Tag: Ajoy Joshi

Ajoy Joshi’s Spiced Yoghurt Cauliflower Florets

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6 with rice

Back from a week in New Caledonia and far too much fine French food (is there such a thing), we were down for a late Friday afternoon curry.

Yes, New Caledonia is amazing. First world, superb food, great bars, 10/10.

Enter the always-reliable Ajoy Joshi with an absolutely moorish cauliflower curry.

Simple, though packed with flavour and wonderful spice.

The sliced ginger are just an added benefit.

If you’re after a cleaner Indian vegetable to go alongside a great curry – I cooked this incredible Doi Murgi (Bangladeshi Yoghurt Chicken Curry) by Dina Begum – this is it.

And yes, I know Indian and Bangladeshi cuisines are different, though these two paired perfectly.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 pinch powdered asafoetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
1kg cauliflower, cut into small florets with long stems attached
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tbs fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp plain whole-milk yoghurt
2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped

Method

  1. In a spice grinder, grind coriander seeds. Set aside.
  2. In a wok or deep frying pan, heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, add asafoetida and cumin and cook, stirring for 20 seconds. Add cauliflower florets, cover and cook until they start to soften.
  3. Uncover and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Then cover and cook until florets start to brown. Once again, uncover and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Finally, cover and cook for 1 – 2 minutes more. (The cauliflower should be golden-brown.)
  4. Reduce heat to low and add salt, chilli powder, ginger, ground coriander, turmeric, garam masala, lemon juice and yoghurt. Mix well and cook, tossing for 2 minutes to blend the flavours.
  5. Serve immediately sprinkled with the coriander.

Ajoy Joshi’s Palak Murgh

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

Nat and I landed from 10 nights in Japan this morning.

Talk about a foodie destination. My god: street-food, Egg-sandwiches at 7Eleven, Michelin Starred restaurants. It honestly doesn’t matter.

A six-seat mixology place floors up somewhere in Tokyo.
Alain Ducasse’s restaurant Benoit in Kyoto. Holy moly.
Lurra. Featured on Someone Feed Phil, a top 50 place to eat in the world. Staggering.
A toasted egg sandwich infused with soy on the side of the road. Seriously, this place would be a pop up institution in Sydney. Here, they just asked us to wait with our sparkling sakes.

The Japanese care about food at every level, at every moment. From a broth at breakfast to tuna belly sashimi at the Tokyo Fish Markets, it literally doesn’t matter.

I kid you not, the fried chicken at the every-corner corner-store Lawsons is hands down better than the best KFC here in Sydney.

We even had an Indian meal in Kyoto in the smallest restaurant you could imagine (well, every restaurant in small) and wasn’t it a complete win on a level you’d almost never find in Sydney?! Cheap, cheerful, completely authentic – a total slam dunk.

You cannot go wrong no matter how much you might try.

But this isn’t a Japan post (which I will do) but a post because we are back and of course, drowning our sorrows with a wine, we return to a curry at the start of a cold, gloomy Sydney winter.

Nat wanted a tomato based curry and who was I to argue?

This relatively simple Ajoy Joshi number absolutely hits the note.

I added a little more Garam Marsala at the end, though do your thing.

Just make sure you slowly cook it down to reduce almost all the liquid.

A beautiful heat, wonderful spinach, just bloody lovely with a red on the couch ready to catch up on whatever Netflix we’ve missed.

(I have slightly adapted this recipe.)

Ingredients

1kg chicken thigh cut into 4cm pieces
1 tsp Garam Marsala
500gm baby spinach
3 mild green chilies, split lengthways
2 brown onions, roughly chopped
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
1/4 c full-fat yoghurt
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

Method

  1. Marinate the chicken pieces in the Garam Marsala and set aside.
  2. In a food processor, process the spinach and chillies until a paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
  3. Clean and dry the food processor and process the onions until finely ground. Set aside.
  4. In a large, heavy-based frying pan, heat the oil. Add onions and salt and cook, uncovered, until lightly golden. Stir in garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Add the yoghurt and cook for 5 minutes further.
  5. Raise heat to high, add the chicken and cook until browned. Stir in chilli powder and cook until all moisture evaporates and oil separates.
  6. Stir in spinach purée and tomatoes. Cover, reduce heat and cook until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Uncover and if any liquid remains, cook over a medium heat until the liquid has evaporated. Serve immediately with rice. (And chutney is my strong recommendation!)

Ajoy Joshi’s Hyderabadi Chicken

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

Well, here we are again.

Another Ajoy Joshi homerun curry, completely consistent with his wonderful use of onions and a yoghurt marinade.

The addition of the sesame seed and peanut paste adds luxury and when served alongside this completely contrasting okra dish by Nat, it was just an absolutely, if understated lunch.

Flavours that just complimented each other so easily, we really had no words.

Ajoy has an unusual approach of sealing the pot – for the final 45 minutes – with a large metal bowl in order to steam the chicken and seal the delicious flavour.

I skipped this step. I made the marinade the night before and then cooked until I had a wonderful yoghurt gravy. The result was just excellent and I have adjusted the recipe this way.

Hats off Ajoy Joshi. Truly a signature dish and one he is famous for.

Ingredients

1kg chicken thigh fillets, cut into large cubes without trimming off the fat
1 tbsp sesame seeds
50gm peanuts
Milk
1/3 c vegetable/canola oil
1 onion, sliced
Salt
1 tbsp crushed ginger
1 tbsp crushed garlic*
1 1/2 tbsp crushed green chilli
Pinch of turmeric
1 1/2 c natural yoghurt
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp black cumin seeds
1 tbsp lemon juice

Method

  1. Toast the sesame seeds and peanuts in a dry frying pan then grind to a paste. Mix the paste with a little milk.
  2. Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and add the onion and 2 pinches of salt. Cook over medium-high heat until caramelised and golden brown. Remove from the heat.
  3. Place the peanut paste, ginger, chilli, turmeric, yoghurt, garam masala, cumin seeds and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and mix together. Stir in the fried onion and chicken. Leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
  4. Put the chicken and marinate in the saucepan used for the onions and cook over a medium-heat for 40 minutes until you have a thickish gravy. Just before serving, stir through the lemon juice.

* I’ve said it before. Get yourself a jar of garlic ginger pasta and cruise through this step!

Ajoy Joshi’s Murgh Hara Masala

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

Here we are yet again with an Ajoy Joshi recipe.

Trademark whisked yoghurt. The browned onions. Roasted cashews.

But then we add the herbs and chilli.

It takes a trademark Joshi dish in yet another direction and it is predictably wonderful.

As Nat put it, the onions give a depth, then flipped on its head by the fresh green chilli.

You taste the hint of cashew.

And the sum of the parts of just a beautifully warm and complex curry, as unique as every Ajoy Joshi curry is.

Incredibly clever.

I’ve only adjusted by adding one extra tbsp of double cream and using 1kg of chicken thigh instead of a whole chicken.

Ingredients

5 tbsp vetegable oil
3 brown onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
1kg chicken thigh cut into 3cm pieces
1/2 c plain whole-milk yoghurt, whisked until smooth
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 tbsp garlic, minced
Cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
8 whole black peppercorns
4 green cardamom pods
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 fresh mild long green chillis, roughly chopped
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh coriander
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh mint
1 tbsp unsalted roasted cashew nuts
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
3 tbsp double cream
Steamed basmati rice to serve

Method

  1. In a frying pan, heat 2 tbsp oil over a medium low heat, add the onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are dark golden-brown. Transfer to a plate.
  2. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine chicken, yoghurt, ginger and garlic and stir to coat the chicken evenly. Set aside.
  3. In a spice grinder, process the spices to a fine powder.
  4. In a food processor, combine chillies, coriander, mint, cashew nuts and fried onions and process until well combined.
  5. In a large, heavy saucepan, heat remaining 3 tbsp oil over a high heat and add the chicken and cook, turning occasionally until all moisture evaporates and chicken is lightly browned.
  6. Add the turmeric and 1/2 c hot water and stir until almost evaporated. The chicken should be cooked and tender by now.
  7. Add the ground spices, stirring until fragrant. Add the chilli mixture and cream, stirring through until well combined and heated through. Season and serve with steamed rice.
  8. An ale, riesling or pinot a must at this point. Trust me on this one.

Ajoy Joshi’s Rich Chicken Curry

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

I can’t tell if Ajoy Josh is having a laugh at our expense.

The techniques and ingredients he uses are not only different to other Indian recipes, each of this recipes are different.

The deep goldening of onions and the use of yoghurt marinades being two rare exceptions.

This recipe was true to Ajoy’s trick of throwing curve balls. The ground sesame seeds. The squeeze of lemon at the end.

And yet in true Ajoy style, it is absolutely beautiful.

Total luxury.

If Ajoy Joshi is having a laugh, good for him.

Note: I have slightly adjusted this recipe.

Ingredients

1kg chicken thighs, cut into 3cm pieces

1/2 c vegetable oil
3 onions, sliced
Juice of 1 – 2 lemons

For the marinade

2 c full-fat natural yoghurt
1 tsp crushed fresh ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tbsp crushed green chillies
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1 tbsp white sesame seeds, ground
50gm cashew nuts, roasted and ground
Salt

For the spice mix

1 tsp cassia buds*
2 green cardamom pods
4 cloves
1/2 tsp black cumin seeds

Method

  1. Put all the ingredients for the marinade in a large shallow dish and mix together. Season with salt. Add the chicken and turn to coat, then cover allow to marinate in the refridgerator for 1 – 2 hours.
  2. To make the spice mix, put all the spices in a spice grinder, small food processor or mortar and pestle and grind together. Set aside.
  3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan over medium heat, add the sliced onions and saute until the onions turn golden brown. Add the marinated chicken and stir well. Cook for 30 – 45 minutes, or until the sauce has slightly thickened. Add the freshly crushed spices and sprinkle over the lemon juice.

* I substituted a cinnamon stick.

Ajoy Joshi’s Chicken with Spinach

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

A love a good spinach curry!

Unlike what we all get served up at our local Indian however, this dish by Ajoy Joshi has depth, heat and character. It is clearly a curry that doesn’t share a base with 200 other curries on the menu.

As with all Ajoy dishes, there are twists: the processed onions cooked gold in the oil is just one trick that makes this recipe special.

As part of a banquet, you could do a whole lot worse.

Ingredients

500gm (baby) spinach, stems removed
3 fresh mild long green chillies, slit lengthways
2 large yellow (brown) onions, roughly chopped
1/2 c vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 c whole milk
1 whole chicken (1.5kg) cut into 10 pieces, or 1kg chicken pieces (I used thigh)
1 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp chilli powder
3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 c heavy (double) cream

Method

  1. In a food processor, combine spinach and chillies and process until a paste forms. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Rinse and dry process, add onions and process until finely ground. Remove from the processor and set aside.
  2. In a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat oil over a medium-heat. Add onions and salt and cooked uncovered, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the milk and cook for another 5 minutes longer.
  3. Raise heat to high, add chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, about 5 minutes.* Stir in the Garam Masala and chilli powder and cook, stirring, until all the moisture evaporates and the oil separates, 5 – 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in the spinach purée and tomatoes. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook until the chicken is cooked throughout and tender, 20 – 25 minutes. Uncover and if liquid remains, continue to cook on a medium heat until it evaporates.
  5. Just before serving, stir in the cream. Serve immediately.

* Respectfully, when chefs ask for meat to be browned in a sauce or gravy, I just don’t understand if this is possible without commercial cooking. Meat just doesn’t brown in milk. Just cook the meat.

Ajoy Joshi’s Pepper and Garlic Chicken

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

Another cracking Ajoy Joshi recipe, where according to Ajoy, this recipe began life at the Nagarjuna Restaurant in Bangalore where it is renowned for this Tamil Nadu dish.

The steaming of the chicken is clever, finishing it in ghee (Ajoy asks for oil and unsalted butter) until golden.

We served this on steamed rice with mint sauce, lots of chutney and coriander… and it was excellent. It reminded us of eating Nilgiri’s (Ajoy’s wonderful lower North Shore restaurant) and on that basis, it has to be typed.

Ingredients

1 cinnamon stick, about 7.5cm long
2 tsp green cardamom pods
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1/3 c chopped fresh coriander
36 fresh curry leaves
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 fresh mild long green chilli, finely chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp tamarind concentrate
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1kg skinless, boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat and halved crosswise
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 unsalted butter (N.B. We substituted oil/butter with ghee)
Mango pickle/chutney to serve
Steamed rice to serve
Coriander to serve
Mint sauce to serve

Method

  1. In a spice grinder, combine cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and peppercorns and grind to a fine powder. Transfer ground spices to a small food processor and add coriander, curry leaves, juice of 1 lemon, chilli, garlic, ginger, tamarind, turmeric, and salt. Process until a paste forms.
  2. Place chicken pieces in a non-reactive bowl. Add remaining juice of 1/2 lemon and turn to coat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Add paste and turn chicken to coat well. Set aside for 15 minutes to marinate.
  3. Line a large bamboo steamer with baking paper. Arrange chicken on a single layer on paper, cooking in 2 batches if necessary. Place basket over a wok or other pan of simmering water, Cover and steam until the chicken is cooked through and tender, about 12 – 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
  4. In a large frying pan, heat oil and butter (or ghee) over a medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, 1 – 2 minutes per side. Serve with rice, fresh coriander, mint sauce and chutney.

Ajoy Joshi’s Chicken Dhaniwal

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

Ajoy Joshi is the genius behind Nilgiris, a bit of an Indian institution on the Lower North Shore of Sydney.

He also runs a smaller, quite intimate restaurant – Tellicherry – which serves wonderfully contemporary Indian cuisine. Small plate after small plate and even more wonderfully, completely BYO.

It is one of our favourite restaurants and a real treat on the few nights a week it is open.

Anyway, I recently hit the big 40 and Nat organised the best present of all: a long lunch (my favourite), Indian (my favourite) and 30 of my best friends (my favourites):

And she convinced Tellicherry to open especially for it!

As we left – after a cracking meal with cracking service – Mr Joshi gave me a copy of his cookbook (Regional Indian Cooking) – and the next night we did our first curry.

Hands down, it was one of the best curries we have cooked. (It reminded us of the amazing Christine Mansfield 100 Almond Curry.)

In the boy, Ajoy says: “I first tried this dish at the Taj Mahal Hotel in New Delhi. I knew instantly that if I ever wrote a book, this recipe would definitely be in it.”

No question.

Enjoy!

(And here is to being 40. The new 30, right?)

Ingredients

1kg chicken thighs, cut into pieces
2 brown cardamom pods
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
2 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
3 whole cloves
5 green cardamom pods, crushed
2.5cm piece cinnamon stick
2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt, whisked until smooth
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh coriander, chopped
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Steamed Basmati Rice to serve

Method

  1. In a saucepan, combine chicken, brown cardamom, turmeric and water. Place over a low heat, bring to simmer and cook until the chicken is almost tender, almost 20 minutes. Remove chicken from stock and set aside. Strain stock through a fine-mesh sieve and reserve.
  1. In a wide, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat oil over a medium-low heat. Add onions and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are dark golden brown, 20 – 25 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.
  2. Reheat oil remaining in pan over medium heat. Add cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon, yogurt and garlic. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens: 10 – 15 minutes. Sauce may appear curdled at this stage, but will be fine after further cooking.
  3. Add chicken to sauce in pan and cook, stirring, until sauce coats chicken. Add 1/4 cup reserved stock and cook over low heat until chicken is cooked through and tender: about 10 minutes.
  4. Stir in fried onions, coriander and pepper. Serve immediately.

Coconut chutney

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: A dinner of dosai, as a side

Dosais are not the least expensive things on your Southern Indian restaurant menu and even then, I doubt they make much money from them.

There are plenty of ingredients that go into the whole show, they take time and technique and importantly, a truly wonderful chutney like this lasts… 24 hours. Time and economies of scale are not on your side.

The silver lining of course is that a good dosai is to die for and this chutney is simply part of the story. It is amazing.

The extra touch that turns the dial from 11 to 12. The addition that completes the meal, taking you into fine Indian cooking territory. The secret weapon in your cook-off that nobody saw coming.

Sure, you have 24-hours to get from bench to plate, though in-between making your dosai batter, your filling and a wonderful side of lentils, you’re signed up to the task right?

And the fact is, you cannot lose any cook-off – or dinner – if you pull the whole thing off.

Tie maybe, but who the hell are you cooking against?!

Ingredients

Half a coconut, grated
2 fresh green chillis
½ bunch fresh coriander leaves
1 tbsp fresh ginger
Salt to taste

Tempering

10ml vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds
¼ asafoetida powder
1 sprig fresh curry leaves

Method

  1. Grind the coconut, chillis, coriander leaves, ginger and salt in a blender, adding a little water if required.
  2. Heat the oil in a pan, add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and curry leaves and temper the chutney by pouring the mixture on top.
  3. Serve as an accompaniment to dosai.

** Enhances colour and flavour and settles the stomach; unless you have it or feel inclined to get it, you can live without.

Sambhar (Indian lentil-stew)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Sambhar (Indian lentil-stew)

Serves: 4 – 6

This is a very popular Southern Indian lentil-stew, especially as an accompaniment to dosai.

It is dead easy to prepare (once you have prepared your Sambhar powder), incredibly healthy and a great way to use up the lentils you probably have left over from winter soups.

Let it simmer and double the recipe so you have plenty leftover for lunch.

Yum.

Ingredients

100gm Yellow lentils or Tour Dal
¼ tsp Turmeric
1 cup Tomato puree (passata)
1 medium-size onion, diced
1 tbsp Sambhar powder*
¼ tbsp Tamarind concentrate
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
Salt to taste

*Sambhar powder (makes plenty; stores for 6-months)

1 ½ cups coriander seeds
1 cup dried red chillis, broken into small pieces
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 ½ tsp black mustard seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
½ inch cinnamon stick
⅓ cup unsweetened dried coconut, shredded
¼ cup firmly packed fresh curry leaves
1 tsp asafoetida powder**

Method

For the Sambhar

  1. Cook the lentils with the turmeric in approximately 2 litres of water until soft and mushy.
  2. Add the tomatoes and onions and cook until they are soft.
  3. Add the Sambhar powder, tamarind concentrate, fresh curry leaves and salt to taste and bring to the boil. Simmer for a bit.
  4. Check the seasoning, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.

Sambhar powder

  1. Heat small saucepan over low heat. Separately dry-roast coriander, chilli peppers, fenugreek, mustard, cumin and cinnamon until fragrant and only lightly coloured. Place in a bowl.
  2. Toast coconut in pan, stirring, until lightly browned. Add to spices.
  3. Dry-roast curry leaves, tossing often, until crisp. Add to spices with asafoetida. Mix well and let cool.
  4. Place mixture in airtight container until ready to use. (Will keep for up to 6 months in the refrigerator.) Just before using, grind to a powder in spice grinder and use as recipe indicates.

** Enhances colour and flavour and settles the stomach; unless you have it or feel inclined to get it, you can live without.