Labour of love in exploding myths attached to Indian food
Enthusiast determined to spread skills far and wide
“INDIAN cooking is not about chucking in the chilli and seeing how hot you can get it, it’s about the layering of flavours,” says Hari Ghotra as she stirs the mouth-watering, deep-red masala sauce for her Thari Wala Chicken.
Into her cast-iron pot we’ve added onions and garlic that have been cooked until they’re a dark golden brown, a tin of plum tomatoes, ginger, salt, turmeric, coriander stalks and, of course, chilli.
A self-taught home cook and soon-to-be executive chef at the Soho sister restaurant of Mayfair’s Michelin-starred Tamarind, Ghotra is passionate about Indian food and is on a mission to enable everyone to cook a curry from scratch for themselves.
Ghotra, who lives in Redhill, Surrey, with her husband Jeremy and children, Neyha, 11, and Jai, 9, started out teaching Indian cooking classes at evenings and weekends when she went back to work part-time after having kids. Her parents came to Britain in the Sixties and for them, it was “never an option that food would be a career” for their daughter.
She studied biology and worked as a microbiologist for Unilever, then took a degree in marketing and worked for Tesco, until her husband, seeing how much she enjoyed teaching her cookery classes, bought her the Hari Ghotra domain name, designed a logo and had business cards made for her one Christmas.
She’s leading the way for female Indian chefs: “It’s a maledominated environment. I haven’t had any bad experiences, they’re so respectful, but a lot of women in Indian culture are expected to run the home. Maybe more British Asian women will be going into that industry now, because it’s more accepted.”
Ghotra learned to love cooking and Indian food by “following my mum around the kitchen” at their home in Wolverhampton: “Food for my parents was very important, because it would have been another thing that they left behind, they tried desperately to hold onto their culture and roots. I come from a very working-class family, so it’s very basic food, authentically cooked, the way my mum had been taught by my grandma.
“It instilled a real love of ingredients in me – mum would always make me go to the garden to pick mint in the rain, or I’d make the dough for the rotis. I absolutely hated it, but every day we had to do that and my mum would make about 30 to 40 chapatis that everyone would sit and eat.”
She remembers the neighbours being rude about her mum’s pungent cooking.
Her children were weaned on plain rice and lentils, as well as the usual veggie purees, and her daughter can now make all her favourite curries by herself.
And Ghotra’s an advocate for home-cooked Indian food being “one of the healthiest meals you can have”.
“It’s not about loading up your plate, it’s about having little portions of each. Just control the volume and cut out rubbish.”
Try some of Hari’s recipes for yourself and discover more at harighotra.co.uk .... (Serves 4) 8 pieces of chicken (4 legs cut into thighs and drumsticks) For the masala: 2tbsp of oil 2 onions, finely diced 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 400g plum tomatoes 1 heaped tbsp of ginger, grated 1tsp salt 1tsp turmeric Handful of coriander stalks, finely chopped 1 chilli, finely chopped 1tsp of garam masala Handful of coriander leaves, chopped
Skin the chicken, removing any excess fat. (If you would rather cook the meat off the bone, use trimmed chunks of thigh meat and cook for 15 to 20 minutes).
Heat oil in a pan and add the onion and garlic. Fry on a high heat for a few minutes then reduce the heat and cook gently for about 20 minutes until they turn a lovely, dark golden brown. If they stick to the bottom of the pan, add a dash of hot water as and when required.
Once browned, reduce the heat and add the tomatoes, ginger, salt, turmeric, coriander stalks and chilli.
Let the onions and tomatoes melt together, creating a thick, aromatic masala paste. This will take five to 10 minutes, so be patient. Once the paste is shiny and thick, add the chicken pieces and stir to coat.
Turn the heat up and fry the chicken for five minutes.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and put the lid on the pan. Leave to cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the meat is starting to fall away from the bone.
Once cooked, add enough boiling water to just cover the chicken and cook for another few minutes, then remove from the heat.
Stir in the garam masala, throw in the coriander and serve. (Serves 4) 1tbsp oil 1tsp cumin seeds 1 small onion, finely sliced 200g Basmati rice 50g frozen peas 500ml cold water
Wash the rice until the water runs clear. I do this by covering the rice with water and running my hand through it, pouring the starchy water away then refilling with cold water and repeating until the water runs clear.
Strain in a sieve and leave.
In a wide-based pan, heat the oil, add the onions and fry until translucent.
Add the whole cumin seeds. When they sizzle and become fragrant, stir in the frozen peas
Add the washed rice, stir to coat with the oil then pour in 500ml of water (slightly more than twice the amount of water to rice).
Bring the water to a vigorous rolling boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and place the lid on the pan.
Leave to cook for 12 minutes; do not remove the lid – be patient.
After 12 minutes, remove from the heat and take the lid off. Leave to sit for a couple of minutes. All the water will be absorbed and the rice will be light and fluffy.
Gently fork through the rice (never dive straight in) and serve. (Serves 4) For the lentils: 200g red lentils, washed 900ml water (approx.) 1tsp of salt For the masala: 1tbsp ghee or vegetable oil 1tsp of cumin seeds 1bayleaf 1 small onion, chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped 2 tomatoes, finely chopped 1tsp ginger, grated 1tsp turmeric 1 chilli, finely chopped 1tsp fenugreek leaves 1tsp of garam masala To garnish: 1 or 2 whole chillies Handful of coriander, chopped
Place the lentils in a pan with the salt, cover with the water and bring to the boil.
Remove the froth, reduce the heat and put the lid on the pan – leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Check the lentils are cooked by squeezing them between your fingers. Once soft, remove from the heat.
In a frying pan, heat the ghee or oil. Using a fork, pierce the whole chillies and add to the pan with a bay leaf and the cumin seeds.
When the seeds sizzle, remove the chilli and set to one side for your garnish.
Add the onion and garlic, and fry until lightly browned. Reduce the heat and add the tomatoes, ginger, turmeric, fenugreek and the chopped chilli. Gently let the ingredients cook down for about 10 minutes to make a thick masala paste.
Add a ladle full of the lentils (dhal) to the masala paste in the frying pan and stir together, then empty all the contents back into the pan with the lentils and stir. It should have the consistency of a thick soup but if it’s too thick, just add a little boiling water and remove from the heat. If you prefer it thicker, just leave it on the heat to reduce until you get the consistency you want.
Check the seasoning and add a little salt if required. Stir in the garam masala, coriander and top with the whole chillies to serve.