Dam-pukht.—Dam-pukht, like many Oriental dishes, is of Persian origin, and etymologically signifies a stew which has been very slowly simmered; in fact, the whole art of preparing it consists in carefully simmering it as gently as possible. For this reason, a gas or oil stove, in the absence of a charcoal fire, is the best means of cooking it, as, under such conditions, the heat can be more easily adjusted for the purpose in view than in the case of the ordinary coal fire. Indeed, in England all Oriental cookery is much more easily and conveniently prepared with the aid of such stoves. Therefore, if satisfactory results are desired, the use of coal fires should, if possible, be eschewed. Dam-pukhts can be made with any kind of poultry—duck, goose, fowl, &c., or with game birds, such as pheasants, partridges, &c. As the details of preparing all dam-pukhts are practically the same, a single example, given below, in which the process is displayed, will suffice to explain every case. In the same way, by substituting a brace of pheasants or partridges for the duck, and with exactly the same quantity of ingredients, a pheasant or partridge dam-pukht can be made. A goose will require half as much again, or, in the case of a large one, twice the quantity of ingredients, otherwise the details are identical.
Dam-pukht of Duck.—A large fat duck (the fatter the better), 2 lb. beef, ½ lb. beef suet, 2 oz. butter, 1 oz. grated breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoonful sweet herbs, 1 teaspoonful each soy and apple sauce, mustard-oil, olive-oil, pepper and salt, and mixed spices and birdseye chillies to taste; also any vegetables, such as carrots, turnips, potatoes, cauliflowers, marrow, &c., which may be procurable. After the duck has been feathered, singed, and cleaned, bone it carefully, so as not to break the skin; mix the soy and apple sauce, mustard-oil and olive-oil well together, and pour it into the bird. Make a good gravy of the giblets, flavouring with pepper, salt, and sweet herbs. Mince the beef, suet, and the liver of the duck very small (if you can procure an extra liver or so by all means add them), then add the grated breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, spices, chillies, and sweet herbs, and thoroughly amalgamate the whole well together. Stuff the duck with the mixture. Now melt the butter and pour it into the duck, and, having put it into a stewpan, pour the giblet gravy over it, and let the whole simmer as gently as possible till tender. When ready, glaze it with ordinary glaze if to be eaten cold, if hot do not; but, in either case, serve surrounded by the vegetables plainly boiled, and accompanied with some hot pickles. Oriental epicures generally accompany dam-pukhts with a very nice kind of bread, called dal-puri. Dal-puris are also often served with curries—especially dry curries—pilavs, and very frequently alone.
Dhall Curry.—(a) Take ½ lb. mussoor or moong dhall; clean pick, wash and roast it; mix with it 1 large tablespoonful onions, minced fine, 1 saltspoonful ground chillies, same of turmeric and ground ginger, a clove of garlic minced fine, 1 teaspoonful salt; slice 2 onions lengthways, warm a stewpan, throw in 2 oz. butter, fry the sliced onions crisp, and remove; meanwhile cover the dhall and other ingredients with about 2 in. water above the whole, let it boil smartly until the dhall is dissolved: do not stir it while boiling, but let it cake; rub the mixture through a sieve, pour the dhall into the melted butter in which the onions were fried, stir until well mixed, cover the stewpan close, and simmer for about 20 minutes; serve very hot, with onions floating on the top of the mixture. Dhall may be made from peas, Egyptian lentils, gram, or haricot beans but the moong and mussoor dhall are the best.
(b) Slice and fry 4 onions in 2 oz. butter. When brown take them out; put into the butter the same ingredients as in (a), fry until of a golden colour, then add ½ lb. dhall, which fry until well done, then just cover the dhall with water, let it boil slowly for about 20 minutes, or until dissolved: serve with the fried onions.
(c) Prepare the dhall as in (b), work it up into a paste, then have ready some pie crust; roll it very thin, cut out about size of a saucer, place some of the dhall on each piece, turn the paste over, pinch the edges, throw into boiling butter or lard, and fry of a nice gold colour. In India rice boiled as for curry is eaten with dhall.
Fish Moolay.—Fillet a sole, or cut a grey mullet, mackerel, or haddock into nice pieces; rub with a little curry powder and salt; fry of a light brown in butter. Grate a coconut, pour over it a teacupful of boiling water, mash it well with a spoon, then strain. Cut an onion into slices, fry it in the butter the fish was fried, with a clove of garlic and 2 chillies (green are best); add the coconut water; when boiling put in the fish, a little vinegar, salt, and pepper; stew until the sauce thickens; serve very hot.
Hullvah (Indian Toffee).—Take equal weights of flour, butter, Sultanas, almonds, and sugar; melt the butter, stir in gradually the flour, let it fry until of a light brown, then add by degrees the Sultanas, then the almonds, which must be blanched and sliced; add the sugar, which should first be made into a thick syrup; keep stirring until sufficiently cooked, pour into buttered moulds or shapes.
Jal-frizi.—It is always made of meat—veal, beef, mutton, or pork—which has been previously cooked. An underdone joint comes in very handy for the purpose. Take 1 lb. any cold meat available, 6 onions 1 in. in diameter, 2 oz. butter, salt and chopped green chillies to taste. Remove all bones and gristle from the meat before weighing; cut it up as for hash. Slice the onions fine; mix the meat, onions, chillies, and salt well together. Put the butter into the frypan, and, when it boils, add the rest of the ingredients, and fry the whole constantly stirring until the onions are tender, when serve piping hot.
Kedgeree.—(a) Take 1 breakfastcupful rice, boiled and strained, 4 eggs boiled hard, haddock or any other white fish; mince them all together with a knife; put a piece of fresh butter in a stewpan, make the whole very hot, and season with salt and cayenne to taste. (b) Steep ½ pint split peas or Indian dhall in water, add ½ lb. picked and washed rice, with a little ginger, mace, and salt; boil till the peas and rice are swollen and tender, then stir the whole till the water has evaporated; have ready some hard-boiled eggs cut in halves, and an onion or two sliced and fried to garnish with. To be well dressed neither the peas nor rice should be clammy. (c) 1½ teacupful of rice, 12 cloves, 6 cardamoms, 2 teaspoonfuls coriander seeds; let them boil ¼ hour, then add ½ teacupful dhall, let it boil 5 minutes, drain it quite dry. Then put it back quickly into the saucepan, with a small piece of butter and a little salt; let it stand on the hob for 20 minutes; garnish with hard-boiled eggs and fried onions.
Khabobs.—Khabobs, which form another very favourite Indian dish, are composed of fish, flesh, or fowl, with vegetables and spices. They are either cut into slices or else pounded and formed into balls, and then strung on wooden skewers and roasted or fried. They can be served dry or with gravy. As a rule fresh meat is used, but cold chicken, with a little bacon or ham to give it a flavour, and cold roast beef can be cooked in this way. Example: