Back to the roots

Every trip to market throws up new surprises - it's fascinating to come across ingredients I have never worked with. I end up buying new goodies so that I am able to experiment with them in my kitchen.
My last trip to the INA market threw many unique ingredients which kept the chef in me totally spellbound.

Khus Ki Jad, also know as Vetiver grass stabilise plants and protects them. The roots are used for aromatherapy, cosmetics and that's why it makes sense that Khus ki jadh is a part of the heavenly Potli Masala which is the ground breaking mix in Lucknowi biryanis and kebabs. These roots are dried and sold in spice shops and markets. Keep them for a few hours in water in a copper vessel, strain it and serve them as a flavoured water with a few rose petals. The result is divine. However, I thought of infusing the roots in milk and then using that flavoured milk to poach a chicken breast. The result was amazing, tender milk white meat with a perfume of camphor, ecualyptus, wild thyme... so deep, pure, earthy.

Paan Ki Jad

It is a fragrant sweet tasting root of an evergreen creeping tree that produces heart-shaped glossy leaves Paan or Betel leaves. The root gives an earthy aroma and is used along with khus ki jad to add the extra magic. It's raining now and the weather totally demands this beauty. Slow cook masoor, chana, urad, and rajma over a charcoal fire infused with a bag or potli of some whole spices from your shelf along with some roasted and ground betel root and savour the amazing results.
Dehyrated Indian Rose petals are sexy and versatile. Sprinkle them on your salad, granola and yoghurt. Or you can jazz up your rice with apricots, almonds and rose petals or a fabulous frosting with cream cheese atop a lemon olive oil pound cake.

Kababchini, also called a java or tailed peppper is a berry with a stalk or tail attached. Its flavour is described as pungent, acrid and slightly bitter. It is also used as one of the flavourings in gin and essential in kebabs. A nice pork chop marinated with garlic and roasted kabab chini and cumin powder does magic to that piece of meat and is even good with lamb chops.
So dry roast the cumin and chini in a pan. Cool the spices down and grind them with some sea salt. Add some olive oil and roasted garlic puree. You can use this on all kinds of meat and if you are a veggie then smear it on pumpkin and roast it to deep brown in the oven.
Most of these spices can be found in your local spice shops, or at mirchi gali and at Crawford Market for sure.
The bag still has more goodies but I haven't yet found time to brainstorm and share but I will do that for sure next week. Have a great weekend.