In one of his last interviews, chef Raghavan Iyer expressed his hope for his final cookbook to become his lasting legacy to Indian cooking, especially the versatility of curry.S
Since reporting this story, Raghavan Iyer had sadly passed away. This was one of the last interviews he did, and we publish this story and his recipe for Sri Lankan prawn curry as a celebration of his life and legacy as the iconic Indian-born American chef and author who taught us to cook Indian food and curries from around the world.
Raghavan Iyer, chef, cookbook author, culinary teacher and curry expert passed away on Friday after a prolonged battle with cancer. According to a recent New York Times article, he taught Americans to cook Indian food. He is the author of seven cookbooks, including the now iconic 660 Curries.
In one of his final interviews, he spoke about his latest – and last – book, On the Curry Trail: Chasing the Flavor That Seduced the World (published in February), to me over Zoom in early March. In the interview, Iyer expressed his hope for this book to become his lasting legacy to Indian cooking, especially the versatility of curry around the globe.
In his own words, the book is “telling the story of how curry travelled out of India, all around the world”. He talked about how British colonisers in the 19th Century grew to like what he calls the saucy flavours of Indian food so much that they got their cooks to “pound the spices together and put them in a jar” so they could carry them back to England. “They labelled it curry powder, and that’s how the rest of the world knows it,” he explained.
Iyer was a culinary evangelist who wanted his readers to know that there is more to curry than just curry powder. “Very often,” he said, “people tell me that they don’t like the smell or taste of curry. And then I have to tell them, you are forgetting to add the word powder.” Born and raised in Mumbai before he moved to the US in 1982, his understanding of curry came from his strong Indian roots. And in India, curry typically refers to something with sauce (rather than the spices used) and “can be really versatile, made using just a single spice or 20 spices, or just herbs”. Typical ingredients include dried red chilli, turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek seeds, black pepper and cardamom used in various combinations.
Iyer described the book as his “love letter to the world of curries” and hoped it would be his “lasting legacy to the richness and vastness of this dish simply called curry”. And so, there is history, folklore and familial connections scattered throughout the book, along with the detailed story of how curry has been adapted by various cultures both in the east and west.
He pointed to the South African bunny chow as an example of how local communities adapted a simple curry to suit their needs and tastes. “They added vegetables and meat with spices to a basic garbanzo bean stew, and turned it into a curry that they then stuffed into bread. It was a meal in a bowl that they could eat whenever they wanted,” he said.
He had been collecting curry stories and recipes from his various travels over the years (combined with extensive desk research for this book), from conversations with locals, meals at people’s homes and at restaurants “from fine dining to hole-in-the-wall places”.
Iyer called himself a big fan of Thai curries and said that “if any country can take ownership of curries after India, it is Thailand, because of the richness of the pastes, and the spices and herbs that they use”. These distinct flavours include lemongrass, garlic, coriander stems, galangal and Thai basil.
His recipe for prawn curry with darkened cinnamon, though, is from the tear-drop shaped island of Sri Lanka, a country with its own unique culinary traditions, one of which is the dark roasting of whole spices to release the flavours completely. Sri Lankan food, with its rich coconut milk gravies and liberal use of aromatic spices such as cinnamon, was another Iyer favourite.
He called the country itself magical, with beautiful landscapes and people, a place where “you could go literally from tea plantations to the ocean within the day”. And in the book, he waxed eloquent about the cuisine. “A mellifluous array of curries marks the distinctive style of Sri Lankan food, a reflection of the Portuguese, Dutch and English who colonised the island for more than 130 years,” he wrote. “And let’s not forget the influence of the Scottish tea growers, Muslims, Malaysians and Moors.”
Iyer’s recipes are meant to be accessible for everyone, from beginners to experts. “I handhold (readers) through the entire process, so if you can pick [the book] up and read it, then you can cook these curries,” he said.
Method
Step 1
Preheat a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is hot (holding your palm close to the base, you should feel the heat within 5 seconds), break up the cinnamon sticks into smaller pieces for an even toast and throw them in the pan. Toast, stirring constantly or shaking the pan very often, until they darken further and smell incredibly fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer them to a spice grinder (or clean coffee grinder), and allow the pieces to cool, about 5 minutes. Pulverise the cinnamon to the texture of finely ground black pepper.
Step 2
Combine the cinnamon, curry powder, garlic and ginger in a large bowl; add the prawns and toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil appears to shimmer, add the mustard seeds, cover and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, about 30 seconds. Immediately add the prawns in a single layer and sear them for about 30 seconds on each side.
Step 4
Shake the coconut milk well and pour it in. Add the curry leaves, peppercorns and salt. Bring the curry to a boil and continue to cook until the prawns curl and turn salmon in colour, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the prawns to a serving platter. Keep warm.
Step 5
Continue to cook the sauce, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until it has thickened, 2 to 4 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the prawns and serve.
Tips:
Never buy ground cinnamon as the oils in it dissipate in aroma and flavour. You are far better off grinding the whole sticks just before use.
Fresh curry leaves provide a mild citrusy flavour and intense aroma. Remove the leaves from the stem by sliding your fingers down the stem.
