Seven curry

Ingredients

Base seasoning for all curries

• 6 tbspMadras-style curry powder
• 2 tbspamchar masala
• 2 tsproasted ground geera (cumin)
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 1 headof garlic, crushed
• 30 gfresh ginger, grated
• 4wiri wiri peppers, whole
• 120 mlvegetable oil
• Salt

The seven

• 500 gkatahar (young green jackfruit), peeled and cubed
• 400 gbora (long beans), cut into 3 cm lengths, with 200 g potato
• 500 gcalabash pumpkin, peeled and cubed
• 400 gbalange (aubergine), cubed
• 300 gdried chana (chickpeas), soaked overnight, with 300 g potato
• 400 geddo or spinach bhaji, chopped
• 200 gmango achar, made with green mango, garlic and masala

Dhal and rice

• 300 gyellow split peas
• 2 tspground turmeric
• 1 tbspcumin seed and 4 garlic cloves, for the chunkay
• 2 tbspcoconut oil
• 600 gwhite rice, steamed

To serve

• 6large water lily leaves, washed, or banana leaves

Directions

1. Soak the chana and the split peas separately overnight. Boil the split peas with turmeric and salt for 40 minutes until collapsing, then whisk smooth with a dhal ghutni or a stick blender.
2. Make the chunkay: heat the coconut oil, fry the cumin seed and sliced garlic until dark brown and fiercely aromatic, then pour the lot into the dhal and clap the lid on so the aroma is trapped. It should hiss loudly.
3. For each curry, start the same way: fry a share of the onion, garlic and ginger in oil until golden, then add a share of the curry powder slaked to a paste with a little water and fry it hard for 2–3 minutes until it darkens and the oil separates. This step, called bunjaling, is the backbone of Guyanese curry.
4. Add the vegetable, turn it through the fried masala until every piece is coated, then add just enough hot water to come halfway up and a whole wiri wiri pepper.
5. Cook each one to its own timing, uncovered: pumpkin 20 minutes until it collapses into a soft mash, katahar 30 minutes until tender and stringy, chana and potato 40 minutes, bora and potato 20 minutes, aubergine 15 minutes, bhaji 8 minutes with almost no water.
6. Finish every curry the same way: taste, salt, and add a pinch of geera and amchar masala off the heat.
7. The pumpkin should be almost a purée, the katahar should hold its shape, and each curry should be thick enough to sit in a mound without running.
8. Wash and dry the water lily leaves and set one in front of each person, shiny side up, on a table with no cutlery at all.
9. Spoon a bed of rice onto each leaf, ladle the dhal over it, then place the seven curries in a ring around the rice, each in its own small heap, with the achar last.
10. Eat with the fingers of the right hand, mixing a little of each curry with rice as you go. At the end of a wedding or a religious function, the leaf is folded and the meal is finished.

Technique

• Seven curry is served at Guyanese Hindu weddings and religious functions, cooked by the men of the community in huge iron pots and served on a lily leaf as a strictly vegetarian meal with no onion or garlic in the most orthodox versions.
• Seven is the traditional count, but the exact seven change with the season and the household. Pumpkin, katahar, bora, aubergine, chana and potato, bhaji and mango achar is the most common set.
• The masala must be fried, not merely stirred in. Raw curry powder tastes dusty and flat and no amount of simmering afterwards will fix it.
• The lily leaf is not decoration: it keeps the curries separate, it needs no washing, and eating from it with the hands is part of the ritual.
• Do not overwater the curries. Each should be dry enough to sit on a leaf without running into its neighbour.

Substitutions

• No katahar: use tinned young green jackfruit in brine, rinsed well; it needs only about 15 minutes.
• No water lily leaves: use banana leaves, cut into large rounds and passed briefly over a flame to make them supple.
• No amchar masala: use garam masala with an extra teaspoon of roasted geera and a squeeze of lime.

Variations

• The full wedding-house seven curry, cooked without onion or garlic for religious functions.
• Five curry, the smaller everyday version served at smaller pujas.
• The same curries served on a plate with roti instead of rice, the weekday form.

History

Eaten at Hindu weddings and religious functions by Indo-Guyanese families descended from Indian indentured labourers.

Frequently asked questions

What is Seven curry?

Seven curry is a main from Guyana: seven vegetarian curries with rice served on a folded water lily leaf. Eaten at Hindu weddings and religious functions by Indo-Guyanese families descended from Indian indentured labourers.

How long does Seven curry take to make?

Seven curry takes 1 hr 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Seven curry?

Yes, within limits. No katahar: use tinned young green jackfruit in brine, rinsed well; it needs only about 15 minutes. No water lily leaves: use banana leaves, cut into large rounds and passed briefly over a flame to make them supple. No amchar masala: use garam masala with an extra teaspoon of roasted geera and a squeeze of lime.

What is the most important thing to get right in Seven curry?

The masala must be fried, not merely stirred in. Raw curry powder tastes dusty and flat and no amount of simmering afterwards will fix it.