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
- 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.
- Put the curry paste ingredients in a blender and process until you get a smooth paste. Add a little water if you wish.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
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
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Crush the green cardamoms using a mortar and pestle. Separate the black seeds from the green husk and discard the husk.
- 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.
- Grind the toasted spices to a fine powder.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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
- 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.)
- Mix the remaining marinade ingredients and coat the chicken breasts. Cover tightly with cling film and leave overnight.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
