Memorable meal tantalises with its traditional aromas
THE late Amina Cachalia, struggle veteran and trusted friend of Nelson Mandela, was a brilliant cook. A delightful but formidable character, Cachalia had a way of getting people to do exactly what she wanted.
It was early 2002 and food writer Madhur Jaffrey, considered by many the world authority on Indian food, was in town and I was “instructed” to join the group of cooks, including Mandela’s cook, Xoliswa Ndoyiya, in the Indian consul general’s kitchen in Houghton.
On entering the house, I was drawn to the alluring smells of Indian spices emanating from the kitchen, where I found a huddle of cooks around large pots bubbling on the stove.
In one, a crab curry, pieces of crab submerged in a red curry sauce were in the care of cook Sindha Naidoo.
Made to her mother’s famous recipe, the auspicious dish was said to sustain the ANC cadres through the Treason Trial. In another pot, a chicken biryani with distinctive layers of spicy chicken and fragrant rice simmered gently over the heat.
And then there was Ndoyiya, sleeves rolled up, wooden spoon in hand, putting the finishing touches — a knob of butter and a generous dash of seasoning — to that Xhosa dish of ‘umngqusho’ (samp and beans).
“Madiba’s favourite dish, especially cooked the way I do it with a touch of Indian spice,” she said.
Jaffrey, a slight but elegant figure, notebook and pen in hand, was intrigued.
She asked many questions and busily captured all the recipes — especially the ‘umngqusho’ and other hints and tips shared by the cooks.
We were all busy fussing with food when an unexpected guest popped his head round the kitchen door and we were startled into silence by the distinctive voice of Mandela.
He greeted us warmly, adding that he, too, had been drawn into the kitchen by the appetising aromas and that someone, he said, had tipped him off that his favourite dishes were on the lunch menu.
“He can’t resist all these ladies,” teased Cachalia, “and he loves Indian food.”
Nothing could prepare one for meeting this great icon, a truly imposing figure. We grew silent.
Wherever the amiable Mandela went in the consul, there was a trail of photographers snapping him.
Ever the gentleman, he retreated to the garden.
He sat at a table under the trees, Jaffrey to his right, and he urged us to join him.
Jaffrey recalls: “He tucked into the biryani and did not do so badly with the ‘umngqusho’ either.”
Writing in her Ultimate Curry Bible, a wonderful collection of 200 recipes collected from her travels around the world, Jaffrey wrote of that extraordinary special Mandela meeting and the meal.
Certainly, it was one of my most memorable meals.