Culinary jottings

The green leaves that are often useful when judiciously introduced are : — fennel (souf), " maytJii hajee" lemongrass (uggea-ghas), bay-leaves (tajipatha) , " Jcaray-paith," *^ kotemear' leaves (green coriander), &c. When green ginger is used it should be sliced very fine, and pounded to a paste ; a dessert-spoonful being sufficient for one curry. The indispensably necessary suspicion of sweet-acid can be produced most readily by a dessert-spoonful of powdered or moist sugar and the juice of a lime, or a spoonful of vinegar. A table- spoonful of sweet chutney and the juice of a lime make a good substitute ; but a table-spoonful of red currant jelly, with one of chutney, and a little vinegar of lime juice, form to my mind the nicest combination for dark curries. I strongly advocate the very capital plan of making a fresh paste of some of the above adjuncts, in sufficient quantity for the curry in hand, and blending it with the stock powder when cooking the latter. Here is a reliable recipe : — One small onion, one clove of garlic, one dessertspoonful of turmeric, one of freshly-roasted coriander-seed, one of poppy-seed, a tea-spoonful of Nepaul pepper, one of sugar, one of salt, and one of grated green ginger. Pound all these with sufficient good salad oil to make a paste. Also pound twelve almonds, and one ounce of cocoanut, with a little lime juice to assist the operation. Then mix the two pastes, and stir into them a salt-spoon- fill of cinnamon or clove-powder. A heaped up tablespoonful of this paste to one of the stock powder will produce a very excellent result. Additional heat can be obtained by those who like very hot curHes if red chilli powder be added to the above ingredients according to taste. This paste will keep if put away carefully and covered up. Having satisfied ourselves as to the composition of oar powder and paste, We may now work out, step by step, the process to be followed in cooking a chicken curry. Choose a nice young chicken — and here let me point out that large chickens nearly full grown ought never to be used in curries — and having cut it up neatly as for a fricassee J place the pieces aside, and dredge over them a little flour. Next take all the trimmings, neck, pinions, leg bones, feet, head, &c., with any scraps of meat that can be spared, and cast them into a sauce-pan with an onion sliced, a caiTot sliced, half a dozen pepper corns, a bit of celery, a pinch of salt and one of sugar, cover them with cold water and make the best broth you can. When ready, strain the contents of the sauce-pan into a bowl, and skim it clean. A good breakfast-cupful of weak stock should thus be obtained. Lastly, make a breakfast-cupful of milk of cocoanut, or almond. Now take your stew-pan, and having sliced up six good shallots, or two small white onions, cast the rings into it, with two ounces of Denmark, Normandy, or other good tinned butter ; add a finely-minced clove of garlic, and fry till the onions turn a nice yellow brown. Then add a heaped-up table-spoonful of the stock powder, and one of the paste, or, if you have not made the latter, two tablespoonfuls of the powder. Cook the curry- stuff with the onions and butter for a minute or two, slowly, adding by