Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Dastarkhwan e Awadh & Itr-tempered ghee

The cookbook mentioned (Dastarkhwan e Awadh), can be obtained through the publisher :
Harper Collins (INDIA) Private Limited,7/16 Ansari Road, Daryaganj,NEW DELHI-110 002. INDIATel. 91-11-3278586
http://www.harpercollinsindia.com/cookery.htm

One picky little detail, which while I sneer at it I will nevertheless have to put to the test, is the tempering of ghee with itr - adding a spoonfull or two of kewra jal (pandanus or screwpine water) to warm (not hot) ghee, and simmering off the water content, leaving some kind of trace behind in the clarified grease.
This could probably also be done with mayet e zahar (orange-blossom water) or mayet e warda (rosewater), which are also used in Muslim cuisine, particularly Persian (which has been an influence on Awadhi cooking) and North-African (from Misr el Qahira all the way to Dar el Beid, el maghreb el aqsa).

Some cooks swear by it; I have my doubts. But I budget for culinary experimentation.

Which reminds me, I'll have to make Merouzia (lamb chunks in a honey and raisin sauce, with the usual aromatic spices) sometime soon - the idea still intrigues. One could make it as well with olive oil as with butter, I suppose.

1 comment:

The back of the hill said...

KINDLY NOTE: the author of the Dastarkhwan e Awadh, R. K. Saxena, has a website here: http://rajksaxena.blogspot.in/.


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