Carrot Halwa

Today, essentially a dish from the Punjab in India,  halwa is also popular in the Middle East and is easy to make at home. Here is a recipe for my favorite - carrot halwa.

Take 4 cups (for a cup use 240 gr (or 240 ml for a liquid) of peeled, grated carrots and fry, stirring often, in 4 tablespoons of ghee (clarified butter) in a wide, high sided pan for about 15 minutes. Then add 3 cups of whole milk and cook over a fairly high heat for 30 minutes, stirring often. When most of the liquid has evaporated stir in 1 cup of sugar and continue to cook and stir for another 15 minutes. Then add the seeds of 4 cardamom pods (or more to taste) and cook for 10 minutes more. Delicious hot or cold. This is a very rich dessert. If you cannot buy ghee you can make your own clarified butter. Melt 250 gr of butter VERY slowly.  Remove the foam that forms on top.  You are left with clarified butter.

Surprise Surprise

Here in the remote southwestern French countryside, an hour south of Toulouse, in Salvayre, is the Indian restaurant Penjabi, whose chef prepares everything himself - his tamarind puree, his spicy,  crunchy mango relish, his creamy mango and cinnamon sauce, all of which are delicious on his samosas and pakoras, served as a first course.  His cheese nan - even his pistachio kulfi, a sort of chewy ice cream - and everything in between, are homemade. His food is well seasoned and spiced - unusual to find this in France, for the French palate is not too fond of hot spicy dishes. The main courses are cooked in the Tandoori, or in the Masala or the Madras - the hottest - style. And the meat or fish is not overcooked, so it remains tender. Do not be put off by the humble surroundings, or the flashing sign that says "Franco-Indienne Cuisine," which is probably an attempt to entice more French people into the restaurant, although a friend who ate there with me said that the chocolate fondant was delicious. Very tasty food.

Back in France to Castelnaudary and its Cassoulet

The TRUE, the REAL, cassoulet, whose name comes from the cassole, in which the cassoulet is traditionally cooked, is fought over by three towns in southwest France - Castelnaudary, Carcassonne, and Toulouse; that of Castelnaudary is called the father, that of Carcassone, which adds lamb, is the son, and that of Toulouse, which uses tomato, is the holy spirit. These facts come from the Universal Cassoulet Academy.  Here is the recipe from Castelnaudary. The photographed cassoulet is of my doing.

Ingredients:
350 to 400 grams of dried Tarbais beans. I like to use these beans for they stay firm, even after a long time cooking. Strictly speaking you can use any dried white bean, if you cannot find the origin protected Tarbais. The haricot Tarbais can be ordered through the internet.
2 or more - I use 4 - preserved duck legs.
4 pieces of Toulouse sausage, each weighing 80 grams
4 pieces of pork shoulder or shin, each piece weighing 50 grams
250 grams of pork skin
A bit of salted lard
Several carrots, cut into chunks and several onions, cut in half, and a chicken carcass.

To prepare:
First soak the beans overnight. The next morning put them into 3 litres of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and reserve the beans; throw away the water.
Prepare a bouillon with 3 litres of cold water, the pork skin cut into large strips, the chicken carcass, and the carrots and onions. Sprinkle with salt and freshly ground black pepper - use plenty of pepper. Cook for an hour, then filter the broth and keep the pork skin. Cook the soaked beans in this broth for about an hour, until they are tender but still firm. Drain the beans, but save the broth. Mix together in a mixer or a robot 6 peeled, degermed garlic cloves and salted lard that weighs twice the weight of the garlic.

Degrease the deboned duck legs, cut into pieces, in a frying pan and then remove. Brown the sausages and the pork pieces in the remaining duck fat. Reserve the fat.

Now to put it all together.

Line the bottom of a cassole with the pork skin and add a third of the beans. Then arrange the pork pieces and the duck on top and then cover with the rest of the beans. Put the sausages on top of the beans, pushing them down a little bit into the beans. Cover these ingredients just to the top with the broth. Save the remaining broth. Add more pepper, if you wish, and add a tablespoon of the reserved duck cooking fat.
Put into a oven preheated to 160°. During the cooking a crust will form on top; push this crust into the cassoulet 7 times. If the cassoulet becomes too dry, add some bouillon. Cook for two to three hours.
Serve the cassoulet very hot in its cassole.

An authentic and inexpensive cassole, handmade, can be bought at Not Freres, a pottery just outside Castelnaudary in Mas-Saintes-Puelles.

If all this seems fatiguing, go to the Cantelgril (NOT part of a similarly named French chain) in Mirepoix in the Ariege for a tasty cassoulet. Or go to Le Colombier in Toulouse, a lovely old restaurant that has been serving its delicious cassoulet since 1874.

On the Boat to France

For a lovely trip back to France take Brittany Ferries. The food is delicious, as good as that served in a fine restaurant. Leave it to the French.  For dinner as I sailed across the Channel, I began with duck filled ravioli in a cream of lettuce sauce. Then I had lovely pink lamb garnished with a garlic stuffed langoustine served on a potato puree and ratatouille. The cheese platter was copious and the cheese varied and well aged. Dessert was a Grand Marnier souffle, light, slightly creamy, not at all dry, accompanied by a small glass of the liqueur, which I poured into the center of the souffle. The restaurant staff is professional, courteous and mostly Breton, but all of them speak good English.
After a good night's sleep in a comfortable cabin, breakfast was very good too. The buffet features perfect croissants, plus pain au chocolate, pain au raisins, brioche, hard-boiled eggs, various cereals, fresh fruit salad, dried fruit, and creamy yogurt. There is also a full English breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, and mushrooms. The coffee is served in a large pot, with hot or cold milk. I had an espresso noisette, so called because the bit of foamed milk lightens the color of the coffee.

Detour in London

I have two restaurants in London that I return to again and again. Neither is expensive - for London - and both are very good indeed.
Dumplings Legend on Gerrard Street in Chinatown specializes in dimsum, or as it is pronounced in Mandarin, dianxin - little heart dots. The dumplings are varied and excellent. If you do not know what to order look at a neighbor's table for help. And when the word hot is next to the dumpling, it is hot and spicy. There are also noodle dishes and other main courses. The clientele is mostly Chinese, always a good sign. I know about Chinese food, for I have spent time in China, have taught Chinese cooking, and have written about Chinese food.
About Indian Food I know nothing at first hand, for I have not been to India. But it seems to me that for tasty, and I hope authentic Indian food- go to Masala Zone; there are six restaurants plus one in Selfridge's. A red pepper, or two, announces how hot the dish is. There are vegetarian options too. Masala Zone is owned by the same group that owns the much more expensive Veeraswamy on Regent Street - old fashioned and elegant - and Chutney Mary on the King's Road. in Chelsea. Lunch on Sundays at Chutney Mary is less expensive than at other times, but go early for there are no reservations for Sunday lunch.