The New Year has brought with it a new vista for me. Mounds of oranges on my daily drive to work. With their pleasant orange colour and their warm demeanour oranges make me feel all comforted just by their sight and I am reminded of my lovely childhood in Jaipur.
Life in Jaipur was fascinating, and largely due to a polo-playing neighbour. As a little boy I was completely taken by the lifestyle of polo players, and doubly mesmerised by their turnout. Tan leather boots with stirrups and kneepads, majestic jodhpurs, a helmet and whip took dapper to another level. On the few occassions that I managed to watch a polo match, the complete picture with dressed horses, an air of social camaraderie, cocktails and people dressed for the occasion made the afternoons classy and regal.
The chukkers, the heavily panting horses with sweat glistening on their sinewy bodies and that unmistakable smell of leather, horse, hay and the field made for an indelible memory. And meeting H.H. The Rajmata of Jaipur and other dignitaries made it even more special. Jaipur was truly the cradle of Indian polo.
So when the director of Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki, Raj Khosla, decided to make a movie with polo as an intrinsic part of the weave, it was but evident that the shoot would be in Jaipur. My uncle next door was the expert consultant.
And that led to a lot of our afternoons on the field watching the shooting of the movie. Vinod Khanna played the handsome lead of Ajay Chouhan, the illegitimate son of Thakur Rajnath Chouhan played by Vijay Anand. Neeta Mehta played his love interest. And the extremely talented Nutan played the lead anchor role of his mother. Other crew members included Asha Parekh as Tulsi and Deb Mukherjee as Pratap Chouhan, his step-brother.
The shoots would start in the morning and end in the late afternoon as the winter evening would set in early. On most days the crew would pack up and wind down for the day a bit late but this one day they decided to call it a wrap ahead of time. Those days not all houses had a phone and very often we received calls for the neighbours as well. And that day they called to tell aunty that they would be coming home for a high tea! Not a situation that many were prepared to handle. Aunty looked at my mom, who stepped in to help.
And the recipe that follows saved the day that winter afternoon. A wonderful luscious orange cake. The oranges this season have been great and the markets are flooded with this wonderful fruit. To me what makes oranges unique is their dual taste profile. From a sourness that can make you wink to a sweetness that fills your cheeks to sometimes a perfect tango of sweet and sour, oranges make this season glorious.
Broadly there are two types, the ones with the loose skins and the ones whose peel is a snug fit. You can’t judge an orange by the snugness of its peel. Some loose skinned ones can be way sweeter that the snug ones. A glossy sheen is an indicator of a good fruit going by the oils in its skin. On scratching an orange, a fresh zesty zingy smell tells you that you have a good one in hand.
Oranges lend themselves to many dishes and here are a couple of them.
I hope you enjoy making these and wish you all A very Zesty and Zingy New year!
The writer is the executive chef at The Park, Hyderabad
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Victoria Orange Cake
Ingridients (Makes 1 small cake)
- Butter: 125 gm
- Castor sugar: 125 gm
- Eggs: 2 Nos
- Refined flour: 125 gm
- Baking powder: 1 tsp
- Warm orange juice: 1tsp
- Grated rind of orange: 1 No
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C. Cream the butter and sugar untill light and fluffy. Add the orange rind and continue mixing. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with the second egg. After it’s mixed, pour in the remaining flour and mix in the orange juice. Bake in a moderate oven at 180 C. The cake will spring back when lightly pressed when done. Remove and allow to cool. Spead butter icing on the cooled cake. Decorate with peeled and seeded orange segments.
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Simple Homemade Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
- Oranges: Firm skinned 12 Nos
- Granulated sugar: 450 gm Water: 1 pint
Scrub well and cut into quarters, remove seeds from two large valencia oranges and three small lemons. Soak the fruit for 24 hours in 11 cups water.
Remove the fruit and cut into very small thin shreds. Return to the same water and boil for an hour. Add eight cups of sugar and boil till the juice forms a jelly when tested.
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Caramel Oranges
Ingredients
- Oranges: Firm skinned 12 Nos
- Granulated sugar: 450 gm
- Water: 1 pint
Peel the rind thinly of one orange with a potato peeler. Shred into very fine strips and keep to decorate. Peel the other oranges along with the pith. Then peel the orange segments and arrange them in a pretty serving dish. Leave in a cool place. Place sugar and water in a pan over gentle heat. Dissolve the sugar and bring the syrup to a boil till it begins to turn a light gold. Remove from heat. Add another half a pint of water and return to low heat to dissolve the caramel. When a little cool, pour over the oranges and leave for at least 3 hours to allow the caramel to penetrate. Sprinkle shredded orange rind over it just before serving.
