To the table at Safdarjung

As she dispensed with the last of the political tangles on an autumn Saturday afternoon, her thoughts turned longingly to the allure of excellent food and sweet rest. A tall glass of homemade lime juice, and the ushering in of her cultural secretary, Ms Bhagat and the redoubtable Elizabeth Gauba saw the last of the petitioners leave from her residential office on Safdarjung Road. Mrs Gandhi sat, awaiting her dear friends in her favourite posture on the sofa, cross-legged and elegant.

Elizabeth nee Mueller, who also accompanied Ms Bhagat, was a Munich-born German who married Jeevan, a Lahore-born scion of the renowned Gauba family. The two had fallen in love during Jeevan’s visit to Germany to study engineering, and after their nuptials, made a home at 8 Hailey Road (in New Delhi) that served as a prestigious school – it was also famously called Mrs Gauba’s School – as well as their abode. Amidst Elizabeth’s entourage was artist SH Raza, MS Sathyu, Indirani Rehman, Krishna Menon, Freda Bedi, Ambassador Chester Bowles and, of course, Mrs Gandhi.

The trio were to entertain a group of English colonial travellers led by a childhood mate of Mrs Gandhi’s, Dorothy Fellows. Fellows and her companions were travelling to New Delhi and Shimla and were keen to have a une rencontre intime (an intimate encounter) with Mrs G, who loved entertaining intellectuals, and insisted on having a meal with this lot to showcase the European skills of her kitchen. “We must take out my mother’s China linen and glassware!’ she exclaimed. It is worth noting here that Mrs G’s personal distinction was a hallmark of simplicity, almost echoing Plato - “Beauty of style and harmony and grace and good rhythm depend on simplicity.”

Over a sumptuous but simple fare of Green Cheese on Toasted Bread (Gauba’s recipe) and Gucci Var, a Kashmiri pandit specialty of morel and Himalayan rice, the group enjoyed Mrs G’s recounts of people met and food consumed. “What about the barbecue gentleman that we had on the last dinner? He was amazing’, she said, laughing at the memory of Biri Naggpaul, a refugee from West Punjab who made the most amazing Boti Tikka. A shambling giant of a man, with hennaed hair, a handlebar moustache and surma-rimmed eyes, he was quite a character with his fabulous skills and a poetic bent of mind:

He famously said:
kabâb-e-sîḳh haiñ ham karva Teh har-sû badalte haiñ
jal uThtâ hai jo ye pahlû to vo pahlû badalte haiñ
(I am like a seekh kebab, I keep turning sides during my sleep,
When one side gets scorched I turn to the other side.
On this very playful note the evening was all set.
Our recipes are indicative of the style and substance & feminine side of this very powerful woman.)

Enjoy your reading. And try some of these recipes…

GRILLED LAMB CHOP

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 garlic cloves, grated
6 sprig rosemary leaves
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon: zest and juice of half; plus half reserved for squeezing
12 lamb chops
1 tbsp honey
4 artichokes
2 carrots, cut into batons
2 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

Method
Put the garlic, two sprigs of chopped rosemary, balsamic vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest and juice into a shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper and add the lamb chops. Toss to coat in the marinade, then cover and let marinate in the fridge for at least two hours. Peel the artichoke and blanch it with salt and lemon juice. Drain and keep aside. Blanch the carrot batons too and keep aside. When ready to cook, heat a griddle pan over a medium–high heat until hot. Add the lamb chops and cook for four minutes on each side. Meanwhile, stir the honey into the leftover marinade and spoon a little over each lamb chops as it cooks. When the lamb is almost cooked, add the blanched artichoke hearts and the carrot batons to the pan and drizzle with a little of the marinade. Leave to char for a minute, then turn and cook the other side. Remove the lamb and set aside to rest for four-five minutes. To serve, place three lamb chops on and spoon the artichokes, carrots and any pan juices around the sides. Arrange the rosemary leaves to finish as garnish. Serve hot.

TANDOORI BOTI

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
Mutton boneless boti - 1 kg
Salted Butter - ½ cup
Kebab Masala - 2 tbsp
First marination:
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tbsp
Raw papaya paste - 2 tbsp
Kachri Powder - 1 tbsp
Malt vinegar - 2 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Second marination:
Hung curd - 1 cup
Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder - 2 tbsp
Mustard oil - ½ cup
Salt - to taste
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1 tsp
Besan - 1 tbsp

Method
Mix well all the ingredients of the first marination and marinate the tender botis in it and keep it aside for three-four hours. Do not refrigerate. After four hours, squeeze out the botis from the first marination and mix well with the ingredients of the second marinade. Keep it refrigerated for two hours. After the second marination, skewer the botis on a seekh and cook on a sigri on charcoal embers continuously basting with melted salted butter. Cook till done. Sprinkle in kebab masala and serve hot.

CHEESE SOUFFLE

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
50g butter, plus extra for greasing
25g breadcrumbs
50g plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
300ml milk
4 eggs
100g grated extra-strong cheddar
20 no. asparagus spears
8 no. artichoke hearts
2 tbsp olive oil
4 no. basil sprig

Method
Heat oven to 200C and place a baking sheet on the middle shelf. Butter a 15cm soufflé dish generously, then sprinkle in the breadcrumbs and rotate the dish to ensure the butter is evenly coated. Tip out any excess breadcrumbs.

For white sauce: In a pan, melt the butter over a medium heat; stir in the flour and mustard. Cook, stirring, for a minute. Take off the heat and gradually stir in the milk, mixing it in thoroughly before adding more. Return to the heat and stir continuously until very thick. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool. Crack the eggs, placing the whites into a clean bowl and stirring the yolks into the sauce. Stir in cheddar and season well. Use a clean whisk to beat the egg whites until peaks form that just hold their shape. Then take a metal spoon and gently stir the whipped whites into the white sauce in a figure of eight. Spoon the mixture into the dish. Run a cutlery knife around the edge to create a ‘top hat’ effect; this ensures the soufflé rises above the rim and doesn’t stick. Place on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden and risen and has a slight wobble. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and sear the artichoke hearts and asparagus spears on a high flame to serve as an accompaniment along with the souffle. Serve immediately garnished with fresh basil sprig.

MOLTEN CHOCOLATE PUDDING

Yield: 16 servings

Ingredients
500g butter
500g couverture dark chocolate
8 no. whole egg
8 no. egg yolk
150g flour
150g castor sugar
200g icing sugar, for dusting
4 no. fresh mango, cut into dices
2 cup fresh cherries

Method
Melt butter and chocolate together on a double boiler. Fold in the eggs and the yolks one at a time. Mix in the castor sugar and dissolve completely. Fold in the flour. Pour into a greased ramekin mould and bake at 190C for nine minutes. De-mould the pudding on a plate and sprinkle icing sugar on top. Decorate and plate with cut mango and fresh cherries. Serve hot.