Masterclass at La Porte des Indes

We don’t frequent the top-end Indian restaurants in central London very often but occasionally we’ll allow ourselves an extravagant meal. La Porte des Indes, just by Marble Arch station, is one of our favourites, particularly for its Sunday buffet lunch, along with Tamarind and Bombay Brasserie.
From the outside one might remark how ordinary the restaurant looks but the doors open up to a remarkable vista. It’s set on two floors with a waterfall along one of the stairwells. The walls are adorned by original (we were told by the executive head chef) Mughal paintings from the owner’s personal collections. The interiors are full of marble and stone brought from India.

Sue and I had signed up to the monthly Masterclass which essentially comprised an hour and a half spent in the company of the head chef, demonstrating cooking a three course meal, wine pairings, a tour of the kitchens and afterwards a three course meal. After arriving and a welcome drink executive head chef Mehermosh Mody took us initially around the kitchens. This tour was around 15-20 minutes, and the highlights were a look at the 3 tandoori ovens, with another chef making a variety of breads (we tasted some of those fresh out of the oven), the large pans bubbling away with curries, and the stone spice grinders, imported from India. At that point there weren’t meals being prepared for lunch so the kitchens were fairly quiet. We were both impressed with the sense of order although this wasn’t in the midst of service, and it was probably quite cool for that reason. What struck me was the small size of the kitchen and how so many chefs would be able to work in such a confined space making food of the highest order.
After the kitchen tour we sat down in one of main rooms downstairs opposite a makeshift demonstration kitchen. We had to wait a few minutes while another group went on their kitchen tour.

Soon the executive head chef returned and began the cooking demonstration with the help of an assistant.

The three dishes this month were:
PARSEE FISH - Fillets of sole encased in a mint and coriander chutney and lightly steamed in banana leaves.
SAAG KHUMB - Leaf spinach and field mushrooms sautéed with chillies, ginger and fenugreek.
ROSE PHIRNEE - A delicious pudding with rose petal conserve, crushed basmati rice and cream.

These dishes were fairly simple to demonstrate, and delicious for us to taste. What most participants benefited from was the tips that Mehermosh gave out such as the right oils to use, and how to use spices most effectively. He also told us that it was important to try local ingredients with Indian spices – for example by using local lemon sole rather than imported pomfret for fish dishes. Spices were passed around to enable us to take in the aromas.
Before the completed dishes were passed around for us to taste the wine expert talked a little about each wine and wines generally before offering a sample with the prepared dishes. With the Parsee fish a Constantia Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa was chosen. For Sue and myself New World Sauvignon Blanc is a favourite, and the Constantia was a solid compliment to the fish, while the finish was perhaps not as intense as other Sauvignons. The wine expert chose a rose from the Rioja region of Spain to accompany the khumb saag. This wine was quite fruity and again complimented the dish well. We did not get to sample the prepared rice pudding.

After the demonstration we went upstairs for lunch. The service was perhaps not as impressive as during Sunday lunch as we seemed to have been forgotten a couple of times. Lunch was best described as a tasting menu with crab, lamb sheekh kebab, and dahl puri as starters. For mains it was a fish curry, chicken curry, and a vegetable stir fry, together with rice, raita, and naan. The desserts were a selection including chocolate mousse and the rice pudding we had seen prepared earlier. Having heard Mehermosh and the wine expert expounding the qualities of Indian wine we, slightly experimentally, chose an Indian Sauvignon Blanc to accompany our meal, but in retrospect selecting a New World wine might have been wiser.

Overall the Masterclass was a very enjoyable experience but perhaps it should not be billed as a “Masterclass”; “An Introduction to.....” might be better billing. Sue and I are not novices at cooking and Indian cooking in particular and we learnt relatively little about the principles of Indian cooking, spices and herbs. We felt most of the other participants were looking for an introduction, and did not cook Indian food at home. Unfortunately a couple of the participants kept asking rather simple, facile questions spoiling it for us - clearly not the restaurant’s fault. [I hope this doesn’t sound mean, but it really is an eye-opener how people living in a city like London can still exist in such a separate world. To almost every unfamiliar spice or ingredient came the question, ‘Can you get it in Selfridges?’ and Southall seemed somewhere they had never ever heard of].
I would rather have spent the £55 per person (which included lunch and Mehermosh Mody's cookbook) cost on Sunday buffet lunch. If you are looking for good value cooking courses I would recommend Jamie Oliver’s Recipease (www.jamieoliver.com/recipease) which has a range of cooking classes aimed at different levels and perfect for introducing oneself to new cuisines. Despite this experience I am sure we will be returning for Sunday buffet lunch at La Porte des Indes on many occasions in the future.

La Porte des Indes - 32 Bryanston Street, London W1H 7EG. Tel: 020 7224 0055

Love is all we need ...in public?

Perhaps I should have been brought up in an Indian family, as my family did not do public shows of affection (nor private shows of affection, come to think of it – at least not between parents and children). I remember my acute embarrassment when I first went on an exchange visit to a French family when I was 14 and was confronted by continental-style 2-cheek kissing everywhere – and expected to join in. Every time you met someone, even someone you didn’t really know, they did the whole ‘mwa! mwa!’ thing on both cheeks (or maybe 3 times in France – you can tell I am out of practice). I was painfully shy and it was way too much for me. On a later visit to the same French family, my French friend had by that time found her first boyfriend. Muggins here found herself in the unenviable position of having to stand a respectable distance away from the happy couple at a Metro station while they embraced and snogged in public for what seemed like ages, while I tried not to look at them in case I stared.

But adolescence came and went, boyfriends came (and went) and I kind of got the hang of it – at least in private. I can just about do holding hands in public and maybe the odd peck on the cheek or perhaps lips but that’s my limit.

I am therefore perfectly happy in a country like India that also does not do public displays of affection – at least not between men and women. Richard Gere famously provoked condemnation when he kissed Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness rally in New Delhi in 2007, being accused of ‘insulting’ Indian culture. One of the strangest sights though, on my first visit to India was to see men (presumably just friends, or perhaps not) walking round holding hands, or with their arms around the other’s shoulders – in a way that you would never (at least rarely) see in London. And of course in Bollywood films, you would never see a man and woman actually kissing. You would see the man (eg. Shah Rukh Khan) come tantalisingly within a centimetre of the woman’s mouth before turning away. You could see as much suggestive dancing in wet saris, moving hips and holding each other as you wanted – but no actual kissing.

Susen took some delight in teasing me when we went to Delhi a couple of years ago about how he was going to hold my hand and kiss me in public there – to cries of ‘no way!’ from me. No way was I going to somehow reinforce the stereotype (perhaps receding) of the ‘loose’ Western woman lacking any sense of moral values by virtue of coming from a country where pre-marital sex is the norm.

But it seems that the times may be changing. The New York Times yesterday reported that in India, kisses are on the rise, even in public (link to article here). I must admit that until I read the article, I had completely missed the real significance of Shah Rukh’s last film – Jab Tak Hai Jaan – in that he actually kissed his love interest (Katrina Kaif) for the first time on screen. The sky hasn’t caved in (yet). According to Dr Srivastava, an Indian sociologist quoted in the article, “That kiss was an incredibly important moment, ......Shah Rukh Khan defines what is mainstream. If he does it, it becomes acceptable.”

Parts of the New York Times article made me quite sad. Dr Roy Abraham Kallivayalil, President of the Indian Psychiatric Society said ‘“I don’t tell my wife that I love her …….my father has never in 88 years told me that he loved me. We don’t do that.” Perhaps I am sad because my family didn’t do ‘love’ either – which made me all the more determined to tell my son often how much I love him.

Sad perhaps also because I had in my mind that maybe India was like Victorian Britain – where although public morality might be very conservative, underneath that exterior, it was all going on. But maybe not. According to Dr Sharma, a psychiatrist practising in New Delhi, younger women now are more insistent that their emotional needs are met – which ‘often involves kissing’. Which tends to suggest that kissing was not part of marital intimacy for many couples in the past. Another Dr Kothari (founder of the department of sexual medicine at Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College in Mumbai) said, ‘“For years, most Indian men used sex with their partners as a kind of sleeping pill, and few devoted any time to foreplay……..now, many women are able to ask for what they want.” Thank goodness for that.

Maybe the old maxim of supporters of arranged marriages – ‘marriage first, then love comes after’ does not always work out so well. After all, you are not going to always get it right – many of us would cringe at the thought of having got married to our first boyfriends or girlfriends and still being stuck with them, rather than being able to move on as we have grown and changed.

But it seems India is slowly becoming more liberal – with women becoming more assertive about what they want and (at least among the urban educated) more say in their choice of marriage partner. Ever since seeing Shankar Mahadevan in concert in London last year, I have loved his exuberant and warm-hearted style – and obvious love for his wife. He posts on Facebook about how much he loves her on her birthday and today, for Valentine’s Day he posts ‘Happy Valentines day to all my darlings !!! Love is the greatest power we have !! Spread it :)’

Here here!! So, Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone – don’t forget to tell your nearest and dearest how much you love them and, if you are really daring, give them a kiss in public.

 

Have a break.....listen to some classic Bollywood

I needed to give my brain a rest from studying, so thought I would have a cup of tea over some classic Bollywood.  This is the brilliant 'Dil Se Re' (from the movie 'Dil Se' of course) with SRK and music by AR Rahman.

Dil Se Re

Then brilliant in a different way is the Miami University acappella choir 'Misfitz' singing their version of Dil Se Re.

Misfitz

Back to work now I guess.

Bollywood and me (Part 1)

As I sit writing this I can see Sue’s collection of Bollywood DVDs under the TV. Amongst them are many of mine and some have become her favourites. On occasion with guests we might play a favourite scene or song. I don’t think Sue had seen Bollywood before she met me but she now scours the listings of our local Cineworld for Bollywood movies. We are quite selective and probably see only the cream of Bollywood based on recommendations from cousins in India. You may think that coming from an Indian family I was brought up on Bollywood but nothing could be further from the truth.

I came to Bollywood rather late in life. We shunned a lot of Indian culture when I was growing up and later Bollywood didn’t really have much to offer me. I do remember Channel 4 showing Bollywood movies on Sunday lunchtimes; these were often violent gangster movies starring Amitabh Bachchan. All I recollect is lots of fake blood, guns and machetes. We did wonder what the fuss was about.

Then some years later I was reading the TV previews in a national paper. A film to be screened by Channel 4 in the early hours was said to be “the finest work to come out of Bollywood in recent years”. So I taped it, and my journey began. That film was Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (The Brave Hearted Will Take Away the Bride, 1995) starring Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) and Kajol, both then unknown to me, but I realized later were amongst the royalty of Bollywood.

The story is quite simple: an Indian-British boy (Raj) and girl (Simran)(SRK and Kajol) meet on a Eurail holiday one summer and fall in love. Cue lots of location shots in London and all over Europe. He is a rich indolent boy while she is a dutiful daughter. But the relationship is doomed; she has been promised to a young man in India as a bride. After the holiday her family fly off to India for her betrothal and wedding. After some soul-searching Raj follows her, and then ingratiates himself into the wedding party. They are found out, Raj leaves, and is attacked by the groom and his friends at the railway station. As finally Raj gets on the train Simran beseeches her father to let her go with Raj, at first he refuses but eventually he relents.

Since this was really the first Bollywood film I’d seen I had no frame of reference but I was spellbound for its 3 hours. I knew about the dancing and songs interspersing a serious film but they didn’t feel intrusive apart from one song. Kajol and SRK were utterly compelling and were a highly charged romantic couple. SRK in particular showed some gift for comedy as well as being the romantic lead. I liked the strong emphasis on tradition and family: e.g. Simran being prepared initially to submit to an arranged marriage. But in the end it is the parents who see sense and the couple leave together with her father’s blessings. I was impressed with the high-quality film-making, a world away from the other Bollywood movies I had seen, however briefly. The music was a revelation to such an extent that I bought a CD of the soundtrack on my next trip to Calcutta. The only thing that jarred for me was the violence; but one should not forget in India a film is supposed to be escapism for the masses, combining music, dance, drama, romance all in 3 hours. I must also confess I did have a crush on Kajol for a long time after seeing the movie. (I think Sue knows this!!).

I lent the tape to my mother who until this point had not been a Bollywood fan but I guess I corrupted her. She is now a devoted SRK fan as well as to other stars. Often the highlights of her trips to Calcutta include a couple of hours in Music World frequently buying over £100 worth of DVDs. Many of my DVDs are at Sue’s and she’s now a devotee, buying DVDs in Delhi, and playing CDs in the car. On winter evenings she might entertain us by dancing to her favourite Bollywood songs (Sue: I deny this completely - a) for dancing at all and b) even if I did for being vaguely entertaining).

Since watching Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge I too am a fan of Bollywood, but perhaps not as much as my mother. Nevertheless I want to take you on my journey through the best of Bollywood and tell you how I met a famous star.

After Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge I was always on the lookout for Bollywood movies on in Central London. There were usually reviews in the mainstream papers and this was in the days before the Internet took off. I didn’t know then that the best place to see Bollywood was in Indian areas such as Southall, where the Himalaya Palace, now sadly closed down because of DVDs and satellite television, was the place to go. But I read that a new SRK movie was to be shown in Leicester Square so off I went.

Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, also known as K3G, (Sometimes Happiness, Sometimes Sadness) is the everyday story of billionaire folk in India. The cast list is a veritable Who’s Who of the Bollywood hierarchy with the patriarch and matriarch played by Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya, and other key roles by SRK, Kajol, Rani Mukherji, Hrithik Roshan, and Kareena Kapoor. Initially it’s all happy families until the elder son and heir to the family business, Rahul (played by SRK), meets and marries Anjali (played by Kajol), a woman from a low class background. Eventually there is a rift between Rahul and his father, and Rahul exiles himself to London. There he creates a life for himself and Anjali, and his sister in law. Later his adopted brother, Hrithik Roshan as Rohan, finds Rahul, and befriends him. They are reconciled but will Rahul and his father make up?

This is melodrama at its best and again a focus on tradition, obedience to the culture of one’s parents. Some of the scenes especially between Rahul and his mother are incredibly moving. I loved the music and the ensemble dances. This movie has one of the best dance scenes I have ever seen: SRK and Kajol dancing to Suraj Hua Maddham at the Pyramids. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

After K3G I think the next Bollywood movie I saw was Devdas. I remember this had been highlighted in the UK press. It’s the story of a London returned Devdas, Bengali of course, played by SRK, being prevented from marrying his childhood sweetheart Paro (played by Aishwarya Rai) because she is the wrong class (a familiar theme in Bollywood movies). Devdas takes her marriage badly, falls into bad company and becomes an alcoholic. But he finds solace in the arms of courtesan, Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit). The sets were utterly sumptuous as were the costumes. Would that early 20th century Calcutta actually looked like that. In this film SRK doesn’t dance but Rai and Dixit are just breathtaking. Two songs stand out: Madhuri Dixit in Maar Dala; I’m told by a dancer friend that ballet companies would copy many of the moves in their warm-ups. That’s some compliment. The other song is Dola Re Dola, where Dixit and Rai are dancing together. Overall this is an outstanding movie, again exemplifying conflicts within families, with lavish scenes, a very strong cast, and innovative choreography.

After over-exposure to SRK it was time for a change. Lagaan was the next movie I saw in central London. It stars another Khan, Amir (Bhuvan), and takes us back to colonial times; a tax dispute between villagers and the British masters is settled by a cricket match. Tensions in the village abound between various castes and religions but they are settled so that the villagers can create a unified team, new to cricket, to face the “evil” British. The villagers have the services of a “spy”, the sister of one of the British officers, who teaches them the rudiments of cricket and falls in love with Bhuvan. Lagaan was a sea-change from most Bollywood movies and kept many of the best elements but most engaging was the strong story lines, music and dance scenes that were integral. It was probably my introduction to the music of AR Rahman, who is a giant of contemporary Indian music. Practically all the Indian characters were engaging, the British were perhaps predictably cruel but redeemed by the spy. As a piece of film-making it’s near flawless keeping one enthralled and engaged for its entirety.

Then it was back to SRK; how could we miss one of his films? Kal Ho Na Ho (There May Or May Not Be A Tomorrow) told the tale of Aman (SRK) in the US, there for medical treatment for a fatal condition, meeting and falling in love with MBA student Naina (Preity Zinta). He knows he will never live long enough to marry Naina so he engineers a relationship between Naina and Rohit (Saif Ali Khan (SAF). They are both unsure about the relationship but with Aman’s help they hit it off. Shades of Cyrano de Bergerac here. Instead of London we are taken on a tour of New York. The songs in this movie are amongst our favourites particularly played on long car journeys. We particularly liked the theme song and Maahive, with an ensemble and starry cast. For viewers brought up on Western movies and dramas the acting is sometimes over the top, but after a while one sees this as the norm in Bollywood movies. Again there is a strong focus on the family, but also some liberal themes: one family is Christian, and there is comedic gay sub-text. Nevertheless this again an outstanding film, with leading stars, and music and scenes that stay in the memory.

Not long after seeing Saif Ali Khan in Kal Ho Na Ho I was in quite an upmarket hotel in Jaipur. Returning from sightseeing our car was prevented from entering the grounds of the hotel by numerous police cars. The police checked our identities to ensure we were indeed guests of the hotel. On entering the hotel lobby we asked why there was such a police presence and were told Saif Ali Khan and his then girlfriend were having lunch. I passed him a couple of times and said hi. Thus far he’s the only Bollywood star I’ve seen in real life but am sure there will be other opportunities in future. In retrospect what was surprising was the extent of the police escort, perhaps 10 cars. I don’t think Tom Cruise would get this kind of treatment in London but would provide his own security generally.

The only other Bollywood movie I’ve seen at the cinema apart from recent ones with Sue was Love Aaj Kal (Love Today Tomorrow) starring Saif Ali Khan as Jai and Deepika Padukone as Meera. This I saw at the aforementioned Himalaya Palace in Southall. Having driven from Central London we had eaten well at Madhu’s Brilliant across the road and presented ourselves at the cinema in time for the showing. The cashier said the film wouldn’t be showing as there were no other filmgoers and they had a minimum number. We contemplated and asked what the minimum number was: four they replied, so we bought four tickets. So we were the only ones in the audience, the movie started as soon as we sat down, at the interval we went out for some Indian sweets, and the movie restarted as soon as we returned. That was a near perfect way to watch a movie; no complaining about others talking, rustling sweet papers, getting up to go the loo, or a tall man or woman in front of you.

Love Aaj Kal is a modern Bollywood film mainly about an Indian couple living in London. While there is a contemporary storyline there is also a more old-fashioned chaste storyline about Jai’s mentor and friend (Veer Singh) and the love of his life, Harleen, when younger. SAF plays both Jai and the younger Veer Singh. The film offers a comparison between love in the past, the strictures and mores, and today, with a different moral compass and expectations. The modern couple are shown living together and shock actually kissing, while for the older couple the relationship is almost Chaucerian, akin to “amour courtois”, i.e. love from afar. Veer has to show a deft touch in approaching Harleen, and her family. But for the more contemporary couple in the West they do not abide by the rules in India. The contemporary couple break up, find new partners (with Jai a white European woman), but later find each other again. In this film one gets two love stories for the price of one. It works well for me and you are left guessing to the last moment as to which couple or both will find love ever after.

So this concludes the first part of my Bollywood journey but not before I tell you about one of my favourite dance scenes. If you are a Bollywood aficionado you will know it well: the famous train scene in Dil Se. Telling it really doesn’t do it justice; you need to see it. Not long into the movie starring SRK of course, he is dancing atop a moving train. The music, Chaiyya Chaiyya, by AR Rahman is utterly spellbinding, as is the choreography by Farah Khan, but what is even more spellbinding is SRK dancing and jumping around on top of a moving train. SRK’s co-star on top of the train, Manisha Koirala, deserves high praise. How the scene was filmed is astonishing. Today I don’t think SRK would be able to get insured for something so dangerous; then he was reasonably well-known but not the superstar he is today. I would urge you to look up the scene on YouTube.

To be continued.....