Cooking Story Part 7 : Understanding Our Ethnic Traditional Cuisine

I believe every traditional cuisine that was brought from its own country origin has its own history and meaning as well. Especially for the spices and the way of cooking. This is one reason that attracts me most to traditional cuisine. For me, the formula for traditional cuisine is elegant, complicated, exotic and irreplaceable. I describe traditional cuisine as a original cuisine made from genuine ingredients that are only available in its country origin and the recipe was created by old natives.

I ll give some example of traditional cuisine; Rendang from West Sumatra, Indonesia; Gudeg from Central Java, Indonesia, Nahari from Pakistan, Curry from India, Pasta and Pizza from Italy and many more. Once when I used to be a college student, I cooked rendang and gudeg. And it was very exhausted experience. Cooking both took a very long time. 8 hours until a full day cooking. They contain some ingredients that only available in traditional market. In this century, who will able to cook every detailed stuff in those recipe? Hmm...

Speaking about cooking, there was something that made me stop cooking. Forgot when the last time i post about cooking. But, later, the smell of spice, spice and spice has awaken my passion to get back to my kitchen. Actually there was a more personal reason and objective  why i cooked spicy food. LOL.

Anyway, history of spice is representation  human civilization, colonialism, lands discovered, empires built and brought down, wars won and lost, treaties signed and flouted, flavours sought and offered, and the rise and fall of different religious practices and beliefs. Spices were among the most valuable items of trade in ancient and medieval times. According to Burkill (1966) Spices were introduced from China, India and Indonesia. Humans have been using spices for cooking, religious practice, and herbal medication.

Example of spicy traditional cuisine

 So far, I think Pakistan and India have the strongest spicy taste in their food, compare to Chinese and Indonesian food. So one day, I mean couple days ago, I cooked Nahari (it tastes like curry but more creamy, spicy and delicious) and the mate; Naan. I got the recipe from google and I tried and they were very delicious :p. The naan was better in taste compare to some Indian restaurants i ever tried. But it was hard for me to grill in perfectly circled shape because the dough was very sticky.

Naan recipe (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/naan/)

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, beaten

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 1/2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

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Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2. Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3. During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4. At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Nahari recipe (http://www.food.com/recipe/nihari-pakistani-stew-190562)

1/2 kg beef
salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
4 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ginger paste

spice mix

2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
2 small cardamom pods, seeds of
10 cloves
2 whole black cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons coriander seeds

Directions:

1 Heat oil in a heavy based pot.
2 Add meat and fry it a little.
3 Add salt, chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder and ginger paste.
4 Mix well. Add a little water.
5 Dissolve flour in half a cup of water and add this to the meat and bring to boil.
6 Grind all the whole spices ( spice mix).
7 Put all the ground spices in a fine cotton cloth bundle.
 and add to meat.
OR grind them till powdery fine and add them to the meat.
8 Add 3-4 cups of water; cover and leave to tenderize on very low flame. It can take up to 5 - 6 hours if using chicken and more if using beef.
9 When meat has softened remove the bundle of spices and make the curry into desired consistency.
10 To Garnish--Fry some onion slices in a little oil until golden brown and add to Nihari.
11 Also garnish with fresh coriander, ginger and green chilies.