Dal for Babies

Ingredients

• unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 225g red lentils
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 750ml water
• 1½ tsp low-salt stock granules
• juice of ½ lemon
• fresh coriander (optional)
• black pepper

Method

1. Rinse the lentils in plenty of cold water and drain in a sieve.
2. Heat a knob of unsalted butter in a large saucepan. You can add a little oil to stop the butter burning. Add the onion and fry gently for about 10 minutes or until the onion is softened. Add the garlic and spices. Reduce the heat and fry for another minute.
3. Add the drained lentils and stir to combine. Add the water, tomatoes and stock granules. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Simmer gently for around 25 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add a little chopped fresh coriander and black pepper to taste.
5. Allow to cool, then split into portions and freeze.

Jamie Oliver – Peter’s Lamb Curry

I take my hat off to Jamie Oliver. I’ve never tried a recipe of his where I wasn’t pleased with the outcome. His first book, The Naked Chef, has to be one of the most useful cookery books available. It’s worth the price of admission for the bread and pasta recipes alone. The curry recipes in Jamie’s latest books do tend to use ready-made curry pastes for speed and convenience. Nothing wrong with that, of course, I just prefer to make a ruby from scratch.

This recipe is extremely good, worthy of Camelia Panjabi herself. It’s adapted from his second book, “Return of the Naked Chef”. I thought it looked interesting and was tempted enough to try it last weekend. It’s quite similar to the base lamb curry I normally use, so I thought I’d adapt my own recipe to include Jamie’s “fragrant spice mix”. I’ve upped the amount of green cardamom in the recipe, as I love the flavour so much. The whole spices are toasted in a dry frying pan before being finely ground and added to the curry. I also cook the entire dish in the oven rather than cooking the lamb on the hob. It requires less babysitting, as I can just throw the casserole in the oven and forget about it.

Serve with some pilau rice and naan bread. Jamie recommends adding paneer to the curry, a type of Indian cottage cheese. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jamie Oliver recipe without a final flourish of “fresh ‘erbs”, would it?

Masala Ingredients

• 2 tbsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• ½ tbsp fenugreek seeds
• ½ tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 clove
• small piece of cinnamon stick
• 10 green cardamoms

Curry Paste Ingredients

• thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled
• 2 large red onions, peeled
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 red chillies

The Other Ingredients

• fresh coriander & fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons butter/oil
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 300ml stock
• 1.5kg lamb, diced
• fresh mint, handful
• fresh coriander, handful
• 300ml natural yoghurt
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• lime juice
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. Toast the whole spices for a minute or two in a dry frying pan until they release their aroma. Transfer to a spice grinder (or mortar) and leave to cool. Grind to a fine powder and set aside.
2. Put the curry paste ingredients in a blender and process until you get a smooth paste. Add a little water if you wish.
3. Heat a large casserole and add the oil/butter. Gently fry the curry paste and ground spices, stirring regularly.  Add the tomatoes and the stock and bring to the boil. Cover the casserole with a lid and place in the oven for one and a half hours to intensify the flavour.
4. Fry the lamb pieces in the oil until coloured before adding to the curry sauce. Return the casserole to the oven and cook for around 2 hours or until the lamb is tender.
5. Stir in the chopped fresh coriander and mint, then stir in the yoghurt.  Season to taste with some freshly ground black pepper and some lime juice.

Serves 6.

Notes

• If you’d like take try some different curry recipes, I’d recommend my South Indian Lamb Curry as a good starting point. After that, try your hand at these!

Lamb Shank Rogan Josh

This is a really special recipe, for those who like putting a bit of love (and time) into their curry-making. The spicing is different to my standard Kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh recipe because it doesn’t use any shortcuts. I don’t use a lot of pre-ground spice here – I toast the cumin, coriander, fennel, peppercorns and cloves before grinding and adding to the gravy. I use authentic Kashmiri chillies for both their flavour and deep red colour. I use shanks of lamb because traditional Rogan Josh is slow-cooked with the meat bones, giving a very deep flavour and rich consistency. It would make a fantastic dinner party dish.

I also use a whopping 25 green cardamoms in this recipe – no, it’s not a mistake! I love the flavour of cardamom and it’s certainly pushed centre-stage in this recipe. Removing the seeds from the green husk is a bit of “pullaver”, but it’s worth the effort. You could add a little saffron, as it’s very traditional in Rogan Josh, but I find the flavour tends to dominate and I don’t want anything to interfere the other spices. A traditional Rogan Josh will also normally include some yoghurt but I prefer it without as I don’t want a creamy consistency in my RJ. Give it a try, it’s the best curry you’ll ever taste.

Ingredients

• 4-6 lamb shanks
• 2 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
• knob of butter
• 500g onions, chopped (about 3 large onions)
• 8 cloves  garlic, peeled
• thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and chopped roughly
• 25 green cardamoms
• 1 tbsp each of the following: coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 2-inch piece of cinnamon (broken into small shards)
• 5 cloves
• 500g tomato passata
• 500ml water
• 1½ tsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp Kashmiri chili powder (if you can’t find this, replace with 1½ tsp regular chili powder and 2 tsp sweet paprika)
• 3 whole dried Kashmiri chilies
• 2 large black cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala (optional, but make sure it’s homemade!)

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
2. Crush the green cardamoms using a mortar and pestle. Separate the black seeds from the green husk and discard the husk.
3. Using a dry frying-pan, carefully toast the cardamom seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon shards. Keep the seeds moving in the pan, taking care not to burn them. You’ll know they’re done when they start to release a heady aroma. Transfer to a spice/coffee grinder (or a mortar and pestle) and allow to cool.
4. Grind the toasted spices to a fine powder.
5. Place a cast-iron casserole on the hob and heat the oil and butter. Add the lamb shanks and turn until golden on all sides. Remove the shanks using a slotted spoon and set aside.
6. Add the onions to the residual oil in the casserole and cook gently for around 30 minutes until soft and light brown in colour. Add the garlic and ginger and for another two minutes.
7. Remove the browned onion mixture from the casserole using a slotted spoon and add to a blender. Add a little water and blend until very smooth.
8. Put the casserole back on the heat. Add the onion/garlic mixture to the casserole, then add the ground spices, chilli powder, whole dried chillies, black cardamom pods, bay leaves. Fry for a minute before adding the tomato passata and the water. Stir well to combine before returning the lamb shanks to the gravy, along with any juices that have collected. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 3 hours until the meat is very tender, almost falling off the bone.
9. Before serving, you can spoon off some of the fat which has risen to the top of the sauce, if you wish. You can add a little garam masala to taste also. Best served with plain basmati rice or a Kashmiri pilaff.

Serves 4-6.

Notes

• Of course, you could use good quality stewing lamb in place of the lamb shanks. Use 1.2kg of leg/shoulder and follow the instructions in the Kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh recipe.
• This recipe requires a very smooth gravy. For this reason, I’d recommend investing in an electric spice (coffee) grinder. But a mortar and pestle will work well too – it just requires more effort to get a finer textured masala.

Homemade Garam Masala

Garam Masala is literally translated as “hot spice mix”, but the “hot” refers to the intensity of the spices and the heat they generate in the body – not the pungency we associate with chillis. The spice mix can be bought pre-prepared and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, but you should prepare your own if you’re doing a special dish. I’ve only recently started grinding my own garam masala and I’ve found that the difference in flavour is staggering. It is said that commercial garam masala preparations are bulked up with the cheaper and milder spices such as cumin or coriander. The homemade version will be much more intense and fragrant.

You don’t have to toast your spices first but I find it gives a nice roasty flavour and a deeper colour. I’ve experimented with various combinations of spices and this is the one I like best. Mamta Gupta of the fantastic Mamta’s Kitchen advises adding black cumin and fennel seeds for a Kashmiri-style garam masala.

Ingredients

• 5 green cardamoms
• 3 brown cardamoms
• 3 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 4 dry bay leaves
• 3-inch piece of cinnamon stick

Method

Heat a heavy frying pan and gently toast the spices for a minute or two until they start to smell really fragrant. Transfer the toasted spices to a coffe/spice grinder and allow to cool. Grind to a fine powder and store in an airtight jar.

Butter Chicken (River Cottage Murgh Makhani)

This is the best chicken curry I’ve ever tasted and I’ve cooked it quite a few times now.  It’s the curry you make when you want to impress people who won’t eat lamb. Murgh Makhani is the authentic version of the more familiar “chicken tikka masala”. By all accounts, the dish was created at the “Moti Mahal” restaurant in New Delhi as a way to use up the marinade left over in the trays used to prepare chicken tikka. I can’t promise that this recipe is as good as you’d get in the Moti Mahal, but it’s definitely worth trying.

The recipe is adapted slightly from the River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I’ve changed how the chicken tikka is prepared and altered the spicing a little. The result is creamy, rich and spicy. Some plain basmati rice is the only accompaniment you’ll need for this.

Main Ingredients

• 6 large, free-range chicken breasts
• 125g butter
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp honey
• 150ml double cream
• 1 tbsp fenugreek leaves
• juice of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Tikka Marinade Ingredients

• 1 tsp salt
• juice of ½ lemon
• 2 tsp of the following: chilli powder, sweet paprika
• 2 tbsp plain yoghurt
• 2 tbsp garam masala
• 2 tsp of the following: ground coriander, ground fenugreek
• 2 tsp mixed spice (or 1 tsp each of ground cinnamon and ground ginger)
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp groundnut/sunflower oil

Tomato Gravy Ingredients

• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 5 cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 175ml water

Method

1. The first step is to marinade the chicken. Mix the salt, chilli powder and paprika with the lemon juice in a large bowl and add the chicken breasts. cover and leave to marinade for 30 minutes. (If using “bone-in” chicken, make some slashes before adding to the marinade.)
2. Mix the remaining marinade ingredients and coat the chicken breasts. Cover tightly with cling film and leave overnight.
3. Put all of the ingredients for the tomato sauce in a saucepan and bring up to a gentle simmer. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes before straining to remove the whole spices. Cover and set aside.
4. Transfer the chicken pieces, along with it’s marinade, to a roasting tray. Cover the tray with foil and roast in the oven at 220°C for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 200°C and leave for a further 20 minutes.
5. Now it’s time to complete the dish by making the makhani sauce. Melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the ground cumin. Sizzle gently for a minute before adding the tomato sauce and simmering for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cooked chicken along with it’s sauce/marinade. Simmer until the chicken is warmed through and.

Serves 6.

Notes

• Difference between this version and that contained in the River Cottage Meat Book - Hugh does his marinade in one single step. I prefer to do a two-step (with chilli and lime juice first) because it’s always worked for me and makes the chicken really succulent, even chicken breast fillets. I also use fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi) instead of ground fenugreek as it looks good in the finished dish. Hugh also strains his tomato sauce to give a smoother result but I like a bit more texture in the sauce.

Sambhar Powder

This is what you need to make the spice mix for sambhar, a South Indian lentil soup. It is supposed to be quite fiery, but reduce the number of chillies if you wish. The ground lentils in the powder will help to thicken the soup slightly.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 12 dried red chillies, de-seeded
• 12 dried curry leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp asafeotida
• 3 tsp sunflower oil
• 3 tsp split black lentils (urad dal)
• 3 tsp split yellow lentils (toor dal)

Method

1. Heat a dry frying pan and dry-roast the black mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, chillies, peppercorns, coriander seeds and lentils over a gentle heat until lightly toasted. Keep the seeds and lentils moving constantly so that they do nor burn!
2. Transfer the seeds to a spice grind or mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder. Add the turmeric, asafeotida and sunflower oil and mix well to combine. This keeps well in a sealed jar for four weeks.

Sambhar Lentil Soup

Occasionally, when I have leftover tadka dal I will convert it into a tasty soup using some vegetable stock and a handful or two of chopped vegetables. This is a cheat’s version of sambhar and as delicious as it is, it doesn’t compare to the real deal. This is my version.

Sambhar is prepared every day in South Indian homes and is eaten at all times of the day. Sambhar makes a tasty and filling lunch but can also be served as a more substantial main meal if served with some rice and homemade onion bhajis. I’d imagine it would make a great hangover “cure”, though of course I have no first-hand experience of this…

You can use any combination of vegetables you like – I used green beans, celery, courgette etc. because they’re easily available here in Ireland. You could also use aubergines, cauliflower, peas, broad beans or broccoli. You can use more authentic vegetables like okra and drumstick if you have an available supply. (Having tasted drumstick in restaurants, I am happy to leave out this most strange of vegetables!)

Ingredients

• 225g toor dal
• 750ml water
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• thumb-sized piece of root ginger
• a selection of mixed vegetables, chopped into small pieces (I used 1 red onion, 2 green chillies, 3 tomatoes, 2 carrots, 200g green beans, 1 stick of celery, 1 small courgette and a few pre-cooked baby potatoes)
• 1 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
• pinch of asafoetida (optional)
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 15 curry leaves (fresh, if possible)
• 1 tsp red chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp sambhar powder (see below)
• 1 litre vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp tamarind puree (or lemon juice)

Method

1. First make the dal. Rinse the lentils and check for little stones. Rinse well using a sieve, then place in a large saucepan along with the water, turmeric and salt. Slice the root ginger into fine matchsticks.
2. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Stir occasionally and skim off any scum that rises to the top of the cooking water. Reduce the heat and add the sliced root ginger. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. Stir occasionally as the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan as the liquid starts to evaporate. While the dal is cooking you can prepare the vegetables and spices.
3. When the dal is cooked, heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the asafoetida, cumin and mustard seeds. Stir-fry until the seeds have started to pop, then add the curry leaves and chilli flakes. Fry for another few seconds before adding the vegetables.
4. Stir-fry the raw vegetables for a few minutes then add the sambhar masala, stock and tamarind. Now add the cooked dal and stir to combine. Season with a little extra salt and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 10 minutes.
5. Taste for seasoning, then mix through a handful of chopped fresh coriander and serve.

Serves 6.

Notes

• I use a commercial sambhar powder, available in any good Asian store. But you can make you own if you wish.
• This is great recipe for using up any vegetables a little past their prime. You can also add leftover cooked vegetables. This is one of the first things I think of cooking when I have some leftover baby potatoes. Just add the cooked vegetables at the end to warm through.
• You can add a little cooked basmati rice to make it more substantial or my favourite: a tin of cooked (and rinsed) chickpeas.
• Needless to say, make sure you chop your vegetables according to cooking time. Carrots will take longer to cook than green beans, for example, so chop them smaller.

A note for PR companies…

I get at least one unsolicited email per week from PR companies asking me to spend my free time writing about their latest product/restaurant/book. I host and maintain this blog for my own amusement. Unless your email is accompanied by an offer of something free (and ludicrously expensive), please don’t bother asking me to help shill your products. If the product is good enough, people will create their own buzz. Thanks.

Lemon & Coconut Dal

This dal has a bit of a South Indian vibe. It uses the same recipe as my Tadka Dal but with the addition of lemon and coconut milk. Serve with some chapatti and poppadoms.

Ingredients

• 225g toor dal
• 750ml water
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 green chillis
• 1 tbsp sunflower/groundnut oil
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced/finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 12 curry leaves
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lemon
• fresh coriander, a handful

Method

1. Rinse the lentils and check for little stones. Rinse well using a sieve, then place in a large saucepan along with the water, turmeric and salt. Make an incision in the green chillies and add them too.
2. Bring to the boil and skim off any scum that rises to the top of the cooking water. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes. Stir regularly as the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan as the liquid evaporates.
3. While the lentils are cooking, make the tadka in a separate pan. Heat the butter and oil, then add the whole spices and curry leaves. Stir-fry until the mustard seeds start to pop. Reduce the heat then add the onion and garlic. Cook gently for about 10 minutes or until the onions are soft and browned. Add the chopped tomatoes and ground spices, then cook gently for another 5 minutes.
4. The lentils should now be fully cooked. Squash the lentils using a potato masher (or use a stick blender) to achieve a creamy consistency. You can add a little extra water if you want a thinner consistency.
5. Add the tadka to the lentils, then add the coconut milk. Simmer very gently for another 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Stir through the fresh coriander and a good squeeze of lemon juice, then serve.

Serves 2-4.

Traditional Irish Stew

Ok, first of all: “Irish Stew”, in the traditional sense, is never made with beef and it does not involve Guinness! (See here for a delicious Beef & Guinness Stew.) Traditional Irish Stew is the most simple of dishes, consisting of lamb, vegetables, stock and little more. It’s a perfect example of how good quality ingredients can taste amazing when cooked very simply. Some purists might baulk at the idea of putting carrots and thyme in an Irish stew but that’s my version. Give it a try.

I roasted a shoulder of lamb recently and got it together to make an excellent stock from the bones, which I then put in the freezer for later use. Lamb stock has quite a strong flavour and is not as “all-purpose” as chicken or beef stock; it is generally used only in lamb dishes. The stock is well worth the effort and you can use it as a base for this stew. If you don’t have any, just use light chicken stock.

Serve with some soda bread on the side.

Ingredients

• 12 small lamb chops ( I used loin chops, you could also use an equivalent amount of neck or gigot chops)
• 10 medium sized potatoes, halved
• 4 sticks celery, quartered
• 4 large carrots, washed but unpeeled and quartered
• 1 litre lamb or chicken stock
• 2 tbsp pearl barley
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Trim some of the excess fat from the chops. Melt the fat in a large cast-iron casserole and add the chops. Fry until golden and reserve. Por the fat out of the casserole and de-glaze with some of the stock.
2. Place all of the ingredients in the casserole, then top up with water to just cover the meat and veggies. Season with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
3. Cover the casserole, bring to a gentle simmer and leave for 1½ – 2 hours. Check the seasoning and add some chopped fresh parsley.

Serves 4.

Leftovers

• If treated right, leftovers can be more impressive than the original meal. To the leftovers of this stew I added 500ml of hot vegetable stock and whizzed with a stick blender. I added some frozen peas, broad beans and some chopped flat-leaf parsley. The results were superb.