Tag: recipe

Christine Manfield’s Baked Fish with Mustard Cashew Masala

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Serves: 6

The effort in this fish is not to be sneezed at, what with the preparation of tomato kasundi pickle.

Something I am not necessarily entirely convinced you need, though we were left with a jar the pickle and Nat made one of the world’s best cheese toasties the next night with a slathering of the pickle.

The end result of this curry is remarkable, however.

The flavours are gentle and yet so full of layers of flavour. This is not your cheat’s Tuesday night coastal Indian curry.

The evidence of the prep and time in this curry is clear.

This curry is a special keeper. Worth every minute.

Another Christine Manfield homerun.

Ingredients

3 tomatoes, grated
1 tbsp tomato kasundi pickle (see below)
3 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp caster sugar
100ml vegetable oil
2 tsp coriander seeds, roasted and ground
2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground
1 c fish stock
1 tbsp chickpea flour
1/2 c thick plain yoghurt
50ml cream
6 x 150gm mulloway cutlets*
1 tbsp mustard oil
25ml lime juice
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1/2 long green chilli, finely sliced

Mustard Cashew Masala

2 tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
60gm grated fresh coconut
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 small green chillies, chopped
1 brown onion, chopped
2 tbsp raw cashews, chopped
1 tbsp mustard oil

Tomato Kasundi Pickle (Makes 600gm)

1 tbsp brown mustard seeds
160ml malt vinegar
1 tbsp chopped fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves
8 small red chillies, minced
100ml mustard oil
1 tbsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground turmeric
1kg ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
50gm brown sugar
1 tbsp sea salt flakes

  1. Kasundi Pickle: heat a frying pan over a low heat. Add the mustard seeds and vinegar and cook for 5 minutes, taking care not to evaporate the vinegar. Set aside to cool.
  2. Place the mustard seed vinegar, ginger, garlic and chilli in a food processor until a smooth paste forms.
  3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the ground spices and cook for 15 seconds or until just fragrant. Add the mustard paste and tomato, stir to combine and cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes or until the tomato has broken down. Add the sugar and salt, stir to combine and cook for a further 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. Transfer to a food processor and pulse briefly to form a coarse paste. Pour into a sterilised glass jar and seal with a tight-fitting lid. Store in the pantry for up-to 1 month and refrigerate once opened.
  4. To make the mustard cashew masala, place all the ingredients together in a food processor and blend to form a paste. Set aside.
  5. Place the tomato and tomato kasundi pickle in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook for 8-10 minutes or until reduced by half. Add 2 tsp of the salt and the sugar, stir to combine and set aside.
  6. Heat the vegetable oil in a wide-based pan over a low heat. Add the ground coriander and cumin and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Immediately stir in the mustard cashew masala, increase heat to medium, and continue stirring for 5 minutes or until aromatic and starting to colour. Add the reduced tomato and the stock and cook for 10 minutes, Reduce heat to low.
  7. Meanwhile, combine the chickpea flour and yoghurt in a bowl, this prevents the yoghurt from splitting during cooking, and stir into the masala sauce. Add the cream and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat while you cook the fish.
  8. To cook the fish, preheat the oven to 200c. Brush the fish skin with mustard oil and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Heat a heavy-based, ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the fish skin-side down, and cook for 3 minutes or until golden and crisp. Turn the fish over, pour the mustard cashew sauce around the fish, transfer to the oven and cook for 4 – 5 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish, or until cooked through. Rest for 2 minutes to allow juices to settle.
  9. Carefully lift the fish from the pan and place on serving plates. Add the lime juice, remaining 1 tsp of salt, coriander and chilli to the sauce in the pan and stir to combine. Spoon sauce over the fish and serve with steamed basmati rice.

* Any deep-sea, firm-flesh fish will do, such as kingfish trevally, trumpeter or groper.

Christine Manfield’s Chettinad Chilli Chicken

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4

You can point blindfolded to any Christine Manfield recipe and know it will be a knockout.

French, Asian, Contemporary Australian.

My first experience of her cooking was at her extraordinary Sydney restaurant, Paramount. And that would have to have been 25 years ago.

I was then lucky enough to do a Christine Manfield cooking class at the Seafood Markets with my mother, something I still remember well. (Also probably 25 years back!)

Christine’s Five Spice Duck and Shiitake Mushroom Pie is a flavour triumph, though start a day ahead as Nat will attest!

Anything from her book ‘Tasting India’ is going to blow your socks off in a good way: her 100-almond curry is an extraordinary place to start.

I’ve only cooked a few dishes from her latest book ‘Indian Cooking Class’.

This curry is one of them and the complexity of the spice layering is just awesome.

It isn’t so complex that you couldn’t make it mid-week, especially if you made the masala paste on Sunday afternoon.

Put on your blindfold, line this recipe up and thank me later.

Ingredients

75gm ghee
2 brown onions, diced
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
3 small red chillies, minced
20 fresh curry leaves
2 tsp chilli powder
4 chicken marylands, cut into thigh and leg joints
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
100ml chicken stock
2 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp lime juice
1/2 c coriander leaves

Chettinad Masala Paste

1 tsp white poppy seeds
2 large dried chillies
100gm grated fresh coconut
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp finely diced brown onion
2 tsp ginger garlic paste

Method

  1. To make the Chettinad masala paste, place the poppy seeds in a frying pan and cook over low heat for 20 seconds or until lightly toasted. Remove from the pan and soak in 1 tbsp water for 20 minutes. Add the chillies to the pan and cook for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Allow to cool before grinding into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Place the poppy seed mixture, coconut, ground chilli and other spices in a food processor or blender and process to a fine paste.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes or until golden. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the spiced coconut paste and cook, stirring to combine, for 4 – 5 minutes. If the mixture becomes too dry, add a splash of water to prevent it from burning. Set aside to cool.
  3. To cook the chicken, melt the ghee in a wide-based pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 4 minutes or until softened. Add the ginger garlic paste and minced chilli and cook, stirring to combine, for 30 seconds. Add the curry leaves and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds or until crisp. Add the ground chilli and 3 tbsp of the Chettinad masala paste and cook, stirring to combine, for 2 – 3 minutes. Add the chicken and cook, turning once to ensure the pieces are evenly coated in the paste, for 5 minutes. Add the tomato and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the stock, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Season with salt and lime juice. Scatter with coriander and serve with steamed rice.

Pushpesh Pant’s Chicken in a Rich Scarlet Sauce (Murg Roganjosh)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

The name on the tin is exactly what you get here: a beautiful chicken curry in a rich scarlet sauce.

Another Pushpent Pant win.

Marinate the chicken overnight and this is a simple, authentic curry for a special mid-week meal.

Ingredients

1 c natural yoghurt, whisked
4 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
800gm chicken thigh cut into pieces
1 c mustard oil*
2 bay leaves
2 cinnamon sticks, 2.5cm long
4 cloves
Small pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground aniseed
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt

Method

  1. Mix the yoghurt and cardamom pods in a bowl to make a marinade, then season with salt. Put the chicken in a large shallow dish and rub the marinade evenly over the chicken, cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
  2. Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over medium heat, add the chicken, bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and asafoetida and stir gently though constantly for 10 minutes until the yoghurt dries and the oil separates out. Now reduce the heat and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the chicken turns brown. Mix in the chilli powder, increase the heat and stir quickly, then add the ginger, aniseed powder and garam masala together with 1 c of water. Reduce the heat and cook until the sauce thickens.

* Two points here. 1. Mustard oil is lovely and definitely worth getting. 2. I used a little over 1/4 c. Oily Indian curries are lovely, though 1 c will scare your guests.

Lidia Bastianich’s Leek and Ricotta Tart

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

My father-in-law – also a Rob – and I have a shared passion for classic, old-school, home-cooked Italian.

If you follow my blog, you’ll know I have typed up many of Antonio Carluccio’s recipes, as just one example of the old-school Italian Rob and I enjoy so much.

I helped Rob with a few jobs at the start of the year and as thanks, he gave me Lidia Bastianich’s cookbook, ‘From Our Family Table to Yours’. (If you wanted to know the way to my heart, buy me a cookbook and preferably, one written by Lidia!)

And yes, I have previously typed up many Lidia Bastianich recipes. She is a genius.

Rob suggested I kick off the book by cooking Lidia’s Leek and Ricotta Tart.

To summarise the end-result, Tom, our 13-year old food critic simply said, “this is brilliant”. And he wasn’t wrong.

I love anything with ricotta and the leek is a wonderful addition.

For a long, homely Italian lunch or dinner, kicking-off the meal with this tart would very much set the scene for a special meal ahead.

Divertitevi!

Ingredients

For the dough

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour plus more as needed
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesean
2 tsp sugar
1/2 st salt
1 large egg yolk (save the white for the filling)
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits

For the filling

3 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more for the baking pan
2 large leeks, white and light green parts, halved vertically, sliced 2cm thick
4 spring onions, chopped
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 large egg white (yolk used in the dough)
1 c fresh ricotta (I used smooth)
1/2 c freshly grated Parmesean, plus more for sprinkling
1/4 c chopped fresh Italian parsley
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 large egg, beaten, for an egg wash

Method

  1. For the dough: combine the flour, grated cheese, sugar and salt in a food processor, and pulse to combine. Beat the egg yolk in a spouted measuring cup with 1/3 water.
  2. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour, and pulse until the mixture is lumpy. Drizzle in the egg-yolk mixture, and pulse until the dough comes together, adding a little more water or flour as needed. Move the dough to a floured counter, and knead it a few times to bring it together. Form it into a disk, wrap is plastic wrap, and chill until just firm, about 1 hour.
  3. For the filling: melt the 3 tbsp butter in a medium skillet over a medium heat. Add the leeks, and cook, stirring often, until they’re tender: about 10 minutes. Add the scallions, and continue to cook until they are wilted but the green parts are still green: about 4 minutes. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and several grinds of pepper, and let it cool.
  4. Beat the egg white in a large bowl until foamy. Add the cooled leeks, the ricotta, 1/2 c grated cheese, parsley, and nutmeg. Season with 1/2 tsp salt and stir to combine.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180c with a rack in the bottom third. Butter a large 18cm cake pan. Roll the dough on a piece of baking paper to a circle about 30cm in diameter and lay it in the buttered pan. Add the filling, and spread it to an even layer. Fold the overhanging edges in to make a crust on the edges. Brush the crust with the egg wash, and sprinkle all over with the grated Parmesan.
  6. Bake until the filling is set and deep golden brown and the crust is golden on the edges: 40 – 50 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool. Serve or warm or at room temperature, cut into wedges.

Pushpesh Pant’s Paneer Scramble (Paneer di Bhurji)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4 – 6

Nat loves paneer and I know I have said it before, though worth saying again: make your own.

The flavour and texture is completely superior to that of store-bought paneer and it’s a pretty simple process.

This particular Pushpesh Pant dish is absolutely moorish and we loved the texture of the crumbled paneer.

We always cook at least one vegetarian dish when we pull together an Indian banquet and this is one recipe I will be requesting again!

(Have halved the quantity of cloves and added a can of cherry tomatoes; and suggest you do to.)

Ingredients

1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
4 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion, chopped
5 tsp ginger/garlic paste
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 can cherry tomatoes
1 1/2 c cooked chana dal
450gm paneer, mashed
2 green chillies, deseeded and cut into long strips
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
1 tsp ground green cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground fenugreek

To garnish

1 x 4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
4 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Method

  1. Put the turmeric and chilli powder in a small bowl, add 2 tbsp water and mix together.
  2. Heat the ghee in a heavy-based pan over medium heat, add the cumin and stir-fry for about 1 minute, or until the seeds begin to splutter. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes, or until it turns light golden. Add the ginger/garlic paste and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until the moisture has evaporated. Add the turmeric mixture and fry for a further 30 seconds, or until all the liquid has evaporated.
  3. Add the tomatoes and fry for about 10 minutes. Now add the chana dal and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, or until the oil separates out. Add the mashed paneer and stir, then add the chillies and season with salt. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, before adding the ground spices. Stir, then remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Transfer to a serving dish and garnished with julienned ginger and chopped coriander.

Thomas Straker’s Baked Gnocchi with Beef and Pork Ragù (TikTok)

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

The first Thomas Straker recipe I typed up a few weeks ago was extraordinary.

And no kidding, my traffic grew by a third almost overnight and the recipe became my second most viewed.

All of Thomas Straker’s recipes are contained in short-burst TikTok videos without the recipe. Totally viral and social content, though not very helpful regarding cooking.

For the second time, however, Nat was still determined.

Introducing this totally nuts, baked gnocchi with beef and pork ragù!

On account of going up to Newcastle – two hours north of Sydney – for a 40th Saturday night, Nat started the ragù Friday. Gnocchi and béchamel on our return.

A triumphant, late Sunday winter lunch?

You absolutely bet!

What absolute luxury. Total, last meal decadence.

A dish that you’d drive across town for. Honestly, a dish you just can’t stop smiling about.

In a world of food complexity and pretence (and I am plenty guilty of that), this is a swinging boulder from the other direction to smash it all to pieces.

The beginning of homemade gnocchi.
Taking shape.
Plunged in an ice bath, reserved and tossed with olive oil.
The incredible ragù.
Béchamel with mozzarella and parmesan.
OMG. Combine the béchamel and ragù and two very good things have come together.
More parmesan and we are ready to bake.

Ironically, as we were leaving Newcastle this morning, Nat spotted an institution – Don Beppino’s House of Lasagne – a restaurant we had a late-night meal at 12 years ago. Already with a few drinks under our belt, we had the best night: the sort of food I am typing up here with too much Chianti and too many laughs.

About as old-school as it gets.

This is what life is all about.

Ingredients

Ragù

Extra olive oil
1 carrot, unpeeled, chopped finely
1 onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary
1 tsp Italian herbs
1/2 tsp dry oregano
500gm beef and pork mince
1 tbsp tomato paste
Salt
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
3/4 c red wine
1 can cherry tomatoes
500ml chicken stock

Béchamel

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1/4 c milk
1/2 mozzarella ball (175gm), chopped
1/4 c parmesan, grated
Salt

Gnocchi

6 baking potatoes
1 1/2 c plain flour (plus more as you need it)
2 egg yolks
1 tsp salt
Extra virgin olive oil

Pepper and extra parmesan to sprinkle before baking

Method

  1. Start by making a sofrito: heat some oil in a heavy pan and softly sauté the carrot, onion, celery and garlic until very soft though not golden.
  2. In a separate heavy pan, heat more oil over medium-high heat and fry the mince until browned. Add the tomato paste, salt and sherry vinegar and combine. Add the red wine, canned tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer adding the herbs. Cook for 30 minutes. Add the sofrito and combine, reducing the heat to low and cook for as long as you can. Taste and season and remove the rosemary sprig.
  3. For the béchamel, in a saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until bubbling. Whisk in the flour until well combined and then add the milk, whisking until combined. Increase the heat and add the mozzarella and then Parmesan, whisking until well combined and fully melted.
  4. Slowly introduce the béchamel sauce to the ragù and stir to combine.
  5. To make the gnocchi, bake the potatoes at 180c until cooked through. Remove the flesh when cool and rice/mash. Combine with the flour, egg and salt and knead until combined. Set aside for 5 minutes.
  6. Heat a large pot of boiling water and separately, set up an ice water bowl to reserve the cooked gnocchi. Using a piping bag with no attachment, pipe long tubes of the combined potato mixture and then cut into 3cm gnocchi with a sharp knife.
  7. Cook the gnocchi rapidly for a few minutes until they float. Immediately transfer to the ice water bowl and allow to cool completely. When cooled, quickly drain and toss with oil.
  8. Heat an oven to 200c. Carefully combine the gnocchi with béchamel ragù mixture ensuring the gnocchi does not break up. Pour the gnocchi mixture into a baking pan; or several pans. Pepper, very liberally sprinkle over parmesan and bake until bubbling.
  9. Serve immediately with Chianti!

Gourmet Traveller’s Kingfish Ceviche Tostada

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 6

Leading up to Avalon’s (7 months as of today) birth, Nat and I talked of our first proper meal together. Being October, outside, put up the umbrella, Champagne and a slow afternoon of good food and baby talk.

Good times right.

I did a side of ocean trout over charcoal and a really aromatic Asian/South American salad, though we kicked it off with this tostada, a recipe I’d had in our worryingly big backlog of recipes to try.

Sure it’s simple and sure, Sydney has overdone kingfish ceviche to death the past few years, though what a great snack.

Just a lovely way to kick off a meal with a three-day-old and a glass of something French. And doesn’t it look the part!

(And 7-months later, Avalon has consistently remained the most happy, beautiful little girl and best-friend any father could ever hope for. And no, she is not named after the regional Victorian airport, and is instead a nod to the great Bryan Ferry and his greatest song of all time.)

Ingredients

400gm sashimi-grade kingfish, cut across the grain into 5mm slices
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1/2 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Juice of 1/2 orange
1 tbsp olive oil (note: not extra virgin olive oil)
Juice of 2 limes
Vegetable oil for shallow-frying
6 – 8 small tortillas
1 large avocado, coarsely chopped
40gm sour cream
2 radishes, cut into julienne
1 c (loosely packed) coriander

Method

  1. Combine kingfish, onion, jalapeño, orange juice, olive oil and half the lime juice in a bowl, season to taste and refrigerate for 15 minutes to marinate.
  2. Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil (about 2cm deep) in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry tortillas one at a time, turning once, until golden and crisp (1 – 2 minutes each side). Transfer to a tray lined with paper towels. Season to taste with sea salt.
  3. Process avocado, sour cream and remaining lime juice in a blender or food processor until smooth and season to taste. Spread tostadas with avocado cream, top with ceviche, radish and coriander, season to taste and serve.

Dina Begum’s Slow-cooked Spicy Beef Curry (Mezbani Mangsho)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 6 – 8

This thumper of a beef curry was cooked by Nat as part of a Bangladeshi lunch.

Calling it a thumper is unfair on one hand because it is so complex and aromatic. But boy, it isn’t mucking around either.

Nat skipped the addition of the final fresh chillies because she felt it was already where she wanted to be, spice-wise. You’re call.

Otherwise, let this number marinate overnight, cook it low and slow and you’re in for a real autumn warmer. Beautiful. (Red wine is not really optional either.)

Ingredients

1.4kg beef shoulder on the bone, cut into 4cm pieces*
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/3 tsp ground nutmeg
1/3 tsp ground mace
1/2 c mustard oil or rapeseed oil**
2 medium onions, finely sliced
3 c cold water
2 bay leaves
4 – 5 whole green chillies

Dry Spice Mix

2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp Bengali five-spice or 1/2 tsp (wild) celery seeds
2 green cardamom pods
5cm piece of cassia bark or cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp fennel seeds

Wet Spice Paste

1 tbsp water
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped
5cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled
1 1/2 tsp salt

Method

  1. Place the beef chunks in a large mixing bowl and sprinkle over the salt. Set aside.
  2. To make the dry spice mix, lightly toast all the whole spices except the fennel seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium-heat and stir for 2 minutes, or until the spices are aromatic. Transfer to a dish to cool slightly, then tip into a spice grinder, along with the fennel seeds. Grind until very fine, then pour into the bowl with the meat.
  3. To make the wet spice paste, blend all the ingredients in a blender until you have a smooth paste. Transfer this to the bowl with the meat. Add the turmeric, both chilli powders, nutmeg and max and mix thoroughly. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours or preferably, overnight.
  4. When you’re ready to cook, heat the oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pan over a high heat. Add the sliced onions and sauté for a few minutes until golden, then add the marinated meat, followed by 1 1/4 c of the water and the bay leaves. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 – 7 minutes. Reduce the heat to low-medium, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Add the remaining 1 1/2 c water. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 45 minutes, or until tender and the gravy is reduced and no longer watery.
  5. For the final 10 minutes of cooking, add the whole green chillies. Stir through a simmer. When ready, serve immediately with boiled basmati rice.

* Nat substituted 900gm of chuck roast, taking into account the weight of the bone
** If using rapeseed oil, add 2 tbsp mustard powder to the marinade.

Dina Begum’s Eggs in Creamy Gravy (Dimer Korma)

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4 as a main, 8 as a side

The latest addition to the cookbooks is Made in Bangladesh by Dina Begum, a UK cook and food writer.

It’s a lovely book of stories and recipes from a Bangladeshi home kitchen.

As part of a late week – we need to reward ourselves for a flat-chat week of work – lunch, Nat and I tackled a dish each.

This was mine.

Nat is suspicious of egg recipes like this. I suspect (know) it comes from a childhood of whole eggs in dishes, something which in fairness, would have also skewed my view of whole eggs in really any dish.

The sauce is silken with the addition of milk and yoghurt towards the end. It is aromatic and actually pretty addictive. If I had to eat this for breakfast every day, sign me up!

Paired along side this spicy beef curry, it was just excellent.

If you have the opportunity, cook both and this is a perfect late-Autumn meal. Add a red wine and now you’re talking.

Ingredients

8 large eggs
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp ghee
2 cloves
4 peppercorns
5cm piece of cassia bark (substitute cinnamon stick)
3 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 c water
2/3 c full-fat milk
4 heaped tbsp Greek yoghurt
4 whole green chillies

For the paste

1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2.5cm piece of fresh root ginger, grated
3 – 4 tbsp water

Method

  1. Combine the paste ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth, then set aside.
  2. Place the eggs in a pan of cold water over medium-high heat. Bring to the boil and boil for about 15 minutes, then remove from the water and cool under cool running water. Once cool, peel the eggs and very lightly score their surfaces lengthways. Set aside.
  3. Heat the oil in a deep, wide frying pan over medium-heat and fry the onions for about 10 minutes until golden. Transfer the cooked onion to a bowl and set aside. Add the ghee to the same pan, still over the heat. Add the hard-boiled eggs and lightly fry for 1 – 2 minutes until lightly golden. Use a slotted spoon to remove them from the pan and set aside.
  4. Next, add the whole spices and the bay leaf, along with the onion paste and salt. Stir well to combine, then cover. Reduce the heat and cook for 7 – 8 minutes, or until soft, ensuring the paste doesn’t brown. Now add the ground spices. Increase the heat to medium to cook out the spices, then add the water. Cover, reduce the heat to low and cook for 6 – 7 minutes, checking occasionally to ensure nothing is catching on the pan. Add a splash of water if necessary. Take off the heat and leave to rest, cover, for a minute or two.
  5. In a jug mix the milk and yoghurt until combined, then very slowly whisk into the pan – working slowly will help the mixture from splitting. Once you have a smooth sauce, stir in the eggs until they are coated with the sauce, then add the whole green chillies and half the fried onions. Return to a low heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Sprinkle over the remaining fried onions to serve.