All too frequently, we hear of people describing their experiences as “a journey”. My own experiences, whilst researching my inherited treasure trove of recipes, from four generations of women in my family, dating back to 1844, has indeed been a journey of discovery for me. They all lived in India during the British Raj era. It is fascinating to know, through the recipes, about their lifestyles, the impact of historical events on them and the kind of dishes they enjoyed at the time.
As an Anglo-Indian family whose ancestors originally came from Great Britain, it is astonishing to find that my great grandmother Maud (whilst living in Madras) was making Yorkshire Pudding in 1898, exactly one hundred years after her great grandfather Benjamin Hardy had left his home in Yorkshire and sailed with the British Army for India.
Their recipes are distinctly English, whilst others are most definitely a fusion between the two countries. A scrambled egg dish, for example, would be pepped up with the lively addition of hot chillies and fenugreek leaves, and a Lancashire Hot Pot (a popular English lamb casserole with sliced potatoes on top) would be enhanced with chillies, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns.
Throughout the recipe book, there is one dish — Mahratta Curry — repeated more than any other curry; it was obviously a great favourite through the generations. However, it doesn’t appear in other recipe books I’ve come across, nor is it recognised as an Anglo Indian curry. This little-known recipe is made with plenty of hot chillies, cumin seed, aniseed, coriander seed, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. One can only surmise that it was the extraordinary heat of this curry that determined its name, as the Mahrattas were an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army in 1768 and known for their fierceness and bravery – and perhaps you needed to be “brave” to attempt this very, very hot curry!
Another recipe which intrigued me was the Biblical Cake. My grandmother Irene jotted down this recipe in the book, and what makes it so unusual is that the ingredients are listed as verses from the Bible. By working through them, one finds the recipe! So instead of the ingredients, you would find Isaiah 10:14: “one gathereth eggs”, Leviticus 2:5: “fine flour, unleavened”, Exodus 30:23: “of sweet cinnamon”, 1 Samuel 25:18: “a hundred clusters of raisins”, Judges 14:18: “what is sweeter than honey”. This was very popular in the Victorian times; a fun way for young ladies to learn how to cook and test their knowledge of the Bible.
They say that grandmother knows best, and how true that is. My great great great grandmother Wilhelmina wrote down the importance of eating vegetables, while my great great grandmother Ophelia, born in Mylapore in 1855, came up with her own version of Tapp’s Sauce. Tapp’s was a well-known brand of sauce, very similar to the famous Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, which also had its origins in India. I think the most valuable lesson I have learned through their recipes is the importance of giving yourself time; allowing things to unfold is the secret, that the best things in life come to those who wait, and through patience and understanding comes a whole new way of looking at life. My earliest memories of cooking are of my mother in the kitchen, tapping a wooden spoon against the side of the metal dekshi and then tasting her curry sauce, to check the seasoning. The kitchen, to me, is a wonderfully warm and intoxicating environment; it became an indoor playground filled with new experiences, challenges, and the end result – something delicious on a plate.
My passion for cooking, coupled with that for India, research and writing, has resulted in a memoir, one that combines the history of my family when they lived in India, with that of my grandmothers’ recipes, prudently passed down through the generations.
Jenny had a long career in television production at the BBC in London.
Her book, A Grandmother’s Legacy: A Memoir of Five Generations Who Lived Through the Days of the Raj, will be published in October.
Fragrant Chicken Curry
(serves 4)
INGREDIENTS:
4 chicken breasts, cut into 5-cm cubes
15 ml rapeseed oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5-cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1-2 red chillies, finely chopped
500 ml chicken stock
1 small pot of yoghurt
A handful of fresh
coriander, chopped
METHOD:
In a large pan, fry chicken pieces until golden brown and leave aside. In the same pan, add some oil and fry the onions until golden brown. Then, toss in the garlic, ginger, masala, turmeric, chillies and a splash of water; fry for another three minutes. Add the chicken and stock, and bring to boil. Then, simmer gently until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the yoghurt and sprinkle coriander over the chicken.
