Home Cooked

by Food Diva -Vanesha Palani...Sharing her Love of Food & Travel

For all of you wonderful people that read my first blog, I hinted that I was going to talk about stereotypes. I’m of Indian descent and grew up in Durban, South Africa. For those of you not familiar with Durban, it has the largest concentration of Indians outside of India. Indians came to South Africa more than a 150 years ago and even after all this time, the culture, fashion, cuisine and even the way we speak, is strongly influenced by India.



The typical “Durban Curry” is not creamy, but rather a spicy and pungent curry that is full of flavor. When cooked well is not overpowering, but your taste buds will definitely take a hit. The Durban mutton curry is the most famous curry but the Breyani is also a close contender and definitely my favorite.
Growing up in Durban in an Indian community meant that a lot of my cooking is influenced by this cuisine. Indian cuisine has helped me gain an appreciation for spices, both the complexity as well as the subtlety when you get the blend correct for what you’re cooking. Indian spices are found worldwide and influence many cuisines and this led to my curiosity of other cuisines.

So, what’s the thing about stereotypes? Every time someone meets me and finds out I like cooking they ask me for a curry or Breyani!  Yes people I’m Indian, but that doesn’t mean I only cook Indian food! This applies to people I work with, my neighbors and recently, random strangers who I meet on my travels.
Don’t get me wrong I love a good curry but being Indian doesn’t mean I only cook Indian food. I even entered Come Dine With Me and I think the guy who interviewed me was disappointed when I told him I was cooking Italian.

A few things I hate when I cook curry: the spices make me sneeze, my entire house smells spicy, my hair smells of curry …but with all the bad there’s good and with a curry there’s lots of good…. actually its always great !

A curry is the best cure for a hangover, any sinus problems and the flu…the hotter the better. My mom’s cure for any nasal issues is a head blowing curry.  When I was growing up my mom would always cook a curry wherever we went. I thought she was crazy…. but guess what…I’ve become my mom. I even cooked a prawn curry in Mozambique! No matter where I travel to and no matter how good the food is in that country, a curry is the first thing I want to eat when I’m back home. To me it’s the original comfort food…if you can believe it…it’s better than the best buttery mash you could have.

The reason I’ve decided to write about the Breyani is the next time someone asks me to cook Indian food, I can refer them here and they can do it themselves in a few easy steps.
The Breyani can be a long and tedious process, however, my style of cooking is fast and simple. So I have a really quick Breyani with lots of short cuts to help you get one of the tastiest meals with minimal fuss.

• 1kg of lamb. Leg of lamb is best.
• 500ml Greek yogurt. Traditionally we use Maas but yoghurt is a healthier option.
• 1 tomato chopped finely
• 4 green chilies sliced
• curry leaves
• 1tbsp curry powder. Both the curry powder and the chilies can be varied depending on the pungency of the curry. This quantity will be for a medium heat Breyani.
• Breyani spice mix 2 tbsp. this is a cheat way. I use the ground spice mix that you can find at any good spice shop. It’s much better than using whole spices, which are not pleasant if you bite into them.
• Salt

Mix all together and marinade overnight.

• 1 1/2 cups of white rice cooked for 10 min in the microwave in salted water.
• 6 potatoes peeled and halved. Cooked in the microwave for 6 min with about a cup of salted water. Length of cooking will depend on the potatoes, but they should be half cooked. You can add a splash of egg yellow food coloring or use a little bit of saffron if you feel like being decadent.
• It is important to add salt as you’re cooking to ensure your Breyani is well seasoned.
• 1/2cup of brown lentils, boiled
• 2 large white onions, finely sliced, fried till golden brown
• 100gr butter

That’s the hardest part done. Now for assembling this Breyani.
In a pot add some oil, add your marinated meat and cook for 10min. Add about 1/3 of the fried onions. Mix.

Then layer the potatoes, lentils and rice. Then add the water from the potatoes. Sprinkle remaining onions and place the butter cut up in little blobs on the top.

Place in the oven at 180 deg , for 2 hours . Check after 11/2 hrs as the Breyani may be cooked.

How to test if it’s cooked: the rice should be well cooked and fluffy. The meat at the bottom should be well cooked but not very wet. Shouldn’t be dried out either.
Enjoy this with a cucumber and yogurt salad. This is simply made by finely dicing or grating your cucumber, add some finely chopped mint and yogurt. Season with salt. Simple and the perfect accompaniment to the Breyani.
My favorite salad is one made with carrots. It’s a south Indian dish and therefore uses mustard seeds and curry leaves, which is typical of south Indian food.

• Finely slice 1/2 onion
• 1 carrot, grated
• Curry leaves…. if you can get them. Not a problem if you can’t.
• 1tsp black mustard seeds
• 250mlgreek yogurt

In a pan, fry the onions; curry leaves and mustard seeds in a little oil. Cook till onions are translucent. Then add carrots, cook till soft. Remove from the heat and cool. Add yogurt once cooled. Don’t add yogurt when the carrot mix is hot, as it will curdle. Add salt to taste. Enjoy.
That’s it for Indian food for a while.  I’m trying to twist my Kenyan Indian friend’s arm to give me a lesson in making Masala Dosa, which is one of my favorite dishes.  Watch out for that in the future...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOR EASY INFO ON ACCOMMODATION, ENTERTAINMENT, EATING OUT, WELLNESS SERVICES AND MORE, VISIT our sister sites: www.localspots.co.za and www.iguestandtraveller.co.za