Cooking methods

Bhunai (removing moisture and enhancing flavour)

This is by far the most important method in my family repertoire. My mother, who is both my fiercest critic and my greatest inspiration, to this day thinks that my food is often ‘bhuno-ed’ too lazily! It’s a technique unique to the subcontinent and based on ancient Mughal cooking. It takes patience and perseverance to master bhunai; however, the results elevate a mediocre dish into a spectacular one. The basic concept of bhunai (when cooking meat, poultry or vegetables) is to remove all the moisture from the cooking ingredients (such as onions, garlic and tomatoes, as well as the meat and veg itself). This process gives the cooking oil (which was initially used to fry the ingredients, and which is infused with spices at the beginning of the cooking) a chance to permeate into these ingredients for a richer flavour. For a meat or chicken in a sauce (or curry), wait until the meat is tender and then turn the heat up to high and fry the meat and sauce vigorously, using a spoon to move the meat around and avoid it sticking. If there isn’t any oil left in the pan, add about 2 tablespoons of vegetable or sunflower oil. This can be drained off later. Cook until all the moisture leaves the pan – this can take about 15–20 minutes. You’ll know the bhunai has been successful when you notice the following: the colour of the sauce becomes dark; the oil separates from the spices and rises to the surface of the sauce; the aroma of the dish becomes more fragrant.

Tenderising by boiling

Many meat and daal (lentil) dishes make use of the tenderising-by-boiling method. This involves combining spices together with the main ingredient (meat, vegetables or daal) and then slow-cooking them together with water or yogurt. This creates a stock-like liquid for dishes such as railway curry and aloo gosht.

Tarka or bhagar (tempering)

Pouring infused oil on to dishes after they’ve been cooked is called tarka or bhagar. This can also be done at the beginning of a dish to flavour the base oil. Oil or ghee is heated until it’s spitting hot, then ingredients are added to flavour the oil in order of cooking time: so, dry spices are added first (such as cumin and mustard seeds), followed by slow-to-cook ingredients (such as garlic and onions). When using only dry spices, begin with seeds like cumin, followed by spices such as dried chillies and finally curry leaves – only cook the leaves for 2-3 seconds. The key is not to burn the ingredients in the oil as it will make the dish taste bitter and burnt. As soon as the hot oil is infused with the spices and ingredients, pour it on to your prepared dish and cover it immediately with a lid. This ensures that all the oil’s flavour goes deep into the dish and doesn’t escape.

Dum (steaming)

Dum is the method that brings dishes like biryani to life. Dum means cooking a dish in its own steam, and is a technique that originated in Persia where food was cooked in a ‘degchi’ (large pot) and sealed with dough. This would then traditionally have been buried in hot sands or under coals to let the dish gently cook in its own steam and juices, infusing it with delicate flavour. Many Pakistani meat dishes are cooked under dum giving the meat a chance to slow-cook and tenderise. To do this, you can cook your meat dish in a lidded saucepan on the hob (over a low heat) or using a lidded dish (such as a casserole dish) in the oven.

Dum is used for cooking biryanis and pulaos, and the method involves cooked or par-boiled rice, which is drained and then cooked through using steam. For example, to use a dum method for biryani, layer rice that has been par-boiled for 3-4 minutes over a completely cooked, thick meat or chicken curry. When layered, cover the saucepan firmly with a piece of foil turning it over the lip of the saucepan – this ensures that no steam escapes the pan while the biryani is cooking. Then place a tight-fitting lid on top. Cook for 12–15 minutes on a very low heat (use a heat diffuser under the pan if you can) to complete the cooking. In some traditional biryani recipes, the dum process actually cooks through raw meat and raw rice together, but this takes years of practice to perfect!

Dhuni (smoking)

This is my favourite cooking method – it’s basically infusing meat or vegetables with coal smoke. Dhuni is typical in the subcontinent and many recipes call for it at the end of the cooking process. It is also a great alternative when you are not able to barbecue as it adds that sweet coal flavour to a dish. See bihari kebabs and follow this step-by-step guide:

• Place the kebabs, mince or vegetables in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Make a small gap in the middle of the pan and place either a small piece of bread, a balled-up bit of foil, or a piece of garlic or onion skin.
• Light a small round of quick-light coal. Using tongs, place the hot burning coal on to the bread/foil/skin.
• Pour over 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or ghee. Smoke will begin to rise almost immediately. Cover at once.
• Leave until the coal stops smoking – this should take about 10–15 minutes.
• Remove the coal and the foil/bread/skin and discard. The dish should now be smoked and ready to serve.

Galavat (tenderising)

Much of the meat in Pakistan is tough, mainly mutton and chicken which is usually tenderised when marinated using natural tenderisers such as raw papaya, kalmi shora (saltpetre, as in hunter beef), or kachri powder (a wild cucumber variety that is dried and powdered). Almost all kebabs are tenderised using one of these ingredients mixed in the marinade, and the result is a soft kebab with an almost melt-in-the-mouth texture.

Homemade ghee

This is not really a cooking method, but a home essential – nothing quite compares to homemade ghee. My mother always made it using a stash of fresh cream that had been skimmed off buffalo milk. As it simmered on the hob for hours, it released rather intense aromas – a certain cocktail of melted butter and astringent hay. When it turned amber and smelt of butterscotch, it was ready. Making ghee from cream is an exercise in patience, so I usually make it using unsalted butter, as below…

This recipe takes about 30–40 minutes, and makes 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup liquid ghee. If you want it to be particularly butterscotchy, cook for the full 40 minutes and it should go a very dark amber colour.

• Heat 250g/9oz/1 cup unsalted butter in a saucepan over a low heat until it’s melted and scum rises to the top – anything between 25–40 minutes. Skim occasionally, until all scum stops rising.
• Allow to cool slightly before pouring through a sieve into a sterilised, heatproof storage jar with a lid. Cool completely before closing the lid. Keep at room temperature and use in 10–15 days, or keeps up to 3 weeks in the fridge.

Homemade tamarind pulp and sauce

The ready-made tamarind pastes you can buy in supermarkets aren’t anywhere near as good or authentic as a homemade version. The store-bought stuff can be bitter, and lacks the subtlety tamarind adds to a dish. Make the pulp yourself from dried tamarind blocks which can be bought in South Asian shops and online. You can then use it as a base for spiced tamarind sauce (see below), or added directly to a dish to give it a sweet sour flavour.

This recipe makes about 300ml/10 fl oz/1¼ cups tamarind pulp.

• Add 220g/8oz/1 cup dried tamarind (with seeds and fibres) in a ceramic or glass bowl (not metal). Add about 300ml/10 fl oz/1¼ cups hot boiling water and leave it to soak for 30 minutes or overnight.
• Using your hands, squeeze the pulp until seeds and fibres come apart and you’re left with a thick pulp.
• Pour into a fine mesh sieve over a clean bowl. Squeeze further to release a thick, smooth pulp and then discard all the fibres and seeds. (Scrape paste from bottom of the sieve into the bowl, as a lot will accumulate there.)
• Store chilled up to 2-3 weeks in a covered container, or freeze in an ice-cube tray up to 3 months.
• To make tamarind sauce: To 300ml/10 fl oz/1¼ tamarind pulp, add 1 tsp dry roasted cumin, ½ tsp kalanamak (black salt), ¼ tsp black pepper, ½ tsp chilli powder, 50g/1¾oz brown sugar and 2 tbsp water.
• Soak 20g/¾oz stoned, soft dates in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Then combine with the tamarind mix.
• Blitz the mixture in a blender until thick and combined. Pass through a medium sieve (not too fine).
• Pour into a glass jar. It keeps in the fridge for up to 5 days. Dilute further with water if you like.