Monish Gujral Last Updated : 27 Apr 2012 12:10:08 PM IST
Lately, I have been travelling across the globe in search of the choicest kabab recipes to compile my book called Kingdoms of Kababs. I am simplifying them in my book to enable all the great home chefs to make them in their own kitchens.
In Kuwait I was hosted by one of my Arabic friends. On my first day, I was treated to a breakfast that I will never forget.The breakfast consisted of fresh fruits, a platter of fresh dates and prunes and warm triangular savory pastries, which some how reminded of fresh warm stuffed baby nans, served along with pickled vegetables and yoghurt.
There’s a saying in Arabic, yeslamou eedaik, it is used to thank a cook for preparing a delicious meal. It literally translates to ‘bless your hands’. I said this to my friend’s grand mother for such a wonderful treat.
The triangular shaped fatayer or fitiir is a meat pie pastry that can alternatively be stuffed with spinach (sabanekh), or cheese (jibnah). It is part of the Middle Eastern cuisine and is eaten in Kuwait, Turkey, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and other countries in the region. Fatayer is a simple dish, in theory: just dough and filling. The dough can be made with either milk or water. Some chefs in Syria use milk, while some in Lebanon use water.
Interestingly, I saw many fatayer shops in Kuwait that only sold fatayers with different fillings such as beef, lamb, chicken, Haloumi cheese, spinach, vegetables etc. Fatayers are sold in bakeries, school cafeterias, cafe and pastry shops. They make a great start to the day or are a wonderful companion for the afternoon tea. Fatayer el jebneh or cheese pies are typically boat-shaped, but you can shape the dough any way you are comfortable with. I sometimes shape them the same way as the lebanese meat pies and on some days I make them into triangles or circles, they are tasty in any shape, so have fun with it. The cheese used for the stuffing is usually Akkawi cheese mixed with a little Kashkaval or Cheddar cheese, but you can use any salty cheese you like. You can add a variety of flavourings too cilantro, nigella seeds or dried mint add another dimension of flavour, but if you are a fan of plain cheese flavour, like me, feel free to use a plain cheese stuffing.
Here is a recipe to treat your self and your dear ones to a mouth-watering fatayer.
RECIPE FOR FATAYER
Ingredients for the dough:
● 450 gm flour (approx 3 cups)
● 3/4 cup warm milk
● 1/2 tsp sugar or honey
● 1 tsp dry active yeast
● 1/4 cup vegetable or extra virgin olive oil
For the filling:
● 500 gm spinach, finely chopped
● 2 medium onions, finely diced
● 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
● Juice of 2-3 lemons, to taste
● 2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
● 2 tbsp sumac
● 1/2 tsp black pepper
● Salt to taste
Method:
● Bloom the yeast to make sure it is alive. Add the yeast to the warm milk with the half teaspoon of sugar or honey. Cover and set aside for 5-10 minutes.
● Prepare the dough by mixing the oil with the flour and slowly mix in the yeast-milk mixture.
● Add salt to taste and knead for 10-15 minutes or until the dough is soft and elastic.
● Divide the dough into individual balls (small tennis ball size) and cover with a damp towel while you prepare the filling.
● Add salt, pepper and sumac to the diced onions and red bell peppers to soften them.
● In a separate bowl add salt to the spinach and rub the leaves with your hands until they begin to wilt. Squeeze out as much water from the spinach as you can and then mix them with the seasoned onion and red bell pepper mixture. Add lemon juice and adjust seasoning to taste.
● Form the fatayer by flattening out each piece of dough. It is similar to preparing our desi samosas. It is advisable to do this on a lightly oiled plate. If the dough begins to contract too much that means it is not well rested yet.
● Add a spoonful of the spinach mixture to the center of the disc while making sure to keep the sides clear of oil or filling. This will help create a better seal later. Crimp the dough into a triangular shape and set on a parchment lined baking sheet.
● Brush with milk or a light egg wash and bake in a 300º C oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
● Serve warm or at room temperature.
The writer is a well-known restaurateur and author of many cookbooks. Follow him at www.monishgujral.com

Posted By: Vir Sanghvi | Posted On: 13 Mar 2010 06:51 PM

If the tandoori chicken and the butter chicken (and its European relative, the chicken tikka masala) are the most famous Indian dishes in the world never to be cooked in Indian home kitchens, then there must surely be a vegetarian candidate for the same category.

I think I have found it: it is the black dal so beloved of Indian restaurants in India and everywhere else in the world.

When it comes to black dal I have to come right out and say that it is entirely out of my area of experience. I am a Gujarati and Gujaratis, in common with the rest of India, think of dal as being vaguely yellow in colour. We never had black dal at home when I was growing up and as far as I recall, most restaurants in Bombay in the Sixties and early Seventies also did not serve any dish that resembles the black dal so ubiquitous on today’s restaurant menus.

I always imagined that the dal makhani that we come across in restaurant menus is a Punjabi home dish. A little research suggests that I am not entirely wrong. But I am not right either.

The key to dal makhani is the lentil itself, the humble urad, called black gram in English or masha in Sanskrit. Of the 60 dals that are in common use in India (moong, chana, rajma, arhar/tuver etc), urad is among the most ubiquitous and is found in many parts of the country including the south.

But there are many kinds of urad. And one basic distinction is between whole urad and broken-up urad. My friend Gautam Anand, who is fast becoming a mainstay of this column, tells me that his mother remembers urad dal from Lahore in the pre-Partition era. But, the dal she remembers was not made with whole urad. She did not see this kind of lentil used in dal till she came across after the Partition.

Gautam’s theory is that the Punjabis of east Punjab and of Lahore did not make a whole urad dal. This was the specialty of Punjabis in Peshawar. Dhabas (there were relatively few restaurants in those days) sold a black dal made with whole urad and served with a few rotis.

When the Peshawaris came over after the Partition, they brought this dal with them. As many Peshawari Punjabis became restaurateurs, this was the dal they put on their menus.

But even if you dispute the distinction between the two kinds of urad, what is clear is that pre-Partition Punjabis did not put tomatoes in their dal. If they needed a souring agent, they used yoghurt.

Why is it then, that tomato puree is now regarded as an essential ingredient of black dal?

Our story now veers (as does the story of the tandoori chicken) to Delhi’s Daryaganj where Kundan Lal Gujral, who had come over after Partition, had opened Moti Mahal and made tandoori meat cooking famous.

I spoke to Monish Gujral, Kundan Lal’s grandson who now runs the Moti Mahal Delux chain. According to Monish, all of Kundan Lal’s great ideas emerged out of necessity. When he began worrying about his cooked chickens drying out, he searched for a sauce with which he could rehydrate them. His solution was the makhani or butter sauce that led to the creation of the butter chicken, made from bits of tandoori chicken that were in danger of drying out. Monish says that Kundan Lal then searched for a vegetarian option. Gautam maintains that in those days, urad dal was not considered a great banqueting dish. Chana dal was more respectable and in any case, caterers and restaurateurs were obsessed with so-called ‘shahi’ dishes in which the gravy was enriched with cream.

Gautam agrees with Monish that it was Kundan Lal who invented the latter day dal makhani though he suspects that it emerged out of a desire to do a shahi dal to go with the rich non-vegetarian food. Monish says it was even simpler. All Kundan Lal did was to take the black dal of his ancestors and to add his makhani sauce to it. After butter chicken came, his next invention was butter dal. (Think about it: chicken makhani, dal makhani! Obviously the dishes were meant to be regarded as members of the same family.)

I put this theory to Manjit Gill who is not only ITC’s corporate chef but is also extremely knowledgeable about the history of Indian cuisine. To my surprise, because hoteliers don’t like giving credit to each other, even Manjit conceded that the modern dal makhani was invented by Moti Mahal. Till that version of the dal appeared, says Manjit, nobody thought of putting tomatoes into dal and no Punjabi home cook had ever mixed cream and black dal.

I had an ulterior motive in speaking to Manjit. Though dal makhani is now a menu standard, the dal that has found international fame is ITC’s own Dal Bukhara. Foreigners come from all over the world to eat Dal Bukhara and ITC makes a fortune from its packaged Dal Bukhara which is sold all over the world.

So, is there a difference between dal makhani and Dal Bukhara?

Yes, there is.

Manjit is clear that without Moti Mahal there would be no Dal Bukhara. Punjabi home cooking has no such dal. It was Kundan Lal who taught Punjabi restaurant cooks that the addition of tomato and cream could turn a simple dish into a world famous delicacy.

But equally, there are important differences between the Moti Mahal dal and the Bukhara version. For a start, the Moti Mahal recipe (as published in Monish’s Moti Mahal’s Tandoori Trail) is a mixture of dals. It is only 50 per cent urad dal. The other 50 per cent is equally divided between rajma and chana dal. The Bukhara dal is all urad.

Manjit says that most restaurants follow the Moti Mahal recipe because the other dals add what chefs call ‘viscosity.’ (In simple English, this means that the resulting dal is thicker.) Moreover, the rajma adds a little colour.

The Bukhara dal gets its viscosity from slow cooking – something most restaurants don’t bother with. Like some ancient stock, it never stops cooking. The chefs cook it on a low flame overnight and then, never take it off the fire. When you order a Dal Bukhara, they simply ladle it out of the master pot. At most restaurants, dal makhani is cooked once a day and then taken off the fire. When you order it, they heat it up again and add cream and various other kinds of dairy fat and flavouring to tart it up before service. This is why black dal in other restaurants is often served much hotter than the Bukhara version.

There are other differences as well. Because Moti Mahal was a way for refugees to stand on their own feet after Partition, all its dishes emerged out of improvisation. Bukhara, on the other hand, is India’s most expensive restaurant (for Indian food at least) and so, has an obsession with the quality of the lentils, sourcing them from the best farmers and then worrying incessantly about the water it uses. Any chef will tell you that water is the key to good dal. But water varies from city to city and frequently, urban water is either over-chlorinated or, if you use your own filters, can taste slightly odd. ITC uses mineral water to standardise the taste of its Dal Bukhara at all its hotels.

The obsession with detail extends to the packaged version. When they first started selling the dal, they were surprised by the negative feedback. ITC chefs tried the canned dal and discovered that it really wasn’t very good. They could not understand this. They had made the dal to the traditional recipe.

It took some research to work out that the dal had reacted with the metal of the can and its taste had changed. So, now ITC refuses to can the dal and sells it in sachets which preserve the taste far better. (Though of course, you can buy canned black dal from a variety of other companies.)

If all this has fooled you into believing that I’m a great black dal fan, rest assured that my interest in the invention of this dish is purely academic. I do not like the restaurant version of black dal and each time I eat it, I can feel my arteries harden.

My own view, for what it’s worth, is that the chefs of the Fifties and Sixties (people like Kundan Lal) did for Indian restaurants what the likes of Escoffier did for French cuisine. They created dishes, they invented sauces that became kitchen standards (the makhani sauce, for instance) and they established the basic north Indian menu which remained largely unchanged for the rest of the 20th century.

“And black dal, whether in its Moti Mahal avatar or in its currently fashionable Bukhara version, is one of the classics of 20th century Indian restaurant cuisine.”
But these dishes were creatures of their time. Just as Escoffier was God’s gift to the dairy and milling industries because all his dishes required cream, butter and flour, the great Indian chefs of the Fifties and Sixties pursued a goal that no longer seems very interesting to us: they wanted food that tasted ‘shahi’ or rich.

The basis of any ‘shahi’ dish is essentially, animal fat. Take away tandoori meat and much of mid-20th century Indian cuisine was about fat. Chefs cooked in lots of oil, they suffused their curries with animal fat and they loved dairy fat. When they made vegetarian dishes, they compensated for the lack of meat fat by adding cow fat in the form of butter, ghee and cream. That’s why dal makhani is full of cream and butter. (Kundan Lal’s recipe has one kg of dal, 500 ml of cream and a full kg of butter! Dal Bukhara is also something of a dairy product.)

I like to think that Indian chefs are now going back to their roots, to the traditional dishes of Indian cooking and to the food of our grandmothers who had no interest in feeding us ‘shahi’ meals. There is a greater emphasis on spicing (dal makhani and Dal Bukhara have hardly any spices) and a conscious effort to lighten the cuisine.

Which is great because all cuisines need to evolve. But as this evolution continues, we can still celebrate the dishes that have come to epitomise a certain kind of Indian restaurant cooking all over the world. And black dal, whether in its Moti Mahal avatar or in its currently fashionable Bukhara version, is one of the classics of 20th century Indian restaurant cuisine.

Dal makhani recipes From professional Chefs:

The Art of Fine Cooking by Arvind Saraswat

Ingredients

120g urad dal, 30g rajma (red kidney beans), 15g chana dal, salt, 100g butter, 75ml cream

The First Tempering: 125g ghee, 100g onions, 20g ginger, 10g green chillies, 125g tomatoes 10g red chilli powder

The Second Tempering: 25g ghee, 5g cumin, 15g garlic, asafoetida (a pinch), 5g fenugreek (kasoori methi)

Preparation

The lentils: Pick, wash and soak overnight. Drain and replenish with fresh water (approx. 2 litres).

The first tempering: Peel, wash and chop onions. Scrape, wash and chop ginger. Remove stems, wash, slit, deseed and chop green chillies. Wash and chop tomatoes.

The second tempering: Peel and chop garlic.

Cooking

Boil lentils in a handi, add salt and simmer until the dals are soft and the water is almost (not fully)
absorbed. Mash the lentils lightly with a ladle.

To prepare the first tempering, heat ghee in a pan, add onions and sauté over medium heat until light brown, add ginger and green chillies, sauté until the onions are brown. Then add tomatoes and fry until of a paste consistency (add a few tablespoons of water to this tempering to facilitate the process). Pour this tempering over the simmering lentils, bring to a boil, reduce to low heat and simmer until the fat comes to the surface.

To make the second tempering, heat ghee in another pan, add cumin and sauté over medium heat until it begins to crackle (approx. 15 seconds). Then add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds or until garlic becomes brown. Now add asafoetida, stir and pour this tempering over the simmering lentils immediately. Sprinkle fenugreek and mix thoroughly. Adjust the seasoning.

To Serve: Transfer the simmering dal to a bowl, add butter and cream, stir until fully mixed and serve with tandoori roti.

Note: This dal will have a muddy colour. To make it brighter – reddish brown – blanch the lentils before commencing the actual cooking, drain and replenish with fresh water. Then follow the above procedure.

All dals are covered and cooked. If excess water has been added inadvertently, remove the lid for a short period, increase the heat, boil to let the water evaporate and then revert to the usual procedure.

Serves: 4

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

From Tandoori Trail by Monish Gujral

Rich creamy dal in butter gravy

Ingredients

Black gram (urad dal), whole – 3 and 1/3 cups or 500g, Kidney beans (rajma) – 1 and 3/4 cups or 250g, Bengal gram (chana dal) – 1 and 3/4 cups or 250g, Milk – 5 cups or 1 lt, Tomato puree – 5 cups or 1 lt, Red chilli powder – 25g, Cumin (jeera) powder – 25g, Garam masala – 25g, Butter – 1 kg, Cream – 2 and 1/2cups or 500ml, Salt to taste

Method

Pick and clean the black gram, kidney beans, and Bengal gram. Add salt and rub the mixture with both hands and then rinse with water. Soak the mixture in water overnight.

Take a heavy-based utensil, add the drained dal mixture and double the quantity of water; cook over low heat. Stir the mixture vigorously to mash it. Once it thickens, add milk and cook till the milk is absorbed completely.

Add tomato puree and all the spices. Cook till the gram and beans are tender (for about half an hour). Add butter and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add cream and mix well by stirring continuously.

Serve hot.

Serves: 4

Home > LifeStyle > The chickpea trail to Rawalpindi
The chickpea trail to Rawalpindi

Monish Gujral Last Updated : 13 Apr 2012 12:11:19 PM IST
Yes, I know I ought to be writing about cheese and chocolates, sitting in Amsterdam or about the famous herring salad with warm bread, but after all the leftover tuna salad and mashed potato, in simple words, the slew of western food, I am craving for my Pind da khaana. I’m back to cooking food that I crave for and enjoy, for a while at least, so please bear with my sudden pang for traditional recipes!
Till recently, I thought Pindi chana meant the village recipe for chickpeas, as Pind in Punjabi means village. However, lately I discovered, while talking to my mother-in-law that Pindi chana is named after Rawalpindi, a city in the Punjab province of present-day Pakistan. With a long history of several invasions and changes in power, the city has many fine monuments resplendent with ancient Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic architecture. The city life in Rawalpindi is abuzz with lively bazaars, countless restaurants, food-stalls, and street-vendors, offering ample opportunities to sample the delectable local fare.
This time, I am going to share my mother-in-law’s special Pindi chana recipe, incidentally she hails from Rawalpindi, but post partition migrated to India. I am sure; you will bless me after relishing the hearty chana bhatura or kulcha meal with your family.
A chana recipe has several variations, and I got an idea of that when I went on my Pindi chana recipe hunting. Some said that kala (black) chana should be used; others suggested kabuli (white). Then a few told me that chana is best cooked with amla (Indian gooseberries) because it gives a sour taste and adds a dark colour to the dish. Some suggested tea-bags for colour and taste. Some use tomatoes, while a few don’t. There are different explanations regarding the use of onion, some use freshly chopped with the final dish, while others prefer brown fried as part of the masala. The differences will never cease to exist; the only thing I know for certain is that I won’t know anything definite until I visit the city someday. It is also hard to accept that there will just be one Pindi chana recipe all across a city of three million people. Every household has its special chana recipe and every child claims that it is his mother or grandmother who makes the best chana in the world, my claim of inheritance is from my in laws. Wow, what an
inheritance.
Over the course of these recipe-runs, I found myself making a few changes in the method, nothing that compromises with the original intention of the recipe. Just the right cooking of the masalas without overcooking the chickpeas, and waiting till the end to add the garam masala to avoid evaporation of all the precious oils.
The writer is a well-known restaurateur and author of many cookbooks. Follow him at www.monishgujral.com
Topics:Chickpea, Pind da chana, Rawalpindi

The many crepe avatars

Monish Gujral Last Updated : 23 Mar 2012 11:18:28 AM IST
Sitting by the roadside creperie in Paris at the Champs Ellyses Avenue, I was fascinated to see young, old, and gorgeous women busy eating the hot crêpes, some oozing chocolate sauce, strawberry fillings, others laced with white chocolate and almonds. Common to these women was that they were eating their crêpes passionately.
While digging into my crêpe filled with dark chocolate and Grand Marnier liquor with dollops of whipped cream, I was thinking about our Indian dosa. How similar are our dosas to these crêpes. I would certainly, when return from Paris, next week, will try making dosa batter crêpes with dark chocolate and rum. Wonder how would it taste, but for an ever evloving chef, open mindedness and experimentation is all that it takes, hmm!
This again is a very interesting example of my theory on how world adapts and adopts food habits. I had just about finished eating my Grand Marnier crêpes, when this beautiful lady chef came up with a pot of black coffee that I had ordered earlier. On coaxing and complimenting her, was I able to get the Grand Marnier recipe to share with you all.
A crêpe is a type of very thin pancake usually made from wheat flour (crêpes de froment). The word is of French origin, deriving from the Latin crispa, meaning “curled”. Crêpes are especially popular throughout France.
The common ingredients include flour, eggs, milk, butter, and a pinch of salt. While crêpes originate from Brittany a region in the northwest of France, their consumption is widespread across the country. In Brittany, crêpes are usually served with cider. Crêpes are served with a variety of fillings, from the most simple with only sugar to flamed crêpes suzette. Crêpes are usually sweet or savory. When eaten for lunch or dinner they are mostly savory, usually filled with artichokes, cheese, ham, meat or other vegetables. For breakfast one can do the fillings with nutella spread, preserves, maple syrup, strawberries, whipped cream, custard etc.
Preparation
Crêpes are made by pouring a thin liquid batter onto a hot frying pan or flat circular hot plate, often with a trace of butter on the pan’s surface. The batter is spread evenly over the cooking surface of the pan or plate either by tilting the pan or by distributing the batter with an offset spatula.
Varieties of Crepes
Mille crêpe is a French cake made of several crêpe layers. The word mille means “a thousand”, implying the many layers of crêpe. It is a sweet crêpe served with strawberries and whipped cream. Another standard French and Belgian crêpe is the crêpe Suzette, with lightly grated orange peel and liquor (usually Grand Marneir), it is subsequently lit upon presentation. Cherry Kijafa Crêpes are also common and are made with a traditional crêpe base, but filled with cherries simmered in a Kijafa wine sauce. A common recipe practiced among bodybuilders is what is called a “bodybuilder’s crêpe”, made with whey protein powder, flavoring, egg white, and other ingredients such as oats, and peanut butter.
The names for thin crêpes in other parts of Europe are:
● Albanian: krep
● Dutch: flensje
● Faroese: pannukaka
● Finnish: ohukainen
● Hungarian : palacsinta
● Icelandic: pönnukaka
● Itatian: crespella
What ever the names of the crêpes may be, the fact is that they are easy to make, suits every meal, may it be breakfast, lunch, dinner or an in between snack and to top it off crêpes taste good. So time for a Grand Marnier Crêpe .
The writer is a well-known restaurateur and author of many cookbooks. Follow him at www.monishgujral.com
Grand marnier Crêpe
Ingredients
● 1 cup all-purpose flour
● 2 eggs
● 1/2 cup milk
● 1/2 cup water
● 1/4 tsp salt
● 2 tbsp butter, melted
● 2 tbsp Grand Marnier Grand Marnier liqueur
● 100 gm cooking dark chocolate
Directions
1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the Grand Marnier Liqueur salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crêpe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
3. Cook the crêpe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.
4. Melt the dark chocolate on a double boiler and pour over the pan cake
5. Serve hot.
Topics:

Monsh Gujral`s third book “ Kingdoms of kababs “was pre launched at the Paris Cook Book Fair on 11th March 2012 in presence of the Deputy chief Of Mission (Indian Embassy Paris)Mrs Gaytri Kumar and a wide audience who witnessed Gujral showcasing some recipes from his forthcoming book.
“Over the past few moons ,I had been on a Kabab Trail , travelling to so called kingdoms of kababs .My trail started from Turkey , the birth place of kababs to middle east and many cities in India , following intricately the history and traditions associated with these mouth watering delicacies , which have become part and parcel of our gastronomic lives “ says Monish Gujral
.The book show cases popular world kabab recipes such as Shish kabab. Doner kabab,Turkish Ali ppasa kabab, Beyti Kebab, Bugu Kababi (steamed kebab),chelow,Hawaiin Kabab, thai sate kababs and ever green Luckowi tunda kababs Pakistani pathar kababs and gilaouti chapli, and host of mouth watering Global kabab recipes , which have been simplified by Monish Gujral to suit the cooking in your own home kitchens along with some important and essential tips for making great and delicious kababs .

Home > LifeStyle > Indulge in the food of the gods
Indulge in the food of the gods
Replay Video

Monish Gujral Last Updated : 02 Mar 2012 01:12:42 PM IST
Owing to my sweet tooth, I have been passionate about chocolate and chocolate desserts, to the extent that whenever I go for a buffet or a party I always inspect the dessert counter before queuing up for the meal. Sometimes, if my wife is not seeing, I would give the boring savories amiss and straight make a beeline for the chocolicious desserts and indulge passionately with my choco-darlings, hmmm!
What is chocolate?
Chocolate is a psychoactive food. It was once a bitter drink that brought vitality and energy and today it is an essential ingredient in some of the most loved desserts. Today, people of all backgrounds enjoy chocolate, but there was a time when it was only meant for the royalty and upper class. The main types of chocolate are white chocolate, milk chocolate, semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened chocolate. It is made from the seeds of the tropical cacao tree. The cacao tree was named by the 17th century Swedish naturalist, Linnaeus. The Greek term Theobroma, literally means “the food of the gods”.
I would like my wife to read this piece and certainly treat me nothing less than god because I love chocolate. Eating and loving chocolate should put you up on the pedestal as of gods, just think. Meanwhile, let me give you one of my favourite combo recipes. Now that you all know the secret to my heart, then you must have also understood that I am a frequent traveller to Belgium. Any guesses why? Belgium is the chocolate capital of the world. On my last trip, I accidentally came across this old chocolate shop on a side of a cobbled street, which read traditional chocolatier. I went inside this quaint little cottage and to my amazement found the most exquisite chocolates I had ever tasted. On befriending the young chocolatier, I was able to extract the recipe of bittersweet salted caramel choco sauce. If you follow the recipe to the word, I can guarantee that you will bless me for the rest of your life after eating the divine mix.
And if you also have a nosy wife or a weight watcher parents make them read my article and specially the following lines and I am sure after reading it, no one will come between you and your chocolates. I wish….
“More recently, a study of 8,000 male Harvard graduates showed that chocoholics lived longer than abstainers. Their longevity may be explained by the high polyphenol levels in chocolate. Polyphenols reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and thereby protect against heart disease.” Such theories may be speculative but they certainly reduce the guilt of extra calories consumed.
Gujral is a restaurateur and
author of many cookbooks. Follow him at www.monishgujral.com
Bittersweet Salted caramel choco sauce
Ingredients
● 1 cup sugar
● ¼ cup water
● 1 tbsp light corn syrup
● ¾ cup heavy whipping
cream
● 4 tbsp or ½ stick
unsalted butter, cut into
small pieces and softened
● ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
● 1 tsp pure chocolate extract
● ½ tsp fine-grained
finishing sea salt
● 3½ oz bittersweet choco
late finely chopped
Steps
1. Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a saucepan over high heat. When the mixture begins to bubble around the edges, dip a pastry brush in water and run it around the edges to help prevent crystallization. Continue to cook the mixture, without stirring, until it turns amber.
2. At the same time, bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan. Immediately pour the hot cream into the sugar mixture and stir. Be careful, because the mixture may splatter and foam. Add the butter and stir until it is completely melted.
3. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the vanilla and chocolate extracts, salt, and bittersweet chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is thoroughly melted.
4. Use the sauce immediately. Or transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and cool the bowl on a rack to room temperature. Warm the sauce in the top of a double boiler or in a microwave oven on low power before using.
5. Store the sauce in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
Topics:sweet tooth, chocolate

MONISH GUJRAL Last Updated : 17 Feb 2012 01:51:42 PM IST
Some times a memorable dinner, even though eaten many years ago, stands out as ones first great meal. I experienced something similar in my childhood at an old French Bistro on one gorgeous summer evening in Paris.
I still remember that I nearly burnt my mouth eating a dish that remains the epicenter of a seminal food experience. Since then, I’ve eaten this dish at most a handful of times, and even cooked it on a few occasions. It’s the French onion soup (Soupe à l’oignon).
French onion soup is an onion and beef broth or a beef stock based soup which was traditionally served with croutons and cheese toppings. It’s a classic French recipe. Although ancient in origin, this dish underwent a resurgence of popularity in the 1960s in the US.
The rich flavour of the base is not just due to the broth, but for the caramelized onions. Caramelization, in this case is the procedure in which the onions are cooked slowly until the melting sugars approach burning temperature, becoming golden brown. Some recipes suggest a half an hour of cooking time, but many chefs and cooks allow for hours of cooking to bring out the complex flavours of the onions’ sugars. The trick to sweat the onions to draw out the liquid is an important step in caramelization. This can be accomplished by tossing the onions in a fat of choice (olive oil, butter, or bacon fat), adding salt, and then covering the pot and letting the onions cook over very low heat. The salt and heat draw the liquid out of the onions. Finally a dash of cognac or sherry is often used to enhance the caramelized onion flavour and to deglaze the pan.
The base is usually topped with the crouton, which will be very dry and crusty to allow it to withstand lying on the soup surface, while baked or broiled with a good melting cheese on top. In some instances, a slice of plain bread can also be used. The soup is then served in the bowl in which it was broiled or baked. Although the original version has beef base, but there can be variation depending upon ones choice of stocks such as vegetable or chicken stock, which makes a lighter-coloured broth.
Despite many trips to Paris, I never found that restaurant whose soup I remember till date. I guess it was in the part of the city demolished for a new development
French Onion soup

Traditional food from
France
Ingredients
50g (2oz) butter
750g (1 and a half lb) onions thinly sliced
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of plain flour
1 litre of chicken or beef stock
Salt and Pepper
Half a small french stick cut into 4 slices(is “a long thin loaf of French bread that is commonly made from basic lean dough )
50g (2oz) Gruyère cheese, grated
Parsley, chopped
Preparation
1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onions and sugar. Turn down the heat so it is just simmering and cook the onions very slowly for 20-30 minutes until they are soft and a deep golden brown. Stir occasionally.

2. Stir the flour into the onion mixture and cook over a very low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring to prevent burning or sticking to the pan.

3. Add the stock and a dash of salt and pepper. Turn up the heat so the soup boils, stir all the time and then turn the heat down and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Taste the soup and season as you like.

4. Toast the slices of french bread. Put a piece in each bowl and sprinkle with grated Gruyère. Pour the soup over the top and sprinkle the parsley over the top.
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The Great Turkish kebab crawl

Monish Gujral Last Updated : 06 Jan 2012 02:08:22 PM IST
Sometimes, best things happen to you when you are least expecting them. The same happened to me a few days ago, when I had to visit Turkey’s capital, Istanbul, for work. Walking by the streets of Istanbul, the birthplace of kebabs, you witness lines of kiosks and restaurants, always filled with gastronomes. Most gorge on Doner Kebabs, spicy beef chops, soft meat rolls, fish pancakes, beef burgers and pizzas, while the health freaks love to gulp the soft tender meat from oyster shells, dampening it with lemon juice.
Turkish cuisine is a heritage of the Ottoman empire. With influences from Middle Eastern Cuisine along with traditional Turik elements such as yogurt, the Turks created a wide array of specialities.
Turkish cuisine varies across the country. Some use fewer spices, while others prefer rice; most like seafood. In the areas around the Black Sea, people extensively consume fish, especially the Black Sea anchovy (Hamsi), and they also eat a lot of maize dishes because of influences from Balkan and Slavic cuisine. Southeast Turkey is famous for its kebabs, mezes and dough-based desserts—for instance Baklava, Kadayif and Kanafeh. In the western parts of Turkey, where olive trees grow abundantly, olive oil is a primary ingredient for cooking. The cuisine of Aegean, Mediterranean and Marmara region is rich in vegetables, herbs and fish.
In Turkey, besides lamb meat, beef and sea food, vegetables are also widely eaten and sometimes a vegetable can also be a main course on a Turkish dining table. When in Istanbul, a visit to the Old Fish Market and the 20-25 restaurants by the street is a must. One of my favourite restaurants is Kalamar. You can savour kebabs, hot and cold mezzes and roasted chestnuts here, along with live music by the gypsies and finish off the hearty meal with a cup or two of Turkish coffee.
Since Turkey is said to be the birthplace of kebabs, I have dedicated this column to some special types of Turkish kebabs. Kebab stands for a variety of meat-based dishes in Turkish cuisine. It not only encompasses grilled or skewered meats, but also stews and casseroles. Here’s a low-down on the varieties of Turkish kebabs:
■ Adana Kebab: Kebab made with hand-minced meat mixed with chilli on a flat wide metal skewer (shish). The kebab is associated with the Adana region and is popular all over Turkey.
■ Ali Pasa Kebab (Ali Pasha Kebab): Cubed lamb, tomato, onion and parsley wrapped in phyllo sheets.
■ Alinazik Kebab: Ground meat kebab sautéed in a saucepan, with garlic, yogurt and eggplants.
■ Bahcivan Kebabi (gardener’s kebab): Boneless lamb shoulder mixed with chopped onions and tomato paste.
■ Beyzok Kebab: Tomato and onion flavoured lamb, wrapped in aubergine slices and garnished with lamb brains.
■ Beyti Kebab: Ground lamb or beef, seasoned and grilled on a skewer. Often served, wrapped in lavas, hand topped with tomato sauce and yogurt. The kebab’s origin can be traced to the famous Beyti Kebab House in Istanbul.
■ Bostan Kebab: Lamb and aubergine casserole.
■ Bugu Kababi (steamed kebab): Cooked in low heat until the meat releases its moisture and reabsorbs it.
■ Cag Kabab: Cubes of lamb is first roasted on a cağ (a horizontal rotating spit and then on a skewer), a specialty of the Erzurum region. It has witnessed rising popularity in recent times.
■ Liver Paper Kebab: A lamb liver kebab mixed with meat and marinated with thyme, parsley and dill .
■ Earthenware Bowl Kebab: Meat and vegetable casserole with eggplant, carrots, shallots, beans, tomatoes and green pepper.
■ Cop Sis (small skewer kebab): A speciality of Seluk and Germencik region. It is made of pounded boneless meat with tomatoes and garlic marinated in black pepper, thyme and oil on wooden skewers.
■ Hukan Kababi (sultan’s kebab): Sliced lamb meat mixed with aubergine purée, basil, thyme and bay leaf.
■ Iskender Kabab: A form of Doner Kebab, it is served with yogurt, tomato sauce and butter. Originated in Bursa, the kebab was invented by İskender Efendi in 1867. He was inspired by the Cag Kebab and turned it from horizontal to vertical.
■ Islim Kabab (steamed kebab): Another version of the Aubergine Kebab.
■ Kagit Kababi: Lamb meat cooked in a paper wrapping.
Kuyu Kababi (pit kebab): Prepared from goat, it is a speciality of Avdin.
■ Kuzu Incik Kababi (lamb shank kebab): Lamb shanks mixed with peeled eggplants and chopped tomatoes, cream, salt and black pepper.
■ Kofte Kebab: Minced lamb meatballs with herbs, often including parsley and mint on a stick, grilled.
■ Orman Kebabi (forest kebab): Lamb meat on the bone and cut in large pieces mixed with carrots, potatoes and peas.
Yogurtlu Kebab (Kebab with yoghurt )
Ingredients:
● 4 tablespoons of butter
● 3 ripe tomatoes
● 4 hot green peppers
● 4 slices of bread
● 500 gm meat, cut into cubes or ground
● 500 gm yoghurt
● 1 tsp pepper powder
● 1 tsp red pepper powder
● Salt to taste
● ½ cup onion juice
● ¼ cup olive oil
Method:
● Marinate the meat cubes in a marinade of onion juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.
● Cook peeled tomatoes, cut into small pieces in 1 tbsp of butter in a pan . Keep warm.
● Toast bread, cut into small slices and distribute on the plates.
● Skewer meat and grill on coal fire.
● Melt 2 tbsp of butter and pour over bread. Add hot tomato sauce and yoghurt.
● Remove meat from skewer and place on the dish. Serve with hot green pepper and parsley.

Text
By Diksha Sahni

Monish Gujral
A view of the tandoor at the earliest Moti Mahal restaurant in 1948 where a cook is seen putting bread inside the tandoor to cook it .
Moti Mahal (Palace of Pearl), one of the oldest restaurants in Delhi, helped spread to the world one of India’s iconic cuisines: Tandoori food. It is also credited with inventing dishes such as “dal makhani” — black gram lentils with tomatoes, cream and butter — and “butter chicken” that have become hallmarks of Indian food globally.

What began as a small eatery in Peshawar in British India, the restaurant later reopened in Delhi in 1947 after Partition. It has been an institution in the capital ever since and has established several branches. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, independent India’s first education minister, is said to have once told the Shah of Iran, “Visiting Delhi and not going to Moti Mahal is like going to Agra and not visiting the Taj Mahal.”

As part of our “New Delhi@100” series, India Real Time traces the journey of Moti Mahal – now in its 91st year.

In the 1920s, in Peshawar in undivided India, a boy aged 12 started working as a kitchen helper in an eatery called Moti Sweets. Having lost his father at a very young age, he had to start earning early in life. When the eatery’s owner died a few years later, the boy took over the chain as the owner was very fond of him. He renamed the place “Moti Mahal.” The young boy was Kundan Lal Gujral.

Monish Gujral
The restaurant’s signature dish of ‘Tandoori Chicken.’
“Once a customer demanded that he wanted a lighter option rather than the usual gravy-based dishes of Korma, which are cooked in oil and thus very heavy,” recalls Monish Gujral, the founder’s grandson and now managing director of the chain. “So to please the customer, K.L Gujral thought of experimenting with chicken and marinating it with yoghurt and using the tandoor (open hearths),” he added. This is how the “tandoori chicken” was born.

Kebabs were invented in Turkey and the tandoor had been used for centuries to cook breads. But Mr. Gujral claims it was the first time the kebabs were grilled rather than fried. He adds that, once the tandoor came to be used, the options to experiment were almost endless.

Butter chicken, too, had humble beginnings. When the founder realized that dry pieces of tandoori chicken go bad very quickly without refrigeration, he decided to add gravy to them. He took the leftover pieces of tandoori chicken and cooked them over a low flame in a gravy of butter, spices, cream and tomatoes. The result was butter chicken, a dish that is now a staple of Indian restaurants around the world. The same gravy recipe was then used to make dal makhani.

Moti Mahal had already established itself among the British elite in Peshawar but the challenge came with Partition, when K.L. Gujral had to move to India and start a new life as a refugee.

Monish Gujral
The restaurant’s other famous dish – ‘Butter Chicken.’
But he came from a more privileged background than most other refugees, so starting afresh was less of a struggle. “My grandfather was among the few rich people who flew to India rather than taking the train,” said Mr. Gujral.

“My grandfather stayed in a refugee camp initially and thought of setting up a dhaba (roadside eatery) to introduce Delhiites to the tandoori chicken. He finally bought a small space in a corner in Daryanganj and thus set up Moti Mahal in the city,” Mr. Gujral said. The place quickly proved popular and within a year K.L. Gujral bought the adjoining area, turning his eatery into a 400-seat restaurant. K.L. Gujral also tried to make Moti Mahal a different experience by introducing live “qawwali” (a form of sufi devotional music) and a see-through kitchen.

Dignitaries like former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, former Indian President Dr. Zakir Hussain, actors Raj Kapur and Nargis, and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev are among the famous patrons.

With time, Moti Mahal changed, too. While it retained the signature dishes of dal makhani, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, chicken pakora (fritters), the restaurant reinvented itself to suit the changing palate of the Indian customer. They introduced tandoori dishes made with broccoli, trout and lobster.

Monish Gujral
Dr. Zakir Hussain, extreme left, seen in this picture with K.L. Gujral, first from right.
“Indian customers are now exposed to a lot of international eating and want not only better presentation but also varieties that are good for health,” Mr. Gujral said, adding that customers are now more health conscious and thus demand more barbequed stuff.

What is also interesting to note is the price for the dishes: in the early post-Independence days, the restaurant used to sell a portion of tandoori chicken priced at one rupee and butter chicken at 1.25 rupees. Today, these are priced around 500 rupees ($10) and 650 rupees, respectively. Mr. Gujral serves over 100,000 butter chickens in a year.

Monish Gujral
Monish Gujral, the founder’s grandson, outside one of the restaurants under the chain.
Mr. Gujral instituted Moti Mahal Delux Management Services in 2003 with the objective of expanding the business into franchises across India. Today, it has grown from a small restaurant in Old Delhi to a modern eating chain with more than 150 company-owned restaurants and franchises in India and abroad and he plans to expand at the rate of two restaurants a month.

“The first thing I did when we started the franchise model was to standardize the recipes,” he said. “I couldn’t have a chain serving different recipes, so all chefs are trained by Moti Mahal, thus ensuring the quality remains the same.”