Food Photography

I'm not one of those people who is averse to what is generally known as 'fusion' cooking. In fact, if one thinks about the history of food then really everything is fusion cooking in one way or the other.

However, rarely do I attempt to combine things from two different food cultures -- I'm still learning, but once in a while a bit of experimenting is good. So today's dish combines two of my favourite dishes: Thai Green Curry and Italian Risotto. I'm certainly not the first person to make this dish -- there are dozens of recipes online for the same -- but I did go into it with a bit of trepidation. The results turned out pretty damn delicious, so here's my recipe.

Lunch today was some Pad Kapraw Thai Rice Noodles. The noodles came with a flavour packet which I used. Pad Kapraw is apparently a basil-flavoured sauce, but the overriding flavour when the powder hit the pan was of liquorice. Luckily the finished dish had a very mild flavour, sweet and hot; not having had much Thai food I'm not sure how sweet Thai basil really is, so I'm assuming the liquorice-like flavour is a bit like it.

The rest of the dish contains a stir-fry of vegetables: bean sprouts, mushrooms, several coloured peppers and carrot, all sliced thin so they'd cook quickly. The rice noodles have to be handled carefully, cooked al dente (about 4 minutes) and rinsed thoroughly in cold water. They seem insubstantial compared to wheat noodles, but don't be fooled: as time goes by they soak up water and become plumper. Like rice itself, a little goes a long way.

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More home-made sandwiches for lunch! I left them open for the sake of the photograph.

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(Since a couple of people asked for the recipe of this after I tweeted it yesterday, and I got tired of repeating the same in chat windows and comment boxes, and figured I might as well post it here.)

Burji is an Indian Railway Station institution. Throughout the country, stands with sizzling cast iron griddles serve up plate after plate of this stuff with soft, butter-seared pillows of pav bread late into the night. You shovel it off steel plates, sopping up every last bit with the spongy bread, and perhaps contemplating another serving (or even eyeing the tray of sheep's brains which the stall also prepares in a similar way.).

It's hard to say which came first; the silky, creamy Continental version of scrambled eggs, or this spicy Indian one (anda bhurji). It's fair to say that both could have cropped up independently, and I'm certain that scrambled eggs were invented before the omelet (everyone tries to pass off a failed omelet as scrambled eggs when they're learning).

I like both versions; they each have their purpose. The Indian, for instance, wouldn't be the best match with buttered white toast and ketchup, and the Continental would not take to chapattis very well. They're both easy and quick to make (though this one requires a few more ingredients), and are equally scrumptious.