Mowgli Street Food – Cookbook Review
| 21st March 2018
The face of Indian cuisine and dining across the UK is undergoing a real shift thanks to a select number of individuals like Nisha Katona, favouring traditional flavours and dishes eaten in homes and restaurants across India or in this case the meals shared in the Katona household in Lancashire. Many of you will already know the Mowgli name from their stylish restaurant at the Corn Exchange, but now, founder and creator Nisha is opening up the Mowgli kitchen to everyone in her latest book Mowgli Street Food.
I want to start off by saying that never have I worked my way through a cookbook so effortlessly and successfully creating every dish I attempted, there wasn’t a single wobble, iffy looking plate of food or bemused look that you might often find on my face when I’m trying new recipes, this book was a joy. Kicking things off with Street Chat, and no this isn’t ‘things you heard on the street’ it’s the popular bites that are eaten daily across the towns and cities in India and are noted as the driving force behind the creation of the Mowgli brand. This opening chapter is packed with traditional Indian fare; bhel puri, onion bhajis but equally so many are uniquely Mowgli recipes, the treacle tamarind fries and the chip butty are great examples of Nisha’s own tastes bringing a new twist. The masala omelette wrap is a must try, so simple and quick to whip up, but eaten at breakfast, lunch or dinner you’ll ask yourself why you’ve never eaten eggs like this before, delicious!
Mowgli Street Food: Stories and recipes from the Mowgli Street Food restaurants, by Nisha Katona. © Nourish Books, 2018. Commissioned photography © Yuki Sugiura
Moving on to the Street Meats, this chapter has everything from some childhood favourite’s in Maa’s lamb chops to the impressive angry roast chicken, which aside from looking incredible is yet another little nod to both the UK and the East, with the classic Indian spices applied to our favourite Sunday tradition. Admittedly I glossed over this section a little as I’m not a meat eater, but found my place a few pages over in The Hindu Kitchen, pages filled with vegetarian friendly plates and inspiration. Dahls hold a very special place in my kitchen, I’m a huge fan of lentils (that makes me sound quite dull…but it’s true) and I was so pleased to see so many interesting combinations such as green lentils with rhubarb and ginger and my new favourite, black dahl. Of course you can’t beat a classic red lentil curry, with an aptly holistic title of temple dahl, this was a satisfying bowl of comfort food so easy to prepare and even easier to devour.
Mowgli Street Food: Stories and recipes from the Mowgli Street Food restaurants, by Nisha Katona. © Nourish Books, 2018. Commissioned photography © Yuki Sugiura
The House Kitchen is perhaps the most signature and personal of the recipes, offering an insight into the Katona kitchen, you won’t find any Kormas, Tikka Masalas or Bhunas here but you will be opened up to a wealth of well balanced curries passed down and perfected through the generations. The Keralan treacle salmon is a real surprise, the sweet and yet refreshing bursts of flavours are unlike any I’ve eaten in a restaurant, on the other end of the scale the house lamb curry (swap in aubergine for the veggies!) with the addition of prunes is a welcome flavour and texture I’d never have associated with Indian cooking. Make sure you don’t overlook the Carbs, Salads & Pickles section of the book, the black cardamom rice is a game changing side, the smokiness of the cardamom beautifully balances out any heat from your curry of choice. Slather the Mowgli chutney on cheesy toast for an Anglo-Indian treat, or on just about anything and for those creamier dishes that need a zesty perk you absolutely need the coriander and mint chutney, this is packed full of fragrant fresh flavours.
Mowgli Street Food: Stories and recipes from the Mowgli Street Food restaurants, by Nisha Katona. © Nourish Books, 2018. Commissioned photography © Yuki Sugiura
Ordinarily I would forego the sweet options and I tend not to be too adventurous with my drinks when I eat Indian food, I prefer a light and refreshing beer but the temptations of the final dessert and drinks chapters were particularly enticing. From my bookshelf at home you can quite clearly see I’m a cocktail fan, I love anything a bit unusual and with just a handful of ingredients, the Mowgli cocktails were right up my street. With my new found love for black cardamom, the Mowgli old-fashioned is unlike any old-fashioned you’ve ever tried, sweet, smoky and very potent. The lassis are not to be forgotten either, and don’t feel these should only be enjoyed with a meal, the classic mango is perfect on the go in the morning. The dessert pages are filled with fantastic new approaches to the classics, the Mowgli rocky road with sweet cardamom and cinnamon is such a familiar treat but with subtle and exciting new flavours, wash these down with a masala tea or chai latte, the perfect sweet hit with the rich chocolate and dried fruits. For me an affogato is always a go-to at the end of a meal, so the cardamom coffee affogato was an absolute no-brainer, if you haven’t tried cardamom coffee before then I urge you to, the merging of these flavours here with the Italian classic is what I would call simply genius.
If you buy only one cookbook this year, make it Nisha Katona’s Mowgli Street Food, trust me, from cover to cover this book is loaded with dishes you’ll want to cook and eat over and over. Nisha will be hosting a book signing at the Deansgate branch of Waterstones Friday 27 April, make sure you book your tickets here.
Mowgli Street Food will be available to buy nationwide from April 19 or you can pre-order online now.