Durban - Actress-director Kumseela Naidoo chats about food and drink.
Naidoo, of Dingalings Productions, won The Mercury Durban Theatre Personality of the Year award in 2014.
QUESTION: What meal is your favourite – and what would you rate as your least favourite?
ANSWER: I love curry. I am addicted to it. When I am abroad I have curry withdrawal symptoms and will do anything to get my hands on spicy Indian food.
I particularly love a good lamb breyani, and that’s my favourite thing to cook.
My favourite food to eat is chicken curry. My least favourite is something cold, like a salad.
Your first food memory?
I can’t go very far back, but I do recall my first food memory with my husband, Koobeshen. We were on campus in 1986, with a very limited budget of R50, so would enjoy spicy baked beans on toast for lunch.
We were newly in love, so anything would have tasted great then.
I also have fond memories of my mom’s chips, rolls, crunchies, jam tarts and Christmas pudding.
As a child, did you develop a taste for unusual foods or combinations of foods?
I had a thing for feta and onion. Another strange combo was avocado and condensed milk.
As my mOm made hot rotis my brothers and I would cover them with butter and sugar and wolf them down.
What’s the first thing you ever cooked – and what memories do you have of that?
My first cooking memory was a disaster with chips. I put too many into a pan and the oil spilt all over the stove.
What has been your biggest kitchen disaster?
I had the joy of making popcorn without a lid … we had popcorn popping out of corners for the next two weeks.
What is the dish you tend to cook most often?
The best dish I cook is a seafood paella with shrimp-stuffed potatoes as a starter. It’s the favourite meal of my son,Yuvaan.
What do you like or dislike about dinner parties?
I enjoy dinner parties. I love it when food is prepared with love and care, and the presentation is delightful. I also like food being served on good crockery.
What kitchen utensil can you simply not live without?
My mixer and food processor.
What’s the most kitsch thing in your kitchen?
I keep all the little gifts I get from weddings on the kitchen window sill. I also have a motivational desk calender on the microwave, and all the kids’ artwork is on the fridge. We have a large fridge.
What is your favourite restaurant in Durban?
My favourite is Jimmy’s Killer Prawns in Westwood mall. The food is always well prepared, excellent value for money. Service is amazing and portions are generous. I also like Indian Summer – for the cheapest, tastiest Indian food – and Havana.
Fave cooking ingredients?
Garlic and nutmeg.
What, where and when marked the most memorable meal you’ve ever eaten?
My most memorable meal was at Jamie’s in London’s West End. It was my husband’s 50th birthday and we had gone to see the musical Jersey Boys. The restaurant is vibey and warm, and the food is wholesome.
Who is your fave celeb cook?
Jamie Oliver – and, locally, it’s Sheila Somers, the Durban ICC’s specialist Indian cuisine chef.
What do you tip in restaurants?
I tip 10 percent at least, but up to 20 percent if the service is great and the waiter doesn’t act like he or she is doing me a favour. I love to reward good service because it’s so rare in South Africa.
Fave fruit, veg and sweet?
I love litchis (we have a massive tree at home that drips to the ground with the sweetest fruit). I also love macadamia nougat and dark Swiss chocolate.
Foods you refuse to try?
Escargot and frog legs.
KUMSEELA’S LAMB BREYANI
2kg lamb, cubed
3 cups rice, parboiled
2 cups black lentils, boiled
2 cups yoghurt
2 tsps salt
4 tsps curry powder
2 tsps ginger and garlic
3 green chillies
half-cup fresh coriander
half-cup fresh mint
fresh thyme
2 onions, sliced into rings
4 potatoes, cubed
125g ghee or butter
dry whole spice
4 cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp jeera (cumin)
1 tsp somph (fennel)
2 bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks (roast in a pan and grind).
Liquidise all green herbs, ginger and garlic, chillies and yoghurt and marinate lamb for an hour.
Fry potatoes in ghee and remove.
Fry onions then add ground spice and chilli. Add marinated meat and salt to taste. Cook until tender. Add potatoes then boiled lentils and top with rice. Garnish with fried onions and saffron. Put in oven. Steam at 180°C for an hour.
The Mercury