Photo by Jamie Orlando Smith
There are so many books coming out each week, and I try and keep on top of them all, even though only one can find its way into each CookbookCorner. In general, therefore, it is better to keep looking forward. But every now and again a title that I’ve missed on publication just tugs at me too much, and I have to stride back purposefully and pluck it from the shelf to present it to you here. Eddie Scott’s Misarana is a case in point. Quite simply, it’s a book that has filled me with delight, and given that delight seems thin on the ground these days, I just had to share it with you.
“Misarana”, we’re told, means “fusion” in Punjabi and, as the subtitle explains further, what you will find in its pages are “classic dishes reimagined with the flavours of India”. I just love this! So many recipes made me smile with their wit and glorious combination of flavours. To give you an idea, how about a Bloody Meera the next time you have a need for the reviving and bolstering mixture of vodka and tomato juice? It’s all in the spicing! I am similarly taken with the Masala Chips; the Punjabi Cauliflower Cheese; Bangers & Mash with Sorpotel Gravy, spiced with red chillies, turmeric, cumin, garlic and much else besides; his Nanny’s Keema Pasta, which Scott describes as “like a kind of Punjabi lamb bolognese”; the Pistawala Chicken Pie; Butter Chicken & Chips; Garam Masala Chicken Liver Parfait; and I have to mention the Gratin Aloo Boulangère! Actually, there are so many recipes that filled me with greedy glee and I just can’t list them all. But before I leave you, I must give you a taste of some of the puds on offer: namely, the New Delhi Baked Cheesecake, scented with cardamom and rosewater; the Spiced Chai Chocolate Mousse; the fabulously flamboyant Keralan Banana Split; and the intriguing Ginger Mishti Doi Crème Brûlée with Rhubarb Compote. What a joyfully inspiring book!
The recipe I’ve chosen to share with you today, after much delicious deliberation, is one that serves as a brilliant encapsulation of the book as a whole. Scott fuses two emblematic potato cakes — the Hull Pattie from the Yorkshire city in which he lives, and the Vada Pav of Mumbai — to bring us the glorious Hull Pattie Pav!
Misarana: Classic Dishes Reimagined with the Flavours of India by Eddie Scott, £26 Carnival.
Photos by Jamie Orlando Smith.
