India Abroad - April 29, 2011

EXOTIC KITCHEN
mix. Fold in remaining ingredi-
ents.
In a large heavy saucepan,
Dutch oven, or deep fryer, heat
about 4 inches of vegetable oil to
325° F. Carefully, drop spoonfuls
of the batter and cook until gold-
en brown, working in batches.
Remove to a towel-lined plate
and sprinkle with salt.
A few things: Don’t overcrowd
because it will bring the oil tem-
perature too far down, and be
careful — it splatters when cook-
ing.
Serve warm with a dipping
sauce of your choice.
ingly light. I toasted up some slices of a
crunchy, French loaf with olive oil and a
bit of salt and used it to sop up the sauce.
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 12 minutes
Serves: 4
***
Aliya Leekong with Sabitha, right, who taught her Goan cuisine
; M5
; M5
its finest,’ she asserts.
Sabitha, who has been running the restaurant
for nearly two decades, and Leekong became
friends. Sabita too was a self-made chef and used
no cookbooks. She was an intuitive and instinctive
cook.
Leekong writes: ‘Her palate is expert, so that
even when I came back to teach her a few dishes —
my favorite part of the trip — she could identify
when the spiced pumpkin soup needed more acid-
ity or how much sweetness should be in the dark
chocolate pudding we made.’
One of the dishes she loved at Amigo and in
other Goan restaurants and homes is the stuffed
fish dish called Recheado. A whole fish, often the
pompfret, is split open and stuffed with a deep, red
masala that includes Kashmiri chilies, onions, gar-
lic, ginger, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, sugar and
Goan vinegar. She loved it particularly because it
was rava-fried; and did not use bread crumbs.
Leekong, who is planning on culinary journeys
to New Orleans (which offers some of the finest
and spiciest dishes in America) and to Peruvian
cities, simply can’t get over her Goan sojourn and
her Amigo experience. Creating new dishes and
perfecting little known but mouth-watering treats
are going to help her in writing a book, she says.
She hasn’t yet started looking for a publisher, she
admits.
Meanwhile, she also makes time for charity. For
over a year Leekong has been involved with an
eco-friendly organization called Heifer Inter-
national.
“I believe in their mission of creating sustainable
solutions for poor families around the world,” she
says. “They work with local groups and individuals
to seamlessly integrate food and ecologically
sound agricultural models. They also try to under-
stand the local cultures.”
What are her immediate plans?
“I want to build my brand and broaden my
reach,” she says. “My goal is to bring multicultural
cooking, exotic influences and spices, global per-
spective into American kitchens. I will continue to
evolve as I work in restaurant kitchens and travel
the globe to learn new foods and methods.”
D’Rozario knows one of the secrets of Leekong’s
success. “She cooks from her heart,” he says. “And
she never forgets to give credit to people who have
taught her and inspired her.” ;
African maïs grille (basically grilled
corn), or East Africa’s ugali, corn figures
prominently. In Ghana, the coconut/corn
combo pops back up in a dish
called abrow ne kokosi, where corn ker-
nels are simmered in coconut milk with
fresh pieces of coconut flesh. Delicious.
I wanted to see the combo in a more
familiar form, something easy to eat or
serve as a snack to guests. These fritters
come out surprisingly light, not overpow-
eringly coconut-ey, and have a sweet and
savory quality to them. With all of the
beautiful summer corn, it’s also a great
way to use up any leftovers you might
have sitting around. The fritters work
really well with a cilantro aioli or even a
spicy ketchup dipping sauce.
Goan Mussells
My recent sojourn in Goa has
inspired a host of recipes — the
fresh ingredients, bright flavors
and colors, interesting cultural
mix. I seriously have to restrain myself to
prevent all of my recipes from being
monopolized by this cuisine. This dish is
one I was dreaming about after I made
traditional Goan fish curry during my
first few days there — an elegant take on
mussels using a popular local ingredient,
kokum.
Kokum is the dried rind of a local
plum-like fruit. It adds acidity and tart-
ness to dishes there. It’s often inter-
changed with fresh tamarind, so you
could add a touch of that here instead if
you happen to have it on hand. You
won’t get the same flavor, but I’ll bet it’s
still delicious.
I love how inexpensive mussels are. I
average about one pound per person for
a main course, and at $3 a pound, there’s
not a better deal. They work incredibly
well for entertaining — inexpensive
and yet elegant.
The combination of coconut and
kokum was really popular in Goan dish-
es. A lot of their dishes also had this
beautiful balance of tart, creaminess
from the coconut, and a bit of sweetness
from jaggery. Coconut milk is a lot easier
to work with, so I used that here, and I
used honey instead of sugar because I
love the flavor.
The resulting broth is warmly spiced,
with heat from the chili, acidity and tart-
ness from the kokum and wine, and tem-
pered by the creamy coconut milk. A
splash of fresh lemon juice and cilantro
add brightness, and the dish is surpris-
2 lbs fresh mussels — scrubbed and
beards removed*
3 tbsp butter
1 cup white wine
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 finger chili, halved and split
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup white wine
1 can coconut milk
1 ½ tsp honey
1 to 3 pieces of kokum (depending on
the strength/souring quality of the
kokum)
1 handful cilantro, finely chopped
Salt to taste
2 scallions, green and light green parts
only, thinly sliced
Touch of lemon juice
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Serves: 4 (as starters)

Ingredients
Yields approximately 2 dozen fritters
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp cayenne
1 egg
½ cup coconut milk
A dash of hot sauce
1 ½ tbsp butter, melted
1 ¼ cups fresh corn kernels (about 2
ears)
1 cup frozen, grated unsweetened
coconut, thawed
¼ cup scallions, thinly sliced
1 tbsp green chilies, finely minced
(optional)
salt
In a bowl, sift together flour, bak-
ing powder, salt, sugar, and
cayenne. In another bowl, beat
together egg, coconut milk, hot
sauce, and butter. Add wet ingredi-
ents to dry ingredients and mix
until it comes together. Don’t over
Heat a medium-sized pot or Dutch
oven over medium-low heat. Add butter
and when foam subsides, add shallots
and a pinch of salt to draw out the mois-
ture. Cook for a minute or two and add
in the chili and ground spices. When
shallots are translucent, add minced gar-
lic and cook for 30 seconds or so or until
it’s fragrant.

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