Practical Recipes_1

Practical recipes_1

Mulligatawney Soup.

This is a very famous soup which has been associated with India since
the beginning of the English regime. In India it is usually made with
chicken, but beef or mutton do very nicely. Stew a pound of mutton.
Scrappy mutton, such as neck or ribs, does very nicely. When meat is
tender remove from soup.

Fry an onion with a teaspoonful of curry powder. When nicely browned
stir into it a tablespoonful of peanut butter; also about a half cup of
fresh cocoanut. Mix these up together to a smooth paste and add to the
mutton broth. Also pick the mutton from the bones and add to the soup.
If the peanut butter does not thicken it sufficiently, thicken with a
little flour. Serve with rice. Sometimes the rice is boiled with the
mutton, but usually it is boiled separately (No. 52). Lemon juice is
usually served with this soup.


Tamales (Mexican).

Take a pound of meat. Mutton, chicken, or beef may be used. It must be
cut in bits. If the meat has not sufficient fat, add crisco or butter,
or whatever one uses. Stew until meat is very tender. Into this soup add
a cup of tomato sauce or a cup of boiled and strained tomatoes highly
seasoned. Then stir in enough cornmeal to thicken it as for mush. Cook
for a few minutes and then turn all into a rice boiler or steamer, and
cook until the cornmeal loses its raw taste. When a little cool, add a
few raisins, ripe olives, almonds, or peanuts, the latter cut up fine.
Make pretty hot with cayenne, and also add a little pimento. Mold into
little rolls, and wrap each roll up in corn husks, tying each end, so
that the mixture will not escape. Just before eating, steam up again,
and serve hot. If one is in a hurry, a dish can be lined with corn
husks, the mixture piled in, and corn husks placed over the top of the
dish. This is called "tamale pie." If corn husks are not available, it
is very good without them. The mixture can either be steamed in a bowl
and turned out or it can be sliced cold and fried like mush. It is not
necessary to add the raisins, olives, and nuts unless one wants to be
rather luxurious.

At the table open up the rolls, remove the husks, and eat with tomato
sauce. A good sauce for tamales is made by stewing tomatoes with a
little onion and green pepper, straining and highly seasoning.
Worcestershire sauce is always good in tamale sauce.

This tamale mixture is fine for stuffing green mango peppers. Indeed, it
makes a fine forcemeat for most anything.


Koorma (Arabian).

Koorma is usually made from mutton or veal. Mince an onion, a little
green ginger, and a tiny bit of garlic and add to a cup of buttermilk.
Cover a pound of mutton with this and allow to stand for a while. The
mutton may either be fresh or left-over. While the mixture is standing,
fry a minced onion; add to it a little turmeric. Turn the buttermilk
mixture into this. If the meat is uncooked, also add a little water, so
that it may become tender; but this is unnecessary if cold mutton is
used. Simmer slowly together until the meat gets tender and the curds
dry. At the last a little cocoanut may be added, but this is not
necessary. The gravy must be very little and very rich.


Spiced Beef.

This is a very nice way of keeping beef if the weather is hot and one
has no ice. Cut the meat up, salt a little, turn it into a bowl, and
just cover with vinegar. Sprinkle well with mixed spices. When ready to
use, fry with tomatoes and onions. This may be kept for several days
without ice, even in the hottest weather.


Irish Stew (Old English).

Equal parts of meat and potatoes. Half a pound of meat and half a pound
of potatoes makes quite a good-sized dish. Cook the meat with a sliced
onion in plenty of water until it is almost tender. Then add the
potatoes; also a little mint or parsley, a tiny bit of green ginger, and
a sprinkle of cinnamon, salt and plenty of pepper. Cook together until
all are sufficiently cooked. At the last, if mutton has been used, add
half a cup of milk. Thicken a little if desired, only perhaps it is best
to cook it until potatoes begin to break, thickening it in that way.