Indian is my favourite food but I
never cook it because of the complexity and the numerous ingredients involved. The last time I tried it cost me about £150
and it wisnae very good. So, rather than
do that I go to Nakodar where I am going on Wednesday for a mini book signing
for my new Book; Available on Amazon.
The Mental Pause -Memoirs of a Gorbal's Girl
Recently though, I met a lovely man
called Kartik from Chettinad in Southern India who has a new concept which helps
guide us philistines through the long and spicy road of curry making.
I tried his recipe today and it tastes
so delicious and authentic that Jonnie Nakodar better watch out because I might
be opening near him soon!
http://www.nakodargrill.com
Chettinad – a region in South India
named after the chettiars – who are seafarers trading spices and other produce
from south India. Due to their large links with south east Asia – they
bought in many spices from these parts of the world and blended in their
cooking. Traditional Chettinad cooking is very rich and use as many as 15-20
different spice varieties carefully blended to give an aromatic smell and a
taste which you will never forget.
Chettinad cuisine is very rich in
spices and flavour but mild in hotness when compared to other Indian cuisine.
Cooking Chettinad curry is very
difficult even for a trained Indian chef, to make life easier Katrick and his
family are blending spices in unique order so even an amateur can cook this
beautiful curry without compromising its taste and aroma.
Mixing spices in one go is hellish
when cooking – they don’t mix like you think. Adding different spices at
different stages ensures the rich taste and seals all its aroma, that’s exactly
what they do – in every box there will be 3-5 spice mix sachets – all you have
to do is add these sachets to your curry when told and in the end, you will
make a curry that is better than most of your local Indian restaurant curries.
I swear to the b’Jesus that if I
can do it then anyone can!
They source spices from deep forest
in the Western Ghats of southern India. Almost All of their spices are grown in
deep forest by local tribes who only natural methods and do not use any
chemicals.
Since they are tribes they don’t
disturb the wild in any case and have direct contact with them ensuring a fair
play during the trade creating jobs and sustain livelihood for the local
community.
By doing this the aim to stop the
young from being pulled into poaching and other illegal activities. Since these
spices are wild and not processed in industry they retain all the essential
oils keeping the flavour of your curry as rich as possible. They also employ
economically local women who use manual and traditional methods to grind these
spices.
If anyone is interested in
obtaining packs or more in formation about this fabulous concept you can contact
Kartick at:
Or we can arrange a cooking evening
at mine and have a Chat ‘n That!
In the meantime, I’m trying to get
him to move in with me and help me start my herb garden as soon as possible. The smell in my wee hoose as I am writing
this makes me think I’m there in the forrest.
I can actually smell vetiver and bark.
I've just eaten the curry and I thought I had been transported to my favourite Indian Grill in Dennistoun.
See you the next time!
Mx
