[Sca-cooks] Recipes and notes from Nimatnama feast

[Jim and Andi Houston]

Urtatim,

The Bhat-i-Shahi is a simplification of one dish with some additions from a
list of "flavors to add to food". I needed to limit the number of dishes
including rosewater (which is in damn-near everything) and yet have a rice
dish that was distinct from the khichri that was supposed to be served
earlier.

Recipe 55: A recipe for rice wih ghee: Put good ghee in a cooking pot. When
it becomes hot, flavor it with rosewater and white ambergris. Then, having
mixed rice with saffron and salt, put it in the ghee and fry well. Then add
water, pine kernals, pistachio nuts, peeled almonds, cardamoms, cloves and
shelled white coconut. Break them into pieces, do not mince them. Mix them
all together in a cooking pot and cook them well. The having added leaves of
sweet basil or holy basil or sour orange, serve it.

This was to be served under the Mongol Yakhni, which was a spiced water
buffalo stew, and the basil was not a good addition so we left out the
basil, though if I was going to serve the rice with something milder I
would've left it in. 

I always make rice in large amounts the same way and don't even need
directions any more. A tin of saffron is ummm... about a tablespoon of
threads, loosely packed? It's two or three of the small vials. I used all I
had or I would look at the tin!

Madhavi

-----Original Message-----
From: sca-cooks-bounces+jimandandi=cox.net at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:sca-cooks-bounces+jimandandi=cox.net at lists.ansteorra.org] On Behalf
Of lilinah at earthlink.net
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2010 6:43 AM
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Recipes and notes from Nimatnama feast

Madhavi wrote
>I have posted all of the recipes from the Nimatnama feast on my webpage.
>Some are for small/test amounts and some are for the full 160 for the
feast.
>I will add the numbers from the actual manuscript as I am able.
>
>http://madhavifeast.wordpress.com/recipes/

First, your feast sounds *wonderful*! Besides reading your pre feast 
info and instructions, i have looked a photos from the feast. Wish i 
could have been there!

Now, some questions about a recipe:

Bhat-i-Shahi
10 lb good rice
1 tin of saffron
2 cups ghee
10 cups whole milk
Salt
Whole peppercorns
1 lb slivered almonds

There are no directions...

...although way down at the bottom, under Cook's Notes you wrote:
The only way to make rice in large amounts: Fry rice and whatever 
else goes in the recipe in ghee or oil until the rice is opaque. Then 
pour in the requisite amount of water and bring to a full rolling 
boil. Immediately turn off the fire, cover the pot, cover the pot 
with towels, and set aside. Leave it alone for at least 45 minutes to 
an hour. The rice will be perfectly done every time.

So, am i assuming correctly that this is how you prepared this recipe?

Also, how much saffron is in a tin of saffron? Where i live, i find 
saffron in many sizes of glass jars and was gifted with some 
marvelous saffron in a plastic container, but i haven't noticed tins 
of saffron...
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita
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