Mutton Curry and pepper: Unearthing the popular flavours of Anglo-Indian cuisine one dish at a time

"My neighbours in Mahim used to come to my home with the Anglo-Indian mutton curry," reveals Mumbai chef Juliano Rodrigues, who recently brought an Anglo-Indian food pop-up to the city at Out Of The Blue in Khar. This memory is also what inspired Rodrigues to put the dish on the specially curated menu celebrating the cuisine. The menu has a wide variety of dishes, some of which are innovative versions of Indian favourites like rasam, pav bhaji, fried chicken, along with a smattering of dishes from Anglo-Indian cuisine like the curry and more. Ask an Anglo, as they are more fondly called, which is the one dish that quintessentially represents the cuisine, and they say, "Anglo-Indian mutton curry" and the ingredient is definitely "pepper". Incidentally, the dish Pepper Water ranks a close second, that many others from the community, who hail from different parts of India love. Coincidentally, the curry appears on the menu owing to Rodrigues.

For Santacruz-based Marlene Netto, the Anglo-Indian mutton curry is one that brings back fond memories of eating the dish while growing up. "I also make the Anglo-Indian mutton curry now," reveals Netto, who is a proud member of the community in Mumbai. It is one of the many dishes she learned from her mother, along with other specials like meat ball curry, beef roast, shepherd's pie and more. Like Rodrigues, Netto thickens the curry with a large amount of finely cut onions. The 8-hour cooked mutton is perfectly spiced and melts in the mouth when accompanied with white rice, making it irresistible. The slightly sour taste, and just the right amount of pepper packs a punch, and is certainly a reminder of why the community not only loves their meats but also their pepper.

Interestingly, there are many different kinds of food festivals hosted in restaurants and five-star properties across Mumbai throughout the year, but it is hard to find one that puts together a menu with Anglo-Indian food. Luckily for Rodrigues, he has a personal connection with the dish. Being one who constantly experiments with flavours, the history buff, brought the menu curated and conceptualised by Chef Ashish Mishra from the Anglo-Indian Café and Bistro in Lonavala, which is also run by Le Sutra Hospitality, to the restaurant to give city dwellers a taste of the flavours.

"While the menu doesn't have typical Anglo-Indian dishes, what we have tried to do is work with the essence of how Anglo-Indian cuisine came to be." The city chef says it only means giving an Indian touch to European dishes, or an Anglo touch to Indian dishes. "The restaurant is on a stretch in Lonavala, which is known to have a significant population of the Anglo-Indian community. When diners come, they want to have European food that looks good but with local Indian flavours," he laughs. The elements can be seen in Anglo Olio Prawns, which has a delicious curry added to a classic Aglio Olio prawn without spaghetti, that stays true to the sentiment of the menu, with a dash of pepper.

The Anglo Olio Prawns, a delicious part of the pop-up menu, though traditionally Italian, stays true to the essence of the cuisine with adopting Indian flavours. Photo Courtesy: Out of the Blue

Love for pepper
While Anglo-Indian cuisine boasts of its love for meats like chicken, mutton, beef and pork, their food is incomplete without pepper. In fact, they love it so much that, Netto says, "Along with the other powdered masalas, pepper is always there in the dishes. If not a spoonful, I at least add a pinch while cooking my dishes."

It is no different for Janette Lawrence, a Vasai-based Anglo-Indian, who moved from Chennai to Mumbai, over 40 years ago. "For my family, the typical Anglo-Indian dish has always been Pepper Water. It is so popular that it is the first thing that's swiped at family gatherings or even when entertaining non-Anglo-Indian friends," she explains. It is also why Lawrence says pepper plays a very important role in her food and she uses it more than often just like Netto. However, the 62-year-old says the Railway Mutton Curry didn't make much of an appearance in their home. She speculates, "I am not familiar with it. Probably the Anglo-Indians who worked in the Railways would be familiar with this. Our family worked in the telegraph." It is a thought reinforced by Santacruz-based Netto, who says it became popular because of many Anglo Indians, who worked with the Indian Railways at that point in time. It was one of the several jobs taken up by the community, other than those at the coastal ports in India. As history has shown, surroundings have more often than not influenced the food and cuisine of many cultures.

Lawrence's most favourite memories while growing up is that of the delicious spread during family gatherings that often featured some of the Anglo-Indian favourites made by her family. "When we were younger, any festival or function always had pepper water, coconut rice, ball curry and devil chutney, also known as Hell's flame." She has continued making these dishes even after getting married and has followed all the recipes exactly like how she learned them. Being a proud Anglo-Indian, she doesn't miss the opportunity to make them when asked by non-Anglo-Indians who have never tasted dishes from the cuisine. Luckily, she hasn't had to substitute any of the ingredients because they are mostly the common spices like pepper, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and ginger, that are easily available across India.

Like Lawrence, Georgina Rebeiro is another Andheri-based Anglo-Indian, whose family hails from Chennai. The dishes that were popular in her home are quite similar to that of Lawrence with the addition of some vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. "We grew up eating baked brinjal, full dal curry, cabbage curry, vendium green curry (methi and potato), dry korma and green korma in vegetarian dishes, along with pork roast and country captain chicken." While she still makes these dishes, the 68-year-old does it without the traditionally used grinding stone in India.

In fact, it is this childhood memory that is also the reason why Rebeiro has more than one dish that Anglo-Indian food is incomplete without like yellow coconut rice, ball curry, chicken country captain, but not without the devil's chutney. However, she points out that while mutton is more commonly used now, beef was used more while she was growing up. So, no surprise when she says, Anglo-Indian mutton curry is something they weren't familiar with. However, pepper was definitely a part of the cuisine. "Anglos like spicy curries, so pepper fry makes for a light meal at night," she adds. However, some of her fondest memories do include chicken or pork vindaloo but not without the coconut rice, tomato rice or the quintessential devil's chutney, which we realise, is a close third favourite, among Anglo Indians in the city.

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