Archive

As a child, food writer and epicure Parvana Boga Noorani says she would sit on her nanny’s lap while the latter made chapattis. Later, living alone during her college days, she had to cook for herself and began to try out new recipes from women’s magazines. Her palate was further refined during 10 years of flying around the world as a cabin crew member with Air India. Enjoying every opportunity to try out new dishes, she would very often ask to meet the chef and see the kitchen. Later, she had a catering company and also worked with food writer and restaurant consultant Karen Anand, catering for parties and weddings.

The gourmet also wrote a fortnightly food column for Bombay Times. In 1996 she attended a course at the Cipriani Hotel in Venice and was fortunate to have studied under legendary celebrity chefs Nobu Matsuhisa and Marcella Hazan. In 2001 she co-authored a cookbook, Catwalk Cuisine, with Bangalore based choreographer and fashion stylist Prasad Bidapa. Some of the recipes she has shared here have appeared in Bombay Times and Catwalk Cuisine.

RAW PAPAYA SALAD

Serves 6

Raw papaya (4 cups, coarsely grated)

Garlic (3 cloves, chopped)

Small chillies (3, chopped)

Fish sauce (1 tbsp, optional)

Lemon or lime juice (2 tbsp)

Sugar (½ tsp)

Crushed peanuts (2 tbsp)

Freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Lettuce leaves

Tomato roses (for garnish)

Mix the grated papaya with the garlic, chillies, fish sauce (if using), lemon juice, sugar and crushed peanuts. Season with pepper to taste. Serve on a bed of lettuce garnished with tomato roses.

PASTA WITH FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Serves 6-8

Dried angel-hair or other fine long pasta (½ kg)

Ripe tomatoes (1½kg)

Garlic clove (1 large)

Fresh lime juice (2 tbsp)

Salt (1 tsp or to taste)

Sugar (1 tsp, optional)

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Fresh basil (½ cup, roughly torn)

Grated Parmesan cheese (to finish)

Extra virgin olive oil (to finish) 

Grate the garlic very finely and add to a bowl large enough to hold all the tomatoes.

Core and coarsely chop two-thirds of tomatoes and add to the bowl. Grate the remaining tomatoes on the large holes of a box grater and add to the bowl. Discard the skin or keep for another use. Toss pulp with chopped tomatoes, grated garlic, lime juice, salt, sugar (if using), and freshly ground pepper. Let it stand for at least 30 minutes until ready to use.

While tomatoes stand, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, until al denté, about two to four minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately add to tomato mixture, tossing to combine. 

Sprinkle with basil and dress with the olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese.

SPINACH AND MUSHROOM SFORMATA

Serves 4-6

Spinach (3 large bunches, trimmed and washed)

Button mushrooms (200 gm, cleaned and cut into large dice)

Onion (1 large, peeled and diced)

Milk (1½ cups)

Fresh cream (100 ml)

Eggs (3)

Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

Freshly grated nutmeg (to taste)

Cheddar cheese (3 tbsp, grated)

Olive oil (as required)

Butter to grease the dish

Blanch the spinach in boiling water until bright green, drain, chop roughly and set aside. Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the mushrooms until they start to release their liquid. Drain and set aside. In the same pan sauté the onions, adding more oil if necessary, until translucent. Add the spinach to the pan and continue sautéing until the water in the spinach dries up. Season to taste with salt, freshly ground black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.

Grease an ovenproof dish that will hold all the vegetables comfortably and spread the spinach and mushroom mixture evenly in the dish. Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top. Beat the eggs lightly, add the milk and cream and mix. Pour the egg, milk and cream mixture over the vegetables and cheese. Using a fork prick the vegetable mixture all over so that the custard seeps through all the gaps. Grate some fresh nutmeg on top and bake in an oven at 200ºC until the custard is set and the top is lightly browned. Serve hot or cold with a tomato and basil salad and crusty bread.

KUMAR’S PRAWN CURRY

To be ground for masala

Coconut (1, grated)

Whole jeera (1tsp)

Dhania seeds (2 tbsp)

Haldi powder (1 tsp)

Chilli powder (2 tsp or to taste)

Ginger (2” piece, scraped and chopped)

Garlic (6-8 large cloves)

Cashewnuts (a handful)

Onion (1 large, chopped)

Tomatoes (2, chopped)

Tamarind (walnut sized ball, soaked)

For the curry

Prawns (1kg, shelled and deveined)

Onion (1 medium, chopped fine)

Curry leaves (a sprig)

Salt (to taste)

Oil (to fry)

Set aside a little less than 1/4 of the grated coconut to grind with the masala. Make one cup thick milk and two cups of thin milk from the rest of the coconut and set both aside separately.

Grind the rest of the masala ingredients to a fine paste using water as necessary. Heat the oil in a vessel and fry the onions and curry leaves until the onions are a light pink. Add the masala and continue frying till it is cooked and the oil rises to the top. Add the thin coconut milk and let the gravy boil. Add water to make up to required consistency. Add salt to taste. Let the gravy come to a rolling boil and add prawns. As soon as the curry starts to boil again, turn off the flame and remove from the stove. Let the gravy stop simmering and add thick coconut milk. Do not boil once you have added the thick coconut milk. Serve hot with plain boiled rice.

ROASTED TARRAGON CHICKEN

Broiler chicken (1, skin intact)

Dried tarragon (about 2 tbsp) 

Garlic (8-10 large cloves, skins on)

Butter or olive oil

Pepper (freshly ground, to taste)

Salt (to taste)

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC. Mix together the salt and pepper and rub it all over and inside the chicken. Place the chicken in a roasting pan and drizzle over the olive oil or pat on the butter. Sprinkle the tarragon all over the top. Place a few garlic cloves inside the cavity of the chicken and sprinkle the rest around the pan. 

Put the roasting pan into the oven and let the chicken roast for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 150ºC and let it cook until the skin is a golden brown and the juices run clear. Take the pan out of the oven and remove the chicken to a warm platter. Keep the chicken warm. Spoon off the excess fat from the pan juices and discard. Scrape up the browned bits from the pan and mix well with the juices. Serve this as a sauce with the chicken. 

The cloves of garlic will have now converted themselves into soft, succulent morsels. Squeeze them out of their skins and savor them with the chicken or spread on toast.

  Photos generated by ChatGPT

KUAKSWE

Burmese meat curry with noodles

Serves 6

Coconuts (3, grated)

Onions (3, medium)

Freshly grated ginger (2 tbsp)

Dried shrimp paste (1tsp)

Red chilli powder (to taste)

Groundnut oil (2 tbsp)

Boneless mutton or chicken (1½  kg, cut into bite sized pieces, reserve the bones) 

(A mixture of mutton and pork is also quite delicious)

Gram (dalia) or chickpea flour (besan) (4 tbsp)

Thin egg noodles (500 g)

Salt (to taste)

Soak the grated coconut in hot water and extract three cups of thick milk. Soak again and extract a further three cups of thin coconut milk. Keep both these separate. Blend the onions, ginger, shrimp paste and chilli powder to a smooth paste using a tablespoon of oil if necessary. 

Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the blended ingredients for five minutes. Add in the bones, meat, salt and thin coconut milk. Cover and cook at a simmer until the meat is tender. Add a little hot water if the meat gets too dry. After the meat is cooked, remove and discard the bones and add the thick coconut milk. Stir constantly to prevent the coconut milk from separating. Mix the gram flour with a little water and add to the curry. Continue to cook, uncovered, for another five minutes. Make sure you have enough curry.

Just before serving, boil the noodles in a large saucepan of lightly salted water. When the noodles are cooked, drain them in a colander and run cold water over them to stop the cooking process. Drizzle with a little oil to prevent them from sticking together. Keep the noodles covered. When ready to serve, heat the curry and serve the noodles and curry separately with all the accompaniments separate in bowls.

Accompaniments:

•Finely chopped spring onions (green and white parts served separately)

•Finely sliced onions (fried crisp)

•Sliced garlic (fried brown)

•Fresh coriander leaves (chopped)

•Red chillies roasted on a tawa in a little oil (pounded)

•Crisp fried bits of noodles or sev

•Lemon wedges or lemon juice

•Chilli and garlic paste made with red chillies, garlic and a little oil

CLASSIC BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Vegetable oil (2 tbsp)

Full fat milk (250 ml)

Onion (1, chopped)

White wine (250 ml)

Celery, (3 sticks, chopped)

Tomatoes (500 g, cut, with their juice)

Carrots (4 medium, chopped)

Pasta (550-675 g)

Minced meat (350 g, with at least 20% fat)

Nutmeg (to taste) 

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for the table)

Salt (to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot, turn the heat to medium and sauté the onion until it becomes translucent. Add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about two minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well. 

Add the ground meat, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper.  Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well and cook until it has lost its raw red color.

Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating — about 1/8-teaspoon — of nutmeg and stir.

Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all the ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook uncovered for three hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, add 125 ml water whenever necessary and continue cooking. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

Toss with cooked, drained pasta and serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the side.

YOGURT DIP

Greek yogurt (1 container)

Thai sweet chilli sauce (to taste)

Garlic paste (a smidgen, optional)

Decant Greek yogurt into a bowl. Whisk until smooth, add sweet chilli sauce and garlic paste, if used. Whisk again. Taste and adjust flavors if necessary.

Serve with chips of choice and enjoy!

PEARS IN RED WINE

Pears (6, large and firm)

Red wine (500 ml, use a full bodied red wine)

Sugar (50 g or to taste)

Cinnamon (2 sticks)

Star anise (1, optional)

Cloves (2)

Vanilla (1 bean or a few drops of vanilla essence)

Arrowroot powder (1 heaped tbsp, optional)

Fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (500 g)

Peel the pears thinly but leave the stem intact. Slice off a small disk from the bottom of the pears so that they can stand upright. Lay the pears on their side in a large non-metallic casserole and pour over the red wine, sugar, vanilla (if using vanilla pod), cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Bring everything to a boil and then cover the casserole and simmer on a very low heat for about 35 minutes. After that turn the pears over in the liquid and continue to simmer for another half an hour. 

When the pears are cooked, carefully lift them out of the liquid and leave in a serving dish to cool. Remove the cinnamon sticks, cloves and vanilla pod from the liquid. If you are using vanilla essence, add it in at this stage. If using arrowroot, mix the arrowroot powder with a little cold water to form a smooth paste. Place the casserole with the liquid over a high flame and add the arrowroot paste stirring constantly with a balloon whisk. Bring to just simmering point by which time it will have thickened slightly. Remove from the heat and cool. Spoon the syrup over the pears to coat them well. If you do not wish to use arrowroot, bubble the liquid until reduced by half and pour over the pears. 

Chill in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap. Serve with the whipped cream or vanilla ice cream on the side.