Salt is salt,isn't it?

SALT

Salt is salt, isn’t it? No need to tell us about that I hear you think. Well, actually there are two kinds of salt you may not have heard of. I hadn’t, until I came to Pakistan, but here I am, and here they are too.

BLACK SALT

That’s what it’s called, because when it comes out of the ground, the large lumps look black. It’s found in volcanic regions in India and Pakistan and is good to cure flatulence and heartburn. It’s also very effective when rubbed on the flesh of a lemon, which you should eat to stop feeling nauseous. I can vouch for its efficacy for curing that queasy feeling personally!

The black salt we buy has been ground to a fine powder, and tastes a little sulpherous, rather like a hard boiled egg. It contains many trace elements and is rich in iron, I guess it gets its dirty-pink colour from those trace elements. I was surprised to find it wasn’t actually black, but it’s more of a grayish pink colour.

It’s not used in cooking, only as a condiment, and is used especially with fruit. It’s good with watermelon, apples and bananas. Black salt is cooling for the body. Below is a cooling, refreshing drink which uses it.

HIMALAYAN CRYSTAL SALT

This was formed aeons ago when the Earth was still forming and before the Himalayas were born. The ancient seas evaporated and the Himalayas pushed upwards, so this salt was formed under great pressure from the upward movement of these magnificent mountains. It’s actually sea salt, although it has been mined in the Himalayan region. It has been protected from all pollutants and impurities, even those found in nature.

After it has been mined, it’s cut, washed with water, sun dried and then ground to a powder or pounded into crystals. It contains 74 trace minerals.
You can buy both these salts in the UK if you buy online. We’ll give you the links in another post devoted to such topics.



SKANJVEEN
Ingredients
Makes one glass
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp black salt
2 ice cubes
water

Method
Mix all ingredients with water well, then add ice.

This has Taste and is a Treat.

Bay Leaves History,Uses in Medicine and Cookery;Recipe:Basic CHICKEN STOCK

BAY LEAVES

The Latin name for the bay tree is Lauraceae nobilis, Laurus means praise and nobilis, renowned; hence the phrase ‘to rest on one’s laurels’ meaning to reflect on past triumphs or achievements and not do anything new. The bay tree is also known by other names, including the laurel tree.

This tree is native to southern Europe, and is the basis for a Greek legend. Eros (Cupid) and the god Apollo were both skilled archers, and one day in a fit of pique, Eros let fly two arrows, one tipped with lead and the other with gold. The golden tipped arrow struck Apollo and the lead one hit Daphne, a nymph and daughter if the river god Peneus. Apollo, who had gone to the valley of Tempe to cleanse and purify himself after slaying the Python, the ancient evil serpent, immediately fell in love with Daphne, who, because of the effect of Eros’ arrow, loathed and feared Apollo. She fled from him and ran to the river which embodied her father. On seeing his daughter’s plight, he changed her into a bay tree. This is how the tree gets its Greek name, Daphne.

Apollo was not cured by this metamorphosis, of his love for Daphne, and on his return to civilization, to commemorate his victory over the Python, established the Pythian Games, and victors at these games were given crowns of Daphne, or laurel to wear. When the Olympic Games were established in 776BC, victors were also crowned with wreaths of laurel, as were later Roman Emperors.

Nowadays poet laureates are also given symbolic wreaths of laurel, and this is a throw back to the belief of the ancient Greeks that, among other things, Apollo was god of poetry. His temple at Delphi had a roof made only of bay and the Pythoness, the priestess there, would eat a bay leaf before giving the oracle. Bay is said it have some narcotic qualities, so maybe it helped in giving the priestess visions of the future.
We know that bay trees were also common in the temple gardens of ancient Egypt, and that Aesculpius, Apollo’s son, an a healer, believed that bay was a powerful; antiseptic, and guarded against the plague. He incurred his father’s wrath when he had the bay dedicated to him. In the 17th century Culpeper wrote that the oil of the bay leaf and berries could get rid of pimples, and’all griefs and pain proceeding from wind…’

The bay’s properties have not been much researched yet, but it is believed that it can promote digestion, lower blood sugar levels, cure migraines and can relieve the pain of gastric ulcers. However much more research is needed before these claims can be verified.
We use it to flavour almost every European dish we cook, although we tend to omit it in Pakistani cuisine, but there is no real reason for that. It goes with just about everything and is even used as a pickling spice.
The recipe below is a useful one for a basic chicken stock which can be frozen in small or large quantities and kept till you are ready to use it. It’s healthier than a stock cube, and much tastier. Also it’s a good way of using the whole chicken after it’s been roasted.



BASIC CHICKEN STOCK
Ingredients
1 whole chicken carcass, skin removed
1 large whole onion stuck with 2 cloves at the top and 2 at the bottom
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
1 bunch parsley
1/8 tsp nutmeg
8 black peppercorns
3 or 4 bay leaves, torn depending on their size
2 tsps dried mixed herbs, or just dried thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste


Method
Put all ingredients in a large pan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Remove any scum that rises to the surface and do this at regular intervals when you start cooking this stock.
Cover and simmer for 2 to 3 hours.
Cool and freeze for future use.
This has Taste and is a Treat, and can be used in many dishes.

Curry Leaves Origins Medical Uses And Recipe

CURRY LEAVES

Curry leaves come from a shrub or small tree, called the curry tree, or Indian Bay. The dried leaves look a lot like bay leaves, but have an entirely different aroma. I am told that they are easy to grow and keep on a window sill, as you can take a leaf with a stem as a cutting and put it in a pot, and it will grow. But as I have disasters with herbs, I’ll leave that to this site’s administrator who really does have green fingers. Fresh leaves can be frozen for later use, so growing your own is a good idea.

The word curry comes from the Tamil word kari, which is used as a term for a spicy sauce. The plant originated on the subcontinent and spread as the inhabitants took it on their travels with them. Now it happily grows in Australia, the Pacific islands, and Africa, where it is cultivated.

It is not a constituent of British curry powder, which the Brits have made as a quick way of making spicy sauces. This usually contains cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, roasted fenugreek seeds, cinnamon and cloves, and chillies, although the mixture varies from company to company. We do not use curry powder at all, as we prefer to mix our own spices to create the flavour we want for each dish.

In traditional medicine here on the subcontinent, it is used to relieve digestive problems, help skin conditions, and people suffering from diabetes. Recent research in the West has shown that it does indeed help sufferers of diabetes and currently there is hope that they will produce a breakthrough in treating this disease.
  In Pakistan curry leaves are used in a variety of herbal remedies. Oil is extracted from the fresh leaves by steam, but you can heat them over a flame to produce the oil too if you hold them in a pair of tongs.They contain collagen which has anti-aging properties, as it promotes new skin cell growth to make skin youthful looking and smooth out wrinkles. The hakims say that if you have a history of diabetes in the family, or if you have developed diabetes because of a weight problem, you should eat ten curry leaves every morning for 3 months as they provide some protection for those with a history of diabetes in the family, and can cure those who have developed it because of surplus pounds.Tender young leaves mixed with honey and eaten can help in cases of diarrhoea and piles. Another remedy is to grind the leaves to a powder and put in a glass of lhassi (a yoghurt and water drink) and drink it on an empty stomach; this will cure any stomach problem associated with the digestive system. Curry leaves can strengthen the whole digestive system and they say that this is the best recipe: 15 gr. fresh curry leaf juice, 2 tbsp lemon juice, with sugar according to taste, and drink every morning on an empty stomach. This can also stop nausea, vomiting or help if you have eaten a lot of fatty food and your stomach feels heavy.
Here it is usually used fresh, although it can be used dried and/or powdered. It is hardly ever used in meat dishes, only to flavour vegetable dishes. The leaves should be fried in oil to release their aroma. You can use them in any of our vegetable dishes and in biryanis. You can also use them in meat dishes; it’s just traditional here not to. If you have your own curry plant you will find the leaves useful for using as a garnish.
Check out our chicken biryani recipe. Alternatively, here’s a rice dish!
It has Taste and is a Treat.


QUICK BASMATI RICE WITH CURRY LEAVES
Ingredients

1 cup basmati rice, washed and soaked for 10 mins
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 tbsp cumin seeds
½ tsp garam masala
5 or 6 curry leaves
250 gr peeled and chopped tomatoes
2 tbsps oil
2 or 3 red chillies


Method
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion, curry leaves, chopped red chillies, cumin seeds and red chilli powder .Add the rice and coat in oil, by stirring it around the pan. Add about 1 and a half cups of water, the tomatoes and salt to taste, and cook for about 15 mins. When the rice is cooked, remove from the heat and serve, garnished with curry leaves.
                           This has Taste and is a Treat.

CLOVES

The word clove, comes from the Latin, clavus, meaning nail, and this is an apt description of the clove. It is the dried flower bud from the clove tree, which is indigenous to the Malaccan Islands, and it has much the same history as the nutmeg and mace.It is in the Carophyllaceae family of plants making it a relative of carnations, soapwort and the soapnut or reetha.
 It has been around for a long time, and we know that it was used in Syria around 1721 BC as archaeologists found a ceramic pot dating from that time, with cloves in it. We also know that it was prized by the Romans, as Pliny carped about its expense – he was somewhat niggardly and miserly, I fear! In 226 BC the Chinese used to chew them to have sweet breath during an audience with the emperor.

It has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiseptic qualities and it’s a natural anaesthetic, which is why it is still used to cure toothache (at least temporarily). It is good for the digestion and the metabolism, in this modern medical practitioners agree with their predecessors of the ancient world.
If you mix freshly ground cloves in hot or warm milk, and add a little sea salt and drink the mixture, it can relieve a headache.
In the 17th century in England an orange or lemon was studded with cloves as a pomander, to mask unpleasant odours. You can do this too, as they make good decorative table pieces or you can hang them with clothes in a wardrobe.
You can also use cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg to make mulled red wine in winter.



BONG PASANDA
Ingredients
500 beef in one piece, (brisket would be good)
250 gr yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 cloves of garlic
8 cloves
8 black peppercorns
1tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ cup oil
½ handful fresh mint leaves, shredded
salt to taste


Method
Pour 2 glasses of water into a pan with the meat, garlic cloves and salt and cover it. Cook over a medium heat bring to the boil and simmer until the water has evaporated.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the meat on all sides to seal it. Remove the pan from the heat, remove the meat and cut it into slices.
Put the yoghurt into a bowl and mix in the turmeric, cumin seeds, salt and pepper and pour this mixture into the oil in the frying pan. Cook until it boils, stirring well and pour it over the sliced meat.
Garnish with mint leaves and serve.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

CARAWAY SEEDS
Caraway seeds are also known as Persian cumin, and they do look almost identical to cumin seeds, but taste more like anise. Be careful! Caraway seeds are slightly curved, like tiny half moons, whereas cumin seeds are flat.
The name comes from the Arabic,al-karwiya, and not as Pliny thought, from Caria in Asia Minor. He probably believed this as the Latin name for caraway is carvi.
Archaeologists discovered caraway seeds in a rubbish dump, dating back 8000 years, while excavating in Switzerland, so these seeds have been around for a long time. The Romans combined them with milk to make bread, and they’re still used in rye bread today Coated with sugar they were served with fruit in the Middle Ages. They were recorded in the papyrus of Thebes, a medical text, in 1500BC, or thereabouts.Dioscorides believed they aided digestion, and modern studies show that they are a good digestive. The Germans make Kummel, the liqueur with them.
In German folklore, they were supposed to keep sleeping children safe. If some caraway seeds were placed under their beds, they would be safe from witches. In other folk tales we are told that they should be added to a love potion to keep the loved one from straying. If they were added to chicken feed or put in a dove cote, these birds wouldn’t stray either. One other belief was that if something contained caraway seeds it couldn’t be taken out of the house by a thief, but rather, would imprison the thief, so he would be captured.
Shakespeare mentions caraway seeds in his history play, Henry V, when Squire Shallow invites Falstaff to sample ‘a pippin and a dish of caraways’. Roast apples with caraway seeds were popular in his day.
What do you do with them? Well you can make seed cake with them like my grandmother used to do, but it’s dry and an acquired taste, I think. You can mix them in with your favourite potato salad recipe or you could try the recipe below, which is a side dish, good with chicken or with salads.



CUCUMBER AND CARAWAY SEEDS
Ingredients
50 gr butter or olive oil
1 tsp sesame seed oil
1 large cucumber, sliced
1 tsp caraway seeds
a few fronds of fresh dill shredded
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

Method
In a frying pan melt the butter or oil and the sesame oil, and fry the slices of cucumber with the caraway seeds for a few minutes until the slices become transparent.
Remove from the heat and pour into a shallow serving dish. Sprinkle with the seasonings, garnish with dill and serve warm or cold.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

NUTMEG

Nutmeg, or Myristicin fragrans to give it its botanical name, is the seed kernel of a fruit that resembles an apricot. It has a thin membrane wrapped around it, separating it from the fleshy fruit. This membrane is another spice, mace. Although both spices come from the same tree, they are different, and as far as we are concerned, should not be used interchangeable as some writers suggest. Their flavours are different, as nutmeg is much stronger than the more delicate mace.

It comes from the Malaccan Islands originally, and is now grown in other countries including Singapore, India and the West Indies. It took some years for it to spread from the Spice Islands, as the Malaccans were called, as the Dutch kept firm control of the spices that made them wealthy.

Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century AD wrote of a tree that bore two types of spice, and it is thought that he was referring to the nutmeg tree. We know that Arab traders took nutmeg to Constantinople in the 6th century and that in Medieval Europe, the cost of ½ kilo of nutmeg was the equivalent of the cost of a cow or three sheep. Geoffrey Chaucer mentions nutmeg in ‘The Canterbury Tales’ in the Tale of Sir Thopas; ’And nutmeg for to put in ale, All whether it be fresh or stale…’

Pagans use nutmeg as a symbol of luck, money, health and fidelity.

In 18th century Europe, nutmeg was an expensive commodity, and the fashionable people of the time used to carry their own nutmeg graters around with them if they were dining out. They became fashion accessories, some made into pendants and these antique nutmeg graters are now very valuable.

Historically nutmeg has been used to alleviate diarrhea, improve appetite and digestion, and to help sufferers of gout and arthritis.

While doing the research on this spice, I discovered that it is not as well known in Pakistan as mace, and quite a few people I spoke to didn’t know what it was, even when they saw photographs of it. (There weren’t any nutmegs in the local spice shop either.) However, it is used in traditional Mughal recipes, but it is a banned substance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where it is classed as a drug, because of its hallucinogenic effects.

There is some debate in Islam as to whether or not nutmeg is halal or haram, but we believe that as long as it’s used as a spice, then it is halal. If, however it’s used as a drug, then it would be considered haram, as it can be harmful and induce vomiting when taken in large quantities. There is a general health warning that accompanies the use of nutmeg, and that is that you shouldn’t use it in cooking if you are pregnant.

If you are not used to nutmeg, then it would be better for you to use just a little of it until you become accustomed to the taste. The recommended amount for recipes is 1/8 of a teaspoon only.

You can use nutmeg in rice puddings, and cheesecakes as well as in sauces and savoury dishes. Personally, we wouldn’t use mace in sweet dishes, only in savoury ones. There is a garam masala recipe that includes mace, for example.

Try our recipe below, using nutmeg in a side dish which can be served with boiled potatoes as an accompaniment to meat, or as part of a vegetarian meal.

SPINACH WITH NUTMEG
Ingredients
750 gr fresh spinach, washed, dried and trimmed

50 gr butter or olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/8th tsp grated nutmeg
125 gr natural yoghurt
1 bunch spring onions
200 gr peas, shelled
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Cook the peas with a sprig of mint added to the water. Refresh with cold water, drain and reserve.
Chop the spring onions. Heat the oils or butter and sesame oil and lightly fry the onions, then add the spinach and cook until it wilts. Stir in the yoghurt, and cooked peas and heat through for 5 mins, trying not to let the yoghurt boil.
Serve as suggested above.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

MACE
Mace has the same history as nutmeg, coming as it does from the same fruit. However there is no controversy surrounding this spice, and it is more expensive than nutmegs. This is because a pile of nutmegs, weighing 100 pounds, only produces 1 pound of mace.
One Dutch governor of the Malaccan Islands ordered that more mace trees should be planted and less nutmeg tree; that just goes to show how much HE knew about spice production.
In Pakistan, mace is very expensive as compared to other spices, and you can buy it by the blade for special occasions. The lower paid and the underclass cannot afford it
It has been used through the centuries to preserve meat, or to mask the smell of rancid meats.
You only need about an inch of a blade for cooking, and we think that it goes best in white sauces, so feel free to add a whole blade, or half a blade to our Parsley Sauce recipe.
Below is a recipe for mace in garam masala.


UP MARKET GARAM MASALA
Ingredients
2 or 3 black cardamom pods, depending on size
1 tbsp cumin seeds
½ tbsp coriander seeds
½ tbsp caraway seeds
½ tbsp black peppercorns
½ tbsp whole cloves
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces
¼ of a whole nutmeg, grated
1 blade of mace
1 bay leaf, crushed
a pinch of saffron threads
1 heaped tbsp freshly ground ginger

Method
Dry fry the cardamom pods until they plump up over a medium heat. When cool to touch, take out the seeds and put them in a bowl. Discard the pods.
Dry fry the coriander seeds, caraway seeds, black peppercorns, cloves and pieces of cinnamon. Stir for a few mins, and then transfer to the bowl with the cardamom seeds.
Reduce the heat to low, and gently fry the saffron, nutmeg, bay leaf and mace. When the leaves start to get crisp, remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl with the other spices.
While still warm mix all the spices together well and grind to a powder. Cool completely, then store in an airtight jar where the mixture will remain fresh for up to 3 months. Alternatively, freeze the garam masala and it will keep for 6 months.
Use with meats and in sauces.
This has Taste and is a Treat.

Green chillies, history and uses

GREEN CHILLIES
Green chillies have much the same history as red chillies. They are immature fruit of the same plant. They were first cultivated in South America, more than 3,000 years ago. They were first used in medicines and then as a food. There are hundreds of varieties of chilli, with the hottest in contention for first place. One of the hottest is the little Jalapeno (pronounced halapeeno) which comes from Mexico, and the hottest South American variety is the Habanera or scotch bonnet. Then there’s the tiny Pequin, which is used as a base for Tabasco. The Naga variety from India lays claim to being the hottest, but this is disputed, as the claim is that the hottest chilli in the world comes from the foothills of the Himalayas, and this is known to locals as the Sikkimese Cherry Chilli, which is orange in colour when fully ripe.
If you steep chillies in vinegar, this will distribute their flavour throughout the dish, as in a Vindaloo.
It’s reported that Montezuma liked his cocoa flavoured with vanilla, honey and chillies. I wonder where the phrase Montezuma’s Revenge really came from. (Joke!)
The Incas, by the way, worshipped the chilli among other things.
India is now the biggest exporter of chillies.
So much for chilli facts, now for a recipe.


GREEN CHILLI AND GREEN MANGO RELISH
Ingredients
250 gr green chillies
2 green mangoes, peeled and grated
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
½ cup oil


Method
Slit the chillies from top to bottom but otherwise leave intact, you do this so they don’t explode while frying.
Heat the oil in a frying pan and put in the slit chillies and the cumin seeds, and stir. Fry until the pith in the slit turns white, about 5 mins, depending on the type of chilli and how much liquid it contains.
Now add the grated mango with the seasonings, stir and cook for a further 5 mins, stirring constantly so that you don’t burn the mixture.
Remove from the heat and serve with steamed meat or fish, ideally. You can leave this relish in the fridge for a week.
This has Taste and is a Treat.