut, the air in West Bengal is so humid these every form of greenery, bananas, aubergine, marrows. Nat beans and rice (which .16 the ample hem) grow in abundance. Wes, Bengal sirs last above the Bayer Bengal and Remain Over, the mighry Ganges. breaks into dozens of rivers and cinders before it Nova into dm sn ]use to the east of Caleurta.Theseriverspravidetheaden with ksosherstaplc—freshwa.fish.Theddanik Tall fish market is situated in the nosh of Calcuna, the oldest part of town. and by 6.ddarn ia is already in full swingg. Many oldie fish ere sold a1ive, making thorn hard to weigh as they leap around the scale. bur the Bengali:will nor buy them any other way. Calcut.a was the forma] spiral of the British Empire of India until 1911 when the capital was moved co DAIL The Bririah brought with them many new foods. including potatoes, for which the Bengalis haven red hundred, of new recipes. The main cuisines here are Bengali and Anglo-;radian. There are two sods of fboda in Calcutta — Golhi and Bengali. Golhi food is non chiefly in the 1113171-1 of the ei Goad, do not eat chillies and lovesween. Bengal food is eaten by Bengalis originating from east Bengal, the dishes are the same as Gadd foal bur with added &Niles and with hardly any sugar in the desserts. Bengali feud is based on fish and a variety of sweettneacsi sariet vegetarian asboos ate not generally followed.

Calcutta is also famous for iu hawker food. Hawke., who are known as pkttebko trailers, are found all over the city and particularly near commercial cent= to tied the lunchtime trade. The waterfront of the Holy Gang., is rhe centre of the city's religious life. Every day. early in the morning and 4, arder. people gather for ritual ablutions. at the templet on the rivers shores_ In the south of the city is the Kali Temple At Kalighat. dedicated to the elty's patron goddess. where goats are sae ri• Sced on a dady hats. One of the City. s moo- original monn• mem, is the Memorial to the Dead Telephone. built in 1984 by the Tele. phone Consumer Guidance Society of India- Esery year a mourning ceremony is organised here to mark the collapse of the city's telephone network.

The sport of polo in its international f.rm.riginard in CA I Cc M. The Cal-

cnna Polo Club, formed in 1863 is now the oldest in existence and its red and white collars are used co deco.c the goal poir, of polo grounds all over the %mid. The season lasts from November so early March. New :Harker, just north of Sudder Street. has the hest for and cake shops. and for caged birds and d tropical fish go to Hari Hagen. further north, on 3 Sunday. Ar So na pan t. goldsmiths sit

cross-legged on the floor before huge iron chests. Here gold ornaments are bought and sold. exchanged and me/ red down. and precious gems and pearls arc ,old by weight.

Despite its elegant ctty centre. and although she Tai Bengal Hotel has splendid roormand its lunchtime buffet

Leternm it c 45

is pram: good. thc thing I Found most fantastic in Calcutta was rhr book market. lira arc in Calcutta, take a trip to Chuckervertty. Chancricc and Co. Ltd. at ! 5 Col Inge Square. where you can buy carry& ing from HG Wells' 1Vererl, Ind& to Malcolm Cowry's Dark as rbe Grare ONTein While in Calcutta, 1 had a spccracular clay with a charetable organisation called Future Hope, who ntscue aboscdsurer children From the gutters and from abuse, and help them T. been., en. Went, aencuLun and positive young people. Thcv.Invitod end at a Rugby ma Ich where- they played their former enemies. r hc Calcutta and presented me with one ofth.r. original 19.th-cenntry siker rupees from which the ,famous Ra6lay Calcutta Cup VMS made.

Aduran

-

ere tens

Grres.

- : _-,-.-----0 - -. 311-7_mi... __,._....._._....._____... -_,..■,.....--0! •

.

- __ -

From Calcutta we Hew to the Punjab, dm rich, fertile plain in rh.: north of India. The Punjab produces wheat for breads (bread rather than rice is rho staple food). sugar Band milk for dairyprodum Fat land I may say inoreclibLy ugly) mater bulTalo arc milked by hand and give a cir h milk that is used ro make tea. yoghurt. butter. cheese and ghee. About 85 on-rent of the ,egion u under cul.ricotion and 70 pc r cent of the population ∎crock in cprie.locc, The Punjab ptobahly bc.oknovnt in Engiand, and i Et India, for its mndonri dishes (see page 1001_ The food is cooked in a tandeo∎ , an oven shaped like a coniml tube made of sun-baked clay. heated with woad or charcoal to produce a fierce heat that cooks food very prickly without drying our. The origins of the condom remain uncle, but they have becn around in du Punjab for many cen mrios'random- mcns art mad, in Arnrimar (just behind the has station, an eoenrial piece of information) Noma snl,:rom of clay and hay (and they cost very If you don't want to cook your own food, the (supposedly hest) randoorL chicken in the Punjab

can be found ar Surja's Chicken home. in A ro Can't dress up for the occasion. in reality it is Mal a tiny mall. Although Chandigarh is the state cap i tal, Arur,r,.rc i, its largo and most famous city — home ro the famous Gulden Tempk, the hioHest of Sikh shrines. It is conarmored en rack}, of marble and gold and sirs in the middle of a Lai...The Puniabsearu to be the larder of the continent. ff noth se. these is always from food in the Sikh emples. Ar the Golden Temple the mass feedings seem almost rturacuboux the many doors to the feeding hall open in unit. until 3,000 people are seated around t he tables lin ma.Liry rho floor!) leaving the rest to wait unti/ the next seating. They only

have to wail half an hour. in that time the current seating a fed. the floor swept and the whole process starts all °act again. Thar's India for youl I hope my brief tour of India has helped to give you a glimpse of the sights and scents of this fascinating country and that your mouth is warning in anticipation of

tasting the true liassouts of Indian food. Now it is your trim to got waking, using the authentic and traditional nerves! hose collected from all comers of India.

Leiter from Enda 49

The Recipes the soaring 1-hrealyas m Thc plaIns, from rropical foresca ro deserts, with a long coastline of Omit., besehre.. The climate, sap- frthri the Lou! north and the tempera-Le southern foothill, of the Himalaya. on the onpical cJi of the westectN1d southern regions. India is home ro about a billion people of various Tau. and religions — Hindus. Muslin.. Christians. Sikhs. lains. Buddhists, Parsis and other minor seers—and the counn -is col-sinks AT ar d ivcrse =s In racial structure and varied geographical condirions. The Hindus do nor ear beef—since-cows are sacred ro them —.and nun,. do nor rat Inc-m.o. all, while The Muslins exhow pork. A fair amoum of Iamb and gm is eaten. The cooler areas of the float, are suitable for rearing sheep, and here lamb dishes 11.111 a higani and rogan josh (set pages 79 and 145) area spe,iai in, In pans dike won many ethnic communities are mt.tiet vertariem and di'is has renal red in wonderfully diver. vngeTarian crsincs. (Jim wgetable, me conked with crscom in dLshe, such as okra sant.E.1 with corona, (vendakat poriyab and spicy vogembEectzry

Scanned&Conver t edt oPDFbyFFCcot t age

Madame Masala her mysteries and magic There err probably as many versions of roasala in Indian cooking as there arc sexual positions in the Khama Sutra. if not more.., and, like lovemaking, real delight cannot be achieved Without tender and exotic foreplay, so it is imporranr to understand the sobriety required to prepare a tm.ala betbre gorging on she delights of the tangy, spicy, pungent or creamy, fragrant or soft gastronomic sex that is Indian food. And, the base of it all is the masala.

54

Masada is e mixture of herbs and spices, whole or ground, that give Indian dishes their distinctive flavours when mixod and puréed with water, oil or vinegar, lime or lemon juice. The main spices and herbs in masalas include fresh green chillies, fresh ginger . garlic, red onions or — better still — small red shallots. fresh coriander leaves, fresh mint leaves, curry P.M. bay leaves, salt, hot dried Bird's Eye chillies. dried black mustard seeds, coriander sends, black peppercorns, cardamon] pods. cloves. cinnamon sticks. cumin seeds, fenugreek, fennel seeds. star anise. tamarind and turmeric. Of course. you can buy all or most of rho flavourings al ground to a powder, but. for the hest results and for greater satislitction, it is bettor to grind your men. A small coffee gel for the dried spices and a small Food processor for the fresh is all you need. You will per oven more flavour from the spt you lint lightly roast the seeds in a dry Irving parr until they crackle, rhen grind there to a powder.

Some recipes in this book use dried powdered masalas. In general. thew should he gently stir-fried in nil for a few moments m climinarc the preediery taste before adding she recommended cooking liquid. Both wer and pureed neat-tin usually Imeelit hole being stir-fried in a link oil first. Vegetable oil. coconut oil, mustard seed oil and ghee (clarified butter) are all used for frying. If you use mustard seed oil. de on sparingly as it has a strong. pungent flavour and a slightly acrid aroma. Chillies were introduced ro India by the Porruguese. The hottest ones are the small red Bird's Eve varier, and. as with green chillies, the more seeds you lease in. the hotter die flavour. Dried chillies too, like other spices, are more flavoursome iF lightly roamed belbre using Midair chopped. whole or ground). Onions, ginger and garlic can either he chopped e.r pureed to it paste in s feud processor. "fn make a ginger and garlic purr, combine. in most cases. equal quantities of peeled ginger and garlic and puree. To make a brown onion paste. finely slice or

dice

50111C

red onions, and satire- Them in butter,

or oil until

they are golden brown, then puree rhern in a Food processor. A puree of ramarin d is often used for sour turriu. This IS VC, .nple w prepa.. Pop some tamarind pulp inn, a pan,

Cl■Ver

with

waxer and bring to the boil. loon off the how and leave ro tool, then winners.' the Rosh away from the seeds. Chuck the

GCMG

away

and process the liquid and flesh until smooth. Alan, mauls, and indeed many dishes. use coconut flesh, eirher finely gratcd or rhinly slivered. Dried coconut is generally a pour

substitute for Fresh. In the south of India. in particular, milk is used extensively m make she curry gravy she

coconut

turn, ' sauce '

is nor normally used) and is often made with freshly graved coconut

flesh purled wish soarer and the iiquid from rhezoconku. However. it is more practical to buy canned, unsweetened coconut milk from

an Asian specialisr. If the recipe calls for

56

moor or chicken ao he

marinated or simmered in coconut- milk, dilute the coronae milk wirh soarer and cook gently until she liquor 1535 all but evaporated and then add she rhicker milk ro finish off site dish. If You start with the Mick version, is will probably separce and curdle_ IF you are able ro obrain fresh curry leaves. you will find Cary add an exquisite 0455C to your dish.. Some recipes earl for curry leaves so be vr.k.led at the first stage of preparation. To use sheer ro garnish dishes, quickly stir-fry the [cares in a little oil,

50

they

are a dark, glisrening, green colour and very slighrly crispy. Small pieces of kaffir lime leaves arc a. reasonable suhsrirure. If only dried curry Icarus are available, use them in the gravy, bur nor as a garnish. Chopped fresh coriander leaves can be used as a good general garnish. Some curries in this book are we, and some are dry. Quite simply. a dry curry is cooked wirh very little liquid, resulting in the morsels of mess, fish or whatever bring coated with the rnasala prosy rather rhan swimming in ir. Itrims Indians cat with their lingers and mop gravies up arida breads er balls of rice.) Where incalas are used in the recipes. I hove listed the ingredients and method as required For each individual dish. However, here are four all-purpose masa!as for the cunning curry cook who is pressed for time. They are useful bc.vmr they can be prepared in advance and scored in the Fridge or in the freever and, as long as you have some coconut 1501k and chutney in che cupboard, all you have redo on your way home is pop into your favourite store and buy ynghnrr, fresh coriander and

50111, 15505C 0C

fish and you can areaze and impress your friends ',rid, a dish that raster convincingly authentic. Thus, I offer you:

Floyd's green masala I tablespoon coriander seeds

1 On road all Inc dried spIces In a frying pan oar a low

I tablespoon gmand turmeric

heat. time.", until May crackle.

{oz tablespoon mom seeds

2 Put all Me !Tigre.. Into a food processor mtn e 111.1,s

t2 lablesppon cloves

vinegar or wale, and grind to a smooth paste. Pop Me

1 onnerpon stick

maw-a into en a ■ arght tatge or pia. food Doe and

a handful of trash green chillies, coarsoh , CeOrMetl

store in either the Mdge or Pleat,

a tea nxrces II pre, Feem

316 ink me masa*, neat soma ow, a kind, ilr■Oar■ la

a finger-saes mace of mat ginger, peeled 1 cup of chopped red shall..

wok, ca any ...tie pan, stir In the masam ana cook for

1 small song of teen mini

coconut milk •Idllute Ole coconut milk to start mt. one

a few minutes lo make a gravy, add either water or

1 bunch ol fresh cornandel leaves

part coconut to Mn parts eat, to prevent It cumlIng

a little sugar

when brought lo the ball. Add meat, fish or vegetables of

salt

your drone and simmer gently until cooked. For the best

white mne vinegar. nce vinegat cn water

resuIN, use meat. chicken on the bona chopped into bge.sged pieces. The meat s put !WI -lower, lee. not sealed. al as rs normal In French ceding.

60 Malan, Mamie

Floyd's red masala a handful of dred

cr, ,, ras

1 tablespoon came, Seeds 1 tableSpo, black peppercorns 1 tablespoon round tb ■ rneric

Chaat masala This is a Salty and SOuf Spice and is sprinkled over cooked or raw dishes to add flavour. Use It like salt and pepper.

1 tablespoon domes sect,

ion

1 targe Piece of root ging., paled and ahopucd

I Labaespoae cumn seeds 1 tablespoon deck cePPerCems 5 cioves

10-15 Owes al garlic. peeled a pale %Mar

n. rataes000n dried rant lea,s teaspoon assloe.a pawner

sah

2k, tablespoons fined mango powder

red *ale ionegaror water

1 teaspoon ...erect ginger I teaspoon 00,111 ponder

Make, store and use In exactly the same any as Flow's green masala (see opposae/

Ve teaspoon Wane acid tablespoon reek salt 2 teaseoons sea sal tightly toast all Me ■ ngredents except the salts a, a dry pan. Ada the sells and grind an the spices whale they are still warm in a coffee Winder or food processor. Stag In an a,r,ght coot:twee

Garam masala 3

asomns :omen seeds

2 raPespoons ccalander seeds lour 5 or

inch cinnamon socks

10 green carnamcm pods. sirghtty crushed 10 cloves

1 Dry roast the spiel and bay leaves in a frpog pan over a mow real singe until, can smell the spew . Remote from be can and anon to cool sIshily.

2 Transfer the mixture 10a dartlee Benda. or 'Pod G..C550( and grind to very Imo Pared.

Ss a nutmeg. grated

3 The masaia can be kepi in an artight contaner or it

3 bedded mace

can be frozen In a bag

I bates000n black peppercorns 3 star anise a Ow 5 Day laves

seadaff. Malaita

61

Sit

kr I

NI'

.e

001

It!

-,01-t11iig = u8 II' •

- • • ark I I' r•111.1 *eV we,.

11

The Vexed Subject of Rice Any kid from Bangkok to Cakurra. from Saigon to Bombay can cook rice Bus. we Brits have trouble even cooking the boilin-thc—bag varier:, Indeed, I know talented chefs who sr. -dale as rite thnughi of having ro cook perfect rice and, when it comes ro cooking dishes such as paella and biryani s I have seen pompous bodies cringe and rremble as she rack. In the following dishes. she rice is thoroughly washed strider running water until all the starch has gone before it is cooked.

Fragrant lemon rice It is worth going to a specialist grain rice eta can

find

wee 4

le:

fAsi ant

store

and

buying the marl experIS We king

for this CM. 1 2.1tnelICIlin plenty of salted sinter, giving one

coos lung gram nee washed under

stock eV once d ewe come to Ilae boa. Continue cooking

%une% weldor al least 15 reiuules

unN the grains are awl tender. VriT, thorough!, tsansfer

and strained

led hood

salt

ono SW in 0 neiVed tataeentiOn Or ghee

*Caged*.

gape vegetable pi teaspeon aaOk mustard aft% email hanogai 0l }resit wiry loses V, teaspoon finely ohoppecif. ginger

(green chill , finely mopped 3 or pima red chillies. coarsely chopped I heaped tablespoon unwired cashew Ours k. 12 spoon ground torrneno

pee 012 lenIons &looped Irwse conenclea leaves, to porno.,

441 r,+emi*0.mm moo

66 The Vexact Subject nI Rine

21n a large sea.. Intel non Ot wok. rout rpm, 44 App gte mesa:0 Peed, ane ewe. until IPey Gnat. App the cow leases, vgn, minim ono Ewan. nuts ano euekly statrySonnide in tne turmeric Sur in the lemon Nice, a pinch Msea and abaci 4gun of water . simmer the MIX11.131 for 7 or 3 minvies odd you have a turmericC0651.11Ed VOW. 3 Stir in One gye and continue cooky' unlit The baud

has been abr.t 00 and the rice is completely tender. Gai•is.h

ehpcpcp ee., pp. , C@VLS

-d serve.

Coconut rice With brilliant rice dishes like this one who needs meat or fish? A plate or a tqw1501

some fresh Indian bread, score pickles or Chutneys and (see page 1761 makes a delightful lunch or supper.

of this eaten with Kachumber area

1 Put thence ■ ntn plenty dewed watt, trove the Soii

250 09 so nasmes nee, armleecl uncle,

ano cook for rust 5 minutes, dram and then speed out

■ ng water fort leas! 15 minutesruno

and of ained salt ISO 55 so Irea.11y grated coconut vegetable ail I teaspoon black mustard seeds 4 or 5 dned red chill. coarsely chopped 2 0.3 ween chi., coarsely chapped 2 cksios oi garret. peelers and finely Mopped 2.5 [eel inch mile of flax grge, reelect and scaly cropped

on a 5112110Ve lukilg flay so that a can coal quickly

2 -rang the Fated coconut in a ary pan