How to use this ebook
Select one of the chapters from the and you will be taken to a list of all the recipes covered in that chapter.
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Introduction
The Cardamom Trail is about my culinary journey so far. It brings together all my food memories in the shape of lovely bakes and new taste sensations. Within this cookbook youll find traditional bakes inspired by Indian food as well as some modern spice-inspired recipes. Brits are well known for their love of Indian food and, in my experience, theyre already familiar with a. My pies, for instance, are filled with time-honoured recipes I have known since childhood you just wouldnt normally find them in a hot water crust!
Ive eaten good home-cooked food for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Jabalpur, an ancient city in the state of Madhya Pradesh in Central India, there was almost no processed food, nor did we eat out often. My mother cooked all our meals from scratch everything from simple suppers to elaborate festive feasts always using fresh, raw ingredients. Often she would make up the dish as she cooked it. She didnt follow recipes, although she was and remains a keen learner I still see her scribbling new ideas in her diary. Watching Mum work her magic in the kitchen inspired my love of cooking. Im a keen learner, too. Observing her skilled use of spices and other ingredients gave me the confidence to mix flavours and try new ideas.
Home baking is not very popular in India and, as with most Indian kitchens, ours did not have a built-in oven. Most home cooking is done on the hob, and in restaurants the oven of choice is the tandoor. My first memories of baking are of Mum using our very basic tabletop oven (which she still uses) to make birthday cakes for my two sisters and me. As I grew older, I would bake cakes myself for friends and my many cousins we had a large extended family and there was always plenty of great food at family gatherings, celebrations and festivals. We regularly visited local bakeries for treats such as cream rolls, pineapple cake, rum balls, doughnuts and pattice (savoury puff pastry snacks) just thinking of these transports me home. Whenever I return to India, I make a point of visiting the old bakeries to relive those wonderful moments from my childhood. The shops still make the same bakes, even after all these years, and I have recreated some of them for this book.
I always wanted to pursue arts and a creative profession, so I left home at 17 to study at Mumbais National Institute of Fashion Technology, NIFT. Mumbai is a sprawling, multicultural city with all manner of food influences. Living there exposed me to a completely different kind of Indian cuisine than the one I was used to at home in Jabalpur, 700 miles away. The spices and their uses were distinct, and the street food was amazing. I cooked my way through my student life, even though the kitchen facilities were basic at best. I also spent a lot of time with the lovely Pereira family who, being Goan Catholics, had their own special ways of cooking. Patricia, the lady of the house, made the best biryani, fish curries and sugar-crusted doughnuts. Looking back, I can see that although my baking came to a complete halt during this time, my understanding of flavours grew tremendously and influenced the way I cook and bake today.
After graduation, I worked as a fashion designer for five years in Mumbai. My work involved international travel to countries like France, Italy, America and the UK. Even though my stay in these places was usually very short, my love of good food ensured that I tried different cuisines as much as I could.
In 2004, I moved with my husband to the small seaside town of Broadstairs in Kent. It was quite a shock after cosmopolitan Mumbai. I missed the excitement and buzz of a big city, but soon fell in love with the natural beauty and relaxed pace of life. That was when I discovered Victoria sponge! Id never before seen or tasted this humble yet undoubtedly wonderful concoction of cake, strawberry jam and fresh cream. It remains my favourite.
I tentatively returned to baking when I had children once again, it was birthday cakes that got me going. I began looking for new recipes. Although I loved traditional bakes, I wanted to add my own flavours and creativity I was missing my work as a designer and baking was the perfect creative outlet. Around that time a new television show, The Great British Bake Off, caught my attention and introduced me to many amazing bakes. Soon I was making cakes for friends and coffee mornings, and, one day, at my friends insistence, I applied to go on the programme. Of course, I never expected anything to result from my application, but a few months later I found myself in a big white tent amid people who had been baking for years.
When I started practising to take part in Bake Off, I discovered that many classic European bakes taste a bit similar, at least to my palate. This led me to think of infusing my recipes with Indian flavours to set them apart. Throughout the competition I threw in a spice here or a herb there to give my recipes an unusual twist. This seemed to be appreciated by the judges and my fellow bakers, and helped me reach the semi-final. My whole Bake Off experience was amazing; I learned so much about baking and made some wonderful friends. It gave me the confidence to go further and to commit to building a career in food, pairing my knowledge of spices and flavours with traditional bakes to create extraordinary dishes and treats. And in this book I have gathered the best of my recipes to date.
To make the most of this book, explore the side dishes and accompaniments, for I believe they will make your meals truly memorable. I like to eat savoury bakes with something on the side, such as a tart with a salad. Chutneys make finger food more special, and raita goes perfectly with stuffed naan. Dont be afraid to mix and match the recipes here .
Take the same approach with the cakes and pastries: pair the icings that catch your attention with different cakes to those in the recipes according to your own tastes, and add your favourite fruits to the fillings. The .
All the recipes within this baking book have been part of my life at one time or another and I hope that, being grounded in the different cuisines of India and Europe, they epitomize the best of both worlds. Please enjoy this book and use it as a springboard for your own creativity.
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