Khan Lamb

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 8

Nat and I recently stayed in Ranthambore in India for two nights; part of Rajasthan, a state in the North.

Ranthambore is a massive area of jungle, famous for its tigers, something we were lucky enough to see.

The property we stayed at was incredible and at night, we sat around a huge fire being fed the most amazing food from the tandoor whilst sipping on G&Ts. They never did give me the recipe for their stuffed potatoes, though my word, we would travel back just for those alone.

One of the staff was particularly passionate about food and he shared a YouTube clip with me of a lamb leg, marinated, buried with coals and cooked for hours.

Wrapped in roti, banana leaf, foil and a wet cloth, when revealed, the lamb was eaten with the soaked roti; a dish I just had to cook with a little assistance from Nat.

So last night, NYE 2022, we catered Nat’s family an Indian feast.

And this lamb was the second dish. Absolutely classic Rajasthan cooking.

I cooked it medium rare. Wrapped in roti, a banana leaf, foil and then a wet cloth, placed in a cast iron pot and cooked in a BBQ over indirect heat until the centre reached 55c.

It was remarkable. Just remarkable.

Here is my translation of the video.

Ingredients

Leg of lamb
18 garlic, crushed (or 4 – 6 tbsp garlic paste)
4 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 c softened ghee
12 Indian roti
1 banana leaf

Method

  1. Score the lamb leg all over, about two centimetres deep. Rub the garlic and Garam Masala all over and into the scores. Wrap in foil and refrigerate for a few hours or over night.
  2. Mix the softened (though not melted) ghee with the chilli powder, ground coriander, ground turmeric and salt.
  3. Lay several sheets of foil. On top, place enough banana leaf to wrap the lamb. On top, lay enough roti to wrap the lamb.
  4. Cover the lamb in the combined ghee and then tightly wrap, starting with the roti, then the banana leaf and then the foil. Wet a cloth and wrap the parcel.
  5. Heat a BBQ (or oven) to 160c. Place the lamb parcel in a heavy, cast iron pot with a lid. Cook, over an indirect heat, until the centre of the lamb reaches 55c.
  6. Set aside for 20 minutes. Remove the cloth, foil and banana leaf and serve the slice lamb with the soaked roti.

Lidia Bastianich’s Pasta with Baked Cherry Tomatoes

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 6

Goodness, I did not expect my first Lidia pasta to be this good.

As in, immediately one of Nat’s absolute favourites of all time and better than my abbriata which until then was the favourite of all time!

It’s much more than a baked cherry tomato pasta.

It’s all that garlic, fried and then fast boiled in the pasta water; the subsequent frying off of the parsley. The basil. The chilli, The parmesan.

And the addition of the ricotta adding all that creaminess.

Absolutely lovely.

Hats off Lidia. Your book will be revisited imminently

Ingredients

1.5kg cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 c plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 c fine dry breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt, plus more for the pasta pot
1/4 tsp chilli flakes, or to taste
500gm spaghetti, gemelli or penne*
10 plump garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 c loosely packed basil leaves, shredded
1/2 c freshly grated parmesan
125gm ricotta

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 180c. Toss the cherry tomato halves in a large bowl with 3 tbsp of the olive oil. Sprinkly over the breadcrumbs, salt and chilli flakes and toss well to coat the tomatoes evenly. Pour the tomatoes onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and spread them apart in a single layer. Use a second tray if necessary. Bake until the tomatoes are shriveled and lightely caramelised (though not dried out), about 25 minutes in all.
  2. Meanwhile, fill a large pot with salted water and heat to a rolling boil. When the tomatoes are nearly done, drop the pasta into the pot, stir and cook.
  3. As soon as the pasta is cooking, pour the remaining olive oil into a big skillet, set over a medium-high heat and scatter in the sliced garlic. Cook for a minute or two, until it is sizzling and lightly coloured, then ladle in about 2 cups of the pasta cooking water, and bring to a vigorous boil, stirring up the garlic. Let half the water evaporate**, stir in the chopped parsley, and keep the sauce barely simmering.
  4. As soon as the tomatoes are done, remove them from the oven.
  5. When the pasta is al dente, lift it from the water, drain for a moment, and drop it into the skillet, still over the low heat. Toss the pasta quickly with the garlic-and-parsley sauce in the pan, then slide in the baked tomatoes on top of the pasta. Scatter the basil shreds all over, toss everything together well, until the pasta is evenly dressed and the tomatoes are distributed throughout. Turn off the heat, sprinkle on the grated parmesan, and toss once more.
  6. Mound the pasta in a warmed serving bowl. Shred the ricotta all over the top of the pasta and serve immediately.

* When our builder looks after our house when we are away, he always leaves some damn fine Italian staples he picks up in Five Dock, Sydney. Quite the foodie. Anyway, we used a beautiful packet of spaghettini and it was just lovely.

** I did not read this right and cooked it right down before adding the parsley. Worked, though you can’t go wrong with pasta water in pasta so go with Lidia’s instruction here.

Pushpesh Pant’s Eggplant in Mild Yoghurt Sauce (Dahi ke Baigan)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 2

This is just such a moorish dish.

The eggplant rounds, seasoned with spices and pan-fried.

The yoghurt, tempered with the oil, mustard seeds, dried red chillies and the fresh curry leaves.

Yum.

Another cracking addition to any thali. A dish on its own. A side you really should try as part of a long Indian banquet.

Oh, the dish perfectly doubles in size. I was worried it wouldn’t, though it very easily does.

Ingredients

250gm (1 small) eggplant, trimmed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of chilli powder
Pinch of ground turmeric
1 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for frying
1 1/2 tsp ginger paste*
1 tsp garlic paste*
2 – 3 green chillies, de-seeded and chopped
200ml (1 cup) natural yoghurt

For the tempering

Pinch of asafoetida**
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 – 2 dried red chillies
Sprig of curry leaves

Method

  1. Cut the eggplant into round slices. Put the ground spices in a small bowl, season with salt and add 1 tbsp of water. Mix together.
  2. Coat. Non-stick pan with a thin film of oil over a medium heat. Add the ginger paste, garlic paste, garlic paste and green chillies and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the eggplant and cook for 3 – 5 minutes, stirring once with a wooden spatula, then remove from the pan an set aside. Put the yoghurt in another pan and mix with a little water, then bring almost to the boil, stirring constantly to ensure it does not curdle.
  3. Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-based frying pan (skillet) over medium heat, add the asafoetida and mustard seeds and stir-fry for 1-minute, or until the seeds start to splutter. Add the dried red chillies, if using, and stir fry for about 2 minutes, or until they turn a shade darker, then add the curry leaves. Pour the tempering over the yoghurt mixture, add the eggplant and simmer for a further 2 minutes, or until the yoghurt and the eggplant is hot.

* Essentially, lots of ginger and lots of garlic blended with water. We have jars of ginger, garlic and ginger/garlic paste from our local Indian grocer in the fridge for this, a pretty simple and convenient approach that doesn’t unduly undermine the flavour.

** We did a cooking class with the wonderful Ajoy Joshi of Nilgiris in Sydney and this spice doesn’t add flavour. It is for flatulence (!) and we have always skipped it.

Pushpesh Pant’s Peppery Cauliflower Curry (Gobi Kali Mirch)

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

As part of an Indian feast, this is just so authentic.

The pan-fried mustard and cumin seeds and then the urad dal which turns crunchy and golden.

Super simple, very very good.

Ingredients

2 tsp vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp ural dal, rinsed and drained
500gm (1 small head) cauliflower cut into small florets
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Salt

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat, add the mustard and cumin seeds and stir-fry for a minute, or until they start to splutter. Add the dal and stir-fry for a further 1 minute, or until they change colour, then add he cauliflower and just enough water to cook the vegetables.
  2. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the cauliflower is almost done. Seas with salt, add the pepper and stir. Remove from the heat and keep covered for a further 5 minutes.

Vikrant Kapoor’s Pan-roasted Barramundi (Lasooni Tali Machli)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

We recently ticked another thing off the bucket list: India!

We spent two nights at the incredible Mountbatten Lodge in Ranakpur, jungles about two hours out of Udaipur. Four absolutely luxury villas, just incredible food, G&Ts until late by the fire. The local temple is absolutely extraordinary. We spent an hour and trust us, we aren’t temple people.

What an absolutely incredible country. The people, the culture, the history, the sheer size of it, the organised chaos and of course the food.

Walking through the spice markets of Old Delhi, trying the street food or eating a banquet by the fire after walking with the elephants. (Not on the elephants to be clear!)

Every meal was excellent. The spices sing. Course after course of okra and potato and eggplant and breads flat, puffed, crisped, fried. Oh, and don’t get me started on Colonial Indian food. Just incredible.

So, does Indian food in India taste different to Indian food in Australia?

Largely, yes.

It’s more unique. It’s more flavoursome. Techniques are rolled into techniques: steam, peel, fry, stuff and tandoor potatoes. Or tomatoes. As just two examples.

We looked in a few bookstores – chaos in themselves – for at least one book to take home and India Cookbook by Pushpesh Pant kept coming up. 1,000 recipes to be sure.

And after a cross check with the many memorable dishes we had had over our two weeks, it was a no-brainer.

The book contains some recipes from guest chefs and this barramundi from the man behind Sydney’s own Zaafran – Vikrant Kapoor – is just excellent. Like nothing you would otherwise eat in Sydney.

This is Indian food. As in Indian food you would eat in India.

(I have adapted the recipe slightly to serve 4; the other is that I baked the fish rather than frying. It was wonderful, though frying would have its own great outcome too.)

Ingredients

4 skinless, boneless barramundi fillets
Juice of 1 lime
Vegetable oil, for pan frying
Salt

For the marinade

Juice of 1 lime
3 tsp garlic paste*
2 tsp green chilli paste
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp cornflour
2 pinches of ground white pepper

Method

  1. Put the barramundi fillets in a shallow, non-metallic dish. Season with salt and sprinkle with lime juice.
  2. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a bowl and then rub the marinade all over the fillets. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
  3. Brush a little oil on a non-stick pan and heat the pan over a medium heat. Add the fish and pan-fry for 3 – 5 minutes on both sides, or until cooked.

* 5 heads of peeled garlic blended with 3 tbsp water; or use store bought from an Indian grocer as we now do.

Colu Henry’s Sheet-Pan Harissa Salmon with Potatoes and Citrus

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is another NY Times Cooking 5-star dish that hits it out of the park.

It is absolutely delicious. The marinade is wonderful.

It’s dead simple.

And all you need is one pan for cooking.

We’ve recently had five kids in the house – two cousins had come to stay – and whilst it was a fun and full household, it wasn’t without its moments. Certainly, post bedtime, we needed a wine or two!

As well as the hastily agreed need for a home date-night: essentially, open a nice wine, share a meal and talk about holidays, meals, plans, the family etc.

And despite the hasty agreement, this dish was a breeze whilst at the same time serving the kids noodles and refilling glasses of apple juice.

Served with a green salad and wow, this is one to line up for a cracking weekday dinner. It’s even better the next day

I have slightly adapted the recipe.

Ingredients

4 skin-on salmon fillets
Salt and black pepper
2 – 3 tbsp mild or spicy harissa paste
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, grated
1/2 tsp orange zest
1/4 c orange juice (from about 1/2 orange)
500gm baby potatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, peeled and cut into small wedges
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c coriander, leaves and stems roughly chopped
3 tbsp spring onions, thinly sliced on an angle
Sea salt, for serving

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 230c. Lay the salmon on a plate and season. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the harissa, ginger, garlic, orange zest and juice. Spoon the mixture over the flesh and sides of the fish and let marinate at room temperature.
  2. Meanwhile, line a large baking dish with baking paper. In a large bowl, toss together the potatoes and onion with the olive oil and season. Arrange in the baking dish in one layer, leaving space for the salmon fillets to be added later. Roast until the potatoes are starting to brown; 20 – 35 minutes.
  3. Add the salmon to the baking dish, skin-side down and roast until the fish is opaque and cooked through and the potatoes are crisp: 8 – 12 minutes. Scatter coriander and spring onions over everything and season with sea salt.

Claudia Roden’s Fried Fish with Cumin and Tahini Sauce

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

As I started typing up this recipe, it struck me that there is not a Claudia Roden recipe I haven’t typed.

I am new to her cooking; the only question, is why?

This recipe is just lux.

Total joy.

Total simplicity.

Total genius.

If you served this to friends as part of a long lunch in the sun, there would be smiles all around. It’s just that good.

Ingredients

4 firm white fish fillets, such as bream or sea bass, skinless
3 tbsp plain flour
1 – 1 1/2 ground cumin
2 tbsp olive oil, for frying
1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 lemon, quartered, to serve
Saltt

Tahini sauce

3 tbsp tahini
Juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon, to taste
1 small garlic clove, crushed

Method

  1. For the tahini sauce, stir the tahini in the jar before putting 3 tbsp in a small serving bowl. Gradually add the lemon juice and 2 – 3 tbsp water, beating vigorously with a fork and adding just enough water to get the consistency of a runny cream. The paste with stiffen at first and then become light and smooth. Add a little salt and the garlic.
  2. Season the fish with salt. Put the flour, cumin and a pinch of salt on a plate and mix well. Turn the fish fillets into this to coat them all over, then shake vigorously to remove the excess flour.
  3. Heat a small amount of oil in a non-stick fry pan. Put the fillets in and cook over a medium-heat, turning them over once, for 3 – 10 minutes depending on their thickness, until crisp, lightly browned and just cooked through.
  4. Serve the fish with a sprinkling of parsley and the lemon quarters. Serve with the tahini sauce.

Claudia Roden’s Sweet and Sour Minty Grilled Courgettes

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 4

One of my favourite BBQ tricks is to toss sliced zucchini with oil, chilli and garlic and to grill alongside the chicken, pork, whatever.

It dials things up and shows a bit of effort.

This dish goes further and the addition of the ricotta is wonderful.

Nat absolutely loved the sweet and sour of the sauce and of course, it can all be prepared in advance.

Ingredients

3 courgettes (zucchini), cut lengthways into 1cm-thick slices
Olive or sunflower oil
100ml white wine vinegar
50gm sugar
1 tbsp dried mint
Salt and black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Whipped ricotta

250gm smooth ricotta
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Grated zest of 1/2 small lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

  1. For the ricotta, whip the ricotta with the oil, lemon zest and season.
  2. Preheat a grill to high. Brush the courgettes with oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt. Grill on the BBQ or on a griddle pan for about 10 minutes until tender and lightly browned in places.
  3. Heat the vinegar and sugar with the dried mint and some pepper in a small pan over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts, then simmer for 2 minutes to reduce it a little. Arrange the courgette slices side by side on a serving plates pour the vinegar dressing over them and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Serve with the whipped ricotta.

Claudia Roden’s Spelt and Tomato Salad

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 6

Nat and I love farro; an ancient Mediterranean wheat species.

And it is definitely back in vogue based on the number of salads featuring farro we have cooked the last few years.

As with many (all?) of her recipes, this salad is simply a charming honesty of ingredients. Entirely satisfying to the point that I kept reaching for spoon after spoon.

There is a suggested variation which, whilst I have not cooked, I’ve listed below. It’s the next farro adventure.

Variation

Omit the tomatoes; instead, mix in 50gm raisins (soaked in water for 30 minutes), 50gm lightly toasted pine nuts and the shredded leaves of 3 basil sprigs and 3 mint sprigs.

Ingredients

250gm pear farro or spelt
200gm baby plum tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon, to taste
Bunch of flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
Salt and black pepper

Method

  1. Soak the farro or spelt in plenty of cold water for 30 minutes. Rinse, drain and put it in a pan with plenty of water to cover. Bring to the boil and simmer until tender, adding salt towards the end. Drain and put it in a serving bowl.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

Claudia Roden’s Tagliolini with Lemon

.Reading time 1 minute.

Serves: 2 – 4

Nat and I had this Sicilian dish as the starter of a slow lunch and what a way to start.

It hero’s lemon and it is just “incredibly delicious” as Claudia puts it in her book Med. Absolute lemon simplicity, especially with a fresh pasta as we did.

And completely elegant.

P.S. Nat wasn’t entirely sure this dish was type-up-worthy. She very much liked it, though found it very much on the lemon side. Nat suggested adding some fresh chilli to cut through.

I absolutely love lemon so this was a home-run for me, though we both agreed, as a starter only.

Ingredients

200gm tagliolini
Salt
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
6 tbsp double cream
Salt and black pepper
Grated Parmesan to serve

Method

  1. Cook the tagliolini in boiling, salted water until al dente.
  2. In a serving bowl, mix the lemon zest and juice with the cream and add salt, to taste.
  3. When the pasta is cooked, drain and mix with the sauce.
  4. Serve with plenty of Parmesan and a few good cracks of pepper.