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Yasmin Alibhai Brown |
24 Feb 2009 |
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A memoir of love, migration and food
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s family history is one of displacement and relocation, in which the feeling of being settled has come not from putting down roots, but from taking up a pot and cooking a feast that tastes and smells like home. Yasmin joins Jane to tell her why she wrote her family’s story, The Settler’s Cookbook, and how the stories evoked memories of food which were then brought to life by the recipes.
The Settler’s CookbookÌý- A Memoir of Love, Migration and Food, published by Portobello Books on 2 March 2009.
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Recipe for Akni |
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2 lb leg of lamb cut into bite-sized pieces - a butcher will have to do this for you. Make sure all the fat is taken off the meat or use a 5 lb chicken, skinned and cut into pieces, not too small otherwise it will overcook and break up.
3 cups basmati rice, washed in a sieve
1 medium-sized tin of chopped tomatoes or 5 fresh tomatoes chopped up
2 tsp crushed ginger or 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
1 cup sunflower oil
4 tsp whole cumin seeds
4 cinnamon sticks
6 peppercorns
1 large pot plain low-fat-yoghurt
3 onions, sliced
4 green chillies
2 tsp salt
5 cups water
4 potatoes, peeled and sliced into largish chunks
5 cloves
5 cardamom pods
- Cook the meat or chicken over a low heat in yoghurt mixed with ginger, garlic and fresh chillies in an ovenproof saucepan with a lid. When almost cooked, remove from heat.
- Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns and cardamom pods to a mug of water.
- Parboil the potatoes.
- In another pan (yes, this is a problem with the dish - a pile to wash up afterwards), heat the oil gently and fry the cumin seeds and onions slowly until the onions are soft and slightly brown.
- Add the water with the whole spices and the tomatoes. Cook for six minutes, again over low heat.
- Add the potatoes, meat, cooking juices and extra water, and let that come to the boil.
- Add the rice and salt and stir very carefully.
- Let that come to the boil, turn down heat and cover. Cook for six minutes.
- Place the pan in the oven at a medium temperature (350F, 180C, gas mark 4) for about 15 minutes.
- Check that the rise is cooked and the potatoes too. If not, sprinkle over a little more water and return to the oven.
- Remove the dish and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve with yoghurt, whole spring onions and radishes or tomato salad.
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