|
"Fair
fa' your honest, sonsie face, Great chieftain o' the puddin-race!",
starts the address to the haggis each year when celebrating the
birth of Scottish bard Robert Burns and rosy-cheeked well-wishers sip
copious amount of malt whisky and pronounce, in ringing tones ranging
from the sincere to the slurred, the often bawdy verses from the
saucy poet.
The date - 25 January 2009. The
occasion - the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. The
event - The Burns Night Himalayan Fling?
As strange as this seemed when
Babur Brasserie owner Emdad Rahman first invited us, it proved to be
the most enjoyable Burns celebration we have ever attended (and there
have been a few). It seems that when one of the restaurant's Nepalese
waiters came back from a visit home, he brought back a favourite
family recipe which was instantly recognised as very similar to the
Scottish national dish of haggis. This dish has apparently been made
in Nepal for a very, very long time and is the favoured way of using
up the offal when a sheep was slaughtered.
|
 |
Ask a Scot and he will tell you
vehemently that the haggis beastie is Scottish in origin, though
there is little evidence for this. We can confirm that haggis is not
a small Scottish animal with one set of legs longer than the other so
that it can stand on the steep Scottish Highlands without falling
over, despite this being the belief of 33% of American visitors to
Scotland. The dish itself dates back to Greek and Roman times and is
even mentioned in Homer's Odyssey The name probably has Scandinavian
origins - the hag- part of the word derived from the Old Norse hoggva
or the Icelandic haggw, meaning 'to hew' or strike with a sharp
weapon, relating to the chopped-up contents of the dish although the
French also claim parentage (with no obvious justification) from the
verb hacher - to chop up or mangle.
|
And so to the evening. After a
welcoming dram of whisky from Indian single malt whisky producers,
Amrut, enthralled diners to Babur Brasserie in London SE23, watched
the haggis being piped in by a piper in full Gurkha regimental
uniform. With Iain Robertson held up in traffic, the address to the
haggis had to be made by another Scottish guest with due drama and a
traditional 'stabbing' of the beastie to release the wonderful aromas
of the dish.
|
The bhuton was then served
accompanied by a measure of Talisker and we had our first taste of
Nepalese haggis. From all around us we could hear murmurs of
appreciation and surprised delight. The texture was excellent, the
spicing strong but subtle and the marinated, sliced and grilled
pumkin the perfect foil to provide texture contrast.
As if this was not enough, we
were then served with a wonderful raan which had been marinated in
whisky for 6 days and then presented 'Burns like' on a shaped piece
of naan as the trencher, with a homestyle okra and potato mix and dal
makhni, accompanied by an unusual Clos des Clapisses Carignan red
wine selected by wine expert Peter McCombie MW. Peter then went on to
give guests a brief overview of the variety and quality of Scottish
Malt Whisky with tastings of Amrut, Dalwhinnie, Singleton and Talisker.
By way of some irreverent Burns
entertainment we were then treated to the well-known Scottish actor
John Murtagh (Braveheart) who adapted Burns verses for some of the
ladies and performed Burns' Holy Willie's Prayer to round off a
wonderful evening. Guests happily dipped into their pockets for a
raffle, the proceeds of which went to the Gurkha Welfare Trust and
gave a well deserved round of applause to Head Chef Lal and his team
for a memorable food experience. |
|
Well done Babur Brasserie. It
certainly deserves an award for innovation and if we had taken our
doggy bag with us, the haggis from Nepal would have been gratefully
tasted again chez nous in Kingston. What's more, that lover of life,
women and whisky, Rabbie Burns, would, no doubt, have loved the spicy beastie.
Recipe
for the Babur Brasserie Nepalese haggis
1 sheep's pluck (heart, liver,
kidneys, lungs, stomach, windpipe)
2 onions, peeled and chopped fine
2 cups pearl barley, pan-toasted
and ground in a mortar and pestle or food processor
1 2/3 cups suet
salt & black pepper
2" piece of ginger, minced
to a paste
2 tablespoons finely minced garlic
2-3 fresh green chillies
1 tablespoon garam masala -
cassia, large black cardamom, star anise
50g butter or butter ghee
Chopped fresh coriander
trussing needle and fine string
Thoroughly wash the stomach bag
in cold water. Turn it inside out and scald it, then scrape the
surface with a knife. Soak it in cold salted water overnight. Next
day remove the bag from the water and leave it on one side while
preparing the filling.
Wash the pluck. Put it into a
pan, with the windpipe hanging over the side into a bowl, to let out
any impurities. Cover the pluck with cold water, add 1 teaspoon of
salt and bring the water to a boil. Skim the surface, then simmer for
1 1/2 to 2 hours. Hold aside 1-2 cups of this cooking water.
Drain the pluck when ready and
cut away the windpipe and any excess gristle. Mince the liver with
the heart, lungs and kidneys, season with salt and pepper, then stir
in the shredded suet and the toasted ground barley.
Melt the butter in a large pan,
add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the ginger and
garlic pastes and stir for a minute or so. Now add the garam masala,
stir to mix and add the pluck mixture, stirring to mix thoroughly.
Moisten with as much of the pluck water as necessary to make the
mixture soft.
With the rough surface of the bag
outside fill it just over half full - the barley will swell during
cooking - and sew the ends together with the trussing needle and fine
string. Prick the bag in places with the needle. Place the haggis on
a plate and put it into a pan of boiling water. Cover the pan and
cook for about 3 hours, adding more boiling water when necessary to
keep the haggis covered.
Raw
tomato chutney
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ginger/garlic paste
1 small green chilli, finely chopped
Combine all ingredients together
at least two hours before serving to allow the flavours to blend.
Sautéed
pumpkin
½ small pumpkin (or
substitute 1 large butternut squash)
Butter for sautéing
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
Salt to taste
Peel the pumpkin or squash. Make
the thinnest possible slices you can - between ¼ and 1/8 inch
thick, salt the slices and let them stand a few minutes. Heat the
pan, add the butter, sprinkle in the fennel seeds and brown the
slices on both sides.
top |
