Boiling, if the water in which meat is boiled is not fully
made use of, is a very extravagant way of cooking, because
all the best part of the meat dissolves into the water. To
avoid this as much as possible, meat that is to be eaten should
never be put in until the water boils furiously. It should
continue to do so for at least five minutes ; the reason of
this being that meat contains a substance like the white of
an egg, which hardens at once with great heat. Thus the
outside of the meat becoming hard prevents the juices of the
inner part from escaping into the water. After the five
minutes, if you continue to boil furiously, all the white-of-
egg-like stuff will harden, and your meat will be uneatably
tough ; so let the fire be slack, and keep the water just
simmering.
Fish, on the other hand, should never be put into very
hot water, or the skin will lireak. Vinegar and salt should
always be put in the water; and if you want your fish to be
very good, you should previously make a boiling-liquor for it
with water, vinegar, claret, onions, carrots, and a faggot of
herbs boiled together and allowed to get cold. Then "strain
and use the liquor for boiling your fish.
Vegetables are not to be boiled in the soup, or all together
in one saucepan, as is too often done by Indian cooks. In
some of the best houses the authors have seen specks of
carrot amongst the cauliflowers. How did they come there
You might as well boil the fish, the beef, and the plum-
pudding in the same saucepan. Vegetables should not be
washed until they are about to be cooked, and they should
be plunged into boiling water to which one dessertspoon of
234 The Complete Indian
salt has been added for every forty tablespoons or one quart
of water. The saucepan should be uncovered, and they
should boil furiously. Peas and beans require a teaspoon
of sugar in addition to the salt. Potatoes, however, should
always be put on in cold water, only just sufficient to cover
them, and after the first boil they cannot simmer too slowly,
Then they require at least an hour to dry after the water has
been drained off. Yet Indian cooks seldom begin to boil
potatoes till just before dinner.
Puddings require to be boiled very fast. Quarter an hour
for every l6 oz. should be allowed for boiling meat.
FllYING.
Frying does not consist in cooking anyhow in a frying-pan.
It means cooking in boiling fat; and many fried things, such
as fritters, rissoles, croquettes, must be fried in a small sauce-
pan. The first requisite is plenty of fat ; the second is the
right sort of fat.
Most Indian cooks say at once, ^'()h, if I am to use all
that fat, you must allow me ever so much more in the month.”
This is a mistake ; for if you use little fat it becomes so
dirty, and is so impregnated with the taste of what is cooked
in it, that it has to be thrown away ; whereas a saucepan full
of fat can be used dozens of times. All that is required is to
have three separate vessels for your frying grease — one for
fish, one for meat, one for sweet things ; and invariably to
use the whole quantity for your frying, carefully straining it
back to its vessel when the work is done, and at least once a
week clarifying it in salt and water with the addition of new
fat to make up waste.
Page 161
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Boiling, if the water in which meat is boiled is not fully made use of, is a very extravagant way of cooking, because all the best part of the meat dissolves into the water. To avoid this as much as possible, meat that is to be eaten should never be put in until the water boils furiously. It should continue to do so for at least five minutes ; the reason of this being that meat contains a substance like the white of an egg, which hardens at once with great heat. Thus the outside of the meat becoming hard prevents the juices of the inner part from escaping into the water. After the five minutes, if you continue to boil furiously, all the white-ofegg-like stuff will harden, and your meat will be uneatably tough ; so let the fire be slack, and keep the water just simmering.
Fish, on the other hand, should never be put into very hot water, or the skin will break. Vinegar and salt should always be put in the water; and if you want your fish to be very good, you should previously make a boiling-liquor for it with water, vinegar, claret, onions, carrots, and a faggot of herbs boiled together and allowed to get cold. Then "strain and use the liquor for boiling your fish.
Vegetables are not to be boiled in the soup, or all together in one saucepan, as is too often done by Indian cooks. In some of the best houses the authors have seen specks of carrot amongst the cauliflowers. How did they come there You might as well boil the fish, the beef, and the plumpudding in the same saucepan. Vegetables should not be washed until they are about to be cooked, and they should be plunged into boiling water to which one dessertspoon of
234 The Complete Indian
salt has been added for every forty tablespoons or one quart of water. The saucepan should be uncovered, and they should boil furiously. Peas and beans require a teaspoon of sugar in addition to the salt. Potatoes, however, should always be put on in cold water, only just sufficient to cover them, and after the first boil they cannot simmer too slowly, Then they require at least an hour to dry after the water has been drained off. Yet Indian cooks seldom begin to boil potatoes till just before dinner.
Puddings require to be boiled very fast. Quarter an hour for every l6 oz. should be allowed for boiling meat.
FRYING.
Frying does not consist in cooking anyhow in a frying-pan. It means cooking in boiling fat; and many fried things, such as fritters, rissoles, croquettes, must be fried in a small saucepan. The first requisite is plenty of fat ; the second is the right sort of fat.
Most Indian cooks say at once, ^'()h, if I am to use all that fat, you must allow me ever so much more in the month.”
This is a mistake ; for if you use little fat it becomes so dirty, and is so impregnated with the taste of what is cooked in it, that it has to be thrown away ; whereas a saucepan full of fat can be used dozens of times. All that is required is to have three separate vessels for your frying grease — one for fish, one for meat, one for sweet things ; and invariably to use the whole quantity for your frying, carefully straining it back to its vessel when the work is done, and at least once a week clarifying it in salt and water with the addition of new fat to make up waste.