the pepper cook

Instructions:

1.  Wash figs and slice into quarters.
2.  Boil figs in 1 cup water with a pinch of asafoetida. (If figs are overripe you can skip this step, and add asafoetida directly to figs cooking in ghee.) Drain and set aside.
3.  Heat ghee in a 9-inch frying pan on medium heat. Add onions and nigella. Stir for 1 minute, or until onions start browning.
4.  Add figs, cumin, coriander, rock salt, ground kashmiri chili, ground dried mango, and sugar into pan. Stir for a minute until flavours blend.
5.  Slightly beat yogurt until smooth. Add yogurt and ½ cup water to pan. Bring to a slow boil, cover, and cook for 5-6 minutes until yoghurt is absorbed and thick curry remains.
6.  Transfer to a serving dish – if using, sprinkle with garam masala, garnish with coriander- and serve hot with rice or chapattis.

Credits: This recipe is adapted from a recipe for Wild Figs in “Cooking Delights of the Maharajas” by Digvijay Singh (Vakils, Feffer and Simons Limited, 1982). The original recipe is for raw, wild figs, which turn out more like a vegetable like tinda (apple gourd.) This is a fruitier, sweeter dish, which makes a nice complimentary side to poultry, or is fun eaten as is. Primarily because I’m a city girl, and unlike the Maharajas who hunted in the jungles, the wildest figs I’m going to find will be plastic-wrapped in the fruit section of a supermarket aisle!