Introducing India Menus

At Baylis House Hotel, Nr Slough, Berkshire

Dinner - Friday 14th January 2005

Six Course North Indian and Balti Banquet

First Course

Popadom Basket served with The Chutney Daba
Raita
natural yoghurt mixed with cucumber matchsticks and Pat’s freshly ground Garam Masala.
Cachumber Salad
finely chopped onion, tomato, cucumber and peppers combined with a handful of coriander leaves.
Tomato Chutney
home-made, sweet and spicy, ripe tomatoes, simmered with white sugar, spirit vinegar, minced garlic, chilli powder, nigella seeds and a fresh bay leaf.
Imli and Carrot
tamarind purée, sweetened with palm sugar, spiced with garam masala, combined with chopped carrot.
Coconut Chutney
home-made, grated coconut fried with mustard seed, fresh curry leaves and coconut milk powder.
Hot Mixed Pickle
lime, lemon, carrot, aubergine and mango, pickled and mixed.
Podina
home-made, ground fresh coriander and mint leaves, coconut and chilli.

Second Course

The Indian Platter - served cold
Balti Kampono (Pakistani Kashmir)
Smoked lightly spiced haddock
Summer curing of fish has been practised for thousands of years in regions where the winters make access to fish impossible. The Balti people are no exception in their mountainous regions. Scottish smoked haddock (Finnon Haddies) serves supremely. Apart from that the recipe is traditional. Garlic and onions are caramelised, with balti spices to which milk and cream is added. The fish is then simmered until cooked. It is then cooled.
Moong Chana Salat
A salad of assorted home-sprouted lentils, eg: green moong, fenugreek, black urid, etc (which take 7 days to sprout), cherry tomatoes, onion, cubed mango and melon, cracked black peppercorns and fresh coriander leaves, tossed in a dressing of Goan toddy vinegar, olive oil and ground roasted fennel seeds.
Served with crispy Naan Melba Toast

Third Course

Dopiaza Duck (Moghul)
‘Do’ means ‘two’, Piaza, ‘onions’. The dish gets its name because a double batch of onions appear in the cooking, one in the initial fry, the other, later in the cooking, the caramelisation of which results in a savoury but slightly sweet dish. Originating in Persia, it was a Moghul favourite. A 1590 book describing court life, says that it is ‘a meat dish cooked with ghee, spices, yoghurt and a lot of onion’. This is the way they cooked it then, except peacock was the subject. Sorry - no chance!
Served with Lachadar Paratha

Fourth Course - Main Course

Murgh Makanwalla (North India)
Chunky chicken breast marinated in red tandoori marinade then oven-baked and simmered in a tomato-based creamy sauce. Yes it’s evolved into Chicken Tikka Masala, but it started in India as a subtle Moghul dish, and here’s the original method.
Balti Sabzi Masala (Pakistan)
Mushroom, sweetcorn, spinach and capsicum pepper, simmered in an aromatic, herbal, balti curry gravy.
Aloo Kala Chana Pullao Rice (Bengal)
Tiny potato cubes, black chickpeas, saffron and aromatic spices are fried with basmati rice.

Fifth Course

Gajjar Halva (Gujarat) Sweet Carrot Pudding
Made from jaggery (palm sugar) and vegetables or fruit, Halva is usually served cold in small squares. Here we serve it hot, garnished with pistachio and with creme fraishe.

Sixth Course

Chiu’s freshly ground coffee beans or tea served with Malai Barfi (Indian Fudge)

Plus: Available on request for those who like it hot.

Fresh Green Chilli Chutney ~ Home-made, ground fresh green chilli, in vinegar, medium hot.
Naga Chilli Pickle ~ A lethally hot pickle made from incendiary Naga chillies.
Hot gravy ~ Can be supplied if you advise Pat before the meal that you want it.

The above is your Introducing Indian Friday dinner Banquet

Lunch ~ Saturday 15th January 2005

Pat’s Special Bombay Mix

Stuffed Glazed Tandoori Quail
Tandoori-marinated boned quail, stuffed with spicy rice, baked and glazed with a sweet sauce, made from Worcestershire sauce and honey.

Moghul Raan
Emperor Jehangir’s special. Leg of lamb, seeped in an aromatic Kashmiri marinade made from yoghurt and garam masala spices, slowly roasted until it is tender and falls off the bone.
Served with Garlic Naan Bread Rolls
Leavened bread flavoured with slices of fresh garlic, kalonji, basted with butter ghee and baked.

Lemon Rice
From Southern India, basmati rice, fried in mustard oil with mustard seeds, fresh curry leaves, grated coconut, turmeric for colour, whole cashew nuts and squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

Served with Rice, Mixed Salad, Raitha, Chutneys and Pickles from The Daba Tray

Dinner - Saturday 15th January 2005

Canapes Served from 7.45pm:
Katori Murghi Garam Masala ~ Chicken Liver kebabs on mini popadoms.
(Silky-textured, delicately spiced, paté -like kebabs)
and Kaju Badan ~ Devilled Chilli Cashew Nuts.

First Course

Second Course

Patrani Machli (Bombay)
A Parsee dish. A filleted white fish, such as pomfret or cod is coated with a ground green paste made from fresh coriander, mint, garlic and coconut. It is wrapped in a banana leaf and baked.

Third Course

Rasam (South India)
A light, tangy, peppery, sour-tasting consommé. Kerela’s national dish.
Mustard, cummin and sesame seed, turmeric, dried red chilli garlic, moong dhal, coconut and onion are stir-fried. Water is added and simmered gently with tamarind, fresh green pepper corns, fresh curry leaves, and further (fresh) chillies. This morning you met the long and thin member of the gourd family: seenai (drumstick). Its ribbed tough outer casing contains soft juicy tasty flesh. It traditionally appears in Rasam. To eat it, halve it and suck the flesh. Discard the inedible casing.

Fourth Course - Main Course

Shahi Gosht Korma (North India)
Classic Lamb Korma
Real Korma (not the curry house pastiche), evolved at the time of the Moghuls as the court favourite. Korma means ‘cooking with ghee and minimal water’. Garlic, ginger and onion are first caramelised. Then lamb leg, (cut as in India, on the bone for maximum flavour) and marinated in yoghurt, is slow-cooked, allowing the aromatics of bay leaf, cardamom, clove, cassia and saffron to exude. Pepper adds a touch of piquancy, whilst cream and ground almond create a rich finish.
Avial (Malabar)
Mixed Exotic Vegetables
The Malabar coast stretches for hundreds of miles down much of south western India, from Goa to cape Cormorin, India’s southern most tip. It is known for supremely good vegetable dishes. Avial, known as the ‘Malabar Masterpiece’, is perhaps the area’s signature dish. This truly authentic recipe must contain mustard seed and curry leaves, yoghurt, sour green mango, coconut milk and traditional vegetables. Here we include baby aubergine, plantain, pumpkin, and snake gourd.
Sag Paneer Kitchri
Lentils combined with rice, a hint of spinach and the Paneer (Indian cheese) we made this morning.

Fifth Course

Deep-fried Kulfi Ice cream
The modern Indian version of baked Alaska. Kulfi is wrapped in filo pastry then deep-fried See how tomorrow!

Sixth Course

Chiu’s freshly ground coffee beans or tea served with fresh dates stuffed with Pistachio

Plus: Available on request for those who like it hot.

Lunch - Sunday 16th January 2005

Pat’s Special Bombay Mix

Green Chicken Tikka
Chunks of chicken breast marinated in a garlic and herb green marinade, oven-baked.

Kaleji Maaval Kebab
Chopped lamb and chicken liver, combined and quickly stir-fried in a spicy oil, coloured red with alkanet root.

Jeera King Prawns
King prawns briskly stir-fried in butter, spiced only with cummin seeds.

Murgh Kebab
Chicken breast, finely minced with onion, garlic, coriander leaves, mint leaves and spices, shaped into kebabs and oven cooked.

Served with Rice, Mixed Salad, Raitha, Chutneys and Pickles from The Daba Tray