Chola Masala with Aloo Palak Methi Ka Tuk and Chapati

Recently I was sitting on the tube peregrinating through a paper, which one exactly escapes me, when I perused across an article about international tourism, and specifically a list of the 10 cities from around the world that are at the top of the tourist destination hit list. Sitting proudly at the top, and rightly so, was the city in who’s underbelly I found myself rattling around in a hot, overcrowded and smelly carriage, faced by the gloomy visage of ‘Joe Commuter’ and his copy of the Evening’s Standard. 

Up from 7^th place last annum it’s no surprise that Londinium (est. AD 43 by the Roman’s as a major imperial commercial centre) has climbed the echelons and arrived at its rightful position as the number one tourist spot on earth. The leg up was last years Royal Wedding wherein the world fell head over heels for former ‘girl next door’ Kate Middleton, now Katherine, and Duchess of Cambridge. Whilst the fashion industry took an estimated BILLION pound boost with any of the many houses designing McQueen-esque garms to sell to the gushing Middle-ton-class; it was a moment of national pride that was sorely needed during a pretty miserable period. The day before the wedding I had completed a 4-day hike to the lost city of the Inca’s in Peru’s ‘Sacred Valley’; the only thing I wanted to do after reaching Machu Picchu was sleep off the altitude for a few days, however when I turned on the TV in our hotel in Cusco and found out the wedding was due to kick off at 4:45am Peru time, I duly set my alarm and thought of England.

The second major event to rouse the popularity of London further still has only come to a close today, with a service of thanksgiving at Sir Christopher Wren’s Saint Paul’s Cathedral, to mark the end of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This time I found myself a little closer to the action as I peered with great expectations through a pair of binoculars from my vantage point 11 floors above the South Bank; the usual drove of feckless and slow moving tourists below replaced by hoards of soaking patriots, but a pebbles flick from Blackfriars bridge. My grandmother’s flat had been decked out in a few hundred feet of the several thousand miles of overpriced bunting, which has been peddled to the masses over the past few weeks, whilst the smell of coleslaw and salubrious Coronation chicken wafted betwixt the guests as a regal reminder of why we were there, and what it is to be British. As Her Majesty bobbed past we all waved and cheered in a fit of proud Jubilee jubilation.

Each of the thousand boats involved in Sunday’s flotilla could boast a thousand stories; from the beaches of Dunkirk to the canals of Cornwall, canoes from remote archipelagos rowed alongside royal barges, and Italian gondolas punted beside Maori warriors. It was truly a sight to behold, in spite of the weather, and us Brits do a lot in spite of the weather. Beyond the marking of Queen Elizabeth’s 60 years at the helm and a lifetime of dedication and personal achievement, it was a celebration of a history long predating 1952 and her ascension to the throne. Clear of the shores of our island over nautical horizons to colonies turned common wealth, from subjects to citizens and the millions of people the world over who had chosen to come together to show their respect for a great woman, at the head of a great country. 

With the Olympics drawing in London is preparing for the biggest event in its history, people will be flocking in from around the world; groups of Spanish school children will be blocking the exits to tube stations, the South Bank will be crammed with tourists from the Orient viewing London through a three and a half inch screen, commuters will be inundated with requests by flustered foreigners trying to get to grips with Underground map, and woe betide the inevitable soul who stands on the left hand side of an escalator. However if you do get caught up in this madness, which I’m sure a great deal of you will, you must look past your frustration and focus on the pride that lies beyond. They are here not because they want to piss you off, but because they’ve come to see what all the fuss is about.

“He who is tired of London is tired of life” – Dr Samuel Johnson

Before the Jubilee weekend I had intended to cook Coronation chicken, now the weekend is over I never want to see a plate of it again. So in its place I’ve decided to make the most British of dishes: curry.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

For the Chola

2 tins chickpeas, salted

1 large red onion, roughly chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

Small handful of tamarind

4 large dry bay leaves

3cm piece of cinnamon

5 cloves

3 green cardamoms

4 black cardamoms

1 tspn whole black peppercorns

1 tspn ground tumeric

2 dried red chillies

Vegetable oil

Handful of freshly chopped coriander

Natural Yoghurt

For the Aloo Palak Methi Ka Tuk

1 large potato, cut into 2cm cubes

1 medium bag of spinach

1 tspn mustard seeds

20 curry leaves

1 tablespoon ginger paste

1½ tspns garlic paste

1 tspn of chilli powder

1 tspn amchoor powder (mango powder)

½ tspn cumin powder

½ tspn ground black pepper

Small handful of dried fenugreek leaves

Vegetable oil

For the Chapati

300g Chapati flour

Water

Salt

Vegetable oil

Method:

1. Start with the Chola: in a frying pan dry roast the bay leaves, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves and cardamoms – make sure the cardamoms are open to release the oils. Roast over a low heat for 10 minutes or until ready for grinding. Pour out into a pestle and mortar / small blender.

2. Rub a little oil over the 2 dried red chillies and roast in the frying pan to release the flavours, the air inside them should expand a pump them up from their flat dried state. Throw them into the pestle and mortar with the other roasted ingredients and grind everything into a fine masala powder. This is you Chola mix. Noice.

3. Meanwhile soak the tamarind (you can get this from any Indian food shop) in a bowl with enough boiling water to cover it, once the water is at a temperature where it is comfortable to put your hands in, squeeze the pulp out of the tamarind (it looks a bit like dog shit but tastes delicious, so don’t be put off) until the water is murky and thickened. Take out the lumps of tamarind so you’re just left with the pulp.

4. Blend the red onion and green chillies into a watery pulp.

5. In a wok/kadai heat 3 tablespoons of oil and chuck in the onion/chilli mix, fry over a high heat until the oil begins to separate. When the onion/chilli mix begins to dry out make a well in the middle, add another tspn or 2 of oil then pour in the whole of the crushed masala mix along with 1 tspn of ground tumeric, stir it thoroughly and lower the heat down to medium.

6. Now pour in the chickpeas and tamarind pulp and stir through. Continue to cook, and add ½ a cup of water, maybe more, as the liquids will be absorbed and evaporate. After 10 minutes the sauce will have thickened and the chickpeas will have sucked up all the flavours. Keep the pan on one side over a very low heat, stir occasionally.

7. While the chickpea curry is cooking boil the potato chunks until half cooked, this will take between 7-10 minutes depending on the size of your chunks.

8. Heat some vegetable oil in a frying pan and throw in the mustard seeds, after a minute they’ll start to splutter, now sling in the curry leaves and stir fry for a few seconds before adding the garlic and ginger pastes – in turn fry them for 1-2 minutes until they have dried out a little, then add the chilli powder and stir through. Add the potatoes to the pan and toss them in the mix, and a minute or so later add the spinach. Cook until completely wilted making sure to stir constantly.

9. Add the amchoor, cumin, pepper and dried fenugreek leaves and toss to coat.

10. To make the Chapati pour the Chapati flour into a bowl with a pinch of salt, make a well, pour in enough water to make it into firm dry dough and knead away. Once you’ve got it to the desired consistency add a tspn of oil and knead it through. Make the dough into flat 8” discs a few mm thick and cook them like pancakes in a dry frying pan over a high heat.

11. Serve up the curry with a dollop of natural yoghurt and a sprinkling of chopped coriander leaves. Bloody brilliant!