New book: The Beginning by Naqiyah Mayat
Drawing inspiration from her Hindu upbringing and the Muslim community she married into, Naqiyah Mayat’s first cookbook, The Beginning, is packed with Indian recipes for the modern age. We talked childhood memories, midweek dinners, fasting and feasting
What inspired you to publish a cookbook?
I wanted to publish a book that harnessed the power of my food memories – from growing up, to the new discoveries that I made when I got married; and later the shared experiences I had from cooking for my children. I also wanted to develop a book to give an honest and easy approach to cooking and to reinvent familial cooking, where the past has served as an inspiration rather than a set of rules.
Who taught you the most about cooking?
Definitely my mom. I spent my childhood perched up on her countertop. I would watch her smear rotis with ghee, and then flip them onto my plate. Another vivid, nostalgic memory is a bowl of mutton curry and rice, mashed with a spoonful of butter. I’ve recreated this with my own children. There’s always a dish of butter and a spoon on the dining table when mutton curry is served.
What’s your favourite midweek dinner?
One of the best make-ahead, freezerfriendly family dishes is lamb kebabs. I make a chutney with tomato, onion and spices, which I serve with fried kebabs, coriander and roti. I serve them with spiced French fries; or add the kebabs to a pasta sauce and serve with spaghetti.
How do you manage cooking for adults and kids?
I‘m often asked on my social media platforms why my kids aren’t fussy eaters! I’ve made sure to foster a healthy, respectful relationship towards food from the beginning. My children love grocery shopping with me and I have taught them from a young age to try every food. I’ve also introduced foods to my kids that were not typically child-friendly. Now, they even eat oysters (which I wouldn’t typically order for myself!).
Was there a big learning process with regard to recipes after marrying into a Muslim family?
My husband Mohamed and I come from a central point of being “Indian” so there is an understanding and an overlap around food
and culture, but the processes of making certain spices are vastly different. My mom used powdered masala but I’ve had to learn about other spices such as freshly ground wet masala since marrying into a Muslim family. I was young when I got married, with no understanding of how to cook, and I had to learn and adapt what I had learned from watching my mom. I had to find common ground.
Which are your favourite dishes to prepare over Ramadaan?
During Ramadaan, we try to limit some of the foods that might make us feel sluggish. I love to prepare hearty food to sustain me through the night, so that I won’t feel the lag the next day. Towards the cooler months, I like to make more soups to break the fast. For the mornings, before we commence fasting, I always make a smoothie with banana, almond or fat-free milk, peanut butter and oats. This helps us remain full throughout the day.
What will you be serving for Eid this May?
We usually have seafood at our Eid dinner. We host our family and friends, and I prepare oven-grilled prawns and savoury rice with French fries. In addition, I bake a whole masala fish in the oven with lemon butter sauce. (The recipes can be found in The Beginning.) My children particularly look forward to my prawn pasta, which is made using Woolworths’ fresh pasta sauce.
At a previous Eid dinner, I created a traditional “sweetmeat” showstopper dessert recreated as a panna cotta and topped with Turkish candy floss. It was a great way to elevate ordinary flavours.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
For me the best kind of conversations are around a table – at my house or a friend’s – with hot, just-fried samoosas on the table and masala tea.
RED MASALA CHICKEN
The reaction that you expect from your guests when they walk into a home where this masala chicken is cooking, is: “It smells like Eid!” For as long as I’ve known my motherin-law, this has been one of her best recipes. Instead of the usual process of adding the chicken to a pot, and then adding the spices, the spices are cooked to a thick marinade that is massaged into the chicken. It’s important to cook this on low heat and to slightly dry it out at the end so you’re left with a rich and fragrant coating. Note: This is not a chicken with a wet gravy. It should be cooked just until it’s a thick sauce.
Serves 6
A LITTLE EFFORT
GREAT VALUE Preparation: 30 minutes Cooking: 30 minutes
ghee 1T cumin seeds ½t whole cloves 3–4 black peppercorns a few small cinnamon stick 1 whole cardamom pods 2–3 onion ¼, finely chopped white vinegar 2T red wet ginger-and-garlic masala 1½ T coarse salt 1t ground cumin 1T ground coriander 1T oil 2T chilli powder ½T ground garlic 1T fresh ginger a small knob
(or ½ t ground ginger) methi masala ½T tomato purée 2T tomato sauce 1T lemon juice 2T saffron threads 4–5, soaked in water white pepper ¼t butter 226 g free-range chicken 1, quartered
1 Heat the ghee in a large saucepan and add the cumin, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, cardamom and onion.
2 Add the vinegar and red masala and cook for a few seconds. 3 Add the remaining ingredients except half the butter and the chicken. The mixture should be thick and saucy. 4 Allow the mixture to cool slightly, then make a few incisions into the chicken and smear it over the chicken pieces. 5 Place the remaining butter in another saucepan. Add the chicken and ¼ cup water. Add 3 whole green chillies for extra heat (optional). At this stage, the chicken should be a fiery tone of maroon.
6 Increase the heat to high to allow the butter to melt. It should gently coat the pan and start the process of cooking the chicken. 7 Reduce the heat to medium and cook slowly for 20–25 minutes.
8 Increase the heat and cook for 10 minutes, turning the chicken often so that the sauce thickens and burns slightly. Cook’s note: The chicken can be marinated and left in the freezer or in the fridge if you’re preparing it ahead of time. It’s best served with chips or steamed vegetables prepared with a cream and sweetened butter sauce.
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