KABAB MASALA -- SPICE MIX FOR PAKISTANI BARBECUE

KABAB MASALA

Roast or toast the ingredients as appropriate ere grinding. [Many seeds develop more fragrance if you do this.]
All measures are given for ground spices.
Volume, not weight.

Ten parts coriander.
Six parts cumin.
Six parts cayenne.
Six parts black pepper.
Three parts dry ginger.
Three parts cinnamon.
Three parts mace.
Two parts turmeric.
Two parts fennel.
One part clove.
One part green cardamom.

This can be rubbed on a fine fat murgee for roasting, but the best use is to mix it with minced lamb or goat. Do not get the berogha type of meat, there must be some fat in it! Two tablespoons of masala per pound of flesh.
Form it around skewers and grill it over charcoal.
Serve with vinegared onions.


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-long-rest-in-durganda-nagar.html.

BUCKET CHICKEN -- 桶子油雞

桶子油雞
BUCKET CHICKEN

老公雞: 1隻 (one old cock, around three pounds).
薑: 2或3片 (two or three thick slices of ginger).
葱: 2或3條 (two or three scallion).
八角: 5或6粒 (five or six whole star anise).
陳皮: 半個 (half a dried tangerine peel).
糖: 5両 (about one cup cane sugar, slightly less).
豉油: 3盃 (three cups soy sauce).
黄酒: 1盃 (one cup sherry or rice wine).
水: 3盃 (three cups water).

Blanch chicken, rinse and drain.
Put a bamboo rack in the bottom of a soup pot (to keep the bird from sticking), add all flavourings and liquids, and bring to a boil. Put the chicken in the pot, simmer roughly half an hour, turning as appropriate and pouring the hot broth into the cavity. Remove the bird from the pot and brush with oil to make it shiny.
Let it cool a bit.

Chop into large pieces and arrange on a platter.
Splash some of the cooking liquid over to serve.




Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/something-other-than-gobbling-thing.html.

GUINNESS BRAISED DUCK -- 建力士燒鴨

建力士燒鴨
GUINNESS BRAISED DUCK

鴨子: 1隻，重约3或4斤 (one duck, roughly 4½ to 5 Lbs).
葱: 8條 (eight scallion).
薑: 數片 (a few slices of ginger).
糖: 2湯匙 (two TBS sugar).
鹽: 1茶匙 (one Tsp. salt).
水: 適量 (a suitable amount of water).
生粉: ½湯匙，同水1湯匙 (half a TBS cornstarch, mixed with a little water).
建力士啤酒 (司陶特啤酒): 1樽 [2盃] (one bottle Guinness Stout = 2 cups).

Wash and trim the duck. Cook in boiling water for five minutes. Remove and drain. Chop it into large pieces. Sautée scallion and ginger, add duck pieces and a splash of stout.
Stir to coat and fragrantize.
Decant to a stew pot, add everything except the sugar and cornstarch.
Simmer for an hour or so.
Stir in sugar and cornstarch, and once it thickens, serve.

You could also use Chimay Red or Grande Réserve, instead of the Guinness, and omit the sugar. You might then call it 希邁燒鴨。


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/something-other-than-gobbling-thing.html.

LADDOO -- INDIAN SWEETMEAT

LADDOO


Three cups semolina flour (rava).
Three cups cane sugar.
One cup ghee.
One cup heavy whipping cream.
Half a cup ground almonds.
One TBS ground green cardamom seeds.

Put the semolina and ghee into a pan, and gently roast till sweet and toasty smelling. Add the sugar and almonds, stir over heat for a few minutes till everything is nicely blended, then add the cream and cardamom. Cook, stirring, till the goo is shiny and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Roll into fifty or so round balls, then set on a plate to air and harden.


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-long-rest-in-durganda-nagar.html.

CHICKEN PUMPKIN TARO COCONUT SOUP -- 椰汁香芋南瓜雞

椰汁香芋南瓜雞
Chicken, pumpkin, and taro with coconut milk.

材料 Ingredients:

雞: 半隻, 斬/切五,六塊 (half a chicken, cut into five or six chunks)。
芋頭: 3両 (four ounces taro, peeled and chunked)。
南瓜: 3両 (four ounces pumpkin, peeled and chunked)。
冬菇: 5隻, 切片 (five black mushrooms, sliced)。
芹菜: 2條, 切段 (two stalks celery, coarsely cut)。
葱頭: 1顆, 切成 (one onion, chopped)。
葱: 1粒, 切成 (one scallion, chopped)。
椰汁: 8湯匙 (six TBS coconut milk)。
上湯: 少許 (small quantity superior stock)。
生粉: 少許 (small quantity cornstarch)。


製法 / 做法 Jai faat / Joh faat:

Rinse the chicken, rub it with a little cornstarch and set is aside. Gild the taro and pumpkin separately in oil, set aside.

Quick fry the onion till fragrance rises, add the celery and stirfry, add the mushroom and chicken pieces and turn to coat and incorporate. Splash liberally with the superior stock, add the taro, then add the coconut milk and the pumpkin. Let it simmer for about five to ten minutes, and strew the chopped scallion over ere serving.



Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/cantonese-food-dutch-uncle-and.html.

PORK SHREDS AND SNOW FUNGUS SOUP -- 肉茸銀耳羹

肉茸銀耳羹
Pork shreds and snow fungus soup

材料 Ingredients:

瘦豬肉: 3両 (four ounces lean pork)。
乾雪耳: 1両 (one and a third ounce dried snow fungus)。
雞蛋白: 1隻, 拂勻 (one egg white, whisked)。
薑: 1片 (one slice ginger)。
上湯: 4盃 (four cups stock: 1斤10兩)。
生粉: 3湯匙 (three TBS cornstarch)。
水: 4湯匙 (four TBS water)。
糖: ¼茶匙 (quarter Tsp. sugar)。
鹽: ⅛茶匙 (eighth Tsp. salt)。
胡椒粉: 少許 (a pinch of white pepper)。
麻油: 點點 (a dash of sesame oil)。


製法 / 做法 Jai faat / Joh faat:

Wash pork, dry, mince. Mix with half a TBS of the cornflour and a generous splash of the stock, let it stand. Soak snow fungus for an hour or so, then boil it for five minutes, take it out and rinse it under cold. Chop it semi-coarse.
Mix the rest of the cornstarch with the four tablespoons water.

Put the remaining stock in a pot with the snow fungus, ginger, salt, and sugar. Bring to a boil, simmer for several minutes before adding the pork, then when it boils up again stir in the cornstarch mixed with water to velvetize it. While stirring, drizzle in the egg white. Add the pepper and sesame oil, and decant to a suitable tureen.



Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/cantonese-food-dutch-uncle-and.html.

WALNUT SOUP 核桃湯 HAT TOU TONG

核桃湯
Hat-tou tong: Walnut soup

桃仁: 5兩 (five tael shelled walnuts)。
砂糖: 5兩 (five tael cane sugar)。
粟米粉: 2湯匙 (two TBS cornstarch)。
清水: 4盃 (four cups water: 1斤10兩)。

Blanch the walnuts briefly to loosen the skins adhering to the flesh. Spread out to dry.

Fry walnuts lightly in hot oil till pale golden, remove and drain.
Mix cornstarch smooth with some of the water.
Put the walnuts and the remaining water in a blender and whir till smooth entirely, then pour through a fine sieve or cheesecloth into a saucepan. Cook for several minutes before adding the sugar.
Stir to dissolve the sugar, and cook a little longer. Blend in the cornstarch to thicken the soup and make it velvety. Let cool slightly before serving.


補腦，補腎也。
[Good for the brain and kidneys.]


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/sweet-times-two-cantonese-soup.html.

GULE KAMBING -- LAMB CURRY

GULE KAMBING
Curry lamb

One and a half pounds lamb, cut into chunks.
One onion, chopped.
Thumb-length ginger, minced.
Two or three cloves garlic, ditto.
Half TBS. ground coriander.
Half Tsp. each: paprika, turmeric, dry ginger.
Quarter Tsp. each: cayenne, ground pepper, mace.
A stalk of lemon grass.
A stick of cinnamon.
A bay leaf.
Three cups coconut milk.
One and a half cups water.
Quarter cup broken cashews.
Squeeze of lime juice.
Jigger of Louisiana hot sauce.

Grind powdered spices with the cashews to a paste, add the onion, garlic, and ginger, and mix - mash - grind till smooth.
Fry the spice paste till the oil separates, add the meat and stir to coat. Braise a bit, and keep stirring, to prevent burning at the bottom of the pan. Loosen the crusty bits as needed.
Add the remaining flavourings and about a third of the liquids (except the lime juice and hot sauce), cook into the oil comes out, then add the rest. Simmer for about half and hour to forty five minutes.
Stir occasionally to prevent scorching.
Squeeze the lime and jigger the hot sauce over before serving.


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/feeling-pleasantly-antique.html.

SWEET POTATO AND PEARL BARLEY SOUP 番薯薏米湯 FAAN SHYU YI MAI TONG

番薯薏米湯
Faan-shyu yi-mai tong: Sweet potato and pearl barley soup

番薯: 4兩 (four tael sweet potato, cubed)。
片糖: 4兩 (four tael jaggery or gur)。
洋薏米: 1兩 (one tael pearl barley)。
薑: 1 片 (one thick slice ginger)。
清水: 4盃 (four cups water: 1斤10兩)。

Bring water, sugar, and ginger to a boil. Add the cubed sweet potato, cook for fifteen minutes. Add the pearl barley, cook five minutes more.
Let cool slightly before serving.


補脾，補肺，有驅寒之功效。
[Good for the spleen and lungs, beneficial in cold weather.]


One tael (兩 leung) is one-and-a-third ounce, though nowadays metrified as fifty grammes. There are ten mace (錢 chien) in a tael, sixteen tael in a catty (斤 gan).
Two tablespoons of cornstarch are equivalent to one-and-a-half tael, ergo there are four teaspoons in one tael of cornstarch.

[From notations elsewhere: One cup sugar is 192 grammes, one tablespoon is 12 grammes, one teaspoon is four grammes. And one 兩 or 两 (leung) equals 37¾ grammes ~ 1.3 oz. So four tael sugar is the same as 4.3 oz., or approximately 150 grammes, 12½ tablespoons. Eh, ¾ cup.
Five tael would be exactly 190 grammes, or nearly sixteen tablespoons of sugar.]


Originally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/sweet-times-two-cantonese-soup.html.

MANOK MAPUOG -- CHICKEN IN COCONUT MILK

MANOK MAPUOG
Coconut milk white chicken

One chicken cut into 6 or 8 pieces.
One onion, minced.
Six kemiri (candlenuts), lightly toasted.
Six cloves garlic, slivered.
A slice or two ginger.
One TBS. ground coriander.
Half Tsp. each: ground cumin, white pepper.
Small piece of cinnamon.
Two stalks lemon grass; bruised, folded, tied.
Whole green chilies.
Three cups coconut milk.
Three cups clear stock.
Pinches of salt and sugar.

Fry onion limp-translucent, add the garlic, ginger, and powdered spices. Gild very lightly. Now add everything except the chicken and whole chilies and simmer for an hour.
After this add the chicken and cook on low heat for about forty five minutes, then add the whole chilies and leave on the flame fifteen minutes more.

Remove the chicken to a dish, take out the whole chilies and piece of cinnamon, and reduce the liquid to a velvety consistency. Pour it over the chicken, and garnish with a few fresh basil leaves.


Orignally here: http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2013/11/feeling-pleasantly-antique.html.