"India Cookbook": Book Launch at Moti Mahal, Covent Garden

Sometimes I think about going to India to do one of those serene looking yoga courses by the ocean. It would have to be one with clean toilets and nice views, where everyone is decked out in the latest Sweaty Betty gear and has the afternoon off to lie in a hammock. I can do downward dogs and pigeon pose with the best of them, possibly even at sunrise. But I'm fairly certain I'd fail at the first yogi hurdle (the vegetarian one) as soon as I caught the whiff of a tender piece of chicken being plucked from a tandoor.

I suppose if there's one place to have a superb vegetarian diet, it's in India - so many chutneys, mangos, pickles, spice to distract you from the huge, gaping void on your plate. But then the yogi people probably wouldn't let me have a glass of wine with it, and now the dream's all falling apart before my eyes. Anyhoo...

Phaidon Press has recently published the "India Cookbook", a compilation of 1000 recipes, by food writer Pushpesh Pant.

Featuring some beautiful photography and a clear, simple layout, the book had me pining for a trip to India before I was even through the introduction - a walk through the rich history of Indian food and the culinary influences in the various regions contributing to India's food culture.

From spice mixtures and pastes (try an aromatic garam masala or fried onion paste),  pickles, chutneys and raitas (like the Egyptian lentil chutney or raw mango pickle) through to more substantial dishes (ginger flavoured chops, dry spicy pumpkin and fish biryani), desserts and drinks - this book has it covered. The signature dishes of some guest Indian chefs are included at the back. My only quibble is that it might be nice to see the beautiful photos next to the relevant recipe rather than in glossy, colour sections scattered throughout the book. However the snaps are cross referenced, and I suppose each approach has its pros and cons.

I recently attended the book launch at Moti Mahal in Covent Garden where chef Anirudh Arora not only tried to sell our small cookery "masterclass" group a tandoor larger than my kitchen, but also brought his adaptations of the recipes to life with some fine Indian cooking. Anirudh has an impressive background, having cooked for India's Prime Minister at the age of 25 and heading up the Udaimahal restaurant in India in 2002.

Anirudh Arora preparing the marinated
guinea fowl for the tandoor

One of my favourite dishes was the tandoor grilled guinea fowl which had been the subject of a short masterclass in the kitchen - adapted from the recipe for Tandoori Murg (chicken) in India Cookbook.

Tandoori guinea fowl - others worked on the
gorgeous, spicy paturee (crab and tiger prawn cakes wrapped
in banana leaves) which was another of my favourites.

The first marinade consists of ginger, garlic, chilli, lemon juice and salt (Anirudh adds malt vinegar) which is rubbed on and left for an hour. A further marinade is then applied - a mix of yoghurt, ginger, garlic, fenugreek, vegetable oil and garam masala (Anirudh makes his own garam masala, and there's a recipe in the book, although you might cheat here with a commercial brand). The guinea fowl (or chicken) lolls about in half the mix for 2-3 hours before roasting in the hot tandoor or a charcoal grill for 12-15 minutes - or in the oven for 1 - 1.5 hours. Half way through the remaining marinade is applied.

After hanging for 2-3 minutes to drain out any excess moisture, the bird is basted with melted butter and roasted again for 5-7 minutes. And voila - a gorgeous, succulent, spicy starter. Fantastic stuff.

Here are some of my other favourites from the night, served family style:

Bhalla papdi chaat - chickpeas, fried pastry,
yoghurt, tamarind & mint chutney - lovely flavours
& contrasting textures

Clockwise from top left: Slow cooked black lentils (less memorable,
perhaps could have done with more oomph);
crispy, stir fried lotus roots with peanut & coriander (excellent);
a refreshing raita (cucumber & yoghurt)

Chicken biryani with spinach & fenugreek

A thick, hearty stewed lamb with spinach & dill)

Moti Mahal does have a sleek, slightly sterile, corporate air about the room. It's the type of place where you drink fancy cocktails (and delicious, Indian spiced ones I might add) with your curry. But scratch beneath that service and there's some good quality cooking coming out of the kitchen. Prices are steeper than your average local Indian - around £12-£20 for main courses. I would bank on spending £35-£55 per head. Indian cookery classes and cocktail masterclasses are available at the restaurant - see the website for details.

"India Cookbook" by Pushpesh Pant is available for RRP £29.95.

Moti Mahal, 45 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 5AA

Greedy Diva was a guest of Moti Mahal and received a review copy of India Cookbook from Phaidon.

Hashi - Japanese Cookery Courses

I'm currently reading yet another fabulous book by food and travel writer Michael Booth, this time about culinary travels in Japan ("Sushi and Beyond - What the Japanese Know About Cooking" ). In between the laughs, it only serves to reinforce how much the cooking of Japanese food is still shrouded in mystery for many of us - and the fact that Japanese restaurants tend to specialise, to the point of mastery, in only one type of food (go here for your udon noodles, and somewhere else for your perfect ramen, sushi or tempura) makes the thought of polishing one's kitchen chopsticks seem a daunting task.

This only makes Reiko Hashimoto-Lambert's Hashi Japanese Cookery Courses all the more satisfying. In her straightforward, down to earth style, Reiko has been teaching Japanese cooking in England for over 10 years, and did so before that in Tokyo. She has appeared as a guest on Saturday Kitchen, and is currently writing a cookbook (has anyone else noticed the dearth of accessible, decent Japanese cook books, beyond Wagamama's Westernised account)?

I recently attended a class at Hashi, which was an amalgam of Hashi's Beginners and Advanced classes. The session was a well balanced mix of demonstration and hands on practice, and class sizes are small enough (there were 7 people in mine) to get some much needed personal attention and a good view of the stove top.

Reiko guided us through the making of a mouthwatering beef tataki with creamy sesame sauce - so delicious, but deceptively easy, this would definitely impress the dinner party guests.

We then rolled up our sleeves to make some pork and seafood gyoza, artfully mastering the delicate folding of the gyoza wrappers. Mine went from ugly duckling to beautiful swan surprisingly quickly, but there's definitely a trick to them that requires expert guidance and hands on practice to avoid the elephant man effect.

Reiko's signature dish, scallops with creamy spicy sauce on sushi rice followed next (a more advanced dish, but still most definitely achievable in the home kitchen) and then some gorgeous cold soba noodles with spicy aubergine. Oh, how I love a good bit of aubergine.

All was, of course, eaten on beautiful Japanese plates and bowls - because a chipped white plate (a la Chez Greedy Diva) just won't do for the Japanese.

Reiko's Saturday classes run from 11am - 3pm and cost £120. She is also running an evening canape class for £70, and her 4 class courses - some for beginners, and others becoming more gourmet right up to "Master Chef" level - are £240. You'll pick up lots of tips and tit-bits along the way which will help demystify Japanese cooking, and over the full set of courses you would be well on your way to having a full repertoire of dishes under your sushi belt to replicate at home. Above all, the class has inspired me to be more adventurous in the kitchen, putting Japanese cooking more squarely in my comfort zone. Bring out the dashi, baby.

While Japanese ingredients can be difficult to source, I heartily recommend the new and improved Japan Centre on Lower Regent Street (they even sell fresh wasabi root). Reiko also supplies a long list of suppliers to her course participants.

Hashi, Japanese Cookery Courses, 60 Home Park Road, Wimbledon, London SW19 7HN (Tel: 020 8944 118) www.hashicooking.co.uk

I attended the Hashi cookery class as a guest of Hashi, as organised by The London Foodie, along with other guests The Wine Sleuth, Gourmet Chick, Tamarind and Thyme, Kavey Eats and Gastro Geek.