Orange Zest: Of a DELNA Dinner and some cultural exchange

The year has gone by in a flash and some more, and while I sip on some delicious memories in the comforts of the valley I call home, one question I often ask myself is: what was the best form of cultural exchange that I experienced at INSEAD? Was it the multi-lingual parleys in the classroom or the varying dance moves during the gazillion parties? Could it be the differing sense of humour or the lack of, or maybe songs from all corners of the earth we all learned to love? Maybe it was the great cultural experiences during our travels or the 'sampling' of local alcohol. Or perhaps it was the discussion over national or religious traditions and the celebration of one too many festivals... ah! and of course, the greatest cultural exchange would happen during national week biddings and the national weeks themselves - painting the campuses with Desi colours while others served sauerkraut and yet another set of people screamed #yallavote just as the Italians bribed us with (kept) promises of Ferrari rides and the Latin Americans shook the earth with some serious Samba.

However, one way in which cultural exchange personally stood out for me was through meals over national and regional food - whether it was Chinese hotpots or Peruvian piscos, stolen knafehs or silken snails, Swiss raclettes or Korean bar-be-ques. It's what made me understand the temperaments of my fellow classmates better for I stumbled upon the realization that we are all made up of flavors we grew up on. And so in the ebbing weeks of my INSEAD life, I decided to rustle up a standard north Indian meal for my darling DELNA hosted at none other than my beloved, Hameau de Montmelian.

The menu I set for this meal was vast and rather daunting to cover (you know I was not much of the Indian cooking types - try me now :p) and today I will be sharing recipes, stolen from my mother's kitchen, as is the case most times, of two dishes from below:

The DELNA Dinner Menu

#1 MASALA CHICKEN CURRY

Ingredients:

Skinless Chicken (on the bone): 800 - 900 grams

Red Onions - 5 to 6 medium sized, finely chopped

Tomatoes (gorgeous red and ripe) - 5 to 6 medium sized, roughly chopped

Ginger - 1 tsp, crushed in a paste like form

Garlic - 1 tbsp, grated

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp (TIP: can substitute with paprika or powdered pimento for lesser heat else just add a pinch for the kick)

Garam Masala - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Mixed Indian Spices* - a handful

Special chicken masala** - 1 tbsp

Curd (a.k.a yogurt) - 1/2 cup

Cream - 2 ladles full

Vegetable Oil - 3 tbsp

Water - 1/3 of a cup

Coriander - Roughly chopped, for garnishing

Method:

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat and once up to temperature, add the mixed Indian spices
Once the spices begin to crackle, add the onions, ginger and garlic to the wok, cooking till they begin to turn brown. (You could either simply add the finely chopped onions, or first grind them in a blender into a smooth paste. I prefer the texture of the gravy either way. Same is the case with the tomatoes that you would be adding later)
Now add the water, salt, red chilli powder, garam masala and stir
Add the chicken pieces, throughly cleaned and with minor gashes on them, cooking them on a high flame, until the juices are fully sealed in (This is to say the pink flesh appears a bit more opaque and tender)
At this point add the tomatoes and yogurt, covering the chicken and continuing to cook now on a low flame for another 20 minutes, till the tomatoes in the wok seem cooked and appear more like a gravy
Now add the special chicken masala and the cream cooking for another 5 to 7 minutes
Remove from the stove, sprinkle the coriander on top and this gorgeous, simple indian chicken masala curry is yours for devouring (with some steamed rice or chapatis - Indian flat bread)

Masala Chicken Curry

* Mixed Indian spices, often referred to as bouquet garni includes few black pepper corns, a stick of cinnamon, 1-2 black cardamoms battered lightly, few green cardamoms battered lightly, 3-4 cloves, 2 bay leaves, few cumin seeds

** Special chicken masala is a homemade specialty of the above roasted and ground separately in nearly the same quantities. If you do not have the patience to this, you could simply omit it - it simply gives a bit more flavour to the dish

#2 PANEER BHURJI

This is one dish that, if I were to ever lose access to non-vegetarian goodies, I could eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is such a family staple that myth has it during blood tests our family doctor literally finds traces of paneer on the syringe! What it translates as in plain English is cottage cheese, and in India you find various local vendors and even bigger companies like Amul and Nestlé that sell blocks of this. However, I learnt to make this dish from scratch, and that is the version I am going to share with you here. Recipe below:

Ingredients:

Full Cream Milk - 1 litre

Lemon juice - 1 lemon

Red Onion - 1 large, finely chopped

Tomatoes - 2 medium, puréed

Turmeric - 3/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1 tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Coriander - a few leaves for garnishing, roughly chopped

Vegetable Oil - 2 tbsp

Method:

In a saucepan, heat the milk until just before it boils. Remove from the heat and add the juice of lemon into the milk. Stir continuously, till you notice the milk begins to curdle
Sieve the curdled milk, discarding the water, and preserving the gorgeous silky cottage cheese that you now have. Allow to rest on the side while you get on with the rest of the recipe
In a wok, heat the oil on a medium flame. Add the garam masala and onions, frying till golden brown
Now add the tomato purée, turmeric, salt and red chilli powder, cooking for another 8 to 10 minutes, or till the tomatoes are cooked.
Add your "paneer" or curdled milk remains that you sieved into the wok, cooking for another 10 minutes on a low flame
Remove from the stove, garnish with coriander for that fresh herby hit and simply DIG IN... or or, serve it up with the Masala Chicken Curry and feast!!!

Paneer Bhurji

NOTE: Dear Reader, I have concluded that Indian cooking is not so much about exact quantities. Most Indian meals at home are cooked "andaazay se" which is to say, it is done by years of practice and approximation. Therefore, you may want to play around a bit with the proportions of the ingredients and arrive at your perfect permutation. With the above I believe I arrived at mine.

Now, now, my gorgeous DELNA boys were either too hungry or too nice, but to quote my most favourite Italian, E "it is the best Indian food I have eaten!" Not sure if he has eaten any at all to be honest, for he is a man sworn to his pastas and pizzas, but I will choose to believe him anyway! And just to sign off the first post of 2014, here are a few pictures from the night I thoroughly enjoyed the desi cultural exchange: