Mustard (Condiment)

Mustard (Condiment) 

Making your own mustard is one of the easiest things you can do in the kitchen. I personally come from a place famed for its fish in mustard sauce gravy. In the eastern state of the erstwhile undivided Bengal , currently West Bengal and Bangladesh fish in mustard paste has been a favourite with both the areas of undivided Bengal. I anyway originally belong from the Western side of Bengal hence the partition of India which led to Bengal's heart being torn into two pieces had little effect on my family but perhaps that topic is quite a sad one and so moving on to happier things the moment I had discovered what mustard as a condiment was all about I could not help but laugh. After all we use mustard quite extensively in our cuisine and once I chanced upon the recipe by The Guardian and David Levobitz I have since made my own version and I adore it.

It has that beautiful strong aroma and flavour and is delightful as a dressing for salads or to be mixed with butter for sandwiches. Sometimes I thin it down and spread it directly on my sandwich with some ham and boy does it make me happy.

Once you soak the mustard and grind it the taste would be a bit bitter. I have seen my grandmother and aunts strain the mustard carefully after grinding it to ensure that no bitterness is left behind but for this condiment you cannot strain it but don't worry once you grind it leave it for 5 days to 7 days and the flavour intensifies while the bitterness goes away.

Recipe Source

A combination of The Guardian's recipe along with David Lebovitz's

Makes 300ml to 350ml mustard condiment

100gm yellow mustard seeds
150ml white wine vinegar or a vinegar of your choice
100ml white wine
Salt as per taste
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (Optional)
Herbs of your choice (optional) I usually do not add herbs
4 tbsp cold water . You might require extra water to thin down the mustard
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Soak the mustard seeds in the vinegar and wine for 48 hours and then grind it with the other ingredients and let it sit tight for 5 days to 7 days and voila your jar of flavour is ready.

The thickness of the condiment should absolutely depend on your liking. So add the water 1 tbsp at a time to get the consistency of your choice. I like to keep mine a bit thick and when I want to I thin it down with a bit of water.

I would not suggest leaving out the turmeric because it imparts that beautiful colour.

Bacon wrapped chicken in burnt mango mustard sauce

Bacon wrapped chicken in burnt mango mustard sauce 

To be fair the reason why I am able to at all post this recipe includes a lot of people. Sometimes all you need is a bit of contribution even indirectly to make a difference. Let me confess that I have or rather had never been a fan of fusion cooking and so when I had read about some new restaurant called 'Bohemian' which amalgamates continental and Bengali flavours I was hardly interested and then my dear uncle introduced me to their dishes on a sunny winter day. This was way back in 2009 when I was still a college lass. Ah the first taste of his dishes and I was bowled over. It was unique and delicious.

I have ordered a good number of times from this delightful place and then cut to 2014 there was some discussion about bacon and using it in Indian cuisine at the forum Ranna-Bati and I had mentioned about Chef Joy's bacon wrapped chicken in aam kasundi reduction. For a week I had what is called Bacon wrapped chicken cravings and I was about to order the dish when I was intrigued with the idea of tryign my hands on the dish. I mean sure there was no recipe to be followed but then again the dish has all the information required in the name itself. Ah so at first I was scared because I was afraid it wouldn't be exactly like Chef Joy's and then I thought ah well it will be my very own recipe. Since I seldom create recipes of my own except the marination for grilled chicken or salads  this one is special indeed and I must sound like a pompous ass and declare that it tasted wonderful. Tangy sweet fiery it was a dream dish on a hot summer's day.

So this is what you need for 2 people :-

2 breasts of chicken
4 bacon rashers with full fat

For the marination of the chicken

2 tsp ginger  fennel paste ( I used about an inch of ginger and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds which were dry roasted and ground and 1 green chili  )
1 tsp chili powder (the hotter the better)
Salt as per taste
1/4th tsp turmeric powder
1/4th tsp clarified butter 'ghee'

For the mango mustard sauce

1 large raw green mango
1/2 tsp whole peppercorn
Rock salt as per taste
Sugar as per taste
3 tbsp yellow mustard
2 tsp mustard oil
2 green chili
A fat pinch of Panch phoron (Bengali five spice made with Cumin, fennel, Nigella seeds, Whole fenugreek seeds and either black mustard seeds or radhuni)
1.5 cups water

Start by making cubes of the breast (they need not have perfect shapes) and then marinate with the ginger fennel paste , salt, chili powder , turmeric and the clarified butter and let it marinate for 2 hours.

The bacon wrapped chicken post being baked

Now carefully spread out the bacon and wrap a bit of chicken in the four bacon rashers and then preheat oven to 200C and bake for 20 minutes to 30 minutes turning them mid-way on a tray . Now start with the mango by roasting it on the gas stove till the skin gets completelt charred and then wait till its cool enough to handle, peel of skin and get the soft flesh and make a paste with sugar, rock salt and whole peppercorn. Make mustard paste with the green chili  and strain (this straining helps ensure that there is no bitter taste from the mustard). Once the bacon wrapped chicken is baked take it out. There will be a lot of fat ,we shall use this indeed.

So heat 2 tsp mustard oil  and add the Five spice and when they splutter add the mustard paste and then add 1 tbsp raw mango paste which you have earlier made and add the water and bring to a boil and add the bacon fat and the bacon wrapped chicken and once it comes to a boil simmer and after 5 minutes take out the bacon wrapped chicken and reduce it to a thick stage.

I took about 13 minutes. Do this reduction on low heat and then add the bacon wrapped chicken and bring to boil and simmer for another 2 minutes and serve with hot steaming basmati rice , some fried dried lentil cones known as bodi if you ahve some and a leafy green vegetable.