I came to the US from India a half century ago, shortly after I finished graduate school, and got married. While growing up in India, I had never really cooked, although my mother had taught me the basics of cooking. As was the custom in India, my mother had a full-time cook and a maid, so she too did not spend time in the kitchen on a daily basis, although she was an excellent cook who had learned from her mother, who was a masterful gourmet cook!
As I set up my home here in Washington, I discovered that I loved cooking, making my own creations, and modifying recipes from the wonderful traditional “Ruchira” cookbook for Marathi Food (Food of the state of Maharashtra, India) that my mother had given me. I enjoyed learning to make American dishes from the Betty Crocker and the McCall’s cookbooks. A few family friends and some extended family members from India visited me here, and when they returned to India, each of them made it a point to give my mother feedback about their experiences visiting me – they were very generous with praise for my cooking, and that I had no help in the kitchen unlike the custom in India. They then wrote and told me that my mother, in her usual serene and philosophical way, said “Well I know that Reva is a very good chemist, so I always knew that one day she would be a very good cook” !
Three years after I left India, my mother came to visit me here. In those days, travel between the US and India was a very expensive and time consuming venture, and it was the first time I had seen her, as I too had not been able to visit her in India. She met my 2 year old daughter, Lina, for the first time, and we had a wonderful time being together, cooking together, discovering and cherishing each other as individuals, as well as “Mother and Daughter”.
Prabha Gokhale, My Mother Lina and I
My mother taught me the subtle nuances in seasonings, in cutting vegetables so they look beautiful and cook without bruising or burning, gently sauteeing rice so each grain is well coated with the roasted spices, so that the finished Pulao dish is perfect, looks elegant, with the grains not clumped together, and showed me many little touches of garnishes that turn a good meal into a beautiful.and delicious one.
“Mother and Daughter” in Pune, India, on my last day with her, 2014
Badam Chicken (Chicken Almond Korma) – My Mother’s Recipe
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs boneless chicken breasts or plant-based chicken breasts
- 2 lemons
- ½ cup peeled almonds
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds (khus-khus)
- ½ inch fresh ginger
- 6 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¾ teaspoon coriander seeds
- 2 fresh hot green chillies
- ¼ cup fresh grated coconut or grated pre-packaged dry coconut flakes
- 1 cup plain non-fat dairy yogurt or plant- based yogurt
- ½ teaspoon saffron 1 ½ tablespoon corn oil tablespoon canola oil or olive oil
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt to taste
Procedure:
- Cut the chicken into 2-3 inch pieces and pat dry.
- Rub the lemon juice and cloves into chicken pieces
- Soak the saffron in one teaspoon of boiling water or milk
- Heat a deep heavy-bottomed pan to medium high heat and roast the cumin seeds and the coriander seeds stirring continuously for 2-3 minutes
- Grind the roasted seeds with the remaining ingredients except the yogurt
- Mix the yogurt, salt, saffron with its liquid, and the ground mixture (masala)
- Coat the chicken pieces well with this yogurt-spice mixture and marinate in refrigerator for about one hour.
- Heat the oil on medium-high in the deep heavy-bottomed pan and stir fry the chicken mixture well, reduce heat to low-medium, continue stir frying until the chicken pieces look light golden brown.
- Cover and cook on low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked completely.
- Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, garnish with fresh chopped cilantro leaves
Serve hot with Indian Pulao Rice, Indian Naan, and Cucumber or Broccoli Yogurt Bharit.