We decided to cook an Indian Dinner. Bea had been ailing and this was the first night she was able to join us in quite a while. The first course was an easy choice.
We have made
Grandmother's Cauliflower with Cheese many times. It is from Madhur Jaffrey's memoir:
Climbing the Mango Trees.
It is absolutely delicious. If you don't like cauliflower this is the dish you should make!
For the mail course Cathy found a very unusual to us Indian recipe. She calls it:
Maria Fernanda Sousa's Arroz de Pato of Duck Risotto. The recipe is from another cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey:
Flavors of India. The recipe is from Goa. Goa is on the Arabian Sea on the West Coast of India and was colonized by Portugal. It is the only part of India that is Catholic. It has beaches like Hawaii and in the 60's it is where a lot of hippies hung out. (Pot is legal in India). The recipe is very much like an Italian Risotto or Spanish Paella. We made it with basmati rice. It made the dish very light. It was delicious. We took the leftovers and sauted it adding egg, soy sauce and copped scallions and made a great fried rice! A very multicultural dish!
Grandmother’s Cauliflower With Cheese (Vali Gobi)
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SERVES 4-6
I don't have my grandmother's exact recipe. I never asked her, being too young at the time to know better. But the recipe here is a good approximation (as Jimmy Durante, the American come¬dian, used to say, "Da nose knows") and utterly delicious.
Do not use jalapeno or serrano chilies for Indian dishes. They have the wrong texture and flavor. Green bird's-eye chilies or any long, slim, thin-skinned variety, such as cayenne, are ideal. If you can't find them, use ½ - 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper instead of 1/4 teaspoon.
2 tablespoons olive or other vegetable oil
1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
1 1/2 pounds (8 cups) medium-sized
cauliflower florets, cut so each floret has a stem
1 3/4 cups grated fresh tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons heavy cream
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated to a pulp on the finest part of a grater or Microplane
2 fresh hot green chilies, cut into slim rounds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/4 cup coarsely grated sharp Cheddar cheese
Preheat the oven to 45o°F.
Pour the oil into a large, preferably nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, put in the cumin seeds. Let them sizzle for 10 seconds. Add the cauliflower florets, and stir them around for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes, ginger, chilies, cayenne, turmeric, ground coriander, and salt. Stir to mix. Stir and cook for 5 - 6 minutes, or until the tomatoes are almost absorbed and the cauliflower is almost done. Add the cilantro and mix it in.
Put the contents of the pan into an ovenproof dish about 8 inches square, add the cream, mix, and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Put in the top third of the oven and bake for 10-12 min¬utes, or until the cheese has melted and developed a few light brown spots. Serve hot. For dessert we Ice Cream with
Don PX 1971 poured over it!
Maria Fernanda Sousa's Arroz de Pato - Duck Risotto
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Where there is a lot of fresh water, there are, invariably, ducks. Goa, apart from its coastal sea, has rivers, ponds and, perhaps most important, paddy fields where ducks can splash and feed. The local populace feels free to turn them into vindaloos and risottos.
This is what Maria Fernanda, an aristocratic Goan with much Portuguese blood, serves on Christmas Day, along with a dozen other dishes that come in a steady stream, starting off with a soup of potatoes and dill called Caldo Verde. Many of the dishes, such as this one and the soup, are not at all "spicy." Instead, they barken back to Maria Fernanda's Portuguese connection, to southern Europe and gentle seasonings such as garlic and onion and tomatoes.
Rice risottos, known as arroz refogado, are really crosses between pilafs and risottos and may be made with meat, peas, saffron or local sausages. This "arroz" requires basmati rice and a nice duck. On advising us on which kind of duck to buy, Maria Fernanda said firmly, "Make sure that it is a nice, plump, local duck. I do not want one that has walked all the way from Kerala, eating fish from every paddy field along the way!" It is best to make the stock a day in advance as it can then be refrigerated and skimmed of surface fat.
This rice dish may be eaten as a meal by itself, with a salad. It is a perfect lunch or light supper. You could also serve it as part of a grand banquet.
FOR THE STOCK: YOU ALSO NEED:
Freshly ground black
1 (41/2 Ib) duck
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and halved
2—3 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 celery stalk, cut into 3 pieces
You Also Need
3 cups basmati rice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium-sized onions, peeled and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A generous pinch of sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 large pork sausages (sweet Italian, Spanish chorizos or Portuguese chouricos),
boiled, covered, in a littlewater until cooked through and cut into 1/2 inch slices
15-20 black olives
Put the duck and all the other ingredients for the stock in a large pan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 1 hour, or until the duck is very tender. Strain and save the stock. Save the duck. When the stock has cooled, cover and refrigerate it.
When the duck is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat. Cut the meat into neat pieces (or pull it into coarse shreds). Set aside the meat pieces with skin.
Skim off any fat from the stock. It should measure 4 cups. If there is more, reduce it over high heat. If less, add water.
Meanwhile, wash the rice in several changes of water and then soak in water to cover for 30 minutes. Drain and leave in the strainer.
Heat the oil in a heavy, wide, preferably non-stick pan over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the onions. Stir and fry until the onions are lightly browned. Put in the garlic
and tomatoes, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir and fry until the tomatoes are soft and reduced. Put in the drained rice. Stir it gently for 2-3 minutes, making sure not to break the grains. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the lemon juice and cover tightly. Turn the heat to very low and cook for 25 minutes or until the rice is cooked through. Do not uncover the pan during this period.
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F (In an ovenproof dish, put a layer of rice, then a layer of duck meat without skin. Continue this until all the lean duck meat is used up. End with a layer of rice. For the top layer, put some pieces of duck meat with skin and the sliced sausages in a neat design. Cover the rice entirely. Bake for 10-15 minutes until heated through and browned lightly at the top. Scatter the olives over the top and serve.
Serves 6 - 8
