ANGLO-INDIAN CUISINE EVENT AT COCHRANE PLACE KURSEONG


I've just got back from the most amazing Food Event at the launch of the Gourmet Week at Cochrane Place Kurseong in the Darjeeling Hills. Conceived and curated by Dr Ashish Chopra who is India's top Culinary Historian, Author, Gourmand, T V Host, Flavour Analyst and Travel Writer. The launch of the Cochrane Place Gourmet Club, was a Week long festival celebrating the love of food. (Feb 14th to 19th). Thank you Ashish for making this happen. You are Santa Claus
Cochrane Place Kurseong is the restored stately British Colonial home of late Percy Cochrane the District Magistrate of Kurseong. Perched on a ridge surrounded by lush tea gardens the building is set in stone, log and cast iron splendour offering panoramic views of the Himalayas, it was the perfect setting for a week of scrumptious Food.
I’m just repeating the words of Dr Ashish Chopra "Its all happening at COCHRANE PLACE,KURSEONG in the midst of Tea country this month .. Bridget White Kumar weaves her magic with Anglo Indian cuisine, Sohini Basu, Cordon Bleu Pastry chef does magic with her cup cakes, Susmit Bose, the legendary Urban folk musician enthralls us with his golden voice, Ramaa Shanker cooks up some soul food of tasty Vegetarian Dishes, Kaveri Ponnapa Kambiranda, the celebrity author, Anthropologist and Gourmand teaches us how to make a Coorg special and one of my favourites Pandi curry, Avijit Dutt, the grand theatre man and actor shares his travel and culinary experience, Yours truly Ashish Chopra musters up dishes from my forthcoming book Tribal cuisines of India and introduces the black bird kadaknath. GROVER ZAMPA joins in the fun and gets us to taste their wines and pair them with respective cuisines” 


“On day One, our lunch began beautifully with a group of British Heritage Railway enthusiasts dawning upon Cochrane Place to savour a specially created Anglo Indian Railway menu served during the days of the Raj... With Bridget White Kumar cooking and Dhiraj Arora in assistance taking over the kitchen and mustering up a splendid meal consisting of Railway Chicken Curry, Egg Vindaloo, Railway Vegetable Cutlets, Vegetable Jal Frezi,Country Captain Beans, Mulligatawny Soup with a twist and the most awesome Pineapple upside down cake baked by Sohini Basu along with a Beetroot Carrot Halwa” 
In like manner t he Menus were specially crafted each day to revisit the days of Colonial Raj Cuisine. A 2nd World War Army Camp Menu was specially created to honour 2 Army Generals of the Area who were the special guests at dinner such as the Army Camp Soup, Col Standhursts Lamb Curry, Bengal Lancers Mince Cutlets, etc. Other Colonial Anglo-Indian Dishes such as Pork Vindaloo. Dak Bungalow Mutton Curry, Grandma’s Country Captain, Inspection Bungalow Vegetable Stew, Chillie Pork Fry, Stuffed Aubergines, Brown Sahib Soup, Okra and Potato Pepper fry, Vegetable Jal Frazie Shepherd’s Pie, Vegetarian Cottage Pie, A variety of baked dishes, etc, etc, were on the menu and thoroughly enjoyed by the guests. The Chicken and Lamb Roasts were marinated in a Grover Red Wine Marinade and the Stews and soups were given a liberal dash of Grover White Wines.


 To round off all the Hot Food, we stuffed ourselves with decadent Desserts prepared by Sohini Basu and her two talented assistants from Mrs, Magpies Kolkotta Apart from the Gourmet Dinners, the Chefs and Kitchen staff of Cochrane Place dished up some delicious local dishes, Bengali Food and Chinese Dishes. They excelled in feeding us sumptuous Breakfasts, Snacks and Short Eats besides the endless cups of hot tea in different flavours to offset the cold weather. We were well and truly stuffed !!!!!


COCONUT PANCAKES / PAN ROLLS FOR SHROVE TUESDAY / PANCAKE TUESDAY




















SIMPLE COCONUT PAN CAKES / PAN ROLLS 

Shrove Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, i.e. the day before the commencement of the season of Lent leading up to Easter Sunday. Shrove Tuesday always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, so the date varies from year to year. The name Shrove comes from the old English word "shrive" which means “to confess”. In the Middle Ages, people used to go to confession and confess their sins on Shrove Tuesday, so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began on Ash Wednesday. Lent is a time of fast and abstinence and of making sacrifices and giving things up. The Church liturgy laid much emphasis on eating very plain food and refraining from food that would give pleasure during the period of lent. In many cultures, this meant no meat, dairy, or eggs. So in earlier times, Shrove Tuesday became the last chance for people to indulge themselves in good food on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and to make use of the items of foods that were not allowed during Lent.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Shrove Tuesday is more commonly known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day, as it is customary to eat PANCAKES on this day. Pancakes thus became associated with the day preceding Lent, because it was a way to use up all the rich foodstuffs in the house such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent began.
Here is a simple recipe for some soft crepes or pancakes stuffed with sweetened grated coconut. 

SIMPLE COCONUT PAN CAKES / PAN ROLLS 
Serves 2 
Preparation time 30 minutes
1cup flour (maida)                       
2 eggs beaten well
2 tablespoons sugar                   
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon butter or ghee       
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking powder       
1cup milk

Mix all the ingredients together to get a thin smooth batter without lumps. Heat a non- stick frying pan. When hot wipe all over with a piece of cloth dipped in a little oil. Pour a ladle of batter in the pan with a swirling motion and then shake the pan so that the entire pan is covered. Cook on both sides and remove. Serve hot with Jam or honey.

Make the coconut Pan Rolls by placing  a spoon of sweetened grated coconut in the middle then roll them up. Serve hot.
For Fruit Pancakes, add finely chopped fruit such as Pineapple, Banana, Apple, etc to the batter and make the Pancakes as above.