Night before last, I made my first attempt to produce Mughlai Murg Dum Biryani in my own little kitchen. This is a logical next step, as I am getting better and better at roasting spices and powdering them in my grinder to make curries.

I don't so much "use" recipes, in the sense of following one, as "read" recipes to get a sense of how several cooks put something together .. and then pretty much do it myself. When one seeks recipes which are as authentic as possible to consult (read, not use), one must often work with those which are written in English by people who are obviously ESL speakers.

One version of this particular recipe, which I found on-line, suggested that whole cumin seeds be reserved. Part way through the recipe, the following instruction appears: "Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan till hot and splutter the cumin seeds."

Splutter?

splutter - spit up in an explosive manner

don't want to think about it...

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. When one seeks recipes which are as authentic as possible to consult (read, not use), one must often work with those which are written in English by people who are obviously ESL speakers.

One version of this particular recipe, which I found on-line, suggested that whole cumin seeds be reserved. Part way through the recipe, the following instruction appears: "Heat the ghee in a heavy-bottomed pan till hot and splutter the cumin seeds."

Splutter?

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While I'm sure you're right about the ESOL nature of some of the recipe writers you've come across, I must respectfully suggest that the above example gives no proof of such. It was very evocative and instantly understandable to me as a speaker of NZ English. Indeed, the implied suggestion that using the word tagged the writer as an ESOL speaker made me splutter. Indian English is very distinctive, but I don't see anything in the quote that even idenifies it as Indian English. Just a delightfully concise and illustrative word picture. If it says anything about the writer's English, it might perhaps be that, unlike the US, India actually is part of The Commonwealth. Khuda hafiz.

There were lots of cues in the whole recipe for Mughlai Murg Dum Biryani that it was written elsewhere in the world, closer to where this wonderful food originates.

~ The recipe consistently refers to pots as "vessels."
~ About what to do with the chicken (that's the "murg") marinating in yoghurt, it says: "Keep aside for an hour at least."
~ One direction says: "Cover and cook on a low a level for about 15 minute(s) or till the chicken is almost done."
~ The recipe refers to "cashewnuts" as a single word.
~ The recipe spells yogurt "yoghurt".

The small and subtle differences in the flavour of the language usage of those who post recipes to the web in English are almost as delicious as the dishes which one can produce from the directions.

I remember well when Miia, responding to my discovery of Parlsocker, so kindly sent me the recipe for Saint Lucy's Buns ... and I had to "translate" them from litres, grams and degrees Celsius into more familiar units of measure. Knowing my mental deficiencies, she even sent me the URL "to a quite good converter" to help with the measurements.

Thank you for your thoughts, Max. They are always as welcome as they are informative and interesting.

Allah hafiz ~

Father Steve

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~ The recipe spells yogurt "yoghurt".

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No, Father Steve, you spell yoghurt "yogurt".

Bingley

Bingley sez: you spell yoghurt "yogurt".

Exactly, sez I, and I love this language and I love this world.

I think what Bing was implying, Father Steve, is that although your son may be a big and rich boy, it's still not the rest of the army that's out of step! ;)

fwiw, none of the usage you drew attention to would have caught my eye as unusual in the least.

Dear Mav ~

Yes, I took Bingley's point precisely as you suggest he intended it.

And I hope that your eye condition gets better soon.

Father Steve

> eye condition

lol! Thanks for your kind solicitation (or should I say judgement?)

Youse guys are a hoot!

BTW padre, I also cook the way you describe - reading multiple recipies, judging the best of each, and then divining my own.

I would love to read your final recipe for the chicken/curry dish.

> final recipe

sounds like there ain't none such thing...

me, I'm still working on pasta...

Roger, pasta is so easy!!

I am married to an Italian goddess, and we do our own pasta.

Let me help - pasta is heaven.

Rm

heh. Lau, I'm kidding, just a bit. I'm recently separated from my wife, and I have had to learn how to cook. spaghetti is one of the boys(three of them, ages 14, and nearly 11 yo twins) and my favorite meals. they're getting good at the garlic bread, and I can whip up the pasta without even reading the package! woohoo! (sorry to say the sauce comes from a jar...)

Rog, sauce should NEVER come from a jar - I (my better half actually) can tell you how to make better sauce than anything commercially available from a jar from several jars (available in the US - don't know about others...).

Of course, the best method by far is from scratch - but many of us don't have the time. When my love does this - time stands still!

Good pasta is a religious experience, made better by making your own pasta, and the best of sauces.

Don't scrimp, food is too important!

Rm

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Good pasta is a religious experience, made better by making your own pasta, and the best of sauces.

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Zitto! You are making me yearn for home-cooked capelletti and mascarpone, and I can't stand it.

Rainmaker is going to fit in really well on this board. We foodies are always in need of another ally.

Rather than post a recipe to the entire board (which makes some of the vulgarvores on this board grumpy), I will send Rainmaker something passing for a recipe by PM. You get PM's, right?

Chef Padre

Of course Father Judge! I can't wait to read what moore you have done to crown this dish!
(awkwardness due to wierd desire to play on both first and last name...)

> what moore you have done to crown this dish

Rainmaker's truly a man for all seasonings.