My mother's kitchen,my father's garden: Curry: an idignant response and some other informative points

Indignant? Why so. Not for the first time, I see a leading British supermarket insidiously suggesting that curry is fat laden and not to be eaten in its normal state by those who care about the size of their thighs. Hmmmm. "Who would have thought it was possible to eat curry on a healthy diet?" This also inadvertently insults rather a lot of people worldwide. At least one billion people in India for example.

So I am here to set the record straight and give you some things to cook that will not make your bottom --to quote a phrase I particularly like-- "as big as Dallas." Hell: you can even eat them every day! And also, don't get fat phobic. I have reliable statistics which inform us that, if you chop wood rather than sticking on the central heating, do your own DIY, walk everywhere, break into a run now and then, have sex, say, a couple of times a week (if my mother in law reads this, I have in fact just died of embarrassment) and get into being, rather generally, as manual as your forefathers, you can eat a bit more fat. I speak, clearly, of developed countries here. Being fey about fat --when you are healthy, I mean-- may sometimes be an interest of he who has plenty of leisure. And I just turned into my mother with that little lecture! ON WITH THE DISHES.

Right, curry may be derived from the Tamil word for sauce -- kari. Madhur Jaffrey, in The Curry Bible (go get it: it's all you need) defines it, moreorless, as a dish with a sauce and boy is it different the world over. But we'll leave all scholarly discussion for another day and make a simple MASOOR DHAL. This is a red lentil curry; dhal (dhal being the legume and masoor being the type). I refer to split red lentils. Cheap, nutritious and ubiquitous.

Take1 kg of red lentils and pick them over carefull, having rinsed them in a colander. Leave to drain. Meanwhile, fry off (I used sunflower oil) 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic, half a finely chopped red chilli and a little nut of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped. Now add 1 flat dessertspoon of brown mustard seeds, letting them pop first, a tablespoon of ground cumin, one or coriander (lets's use ground again) and a dessertspoon of turmeric. Make sure you do not let these burn, as they will turn bitter. So keep the heat down low. Stir for a minute or so and then add the lentils, stirring carefully to coat with the spice mixture. Now, cover the lost with water plus about half as much water again, bring to the boil, skim off the froth and then simmer for about forty minutes. You could then add a tablespoon of garam masala for extra piquancy and, at this point, salt to taste. I would also add a large handful of chopped fresh coriander.

There are endless variations on this, of course. You might want to add some chopped tomato about half-way through cooking or, perhaps, some fresh or frozen spinach. I like to make my dhal a little tart with the addition of tamarind paste or amchoor -- green mango powder, both of which I would probably add about half way through. Or -- and this is really more authentic, just cook the dhal with salt and some turmeric and then, when it's nearly done, finish it off by adding the spices which you popped into hot oil and cooked off. Just swirl them in. You could just use the brown mustard seeds -- or try yellow mustard seeds-- and a fat bunch of coriander.

Whichever way you cook this dhal --and you may want it thicker or thinner than the recipe I have given you-- you will find it spicy, satisfying and creamy to boot. It's low in fat, full of fibre and B vitamins, it's cheap and filling and it re-heats well. Also, one could argue for the digestive properties of the spices --cumin for anti flatulence and turmeric as a digestive, general tonic and antiseptic. Garlic --well, you know all about that-- and the chilli is high in vitamin C. Add more than half a fresh one -- I would-- and watch your endorphin levels rise. Capascin (that's the active ingredient) is also an expectorant, which is good if you are suffering from winter snuffles and, because of those endorphon-inducing qualities, it'll give your mood a boost. Actually, if I have a cold or even when I am feeling jaded (and reader, I am a melancholy type), I swear by the effects of chillis -- of all sorts.

So stuff that in your pipe and smoke it, cheeky conglomerates! I have eaten dhal like this pretty much every week of my life since I was knee high to a grasshopper, by the way.

Do you want more healthy, err, curry?

A simple, lovely and quite unexpected carrot (gajar) curry

O.K. Take a bunch of carrots. (Well, about ten) Peel them and cut them into batons along the whole length of the carrot. Put them to one side. In a big saute pan or a wok, get a film of oil really hot and then add three chopped cloves of garlic and three or four chopped spring onions. Sweat them until you get that lovely roasted smell. Add some red chilli flakes, a teaspoon or so of turmeric and a dessertpoon of caraway seeds. Maybe you didn't know that they were sometimes used in food like this? Swirl the lot around, add the carrots and toss well. Add a cup of water, raise the heat, then turn it down until the carrots are only just tender. Salt and pepper to taste. But I suppose I ought to say "keep the salt levels down"? Now, this is really easy and it's very good for you.

How about a roast spiced whole chicken? I suppose there are folks out there who must think this is an unhealthy thing? Well, I love the skin of a roast chicken, but if I'm going to go the whole murgh (sorry: that was a rubbish joke. Hindi for chicken), I'll have to skin the chicken. You can do this yourself or ask the butcher to do it. Actually, you'll be lucky if you go to most supermarkets. So, just make a slit along the backbone of the chicken and pull, easing the skin away and using the knife to get between skin and flesh as you go. Use a small paring knife rather than a carving knife here. Otherwise you might have a nasty accident. This, by the way, is just one way of skinning. Find your own way and don't worry if it's ramshackle. I wouldn't fuss over a little skin left on the wingtips, either. If you're squeamish, I'll come over and do it for you.

Right, rinse the chicken and pat it dry (no --not with the hand towel!) and then, having preheated the oven to about 200, rub this into your chicken. Oh -- mix the dry spices with a little oil first.

1 tablespoon of powdered cumin and half of coriander
1 teaspoon of sea salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper
Rub it in well, both inside and outside the chicken. Now, put several garlic cloves inside the chicken and then, on its outside, press in some cloves at regular intervals. Put on a few star anise and lay some cinnamon or cassia quills on top.

Put it into the oven. Upside down for the first half an hour at least. That's to allow the fat to trickle down from the base --especially important when the meat is skinned. And, when you turn the chicken right side up, you may want to replace the star anise and cinnamon on this side. Allow about 20 minutes for every 500 g plus 20 minutes to half an hour extra. But then, I never even think about this. Practise often and your instrinct will tell you soon enough. If you relax. For the last twenty minutes or so, turn the oven up to 230. And do bear in mind that I have cooked the chicken at a slightly lower heat than I would ordinarily because we don't want the spices to burn. While the chicken is cooking, don't forget to baste it. When it's done, let it rest for a food few minutes before you carve it and when you do so, make those generous slices of breast. The leftover chocken plus the carcass will make a wonderful soup with a few tomatoes, finely chopped spinach and diced potato.Water to cover, bring to the boil, simmer for an hour and then remove the bones! Season to taste.

And PLEASE buy a free range chicken, regarding an label which does not explicitly state free range with care. Freedom food, or freedom food endorsed or welfare checked or....you get my drift here. It isn't quite the same, but a quick survey of my immediate neighbourhood (well, my husband --who is generally otherwise well informed) suggests that folks may not know that.

O.K. So, if you wanted to present all this together, you'd have a succulent, spiced roast chicken, a mild and creamy dhal, a crunchy hot and spicy carrot dish. All very healthy and very easy to do, Why not make some accompaniments, too?
1. Stir a little garam masala or some chaat powder (google it, baby -- I'm addicted: not to Google, to Chaat powder) into some Greek yoghurt (reduced fat, if you must). Done.
2. Chop some cherry tomatoes finely and add some diced spring onion and perhaps a large chunk of cucumber, finely chopped. Add a teaspoon of amchoor (green mango powder) or anardhana (pomegranate powder) plus salt to taste. A little lightly roasted cumin seed (just dry fry it in a frying pan for a few seconds) would be good, too.

A banquet. Whoever would have thought you could eat curry on a healthy diet? Nope: they don't know if it's New York or New Year. But we do, don't we?

Oh, in another dhal I cooked --here it is below -- I was after a thich and hearty concoction, so I added less water and kept a close eye on it so that it did not stick. The little black seeds you see in the lentils are kalonji -- onion seed or nigella; the fresh relish (achaar) on top is made from chopped onion, fresh mint and both red and green tomato. The predominant flavouring is the aniseed hit of fennel seed (saunf).