Food

French beans in a spicy masala

At the end of the recipe you will find some interesting gyann that I have pulled out from the net which explains how french beans got their name. In any case, this vegetable when married to Indian spices brings east and west together in a perfect match. Today I have provided you with a second meat masala recipe that I used for this dish. Thanks Cora for the recipe for this meat masala. 

French beans – 400 grams
Onions – 2 large
Tomatoes – one
Curry leaves – four sprigs
Mustard seeds – ½ teaspoon
Meat Masala – one tablespoon
ginger and garlic paste – 1 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut grated – one handful
Fresh coriander – A few sprigs
Mustard oil

For the meat masala (Cora’s Recipe)- You can bottle and store

2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons fennel
3 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons kasuri methi
2 bay leaves
2 nos.  Javatri (mace)
3 star anise
5 one inch pieces cinnamon
2 tablespoons pepper corns
1 tablespoon cloves
50 grams Kashmiri chillies
50 grams  Beydgi chillies.

Roast the above separately on a hot pan beginning with the biggest ingredients. Cool and powder in a grinder. Mix in 1 tablespoon haldi powder.

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Art/ Heritage


 Although the British expelled the Carmelites in 1789, the unpredictable history of the Bombay Seminary had miles to go. In 1791 the British recalled the Carmelites and the Bombay Seminary was reopened at the Vicar’s residence at Fort. Next in 1794, the British introduced the turbulent Double Jurisdiction.

The Vicar Apostolic, Dom Pedro D’Alcantara, found himself stranded amidst stormy seas. Foreign missionary support was impossible. To meet the need of acute clerical shortage Dom Pedro was determined to establish a proper seminary to foster local vocations.

‘A seminary is needed for the formation of good priests…,I shall make every effort I can for the erection of a Seminary. At present the young candidates and aspirants to the priesthood come to the residence of the Bishop where Father Raphael Cicala teaches them the Roman Catechism, the Council of Trent, liturgy and moral theology. After lectures they return home and make no great progress in their studies or in piety, the spirit of which they generally lose at home through distractions and intercourse with lay people.” (cf. Gense, 1960)

However the make-shift Seminary at the Vicar’s residence did meet with some success. By 1825, Dom Pedro had ordained around eighteen priests. In 1819 the single minded and strong hearted Dom Pedro applied to the British for ‘leave to establish a proper Seminary.’ The grant he sought was finally approved in 1828. The Government assigned a monthly subsidy of Rs 150 to the Bombay Seminary.

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Food

This is not a gravy dish but a thick sauce in which the vegetable is cooked. While tendli is a very sturdy vegetable with its own distinct flavour it is often served diced or sliced in order for the masala to mix with the vegetable. This dish allows you to keep the tendlis whole while cooking it in a nice coconut sauce. A word of caution; the dish requires patience.

Tendli -250 grams
Meat masala – 2+1 teaspoons – for the recipe go to http://www.pottypadre.com/home-made-meat-masala/
Onions – 2 large or 200 grams
Tomatoes – 2 large or 150 grams
Curry leaves – five sprigs
Ginger and garlic paste – one teaspoon
Mustard seeds – 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut milk powder – 50 grams or the thick juice of 1/3 coconut
Mustard oil – as required
Salt – to taste

Method

Wash and clean the tendlis and then slice them in the centre on either sides. Leave a little gap on the top and the bottom of each tendli. (See the image below). Do this slowly and patiently as the tendli will split. In a teaspoon of water mix  two teaspoons of meat masala and a little salt and stuff the tendlis. Set this aside.  

In a non stick pan, heat the mustard oil and crackle the mustard. Ensure that the mustard crackles or your dish could taste bitter. Add the curry leaves and allow it to fry for a minute. Now add the two onions which you have minced and let them fry till they are brown. Add the tomatoes and rend them down for about three minutes, stirring constantly. Add the ginger and garlic paste and one teaspoon of the meat masala. Fry this for a minute and after  a while add a cup of water.

Allow this mixture to come to a boil and then cook it on simmer for three minutes. Now add the tendli and keep the gas set to simmer. Cover with a lid and leave for five minutes to cook. After five minutes mix the coconut milk powder with quarter cup of water or add thick coconut juice of 1/3 a coconut. Continue cooking for ten minutes on a slow heat. 

Your dish is best left to rest for an hour before reheating. Garnish with curry leaves.

For more food recipes go to http://www.pottypadre.com/category/food/

Fr Warner D’Souza

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Art/ Heritage

THE BOMBAY SEMINARY: AT FORT: The First Failure

 For seven years the Bombay Seminary shared its quarters with the Bishop’s House. However the Vicar, Bishop Charles, was dissatisfied with the arrangement. In 1775 he sought permission from Propaganda to build an independent Seminary. The reply dated September 28, 1776 listed the following instructions among others:

  1. Let a house be rented and Propaganda would pay the rent

  2. Antonio Pinto da Gloria (previously sent to Rome for further studies) would serve as a qualified professor

  3. If this initiative succeeded, Propaganda promised to envision a better plan to establish an independent Seminary.

Through this we can surmise that 1777 was the year when the Bombay Seminary moved out of the Bishop’s quarters and was lodged in a rented house on Meadows Street. Towards 1778 Fr Antonio returned to serve as the only full-time professional staff! His teaching stint lasted for around seven years. Fr Antonio was then appointed Parish Priest of Salvation Church, Dadar.

The Seminary, a day school, failed to flourish. It lacked good staff and students. The Vicar Apostolic was aware that the ordained were a ‘miserable lot’. This did not skip the eye of the Padroado camp as well. Goa felt the Vicar Apostolic of Bombay was shamefully lowering the dignity of priesthood.

‘An example…may be seen from the following. Since those were the days when Latin was regarded essential to the priesthood, the fact that the newly-ordained…struggled through the reading of their Latin Breviary was a scandal. In discouragement, Bishop Charles appealed to Rome that they be dispensed from reciting the Divine Office and allowed to say the fifteen decades of the Rosary instead! Rome promptly disallowed the petition; instead, the Vicar Apostolic was counselled: “As regards the ignorant priests who want to drop the Office for lack of education and ignorance of Latin, instruct them with patience; and in future, be careful to ordain only those who have knowledge as well as piety.”’ Ratus, Leslie, ‘Miles to go…promises to keep’, 1986, Examiner Press, Bombay

In 1789, the Bombay Church was reversed to the jurisdiction of Goa and the Carmelites were expelled by the British. Thus ended the first experiment of the Bombay Seminary.

Please feel free to share this story with others and your story of the Seminary with us! You will get regular updates at this blog site on this exhibition.

© – Archdiocesan Heritage Museum

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading
Food

Brinjals (Aubergines) cooked with dried prawns 

“To everything there is a season” – Ecclesiastes 3:1

The monsoons is that season for a whole host of lovely local produce. From white onions and garlic  braided and left hanging from the rafters to the dried fish that did its time on hot summer shores. Somehow there is magic when dried prawns are cooked on a rainy day. Yet, like caviar, this is an acquired taste.  

Jeera – 1 teaspoon
Onions – 2 large or 200 grams 
Curry leaves – three sprigs
Tomatoes – 2 
Ginger garlic paste – 11/2
Byadgi chillies – 5 
Groundnuts – 15
Turmeric – 1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Dry prawns – 50 grams
Moong dal – 50 grams
Potatoes – two
Binjals 400 grams 

Oil as required, salt to taste

Mise en place (Preparation) 

Wash and soak the dal and set aside for twenty minutes. Soak the dry prawns in water and wash it about three times. Squeeze out extra water and let it sit.Now cut the onions and tomatoes very finely but dice the brinjals and the potatoes. On a hot pan with no oil, roast the chillies and the ground nuts and let it cool.With a little water, grind the chillies, groundnuts, turmeric and corinder powder and set aside. NOTE: Byadgi chillies give your dish both heat and great colour which a kashmiri chilly may not. 

In a pot heat oil, add the jeera and let it lightly brown. Now add the curry leaves; carefully as they always splutter. Add the onions and cook till translucent. Add the tomatoes and allow them to be rendered down. Now add the ground masala paste  and fry for two minutes on low heat. Add two cups of water and the potatoes with the dal and let it cook till the potatoes are well done. Ground nuts add as a thickening agent to food besides giving the dish a distinct taste. Too much of it and your dish ends up bitter

Now add the brinjals and dried prawns and cook for another ten minutes. You garnish with fresh coriander or curry leaves. I added three more green chillies when the dish was done. Fresh green chillies added at the end of the dish release their oils while contributing mildly to the heat of the dish. you can take the chillies out before reheating. I like to allow my dishes to rest for a while before I reheat and serve. 

For more food recipes go to http://www.pottypadre.com/category/food/

Spread the love ♥
       
Continue Reading