A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook
Title: The Indian Cookery Book (c.1900)
Author: Anonymous
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Language: English
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events. Secondly, the book is interleaved with pages of notepaper
for readers to add their own recipes, and one of these recipes
ends with a note that the recipe was cooked in 1899.
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Title: The Indian Cookery Book (c.1900)
Author: Anonymous
THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK
PUBLISHED BY
THACKER, SPINK & CO.,
CALCUTTA
RICE OR CHOWL
Rice is consumed by most European families at breakfast, tiffin, and
dinner. It is eaten at breakfast with fried meat, fish, omelet,
country captain, or some other curried dish, and, being invariably
followed by toast and eggs, jams, fruit, &c., one /coonkee/, which
contains about as much as an ordinary breakfast-cup, or say half a
pound, will always be ample for four tolerably hearty consumers. There
are two sizes of /coonkees/, large and small: reference is here made
to the /small coonkee/, well filled. The quantity, however, of raw
rice for a party of four should not exceed half a pound.
The rice at dinner is usually preceded by soup, fish, roast, and made
dishes.
The best or generally approved qualities of rice for table use are
known as the bhaktoolsee, the banafool, the bassmuttee, and
cheeneesuckur. In purchasing these, or indeed any other approved
quality, care must be taken to avoid /new rice/ and what is called
/urruah/, which latter has been put through some process of boiling,
or damped, and then dried. Both are considered unwholesome for general
daily consumption, and few Indians will use them.
Good rice when rubbed in the palm of the hand, and cleared of dust,
will appear of a bright and nearly transparent yellowish colour;
whereas the /urruah/ will be found of a dull whitish hue, and the
grain streaked and speckled with white powder, which crumbles on the
application of a needle's point.
The price of rice, like other commodities, varies according to its
plenty or scarcity in the market. After the cyclone of October, 1864,
and again of November, 1867, the price of the bhaktoolsee and the
banafool, which are fine, large, stout-grain rice, without being
coarse, ruled at from eight to nine seers per rupee, and the
bassmuttee and the cheeneesuckur at from seven to eight seers per
rupee. The rice used by the poorest classes of the native population
is of a very coarse description and incredibly cheap: within six weeks
after the cyclone of November, 1867, it was readily procurable at
twenty-five to thirty seers per rupee.
Rice is used in a variety of forms: it is boiled, made into
kitcheeree, pellow, puddings, blanc mange, cakes, bread, &c.
The bhaktoolsee, the banafool, and other stout-grain rice are the best
adapted for boiling. Boiled rice is called /bhath/.
The bassmuttee, cheeneesuckur, and all small and fine-grain rice are
selected for kitcheeree, pellow, and puddings for children's food, and
for invalids.
The /urruah/ is used in some houses in ignorance, but for the most
part it is made into flour, and used for blanc mange, cakes, &c. The
flour is abundantly procurable in the Calcutta markets, and is largely
used by all native bakers in the making of bread.
Twenty-two to twenty-five seers of rice monthly, consuming it three
times a day, entertainments included, will be ample for a party of
four, allowing occasionally for a rice pudding.
It is necessary to wash rice thoroughly in several waters before using
it, and a colander is very useful for draining away the water after
washing the rice.
1.--Boiled Rice
Wash half a pound or a coonkeeful of rice, and put it to boil in a
large quantity of water, over a brisk fire. Immediately the rice
begins to boil, the water will bubble up to the surface of the pot and
overflow, carrying away quantities of scum and impurities. The cover
of the pot should now be kept partially open, and the rice stirred to
prevent an entire overflow of the water. On the subsiding of the water
or the bubbling, the fire should be reduced, until it is
satisfactorily ascertained that the grains of rice, without being
pappy, are quite soft, when the pot should be removed from the fire
and a quart of cold water be added. All the liquid, which is "conjee,"
should then be drained, and the pot replaced over a gentle charcoal
heat, to allow all moisture to evaporate, assisting the process by
occasionally shaking the pot, or stirring its contents gently with a
wooden spoon. Time to boil: half an hour.
The coonkee of rice when properly boiled will fill a good-sized curry
or vegetable dish. The rice will be found quite soft, and yet every
grain perfectly separate. Rice should never be cooked into a pap,
excepting it is required for very young children; and leaving the
grains hard or uncooked should be equally avoided.
A small pinch of pounded alum or /fitkerree/ is used by some cooks
with advantage to improve the whiteness of boiled rice.
2.--Rice Conjee
The water in which rice is boiled should never be thrown away: it is
nutritious and fattening for all cattle, horses included, and may be
given daily to milch cows and goats with great advantage.
3.--Rice Kheer
This is occasionally served upon the breakfast-table as a treat, but
few Europeans care for it. It is made as follows:--Thoroughly boil one
coonkee or half a pound of the bassmuttee or the cheeneesuckur rice,
then drain the water away, add two cups of pure cow's milk, and put
over a slow fire. As the rice begins to absorb the milk, two or three
small sticks of cinnamon are put in, with one tablespoonful and a half
to two tablespoonfuls of fine-quality white sugar. On the milk being
entirely absorbed, the kheer is either turned out upon a dish and
eaten hot, or put into a buttered mould, served up in shape, and eaten
cold.
Kheer is sometimes cooked or boiled in milk only, but the foregoing
recipe is supposed to be that more generally approved.
4.--Pish-Pash
Pick and wash in several waters a coonkee or half a pound of the
bassmuttee or other fine-grain rice; add to it, cleaned and cut up, a
chicken, some sliced ginger, sliced onions, a few bay-leaves, some
peppercorns, a few hotspice, a dessertspoonful of salt, one chittack
or two ounces of butter, and water sufficient to cover the whole.
Simmer over a slow fire until the chicken becomes perfectly tender and
the rice quite pappy. Serve up hot. This is considered a most
excellent and nutritious meal for invalids.
KITCHEEREES
These are occasionally substituted for boiled rice at breakfast, and
are eaten with fried fish, omelets, croquets, jhal frezee, &c. They
are prepared as follows:--
5.--Bhoonee Kitcheeree
Take rather more than three-quarters of a coonkee of bassmuttee or
cheeneesuckur and half a coonkee of dal; or, if preferred, take the
rice and dal in equal parts.
Take twelve large curry onions and cut them up lengthways into fine
slices. Warm up two chittacks or four ounces of ghee (but before doing
so be careful to warm the pot), and, while bubbling, throw in the
sliced onions, removing them immediately they become of a bright brown
colour. Set the fried onions aside, and throw in the dal and rice
(having previously allowed all the water in which they were washed to
drain through a colander). Fry until the dal and rice have absorbed
all the ghee; then add a few slices of green ginger, some peppercorns,
salt to taste (say one dessertspoonful), a few cloves, three or four
cardamoms, half a dozen bay-leaves, and as many small sticks of
cinnamon. Mix well together; add as much water only as will entirely
cover over the whole of the rice and dal, put a good-fitting cover on,
and set over a slow fire, reducing the same from time to time as the
water is being absorbed. Care must be taken not to allow the
kitcheeree to burn, which may be prevented by occasionally shaking the
pot, or stirring its contents with a wooden spoon.
Serve up quite hot, strewing over it the fried onions, which serve
both as a relish and garnish of the dish.
6.--Bhoonee Kitcheeree of the Mussoor or Red Dal
Is made according to recipe No. 5.
7.--Bhoonee Kitcheeree of the Moong or Small-grain Yellow Dal
Is made according to recipe No. 5.
8.--Bhoonee Kitcheeree of the Gram or Chunna Dal
The chunna or gram dal makes a very nice kitcheeree; but, as it is
rather hard, it should be boiled or soaked in cold water for an hour
or so before frying it with the raw rice.
9.--Bhoonee Kitcheeree of Green Peas
Kitcheeree made of green peas grown of English seeds is a rarity.
Large peas should be picked out and shelled; they should not be fried
with the rice, but added to it when nearly cooked. The instructions
given in recipe No. 5 are to be observed in all other respects.
10.--Jurrud or Yellow-tinted Kitcheeree
Jurrud or yellow-tinted kitcheeree is nothing more than one of the
above kitcheerees, to which is added, at the time of frying the rice
and dal, either a small quantity of saffron or turmeric, according to
the colour desired to be imparted. Such introduction in no way affects
the flavour, nor does it render the appearance of the dish more
attractive, but serves admirably as a variety for a large
breakfast-table.
11.--Geela Kitcheeree
This is usually made of moong dal with less than one-fourth the
quantity of ghee allowed for the bhoonee, or with no ghee at all, and
little or no condiments are used, excepting a small quantity of
finely-sliced green ginger, a few peppercorns, one or two bay-leaves,
and salt to taste. It is supposed to be better adapted than bhoonee
kitcheeree for children and invalids.
By /bhoonee/ is meant crisp, and /geela/ signifies soft.
PELLOW OR POOLOO
Pellows are purely Hindoostanee dishes. There are several kinds of
pellow, but some of them are so entirely of an Asiatic character and
taste that no European will ever be persuaded to partake of them. It
is therefore considered useless to offer instructions how to prepare
such as the /ukhnee pellow/, in which are introduced cream, milk,
butter-milk, garlic, and lime-juice; or the /sweet pellow/, in which
almonds and raisins are introduced, in addition to sugar, &c.
The following are the pellows in general use:--
12.--Chicken Pellow
Take a good-sized chicken; clean, truss, and boil it with one pound of
beef in two cupfuls of clean water, seasoning it with onions, ginger,
and salt. When sufficiently cooked, but yet quite firm, remove the
chicken, and set it and the gravy aside. Cut up twelve onions
lengthways into fine slices. Warm your pot; then melt in it two
chittacks or four ounces of ghee, and, as it bubbles, throw in the
sliced onions and fry to a light brown; remove and set aside. Then put
in half a pound, or a coonkee, or the best bassmuttee or
cheeneesuckur, having drained away all the water in which it was
washed, and fry. On the rice absorbing the ghee, throw in a few
cloves, four or five cardamoms, half a dozen small sticks of cinnamon,
some peppercorns, a blade or two of mace, and one dessertspoonful of
salt. Mix up the whole, and pour over it the gravy in which the
chicken and beef were boiled, or as much of it only as will entirely
cover the rice; close the pot immediately with a close-fitting cover,
and set on a slow fire. As the gravy continues to decrease or to be
absorbed, so keep reducing the fire, shaking up the pot occasionally,
or stirring its contents, to prevent the pellow from burning. Brown
the boiled chicken in a pan with ghee or butter, and serve up as
follows:--
Place the chicken, either whole or cut up, on the centre of a dish,
covering it with the pellow; strew over it the fried onions,
garnishing it besides with two hard-boiled eggs, cut into halves, or
in some device, and with half a dozen bits of finely-sliced and fried
bacon, to suit the taste of those who like the latter.
13.--Beef, Mutton, or Kid Pellow
Take two pounds of beef, and cut up as for a curry, or take a small
but good leg of mutton, or two legs of a kid, rejecting the loin.
Make a good, strong gravy with seasoning of sliced onions, ginger, and
salt, with water, which when cooked down will be reduced to about
sufficient only to cover the rice. Then proceed to make the pellow in
all respects as directed in the foregoing recipe. The beef is not
further used for the table, but treat the legs of the kid, or the
mutton, the same as the chicken, and serve up with fried onions,
hard-boiled eggs, and fried bacon, like the chicken pellow.
14.--Prawn Pellow
Instead of a chicken, provide yourself with eight or ten good-sized
"bagda prawns," and a good hard cocoanut. After frying and setting
aside the sliced onions, as directed above, the rice is to be fried,
but, instead of using chicken or any other meat broth, cook it in the
milk of the cocoanut (/vide/ recipe No. 54), observing in all
particulars the instructions given for the chicken pellow, recipe No.
12, and serve up as follows:--Dish up the pellow, strew over it the
fried onions, and garnish with the prawns finely boiled, and two
hard-boiled eggs cut in halves or in some other device.
The cocoanut milk will impart a sweetish flavour to the pellow, but it
is not disagreeable; and its sweetness may be subdued, if required, by
reducing the strength of the cocoanut milk.
15.--Lobster or Fish Pellow
Take out the centre bones or one or two hilsa or beckty fishes, which
are procurable fresh and good in the market, and eight or ten large
long-legged lobsters with the roe or coral; thoroughly wash in several
waters with salt, and boil with plenty of seasoning of onions, sliced
ginger, peppercorns, a dozen bay-leaves, a tablespoonful of unroasted
dhuniah or coriander seed, and salt, with water sufficient to give the
required quantity of gravy. When ready, remove and shell the lobsters,
reserving the roe or red coral in the heads, which bruise down with a
little unroasted coriander seed, and mix with the fish gravy. Make the
pellow in all other respects the same as prawn pellow, using the gravy
of the fish instead of cocoanut or other gravy, and garnish with the
lobsters, &c.
CURRIES
A curry-stone and muller, or what the natives call /seal our lurriah/,
are necessary for the preparation of condiments for daily use. The
condiments should be carefully, and each kind separately, ground down
to a nice paste with a little water.
Condiments prepared with water will not keep good any number of days;
if required for a journey, therefore, or as presents for friends at
home, good sweet oil and the best English vinegar should be
substituted for the water. For the preparation of condiments for this
purpose see recipe No. 65.
The first cost of a curry-stone and muller of large size will not
exceed one rupee, but they will require re-cutting every three or four
months, at a cost not exceeding one anna each re-setting.
The following is a list of curry condiments and hotspice in almost
daily use:--
Curry onions, or /carree ka piaj/, price from 3 to 8 pice per seer.
Turmeric, or /huldee/ " 3 to 5 annas "
Garlic, or /lussoon/ " 2 to 3 annas "
Green ginger, or /uddruck/ " 2 to 4 annas "
Dry chilies, or /sooka mirritch/ " 3 to 5 annas "
Coriander-seed, or /dhunnia/ " 3 to 4 annas "
Cumin-seed, or /jeerah/ " 5 to 6 annas "
Peppercorns, or /gool mirritch/ " 5 to 6 annas "
Bay-leaves, or /tage paththa/ " 2 to 3 annas "
Lemon-grass, or /uggheaghass/ " 3 to 6 pice for a
bundle of 16 to 20 blades of grass.
Poppy-seed, or /post ka danna/ " 3 to 4 annas per seer.
Onion-seed, or /cullinga/ " 5 to 8 annas "
Stick cinnamon, or /dalcheenee/ -+
Cardamoms, or /elachee/ | Mixed; prices range from Rs.
Cloves, or /loung/ +- 3-14 to 4 per seer.
Nutmeg, or /jyephall/ |
Mace, or /jowttree/ -+
However high prices may range, one rupee-worth of mixed condiments,
including hotspice, will suffice for a month's consumption for a party
of from four to six adults, allowing for three curries per day,
cutlets and made dishes included.
GRAVY CURRIES
The following directions for an every-day gravy chicken curry will
apply equally to all ordinary meat gravy curries:--
16.--Chicken Curry
Take one chittack or two ounces of ghee, two breakfast-cupfuls of
water, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, four teaspoonfuls of ground
onions, one teaspoonful each of ground turmeric and chilies, half a
teaspoonful of ground ginger, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
garlic.
To suit the taste of those who like it, half a teaspoonful of ground
coriander-seed may be added, which should be roasted before being
ground. Observe the following directions for cooking:--
Take the usual full-sized curry chicken, the price of which has
latterly ranged from three to four annas, and divide it into sixteen
or eighteen pieces. Warm the pot, melt in it the ghee, and immediately
it begins to bubble throw in all the ground condiments, stirring until
quite brown; then put in the cut-up chicken and the salt, and stir up
to a good light-brown colour; then add the water, and allow the whole
to simmer over a slow fire until the chicken is quite tender, and the
liquid reduced to about half its original quantity. The operation of
cooking or simmering will take from a half to three-quarters of an
hour.
17.--Kid Curry
Take a hind-quarter or a fore-quarter of kid, which may be obtained at
from three to four annas the quarter; cut it up into sixteen or
eighteen pieces; take condiments in the proportion given in recipe No.
16, and cook it in every particular the same as the chicken curry,
allowing it to simmer three-quarters of an hour.
18.--Veal Curry
A small shoulder of veal, the price of which ranges from three to four
annas, may be selected; cut off from it sixteen or eighteen one-inch
square pieces of the best part of the meat, and curry it in every
particular the same as a chicken, only allowing it to simmer half to
three-quarters of an hour.
19.--Mutton Curry
Obtain a small shoulder at from five to six annas; cut it up into
sixteen or eighteen one-inch square pieces, rejecting all the bones;
curry it the same as a chicken, allowing it to simmer for half an hour
longer, or until the meat is tender.
N.B.--The bones of the veal and mutton, referred to in this and the
foregoing recipe, may be turned to account for stock or gravy for some
made dish.
20.--Beef Curry
Two pounds of well-selected meat will cost from three to four annas;
cut it up into one-inch square pieces, rejecting all the scraggy
parts; cook it in every respect according to the instructions given in
recipe No. 16 for cooking a gravy chicken curry, only allowing it to
simmer for a much longer time than any other curry, or until the beef
becomes tender.
21.--Green Duck Curry
The price of a young tender duck may be quoted at from four to five
annas. Cut it up exactly as you would a chicken, and curry it in the
same manner, allowing it to simmer for an hour and a half. It is
desirable to introduce half a teaspoonful each of coriander and cumin
seeds in this curry.
22.--Young Pigeon Curry
Take four young pigeons; cut each into four pieces, making in all
sixteen pieces. The price of young pigeons ranges from five to six
annas the pair. The instructions given for the cooking of a gravy
chicken curry apply equally to a pigeon curry.
DOOPIAJAS
The literal translation of /doopiaja/ is "two onions," and the term
probably is correctly applicable, as it will be noticed, in the
recipes for preparing the /doopiaja curries/, that besides the full
quantity of ground onions, it is necessary to put in about an equal
quantity of fried onions, thereby /doubling/ the quantity of onions.
Doopiajas are more piquant curries; they are cooked with more ghee and
less water. The following condiments, &c., are considered ample for a
really good /doopiaja/ of chicken or of any meat:--
One chittack and a half or three ounces of ghee, one breakfast-cupful
of water, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, four teaspoonfuls of
ground onions, one teaspoonful each of ground turmeric and chilies,
half a teaspoonful of ground ginger, a quarter of a teaspoonful of
ground garlic, twelve onions cut lengthways, each into six or eight
slices, and half a teaspoonful of ground coriander-seed if it be
liked.
23.--Chicken Doopiaja
Take a full-sized curry chicken and divide it into sixteen or eighteen
pieces. Melt the ghee in a warm or heated pot, fry brown the sliced
onions and set aside; then fry the ground condiments, stirring the
whole; when brown, add the cut-up chicken with the salt, and fry to a
rich brown. Chop the fried onions and put into the pot with one cup of
water, and allow to simmer over a slow fire for about one hour, when
the chicken will be perfectly tender, and the liquid reduced to a
thick consistency, and to half its original quantity.
24.--Kid Doopiaja
Is made in all respects as a chicken doopiaja, the kid to be cut up in
the usual manner. The hind quarter is preferable to the fore quarter.
25.--Veal Doopiaja
Take only the meat from a shoulder, cut it up into squares, and allow
it to simmer for half an hour longer than the chicken doopiaja.
26.--Mutton Doopiaja
The flesh part of a shoulder is cut up into squares and doopiajed
exactly as a chicken, allowing it to simmer over a slow fire for half
an hour longer.
27.--Beef Doopiaja
Cut two pounds of beef into one-inch square pieces, and follow all the
instructions given in recipe No. 23, only allowing it to simmer for a
much longer time over a slow fire, until the beef is perfectly tender.
28.--Duck Doopiaja
Divide as you would a chicken, and cook the duck in the same manner,
allowing it to simmer a little longer than the chicken doopiaja. Half
a teaspoonful each of ground coriander and cumin seed should be mixed
with the condiments.
29.--Doopiaja of Pigeons
Take four pigeons, cut each into four pieces, and proceed in every
particular the same as for a chicken doopiaja.
30.--Cold Boiled Pork Doopiaja
Cut from the remains of cold boiled pork sixteen one-inch square
pieces, and doopiaje it in the way directed for a chicken. The time
required to simmer will not exceed that allowed for the chicken
doopiaja.
31.--Udder Doopiaja
Take two pounds of udder; before cutting it into squares, it should be
parboiled, and then made into doopiaja, allowing it to simmer over a
slow fire for about two hours.
32.--Udder and Beef Doopiaja
Take one pound each of udder and beef; parboil the udder, and then cut
it up with the beef into one-inch square pieces, and doopiaje it,
allowing it to simmer for about two hours.
It is necessary to impress on the amateur artist the importance of
paying particular attention to the firing: a brisk fire will dry up
the ghee and the water before the curry is half cooked, and
necessitate the addition of more water, which will in every instance
spoil the doopiaja, although the addition of a little water, if such
be necessary when the curry is nearly cooked, will do it no harm. In
every instance where ghee butter, &c., is to be melted, it is
desirable first to warm the pot.
FORCEMEAT BALL CURRIES, OR COFTA-KA-CARREE
Beef, mutton, chicken, fish, crabs, and prawns are usually taken for
making these curries. The ingredients for two pounds of meat or fish
are as follow:--Lard, ghee, or mustard oil, three to four ounces;
water or stock, five to six ounces; ground onions, one tablespoonful
or one ounce; ground chilies, a quarter of a tablespoonful, ground
turmeric, a quarter of a tablespoonful; ground green ginger, half a
teaspoonful; ground peppercorns, half a teaspoonful; ground garlic, a
quarter of a teaspoonful; garden herbs, finely chopped, one
dessertspoonful; salt, one dessertspoonful; finely-grated
bread-crumbs, three tablespoonfuls; one egg.
N.B.--In the fish, crab, and prawn coftas the ginger must be omitted.
33.--Beef Forcemeat Ball Curry
Get rather more than two pounds of good fat beef; wash it thoroughly,
and cut it into pieces, rejecting all veins and scraggy portions; put
about two pounds of it into a mortar and pound it fine, removing all
fibres, veins, &c., and if it be desired put up a broth of all the
rejections. Mix with the pounded beef a teaspoonful of salt, pepper,
and garden herbs, and two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs; add a little
of the broth, or in its absence some milk; mix the whole well
together; beat up the yolk and white of the egg, add it to the
mixture, and make into balls about the size of large walnuts; roll
them in bread-crumbs. After heating the pot, melt the lard or ghee,
and fry brown the ground ingredients, sprinkling a tablespoonful of
cold water over them; then add the coftas or balls with salt to taste,
and fry or brown them; after which pour into the pot either a cup of
broth or of water, and allow to simmer for about two hours.
N.B.--Some cooks add to the beef cofta curries ground hot spices,
which are fried with the curry condiments, and are suited to most
tastes.
34.--Chicken Forcemeat Ball Curry
Procure a good fat chicken and a quarter of a pound of beef suet; put
the suet into a mortar with all the fleshy parts of the chicken, and
pound to a pulp; make a stock of gravy of the bones; mix with the
pounded meat all the several ingredients named in the foregoing
recipe, with the addition of an egg well beaten up; make into balls,
roll in bread-crumbs, and curry as directed above.
N.B.--The chicken cofta curry may also be made without any suet; the
general practice is to get chickens rather larger than those usually
selected for ordinary curries.
35.--Mutton Forcemeat Ball Curry
Take the best parts of a leg or shoulder of mutton; cut them up, wash,
and pound well down; make a gravy of the bones and rejections; mix
with the pounded mutton all the ingredients mentioned in the recipe
for making beef balls, and cook exactly as the beef cofta curry.
36.--Ball Curry of Liver and Udder
Get one pound each of liver and udder; thoroughly wash and parboil
them, then cut them into pieces, put into a mortar, and pound them to
a pulp; mix with pepper, salt, herbs, bread-crumbs, and an egg; make
into balls, and curry them in the same manner as any of the foregoing
forcemeat ball curries.
37.--Prawn Cofta Curry
Get thirty to forty of the best prawns, and remove the heads and
shells; wash the prawns well with salt and water, then pound them to a
pulp; mix with it all the ingredients as directed for the beef cofta;
make into balls, roll them in bread-crumbs, and set aside. After
washing the heads, remove the shells, and bruise the contents with a
dessertspoonful of unroasted coriander-seed; take all the juice, and
fry it with the ground condiments; then put in the balls, brown them,
add salt to taste, a cup of water, and simmer until they are cooked.
N.B.--Good mustard oil is preferable to using lard or ghee, and the
ginger must be omitted; but the addition of a few bay-leaves and
blades of lemon-grass would be an improvement. It is not usual to dish
up the lemon-grass.
38.--Lobster Cofta Curry
According to their size, take eight or ten lobsters; clean them
thoroughly; remove the heads and shells; pull the flesh to pieces and
pound to a pulp; add to it some of the red coral from the head, then
mix into it the bread-crumbs, salt, pepper, herbs, and an egg well
beaten up, and make into balls. The remains of the heads and the
contents of the long legs bruise down with unroasted coriander-seed;
omitting the ginger, and cook the balls in the same way as the prawn
balls, with the addition of bay-leaves and a few blades of
lemon-grass. Lemon-grass is not served up.
39.--Crab Cofta Curry
Select ten or twelve /gheewalla kakakahs/, or crabs full of the red
coral, wash them thoroughly, then boil them; remove all the meat and
coral out of the shells, pound to a pulp, and, after mixing all the
ingredients and fixing them with an egg well beaten up, make into
balls, and cook them in all respects according to the directions for
lobster cofta curry. Time to simmer: say half an hour.
40.--Fish Cofta Curry
Cold boiled or fried fish is the best adapted for making coftas; it is
not necessary to give other instructions than those already given at
length in the foregoing recipes, excepting that mustard oil is the
best adapted for fresh fish curries.
N.B.--The remains of hermetically-sealed fish, such as salmon and
mackerel, removed from dinner, are well adapted for making cofta
curries.
Under-done roast meats, such as beef, mutton, veal, and fowl, will
make excellent cofta curries.
COUNTRY CAPTAIN
The country captain is usually made of chicken, and occasionally of
kid and veal. Cold meats and curries are also sometimes converted into
this dish, the condiments for which are as follow:--Two chittacks or
four ounces of ghee, half a teaspoonful of ground chilies, one
teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground turmeric,
and twenty onions, cut up lengthways into fine slices.
41.--Chicken Country Captain
Cut up in the usual way an ordinary curry chicken. Warm the ghee and
fry the sliced onions, which when brown set aside; fry the ground
turmeric and chilies, then throw in the chicken and salt, and continue
to fry, stirring the whole, until the chicken is tender. Serve it up,
strewing over it the fried onions.
42.--Kid Country Captain
Before cutting up the kid, a fore-quarter, let it be partially broiled
or roasted, and then make it into country captain in accordance with
the above directions; or, instead of partially roasting the kid, add
half a cup of water to assist the meat to dissolve.
43.--Veal Country Captain
Partially broil or roast a shoulder of veal before cutting it up; or
make the country captain as directed in recipe No. 42, by adding half
a cup of water instead of partially broiling the meat.
44.--Jhal Frezee
Cut up into small squares, of less than an inch, either cold mutton,
beef, or veal, rejecting the bones; add a large quantity of sliced
onions, some chilies cut up, and a teaspoonful of salt. Warm a
chittack, or two ounces of ghee, and throw it into the meat, onions,
chilies, and salt, and allow to simmer, or fry, stirring the whole
while, until the onions are quite tender.
HINDOOSTANEE CURRIES
45.--Seik Kawab
Is usually eaten with chappatee or hand-bread, and only occasionally
with rice, and contains the following condiments:--Two tablespoonfuls
of mustard oil, four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of
ground chilies, half a teaspoonful of ground ginger, a quarter of a
teaspoonful of ground garlic, one teaspoonful of ground turmeric, one
teaspoonful and a half of salt, a cup of thick tyre or dhye, half a
teaspoonful of ground coriander-seed, the juice of one large lemon,
and a little ghee.
Take two pounds of beef, mutton, or veal; remove the bones, and chop
the meat slightly, without mincing or cutting through it; mix well
together all the ground condiments, including the oil, tyre, and
lemon-juice, in which steep the chopped meat, turning it over
occasionally to absorb the mixture. After a while cut up the meat into
squares of equal size, say two inches, and continue to keep them in
the mixture for fully one hour; then pass the squares of meat either
on a silver, plated, or other metal skewer, and roast or broil over a
slow charcoal fire, basting the whole time with ghee, to allow the
kawab to become of a rich brown colour, without burning or being
singed in the basting. Remove from the skewer, and serve hot.
46.--Tick-keeah Kawab
Take two pounds of fat beef, wash it, cut it into small pieces, and
pound it to a pulp, remove all fibres, &c., and then add to it one
teaspoonful of ground onion, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
turmeric, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, a quarter of a
teaspoonful of ground chilies, half a teaspoonful of ground
peppercorns, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a
teaspoonful of ground hot spices, and one tablespoonful of tyre or
dhye.
Mix the whole well together, add salt to your taste, and the yolk and
white of an egg well beaten up; form into balls of equal sizes;
flatten them, pass them on iron or plated skewers about eighteen
inches long, rub them well over with ghee, wrap them in plantain-leaf,
and roast or broil them over a charcoal fire. Serve them up hot,
removed from the skewers. These are usually eaten with chappatee.
HUSSANEE CURRIES, OR CURRIES ON STICK
The ingredients and condiments necessary for the curries on stick are
as follow:--One chittack and a half of ghee, one teaspoonful and a
half of salt, four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of
turmeric, half a teaspoonful of ginger, half a cupful of water, a
quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, one teaspoonful of chilies,
half a cupful of tyre or dhye, some finely-sliced ginger, and as many
small curry onions cut into half as may be required. Six silver pins
five inches long, or, in the absence of these, six bamboo pins, are
required.
47.--Hussanee Beef Curry
Cut up two pounds of beef into small squares not exceeding one inch,
and pass them on the silver or bamboo pins alternately with half an
onion and a slice of ginger. Half a dozen sticks with be ample for
four hearty consumers.
Warm the ghee and brown the ground condiments; then put in the sticks
of meat, and brown, stirring the whole; after this add the tyre and a
little water, and allow to simmer over a slow fire for nearly two
hours, when the curry will be ready. Serve up on a curry-dish without
removing the sticks.
48.--Hussanee Mutton Curry
Remove the meat from a shoulder of mutton, and cut it into small
squares; the same instructions will apply to the preparation of mutton
curry on stick as those given for beef curry on stick. Time to simmer:
half an hour.
49.--Hussanee Veal Curry
Cut squares enough from a shoulder of veal, and observe the
instructions given in the foregoing recipe. Time to simmer: one hour.
50.--Hussanee Curry of Udder and Liver
The udder and liver should be parboiled before being cut up for
passing on the sticks; but in all other respects the instructions
given for the beaf and mutton curries on stick will apply to the udder
and liver curry on stick. Time to simmer: fully one hour and a half.
KURMA OR QUOREMA CURRY
This, without exception, is one of the richest of Hindoostanee
curries, but it is quite unsuited to European taste, if made,
according to the original recipe, of which the following is a copy:--
51.--Quorema Curry, Plain
Take two pounds of mutton, one pound of tyre or dhye, two chittacks of
garlic, one dam of cardamoms, four chittacks of bruised almonds, four
mashas of saffron, the juice of five lemons, one pound of ghee, four
chittacks of sliced onions, one dam of cloves, one chittack of pepper,
four chittacks of cream, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
garlic.
The following is the recipe of the quorema curry usually put on a
gentleman's table:--Two chittacks and a half or five ounces of ghee,
one cup or eight ounces of good thick tyre, one teaspoonful of ground
chilies, four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of
coriander-seed, six small sticks of ground cinnamon, two or three
blades of lemon-grass, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, a half
teaspoonful of ground ginger, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
garlic, eight or ten peppercorns, four or five ground cloves, five or
six ground cardamoms, two or three bay-leaves, a quarter of a cup of
water, the juice of one lemon, and twelve large onions cut lengthways
into fine slices.
Take two pounds of good fat mutton, and cut it up into pieces nearly
one inch and a half square. Warm the ghee, fry in it the sliced
onions, and set aside; then fry all the ground condiments, including
the ground hot spices. When quite brown, throw in the mutton and salt,
and allow the whole to brown, after which add the tyre, the hot spices
with peppercorns and bay-leaves, the lemon-grass, the water, and the
fried onions finely chopped; close the pot, and allow it to simmer
over a gentle coal fire for about an hour and a half or two hours, by
which time the kurma will be quite ready. The blades of lemon-grass
are never dished up.
52.--Kid Quorema
Cut up a fore-quarter or a hind-quarter of a kid into eight or ten
pieces, and cook it exactly as directed in the foregoing recipe. This
is rather preferred to mutton quorema.
53.--Fowl Quorema
Take a young full-ground tender fowl; cut it up as for an ordinary
curry, cook it with all the condiments in the proportions given, and
observe all the directions laid down in recipe No. 51.
N.B.--Most Europeans give the preference to the fowl quorema.
MALAY CURRIES
The condiments and other ingredients necessary are as follow:--One
chittack or two ounces of ghee, one teaspoonful and a half of salt,
four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground
turmeric, one teaspoonful of ground chilies, half a teaspoonful of
ground ginger, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, the milk
of a large cocoanut, say two cups, two blades of lemon-grass, three or
four cloves, ground, three or four cardamoms, and as many small sticks
of cinnamon, ground.
The coriander and cumin seeds must on no account be put into malay
curries, or the delicate flavour of the cocoanut will be destroyed.
It will be necessary to provide what the natives call a
/narial-ka-khoornee/, which, interpreted, means "cocoanut scraper." It
is a small circular flat piece of iron, about the size and thickness
of a Spanish dollar, the edges being notched. It is of rude
construction, and fixed on a conveniently shaped wooden frame, also of
rude construction. The best of the kind may be procured for two annas.
54.--Cocoanut Milk
The nut is scraped or rasped with the aid of the "khoornee" into very
fine particles; it is then put into a deep vessel, and boiling water
poured over it until the whole of the scraped cocoanut is covered.
After allowing it to steep for ten or fifteen minutes, it is carefully
strained through a clean napkin into another vessel or cup, the pulp
is returned into the original vessel, and more boiling water is poured
over it. This operation of steeping in boiling water and straining is
continued until you have obtained the required quantity of the
extracted milk of the cocoanut. The pulp is thrown away. If the
cocoanut be a small one, or its nut not hard and deep, it will be
necessary to provide a second cocoanut. Good cocoanuts are sold at an
anna to an anna and a half a piece.
55.--Chicken Malay Gravy Curry with White Pumpkin or Cucumber
Take the usual full-sized curry chicken, and divide it as before
directed; get either six cucumbers or a quarter of a white pumpkin;
remove the green skin and the part containing the seeds, then cut it
up into sixteen pieces of about two inches square, and steep in water.
Fry in the ghee all the ground condiments, including the ground hot
spices; when brown, add the cut-up chicken and salt; fry to a fine
bright light brown; then put in the pumpkin, having previously allowed
all the water to drain away through a colander; pour in the two cups
of cocoanut milk, the lemon-grass, and hot spices, and allow the
whole to simmer over a slow fire for about half an hour, when the
curry will be ready: the blade of lemon-grass is not dished up.
56.--Prawn Malay Gravy Curry with White Pumpkin or Cucumber
Select the bagda prawns (/bagda chingree/), whenever they are
procurable, in preference to any other description. The shell and head
are of a dark colour in comparison with what are called /jeel ka
chingree/, the shell and head of which are very perceptibly several
shades lighter than the /bagdas/.
It is impossible to quote any price as a guide, the fluctuation being
almost incredible. Fine large prawns, not lobsters--prawns which,
without their heads, would be about the size of the ordinary dried
Normandy pippins sent out to this country for tarts--may be obtained
one day at two annas for twenty, and the next day they will not be
procurable at less than eight annas for the same number. This remark
applies generally to fish of every description brought for sale into
the Calcutta market.
With one other remark of importance, we shall proceed to the
instructions necessary for the preparation of prawn malay gravy curry.
The prawns should be parboiled after removing the heads, to rid them,
as the natives call it, of /besine/, which means all disagreeable
character of fishy smell and taste.
As a rule, the heads of prawns should always be rejected, which, in
the process of frying, absorb largely the ghee, and in the cooking
dispel a liquid from their spongy formation.
In all other respects, the prawn malay gravy curry is cooked like the
chicken malay gravy curry, omitting the ginger; but an additional
blade or two of the lemon-grass would not be amiss, which, on the
curry being dished, are thrown away.
57.--Chicken Malay Gravy Curry with Pulwal
Take a fat chicken, clean it, remove all the flesh and pound it to a
pulp, and prepare it in every respect as directed in recipe No. 34 for
a cofta curry, omitting the suet. Take a dozen large-sized pulwals,
scrape or pare away the outer skin, split them down one side, extract
all the seeds, &c., and throw the pulwals into cold water; wash and
drain away all the water, then stuff them with the prepared forcemeat,
tie them with fine sewing cotton, and cook them in the milk of the
cocoanut, exactly as directed in recipe No. 55.
58.--Prawn Malay Gravy Curry with Pulwal
Take bagda prawns; shell and clean them, pound to a pulp, and prepare
as directed in recipe No. 37 for prawn cofta curry. Take a dozen
pulwals, peel them finely, cut them open lengthways, clear them of all
seeds, &c., wash and dry them, then stuff them with the prepared prawn
mince; tie the pulwals with sewing cotton, and cook in cocoanut milk
as directed in recipe No. 56.
59.--Chicken Malay Doopiaja
The condiments and ingredients are as follow:--One chittack and a half
or three ounces of ghee, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, four
teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground turmeric, one
teaspoonful of ground chilies, half a teaspoonful of ground ginger, a
quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, one cup of strong cocoanut
milk, and one dozen onions cut lengthways into fine slices.
Cut up the chicken in the usual manner, warm the ghee, fry and set
aside the sliced onions, then fry brown the ground condiments, after
which add the chicken and salt. When fried brown, pour in the cocoanut
milk and the fried onions finely chopped, and allow to simmer over a
slow fire: the Malay doopiaja will be ready in an hour.
60.--Prawn Malay Doopiaja
Take sixteen or twenty large bagda prawns, throw away the heads,
parboil the prawns, and then doopiaje in all respects as for a chicken
Malay doopiaja, omitting the ginger.
PORTUGUESE CURRY (VINDALOO OR BINDALOO)
This well-known Portuguese curry can only be made properly of beef,
pork, or duck. The following is a recipe of the vindaloo in general
use:--
Six ounces or three chittacks of ghee or lard, one tablespoonful of
bruised garlic, one tablespoonful of ground garlic, one tablespoonful
of ground ginger, two teaspoonfuls of ground chilies, one teaspoonful
of roasted and ground coriander-seed, half a teaspoonful of roasted
and ground cumin-seed, two or three bay-leaves, a few peppercorns,
four or five cloves, roasted and ground, four or five cardamoms,
roasted and ground, six small sticks of cinnamon, roasted and ground,
with half a cup of good vinegar, to two pounds of pork or beef or a
duck.
N.B.--The best vindaloo is that prepared with mustard oil.
61.--Beef Vindaloo
Cut up two pounds of fat beef into large squares, and steep them in
the vinegar, together with half a teaspoonful of salt and all the
ground condiments, from eighteen to twenty-four hours. Then warm the
ghee or lard and throw in the meat, together with the condiments and
vinegar in which it had been steeped, adding a few peppercorns and
bay-leaves, and allow to simmer gently over a slow fire for two hours,
or until the meat is perfectly tender, and serve up hot.
62.--Pork Vindaloo
Cut up two pounds of fat pork into large squares, and curry according
to the directions given in the foregoing recipe, omitting the cloves,
cardamoms, and cinnamon.
63.--Duck Vindaloo
Take a young, full-grown, but tender duck; cut it up as for a curry,
and put it through the same course of pickling from eighteen to
twenty-four hours before being cooked.
64.--Pickled Vindaloo
(adapted as a Present to Friends at a Distance)
If the following instructions be carried out carefully, the vindaloo
will keep good for months, and, if required, may be sent as an
acceptable present to friends at home.
In order to keep it good sufficiently long to be sent home round the
Cape, select the fattest parts of pork; satisfy yourself that the meat
is fresh and sound, and that it has not been washed with water in the
butcher's shop. Cut the meat into two-inch squares, wash thoroughly in
vinegar (no water), rub over with the following condiments, and then
steep them in really good English vinegar for twenty-four
hours:--Garlic bruised, not ground down, dry ginger powdered, turmeric
powdered, peppercorns roasted and powdered, coriander-seeds roasted
and powdered, cumin-seeds roasted and powdered, and dry salt.
Melt a large quantity of the best mustard oil in an earthen pot, and,
according to the quantity of meat, take additional condiments
mentioned above, but in the proportion given in recipe No. 61; grind
in vinegar, and fry in the oil; then put in the meat, and all the
vinegar, &c., in which it had been stepped, together with some more
salt, a little more vinegar, a few bay-leaves and peppercorns, and
allow to simmer until the meat is quite tender. Remove from the fire
and allow it to get quite cold; then put it into dry stone jars, with
patent screw tops, well filled with plenty of the oil in which the
vindaloo was cooked. Take care that all the meat is well covered over
with oil, which latter ought to be at least from two to three inches
above the meat in the jar. Screw down the lid, and cover it over with
a good sound bladder to render it perfectly air-tight.
When required for use, take out only as much as will suffice, and
simply warm it in a little of its own gravy.
65.--Curry Paste
Is likewise adapted for sending as a present to friends at home. It is
made in the following manner:--Eight ounces of dhunnia, or
coriander-seed, roasted; one ounce of jeerah, or cumin-seed, roasted;
two ounces of huldee, or dry turmeric; two ounces of lal mirritch, dry
chilies; two ounces of kala mirritch, black pepper, roasted; two
ounces of rai, or mustard-seed; one ounce of soat, or dry ginger; one
ounce of lussan, or garlic; four ounces of nimmuck, salt; four ounces
of cheenee, or sugar; four ounces of chunna or gram dal without husk,
and roasted. The above ingredients, in the proportions given, to be
carefully pounded and ground down with the best English white wine
vinegar to the consistency of a thick jelly; then warm some good sweet
oil, and while bubbling fry in it the mixture until it is reduced to a
paste; let it cool, and then bottle it.
N.B.--Great care must be taken not to use any water in the
preparation, and mustard oil is better adapted than sweet oil for
frying the mixture in.
MADRAS MULLIGATAWNY CURRY
As this dish is usually served up and partaken of in the place of
ordinary soup, reference will be made to it hereafter under the head
of "Soups."
Before proceeding to remark on fish, vegetable, and peas curries, a
few useful hints and suggestions may be offered on meat curries
generally.
In many families the remains of cold meat, if not required for other
purposes, are made into curry: cold roast or boiled mutton is
admirably adapted for the purpose; and in ninety-nine cases out of a
hundred consumers cannot tell the difference. If there be any
difference or advantage, it is decidedly in favour of the cold meat:
the roasting joints are always of a superior quality to meats sold
under the designation of "curry meats."
The remains of cold roast beef make the best cofta curries, croquets,
&c., and if the beef be under-done no fresh beef will make a better
doopiaja.
Vegetables are sometimes put into gravy meat curries, never into
doopiajas; but, as a rule, the introduction of vegetable into any meat
curry is objectionable, from the fact that all vegetables in the
process of boiling or cooking throw out a liquid, some more and some
less: the potato throws out the least, but of a disagreeable
character. It is true potatoes may be boiled before being put into a
curry, but the piquancy and peculiarity of flavour looked for in a
curry is so palpably destroyed that the innovation may be discovered
with closed eyes. The introduction of vegetable into gravy fish
curries, however, is no innovation, as the condiments used for the one
answer for the other; both are cooked in oil, and the ginger omitted.
66.--Gravy Fish Curries
The condiments are as follows:--Mustard oil, one chittack or two
ounces; water, two cups; four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one
teaspoonful of ground turmeric, one teaspoonful of ground chilies, and
a quarter of a teaspoonful of garlic.
It will be noticed that mustard oil is used instead of ghee, and no
ginger.
Too much care cannot be observed in thoroughly cleaning, rubbing, and
washing the fish in salt and water before cooking it for the table.
Fish, if properly washed, when served up will never be offensive,
unless it be bad when purchased.
67.--Hilsa Fish Gravy Curry
The head and tail are thrown away, and the fish cut into slices of
rather more than half an inch thick; these should be washed in several
waters with salt, to rid them of all "besine," before they are
curried.
The acid of tamarind is considered an improvement, or "amchoor," which
is sliced green mangoe dried in salt.
68.--Beckty Fish Gravy Curry
Is sliced and washed in salt like the hilsa before being cooked. It is
not usual to put any acid in the beckty fish curry.
69.--Prawn Doopiaja
Take one chittack and a half of mustard oil, four teaspoonfuls of
ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground turmeric, one teaspoonful of
ground chilies, a quarter of a teaspoonful of garlic, twelve curry
onions cut lengthways, each into six or eight slices, one cupful of
water, and twelve large prawns.
Clean and thoroughly wash the prawns, rejecting the heads, or taking
only their substance pounded and squeezed out with unroasted
coriander-seed, and after parboiling the prawns make the doopiaja in
all respects according to the ordinary mode.
70.--Sliced Hilsa Fish Fried in Curry Condiments
Take two teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground
chilies, two teaspoonfuls of salt, half a teaspoonful of ground
turmeric, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, and one
chittack of mustard oil.
After slicing a hilsa in the manner directed for a curry, and having
thoroughly cleaned and washed it with salt, rub into the slices all
the ground condiments and the remaining salt, and allow them to remain
for at least an hour. Warm the oil, and fry the slices of fish of a
very light and bright brown. Serve up hot.
71.--Sliced Beckty Fish Fried in Curry Condiments
Slice, wash, and fry exactly as directed above. Fish served up in this
manner is well suited to some European tastes, and makes an agreeable
change to the ordinary mode of frying fish for breakfast.
72.--Egg Curry
Take six or eight eggs, boil hard, shell, cut into halves, and set
them aside; take ghee, ground condiments, and sliced fried onions, in
all respects the same as for a chicken doopiaja, and observe precisely
the same method of cooking, keeping in mind the fact that, the eggs
being already cooked or boiled, a smaller quantity of water and a
shorter time to simmer will suffice.
73.--Egg Curry with Green Peas
This is a favourite curry with some families in winter, when the
English green peas are procurable. The method of preparing it is
exactly the same as recipe No. 71, allowing the curry to simmer until
the peas are quite tender.
74.--Egg Curry, with Chunna Ka Dal
Parboil and dal, say half a cupful; curry the dal first; when about
nearly cooked, throw in the hard-boiled eggs, and finish the simmering
immediately the dal is soft or tender.
CHAHKEES
Chahkee is a term applied to vegetable curries, some of which are
deservedly popular, and one in particular, which many families have
daily during the season the vegetables are procurable, and yet never
tire of, viz.--
75.--Seam, Potato, and Peas Chahkee
Take twenty seams, four new potatoes, and a quarter of a seer of green
peas; divide each seam into three pieces, and throw into a bowl of
water; divide each potato into four pieces, and throw into water;
shell the peas, wash all thoroughly, put into a colander to drain, and
cook with the following condiments:--One chittack and a half of
mustard oil, four teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of
ground chilies, half a teaspoonful of ground turmeric, a quarter of a
teaspoonful of ground garlic, one teaspoonful and a half of salt, and
one cupful of water. Warm the oil, let it bubble well, and fry the
ground condiments; when these are quite brown put in the vegetables
and salt; let the whole fry, stirring it well; then add the water, and
allow it to simmer over a slow fire until the vegetables are quite
tender.
N.B.--A cauliflower may be added if required for a change.
76.--Pulwal, Potatoes, and Torrie
Clean as much of the above three kinds of vegetables as will overfill
a vegetable-dish, and make the chahkee in all respects as the
foregoing.
77.--Red Pumpkin and Tamarind
A quarter of a red pumpkin and the pulp of two or three tamarinds will
be enough. Dissolve the pulp of the tamarind in the water, and put it
into the curry after the pumpkin has been fried.
78.--White Pumpkin and Tamarind
Chahkee it in the same way as the red pumpkin.
79.--White Pumpkin, Plain, Cut Small
It is not necessary to give any further instructions than those
already given.
80.--Tomato with Tamarind
Take twenty tomatoes and the pulp of two or three tamarinds, and
chahkee as directed for red pumpkin.
81.--Tomato, Plain
Chahkee twenty tomatoes according to instructions given for other
chahkees.
N.B.--There is a fresh green herb called soa mattee, which is
sometimes put into fish, vegetable, and other curries. Some Europeans
like the flavour, and have it daily when procurable. Inquiry and trial
are recommended.
SAUG CURRIES
Half an anna's worth of any saug will suffice for a party of four, for
curries made of greens, such as spinach, &c. The following condiments,
&c., are used:--One chittack and a half of mustard oil, four
teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground chilies, half
a teaspoonful of ground turmeric, a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
garlic, one teaspoonful and a half of ground salt, and one cupful of
water.
82.--Red Saug and Omra
The omra should be peeled, and half fried if large. Great care must be
taken to thoroughly clean and wash the greens. Put them into a
colander and allow all the water to drain away. Then warm the oil, and
fry the ground condiments; then the saug and omra, and when crisp add
the water and cook over a slow fire until the greens and omra are
tender.
83.--Red Saug, Omra, and Shrimps
Observe in all respects the same process as that required in cooking
without the shrimps, omitting the ginger.
84.--Red Saug and Prawns
The prawns should be parboiled, and then follow all the instructions
in recipe No. 82.
85.--Green Saug with Prawns
Proceed in every particular as with the last.
86.--Danta Curry with Shrimps
The danta is a fine delicate long green pod which the horseradish-tree
yields, and contains small peas; these pods are cut into lengths of
three or four inches and cooked with shrimps. Beyond this explanation
it is not necessary to enlarge upon the instructions already given.
87.--Khuttah Carree, or Acid Vegetable Curry
Take small quantities of all kinds of vegetables in season, but the
best curry is that made of potatoes, kutchoo or artichoke, sweet
potatoes or suckercund, carrots, red and white pumpkins, and tomatoes.
The vegetables should be cut into large pieces, and boiled in water
with the following condiments:--Four teaspoonfuls of ground onions,
one teaspoonful each of ground turmeric and chilies, a quarter of a
teaspoonful of ground garlic, and one teaspoonful of roasted and
ground coriander-seed.
Prepare two large cups of tamarind water, slightly sweetened with
jaggry, strain through a sieve, and add the strained water to the
boiled vegetables with a few fresh chilies. Then melt in a separate
pot one chittack or two ounces of mustard oil. While the oil is
bubbling, fry in it a teaspoonful of the collinga, or onion-seeds, and
when sufficiently fried pour it over the boiled vegetables including
the tamarind water. Close up the pot, and allow it to simmer for
fifteen to twenty minutes, when it will be ready. It is eaten cold.
BHAHJEES
By /bhahjee/ is meant fried. The two most generally approved vegetable
bhahjees are those made of bringals and pulwals. The following are the
condiments, &c., used:--Mustard oil according to the quantity of
vegetable to be fried, a little ground turmeric and chilies, and some
salt.
88.--Bringal Bhahjee
Take young full-sized bringals; wash them thoroughly, and slice them
about an eighth of an inch thick; dry them, steep them for half an
hour in the ground condiments and salt, fry in oil, and serve up hot.
89.--Pulwal Bhahjee
Take a dozen or more pulwals--a most excellent and wholesome native
vegetable,--scrape or pare away very finely the upper green coating,
divide them lengthways into two pieces, clear away all the seeds, &c.,
wash, drain away all the water, and steep them in ground turmeric,
chilies, and salt for half an hour or longer; then fry them quite
crisp in melted mustard oil. They are much liked by some Europeans.
N.B.--The vegetable called ram's horns or lady's fingers, known by the
natives as /dharus/, makes an excellent bhahjee; so does the
/kerrella/, a small green and intensely bitter native vegetable, which
comes into the market in March and April; it is not, however, well
suited to the European taste.
DAL OR PEAS CURRIES
Half an anna's worth of any dal will suffice for a party of four. The
condiments are as follow:--Three-quarters of a chittack of ghee, four
teaspoonfuls of ground onions, one teaspoonful of ground chilies, half
a teaspoonful of ground turmeric, half a teaspoonful of ground ginger,
a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground garlic, one teaspoonful and a
half of salt, and half a dozen onions cut into six or eight slices
each.
90.--Moong Dal
Take half a pound of the raw dal, or say half a cupful; clean, pick,
and roast it; mix it up with all the ground condiments and salt, put
into a pot, pour water over the whole, some two inches above the dal,
and boil it well, until the dal has quite dissolved. Be careful not to
disturb it while in the process of boiling, but allow it to cake as it
were /en masse/. When thoroughly boiled, churn the dal by twirling it
in a wooden instrument called a /ghootnee/; then warm the ghee in a
separate pot, fry the onions, chop them, and throw into the churned
dal, after which pour the dal into the pot of melted ghee, and keep
stirring until the dal and ghee have well mixed; then put the cover
on, and allow to simmer over a slow fire for about a quarter of an
hour.
N.B.--The standard price of the best roasted moong dal is two annas
and a half per seer.
91.--Mussoor or Red Dal
The process in all respects for preparing and cooking the red dal is
the same as for the moong dal, excepting that, instead of fried sliced
onions, a large clove of garlic is cut up small, fried, and takes the
place of the onions.
The price of the best quality mussoor dal, free of husk, is two annas
per seer.
92.--Mussoor Dal with Amchoor or with Tamarind
Put the amchoor, or, if preferred, tamarind, into the pot with the
dal; allow it to dissolve, and when the dal is going through the
process of bring churned remove the hard stones of the amchoor or
seeds of the tamarind.
93.--Mussoor Dal Chur Churree
Instead of only half a dozen onions, take a dozen, and cut them into
fine slices lengthways. Warm the three-quarters of a chittack of ghee,
fry and set aside the sliced onions, then fry all the ground
condiments; next put in and fry the dal, having previously washed it
well, soaked it in water for about a quarter of an hour, and drained
it through a colander. When thoroughly fried and browned, add only a
little water, barely sufficient to cover the fried dal, and allow to
simmer from ten to fifteen minutes, or until the dal has dissolved.
Serve up, strewing over it the fried onions. If chunna ka dal be used,
soak it for an hour.
Other dals are occasionally served up, but very rarely at European
tables. The price of the best clean chunna ka dal rarely exceeds two
annas per seer.
94.--Dal Foolaree
Is much liked by Europeans, but is rarely served up well, owing to the
trouble and time required in making it properly.
For the recipe see No. 223.
BURTAS OR MASHES
Burtas are mashes of potatoes and other vegetables, cold meats, dry
fish, &c.; they are palatable, and much liked by most Europeans as
accompaniments to curry and rice. The ingredients to almost every
burta are the fine large white Patna onions, fresh green chilies, and
the juice of fresh lemons.
95.--Potato Burta
Take a moderate or middling sized white Panta onion; remove the outer
coats, and slice very fine; then slice or cut up two hot green
chilies, and squeeze over the onion and chilies the juice of a fresh
lime: allow to soak. Take eight or ten well-boiled potatoes, half a
teaspoonful of salt, and a teaspoonful of good mustard oil; bruise the
potatoes down with a large silver or plated fork, adding, when they
are half bruised, the onions and chilies, with as much only of the
lime-juice as may be agreeable: mix all well together with a light
hand, so that the potatoes may not cake, and yet be well and
thoroughly mashed and mixed.
96.--Brinjal Burta
Prepare the sliced onions, chilies, and lime-juice in the manner
directed for potato burta. Take two fine young brinjals of large size;
carefully and thoroughly roast them in a quick ash fire; remove the
ashes and burnt parts of the skin, if any; then open the brinjals, and
with a clean spoon remove the contents to as near the skin as
possible, to which add a good teaspoonful of salt and teaspoonful of
mustard oil; work these with a spoon to a perfect pulp, throwing away
the lumps or shreds if any; then mix with it all the onions, chilies,
and lime-juice. If not to your taste, add more salt or lime-juice,
according to fancy.
97.--Dry Fish Burta
Prepare onions, chilies, and lime-juice as before. Take a part of the
Arabian dried beckty and well broil it; remove all the bones, and
pound the fish to nearly a powder; mix it thoroughly with a
teaspoonful of mustard oil, and add the onions, chilies, and
lime-juice.
98.--Red Herring Burta
Take onions, chilies, and lime-juice. Place the herring, with its
original paper packing, on a gridiron, or on a frying-pan, and warm it
well; then clear it of all skin, very carefully pick out /all/ the
bones, bruise the herring, and mix it thoroughly with the sliced
onions, chilies, and lime-juice.
N.B.--This is an inimitable burta.
99.--Cold Corned-Beef Burta
Steep sliced onions and chilies in lime-juice; have the red
well-corned part of a cold round of beef nicely pounded; add to it the
onions, chilies, and as much of the lime-juice as may be desirable.
100.--Cold Tongue Burta
The remains of a well-corned cold tongue make an excellent burta, as
per recipe for cold beef burta.
101.--Cold Ham Burta
Is made in the same way as the beef and tongue burtas.
102.--Green Mango Burta
The condiments for this burta are a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground
chilies, half a teaspoonful of ground fresh mint-leaves, half a
teaspoonful of ground ginger, half a teaspoonful of salt, and a
teaspoonful of sugar.
Take two ordinary large-size green mangoes; peel, divide, and throw
them into clean water, remove the stones, then bruise them to a
perfect pulp with the aid of the curry-stone and muller. Care must be
taken that the stone is perfectly clean, and will not impart the
flavour of garlic or turmeric to the burta. Mix the sugar well with
the pulp; if the mango be very acid, add a little more sugar; then mix
it with the salt and ground condiments; more salt or sugar may be
added if required.
103.--Tomato Burta
Bake in an oven a dozen good-sized tomatoes until the skin cracks;
break them down, and mix with them a little ground chilies, ginger,
salt, and half a teaspoonful of good mustard oil. A small squeeze of
lemon-juice may be added if desired.
SOUPS
A digester is best adapted for boiling soups in, as no steam can
escape, and consequently less water is required than in a common pot.
To extract the substance or essence of meat, long and slow boiling
over a charcoal fire is absolutely necessary. In the first instance,
however, it is desirable to boil up the meat with pepper and salt on a
quick, brisk fire, and take away all the black scum which rises to the
surface; then pour a little cold water into the pot to raise up the
white scum, which also remove, and reduce the fire, taking care that
in the process of slow-boiling the pot is never off the boil.
104.--Shin of Beef Soup
Take a shin of beef, cut it up small, wash it thoroughly, and boil
with pepper and salt in sufficient water to well cover the meat. Let
it boil over a brisk fire, taking away the black scum; add a little
cold water, and skim off the white scum; then reduce the fire, and
allow the soup to simmer until it somewhat thickens; strain the soup,
cut away all the fat, season with soup herbs, and add more pepper and
salt if necessary. Give it a good boil up, and then clear it with the
white of an egg well beaten up, after which add a tablespoonful of Lea
& Perrin's Worcestershire sauce, and half a wineglassful of sherry.
105.--Shin of Beef Soup, with Forcemeat and Egg Balls
Prepare a shin of beef soup in all respects according to the above
directions; clear with an egg well beaten up, add to it sauce, sherry,
forcemeat, and egg balls.
106.--Vermicelli Soup
Prepare a shin of beef soup as directed above, omitting the sauce and
sherry. Parboil some vermicelli, and after clearing the soup with the
white of an egg, add to it the parboiled vermicelli, and give it all a
good boil up before serving.
107.--Macaroni Soup
Prepare a shin of beef soup as directed above, omitting the sauce and
wine; boil some macaroni until perfectly tender; clear the soup with
the white of an egg, then add the boiled macaroni, and warm up before
serving.
108.--Mulligatawny Soup
Prepare a shin of beef soup as above, omitting the sauce, wine, and
white of egg; set the soup aside. Take a full-sized curry chicken; cut
it up into sixteen or eighteen pieces, and wash them thoroughly. Warm
a pot and melt it into two chittacks or four ounces of ghee; fry in it
some finely-sliced onions, and set aside. Then fry in the melted ghee
the following condiments, &c.:--Four teaspoonfuls of ground onions,
one teaspoonful of ground turmeric, one teaspoonful of ground chilies,
half a teaspoonful of ground ginger, a quarter of a teaspoonful of
ground garlic, half a teaspoonful of roasted and ground
coriander-seed, and a quarter of a teaspoonful of roasted and ground
cumin-seed.
Sprinkle a little water over these while frying; then add the cut-up
chicken with two teaspoonfuls of salt. When nearly brown, add one
chittack or two ounces of roasted and ground poppy-seeds; pour in the
beef soup, add the fried onion and half a dozen of the /kurreah fool/
leaves, close the pot, and allow the whole to simmer over a slow fire
until the chicken be perfectly tender. Serve up hot, with limes cut in
slices on a separate plate.
109.--Another Way
Prepare a shin of beef as directed above. Cut up a chicken; wash it
and set it aside. Heat a pot and melt in it two chittacks or four
ounces of ghee. After frying in it and setting aside some
finely-sliced onions, fry the condiments in the proportions given in
the foregoing recipe; then add the cut-up chicken with two
teaspoonfuls of salt; brown it nicely; have ready two chittacks or
four ounces of roasted and ground chunna ka or gram dal, which mix
thoroughly in a cup of strong cocoanut milk, and pour over the chicken
just as it has become brown; stir it well, and add the fried onions
and the soup, with half a dozen of the /kurreah fool/ leaves; close
the pot, and allow the whole to simmer for three-quarters of an hour.
Serve up hot, with limes, either whole or cut in slices, on a separate
plate.
110.--Delicious Curry Soup
Prepare a strong beef soup; slice some onions, and cut up a chicken;
take curry condiments as directed above, omitting the coriander and
cumin seed; melt two chittacks or four ounces of ghee; fry and set
aside the sliced onions, then fry the condiments, add the cut-up
chicken, and fry that also. In a part of the beef soup boil a spoonful
of tamarind, so as to separate the stocks and stones; strain and stir
it into the fried chicken. After a while add the remainder of the beef
soup, with half a dozen /kurreah fool/ leaves, and the friend onions;
close up the pot, and continue to simmer the whole until the chicken
is quite tender. Serve up hot.
111.--Bright Onion Soup
Take a shoulder of veal; cut it up small, breaking all the bones; wash
it thoroughly, put it into a pan with pepper, salt, and water, boil it
well, and remove all the scum as it rises; reduce the fire, and let it
simmer until the meat is perfectly dissolved; strain it, cut away all
the fat, add soup herbs, and more pepper and salt if required; give it
a boil up, and clear it with the white of an egg well beaten up; slice
very fine some pure silvery white Patna onions, and steep them in
boiling water, changing the water three or four times, every ten
minutes; drain away all the water and add the onions to the soup;
boil, and serve up hot.
112.--Bridal Soup, or Soup Elegant
Take two large shoulders of veal; cut them up small, bones and all,
and, after washing thoroughly, boil over a brisk fire, with /white/
pepper and the best white salt. Be careful that the scum that rises is
well skimmed; reduce the fire, and allow it to simmer until the meat
falls off the bones; strain the soup, let it cool, and then thoroughly
free it of all fat; return it into a clean digester, add more salt and
white pepper if necessary, and some /white/ stocks of celery; boil it,
and clear it with the whites of two eggs well beaten up; strain
through flannel and set aside.
Take the best and most transparent parts of a calf's head and the
tongue, and boil perfectly tender without reducing them to shreds,
being careful to remove all the scum that rises to the surface; lay
the boiled tongue and meat out on a clean dish; slice the tongue fine,
and cut out all manner of devices, such as, diamonds, squares,
circles, hearts, stars, &c.; do the same with the best and cleanest
parts of meat selected from the head; take care that no particles of
scum or other impurities be adhering to them; where any does adhere,
rinse it off in a little of the cleared soup; then place them
carefully into the tureen in which it is purposed to serve up the
soup. If fancy macaroni be procurable, a tablespoonful may be boiled
tender, free of all particles of dust or powder, and added to the
cut-up meat and tongue, over which pour the boiling-hot soup; add to
it a wineglassful of the palest sherry, and serve up hot.
N.B.--The calf's tongue and meat of the head may be boiled with the
veal, but they should be removed when tender, and not allowed to
dissolve with the longer simmering of the veal.
This is an elegant soup, beautifully transparent, and of the colour of
light champagne.
113.--Soup Royal
Take a shin of beef, the best parts of meat cut off from a calf's
head, and the tongue; cut the beef into small particles, but leave the
tongue and the meat from the calf's head whole; add pepper and salt,
and boil well, clearing the scum as it rises; remove the tongue and
the meat of the calf's head when sufficiently tender, but continue to
boil the shin of beef until it is well dissolved; then strain it, and
cut away all the fat; put it up again with plenty of soup herbs, and
more salt and pepper if necessary; boil it well up; squeeze into the
soup the juice of half a lemon, and skim it well; strain it once more,
and set it aside.
Cut the tongue into slices of an eighth of an inch thick, trim them
into the shape of large diamonds, and set aside. Cut up the meat of
the calf's head into one-inch squares and strips of an inch and a half
long and half an inch wide; add to these a few ready-fried circular
flat brain cakes, make also a few egg balls and forcemeat balls, and,
after cooking, add them to the rest of the meat, tongue, &c., and set
aside.
Take four red carrots, one pound of green peas, half a pound of boiled
potatoes, one large turnip, one large Patna onion, a quarter of a
pound of roasted and ground split peas or gram dal, some soup herbs,
pepper, and salt, the pulp of one orange, and the peels of half an
orange and half a lemon. Put these into a stewpan with water
sufficient to cover the whole; boil them thoroughly, skimming all the
while; when perfectly dissolved, turn them out into a colander and
allow all the water to drain away; then turn the contents of the
colander into a sieve, and pass the vegetables, &c., through it,
rejecting all such as will not pass. Add the whole, or a part of the
strained vegetables to the soup, which should not be thicker in
consistency than a good thick potato soup.
Next stew one dozen good French prunes in a claret-glassful of port
wine, which also strain through a sieve, rejecting stones, &c., and
add the strained portion to the soup; then boil the whole, strain it
once more, add to it all the forcemeat and egg balls, the brain cakes,
tongue, &c., and serve up, adding to it more salt, wine, or sauce, if
needed.
N.B.--This soup properly made is without its equal.
FISH
114.--Fish Mooloo
Fry the fish and let it cool. Scrape a cocoanut, put a teacupful of
hot water into it, rub it well, strain it and put aside; then put two
spoonfuls more of water; strain this also; cut up three or four green
chilies, and as many onions as you like, with half a garlic. Fry them
with a little ghee, and whilst frying put the last straining of the
cocoanut water in with the ingredients till it is dry; then add the
first water of the nut, and pour the whole over the fish, with some
vinegar, ginger, whole pepper, and salt to your taste.
115.--Another Way
Fry in a little ghee three or four chilies cut up, half a clove of
garlic, and some sliced onions. When half fried, add two
tablespoonfuls of cocoanut milk, and continue to fry until dry; then
stir into it a teacupful of cocoanut milk, a little vinegar, some
sliced ginger, peppercorns, and salt to taste, and while hot pour it
over a cold fried or boiled fish.
116.--Another Way
Cut up a fish into small, two-inch squares, and fry in ghee, with egg,
bread-crumbs, and turmeric, of a nice brown colour. Boil in cocoanut
milk some sliced green ginger and sliced green chilies; then add the
fish, with salt to taste, and let it stew until the sauce has
thickened. Serve up hot.
117.--Prawn Cutlet
Shell and wash the prawns; remove the heads, but leave the tails; slit
them down in the centre, and gently beat them flat with a rolling-pin;
sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and some finely-minced soup herbs;
rub them over with yolk of eggs, and dredge with flour; fry over a
very moderate fire to a rich light brown colour. Garnish the dish with
fried green parsley, or serve up with tomato sauce gravy as per recipe
No. 300.
118.--Crabs in Shell
Clean and boil the crabs in salt; remove them out of the shells; pick
and clean them well, and reserve the coral for dressing.
Chop and mince fine the crabs; add some onion and ginger juice, a
little lime-juice, pepper, and salt, and a little mushroom catsup.
Melt some butter, and fry the mixture in it until the butter be
absorbed; then add a little stock, and remove from the fire
immediately the stock begins to dry. Butter the shells, and fill with
the mixture. The meat of six crabs will refill five shells. Take some
finely-sifted bread-crumbs; grind down the coral, and put it over the
mixture on the shells, with the bread-crumbs, and bits of butter; bake
for a few minutes.
119.--Tamarind Fish
Make a thick pickle of ripe tamarinds, good English vinegar, and a
little salt; pass through a sieve, rejecting all stones and fibres.
Select really good fresh hilsa fish, full size, with roes. Remove all
the scales and fins, cut away the heads and tails, remove the roes,
clean out the fish inside, and then slice up, an inch thick. Wipe away
all blood, &c., with a clean dry towel. Care must be taken to use no
water in the cleaning of the fish or in the preparation of the pickle.
The board on which the fish is cut up, and also the knife, must be
very clean. After all the blood, &c., has been thoroughly cleaned and
wiped away, lay out the slices of fish and roe on a clean dish,
sprinkle thickly with salt, and place over them a wire dish-cover to
keep away the flies. Four or five hours afterwards put a layer of the
pickle into a wide-mouthed bottle or jar, and a thick coating of
pickle over each slice of fish and the roes, after washing away the
salt with a little vinegar; lay them in order in the jar, until the
last of the fish is put in; then be careful to put in a very thick
layer of the pickle. Cork the jar securely, and tie it down with a
good bladder to keep it air-tight, and in three weeks it will be fit
for use. It is desirable to fill each jar well up to the mouth, to
effect which the jars or bottles to be selected should be of the
required size.
N.B.--If the fish be really fresh, all the ingredients of good
quality, and no water used in the operation of cleaning and pickling,
the jars well filled, and mouths secured with sound bladder, the fish
will keep good for months, and will be fit to send home.
120.--Smoked Fish
The mango fish, beckty, or hilsa should be cut down the back, spread
open, and well washed and salted. Have a bright charcoal fire, and
sprinkle over it some bran, with brown sugar; cover the fire with an
open-work bamboo basket, having over it a coarse duster; arrange the
fish over the duster, and allow them to smoke. When one side has
browned, turn and brown the other side. As the smoke decreases, add
more bran, and fan up the fire. A duster thrown over the fish while
smoking will facilitate the operation.
121.--Dried Prawns
Strip the prawns of their shells; keep them for a day in salt mixed
with turmeric; then string and put them out in the sun daily for
fifteen or twenty days.
122.--Prawn Powder
Take a seer of dry prawns; wash them well, dry over the fire until
crisp, pound fine, with some red pepper and nutmeg, pass through a
sieve, and bottle for use. A teaspoonful spread over bread and butter
is considered a relish.
JOINTS, MADE DISHES, ETC.
123.--Corned Round of Beef
Select a good round of beef four days previously to it being required
for the table, together with two seers of cooking salt, eight fresh
juicy limes, one anna-worth of saltpetre, and a tablespoonful of
suckur, a description of moist brown sugar. Pound fine the saltpetre;
put the rind of four limes, pared fine, into a marble mortar, with a
tablespoonful of brandy or other spirit; bruise and pound it well,
adding to it the suckur or brown sugar, and gradually half the
powdered saltpetre; mix all well together. Take one seer of the salt,
and mix into it the contents of the marble mortar; divide the mixture
into four equal parts, and rub briskly one-fourth part of it into the
round; puncture the beef lightly during the operation with a clean
bright steel sailmaker's needle, to allow the mixture to penetrate
more freely. An hour or two after take another fourth of the mixture;
squeeze into it the juice of the four limes from which the rind had
been removed, and repeat the operation of rubbing it into the round,
puncturing it lightly with the needle; turn the beef over from side to
side continually, so that one side do not soak or steep more in the
brine than another; repeat the operation of rubbing it well several
times during the day. Next morning place it on a dry dish, and rub
into it another fourth part of the prepared salt; let it stand for an
hour or so, then pour over it the old brine; repeat the rubbing two or
three times during the day, turning the beef continually. On the third
day rub half of the remaining saltpetre into the beef dry, and allow
it to stand for an hour or two; then add the rest of the saltpetre and
the juice of the four limes to the remaining fourth part of the
mixture, in which keep turning and rubbing the beef during the day as
before; in the evening pour over it the stale brine, cover it thickly
with the one seer of remaining salt, and place a heavy weight upon it,
until required to be boiled the next day.
124.--Beef a la Mode
Corn a round of beef in every particular as directed above, and
twenty-four hours previously to its being cooked lard it as follows
with the undermentioned ingredients:--Four pounds of lard or fat
bacon, half a tablespoonful of cinnamon powdered, half a seer or one
pound of finely-powdered pepper, one tablespoonful of cloves powdered,
and four tablespoonfuls of chutnee strained through muslin. Mix the
ground pepper, ground hot spices, and strained chutnee with a
claret-glassful of mixed sauces, such as Harvey, walnut,
Worcestershire, tap, tomato, &c. Cut up into long narrow slips the
lard or bacon to correspond in thickness with the larding-pin, and lay
the slips into the mixture of spices, sauces, &c., for an hour or two
before larding the beef, which should be larded through and through,
and as closely as possible.
Cook it the next day, either in plain water, with half a pint of
vinegar, and with bay-leaves and peppercorns, as is usual, or in a
preparation of claret or champagne with vinegar, bay-leaves, &c. This
is not necessary, but it tends to the improvement of the flavour at
some considerable cost.
125.--Le Fricandeau de Veau
Take a large leg of veal; remove the knuckle-bone; corn and lard it in
all respects like a beef à la mode, reducing the ingredients in
proportion to the difference in size and weight between a round of
beef and the leg of veal. Boil, baste, and glaze it well in the liquor
in which it is boiled. Serve up with all sorts of boiled and glazed
vegetables.
126.--Hunter's Beef, or Spiced Beef
Corn a round of beef, as per recipe No. 123, with the addition of
large quantities of finely-ground pepper and hot spices. Some of the
pepper and spice should be well rubbed in with the saltpetre, and the
beef should be punctured well the whole time with a needle to insure
the saltpetre and spices penetrating. After the dry saltpetre and
spice have been well rubbed in, prepare a mixture of salt, saltpetre,
suckur, lemon-rind, pepper, and spice, and rub in one-fourth of the
mixture, continuing to puncture the beef. Add subsequently to the
brine the juice of lemon, and observe closely all the instructions
given in recipe No. 123. On the seventh day remove the beef from the
brine; rub it well with two tablespoonfuls of finely-powdered spices
and pepper; inclose it thoroughly in skins of fat, and then in a
strong coarse pie-crust, and bake it in a good oven. A baker's oven is
the best.
127.--Collared Brisket
Bone a brisket of beef; rub into it saltpetre, suckur or brown sugar,
and one seer of salt, with some lime-juice; keep it in the brine for
thirty-six hours, rubbing it continually. Then remove it from the
brine, and clear away all the salt. Roll the beef tightly into a
collar, secure it well, inclose it in a stout duster, and boil it.
128.--Spiced Collared Brisket
The process is the same as the above, but if the beef be required to
keep for any lengthened time the quantity of salt ought to be doubled,
the beef kept in the brine for seventy-two hours, and hot spices,
pepper, chutnee, and sauces added. The beef after being rolled should
be packed in the skin of fat, then in a coarse pastry, instead of in
plantain-leaf, and baked in a baker's oven.
129.--Pigeons with Petit Pois
Kill and feather, with plunging into hot water, four young, full-grown
pigeons, taking care not to break their skins; singe them, to destroy
any remaining feathers; then wash them in three or four cold waters,
cut them in halves, dredge them well with salt and finely-sifted
pepper, and allow to remain for an hour. Then boil up two
tablespoonfuls of ghee or lard, and fry the birds to a rich brown,
turning them over. When sufficiently browned, put in a cupful of beef
stock, and allow to simmer until the birds are quite tender; pour over
them a tin of petit pois with their gravy, and serve up hot.
130.--Ducks with Green Olives
Choose young, full-grown, tender ducks; feather and singe them as
directed in the foregoing recipe, after which wash them in three or
four cold waters; stuff the ducks according to recipe No. 325, and
bake in a deep dish in a moderate oven until brown; then add a good
beef stock with sliced onions, and bake until the stock is reduced;
remove the ducks, and put into the pan the contents of a bottle of
olives stoned, and allow to bake for ten or fifteen minutes to soften
the olives; place the ducks on a clean dish, arrange the olives round
the ducks, and pour the gravy over. Serve up hot.
131.--Kidney Stew
Steep in lukewarm water for a few minutes a dozen mutton kidneys, and
remove the white skin or coat which will become perceptible; cut into
halves or quarter them, wash in three or four waters, and allow them
to remain as long as possible in pepper, salt, and the juice of
onions, ginger, and garlic; boil up three dessertspoonfuls of ghee or
lard in a deep frying-pan, throw in the kidneys with the juice, put in
half a clove of garlic, and cover over the whole with eight large
Patna onions sliced each into eight slices, and separated so as to
cover over the whole surface of the pan; pour over it as much hot
stock as will keep all the onions under, and simmer over a slow fire
until the onions disappear, when serve up quite hot.
132.--French Mutton Chops
Take half a dozen chops cut from a breast of mutton, throwing away the
intermediate bones--that is to say, allow the meat of two chops to
remain on one bone. Wash, dry, and steep the chops for an hour or two
before dinner in the juice of onions, ginger, and garlic--say four
teaspoonfuls of the first to three of the second and two of the last.
Mix on a large board pepper, salt, and flour, with which dredge the
chops thoroughly, and fry quickly in boiling ghee or lard, taking care
in turning over and removing the chops not to use a fork or anything
likely to occasion any wound to the chops, which should be held by the
bones with a pair of pincers. Serve up hot immediately they have
become of a good rich brown colour.
133.--Mutton Stew
Cut up a breast of mutton in the usual way for a stew; wash and dry
the meat. Take of the juice of onions one tablespoonful, of ginger
half a tablespoonful, and of garlic a quarter of a tablespoonful; mix
with the meat, add pepper and salt, and allow to stand for any time
from one to four hours.
Fry in a large stewpan two tablespoonfuls of ghee or lard, and when on
the boil fry to a nice brown all the meat only; afterwards pour in the
liquor in which the meat has been steeped, and allow to simmer for
fifteen or twenty minutes; thicken some stock with a teaspoonful of
flour, and add it to the stew; allow to simmer until the meat is
perfectly tender.
If vegetables be required (the addition of which, however, is not
considered any improvement), the original gravy, before adding the
stock, must be removed and set aside.
Let the vegetables, consisting of, say, potatoes, carrots, turnips,
and cut-up and sliced cabbage, after being cleaned, remain for an hour
or two in cold water; lay them over the meat, and pour in hot stock
sufficient to cover the whole of the meat and vegetables, and allow to
simmer over a brisk coal fire until quite tender; then pour into the
pot the original gravy which had been removed, and serve up hot.
Or, instead of the vegetables named above, take only twenty-five or
thirty tomatoes, in which case the stock should be lessened, as the
tomatoes produce a large amount of liquid, and do not require as much
boiling as the harder vegetables.
134.--Mutton Brains and Love Apples
Take six brains, sixteen to twenty large tomatoes, two chittacks or
four ounces of butter, and eight biscuits. Wash the brains well;
clean, boil, and halve, or cut each into three pieces; thoroughly
butter the dish which will be put on the table; dredge it well with
finely-powdered biscuit; lay in the brains; cut the tomatoes, and lay
them in the dish between the brains, the cut ends upwards; add a small
cupful of good stock, and, after sprinkling a sufficient quantity of
pepper and salt as a seasoning, dredge thickly over with the ground
biscuit-powder, and bake of a rich brown. Serve up hot.
135.--Kid Roasted Whole
Bespeak from a butcher a whole kid, with its head on.
Prepare a stuffing as per recipe No. 323 or 325, and after cleaning
the kid, stuff into it the stuffing; break the joints of the legs, and
fold and truss them like a pig; then put it up to roast, basting it
the whole time with beef suet melted down, to which add hot water and
salt. Serve up in a sitting posture like a pig, and with a lime in the
mouth.
136.--Potato Pie
Boil and mash down some potatoes, with pepper, salt, milk, and butter;
line a pie-dish a quarter of an inch thick with the mash; arrange in
it a nicely-browned mutton, beef, or chicken stew, cover it over with
a thick coat of the mashed potatoes, and bake for a quarter of an
hour.
137.--Minced Veal Potato Pie
Make a good rich veal mince, mixed with a little ham, and some sippets
of bread-crumb cut into small squares, diamonds, &c., and fried in
butter; line the pie-dish with mashed potatoes as above directed; fill
into it the veal mince, with plenty of gravy; arrange the sippets,
cover over with a thick crust of the mashed potatoes, and bake for a
quarter of an hour.
138.--Beef Steak and Pigeon Pie
This should consist of a slice of good steak, two pounds of beef, one
chittack or two ounces of ghee, a teaspoonful of salt, two fresh
limes, four young pigeons, twelve oysters, twelve curry onions cut
lengthways into fine slices, a teaspoonful of ground pepper, some
sweet herbs, and a dessertspoonful of flour.
Cut up the steak into pieces three inches long, and two inches or two
and a half wide, by half an inch thick. Cut and divide each pigeon
into four pieces; put up two pounds of beef with sufficient water to
make a good strong gravy, throwing in all the scraggy parts and other
rejections of the steak and pigeons. Warm the ghee, and fry in it the
sliced onions; throw in, well dredged with the flour, the steaks and
pigeons, and after frying a while add the pepper, salt, soup herbs,
and some of the rind of the limes, and about half the beef gravy. Set
the whole on a slow fire, and simmer until the meat is tender; allow
to cool; then add the oysters and the remaining gravy, with the juice
of two limes; put into a dish lined with pastry, cover over the whole
with a pastry crust, and bake.
139.--Veal Pie
Cut a leg of veal into small pieces, or a breast into chops, and
parboil in water enough to fill the pie-dish. When about half stewed
take the veal out; season the gravy with pepper, salt, a little mace,
and a little bacon; dredge in a little flour; line the sides of the
dish with a pie-crust; arrange the meat, pour in the gravy, cover it
with a pie-crust, and bake it for an hour.
140.--Macaroni Pie
Take half a pound of macaroni (recipe No. 218); boil and throw away
the first water; then boil it again in some milk, and remove when it
is quite tender. Prepare a strong gravy or soup with two pounds of
beef, well seasoned with ground white pepper, salt, and soup herbs.
Bruise into fine powder two ounces of some good English cheese; take a
dessertspoonful of very dry mustard, half a teaspoonful of very finely
powdered white pepper, about two teaspoonfuls of salt, and two
chittacks or four ounces of butter. Pound very fine a couple of crisp
biscuits.
Pour over the boiled macaroni sufficient beef gravy or stock to
entirely cover it; then put in all the pepper, salt, and mustard, but
only half the ground cheese. Set it to simmer over a slow fire until
the gravy begins to dry, and the macaroni acquires some consistency.
Then with three ounces of butter (free of water) butter well the
baking-dish; pour into it the macaroni; mix the remaining ground
cheese with the powered biscuit, and strew it over the pie; cut into
small pieces the remaining ounce of butter, and throw that also over
the pie; then put the dish into an oven, and bake to a fine light but
rich brown colour. Ten to fifteen minutes' baking will be sufficient.
141.--Alderman's Mock Turtle Pie
Make an extra rich hash of a calf's head, cutting the pieces from the
cheeks two and a half to three inches long, and one and three-quarters
to two inches wide. Slice the tongue, and cut into large-sized shapes.
Prepare brain cakes, and plenty of forcemeat and egg balls as per
recipes Nos. 289 to 295.
Make an extra strong stock with eight calves' feet; season it highly
with soup herbs, salt, and plenty of ground black pepper; simmer until
the meat begins to drop away from the bones; strain through a coarse
sieve, in order to get a very thick stock, passing as much of the
dissolved meat through as possible.
Line a deep pie-dish with a thick and rich pie-pastry, and arrange in
it the hash, egg and meat balls, and brain cakes, with some twenty or
thirty green leaves of spinach, cut up to about the size and shape of
the meat. Pour over the whole as much stock as will fill the dish,
cover over with pastry, and bake.
142.--Sauce for Alderman's Mock Turtle Pie
Mix with some of the stock the contents of a canister of oysters well
bruised, the pulp of sixteen or twenty prunes, a blade of mace, some
nutmeg and cloves, a wineglassful of port wine, and a tablespoonful of
Worcestershire sauce; allow to simmer for ten minutes, and add it to
the ready-baked pie before it is put on the table.
143.--Friar Tuck's Mock Venison Pastry Pie
Take the chop ends of two large fat breasts of mutton; remove the
bones, and after the meat has been washed, cleaned, and dried, lard
well with narrow slips of lean bacon and corned tongue; then cut it up
into twelve well-shaped chops nicely trimmed; steep them in the juice
of onions, ginger, and garlic in the proportion of one tablespoonful
of the former to a dessertspoonful of the latter, and half a
teaspoonful of the last.
Make a strong broth or stock of the other side of the mutton, and all
the rejections of bones, &c.; season it well with pepper, salt, and
soup herbs; remove the scum and cut away all the fat; then strain
through a sieve, rejecting all the fat, but passing through some of
the lean; allow it to simmer until it thickens, then add to it two
blades of mace, half a dozen allspice, and as many small sticks of
cinnamon.
Line a deep metal pie-dish with the pastry pie-crust as per recipe No.
200, reserving sufficient for the upper crust. Prepare a sausage roll,
say six inches long, and two inches and a quarter thick, of minced
veal and udder, using the ordinary pie-crust pastry to inclose it in;
then slice it into twelve equal slices of the thickness of half an
inch.
Remove the twelve chops out of the onion, garlic, and ginger juice;
dredge them well with finely-sifted flour mixed with pepper and salt;
heat in a large deep frying-pan four tablespoonfuls of lard; fry the
chops of a light brown colour, and remove them carefully; then dredge
with flour and slightly brown the twelve slices of sausage, six of
which lay at the bottom of the pie-dish; lay over them six of the
mutton chops; over the mutton chops place another layer of the sliced
sausage roll, and over that the remaining six chops; pour in as much
of the stock or gravy as will fill the pie-dish, cover it over with a
layer of the pastry as per recipe No. 200, and bake carefully.
144.--Sauce for Friar Tuck's Mock Venison Pastry Pie
Put some of the stock or gravy into the pan in which the chops and
sliced sausages had been browned; add two tablespoonfuls of bruised
and powdered oysters, and simmer from ten to fifteen minutes. Serve
hot, on the pie being cut, adding at the last moment a wineglassful of
port wine and one tablespoonful of lime-juice.
Make a hole in the centre of the pie through the crusts, and pour in
the sauce with the help of a lipped sauce-boat.
145.--Leg of Mutton Dumpling
Prepare a good pie-crust with one seer and a quarter of soojee, half a
seer of flour, and half a seer of suet, as per recipe No. 199.
Clean and trim the leg, cutting away the end of the knuckle-bone, and
any other projections likely to injure the dumpling. Sprinkle it well
with ground pepper and some salt, and confine it securely in the
pastry, closing all joinings with the aid of a little water. Place the
dumpling into a strong napkin, previously buttered and dredged with
flour; tie it securely, and allow it to boil from three to four hours.
Care must be taken that during the whole process of boiling the
dumpling remains suspended in the water, and not resting on the bottom
of the pan. On removing it from the boiler, plunge it immediately into
a large tureen of cold water for two or three minutes. This will
strengthen the pastry and prevent its bursting or breaking while it is
being served up.
146.--Sausage Rolls
Take equal portions of cold roast veal and ham, or cold fowl and
tongue; chop them together very small; season with a teaspoonful of
powdered sweet herbs, and a spoonful of mixed salt and cayenne pepper;
mix well together. Put three tablespoonfuls of the meat well rolled
together into enough pastry (pie-crust recipe No. 199) to cover it.
When you have used up the whole of your materials, bake them for half
an hour in a brisk oven. These rolls are excellent eating, either hot
or cold, and are especially adapted for travelling, gipsy, boating, or
pic-nic parties.
147.--Dumpode Goose (Indian Way)
Take a good fat tender goose; feather, clean, and bone it carefully
without destroying the skin; when every bone has been removed, pour
into the goose a mixture composed of a dessertspoonful each of
mustard, sweet oil, and mixed sauce.
Take all the bones and the giblet, the liver excepted, and make a good
gravy seasoned with pepper, salt, soup herbs, and bay-leaves. Mince
very fine three pounds of beef, a quarter of a pound of beef suet, a
quarter of a pound of fat bacon, and the liver of the goose. Take of
chopped garden herbs a tablespoonful, powdered black pepper a
dessertspoonful, mixed hot spices finely powdered a dessertspoonful,
finely-grated bread-crumbs two tablespoonfuls, salt a dessertspoonful,
and essence of anchovies, if liked, one teaspoonful. Mix the above
well together, and stuff the goose.
Melt two chittacks and a half or five ounces of ghee; put in the
goose, and pour over it the soup made of the bones and giblet, and
allow it to stew until quite tender; then glace the goose, as also
some boiled turnips, carrots, onions, and potatoes, and serve up hot,
surrounded with the vegetables and some English pickles.
148.--Dumpode Duck (Eastern Way)
Take a good fat duck; feather, clean, and bone it without hurting the
skin; pour into it a mixture made up of a teaspoonful each of mustard,
sweet oil, and mixed sauce.
Make a gravy of the bones and giblet, seasoning it with pepper, salt,
soup herbs, and a few bay-leaves.
Mince together with the liver of the duck two pounds and a half of
good beef, half a pound of beef suet, a dessertspoonful of chopped
garden herbs, a tablespoonful of grated bread-crumbs, half a
teaspoonful of mixed hot spices pounded, a teaspoonful each of black
pepper and salt, and, for those who like it, half a teaspoonful of
essence of anchovies. Mix these well together, and stuff the duck.
Melt one chittack and a half or three ounces of ghee; put in the duck;
pour over it the giblet gravy, and allow it to cook until tender; then
glace the duck, as also some ready-boiled mixed vegetables, and serve
up, surrounding the duck with the vegetables and some hot West-Indian
pickle.
149.--Fowl a la Cardinal, or Dumpode Capon or Fowl
Feather the bird, clean it, and remove every bone very carefully
without injuring the skin.
Make a good strong broth or gravy of the bone and giblet, reserving
the liver.
Pour into the bird a mixture of sweet oil, mustard, and sauces in the
proportion of one teaspoonful of each.
Mince the liver together with one pound and a half of good beef, one
pound and a half of beef suet, a dessertspoonful each of
finely-chopped garden herbs and finely-grated bread-crumbs, a
teaspoonful each of powdered mixed hot spices, finely-powdered black
pepper, and salt, if liked, and half a dozen oysters. Mix all well
together, and stuff the bird; melt two chittacks or four ounces of
ghee, add to it the giblet gravy, cook and glace the bird in it, as
also some vegetables, and serve up hot, adding a little cayenne pepper
to the gravy to make it piquant.
150.--Brisket of Beef Trambland
Heat or melt in a saucepan two chittacks of butter free of water; fry
to a light brown a tablespoonful of finely-sliced onions, then add a
tablespoonful and a half of flour, which must be put in very
gradually, stirring the whole time; add half a teaspoonful of ground
pepper, and one teaspoonful of salt. When these have been well mixed,
pour in gradually a large cupful of pure milk, and lastly two
wineglassfuls of vinegar. Keep stirring to prevent the sauce lumping.
Mince fine half a dozen pickled gherkins or French beans, and mince up
also the yolks and whites of six hard-boiled eggs. Boil a fresh
brisket of beef, and dish up quite hot. Pour over it the sauce, over
which sprinkle the minced pickle, and then cover the whole with the
minced eggs.
151.--Mutton Trambland
Is prepared, in all respects, as the above. The joint best adapted to
"trambland" is a fore-quarter, or only the shoulder, or the breast if
required for a small party of two or three.
152.--Bubble and Squeak
Put into a pot cold meat cut into thin slices two inches square, with
ready-boiled peas, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, turnips, and
carrots cut up, with pepper, salt, and sliced ginger, and with as much
good stock as will cover the meat and vegetables; allow the whole to
simmer until the meat and vegetables have absorbed half the stock,
when it will be ready. Serve it up bubbling and squeaking.
153.--To Stew a Fillet of Veal
Bone, lard, and stuff a fillet of veal; half roast, and then stew it
with two quarts of white stock, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, and one
of mushroom catsup. Before serving, strain the gravy; thicken it with
butter rolled in flour; add a little cayenne, salt, and some pickled
mushrooms; heat it, and pour it over the veal. Have ready two or three
dozens of forcemeat balls to put round it and upon the top. Garnish
with cut lemon.
154.--Veal Cutlets
Cut a neck of veal into cutlets, or take them off a leg. Season two
well-beaten eggs with pounded mace, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and
finely-chopped sweet marjoram, lemon, thyme, and parsley; dip the
cutlets into it; sift over them grated bread, and fry them in
clarified butter. Serve with a white sauce, forcemeat balls, and small
mushrooms. Garnish with fried parsley.
155.--Kidney Toasts
Pound, in a marble mortar, the kidney and the surrounding fat; season
with pepper, salt, grated lemon-peel, and nutmeg; mix with it the yolk
of an egg well beaten; lay it upon thin toasted bread cut into square
bits; put a little butter into a dish, lay in it the kidney toasts,
and brown them in an oven. Serve them very hot.
156.--Rolled Mutton
Bone a shoulder of mutton carefully, so as not to injure the skin; cut
all the meat from the skin, mince it small, and season it highly with
pepper, nutmeg, and a clove, some parsley, lemon, thyme, sweet
marjoram chopped, and a pounded onion, all well mixed, together with
the well-beaten yolk of an egg; roll it up very tightly in the skin;
tie it round, and bake it in an oven for two or three hours, according
to the size of the mutton. Make a gravy of the bones and parings;
season with an onion, pepper, and salt; strain and thicken it with
flour and butter; add a tablespoonful each of vinegar, mushroom
catsup, soy, and lemon pickle, and a teacupful of port wine; garnish
with forcemeat balls made of grated bread, and part of the mince.
157.--Haggis
Wash and clean the heart and lights; parboil and mince them very
small; add one pound of minced suet, two or three large onions minced,
and two small handfuls of oatmeal; season highly with pepper and salt,
and mix all well together; the bag being perfectly clean and sweet,
put in the ingredients; press out the air, sew it up, and boil it for
three hours.
158.--To Boil Marrow-bones
Saw them even at the bottom; butter and flour some bits of linen, and
tie a piece over the top of each bone; boil them for an hour or two,
take off the linen, and serve them with thin slices of dry toast cut
into square bits. At table the marrow should be put upon the toast,
and a little pepper and salt sprinkled over it.
159.--Beef or Mutton Baked with Potatoes
Boil some potatoes; peel and pound them in a mortar with one or two
small onions; moisten them with milk and an egg beaten up; add a
little salt and pepper. Season slices of beef or mutton chops with
salt and pepper, and more onion, if the flavour is approved; rub the
bottom of a pudding-dish with butter, and put in a layer of the mashed
potatoes, which should be as thick as a batter, and then a layer of
meat, and so on alternately, till the dish is filled, ending with
potatoes. Bake in an oven for one hour.
160.--Olive Royals
Boil one pound of potatoes, and when nearly cold rub them perfectly
smooth with four ounces of flour and one ounce of butter; knead all
together till it becomes a paste; roll it out about a quarter of an
inch thick, cut it into rounds, and lay upon one side any sort of cold
roasted meat cut into thin small bits, and seasoned with pepper and
salt; put a small bit of butter over the meat; wet the edges of the
paste, and close it in the form of half-circles. Fry them in boiling
fresh dripping till of a light brown colour; lay them before the fire,
on the back of a sieve, to drain. Serve them with or without gravy in
the dish. For a change, mince the meat, and season it as before
directed. The potatoes should be very mealy.
161.--To Boil Ox-Cheek
Wash half a head very clean; let it lie in cold water for some hours;
break the bone in two, taking care not to break the flesh; put it into
a pot of boiling water, and let it boil from two to three hours; take
out the bone. Serve it with boiled carrots and turnips. The liquor in
which the head has been boiled may be strained, and made into barley
broth.
162.--To Stew Ox-Cheek
Clean the head as before directed, and parboil it; take out the bone;
stew it in part of the liquor in which it was boiled, thickened with a
piece of butter mixed with flour, and browned. Cut into dice, or into
any fancy shape, as many carrots and turnips as will fill a pint
basin. Mince two or three onions, add the vegetables, and season with
salt and pepper. Cover the pan closely, and stew it two hours. A
little before serving, add a glassful of port wine.
163.--Dressed Ox-Cheek
Prepare it as directed for stewing; cut the meat into square pieces;
make a sauce with a quart of good gravy, thickened with butter mixed
with flour; season with salt and pepper, a little cayenne, and a
tablespoonful of vinegar; put in the head, and simmer it till quite
tender. A few minutes before serving add a little catsup or white
wine. Forcemeat balls may be added.
164.--Potted Ox-Cheek
May be made of the meat that is left from any one of the above dishes.
It is cut into small bits, and heated up with a little of the liquor
in which the cheek was boiled, seasoned with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and
a little vinegar, then put into a mould, and turned out when required
for use. It is used for supper or luncheon, and is eaten with mustard
and vinegar.
165.--Breasts of Mutton a la Ste. Menoult
Stew them with carrots, onions, and spices in gravy, and when done
drain them and take out the bones; flatten the meat between two
dishes, and when cold cut it into the form of cutlets or hearts; brush
them with the beaten yolk of an egg; roll them in grated bread, then
in clarified butter, and again in the grated bread. Bake them in an
oven till of a fine brown colour, and serve them with an Italian or
any other sauce.
166.--To Cure Mutton Ham
Cut a hind quarter of good mutton into the shape of a ham; pound one
ounce of saltpetre, with one pound of coarse salt and a quarter of a
pound of brown sugar; rub the ham well with this mixture, taking care
to stuff the hole of the shank well with salt and sugar, and let it
lie a fortnight, rubbing it well with the pickle every two or three
days; then take it out and press it with a weight for one day; smoke
it with sawdust for ten or fifteen days, or hang it to dry in the
kitchen. If the ham is to be boiled soon after it has been smoked,
soak it one hour; and if it has been smoked any length of time, it
will require to be soaked several hours. Put it on in cold water and
boil it gently for two hours. It is eaten cold at breakfast, luncheon,
or supper. A mutton ham is sometimes cured with the above quantity of
salt and sugar, with the addition of half an ounce of pepper, a
quarter of an ounce of cloves, and one nutmeg.
167.--Meat or Birds in Jelly
Clean the meat or the bird or birds; fully roast, bake, or stew in the
usual way.
Place the meat in the mould, or if birds, arrange them with their
breasts downwards; fill the mould quite full with the jelly, recipe
No. 329; set it to cool till the next day; then turn it on a dish,
breasts upwards. Garnish the dish with curled parsley, and some of the
jelly cut fine, and sprinkled about.
If the jelly be clear, it will form a handsome side-dish for dinner or
supper.
168.--Pigeons in Savoury Jelly
Bone six pigeons; remove the heads and feet, stuff with sausagemeat,
and roast; lay the pigeons in a mould with the breasts down; fill up
the mould with jelly, recipe No. 329; and when cold, turn out. Garnish
with parsley, and some of the jelly cut fine, and sprinkled round the
dish.
VEGETABLES
All vegetables should be boiled quickly, and, with the exception of
spinach, in an open vessel, skimming them carefully.
Herbs of all sorts should be gathered when in flower, and on a dry
day, and, being well cleaned from dust and dirt, tied up in small
bunches and dried before the fire. They may then be kept in paper bags
labelled; or rubbed to a powder, sifted, and put into bottles and
labelled.
169.--To Boil Potatoes
Wash and pare them, throwing them into cold water as they are pared;
put them into a saucepan, cover them with cold water, and throw in a
little salt; cover the saucepan closely, and let them boil quickly for
half an hour; pour off the water immediately, and set the pan by the
side of the fire to dry the potatoes.
170.--Another Way
Wash them very clean, put them on in cold water, cover the saucepan,
and let them boil quickly; as soon as the water boils pour it off, and
cover them with cold water; add a little salt, and when the water
boils pour it off instantly, when the potatoes will be sufficiently
done; dry them, and take off the skins before serving.
171.--To Broil Boiled Potatoes
After boiling potatoes not quite sufficiently to send to table, put
them on a gridiron over a clear fire, and turn them frequently till
they are of a nice brown colour all over; serve them hot; take care
they do not become too hard, as that spoils the flavour.
172.--To Brown Potatoes under Meat while Roasting
After being boiled, lay them on a dish, and place it in the
dripping-pan; baste them now and then with a little of the meat
dripping, and when one side is browned turn the other; they should all
be of an equal colour.
173.--Potato Ribbons
Wash four or five large potatoes, scrape them, and cut them into thin
strips round and round, keeping as nearly to one width as possible;
throw them into cold water as they are cut, and then fry them of a
light brown, in very hot or boiling beef dripping; strew over them a
little salt and pepper, and before serving, drain them upon a dish
turned up before the fire.
174.--To Boil Turnips
Wash, pare, and throw them into cold water; put them on in boiling
water with a little salt, and boil them from two hours to two and a
half; drain them in a colander, put them into a saucepan, and, mixing
in a bit of butter, with a beater mash them very smoothly; add half a
pint of milk, mix it well with the turnips, and make them quite hot
before serving. If they are to be served plain, dish them as soon as
the water is drained off.
175.--To Dress Young Turnips
Wash, peel, and boil them till tender in water with a little salt;
serve them with melted butter poured over them. Or,
They may be stewed in a pint of milk thickened with a bit of butter
rolled in flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper, and served with
the sauce.
176.--To Boil Spinach
Pick it very carefully, and wash it thoroughly two or three times in
plenty of cold water; then put it on in boiling water with a little
salt; let it boil nearly twenty minutes; put it into a colander, hold
it under the water-cock, and let the water run on it for a minute; put
it into a saucepan, beat it perfectly smooth with a beater or wooden
spoon, add a bit of butter and three tablespoonfuls of cream, mix it
well together, and make it hot before serving. When dished, it is
scored in squares with the back of a knife.
177.--Another Way
After being nicely picked and well washed, put it into a saucepan,
with no more water than adheres to it; add a little salt; cover the
pan closely, and boil it till tender, frequently shaking it; beat it
quite smooth, adding butter and cream, and make it quite hot. Spinach
may be served with poached eggs, or fried sausages laid on it.
When the spinach is bitter, it is preferable to boil it in water.
178.--To Boil Cauliflowers
Trim them neatly, and let them lie an hour or two in cold water; then
rinse them in fresh cold water, and put them with a very little salt
into boiling water; boil them twenty minutes, or half an hour if very
large. They may be boiled in milk and water, and require to be skimmed
with particular attention.
179.--To Boil French Beans
Cut off the stalk and string them; if not very young, cut them in
four, or into very thin slices; put them into water as they are done,
and put them on in boiling water, with a little salt, and let them
boil for half an hour. If they are old they will require a longer time
to boil. Melted butter in a sauce-tureen is served with them.
180.--To Boil Asparagus
Wash them well, scrape, and tie them up in small bundles; cut them all
even at the bottom, and as they are done put them into cold water; put
them on in boiling water, with a little salt, and let them boil twenty
or twenty-five minutes; take them up, lay them upon a slice of toasted
bread cut in four, and the crusts pared off, with the tops meeting in
the middle of the dish, and cut off the strings.
181.--Asparagus a la Francais
Boil it, and chop small the heads and tender parts of the stalks,
together with a boiled onion; add a little salt and pepper, and the
beaten yolk of an egg; heat it up. Serve it on sippets of toasted
bread, and pour over it a little melted batter.
182.--To Boil Brocoli
Wash it, cut off all the outside leaves and stalks, throw it into cold
water as it is trimmed, put it on in boiling water with a little salt,
and boil it for twenty-five minutes or half an hour. It is sometimes
served upon bits of toasted bread, and a little melted butter poured
round it.
183.--To Boil Artichokes
Cut off the stalks close to the bottom, wash them well, and let them
lie for some hours in cold water; put them on in boiling water with a
little salt in it, cover the pan closely, and boil them an hour and a
half. If they are old, and have not been freshly gathered, they will
take a longer time to boil. Melted butter is served with them in a
sauce-tureen.
184.--To Boil Young Green Cabbages
Wash and clean them well, put them on in boiling water with a little
salt in it, and let them boil quickly from three-quarters to nearly an
hour. Serve with melted butter.
185.--To Stew Cucumbers
Pare eight or ten large cucumbers, and cut them into thick slices;
flour them well, and fry them in butter; then put them into a saucepan
with a teacupful of gravy; season it highly with cayenne, salt,
mushroom catsup, and a little port wine. Let them stew for an hour,
and serve them hot.
186.--Another Way
Pare the cucumbers, and let them lie in vinegar and water with a
little salt in it; drain them, and put them into a saucepan with a
pint of gravy, a slice of lean ham, an onion stuck with one or two
cloves, and a bunch of parsley and thyme; let them stew, closely
covered, till tender. Take out the cucumbers, strain and thicken the
gravy with a piece of butter rolled in flour, boil it up, and pour it
over the cucumbers.
187.--To Stew Mushrooms
Clean them as for pickling, and, after washing them, put them into a
saucepan, with an anchovy, two cloves, some nutmeg sliced, mace, whole
pepper, and salt; let them stew in their own liquor till tender.
In this way they will keep for some time, and when required to be
dressed, pick out the spice, and to a dishful put two large
tablespoonfuls of white wine; add part of their own liquor, and let
them just boil; then stir in a bit of butter dredged with flour, and
two tablespoonfuls of cream.
188.--Another Way
For a good-sized dishful, take a pint of white stock; season it with
salt, pepper, and a little lemon pickle; thicken it with a bit of
butter rolled in flour; cleanse and peel the mushrooms, sprinkle them
with a very little salt, boil them for three or four minutes, put them
into the gravy when it is hot, and strew them for fifteen minutes.
189.--To Roast Onions
Roast them with the skins on in an oven, that they may brown equally.
They are eaten with cold fresh butter, pepper, and salt.
190.--Onions, Plain Boiled
Peel them, and let them lie an hour in cold water, put them on in
boiling milk and water; boil them till tender, and serve with melted
butter poured over them.
191.--To Boil Carrots
Scrape, wash, and clean them; put them on in boiling water with some
salt in it, and boil them from two to three hours. Very young carrots
will require one hour.
192.--Carrots, Flemish Way
Prepare (after boiling) in the form of dice, balls, stars, crescents,
&c., and stew with chopped parsley, young onions, salt and pepper, in
plain melted butter, or good brown gravy.
193.--Green Peas Stewed
Put a quart of good peas into a stewpan, with a lettuce and small
onion sliced small, but not any water; add a piece of butter the size
of an orange, pepper and salt to taste, and stew gently for two hours.
Beat up an egg, and stir into them (or a lump of butter will do as
well); mint should be stewed (if it can be procured) with them, and
ought to be chopped fine, and stirred in with some good gravy.
194.--To Boil Green Peas
After being shelled, wash them, drain them in a colander, put them on
in plenty of boiling water, with a teaspoonful of salt, and one of
pounded loaf sugar; boil them till