Housekeeping in the Tropics

Conducted by “Dorothea"

Asia’s Supreme Dish

The Art of Curry Making,

as Practised in India

Described by an Anglo-Indian 'T'O the East belongs the credit of pro- A ducing that mysterious dish, a per fect curry; yet everything that goes to the production of this distinctive food is grown in the British Empire—spices and condiments from British West Indies, India, Ceylon, Sierra Leone, and the United Kingdom; rice from Burma and

Bengal; and flavouring vegetables, coco nut, mangoes, tamarinds, etc., from all parts.

In countries where water is not safe unless boiled or filtered, currying food is possibly an unconscious hygienic insti tution, since many of the spices that are used in curry preparations are slightly antiseptic in nature; also, the method of cooking is especially well suited to meat that has to be eaten soon after it is killed, as is the case in India and tropical countries.

To the average housewife the finest secrets of a curry dish are rarely re vealed; to her, often, it means only one thing—a quick means of using up the re mains of a cold joint, and the net result

is frequently a very hot and quite un appetising concoction. Curry, however, is not simply pieces of meat stewed in a gravy thickened with curry powder and flour.

As a matter of fact, although the Mus sulman indulges in meat, game, fish, and fowl, the strict Hindu (who is a past master in the art of currymaking) is for bidden by his religion to partake of flesh; yet with the aid of ghee (clarified butter), vegetables, fruits, milk, spices, pickles, and the simplest cooking utensils, he manages to turn out curry dishes that few English cooks (even when experi enced) could approach. His culinary ap paratus frequently consists of a simple clay fireplace, a flat stone for grinding spices, etc., a pestle and mortar, an earth enware dish, a vegetable-cutter and knife, and the ingredients. But, with these simple implements, there are no limits to native ingenuity in preparing a curry.

True, the native has one advantage over the English cook at home, in that he is able to use all his ingredients in a green state, and is therefore able to vary the proportions of spices and condiments as he thinks fit—adding here a little more coriander seeds, there another pinch of ginger, and so on. If the British house wife at home desires, however, she, too, can vary her proportions of spices and condiments, since all are to be procured either in the grocery department of large stores, or among the drugs. Many house wives who have lived out East do mix their own curry powders and pastes in this way.

There are many brands of curry powders on the market and each is dif ferent in flavour. To many persons pastes are preferable to powders; this is largely a matter for individual taste.

Currying should not be looked upon purely as a means of reheating foods in a tasty way; that it does serve this pur pose is admitted, but no curry dish pre pared with cooked meat has the same flavour as one made with raw flesh, un cooked fish, or vegetables, etc. And this is one of the secrets of the Oriental dish.

It is always prepared with fresh food.

Generally speaking, white meats, poul try and fish, make better curry dishes than red meats; and the fruit and vege table curries are equally excellent if well prepared.

Here is a recipe for mixing a real In dian curry powder, given in parts because Indian weights do not agree with ours.

Suppose 120 parts, of which coriander seed would be half (say |lb.): Coriander seeds, 60 parts; tumeric, 3 parts; cummin, 3 parts; fenugreek, 3 parts; mustard-seed, 6 parts; dried ginger, 6 parts; black pepper, 3 parts; dried chillies, 6 parts; poppy seeds, 6 parts; garlic, 6 parts; cardamons, 6 pp,rts; cinnamon.

Clean, dry, pound, and sift these in gredients and mix well together, then put into bottles and cork tightly. One table spoonful is sufficient for a chicken curry.

Although these ingredients may be varied in proportion, the ratio of coriander seeds and tumeric should be well noted, as these are highly important in all curry powder preparations.