A Sweet Surprise! - Black Garlic

Flavour Notes

Sweet and jammy. A floral aroma. No pungency

Inspiration

If you are already a garlic lover, you need to try Chef Hussain’s Black Garlic recipe! It is pure magic. Chef Hussain loves garlic and simply wanted to experiment with its versatility. Chef’s black garlic is nothing but regular garlic that has aged in a controlled environment, keeping the humidity in check until the garlic’s natural sugar caramelises entirely. All vegetables that can be categorized within the allium family possess the natural sugars that bring about that beautiful caramelization, and garlic is no different. Black garlic has primarily been used in South East Asian cuisine.

When Chef Hussain created his first batch of black garlic, he aimed to use it in a dish that he later realized did not quite gel with its flavours but it was constantly prepared and stored in The Bombay Canteen kitchen with hopes that one day it would find its perfect match! Well it finally did. The conversation was to have a handvo on our new menu but we wanted to add a sweet jaminess to it and black garlic fit the bill perfectly. When paired with all the other elements like goat cheese, tomatoes and rhubarb chundo it strikes that perfect balance!

Process

• Wrap big cloves of garlic in foil completely.
• Keep the skins intact for they protect the cloves from extreme heat or damage.
• Toss the cloves into an electric rice cooker. And you’re done!
• Keep the rice cooker on a low heat for 14 days continuously.
• Occasionally, sprinkle water over the cloves and foil to create steam
• You will know the garlic is done when all cloves have turned black and are sticky in consistency with a molasses like flavour.

Note: The only way to get perfectly roasted black garlic is by controlling the heat of the ferment. For this purpose, we use an electric rice cooker.

The Bombay Canteen uses this for

The Black Garlic Handvo Toast

You can use this for

Salad dressings, sauces, or simply substitute your regular garlic with black garlic in your rotis or naans for that sweet flavour!