Quick Indian Cooking

So what does it feel like being back at work?

Wonderful. I bought a new pair of four-inchers and the shortest tulip dress I could find.

Hello intellectual emancipation.

Not that I didn’t make the best possible use of maternity leave. I researched the purchase of Mini Basu’s every toy, wardrobe essentials, equipment with the fervour usually reserved for groundbreaking client reports. I shook in my shoe boots as I read the latest baby management techniques. For the third time over. Mostly, I bonded with the little fiend. Wooden spoons, I am proud to report, are her favourite kitchen gadgets.

Six month’s later, I was tripping over myself to get back into the real world. Heartless me! It’s clearly okay to be asked why I don’t want to spend more time at home with mini Basu. It’s clearly not okay to wonder why one would want to embrace soiled nappies instead of a well-deserved promotion. Or am I being unreasonable?

It’s not easy. Racing home to see mini Basu, feeling guilty most of the time, about mostly everything. Still, I think I’m lucky to live in a world where I can make the choice.

I choose rushing around. And moist Aloo Keema, or lean mincement with potatoes, tucked into a pitta bread. Something different to an every day spag bol supper.
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We had an early burst of summer sunshine. I was ready with the accessory of the season – a short white jumpsuit complete with brass buttons acquired brand new on eBay.

All blingtastic, I was going to attend the lunchtime launch of Spooning with Rosie, my friend Rosie Lovell’s book. The lovely Rosie runs a deli cafe in trendy Brixton. Vintage dresses and unshaven faces were going to rub shoulders amidst mounds of quality cheese, loafs of bread and stacks of her cupcakes.

The anticipation was immense as I dressed mini Basu in a co-ordinated romper. Rosie’s cookbook is a sensational tome brimming with eclectic recipes that nod to London’s vibrant cafe culture. That aside it featured my Bhapa Doi Bengali cheesecake recipe with a mention of yours truly.

Several glasses of wine and hours of mingling later, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into a semi-complicated recipe that matched the dizzying heights I had reached. It was going to be Kofta Curry, soft spicy meatballs in a tomato base.

I mixed the Kofta or meatballs before going to bed. Cooked the dish the following day. Scooped the finished lot into a bowl. Just in time for my hungry dad’s arrival. This experienced cook was not going to be easy to please. “So how is it”, I asked, waiting for the lavish praise.

“Delicious”, he replied. And just as I was about to mutter a thanks, he added: “You could have cooked the masala a bit more.”

Nothing like family to keep you grounded. Here’s the perfected recipe for when you want to show off. Best served with a pinch of humility.

PS = I made this with beef mince but you could just as easily substitute it with lamb.
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Shami kebabs are nibbles just made for party snacking. And as it’s that time of the year, when we ditch our size zero diets and eat like pigs on speed what better than a super easy, super moreish kebab to tempt our overactive tastebuds?

I learnt how to make these on my recent trip to India. My friend Alka who hates cooking made these for me, which is really saying something. I then got the recipe off my mum’s red-lipstick and kaftan-wearing, chain-smoking friend Litu mashi over a cup of tea and three samosas. Size zero diet has not been going well for a while now…

Shami kebabs are from that staple house of Indian cooking known as Mughlai food. Handed down from the Moghal Emperors who ruled India yonks ago, it is a rich and luxurious style of muslim cooking ever-popular in India.

My recipe made about 12, which hubby and I went through in seconds. The best thing about these is that you can make them in advance and reheat in a microwave when ready to serve. Always have them hot though.

250gms lean beef or chicken mince
Quarter cup chana lentils, soaked in cold water
Half tsp turmeric
Quarter tsp chilli powder
Half tsp garam masala
1 onion, chopped fine
1″ ginger, chopped roughly
1 large bay leaf
1″ cinnamon
3 cloves
3 cardamoms
1 green chilli
3 tsp flavourless oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup hot water
Salt to taste

Soak the chana dhal for at least an hour before you start cooking. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil, and fry the onions, then ginger and all the whole spices (bay leaf, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon).

When the onion starts going translucent, add the mincemeat, chana dhal and all the other masalas and the chopped green chilli, and stir viciously until the meat is brown all over.

Now add the water and boil until the chana is cooked (you will know when it’s soft and squidgy to taste) and the water completely evaporates.

Leave the mixture to cool slightly. Then add salt to taste and grind it in a food processor. Don’t worry if a few pieces of chana dhal are whole, this will only add character to the kebabs.

Now take meatball size amounts and shape into flat discs. Heat the remaining two teaspoons of oil. Then dip each side of the kebabs in the beaten egg and shallow fry in batches until golden brown on either side.

These are great with mint chutney and tomato ketchup.