امی کا دسترخان 

ناپ تول کا کوئئ کام نہیں سب اندازے کی بات ہے  

Ammi passed away on August 25, 2015. I pray that she got the peace she so ardently desired.


Notes:

Recipe writing style. Capitalized words are the ingredients and instructions and comments are italicized
Clarified butter or ghee is loaded with cholesterol, so substitute please
Use any oil you prefer; oils used in recipes are traditional
When adding 'cups' of water, teacups are being referred to here, NOT 'measured' cup size
Also it is recommended to tone up or down (mostly down) the masaala (spices) according to taste
Recipes will continue to be added as and when Ammi's mood allows


Ammi's basics for all cooking:
If turmeric ھلدی  was added in the masaala, then make sure its odor is gone before adding the main dish ingredients
Always add boiled water to any food that is being cooked, when needed
Mustard oil rule: Heat it first until it begins steaming, when mustard aroma has gone then add onions or whatever
For beef dishes use mustard oil, 3 teaspoons for 1 kilo beef
Vegetable dishes (tarkari/bhujia) are cooked with or without masaala and always in mustard oil, and for everything else (other proteins) use ghee (clarified butter) unless indicated otherwise. Ammi's vegetable dishes are generally without masaala:

• Without masaala  ingredients are onion, chopped green chilli, white cumin (careful not to burn it) and (julienned ginger and crushed red pepper, if you like) 
• With masaala ingredients add 'without ingredients' and: garlic paste, ginger paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder

Ammi's garam masaala گرم مسالا  ingredients for most meat (2.2 lbs) dishes in this blog:
               Dry fry just a little to tease out the fragrance  خشبو :
                   2-3 1" CINNAMON STICKS    دالچینی
                   1/2 TEASPOON NUTMEG    جیپپھل
                   1/2 TEASPOON MACE    جاوتہری
               Now grind with above:
                   2-3 CLOVES    لونگ
                   2-3 GREEN CARDAMON WHOLE    الائچی
                   1 BLACK CARDAMON WHOLE    موٹی الائچی
                   10-15 BLACK PEPPER CORN    گول مرچ
                   2-3 BAY LEAVES     تیزپتا
                   3/4 TEASPOON WHITE CUMIN SEED     سابت سفید زیرا
                   1 TEASPOON BLACK CUMIN SEED     کالا شاہ زیراسابت
           Use one heaping teaspoon of garam masaala. The first three are for the more aromatic dishes.

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Although I never saw mother, Ammi, cook an entire meal; there was never any confusion over whose cooking was being served. It had Ammi stamped all over it; from the specific part of the animal; to the cut of the meat; to the oil to be used in its preparation; to the spices to be peeso'd (ground) and spices added saabit (whole); to when, precisely, they were to be added and with what; to when other items were to be added (make sure the odor of haldi (turmeric) is gone before adding the meat); to how much the meat needed to be bhunno'd (roasted) in it own juices before it was ready to be served and lastly and very importantly which specific garnish accompaniments were to be strewn over which dish in question. Not to forget the post lunch/dinner fine-tuning with the cook  if needed.

I think some credit should be given to the cook, not so much for the cooking, but for having the forbearance and courage to withstand Ammi's harsh critique and severe admonishments for not having followed her instructions to a tee, if heaven forbid, she was unhappy with the outcome of a dish. Ammi could be seen in the kitchen too, after all it was her domain, it was always to ensure proper procedure was being followed and to do some crucial step herself which was never to be trusted with the cook. I suppose this is where I inherited my annoying attention to minor detail. Sorry wifey!

Ammi was the youngest of four brothers and four sisters. Growing up in a village in U.P. India, to a landed family where food played a major part in their lives, the fairer sex of the family had to bear the responsibility of food preparation. Four older sisters, all accomplished cooks, were her mentors and her tormentors too. So the girls, if I can call my cutie-pie naanijaan (maternal grandmother) that; and my darling khaalas (mother's sisters) too, cooked for the boys of the family and secondarily for themselves. High tension ran through the girls when food was being served. Naanajaan (grandfather) had an exceptionally fine-tuned taste for food and his criticism was non-verbal; a second morsel eaten meant it passed the taste test else it was removed from the table and I'm told, at times, rather unceremoniously by him. An embarrassed blush identified the guilty girl and no sparing of catty remarks from the sisters. Perfection, although subjective to Naanajaan's taste, was their guiding principle.

Lunch and dinner was always served in two main courses. The first had with phulka or chappaati (pita-like thin bread) and the second with chaawal (rice). Seasonal vegetables determined the meat it was best suited with (fowl, beef, goat or fish); meat came from the local butcher, the fowl came live and were halaal'd (ritual slaughter) and skinned outside the kitchen. After all, no lady should have to witness that part of it. If the boys got lucky at shikaar (game hunting) then the meat was decided by what game they had bagged. The preference and excitement of shikaar meat has been the hallmark of all khaatay peetay gharaanay (well-fed households); Ammi's was no exception. Unintentional locavores, the vegetables invariably came from their own land "run out and cut some dhania and podeena", a common refrain. Achaars were fermented at home and all other condiments were home-made too and always generously shared with neighbors. The two course ritual was broken when barsaat ka mausam (the monsoons) arrived. Rainy day foods were always a treat and I wonder if it had to do with the convenience of cooking certain foods or was it just the right food for the fun mood of barsaat. I should mention the cooking was done with the help of substantial staff who were assigned specific tasks. The girls oversaw the direction of the preparation: the quantity, ratio and timing of when spices and ingredients were added to the pot. But then that is exactly what a chef does.

With such a focus on food it is quite safe to assume that naashta (breakfast) enjoyed a special place in the home. Not to forget the halvas and savaiyyanhs and other sweet dishes the only part of her food training that she did not master. She claims she never had a sweet tooth or interest in learning it.

She was sent to Lucknow to be tutored for the Matriculation examinations, soon after came Partition, her migration to East Pakistan (Bangladesh) and marriage to Abbu; all in fairly rapid succession and at a very young age. I was born to a teenager. The culinary seed, however, had been sown and Ammi came into her own when the demands of hosting dinners regularly, became her lot. With an intimate knowledge of how to work the spices and the immediate need to adjust to an unfamiliar local produce environment she developed an innovative approach to her recipes which gained her a certain amount of fame in her circle. Suffice it to say that the brown sahibs of the erstwhile Raj would happily forego their whiskey sodas to enjoy the epicurean delights of her strict Muslim dastarkhan (spread) and household.