Labour of love

These dudhi/ghia koftas is one of Calculus's favorite dishes and his mother makes it often. Its real hard work but awesome, specially when someone else has done all the hard work.


Dudhi-koftas (makes about 18-19 koftas, about the size of a small lemon)

Ingredients (for the gravy)
Cinnamon stick – a small piece
Cloves – 3-4
Elaichi = 3-4
Cashewnuts – 2-3
Ginger – a 2 inch piece (roughly) finely cut
Garlic – 2-3 pods
Tomatoes – 2 finely chopped
Onions – 1 medium size finely chopped
Dhania powder, garam masala and chilli powder



Ingredients (for the koftas)
Besan or gram flour – 2 tablespoons
Breadcrumbs to coat the koftas
2 dudhis - grated

For the koftas

1. Grate the dudhis and squeeze to remove all water. Keep this water aside to use while making rotis. You have to squeeze more than once to remove all the water.
2. Take a pan and roast the grated dudhi without oil to remove any water which may remain.
3. Make small lemon sized balls of the dudhi.
4. Mix the besan in water with enough water to make it of a creamy consistency. Ensure that there are no lumps in the besan while doing this.
5. Dip the lemon-sized balls of dudhi in the besan and coat with a breadcrumb layer.
6. Deep fry these in oil and keep aside. If there is excess water in the dudhi balls, they will disintegrate, so it is important to remove all traces of water.



For the gravy
1. In a pan, add cinnamon, elaichi, cloves and fry lightly in oil (a tablespoon). Once the spices give out their aroma, add the finely chopped ginger and garlic. Roast till golden brown.
2. Add the chopped onions. Roast till golden brown.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and keep stirring till oil separates from the tomatoes.
4. Cool and grind in mixer till it is a smooth paste.
5. In a pan, add some oil and add this ground paste. Add chilli powder, dhania powder and some garam masala.
6. Add water (about a mug) and let it boil nicely.
7. Add salt to taste and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.
8. Add koftas and let it boil for about a couple of minutes.
9. Garnish with coriander and serve hot with puris or chapatis.

Caraway

When we moved to South Wales (in the UK) about 8 years ago, we did not have a proper Indian restaurant in the city that we lived. We had loads of restaurants of the Bangladeshi/Nepali/Pakistani kind but none that were really Indian. Being new to the country and not really knowing so much about the existence of these different kinds of cuisines being passed off as Indian, we tried a couple of them, only to be disappointed each time. We used to be surprised at the terminology they used too on their menu – ‘balti’ for instance. I had never heard that word being used in the context of cooking before, for instance.

Soon we learnt from our experiences though and eventually stopped going out to these places. The mind does not learn though and the cravings for different things Indian never stopped. So we had to innovate and do the next best thing – learn to make them ourselves. So I learned to make at least some of the dishes that I missed most – ragda patties, idlis, vadas. (I used to cheat for vadas and drive some 30 miles to my uncle’s to eat some great medu vadas – he makes them really really well and any day better than any restaurant !). Eventually, even the suggestion of going out to eat at an Indian restaurant was enough to drive me mad and Calculus knew better than to suggest it. On the few occasions we went out to these places with friends (who would insist on eating out at these places and then complain about them), I would moan and whine to Calculus.

This attitude of avoiding Indian restaurants has changed considerably since we moved to London, for obvious reasons. One of my favourite Indian restaurants in London is the Punjab – in Covent Garden. After the Indian restaurants in Cardiff, this was a welcome change. The restaurant has been in existence for a very long time and the décor is quite outdated but nice and they have some lovely pictures on their walls. The food has a home-cooked feel to it, is simple and flavourful. The owner is very friendly and mingles around, talking shuddh Hindi, which is always a pleasure to hear.

So when I read about Caraway, I was vaguely interested to try it out because it’s closer to home than the Punjab is and I could drive to Carway as opposed to getting the tube to get to Punjab (which in itself is a reason for me) and most importantly, Caraway have rumali roti !!!. So we decided to try the restaurant last night and came away, fully agreeing with 30in2005. The food is wonderful, authentic Delhi food and incredibly well-cooked. We had vegetable Manchurian, malai kofta hariyali, onion kulchas, rumali roti and some dahi bhalle for starters. The dahi bhalle wasn’t great, but was nice. The vegetable Manchurian was awesome – I am definitely going back there for that. I have to say that I was disappointed with the rumali roti though. I was expecting them to be like what they are in India – but this seemed like a really big thin chapatti to me rather than a rumali roti. Their onion kulchas were great though. This place is definitely a find with the food too far better than Punjab !! The only drawback though is finding parking around there is quite difficult. We had to park a few streets away and walk, which with a baby is not ideal but we can live with that.

The little one behaved admirably in the restaurant and was happy with us giving her pieces of rumali roti and onion kulchas that we were having. She kept happily calling out to the waiters with ‘aa aa’ or signaling to them and they were only too happy to keep her amused by talking and playing with her. On the way home though, we seemed to have brought home a different child ! She started crying (for no apparent reason, at least to us!) the minute we strapped her on her car seat and kept going at it pretty much all the way home. I finally had to break the law and keep her on my lap, yet she would not stop wailing. I tried everything that I could think of – sing to her, talk to her, play with her but to no avail. I am ashamed to admit this but I was so so annoyed with her then and instead of even trying to console her any more, I just ignored her. Calculus could tell that I was irritated with her and kept talking to her while he was driving, but that did not help either. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, we got home and she stopped crying just like that. The strange thing is we still don’t really know what bothered her. Once we were home though, she forgot all about it and carried on playing happily. I, on the other hand, was sulking that she had been so annoying. I know, I know I am a bad mother to probably even feel this way, but it’s the reality. She has been a fairly good baby so far and I have been just been spoilt I think. Yet it made me realize how much more patient ( I like to think I already am patient) I need to get to deal with her yet-to-begin temper tantrums.