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Mrs Bailey’s Cabbage Chorchori
Her favourite companion to curries, and one of mine also
Among the odder but more harmless habits of the British in India was the tendency to eat Indian food, but in an English conformation: one main dish, usually with meat in it; one carb, usually rice; and one vegetable side-dish. In other words, the classic meat-and-two-veg of the Home Counties, eaten with no real regard to the very different natures of the food, the climate and the country.
And as in India, so on Mars, to a great extent. A high proportion of the settlers in the Red Raj came there from India, and brought their customs — and their spices — with them. Mrs Bailey learned from them — and from their daughters, naturally — as she learns from everyone who passes anywhere near her kitchens.
Her curry nights may be a little more various than meat-and-two-veg, but that is perhaps still her default; and whether she’s serving an intimate meal for two, just herself and her own special friend, or feeding two hundred ravenous girls and the staff besides, cabbage chorchori is one of her regular fallbacks.
There are as many recipes as there are cooks, naturally, but this one’s hers.
mustard oil
one savoy or other green cabbage (but savoy is her favourite, and mine besides)