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| Sunday, 16 May 2004 |
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Here, we are into tandooris, nans, tikkas, masala mixes, jeer pulaos and even pilau rice. For those who do not know, jeer pulao is bhasmati rice fried in butter and flavoured with coriander seeds. At Rohan's restaurant complex, which is different from other Indian restaurants in town, in that its speciality is North Indian cuisine, we spoke to its versatile chef from New Delhi Mandal Astam, who arrived in Sri Lanka a mere few months ago. From the distinct cuisines of North Indian cookery of Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Awadh and Lucknow, we chose Punjabi cuisine for this week and tried to get a sense of what "delicious" means in Punjabi, by speaking to Mandal and Rohan's new Operations Manager, Priyantha Goonathilake. Today's recipes come from Mandal and may be, his culinary feats could be even better appreciated when Rohan's creates a typical North Indian dining ambience, by getting down musicians and dancers from India. Punjab is in the extreme North of India. The Punjab that we know now used to be one with its other half, which now resides in Pakistan. During clashes between Muslims and Hindus, the flood of Punjabis fleeing India ran as far east as Delhi. Much of the cuisine in Punjab has been greatly influenced by the flood of refugees from years past, bringing with them what we call the love for "country fare". Many Punjabis are farmers and they take pride in their milk, ghee and produce. Curries are the heart of an Indian meal. Although in India today, "curry" - from the Tamil kaari, is translated as "gravy" or "sauce", it is better defined as "that which with rice - or some other basic starch - makes that starch a meal" A curry is composed of a flavour-intensive sauce - made of onions, ginger, garlic, yoghurt, herbs and spices, and where possible, something of substance - meat or seafood, eggs, vegetables, legumes..whatever one might have at hand.
But they are not the dishes that people of India ate everyday but were reserved for royalty and upper class at some point in history. But the menus caught on and they became standard fare for most of the Indian restaurants across the world. From the home kitchens of people of India, the traditions were preserved and recipes passed on for many generations. The techniques and ingredients used in these kitchens vary from household to household and from region to region. North Indian cuisine has a wide variety for vegetarians/vegans. The important ingredients in cooking the different dishes are garam masala (a mixture of ground spices available in any Indian store) and other spices such as cumin, cloves and cinnamon sticks. The food can be deep fried like the batura (fried bread) or very light like the chapati (baked bread without any oil.) ####### What is Tandoori paste? It is a classic East Indian marinade. But like any other seasoning combination, everyone has a different recipe for the paste that is made at home and in restaurants over many decades. The bottled Tandoori paste in Indian food markets is a generic product which probably evolved by repatriating British colonists who wanted to recreate Indian dishes back home. Here is one method of making this paste at home. Toast two tbs each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds, one tbs each of black peppercorns and cloves, and tsp of cardamom seeds, over medium-high heat for a minute. Remove from heat, cool and grind to a powder in a spice or coffee grinder. Mix with 1/4 cup of paprika, a tps of ground fenugreek leaves, one tbs of ground cinnamon, 2 tsp of ground ginger and a tsp of cayenne pepper. Mix with peanut oil to a thick paste. If you like, this can be mixed with yoghurt, minced garlic, chopped onion, lemon juice and ginger to make a specially flavoured marinade. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
The modern Indian cuisine can be a fusion of flavours from different
other cuisine. "But, we don't mix!" emphasises S. Yogendranathan,
Director, Rohan's North Indian Cuisine in the city of Colombo. Busy at
lunch and dinner times, catering to regular clients from the Indian High
Commission and locally resident Indian community, Rohan's offers to the
local palates a North Indian taste different to the South Indian itlis,
vades and parates.
What most of the world knows about Indian cuisine is very little
because Indian restaurants across the world serve mainly North Indian
cuisine, specifically, North Indian royal. It was in Panjab that the first
Indian restaurants are said to be opened. These first restaurants served
some of the dishes we are familiar with, such as tandoori chicken, rogan
josh and butter chicken.
