Tag: yoghurt

Dina Begum’s Doi Murgi (Bangladeshi Yoghurt Chicken Curry)

.Reading time 3 minutes.

Serves: 4

This is my third Dina Begum recipe and it was an absolute home run.

It is total comfort food.

The braised chicken thigh in the spices and yoghurt and the wonderful whole green chillies, finished with the crispy shallots on rice: kill me now.

This is what dreams are made of.

I ended up cooking the gravy down longer than the recipe prescribed though other than that, what you see is what you should cook.

Marinate the chicken overnight, get those onions golden and the rest is pretty set-and-forget.

With a glass of wine, two of my favourite things in life were consecutively ticked off!

Update: our best friends Woodles and Billy just had baby #2. A little girl Izzy. Nat is rumoured to get to see the little girl tomorrow and so I’ve doubled this and can confirm it works: as a small dinner gift.

So excited for you guys! Can’t wait for the next looooooong lunch! 🥴

The always wonderful Woodles! (With Nat.)

Ingredients

Chicken marinade

1kg boneless chicken thighs, skinned and cut into large pieces
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped
(I used 4 tsp ginger garlic paste)
1/4 tsp black pepper, crushed
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp lemon juice
1 c Greek yoghurt
1/2 tsp cumin powder

Sauce

5 tbsp mustard oil
3 medium onions, finely sliced
1 tsp salt
6 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
8 cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
6 green chillies

To garnish

1 handful crispy shallots
4 green chillies, split lengthways

Method

  1. Place the chicken in a bowl with all the marinade ingredients, mix well and chill in the fridge for at least 2 – 3 hours and preferably overnight. Remove the chicken from the fridge an hour before cooking.
  2. Heat the mustard oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, bay leaves and whole spices and cook until golden brown. Add 125ml of water and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. When the onion mixture is soft and caramelised, add the ground spices.n Turn up the heat to medium and sauté for a minute or two to cook out the spices. Add the green chillies and marinated chicken mixture together with 50ml of water and stir to combine.
  4. Set the pan back over a low heat and cover. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover the pan and continue to cook until you have a thick gravy with a little oil rising to the surface. Serve with crispy shallots and a split chilli.

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.
methi-murg

Pushpesh Pant’s Chicken with Fenugreek Leaves (Methi Murg)

.Reading time 2 minutes.

Serves: 4

When I told the owner of our local Indian grocer I wanted fresh fenugreek leaves, he asked why. I explained that I was cooking this curry and he was totally confused by the quantity asked for and doubted it would work.

(It turns out it is also easier to buy frozen fenugreek leaves rather than fresh, though the result is of course the same.)

This curry was superb: it absolutely worked. Served alongside this chickpea curry, it was just a brilliant meal.

The marinade can be made the night before, perfect for a mid-week treat. Open a good red and thoroughly enjoy.

Ingredients

2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp natural yoghurt, whisked
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 medium-sized chicken, cut into pieces (I substituted 1kg chicken thigh)
3/4 c vegetable oil
2 large cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
3 green chillies, de-seeded and chopped
1/2 tsp ground caraway seeds
2 c fenugreek leaves, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt

Method

  1. To make the marinade, combine the ginger garlic paste, 1 onion, the yoghurt, chilli powder and turmeric together in a large, shallow bowl and season with salt. Add the chicken and turn to coat well, then cover and set aside in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
  2. Heat half of the oil in a large, heavy-based pan over low heat, add the marinated chicken and cook for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the chicken is slightly browned. Pour in 3 1/4 c water and cook for about 30 minutes, or until 2/3 of the water has evaporated and the chicken is cooked.
  3. Heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan over medium heat, add the cardamom pods, cinnamon, chillies, ground caraway seeds and the remaining onion and fry for 1 – 2 minutes or until the cardamom swell. Add the chopped fenugreek leaves and fry for 3 – 4 minutes. Add the cooked chicken and simmer together until the leaves are fragrant, then squeeze over the lime juice.

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.

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.

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.

Yotam Ottolenghi’s Leek Fritters

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Serves: 4

Before diving into this quite excellent recipe, it has been a few months since my last post.

It is not that we haven’t been cooking and eating well, though, since my last post, Nat and I have welcomed a little baby girl to the family: Avalon.

I can’t blame sleepless nights. Avalon has been an absolute dream and has slept from 7pm to 7am since she was nine weeks old. Though with Christmas, a few trips thrown in and all the rest of the craziness, typing up recipes has taken a back seat.

I have a real backlog of recipes to get through, though now have the joy of typing, looking at the most beautiful sister to Max, Tom and Oliver. This recipe is for Avalon.

I can’t wait to cook with her in the kitchen.

And now to these fritters.

They are superb.

Chosen and cooked by Nat as part of a bigger Yotam feast, they are so tasty and so soft. Add the sauce and serve alongside this Yotam Ottolenghi Char-grilled Asparagus, and you’ve got an absolutely wonderful weekend meal on your hands.

Ingredients

3 leeks (450gm in total, trimmed weight)
5 shallots, finely chopped
150ml olive oil
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and sliced
25gm parsley (leaves and fine stalks), finely chopped
3/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 free-range egg white
120gm self-raising flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
150ml milk
55gm unsalted butter, melted

Sauce*

100gm Greek yoghurt
100gm sour cream
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
20gm parsley leaves, chopped
30gm coriander leaves, chopped

Method

  1. Start by making the sauce. Blitz all the ingredients together in a food processor until a uniform green. Set aside for later.
  2. Cut the leeks into 2cm thick slices; rinse and drain dry. Sauté the leeks and shallots in a pan with half the oil on medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until soft. Transfer to a large bowl and add chilli, parsley, spices, sugar and salt. Allow to cool down.
  3. Whisk the egg white to soft peaks and fold it into the vegetables. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, whole egg, milk and butter to form a batter. Gently mix it into the egg white and vegetable mixture.
  4. Put 2 tbsp of the remaining oil in a large frying pan and place over medium heat. Spoon about half of the vegetable mixture into the pan to make four large fritters. Fry them for 2 – 3 minutes on each side, or until golden crisp. Remove to kitchen paper and keep warm. Continue making the fritters, adding more oil as needed. You should end up with about eight large fritters. Serve warm, with the sauce on the side or drizzled over.

* Substitute a squeeze of lemon or lime juice if you just don’t have the time for the sauce.

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.