Recipe: Healthy Buffalo Wings

I Love Buffalo Wings. This was my favourite "local" food when I was based in the US. The only thing that stopped me from making them at home was the deep frying. The problem with deep frying meat is that the oil you fry it in is pretty much useless after that & my nana's voice keeps whispering in my conscience "waste not, want not" and other such gems agaianst wasting food.

But I was really craving them the other day & I thought, why not make a non deep fried version. I confess these don't taste as good as the batter coated, deep fried real thing, but they are still pretty good for someone who wants to eat healthy.

A friend has told me about the air fryer & I will check it out (a device that lets you deep fry with just a tsp of oil), but until then these wings will be seen on our table quite often.

A big plate of wings is great when sitting around a table catching up with friends, as a side with beer, while watching a game. You need to get your fingers sticky to eat these, but you will definitely be licking your fingers clean, after.

Ingredients:
1kg Chicken Wings
3 tbsp - rawa/soji/semolina
salt, pepper, chilli flakes to taste
1 tsp oil
200ml tomato puree
1 bottle of tabasco or any other spicy chilli sauce - adjust to taste. (If using something like Chings, you will need to add some vinegar too for sourness)

Method:
Mix the rawa, salt, pepper & chilli flakes together.

Wash, drain & pat dry the chicken wings.
Toss the wings in the flour mix.

Pan fry the wings in 1 tsp oil.
Kim's Tip: If you have to do 2 batches of frying, fry the wings in one batch and the half legs in another batch. They will take the same amount of cooking time, making it easier to watch them
Fry till almost completely cooked.

Mix the sauces together in a bowl.

Drop the cooked wings into the sauce.

Toss well untill all pieces are well coated.

Pop it in the oven/microwave on the grill setting until browned.

Turn over & repeat.

Serve hot & eat immediately. This dish doesn't reheat very well.

Kim's Tip: I use Rawa/soji/semolina, not flour because rawa gives a crunchy bite even when pan fried, unlike flour which tends to get soggy.

Recipe: Asian Spiced Citrus Pork Chops

Picked up some lovely Pork Chops at this awesome Cold Storage Meat supplier (Icy Pik) that I've found in Ahmedabad. The chops weren't completely frozen yet, so I decided to marinate them immediately, even though I wasn't planning to cook them until 2 days later.

I'd just had guests over and there was some orange juice left in the tetrapak. We had, had pizza the previous night, so some of those toppings were leftover. So I just threw together some of these ingredients into the marinade and the chops tasted really good. They were so soft, they literally melted in our mouths.The husband and me finished almost a kilo of these chops in 1 sitting! - and he's not a "Meat" devourer like me :)

I hadn't originally planned to post this recipe on this blog, since it was thrown together with what was on hand, so I didnt take pictures until the finished product was smelling so good. 

The flavour in this marinade is subtle, so it may not work well on stronger flavoured meats like lamb or mutton, but you could use it for fish or chicken, adjusting quantities accordingly.

Ingredients:
1kg Pork Chops
1 - 1.5 cups orange juice (I used Tropicana - this doesn't have the bitter after taste or the pulp that American OJ does)
Juice of 1 lime (if the orange juice isn't sour, add a little more -remember Indian limes are small)
2 tsps oregano seasoning (salted one that comes as a pizza topping)
2 tsps red chilli flakes
1/2 tsp freshly crushed corriander seeds (don't substitute with corriander powder - its better to omit this ingredient than use powdered)
10-12 cloves garlic - finely chopped
2" ginger finely chopped
1 tsp black pepper freshly crushed
2 pinches of cinnamon powder
salt to taste
6-7 stalks of corriander leaves - finely chopped

Method:
Make a marinade with all the ingredients except the corriander leaves and the chops.
Marinate the chops in the mixture overnight (I marinated them for 2 days)
Bring to room temperature before cooking.
Add the corriander leaves and mix well.
Pan fry, roast, grill or Barbecue the chops on both sides until done.

Serve with a side of salad or pasta and with plenty of napkins, because you won't be able to resist picking the bones clean.

Kim's tip:
I think I'll add a bit of star anise to the marinade next time as that flavour would combine well with these too

Recipe: Healthily Twisted Fish Meunière

A friend who came over for lunch today is currently eating extremely healthily and running marathons, so I planned a light healthy summery menu : A healthy twist on the Fish Meuniere, Roasted Chicken with Duxelles Stuffing, Pasta in a Chargrilled Red Pepper Sauce and Stir Fried Sesame Veggies. Dessert was freshly cut chilled Mangoes. The Badamis that I found in the market were quite tasty and sweet (or so the hubby said - I'm not a fruit person & I only eat raw mangoes not ripe ones)

The fish that I cooked today was a mix of inspirations from a classic Meuniere (Fish dredged in flour and fried - served with a butter, lemon and parsley sauce - French Origin - Meunière=Millers Wife) and a Gremolata (Parsley + Garlic + Lemon - Italian/Milanese in origin) I did change the entire methodology of these classics, but the inspiration came from both these flavour combinations and it worked very well.

Its quick to prep and also to cook. If you use frozen fish, it will take a little longer to cook, because the fish will let out water, but exercise a little patience, it will be worth it.

Ingredients:
750 gms of Firm White Fish - I used Basa Fillets - Clean & Dry

1 tsp olive oil (since Basa is a non fatty fish)
Zest and juice of 2 small limes (Indian limes are really tiny - smaller than a table tennis ball - so adjust to taste)
handful of parsely leaves - chopped fine
5-6 garlic cloves - chopped fine (I didn't chop mine too fine, because we like the taste of fried garlic)
salt to taste
a dash of freshly ground pepper - to season

Method:
Lightly pound together the parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.
Make an emulsion with the olive oil, lemon juice and grated zest

Marinate the fish in this (I left it overnight, but 15-30 minutes should be good too)

Fry gently on both sides in a hot pan and serve hot.
There is no need to add any oil in the pan, since there is oil in the marinade.
How long you fry each side depends on the thickness of your fish slices.
Watch the colour and texture of the fish in the pan - it is the best indication of  whether it is ready to be served or not.

I served this as an appetiser today and so I cut the fish into smaller pieces. You can slice a fillet in half and serve it as a main course too.

Kim's tips:
If you want to serve a sauce with the fish - add a little butter to the pan you fried the fish in, just before it turns brown, add some parsley and lemon juice and take it off the fire. Serve as a dressing with the fish.

Next Time I make this, I'm going to add some capers to the marinade too. I think the sharp salty flavours of capers will go excellently with this dish.

And this is what today's lunch looked like.

Pasta in a chargrilled red pepper sauce
Roasted Chicken with Duxelle stuffing
Healthily twisted fish meuniere
Stir fried sesame veggies

Recipe: Kundapuri Egg Ghee Roast

Before we left Guwahati, we invited a whole lot of my husbands colleagues over for dinner, around 40 of them. As usual, I cooked everything from scratch and without household help (I hate having help inside the house and avoid it at all costs)

The trick to cooking for such a large group by yourself is to keep your recipes simple, with minimal preparation like grinding fresh masalas or prepare ahead. Some masalas can be frozen, coconut can be ground and frozen and defrosted for using on the day of the dinner. Non vegetarian food can be prepared ahead, but vegetarian food needs to be cooked on the day that you are serving it, otherwise it will lose texture and taste. Pork can be cooked upto 3-4 days in advance, chicken and mutton can be marinated a day or 2 ahead and cooked / baked / roasted on the day of the dinner. If you plan well a week in advance, you too can cook festive meals for 40-50 people at home.

One of the dishes I like to cook is the Egg Ghee Roast. This is quick to prepare once the eggs are boiled and shelled. Ghee Roast is a recipe that comes from Kundapur - a town close to Mangalore and yes, in this recipe you can't stint on the ghee which gives the dish its name and its flavour!

Ingredients:
40 eggs - hardboiled, shelled with little slits in them to allow the masala to seep through
6 tbsp chilli powder (increase / decrease for taste)
3 tbsp corriander powder

2 tsp tamarind paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 tbsp ginger paste
4 tbsp garlic paste

pinch of fenugreek (methi) powder
sprig of curry leaves
5 tbsp ghee
5 tbsp curd - gently beaten to a  smooth paste

For smaller quantity:
6 eggs - hardboiled, shelled with little slits in them to allow the masala to seep through
1 tbsp chilli powder (increase / decrease for taste)

1 tsp corriander powder
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
pinch of turmeric powder

1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
pinch of fenugreek (methi) powder

4-5 curry leaves
1 tbsp ghee
1 tbsp curd - gently beaten to a  smooth paste

Method:
In a pan, heat the ghee and add the curry leaves for tempering.
Add ginger and garlic pastes and fry till almost cooked
Add all the other ingredients except the eggs and curd and fry till cooked.
Lower the heat and add the curd and whisk gently until the ghee seperates.

If it gets too dry, add a few drops of water to moisturise.
Then toss the boiled and shelled eggs in the masala.

Serve hot with rotis, polis or rice and dhal.

 This recipe can be used to cook chicken too.

My friend May, has a slightly different recipe for chicken ghee roast, I'm going to try her version too once I have my own kitchen again.

And if you are interested, here is a glimpse of the rest of the dinner that I cooked for 40 people.

Recipe: Manglorean Sweet Pulao / Pilaf - Vegan

Sweet Pulao is a traditional dish that is served at most auspicious Manglorean Catholic occassions including Weddings, Christenings, Christmas & Easter. The pulao is traditionally eaten with an even sweeter banana + raisin chutney, but I personally prefer a spicy accompaniment to contrast the sweet flavours of the pulao.

Traditionally, the pulao is cooked like a biryani on a slow fire and with hot coals on top. For home cooking, I prefer to use the pressure cooker.

Ingredients:
500gms Basmati (or any long grained) Rice - washed and soaked for 15 minutes, then drained.
3 onions - thinly sliced
handful of nuts (cashewnuts are traditional, I like to use a mix of cashewnuts and almonds)
handful of raisins / kishmish
2-4 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you like it, I prefer 2 tbsp)
salt to taste
1 bay leaf
4-5 cloves
1-2 green cardamoms
2" cinnamon
1 biryani flower - star anise (its not traditional, but I like to add it for the fragrance)
4 cups water (twice the volume of the uncooked rice)
2-3 tbsp ghee (vegans can use sunflower oil)

Method:

Warm the pressure cooker and then melt the ghee in it.
Fry only 2 onions (thinly sliced) till crisp and brown.

Warm the water in a seperate vessel (be careful not to let it bubble too much before adding to the rice, else you will lose volume to evaporation.)
Drain onions and reserve.

In the same ghee/oil, add the bay leaf, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and star anise.

Add the nuts and raisins are lightly roast.
You can then remove some nuts & raisins for garnishing.
Add the remaining sliced onion and saute for a minute or 2.

Add the drained rice and fry for a couple of minutes till the rice releases its fragrance.

Then add, hot water, salt and sugar and mix well (but gently, so you don't break the rice grains).
If you want a richer fragrance, you can slowly add 1/2 tsp of ghee on top of  the water, but don't stir after adding the ghee.
Close the pressure cooker and cook till done (3 whistles in the Hawkins)
Let the pressure escape on its own.
Open and transfer to a serving dish if you like.
Garnish with the reserved fried onions, nuts and raisins.

Serve with banana + raisin chutney for a traditional taste.

Since I like a spicy accompaniment, we had it with Jamaican jerk chicken & baby corn.

Kim's Tip:
If pre-frying rice for a pulao or biryani, always add hot water for cooking.
Adding cold water, temporarily halts the cooking process that has begun and you will end up with rice that has a hard bite in the center.

If you notice, my pulao has a slightly brownish shade. If you want your pulao to be white in colour, then don't cook it in the same ghee/oil OR the same vessel in which you caramelise the onion.

Recipe: Banana-Raisin Sweet Chutney

Banana-Raisin Sweet Chutney is traditionally served with Manglorean Sweet Pulao. I don't make this chutney as I'm allergic to bananas and personally I prefer a spicy accompaniment to the Sweet Pulao. This however is my mums recipe and I'll upload a picture when I can find it.

The chutney has a deep red colour and this comes from a slice of boiled beetroot.

Ingredients:
1 ripe Mysore plaintain (substitute with any sweet variety)
1 slice of boiled beetroot (this is for colour - the more beetroot you use, the deeper the colour)
6 dates
50 gms raisins / kishmish
1 red chilli (remove the seeds if you prefer it less spicy)
1" ginger
1 small onion
a sprig of mint

3 cloves
1/4" cinnamon
pinch of tamarind paste
salt to taste

Method:
Grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste without water.
Serve with Manglorean Sweet Pulao.

Recipe: Manglorean Prawn Masala

I'd defrosted some prawns today, and wanted to make something quick, dryish (not a curry, but with a bit of masala clinging to it) and spicy. I didn't want to fry them as I normally do as I wnated them to be an accompaniment to the rice and rotis and not an appetiser. So I revisited an old favourite. If you have cleaned prawns and meetmirsang on hand, it literally can be ready in 5-10 minutes.

Ingredients:
200gms cleaned prawns (weight after cleaning should be 200gms)
1 tsp vinegar
pinch of salt
2 pinches of turmeric powder
1 tsp coconut oil (you can use regular oil, if coconut isn't available)
1 sprig curry leaves
1 medium sized tomato
1-2 green chillis - optional (add only if you like your food spicy)
1 tbsp meetmirsang masala

Method:
Clean the prawns and lightly toss in a mixture of vinegar, salt and turmeric powder (to get rid of the fishy smell)
Chop the tomatoes and green chillies if using.
Heat the oil in a pan and temper with the curry leaves.
Add chopped tomatoes and green chillies.
When tomatoes are semi cooked, add the meetmirsang and fry until tomatoes are fully cooked.
Now add the prawns.
Stir fry on high heat for 2-5 minutes, depending on size of prawns.
When done, take it off the fire and serve hot with steaming hot rice and saar.

Note:
This dish can also be served as an appetiser, but you may want to decrease the spice by omitting the green chillies.

Recipe: Sone Upkari - Manglorean Chickpeas with coconut - Vegan

Upkari is a common method of cooking vegetables and lentils by the Manglorean Konkani community. It is similar to the Fugath cooked in Goan & Anglo-Indian homes.

This particular dish is made from the small white channa (chickpeas) rather than the full size kabuli channa. It can also be made with small brown channa.The picture below is to give you an indication of the size. The bowl on the right has the dry channa and the bowl on the left shows the soaked and cooked channa.

.

Ingredients:
150-200gms small white channa (chickpeas) soak overnight and pressure cook till done and drain.

1/2 coconut grated
2 sprigs curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
3-4 dried red chillies
2 tsp urad dhal
pinch of hing/asafoetida
3-4 greeen chillies finely chopped (optional)
small bunch of corriander leaves finely chopped
3 tsps coconut oil (don't stint on this otherwise this dish will turn very dry)

Method:
In a pan, heat the coconut oil, add the asafoetida, then the urad dhal, then the mustard seeds, the jeera, dry red chillies and the curry leaves for tempering.

Next add the coconut and the fresh green chillies if using and fry a little until the coconut is cooked.

Add the cooked channa, use a little liquid from the pressure cooker, if you want more moisture.
Garnish with chopped corriander leaves.

This dish is a little dry to eat with just rotis. But goes very well with rice and sambhar or rice and dhal.

Recipe: Chaap ne Bataka Roast - Gujarati Roasted Lamb Chops with Potatoes

This recipe is from Banu Hajratwala's - Gujarati Kitchen, a book I cannot recommend heavily enough. Instructions are clear, precise and detailed. In case you haven't read my review yet and are wondering how lamb chops could be a Gujarati dish - its because this is Gujarati Kshatriya cuisine.

This recipe is reproduced here as part of my review of Banu Hajratwala's - Gujarati Kitchen for the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.

My details here are not half as detailed as the way Ms Hajratwala's instructions are. While I do occassionaly say that a book is worth picking up, this book is a must have for anyone interested in a wider spectrum of Gujarati food or wants a simple introduction to Indian food. Gujarati Kshatriya cuisine is just one of the many cuisines cooked/available in India. What makes this a great introduction to someone new to Indian food is the detailed descriptions, substitutions possible and the coverage of Indian staples like rotis, dhal, curries, pickles in this book.

I've used olive oil instead of regular oil and apple cider vinegar instead of  lemon juice. I also cooked just half a kilo of chops, since I was cooking for just the 2 of us. Since I was using a microwave oven to bake, I used plastic wrap instead of aluminium foil to trap the moisture inside. Other than this, I stayed true to the recipe even down to the 1/4 cup oil.

For my friends from Guwahati wondering how I could procure mutton chops  here? - I used Al Kabeer's frozen chops.

Prepping the Meat:
Clean, rinse and dry 1/2kg mutton chops, removing extra fat.
Marinate in a mixture of 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 1.5 tbsp salt for at least half an hour.
This reduces the smelll in the meat and also tenderises it.

After half an hour, drain the juices (they would have turned a bit cloudy - thats just a reaction of acid with protein), rinse and dry the chops.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Gujarati fresh masala
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 kg potatoes washed, peeled and cut into 1/2" wedges

Method:
Make a marinade with all the ingredients except the potatoes.

Apply 2/3rds of the marinade onto the prepped lamb chops and leave for at least 1-2 hours or overnight. Reserve the remaining marinade.

When ready to cook, prep the potatoes and mix them with the remaining 1/3 marinade and lay them flat in a single layer in a baking dish

Then layer the mutton chops on top of the potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Cover the pan with aluminium foil (in regular ovens) or 3 layers of plastic wrap for microwave ovens)
Roast for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Cover & roast for another 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Roast uncovered for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Roast uncovered for 10 minutes.
Thus total roasting time is 1 hour with 30 minutes on each side.
I also grilled the chops for 5 minutes to give a light golden tinge to the meat.

I served the chops with Rotis and Raita. It will go very well with garlic bread too.

Kitchen Essentials: Gujarati Fresh Masala

When reviewing Banu Hajratwala's - Gujarati Kitchen, I decided to cook Chaap Ne Bataka Roast - Roasted Lamb Chops with Potatoes. To make this, I needed 3 tbsp of Gujarati Fresh Masala. This recipe was also included in the book.

While the original recipe (page 45) makes 6 cups of masala that can be refrigerated for 6-8 weeks or frozen for longer, I wasn't sure whether I would be cooking that much Gujarati food to justify grinding such a large quantity.

However Ms Hajratwala had also conveniently included the quantities to make 3 tbsp of masala. Most of her recipes that require fresh masala, need 3 tbsp for a 2 person portion and 6 tbsp for 4 people.

Since I was making such a small quantity, I did not want to bring down my mixi (I have a really tiny kitchen here in Guwahati and there is no space to keep the rotimaker, mixi and other essentials on the kitchen work surface, so these are all stored in high up ladder accessed cupboards to be used only if absolutely essential) So I used my Thai mortar and pestle and it worked perfectly. The Thai Mortar and Pestle somehow manages to grind pastes much finer than any Indian mortar and pestle that I have used.

I substituted the oil in the fresh masala with olive oil and the lemon juice with  apple cider vinegar and it tasted wonderful, I see myself grinding this in larger quantities to use in other recipes too. It tastes lovely and is wonderful as a marinade for any kind of meat. I can use this as frequently as I use my Manglorean staple of meet mirsang.

For 3tbsp fresh masala, I ground together
5 garlic cloves (since my cloves were small)
2" ginger
8 fresh green chillies
1.5 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice

While I've added the oil and lemon juice in the picture above, before pounding, I always recommend adding wet ingredients last, after the masala is pounded, when pounding by hand - otherwise you will have to deal with a lot of splashing.

Book Review: Gujarati Kitchen

When I first received Bhanu Hajratwala's "Gujarati Kitchen", I was expecting a Vegetarian Recipe book. I  had, had a recent twitter exchange with a friend who wanted to know where she could find a Gujarati Restaurant in Mumbai, but it had to only serve Vegetarian food. I jokingly asked if there was any other kind. The only response that came up on twitter to this exchange was "perhaps Bohri Muslim Food" "Does Gujarati Parsi Cuisine count?"

So it was a wonderfully pleasant suprise to find that Bhanu Hajratwala's cookbook, covered Non Vegetarian food too. Reading the book, revealed that this was Gujarati Kshatriya cuisine. This is not to say that the book only covers non-vegetarian food. There are plenty of recipes for Gujarati staples like dhokla, rotli, daal dhokali, khandvi and theplas. The non-vegetarian dishes are made from goat, lamb, chicken and seafood.

Bhanu Hajratwala is a Gujarati who was born and brought up in the Fiji Islands (The first wave of Gujaratis migrated to the British Colony of Fiji Islands in the early 1900's) As often happens with early immigrants, the families held on to the sanctity of their original Gujarati recipes with minimal adaptation, other than forgetting recipes for which ingredients weren't available.

Ms. Hajratwala moved to the US when she got married and moved with her husband across New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Through all these moves, she enjoyed cooking for and feeding her family and friends while pursuing her own career as a physical therapist. Her friends soon started asking her to teach them how to cook Gujarati food and she readily agreed. This later expanded to conducting cooking classes and demonstrations and contributing recipes for community cook books.

The book begins with a list of ingredients commonly used in Gujarati cooking and other than ganthoda kokum, batrissu (a Gujarati spice mix), charoli and vaal they are easily available across India and in Indian stores abroad. A list of measurements follows which clearly gives liquid and weight substitutes for terms like 1 cup, 1tsp etc. Since the book uses US/Imperial measures throughout, Metric conversions are also provided in this section.


Gujarati cooking has a few spice blends specific to their cuisine like fresh masala & seafood masala and some commonly used ones like chai masala and garam masala. Understanding that many of the readers of this book may not be Gujarati or cook Gujarati food daily, Banu has also given exact directions to make smaller quantities (3 tbsp) of the fresh masalas that have shelf lives of 6-8 weeks in the fridge and this kind of thoughtfullness carries on through the book.

The recipes that follow are categorised in the standard format: starters, mains, breads, rice, kadhis & dals, sweets, chutneys & relishes, pickles, snacks for teatime, drinks and a special section for mukhwaas.

The recipes are very clear and easy to follow. Substitutes are detailed. For eg: in the preface, Banu explains that fresh or whole turmeric is much better and healthier than turmeric powder and then in all the recipes she gives quantities for both whole turmeric and powder for the convenience of those who have no access to, or the time to powder and grind whole turmeric. The recipe for Khandvi includes both the stove top cooking method and a microwave oven method.

Her husband, Bhupendra's support extends beyond the standard spousal variety. He has provided line drawings for this book.While in some cases they are purely decorative, in a lot of places they are illustrative. Like how to roll patra, fold a samosa and crimp a ghughara (gujiya).

Given that this was my first insight into non-vegetarian Gujarati cuisine, the first dish I decided to try from this book was the "Chaap ne Bataka Roast - Roasted Lamb Chops with Potatoes" Its difficult for me to follow recipes from a book to the letter, since I love to improvise, but since I was reviewing the book, I tried to stay true to the recipe. So I only substituted the oil with olive oil and lemon juice with apple cider vinegar, since I did not have enough limes/lemons on hand. The chops turned out very well, even though I served them with rotlis/phulkas rather than the recommended garlic bread and the recipe was very easy to follow.

Banu's instructions are precise and detailed, substitutes are very clear, notes on which food can be stored for how long and the ideal way to store them are also included. Her thoughtfullness towards the home cook  show through every recipe. Banu says she originally started measuring quantities and writing recipes to share them with her children who were leaving home for further education. This concern and detailed attention shows in every instruction.

The only thing you need to watch out for, when cooking from this book is that the cooking time specified, is purely cooking time. It does not include pre-prep time or marinating time. It assumes that you have the spice powders & blends ready and soaking and sprouting time isn't included either.


"Gujarati Kitchen - Family Recipes for the Global Palate" is thus an excellent pick for anyone who is a new cook or a comfortable cook, someone who wants to learn Gujarati cooking or even someone looking for a simple introduction to Indian cooking.

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Review: The Tulleeho! Book of Cocktails

I first started writing (non-academic prose & to someone else's specifications and guidelines) way back in 1999, for a new dotcom venture called Tulleeho!.com. Chanty (Vikram Achanta), Venky (P Venkatesh) and I soon bonded online over our fascination for alcohol and penchant for drinking. I even met up with them while on a business trip (for my full time job) to Delhi and made it to the Tulleeho! Wall of Shame - the only woman to do so :)

The years passed by, Krishna Nagaraj joined them, Venky got back into the corporate world, they hired more staff, the website changed from being a set of reviews of places to drink at, to include cocktail recipes, coverage of new launches of alcohol related products in India and an online shop for bartending accessories among other things. They moved offline into cocktail workshops, wine and whisky tasting sessions and  wine trails in India. I moved from India to the US and back, then to Egypt and Dubai before coming back again. In between, I attended their Cocktail workshops in Hyderabad, conducted by Shatbi Basu and kept bumping into them at the JLF and in Delhi. while staying updated via Tulleeho!.com and facebook.

I was very excited, when I heard that they had finally compiled the cocktail recipes on their website into a book and were due for launch just around the time, I was moving to Guwahati. I did not order the book off flipkart, because I was hoping to buy myself an autographed copy at a book launch while travelling to Delhi or Bombay. However, earlier last week, I was contacted by Blog Adda to review this book and I jumped at the opportunity. Scroll to the bottom of this post for details on how to join their book review program.

I had to wait longer than normal for the book to arrive, because the whole of Assam was closed for almost a week for the State Mourning and funeral of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika.The book came in the post yesterday and I eagerly tore it open to dive right in.

You can read this book like a regular book and start from page 1 and continue until the end or you can treat it like a cookbook and immediately jump to a recipe that catches your fancy. But its more than just a book of recipes, its a jewel of information regarding alcohol and all its attendant paraphernalia.

In the introduction, the authors say that they hope to make anyone who reads the book knowledgeable about alcohol, even if they have never taken a sip in their lives. I think they have succeded in this objective.

The Tulleeho! Book of Cocktails - instant karma, anarkali and other mouthwatering mixes starts with an introduction on different kinds of alcohol, barware, glassware, mixers, condiments and garnishes needed to stock a home bar. It then moves on to mixology - types of cocktails, bartending techniques, tips & tricks. There is a section in the middle which provides basic information about different liqueurs and other popular spirits. The bulk of the book is the recipes and the last few pages have valuable information, like where to shop for home bar requirements in the metros, alcohol calorie counter, hangover prevention and smart drinking.

The book is sponsored in part by Bacardi & Monin Syrups, so each get a few dedicated pages of cocktails revolving around their products in particular. Their logos also pop up across the book, but its easier to ignore than scroll bar ads on TV. However, their sponsorship also means that the reader only pays 395Rs (even less if you buy on flipkart or the Tulleeho website) for this bartending guide that is in full colour with an accompanying picture for each recipe, so its a great deal.

Grouped into different subsections depending on the primary alcoholic base (vodka, tequila, gin, rum, whiskey, brandy, beer, wine) each recipe includes its classification, the kind of glass that it should be served in, the skill level required to prepare it and the recipe. My favourite section most definitely is the dessert cocktails - cocktails that can be served instead of dessert. Most recipes also have a photo of what the finished product should ideally look like. There are also suggestions on which cocktails work best for particular occassions - holi, valentines day, monsoons, diwali and christmas.

The book has plenty of tips and trivia sprinkled across it, like how for the instant karma you can substitute 15ml Amaretto with 15ml almond syrup and up the vodka from 30 to 45ml. I especially loved the detailed information on tequila.

A lot of the recipes use fresh market produce - fruits and herbs.

The USP of this book is that almost all ingredients can be easily bought in India, of course some of them may be more reasonable if sourced from "duty free", but they are available in most well stocked stores too. There are a few recipes with Absinthe, Aquavit, Cachaca, Limoncello and Pisco which can only be bought from the countries of their origin. But these comprise hardly 5% of  the recipes on offer. The other difficult to source syrups/liqueurs come with good substitute options.

My other concern was that some of the recipes call for Monin purees. Monin syrups are easily available, but I've never come across Monin purees in a shop which makes me wonder if these products are only available to bartenders. (in case you didn't know, there are plenty of processed food products in India that are only available to bulk buyers) I'll need to check on that. However in the meantime, I'm sure home made purees will suffice and be fresher and healthier - the only problem is that they oxidise quickly.

Most of the recipes in the book are easy or moderate and can be fixed by anyone who knows how to pour stuff out of a bottle and shake or stir. A few recipes are categorised difficult and this usually means that some form of fire or heating is involved. So they are still quite easy to fix at home.

The recipes in this book are completely geared for the home bartender and is such a huge and welcome improvement from the imported cocktail books I've seen in bookstores here. Those imported books are normally really thick and huge, but once you start scanning the list of ingredients, you realise that you can barely try to make even 25% of them at home. Either the ingredients are unavailable in India or the techniques involved require much higher skill levels.

So go ahead, pick this one up, who knows the bartending bug may bite so hard, that you may find yourself registering for a flair bartending workshop with Tulleeho!
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Rating: 4.5/5

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