A Scottish Chef

Simon We Scots are used to such tales of bravado from Angerlanders such as yourself. At times like this I'm always reminded of a tale of an invading English Army when they finally get to the border entrance of God's country. The leader of Angerlands army spies a lone Scot atop a hill some fifty yards from his legions. The Scot is yelling all sorts of abuse and aggresively challenging the English to, "Come ahead ya bams!" The leader turns to a captain and says, "Send two men to kill the barbarian!" Two men are sent up the hill to silence the lone Scot, chasing him over the brow of the hill to capture him. After five minutes the Scot returns to the top of the hill and returns to his abusive comments. The leader, now annoyed, turns to the captain and says, "Send a dozen men and get that swine killed this time!" Twelve men troop up the hill to execute their orders. After ten minutes the Scot returns to the top of the hill and is now openly laughing at the best the English have been able to do against him. The leader, now furious, turns again to the captain and says, "Enough! Send fifty men and kill that Scot, bring his body to me so we can use him as a warning to any others we come across!" Fifty men troop up the hill determined to see off this lone, crazed Scot. The sound of a violent battle fills the air and after twenty minutes a lone Englishmen runs back down the hill screaming for help. "Captain! Captain! It's a trap! There are two of the bastards!" Edit. P.S. Sorry, Suvir, I should have said the English army were on a raid to steal my stocks of seasoned vegetable ghee

Babu's explanation of the name to me was that the basic curry sauce is made from lots of onions and for the Dopiaza onions were added again in thick slices just after the ghee melts. He's definately from the two-step camp then.

No I haven't, but I'd love to see a recipe for it if you have one to share.

Its Scottish, actually. Originated in fish and chip shops in Aberdeen. Traditional Ethnic Scottish Cuisine. Aye, ok. It won't be the fist time Scottish invention explodes onto the world at large. Next thing you know deep fried mars bars will be served in Paris restaurants. Oops...they already have!

Thanks for that, Vedat. A colleague of mine is planning to purchase a restaurant in Turkey (all hail the purchasing power of the equity laden English home owners) as soon as May of this year and I'll be passing your information onto him to consider. He is currently convinced that there are simply not enough restaurants in tourist centres serving good qaulity food.

Well done to you India Girl. Thats a fantastic project to be part of. To do it voluntarily does you much credit. 40 meals for less than £35? Quite a feat in itself I doff my hat to you.

Two brands spring readily to mind. 1. Pride - Yeeuch! 2. Consumer (snappy name that one) - Even worse than Yeeuch! I'll need to research a little about the differences between margarine and shortening. First things that spring to mind are an absence of chemical additives, the oils used in production and of course the appearance of the ghee is markedly different. I'm unaware of the properties of shortening and certainly I've never thought of using it for my take on Indin cuisine. I'd be interested to know of any experiences or suggestions you have for it's use. Or, indeed, why not to use it. I sear both mushrooms and new potatoes in the vegetable ghee. When I say sear, I mean I heat the ghee until it is smoking then add the mushrooms and sauté very quickly - about thirty seconds. For that one I finish with ground black pepper and a dash of light soy. MMMmmmmmmmm Again, Babu's influence at work. I'd never heard of vegetable ghee until I worked under him.

It's difficult to know how you would argue on the premise of qaulity alone. Butter ghee is quite different from vegetable. Perhaps not as pronounced a difference as comparing apples with oranges, for example, but it would be an unfair comparison to make on a qualitative basis I feel. Still, I know the results from vegetable ghee can be excellent. I always season it with garlic and ginger, and, depending on what dish I use it for, sometimes also with peppercorns and chillies, both dried and fresh. I wonder, Simon, if you were to sit down to two curries and try them both if you could determine which one was made with butter or vegetable ghee? How confident would you be? I think if the dish with the vegetable is well made you would struggle Next time you are making a curry at home, try this. Take some vegetable ghee, turn it into a pot and melt it gently, add the ginger and garlic and heat until the garlic browns then drain the ghee. Whilst it cools, add a dozen mixed peppercorns and two or three dried red chillies. When it is near to cool, re-drain and return the ghee to it's tub. It will reset itself. Let's say you are making a dopiaza - take two tablespoons of the ghee, melt slowly and add to this two whole fresh green chillies and half a teaspoon of zeera seeds. Cook gently until the chillies skin starts to discolour then remove the chillies and finish your curry. I defy you to tell me this will not produce a fantastic basis for your dish.

There's a lot that can be done with Ghee's and oils when preparing to cook indian cuisine. Conversely, you need do nothing to them prior to use, but we take the trouble because of the eternal search for flavour, flavour and some more flavour. In answer to your first question about Vegetable Ghee and why I use it, Suvir, I have the following information; 1. It's largely made from an extraction of palm oil. The better varieties use only natural colourings and flavourings. I use Khyber brand which I have found to be very good indeed. It has a natural appearance, a gentle aroma and is very versatile in the cooking of Indian dishes. This one also has a very high smoking point which adds to it's versatility. Some, however, are truly awful. I'll name one to avoid if it's permissable. 2. Vegetable Ghee, due to the absence of dairy produce, is perfect for vegans as well as vegetarians. For me this is a simple solution/answer to questions from customers about the oils we use for vegetarians. 3. Vegetable Ghee's can be completely free of cholesterol. Khyber certainly is 4. It's is far, far cheaper than butter Ghee. I can buy a 2Kg tub of butter Ghee for £19.95, but for the same money I can buy nearly 30Kg of vegetable Ghee. No way is butter ghee 15 times better. It's simply different, but not so radically different as to have a negative impact on flavour. The price point is important to me because of the market I serve. 5. The production of Vegetable Ghee is a worrying economic consideration in parts of India. Many farmers agriculturaly prioritise land to produce oils desirable for Vegetable Ghee production leading to problems with land for the feeding of cows. 6. Vegetable Ghee lends itself perfectly to gentle seasonings to add to it's flavour prior to use. Point 6 is where this all kicked off in another thread so I'll add more as this thread develops. I'd love to hear about others uses and manipulations of Ghee.

I'd also be grateful to know of such a website that delivers these bourbons to Scotland.

The depth and breadth of Indian cuisine extends far beyond curry. Yes it's an important part of the whole, but it would be ridiculous to suggest that curry is added to everything. Have a look around the India forum for examples of what I talk of. Then get yourself a Lime Kulfi and reconsider

No, I don't get it either, but somehow or other I manage to suffer from it a great deal Is it true it's referred to as PMS only because BSE (more famously known as Mad Cow Disease) was already taken? Maggie: No boyz eh? You think we don't require certain, particlar sustenance when PMS comes calling? I have survived in a house of four women who all turned mental at some point in the month. I learned of PMS, Pre PMS, Post PMS, Actual MS, Pre AMS, Post post AMS and so on. During these testing times I learned valuable lessons; 1. Do as told. 2. Do as told. Naturally, during these outbreaks of crazed, I turned to beer.

It doesn't, of course. But then you would never get to dip popadom in fiery green chilli raita, would you?

How some other Scots express their deep love of Indian cooking Where Kilt Lifters honour India

It's very important to use the oil to fry in just once before flavouring with the ginger, garlic and peppercorns. Any more and the flavour can be a quite powerful presence. For making curries I use vegetable ghee. I don't fry anything in this. I turn it out into a pot, gently melt it and then add ginger and garlic in eqaul qauntities. I let the garlic begin to turn brown and float before I remove and discard it. Then I add the peppercorns. Because some of the curries I make have little or no heat, I don't use chillies when seasoning the ghee this way. Babu taught me to season the ghee this way with ginger and garlic. I added the peppercorns and chillies myself after experimenting a wee bit. Some things just didn't work well in the mix, cloves being one of them. So I have been doing it from the start of my indian cooking adventures.

You could Give yourself a headstart with the spicing of oils or ghee to cook your spices and curries in. It's very useful to keep the oil you use for cooking pakoras, bhajias and popadoms in as it then has hints of additional flavour (all Indian in essence) and you could then add a large peeled garlic clove and an eqaul sized peice of ginger after using the oil as it cools. Drain it all through a very fine mesh and you have a fine start to any curry sauce or dish. Adding a dozen mixed peppercorns, sometimes a few dried red chillies can help too. Labeling helps you recall which has chillies and which not. Good luck with your experiments. More importantly, have fun when conducting them

It might also be more dangerous. That's fighting talk where I come from.

I think you've touched on a universal book storage technique. I only have about 40 cookery books. I never, ever thought I'd feel embarrassed about this. Until now.

I'd like to say that I understand Steve KLC's article perfectly well. I enjoyed it. I liked the tenor, the tone, the humour and the damning comment on one who specialises in damning comment. Any why not? eGullet is not solely a forum that allows Chefs the opportunity to bite-back at those who self-indulgently shred and tear at their work, but I fail to see why it cannot embrace this function amongst it's whole. All this angst because some identify Steve KLC's article as vindictive? Wow. Curiously, I can't quite figure out why it appears to be ok for many of the responses to the article to damn Steve for his damning of the damnable. Other than it being one more of the many things that make eGullet such a compelling place to visit. Another curious element in this thread included someone criticising another for ageism. But only for the aged. Not ageism applied to youthfulness. The cool responses of 8th graders to attack appear to be unacceptable.

I have posted answers to some of the things you ask in another thread in response to similar questions from Suvir Click for more on Babu

When I was being trained by Babu we worked on a notebook so I could remember all the detail, ingredients and method to create the Indian cuisine he made. Asian cuisine! Babu will never forgive my laziness by always referring to it as Indian I call it Babu's notebook as, although it is filled with my writing, it's all of his work. The wee book is battered and bruised nowadays, but worth more to me than gold.

Garam Masala can be added to food at most any time. Certainly I add it towards the end when cooking curries, but also I add it to some dishes at almost the beginning. Sometimes both If added towards the beginning it enriches the whole flavour of a dish without being noticable in itself (although it's absence is most noticable) whilst adding at the very end its flavour is quite distinct. My advice: experiment!

In no particular order. Leith's cookery bible La Répertiore de la cuisine Babu's notebook Chinese cookery secrets by Deh-Ta Hsiung Practical and advanced practical cookery by Cesarani and his pals Dr Atkins new diet revolution. You want serious? For diabetics these recipes are life savers.

No problem, Suvir. There is a lot to tell about both Babu and how I eventually bought his business from him, so I'll probably do this in chunks. Perhaps the first meeting we had would be a good place to start as it was during those ten minutes that I was to learn of the mans quite astounding generosity. In late 1988 it was clear that my time in Glasgow was coming to an end and I had constant urges to return home to the highlands, I had been away so long that I felt little confidence I'd be able to find work. I'd known Babu from being a customer of his takeaway, regularly enjoying his food. His Raja Tandoori naan stuffed with chicken tikka and coriander served with a simple curry sauce being a particular favourite Anyway, never having suffered from shyness, I went in one evening to talk with Babu and offered to work for him for nothing on a trial basis. I said I hoped it would either lead to a job working for him and, if not, I would be happy to work for nothing to learn about Indian cuisine. That's when I got my first talk about the vast differences in Asian cuisine and that it was most improper to refer to it only as Indian He gave me my chance and after the first night he offered to pay me. It wasn't much, but it was a start and he'd clearly seen enough to know that I was a Chef. I'd shown him my City and Guilds cooking qaulifications and he famously remarked, "Should this mean something to me?" It was a sobering and charmingly funny moment. As the weeks rolled by Babu really worked me hard. I had the majority of the preparation work to do as he was very keen to ensure I had the basics under my belt as quickly as possible. I'd have to make ginger garlic paste, his masala blends of pastes, yoghurt and spices, chilli pastes, naan mixes, chapati mix, pakoras, bhajias, marinades for the tandoor, garam masala, popadoms (making dozens of these day after day quickly gets you up to speed) and of course I'd have to chop a 20 Kg sack of onions for the basic curry gravy almost daily. Then, he would make me clean and clean and clean some more. I remember one busy evening as it neared midnight feeling absolutely shattered and Babu said to me, "I know you are tired, I can see it. But you must still do the onions and then wash the floors. I need you to be strong." Of course he meant that I understood I'd have to be fit to do what after all is a very demanding job. I wonder if people understand the heat in an Indian Kitchen when a fully fired Tandoor burns for hours on end One of my favourite memories of Babu was his prayer regime. No matter how busy we were, or at what stage of preparation, every evening around eight pm he would ask us to leave the kitchen so he could pray. He would move a table, lay out his prayer mat to face Mecca and spend ten minutes praying and offering his devotion. It was kind of weird being out in the front of the shop with customers waiting, but I had and still have total respect for the mans dedication to an element of his life he saw as utterly vital. I'm sure this spirituality underpinned a large part of Babu's gently charismatic calm. He would tell me time and again how important it was to remain calm when cooking food for others and he would assert this in the kitchen at madly busy times by simply saying, "Be calm, no rush, be calm." It always had the desired effect. It was quite a revelation to me having previously worked with Chefs who make Gordon Ramsay seem like some kind of peacenik

I was given this recipe and method by Babu (or more properly Moin). Mr Uddin is from Pakistan and he spent nearly four months of his life to train me and help me understand his methods. I should talk more of this man. He is a remarkable Chef. I don't like to take credit for the recipes he gave to me. This is all his work and my changes are minor and respectful.