Sept cari

Ingredients

The seven curries

• Cari gros pois: 300 g dried butter beans, soaked overnight, simmered with 2 tbsp massale, thyme, curry leaf and 2 tomatoes
• Cari calebasse: 600 g bottle gourd, in chunks, with turmeric, cumin and green chilli
• Cari pomme de terre et petits pois: 500 g potatoes and 200 g peas in a light massale sauce
• Cari bringelle: 500 g aubergine, cubed and cooked down with tomato and turmeric
• Cari giraumon: 600 g pumpkin, cooked to a soft mash with cumin and chilli
• Cari haricot: 400 g green beans with grated coconut and mustard seed
• Dholl: 300 g yellow split peas simmered with turmeric to a loose puree

Seasonings, used across all seven

• 150 mlsunflower oil in total
• 6 tbspMauritian massale
• 3 tspground turmeric
• 3 tspcumin seed
• 2 tspblack mustard seed
• 30fresh curry leaves
• 6 sprigsthyme
• 6green chillies
• 30 gfresh ginger, grated
• Salt

To serve

• 1 kglong-grain rice, steamed
• Satini coco: 150 g grated coconut ground with chilli, coriander and tamarind
• Satini pomme d’amour: 4 tomatoes chopped with onion, chilli and lime
• Achard de legumes, 300 g
• Mazavaroo
• 8large banana leaf squares, wiped and passed over a flame until glossy
• Small paper cups for the sweet, and a glass of sherbet

Directions

1. Wipe the banana leaves and pass each quickly over a gas flame until the surface turns glossy dark green and pliable. This releases the aroma that scents the food, and is the reason the meal is served on leaf rather than a plate.
2. Soak and boil the butter beans until tender, about 50 minutes, and keep their cooking water; it becomes the gravy.
3. Work through the curries in sequence in one or two pans, using the same method for each: heat oil, crackle cumin or mustard seed, add ginger, chilli, curry leaf and thyme, then the massale slaked with a little water, fry it until the oil separates, and only then add the vegetable.
4. Cook each vegetable to its own point. Bottle gourd and pumpkin need 12–15 minutes and collapse to a soft mash; potato and beans need 20 minutes and must hold their shape; aubergine is cooked down until it is dark and jammy.
5. Keep each curry distinct in colour and texture. The whole point of sept cari is that seven separate things sit side by side, not a single mixed vegetable stew, and none should be soupy enough to run into its neighbour.
6. Simmer the split-pea dholl with turmeric for 35 minutes to a loose puree and season it lightly.
7. Grind the coconut satini in a stone mortar with the chilli, coriander and tamarind, keeping it coarse and moist.
8. Steam the rice and let it stand covered for 10 minutes so the grains stay separate.
9. Lay a leaf in front of each guest with the stem edge running left to right. Mound the rice in the centre, then place the seven curries in a ring around it, with the satinis, achard and mazavaroo at the top edge.
10. Serve immediately, to be eaten with the right hand, mixing a little of each curry into the rice as you go. At the end, the leaf is folded towards you as a sign the meal was good.

Technique

• Sept cari is a Tamil Mauritian wedding and temple meal, cooked in enormous quantities by the community and served on banana leaf. It is strictly vegetarian, and at temple functions it is cooked without onion or garlic in the satvik manner, which is why the recipe above leans on ginger, cumin and curry leaf for depth.
• Seven is the fixed number, but the seven are not fixed. Households and temples choose from butter beans, bottle gourd, pumpkin, aubergine, potato, beans, cabbage, carrot, breadfruit and lentils according to the season.
• Each curry must be cooked separately and only just moist. Bulk-cooking them together produces one muddy flavour and destroys the point of the plate.
• The banana leaf is not decoration. It perfumes the rice, and the way it is folded at the end is part of the etiquette.

Substitutions

• No banana leaf: a large plain plate or a thali tray works, but the aroma is lost; a lightly oiled sheet of baking parchment is nearer than nothing.
• No bottle gourd: chayote (chouchou), which grows all over Mauritius, is the usual stand-in and cooks in the same time.
• No Mauritian massale: a mild Madras curry powder with extra ground coriander, cinnamon and clove approximates it.

Variations

• The Cavadee version, cooked for the Thaipusam festival, is stricter still, with no onion, garlic or chilli heat.
• Some families serve nine or eleven curries at large weddings, always an odd number.
• A sweet of gateau patate or sirop-soaked mithai and a glass of sherbet close the meal.

History

The Tamil wedding meal of Mauritius: seven curries, pickles and rice eaten by hand from a banana leaf, a rite kept since indenture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sept cari?

Sept cari is a main from Mauritius: seven vegetable curries served together on a banana leaf with rice. The Tamil wedding meal of Mauritius: seven curries, pickles and rice eaten by hand from a banana leaf, a rite kept since indenture.

How long does Sept cari take to make?

Sept cari takes 1 hr 15 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings, served on banana leaf. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sept cari?

Yes, within limits. No banana leaf: a large plain plate or a thali tray works, but the aroma is lost; a lightly oiled sheet of baking parchment is nearer than nothing. No bottle gourd: chayote (chouchou), which grows all over Mauritius, is the usual stand-in and cooks in the same time. No Mauritian massale: a mild Madras curry powder with extra ground coriander, cinnamon and clove approximates it.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sept cari?

Wipe the banana leaves and pass each quickly over a gas flame until the surface turns glossy dark green and pliable. This releases the aroma that scents the food, and is the reason the meal is served on leaf rather than a plate.