pork--which has been previously cooked. An underdone joint comes
in very handy for the purpose. Take 1 lb. any cold meat available,
6 onions 1 in. in diameter, 2 oz. butter, salt and chopped green
chillies to taste. Remove all bones and gristle from the meat before
weighing; cut it up as for hash. Slice the onions fine; mix the meat,
onions, chillies, and salt well together. Put the butter into the
frypan, and, when it boils, add the rest of the ingredients, and fry
the whole constantly stirring until the onions are tender, when serve
piping hot.
Kedgeree.--(_a_) Take 1 breakfastcupful rice, boiled and strained,
4 eggs boiled hard, haddock or any other white fish; mince them all
together with a knife; put a piece of fresh butter in a stewpan,
make the whole very hot, and season with salt and cayenne to taste.
(_b_) Steep ½ pint split peas or Indian dhall in water, add ½ lb.
picked and washed rice, with a little ginger, mace, and salt; boil
till the peas and rice are swollen and tender, then stir the whole
till the water has evaporated; have ready some hard-boiled eggs cut
in halves, and an onion or two sliced and fried to garnish with. To
be well dressed neither the peas nor rice should be clammy. (_c_) 1½
teacupful of rice, 12 cloves, 6 cardamoms, 2 teaspoonfuls coriander
seeds; let them boil ¼ hour, then add ½ teacupful dhall, let it boil
5 minutes, drain it quite dry. Then put it back quickly into the
saucepan, with a small piece of butter and a little salt; let it
stand on the hob for 20 minutes; garnish with hard-boiled eggs and
fried onions.
Khabobs.--Khabobs, which form another very favourite Indian dish, are
composed of fish, flesh, or fowl, with vegetables and spices. They
are either cut into slices or else pounded and formed into balls,
and then strung on wooden skewers and roasted or fried. They can be
served dry or with gravy. As a rule fresh meat is used, but cold
chicken, with a little bacon or ham to give it a flavour, and cold
roast beef can be cooked in this way. Example:
Khabob Hoossainee.--Ingredients: Meat, 2 lb.; butter, ¾ lb.; onions,
1 lb.; cinnamon, ½ teaspoonful; cloves, cardamoms, black pepper, ¼
teaspoonful; green ginger, coriander, ¼ oz.; salt, ½ oz. Cut the meat
a little larger than walnuts, rub some salt and the juice of green
ginger over the pieces, cut the onions into slices and fry them in
butter, and put on one side. Warm up the meat in the same butter,
and when it is getting dry add a little coriander and water, and
let it simmer gently on a slow fire for an hour; after the meat is
boiled file it on a small wire skewer, first a slice of meat then
one of onion, and so continue to file the slices on as many wires as
required to look nice in the dish. Sprinkle over them the spices,
ground into curry stuff, and fry them in a pan with butter, adding a
little water to soften the meat; when done serve up.
Malagatani Soup.--3 pints stock, 6 onions 1 in. in diameter,
3 tablespoonfuls coarse lentil flour, 2 oz. butter or lard, 1
tablespoonful coriander seed, 1 teaspoonful cumin seed, a pinch of
fenugreek, a few cloves and bird’s-eye chillies, and, if necessary,
pepper and salt to taste; but, as the stock is already flavoured, the
latter will seldom be required a second time. Slice the onions as
fine as possible, and fry them with half the above quantity of butter
or lard; when about half done, add the coriander seed (previously
parched on a hot iron plate, the husks removed and then crushed), the
cumin seed powdered, fenugreek ditto, chillies ditto, and the cloves
whole. Fry the whole well, stirring constantly, until the onions have
acquired a golden tint, adding more butter as required to prevent
burning; parch the lentil flour by placing it on an iron plate on the
fire. Mix the onions, condiments, and lentil flour well together.
Put them all into a saucepan, and pour over them the prepared stock,
which must be boiling hot; simmer the whole for at least ½ hour, when
serve with a separate dish of plain boiled rice.
Malay Chicken (Doopiazeh Curry).--Take 3 oz. butter, 1½ teaspoonfuls
salt, and tablespoonfuls ground onions, 1 teaspoonful each ground
turmeric and chillies, ½ teaspoonful ground ginger, a clove of
garlic, 1 teacupful coconut milk, and 2 or 3 onions cut lengthwise.
Cut up the raw chicken into small pieces, fry crisp, and set aside
the onions; then fry the other condiments of a rich brown; add the
chicken when fried brown, pour in the coconut milk and the fried
onions, let it simmer for an hour; serve with boiled rice in a
separate dish as for curry.
Pilau.--(_a_) Fish.--1½ lb. cod (almost any kind of fish is suitable
for the purpose--turbot, salmon, and sole being the best), 1 lb.
rice, 1½ pints white stock, ¼ lb. butter, a small cupful of salad,
or, better still, mustard oil, ditto curds, 8 small onions, 1½ oz.
lentil flour, 1 dessertspoonful powdered ginger, 1½ tablespoonfuls
coriander seed, 6 cardamoms, 6 cloves, a small clove of garlic,
pepper and salt to taste, 2 hard-boiled eggs. Skin and bone the fish,
wash it well in salt and water, cut it into thick slices, arrange
them in a shallow dish, pour the oil over them, and let them soak for
½ hour, turning them over occasionally. Then wipe the oil off with a
clean cloth, rub the slices over with the lentil flour, which wash
off in a few minutes; dry, and finally turn the slices all over with
a fork. Pulp 2 onions in a mortar, together with a third part of the
ginger, coriander seeds, and cardamoms. Mix these with the curds,
adding pepper and salt to taste. Cover the fish with this mixture.
Boil some of the butter, and semi-fry the fish in it. Slice fine
a couple more of the onions, and fry them; when half done add the
semi-fried fish, and fry till a light brown colour, when put aside
to keep warm in the oven. Fry separately 2 more of the onions finely
sliced, and at the same time a third more of the coriander seed and
half the cloves, in a few minutes add 1 small teacupful white stock,
and let the whole simmer gently till it thickens into a sauce, which
place on the hob to keep warm. Put the rest of the onions, coriander
seed, cardamoms, and the garlic into the stock, let it simmer till
reduced to a pint, when strain. Fry the remaining half of the cloves
with butter in a saucepan for 2 minutes, then pour the strained stock
into this saucepan and give the whole a boil up. Parboil the rice in
water, strain it, and finish cooking it in the stock, being careful,
when nearly done, to granulate the rice thoroughly by means of its
own steam, all superfluous liquor, if there be any, being previously
drained off. Serve with the fish arranged on the top of the rice, the
sauce poured over all, and garnished with the hard-boiled eggs cut in
circles, halves, or quarters, according to fancy.
(_b_) Fowl.--1 fowl, 1 lb. mutton, 8 oz. rice, 5 onions, 3 or 4
eggs, ½ lb. butter, 10 black peppercorns, 4 blades mace, 10 cloves,
10 cardamoms, 1 dessertspoonful salt, ¼ oz. green ginger. Put 1 lb.
mutton cut into slices, and four whole onions, into 6 qts. water;
boil all together until reduced to one-third, then mash the meat in
the liquor, and set it aside. Wash 8 oz. rice well, and dry it by
squeezing it in a cloth. Melt ½ lb. butter in a saucepan, fry in it a
handful of onions (sliced lengthwise) until they have become brown,
then remove, and lay them aside. In the butter that remains fry
slightly a fowl that has been previously boiled; take out the fowl,
and in the same butter add the rice, and fry it also a little, and,
as the butter evaporates, add the above-mentioned broth to it, and
boil the rice in it; then put in the pepper, mace, cloves, cardamoms,
and salt, with the green ginger cut in slices. When the rice is
sufficiently boiled, remove all but a little fire from underneath the
“handy,” and put some live coals or charcoal on the cover. If the
rice be at all hard, add a little water to it, and put the fowl in to
get a flavour; finally cover it over with the rice, and serve up with
a garnish of hard-boiled eggs cut in quarters. The “handy” is a sort
of deep basin without handle, made of tin or tin lined copper, with
close-fitting lid.
(_c_) Fruit.--1 lb. Patna rice, 8 bananas (almost every description
of fruit can be substituted--quinces, pears, mangoes, &c.), 1½
lb. sugar, 2 lemons (when procurable, 3 lemons preferable), ¼ oz.
crushed ginger, ¼ oz. crushed coriander seed, 1 doz. each cloves and
cardamoms, and a few small sticks of cinnamon. Make a syrup with ½
lb. of the sugar, flavour it with the ginger and coriander seed, let
it simmer for 10 minutes after the spices are added, then strain and
put aside. Parboil the rice in water, and finish cooking it in the
above syrup, granulating it. Simultaneously with these operations,
make a clear syrup with the rest of the sugar, flavour it with the
juice of the lemons, the cloves, and cardamoms; after it has simmered
for 10 minutes put in the bananas, each cut lengthways into 2 or 4
pieces, let them stew till done. Place the rice in a dish, arrange
the bananas on it, strain off the spices from the syrup in which the
fruit was stewed, and pour it over all and serve.
(_d_) Nuckodee Choofta.--3 lb. mutton, 1 lb. rice, 1¼ oz. suet, 2
eggs, 1 oz. flour, 1 lb. onions, ¾ oz. green ginger, ¼ lb. almonds,
2 oz. salt, ¾ oz. coriander seeds, 10 cloves, 8 cardamoms, 8 black
peppercorns, a little cinnamon, saffron, and butter. Slice the meat
and put it into a saucepan with a sufficient quantity of water, some
sliced onions, green ginger, pounded salt, and coriander seeds, with
a little butter. Boil all together until the meat is done, then
strain the gravy into a basin, take out the meat, and warm it up
in butter with half the cloves, after which add part of the other
spices. Parboil the rice in plain water, then cook it in the gravy
with the cinnamon, take the saffron, grind it with a little water,
and colour a part of the rice, place this over the meat, or on one
side of the saucepan, and the plain rice on the other. Pour some
melted butter over the whole, cover the saucepan close, and set it
near the fire. Mince very finely another lb. of meat, and warm it
up in melted butter with some sliced onions, green ginger, salt,
and coriander seeds; add a little water, and simmer gently till the
meat is done, then put the meat into a mortar with the suet, some
chopped onions, pepper, salt, and the white of the eggs, beat the
whole together into a paste, form it into small balls, roll them in
the flour, and then warm them up in melted butter with cloves; pound
the almonds with a little water and the rest of the spices, and put
it with the balls, which are now to be fried until properly done, and
when ready placed over the pilau and served.
Pishpash.--Wash a breakfastcupful of Patna rice in 2 or 3 waters,
drain; slice an onion. Get a small knuckle of veal, stew the veal
slowly until half done, add then the rice and onion, a blade of mace,
a few white peppercorns, and if liked 2-3 cardamoms. Cover close, and
cook gently until the rice is done; season with salt to taste; serve
very hot. This may be made with the scrag end of neck of mutton, fat
being carefully cut off, or with a fat young chicken. The latter is
most delicate for an invalid.
Quoormah (Persian Curry).--Take 2 lb. fat mutton, cut it into small
pieces as for curry, sprinkle it with 1½ teaspoonful salt. Warm a
stewpan, melt 5 oz. butter, fry 3 onions, sliced thin until crisp;
remove, and add to the butter 1 tablespoonful ground onions, 1
teaspoonful ground chillies, 1 of ground coriander seed, ½ of ginger,
a little cinnamon, and a clove of minced garlic; fry until well
brown; put in the mutton and salt. When this is browned add the crisp
onions, cut small, ½ pint curd, 8 peppercorns, 4 cloves, 5 cardamoms,
and 2 or 3 bay leaves; stir well together. Closely cover the stewpan,
and let the quoormah simmer slowly for about 2 hours. A little water
may be added if it becomes too dry. Serve as curry; pork, beef, veal,
or chicken may be used.
Rice, Boiled.--Take 1 breakfastcupful Patna rice, pick it free of all
foreign matter, wash it in several waters until perfectly clean. Put
it, with a saltspoonful salt, into a large saucepan with sufficient
water to cover it well. This water may be cold or otherwise, as it
does not affect the result. When it is nearly done--which may easily
be known by squeezing a grain between the fingers, for if there
is just a suspicion of a core it is right--take it off, drain off
the water by pushing aside the lid and tilting the pan over. Then
at once put the pan under a tap, cover the rice quickly with cold
water, drain it off quickly, and repeat the process. Now take the
pan containing the drained rice and place it on the hob without any
cover, shaking it constantly about to permit the remaining moisture
to escape as steam. Care must be taken not to allow the grains
adhering to the bottom and sides of the pan to become scorched or
shrivelled up. In 3-4 minutes the rice will have become thoroughly
cooked by the steam, and each grain separate. There must be no
hesitation when you douche the rice with cold water; its object is to
wash away all the starch, which clings to the grains and causes them
to cohere, and the more water you use the quicker will it be done.
The grand secret of boiling rice consists in this washing process.
Of course, it cannot be expected that this knack will be learned to
any degree of nicety at the first essay; a few patient experiments
must, however, finally lead to success, as it is the way in which the
greatest rice-eaters of the world--the natives of India--cook it.
Tamarind Fish.--When used as a relish for breakfast, or to eat with a
curry, it should be first cleaned of the mixture by scraping with a
knife, and then fried, being served very hot.
_Italian._--Bracciolette.--Take a piece of fillet of beef, remove
all fat and gristle, and mince it finely, mixing with it salt, 1 or
2 cloves (powdered), and a little oil and chopped fat bacon, sweet
herbs and parsley to taste. When well amalgamated roll it out, and
divide it into small pieces; form each piece into an olive, roll them
in liquefied butter, and then in fine breadcrumbs. Just before they
are wanted, broil at a good fire, first on one side, then on the
other; if done too long they will be spoilt.
Codfish.--Take 3 lb. cod, pick in pieces, remove all bones and skin;
take an onion in slices, fry with 2 tablespoonfuls Lucca oil, and
1 oz. butter, add 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley, a little ground
cinnamon, mace, and pepper; put in the fish, and stew ½ hour. The
same can be done with salted cod after soaking for some hours, in
which case do not put salt.
Croccante.-½ lb. finely chopped (and blanched) sweet almonds, ½ lb.
loaf sugar, 1 tablespoonful essence of lemon, a piece of butter size
of a walnut; boil in a saucepan till it sets (15-20 minutes), turn
into a flat shape to set; to be eaten cold.
Galoni.-½ lb. flour, a pinch of salt, 2 eggs beaten, ¼ lb. butter;
knead all very thoroughly ¾ hour, roll out very thin, cut in strips
or any fancy shapes, fry in boiling lard, place on a hot dish with a
napkin, sprinkle with pounded sugar, and serve.
Gniocchi of Semolina.--Take 1 lb. good semolina and 1 pint milk. Put
the milk, with an equal quantity of water, on the fire, and before
it reaches boiling point sprinkle in the semolina and let it boil,
stirring all the time. When sufficiently cooked turn it out on the
pasteboard, which has been previously sprinkled with cold water. When
cold, cut the paste into pieces the size of a walnut. Put them on a
dish, season them well with grated Parmesan, sugar, and cinnamon, add
butter; put them in the Dutch oven, and bake 1 hour before serving.
Milanese Stew (Umido).--Take a good-sized piece of beef, and, after
well beating and washing it, put it in a basin, cover it with wine,
and let it remain for a night. In the morning take out the meat, lard
it with strips of bacon, season it with powdered cloves, cinnamon,
and salt, lay it in a stewpan with the wine, a faggot of parsley, one
of sweet herbs, ½ onion, and a clove of garlic. Boil slowly, with the
stewpan closely covered, till the meat is well done.
Minestra.--Cut up 3 or 4 potatoes, add a proportionate quantity of
beans (dried ones best), onions, carrots, and celery, sliced, and,
if in season, sliced vegetable marrow and pumpkin rind. Boil all
these in ¼ saucepan of water till the potatoes are quite soft, adding
salt. Then add ¼ lb. rice or maccaroni; boil a little longer, as the
rice ought not to be soft, and before taking off the fire add 1 oz.
butter (orthodox, a spoonful of fine olive oil), and as much Parmesan
cheese; stir a few minutes and serve. In both cases grated cheese may
with advantage be added afterwards.
Pickled Fish.--Flour the fish and fry it in oil, and put it by to
drain. Pound in a mortar 2 or 3 sprigs of mint, 1 capsicum (fresh, if
possible), 2 cloves of garlic, and salt to taste; gradually work in
some wine vinegar (say about 1 pint), put this sauce into a saucepan,
let it boil for 5 minutes, pour it boiling hot on the fish, and serve
when cold.
Puff Paste as used by the Nuns.--Take 1½ lb. flour, reserve a small
quantity wherewith to dredge the pastry, break into it the yolks
of 2 eggs and 1 white, add ½ glass of tepid water, and 1 spoonful
butter. Knead the paste well, and roll it lightly out several times.
Divide it into 2 or 3 parts; roll each piece out quite thin. Butter
a tart mould, and put in the paste in layers, with butter between
the layers. Cut off the edges all round the mould, and then with a
sharp knife mark a round the size of the cover you wish to take off,
leaving the bottom intact. Bake, and then remove the cover. Fill the
tart with whatever you like, put on the cover again, and serve hot or
cold.
Purses.--Take 1 lb. finest flour and 2 oz. butter, knead both
together lightly with as many eggs as will form a smooth, stiff
paste. Spread it out to the thickness of a penny piece, cut it out in
round pieces 4 in. in diameter, place in the middle 1 teaspoonful any
kind of well-flavoured mince, ready cooked; gather up each piece of
paste, and tie it up with a thin strip of paste. The trimming can be
rolled out again and again till all the paste is used, and any manner
of device can be made with the paste. To cook these things have a
deep frying pan, full of very hot lard, and plunge them in for more
or less time, according to the size and shape of the device.
Ricotta.--Strain 1 gal. fresh whey into a flat copper pan, put it
on a gentle fire, and as soon as a kind of froth begins to rise on
it, add 1 qt. milk, and stir the mixture lightly with a stick until
a thick froth rises all over the surface; gather this froth with a
spoon, and put it to drain in a deep grass basket, or in a very fine
tin colander, and the ricotta is made. It must be carefully avoided
to let the milk and whey come to the boil at any time during the
process.
Risotto.-¼ lb. rice, and boil it with sufficient salt in a little
more water than will cover it, until the rice begins to swell; it
must not get too soft. Then add a pinch of saffron, just to colour
it, or, if possible, 1 tablespoonful tomato sauce; also about 1 oz.
butter, and as much grated Parmesan; stir for a few moments and
serve. This is for 4 people.
Zuchillo (Tomato sauce to dress maccaroni with).--Take about 1 lb.
trimmings of beef, as much fat bacon, all cut into dice, an onion cut
into dice, then thrown into cold water and squeezed dry in a cloth:
add or not a clove of garlic, then put the whole into a saucepan, and
let it remain on the fire, shaking it occasionally, till the onion
is almost melted away; then add parsley, marjoram, thyme, pepper,
and salt. Take a piece of “conserva” (tomato pulp dried in the sun
to the consistency of damson cheese), cut it in pieces the size of a
pea, put in the pieces a few at a time, always stirring the contents
of the saucepan. The “conserva” must be fresh and soft; if it is old
and tough, it must first be softened by kneading it with a little
water. When sufficient “conserva” has been put in, moisten with water
a spoonful at a time. Let the whole simmer some 10 minutes longer;
then strain, remove superfluous fat, and the sauce is ready. To make
“zuchillo” with fresh tomatoes, cut them in pieces, remove pips,
water, and stalks, and then put in the pieces instead of “conserva,”
a few at a time. In this case it is not necessary to moisten with
water, but rather to let the sauce reduce, and to be careful not
to put in fresh tomatoes until the first lot is somewhat reduced.
Another way is to use either fresh or bottled tomato sauce, and put
it in a spoonful at a time. The tomato sauce must be in the French
form, with no vinegar in it.
_Jewish._--Bola D’Amor.--Clarify 2 lb. white sugar; drop a spoonful
into cold water to ascertain if it is of a proper consistency; form
it into a ball, and try if it sounds when struck against a glass.
When it is thus tested, take the yolks of 20 eggs, mix them up
gently, and pass them through a sieve; then have ready a funnel, the
hole of which must be about the size of vermicelli; hold the funnel
over the sugar while it is boiling over a charcoal fire; pour the
eggs through, stirring the sugar all the time, and taking care to
hold the funnel at such a distance from the sugar as to admit of the
egg dropping into it. When the egg has been a few minutes in the
sugar, it will be hard enough to take out with a silver fork, and
must then be placed on a drainer; continue adding egg to the boiling
sugar till enough is obtained; place in a dish a layer of this paste,
over which spread a layer of citron cut in thin slices, and then a
thick layer of the eggs prepared as above. Continue working thus in
alternate layers till high enough to look handsome. It should be
piled in the shape of a cone, and the egg should form the last layer.
It must then be placed in a gentle oven till it becomes a little set,
and the last layer slightly crisp; a few minutes will effect this.
It must be served in the dish in which it is baked, and is generally
ornamented with myrtle and gold and silver leaf.
Amnastich.--Stew gently 1 pint rice in 1 qt. strong gravy till it
begins to swell, then add an onion stuck with cloves, a bunch of
sweet herbs, and a chicken stuffed with forcemeat; let it stew with
the rice till thoroughly done, then take it up and stir in the rice
the yolks of 4 eggs and the juice of a lemon; serve the fowl in the
same dish with the rice, which should be coloured to a fine yellow
with saffron.
Fish, fried.--Frying fish Jewish fashion, simple as it is, is rarely
quite successful, except in a Jewish household. Lay the fish for
about 20 minutes in water, in which put a small quantity of salt. Any
fish will be nice this way--soles, plaice, or a not too thick slice
of salmon. Dry the fish thoroughly with a perfectly clean cloth, and
flour it lightly with the flour dredger. Have ready a frying-pan
with some good frying oil, beat up 2 eggs and pour them into a plate
or pie-dish; pass the fish through the eggs then plunge it into the
boiling oil, and fry a light brown. Care must be taken that the oil
is really boiling, or the fish will be soft and flabby.
Fish stewed with egg and lemon sauce.--A salmon head, or a slice or
two of salmon or halibut, or cod, are the nicest for this dish. Put a
little chopped parsley, a little onion, a very small piece of ginger,
and a little saffron, previously dissolved in hot water, with some
pepper and salt at the bottom of a saucepan. Cut up the fish in not
too small pieces, and lay it on them: then cover with water, and let
it cook slowly. When almost done, take the yolks of 7 eggs and beat
them well; add to them gradually the juice of 5 lemons (strained),
pour this very slowly over the boiling fish, gently shaking the
saucepan to prevent curdling; directly the sauce thickens it is done.
Juditha.--Put some gooseberries into a saucepan with very little
water; when they are soft pulp them through a sieve, add several
well-beaten yolks of eggs, and sweeten with white sugar. Have ready a
shape of biscuit ice, or any other cream ice, that may be preferred;
take off a thick slice of the ice from the top carefully, and without
breaking, so that it may be replaced on the ice. Scoop out a large
portion of the ice, which may be mixed with the gooseberry cream,
and fill the hollow with it. Cover the shape with the piece that
was removed, and serve. This is an elegant dish. The ice should be
prepared in a round mould; brown bread ice is particularly adapted to
a Juditha.
Matso Cakes.--Make a stiff paste with biscuit powder and milk and
water; add a little butter, the yolk of an egg, and a little white
sugar, cut into pieces, and mould with the hand, and bake in a brisk
oven. These cakes should not be too thin.
Matso Diet Bread.--Simmer 1 lb. white sugar in ¼ pint water, which
pour hot upon 8 well-beaten eggs; beat till cold, when add 1 lb.
matso flour, a little grated lemon peel, and bake in a papered tin or
in small tins. The cake must be removed while hot.