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Chicken with Spinach and Paneer

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Chicken stuffed with spinach and paneer
Chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese and then fried with fresh vegetables.

This is an easy dish though it does take some forward planning. It looks quite impressive when served so it is perfect for a family meal or a posh dinner party.

The stuffed chicken breasts can be cooked ahead of time and then pan fried and browned until hot just before serving.

I served the chicken with stir fried vegetables and a pinch of turmeric which is simple but good. You could also serve the chicken on it's own or in any of the chicken curry sauces found on this site.

Filling prepared and ready for the chicken breasts
Spinach filling for the rolled chicken breasts
cooking the chicken breasts
Rolled chicken breast cooking away nicely in the water
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Yield: 4

Chicken Breasts Stuffed With A Spicy Spinach and Paneer Filling

Chicken Breasts Stuffed With A Spicy Spinach and Paneer Filling

You will need good quality cling film for this recipe. I like to serve this recipe as they do at Chai Wallah with stir fried vegetables. You could also enjoy the chicken breasts served in a tomato or onion curry sauce.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons ghee
  • 4 large chicken breasts
  • 400g fresh baby spinach leaves (washed and squeezed dry)
  • 1/2 finely chopped onion
  • 2 (or more) finely chopped fresh green chilies
  • 2 tablespoons garlic and ginger paste
  • 300g grated paneer
  • 2 tablespoons shop bought tandoori masala (or homemade)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Using a very sharp knife, place the blade to the side of the chicken breasts and slice them lengthwise through the centre but not completely through.
  2. Open the chicken breasts up and lay flat on the counter surface.
  3. Cover with cling film and flatten with a mallet or other heavy object such as a rolling pin.
  4. Heat the ghee in a large frying pan and then throw in the chopped onion.
  5. When the onion becomes translucent, add the garlic and ginger paste, the tandoori masala, the chopped chilies and the spinach and fry over high heat until the spinach is just slightly wilted but still quite fresh looking.
  6. Remove from the pan, squeeze dry and chop finely.
  7. Now place a couple of tablespoons of the spinach mixture on top of each flattened chicken breast and then top with a little of the grated paneer.
  8. Roll out a long piece of cling film and roll each of the chicken breasts tightly into sausage shapes, twisting the ends to make them extra tight.
  9. Bring a large bowl of water to a boil and then place the rolled chicken breasts into the water.
  10. Boil the rolled chicken breasts for 20 minutes until cooked through.
  11. Remove from the plastic wrap and cut diagonally into 2 centimetre thick pieces.
  12. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

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Grilled Monkfish

By 2 Comments

This grilled monkfish can be cooked in a tandoor or over coals on a barbecue.

Grilled monkfish just plain gets it! There are so many different ways to cook monkfish but grilling it is my favourite way. The key to success is finding the freshest ingredients and being extra careful not to overcook the fish.

Grilled monkfish on a serving platter with vegetables and lime wedges.

My Doori Tandoor oven experiment.

Lately I have been trying a lot of new recipes in my Doori Tandoor. This tandoor heats up a lot quicker than clay tandoors and the results so far have been fantastic!

I lit the tandoor and within 30 minutes it was ready to start cooking! This isn't a paid advert. I just wanted you all to know that if you're looking for a tandoor oven that is also portable, you might want to check out the Doori!

About this grilled monkfish recipe.

When I cook seafood, I like to keep things simple so that the fish is what you taste. The spicing complements the dish but should not overpower it in any way.

With this grilled monkfish recipe, you will get just that. Tender pieces of grilled monkfish in a light marinade. You char the monkfish over hot coals which gives it a subtle smoky flavour. You then baste it at the end of cooking with melted ghee making the end result, tender, juicy and out of this world delicious.

How do you choose the freshest monkfish?

It is monkfish tail which is normally on offer at fishmongers and supermarkets. So you will not be able to check the eyes like you would other fresh fish. Following is a list of things to look for when you purchase monkfish tail.

1. Appearance of Flesh: Fresh monkfish fillets should have moist, firm, and translucent white or pale pink flesh. If it looks dull, grayish, or has dried-out edges, it’s likely past its prime.

2. Smell: Fresh monkfish has a mild, almost sweet aroma of the sea. If it smells “fishy” or sour, it’s a sign it’s no longer fresh.

3. Firmness: Fresh monkfish should be firm to the touch. When you press the flesh, it should spring back rather than leaving an indentation. A soft or mushy texture indicates it’s older or improperly handled.

4. Moisture: Look for a slight, natural sheen on the flesh rather than excess liquid or a sticky surface. Excess liquid can indicate it’s been sitting for a while or that it was previously frozen and thawed improperly.

5. Skin: If buying a whole monkfish tail, check the skin—it should be intact and not dried out. Fresh whole monkfish may still have a dark, shiny, slightly moist skin with no signs of discolouration or dryness.

How do you prepare the monkfish for cooking?

Preparing monkfish tail for cooking involves cleaning, skinning, and sometimes removing the membrane. A good fishmonger will be happy to do this for you if he/she hasn't already. Following is a list of what you need to do if preparing the monkfish for this grilled monkfish recipe at home:

1. Skin the Tail: If the tail still has skin, start by placing it on a cutting board with the skin side down. Slide a sharp fillet knife between the flesh and the skin at the thick end of the tail. Hold the skin taut and gently run the knife along the flesh, keeping it as close to the skin as possible to remove it in one piece.

2. Remove the Membrane: Some monkfish tails come with a thin, silvery membrane that can make the fish tough if left on. To remove it, make a shallow cut along the membrane, and use your knife to gently peel it away from the flesh, similar to removing silver skin from meat.

3. Trim and Portion: This grilled monkfish recipe calls for the monkfish to be cut into large bite sized pieces. Cut away any discoloured or thin, ragged edges to create a uniform shape. If the tail is large, you can cut it into smaller portions or medallions to help it cook evenly.

4. Rinse and Dry: Rinse the monkfish tail under cold water to remove any debris or loose membrane pieces. Pat it dry with paper towels, which will help it sear nicely if you plan to pan-fry or roast it.

5. Season and Prepare for Cooking: Time to start the grilled monkfish recipe. Season the monkfish tail with salt, pepper and then add it to your marinade. It only needs to marinate for 20 minutes so you can do this while your barbecue or tandoor oven is heating up. 

How long can you store leftovers in the fridge?

You want your monkfish to be as fresh as possible. It's an expensive fish after all. If you do have leftovers, you can wrap them tightly or place them in an air tight container and place in the fridge for 1 to 2 days.

To reheat, you could simply stir fry your grilled monkfish in a little oil until heated through or place it in an oven set to 200*C/400°F on a lightly greased baking tray to heat through.

 

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the recipe laid out on a serving platter.
Get all your ingredients prepared and ready before you start cooking.
Toasting the gram flour in a pan.
To toast the gram flour, place it in a dry pan over a medium heat and toast until fragrant and a couple of tones darker. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
The ingredients for the marinade in a mixing bowl.
Place all of the marinade ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Then add the monkfish and veggies to marinate for 20 minutes.
The skewered monkfish and vegetables.
After marinating, skewer the monkfish and vegetables onto skewers to cook in a tandoor or over a barbecue.
Adding half potatoes onto the ends of skewers for the tandoor.
If cooking in a tandoor, skewer half potatoes onto the ends of the skewers. This will ensure nothing slips off the skewer into the fire.
The monkfish on skewers cooking in a tandoor oven.
Place the skewers in your prepared tandoor oven or over hot coals on your barbecue.
Grilled monkfish cooking in a tandoor oven.
Cook until nicely charred and cooked through. Be sure to turn the skewers from time to time for a more even cook. Baste at the end of cooking with the melted ghee.
The grilled monkfish on a cutting board.
When cooked to your liking, transfer to a clean surface.
Removing the monkfish and vegetables from a skewer.
Slide the monkfish and vegetables onto a serving board.
The grilled monkfish and vegetables on a serving platter.
The monkfish and vegetables can be simply picked up and eaten or wrapped up in naans or chapattis. Serve with lime wedges that can be squeezed over it all to taste.
Grilled monkfish and vegetables on a serving platter with lime wedges.
Sprinkle with flaky salt and enjoy!

 

Yield: 4

Grilled Monkfish with Vegetables

Grilled monkfish on skewers on a serving platter.

You are going to love this simple grilled monkfish recipe. When you cook it over hot coals, you get a delicious smoky flavour and the monkfish becomes tender. The marinade and melted ghee help bring it all together.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 750g (1 1/2 lbs) monkfish tail cut into lager bite sized pieces
  • FOR THE MARINADE
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 red onion, quartered and divided into petals
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into similar sizes as the monkfish
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into similar sizes as the monkfish
  • 3 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 tbsp toasted gram flour
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt, Whisked
  • TO FINISH
  • 3 tbsp melted ghee
  • Flaky salt to season
  • 2 limes, quartered

Instructions

  1. If you have not already toasted your gram flour or purchased it pre-toasted, place your gram flour in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and let it toast until fragrant and a couple of shades darker. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
  2. Season your monkfish pieces with salt and pepper to taste. Then whisk all of the marinade ingredients together until smooth.
  3. Place the monkfish, bell pepper and red onion in the marinade and ensure it is all equally coated. You can go straight to cooking or let it marinate for about 20 minutes.
  4. Prepare your fire for either tandoori style cooking or for the barbecue. If cooking on a barbecue, you will need to set up your grill for direct heat cooking. I use about a shoe box full of charcoal for a recipe this size.
  5. Skewer the marinated monkfish and vegetables onto your skewers. If placing in a tandoor, be sure to place a half potato at the end of each skewer. These are not to eat but to keep the fish and vegetables from sliding into the fire.
  6. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, turning the skewers from time to time for an equal cook. When the monkfish is almost cooked through, baste it with the melted ghee. Some of the ghee will fall into the fire and smoke it up. This is a good thing. That smoke is flavour.
  7. To serve, season more with a little flaky salt and place on the table with lime wedges that can be squeezed over the fish to taste.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Seafood Recipes

Currywurst

By 2 Comments

yHomemade currywurst just plain gets it!


Have you ever tried currywurst?

If not, it's time you did! Currywurst may not be a curry like you're used to eating but it's a curry all the same.

It's great for the whole family when made as this recipe but you could spice it up some by adding more chilli powder.

It's normally served with fries or bread but you can also serve it as a curry, poured over steaming hot rice. 

Currywurst and fries
So good served with fries! But there is another, equally good way to serve currywurst.

How I got this authentic German currywurst recipe...

I was first introduced to currywurst back in 1986 while studying in Tübingen, Germany. While walking back from class everyday, my friends and I would always stop by a fast food imbiss for beer and food.

We weren’t alone; around 800,000,000 portions of currywurst are consumed in Germany every year. 

Currywurst was a real favourite and that year I was invited to a friend's house for Christmas. One evening after drinking an impressive amount of beer, we started feeling peckish.

He decided to show me his 'famous' currywurst recipe and I helped him make it. This is it! It has probably changed a bit over the years but I think it's still pretty close to what we made that night. 

Which sausage and how to cook them...

Authentic currywurst is made with German bratwurst or bockwurst. Bratwurst are usually raw when purchased so they need to be cooked through before serving. Bockwurst are sold cooked like a hotdog.

I have tried this currywurst recipe with lots of different sausages and it is always good but always go for German sausages when I can get them. 

My friend showed me his method for cooking bratwurst and I have used it ever since for all the sausages I cook. He simmered them for about 10 minutes in water until cooked through and then just browned them off in a pan.

This is also a great method for cooking sausages on a barbecue. Not more burnt exteriors with raw centres! 

The history of currywurst...

The most accepted version of its origins is that in post WW2 Berlin a couple of British soldiers traded curry powder and ketchup with a woman named Herta Heuwer for some spirits. She used her new ingredients to come up with currywurst.

It wasn't a bad trade off as the soldiers got to get drunk for very little and Herta became famous and rich from her creation.

How to serve currywurst...

The way you will get it most often in Germany is cut into bite sized pieces with the sauce poured over the top and served with fries.

That's the way I usually serve currywurst but it is also popular served with a bun.

Lately I have been serving currywurst as shown in the video on this page, like a normal curry. It's delicious served this way over rice or fries. 

Step by step photos.

Frying onions
Fry the onions until soft and translucent. This should only take about 5 minutes.
Adding garlic and chillies to the currywurst
Add the garlic and a couple of slit chillies if you like.
Adding ground spices
Stir in the ground spices.
Adding tomatoes and water to sauce.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes and water. I added more chilli powder but I like it spicier than the recipe below.
adding mustard and tomato puree to sauce
Stir in the mustard, sugar and tomato puree and simmer down to thicken a little.
 
Blending sauce
The sauce is usually blended but it isn't essential.

How to cook the sausages

The currywurst sauce can actually be made a few days ahead of time and then heated up.

When ready to serve, you will need to prepare the sausages. As I mentioned above, bratwurst need to be cooked but bockwurst come cooked.

Both are better grilled though. I prefer to grill mine on the barbecue but this time I grilled them in a pan. The choice is yours.

Simmering bratwurst
Simmer any raw sausages like these bratwurst in water until cooked through.
Browning sausages
Then simply grill them until nicely browned on the exterior.
Adding sausage to sauce
The sausages can then be added to the sauce or you can serve in the more traditional way below.
Saucy currywurst
They are amazing served as a curry though.

If you like this currywurst recipe, try some of these too...

Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Lamb Rogan Josh
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia
Lamb Bhuna
Butter chicken

currywurst with fries
You've got to give this currywurst recipe a try!

Yield: 4

Currywurst Recipe

currywurst

I like to use German bratwurst with this recipe.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 German bratwurst, bockwurst or another European sausage
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 green bird’s eye chillies, whole
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (or to taste)
  • ½ tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp curry powder, plus more to garnish
  • 400g chopped tinned (canned) tomatoes
  • 250ml (1 cup) Heinz Ketchup
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp German mustard or Dijon
  • Sugar - to taste and optional
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • Lemon juice to taste, (optional) Preferably fresh and not bottled
  • Salt to taste.

Instructions

  1. Place a large pot or wok over direct heat and another pan filled with water next to it. Cover the pot with water in it and bring to a boil while you are preparing the sauce.
  2. Add the oil to the empty wok/pan and when visibly hot, stir in the chopped onions. Fry for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
  3. Stir in the garlic and chillies and fry for a further 30 seconds.
  4. Now add the ground spices, and stir them into the onion mixture. Add the tinned tomatoes, ketchup and tomato paste and stir it all up to combine.
  5. Add about 250ml (1 cup) water and bring to a simmer and then stir in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce.
  6. Continue simmering the sauce to thicken slightly. Add salt to taste.
  7. Authentic currywurst sauce is quite smooth so you could blend this sauce if you like or just let it break down as it simmers. Keep warm.
  8. Once your water is boiling, place the sausages in the water and simmer for about 15 minutes or until cooked through. Bratwurst is usually sold raw but bockwurst is cooked like a hotdog so no need to do this if using those.
  9. Transfer to a plate.
  10. To finish, grill the sausages on the cooking grate over medium to high heat until browned all over. You can serve these the traditional way sliced into bite-sized pieces or cut them into bite sized pieces and add them to the sauce and serve as you would a curry.
  11. Currywurst are usually served with chips or bread buns but it's just as good served over rice. It is also traditionally sprinkled with curry powder before serving.

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© Dan Toombs
I hope you enjoy this currywurst recipe. If you do give it a try, be sure to leave a comment. I'd love your feedback.

Spicy Masala Ribs

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The peach sauce is optional in this easy, slow cooked masala ribs recipe

Masala Ribs
Spiced Masala Ribs

The tangy sauce in this recipe is simple and nice but it's by no means necessary. Personally I like the ribs served with just a little lime juice.

The most important part of this recipe is the long cooking time. The masala ribs must be cooked on a low heat in the oven for four hours until the meat falls off the bone.

I recommend using my smoked spices but you could use other good quality spice blends too.

 

Yield: 2 - 3

Garam Masala And Tandoori Masala Ribs With Spicy Peach Sauce

Garam Masala And Tandoori Masala Ribs With Spicy Peach Sauce

Ingredients

  • 2 - 3 racks of pork ribs
  • 1 tablespoon CURRY GUY smoked garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon CURRY GUY smoked tandoori masala
  • 1 tablespoon CURRY GUY smoked spicy salt
  • 150ml white wine vinegar (In a spray bottle if you have one)
  • Juice of three limes
  • 4 peaches, peeled and pitted
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tablespoon garlic paste
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste
  • 2 red chilies finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to its highest setting.
  2. Cover the ribs evenly with the spicy tandoori masala, garam masala and spiced salt.
  3. Place the ribs on a rack in the oven.
  4. After 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 150c and cook for a further 3 and a half hours. Spray the meat with the vinegar every half hour or whenever it looks a bit thirsty.
  5. Meanwhile, make the sauce.
  6. Cut the peaches into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the honey, lemon juice, garlic paste, ginger paste, chilies and balsamic vinegar.
  7. Bring to a boil in the pan and then reduce the heat. Simmer and stir regularly with until the sauce is nice and thick.
  8. Serve the ribs when you can easily pull the bones apart.
  9. Serve with the limes and/or the peach sauce.

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© Dan Toombs

 

Spicy Chicken - Fiery Hot Naga Chicken Curry

By 31 Comments

This spicy chicken curry is a spice fans dream!

Naga chicken curry
If you like spicy chicken in a fiery hot sauce, this is the recipe you need.

I love the flavour of naga chilies. They are very hot though, so be careful if you've never cooked with them.

I'm assuming you know and love naga curries which is why you're reading this spicy chicken recipe in the first place. I sure do.

All you need to remember if you are a naga novice is that you are in control of how spicy your curry is. 

Fresh naga chillies vs. Mr Naga Pickle.

Usually at curry houses, Mr Naga pickle is the one they use. Not only is it really good but chefs know what they're getting when they use it. The spiciness and flavour are always the same. 

That can't be said about fresh naga chillies as their heat and flavour vary depending on the season. Mr Naga pickle (I am not affiliated with the company in any way but do receive a few pennies if you click the link) has a fantastic flavour and heat. 

There are many other excellent naga pickles out there. A quick search online will find you what you're looking for. In areas where naga pickle isn't available, you could also use spicy scotch bonnet or Carolina reaper pickles in this spicy chicken recipe.

Fresh naga chillies and/or scotch bonnet chillies could be finely chopped and used instead. Just don't touch you sensitive regions. You wish you hadn't. 

How do I adjust this recipe to taste.

It is always a good idea to start with a little chilli and then spice it up more if needed. Once your spicy chicken curry is too hot, it is difficult to cool down. 

Get to know the other ingredients too. Knowing their flavour will help you decide if you want to omit, add more or less of them for your own personal preferences. 

frying onions.
Infuse the cumin seeds in the oil. Add the chopped onions and fry until soft and translucent.
Adding garlic and ginger paste to sauce.
Add the garlic and ginger paste.
adding spices and naga pickle to curry sauce.
Add the naga pickle, curry powder and garam masala.
Adding chicken to naga curry sauce.
Add the chicken. Stir well to combine and brown for a couple of minutes.
adding tomatoes and water to sauce
Add the tomatoes and just enough water to cover and simmer. Tasted it and add some chilli powder.
adding dried fenugreek leaves to curry
Sprinkle in the dried fenugreek leaves by rubbing the leaves between your fingers.
Chicken curry with naga pickle plated.
Dig in!

Any chicken curry can be made into a spicy chicken curry. Add some naga pickle to these...

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Yield: 4 - 6

Spicy Naga Chicken Curry

Naga chicken curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 700g (1 1/2 lbs.) skinless chicken thighs - cut into bite sized pieces
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 onions - finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 400g (about 3 large tomatoes) diced
  • 1 tbsp Mr Naga or similar pickle (more or less to taste)
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 tbsp coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
  • Juice of one lime

Instructions

  1. Heat three tablespoons of oil in a large pan or wok.
  2. Add the cumin seeds and let them infuse into the oil for about 30 seconds.
  3. Throw in the chopped onions and fry for about 5 minutes until they are soft and translucent.
  4. Add the the garlic, ginger and fry for another 30 seconds.
  5. Stir in the naga pickle, garam masala and curry powder and stir well to combine.
  6. Add the chicken pieces and brown them in the onion mixture for a couple of minutes and then top with the chopped tomatoes and just enough water to cover.
  7. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and continue cooking until you are happy with the consistency of the sauce. I cook mine for about 15 minutes. You can always add more water if it is looking too dry.
  8. Test for seasoning. I added a little Kashmiri chilli powder which gave the curry a nice red glow and turned the zing to a zap.
  9. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the kasoori methi over the top.
  10. Garnish with the coriander and squeeze the lime juice over the top to serve.
  11. This recipe is great served with simple white Basmati rice.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian
 I hope you enjoy this spicy chicken curry recipe. If you do try it, please don't be a stranger. Leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. 

Naga curry
You can easily make this spicy curry in less than 30 minutes.

How To Make Chicken Balti from Scratch

By 35 Comments

You can make this chicken balti from scratch in no time!

As you can see from the publication date of this chicken Balti recipe, I wrote it quite a few years ago. I recently revisited the recipe as I often do.

I've learned a lot over the years messing about in my kitchen and wanted to give you my updated version. You will love this Balti recipe with naans or chapatis served with a selection of chutneys and raitas!  A plain or flavoured rice side is also delicious. Don't forget the samosas!

chicken balti
So easy to make and delicious too!

This chicken Balti was actually one of the first curry house/Balti house recipes I learned while doing recipe research. 

I remember very well walking into the restaurant kitchen in Birmingham's Balti triangle to see how it was done and being a bit disappointed. 

What do you serve chicken balti with?

If you'd like to make this curry into a feast, you've come to the right place. You could just go for a side of Basmati rice or a flavoured rice.

If you'd like to make naans and/or chapatis, why not try one of these? 

Samosas are always good with a chicken balti and you might like to try one or all of these recipes. You might also enjoy homemade fried onion bhajis, baked onion bhajis or air-fryer onion bhajis.

Want to start your chicken balti meal off with a bang? How about fried shop bought poppadoms or if you're feeling ambitious, make your own poppadoms from scratch and serve them with coriander chutney, red onion chutney, and/or tamarind chutney.

This is how chicken baltis were first made.

Not that I didn't like the chicken Balti that was served to me that day! I loved it. So perhaps I should explain...

The chef that day decided to show me his balti recipe from scratch. Although he used a base sauce for his baltis and added pre-cooked tandoori chicken to the baltis that he served in the restaurant, he thought he should break it down for me.

In hindsight, this was a great idea.

I wanted to learn the actual chicken balti recipe from the restaurant but he assumed I didn't know what that 'secret' base sauce recipe was all about.

He also thought that many of my readers would not want to make a base sauce before starting cooking.

He was right there!

The base sauce...

The curry house base sauce was developed for speed and economy. The thing is, it also makes the curry delicious.

Rather than frying up a large amount of onion and tomatoes and adding water as is done in the following recipe, base sauce is added instead.

This is not only faster but also gives the chicken balti and completely different flavour and a smoother texture.

Many people prefer this chicken balti cooked from scratch. There is a lot less prep work to do and it does taste amazing.

What exactly is a Balti?

Balti curries first became popular in the 70s and 80s.

At the time, many Pakistani run restaurants were finding it difficult to compete with the Bangladeshi run restaurants across town.

These Pakistani restaurants were serving their own neighbourhoods but few others. 

The Bangladeshi restaurant chefs were dishing up delicious chicken tikka masalas, Madras and vindaloo curries but the authentic Pakistani curries served at Pakistani restaurants needed forward planning and took a lot longer to get out to the table. 

The idea of using small stainless steel pans (Balti Bowls) instead of the more authentic cast iron karahis changed all this. Special Balti bowls were produced the first time.

The hot Balti curries were cooked over high heat and served in the same bowls they were cooked in. The stainless steel pans heated up much faster than cast iron so service was much faster too.

Unfortunately, the company that produced all those Balti bowls went out of business and the manufacture of the bowls was sourced out to India and China.

These imported Balti bowls were inferior in quality and eventually, the Balti craze and the pans became far less popular.

The good news is, the original Balti pans are now, once again produced in the UK and the popularity of authentic Baltis is again on the increase.  A true Balti needs to be cooked in a stainless steel Balti pan and served in it, sizzling hot too!

Nowadays, most restaurant chefs cook their 'Baltis' in a normal frying pan and then serve them in an ornamental balti bowl but this, thankfully is changing. 

Why should you try this chicken Balti recipe?

The original recipe on this page wasn't cooked in a balti bowl so it really wasn't a Balti. It also served 4 which again, just isn't what Balti cooking is all about.

Here I have downsized the recipe and shown it cooked in an authentic stainless steel Balti bowl. I hope you give it a try but if you would like to make a Balti using the base sauce and pre-cooked meat, you should do that too.

If you would like to try an authentic Balti using a base curry sauce, pre-cooked marinated meat and special spices just like those at the best Balti houses, try my much more recent chicken, mushroom, chickpea, chilli and garlic Balti recipe here. 

I think you'll love them both. 

Step by Step Photos

 

Add oil to the hot pan. About 2 - 3 tbsp should do.

Adding onions to the Balti bowl
Add the chopped onions and fry for a few minutes until soft and translucent.

 

Stirring in the chopped garlic and ginger
Add the garlic and ginger to the pan and stir well to combine. Cook for about 30 seconds.

 

Stirring in the remaining vegetable
Add the remaining veggies and chillies.

 

Adding tomato puree to the pan
Add the tomato puree. Add more if you want a redder colour.

When you stir all these ingredients together, you have what is called a base masala. 

That is the base of your sauce. It is what you do instead of adding base sauce. Adding base sauce, if you have it is a quicker option. It is also my preferred way to cook a Balti. 

Here is the same Balti recipe but using a base sauce. 

Stirring in the spices
By adding the spices, you are taking that base masala and making it into the curry it is.

 

Adding chicken and water
Now add the chicken and water to cover. This is a dry curry so you just want to add enough water to cook it.

 

chicken balti from scratch
Be sure to cook the sauce down until it is quite thick. Perfect for dipping your naans into.

 

balti with chicken
Dig in!

Balti cooking tips

When you first start cooking baltis, you should cook over medium high heat. That is until you get used to cooking in the small stainless steel Balti bowl which gets really hot fast. 

After you've made a few Baltis, you can and should turn the heat up. The sauce will caramelise around the edges of the bowl which adds amazing flavour. 

Scrape the caramelised sauce back in for flavour. 

Never fill your Balti bowl more than 2/3 of the way up. The curry will cook better if your pan isn't full to the rim. 

Plus, this is a curry to serve one to two people so filling it to the rim would be a bit much. 

Any more advice?

Yes. Have a kitchen towel nearby.

The balti pan will get very hot. Too hot to handle. 

I have seen Baltis on fire when Balti chefs cook. How and why is that done?

Many chefs say they do this to burn off the excess oil. Personally, I think it is more for show. 

If you want to do that, it usually happens when the garlic and ginger paste are added to the oil. There is moisture in the paste that flares up when it hits the flaming hot oil.

Doing this would be difficult with this recipe but if you want to give it a try, you should try my authentic balti with base sauce here. 

 

Yield: 1 - 2

Chicken Balti from Scratch

chicken balti from scratch
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil or ghee
  • 1/2 large onion finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
  • 1/2 inch piece of ginger - grated and finely chopped
  • 2 fresh green bird's eye chilli peppers
  • 1/2 large green or red pepper roughly chopped
  • 1 tomato - diced
  • 2 - 4 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tbs tandoori masala - good quality store bought or homemade
  • 2 tsp Madras curry powder
  • 225g (1/2 lb) - skinned and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) chunks
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • Juice of 1/2 lime
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee or oil in a large frying pan or balti pan over high heat.
  2. Toss in the chopped onion and allow to fry for about 5 minutes or until the onion is beginning to turn soft and translucent.
  3. Add the garlic and ginger and stir to combine. About 30 seconds should do the job. You just want to cook off the rawness.
  4. Spoon in the tandoori masala and curry powder.
  5. Now add the green chillies, bell peppers, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Give this all a good stir to combine.
  6. Throw in the chicken pieces and brown this in the onion mixture. Stir continuously to brown the chicken evenly.
  7. Now add about (1/2 cup) 125ml of water. You can add more to assist in cooking the chicken but Baltis are dry curries so try not to add too much.
  8. Simmer for about 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
  9. Add the cider vinegar and simmer for another minute.
  10. Just before serving, sprinkle the coriander into the curry and season with salt and pepper to taste and then add the lime juice.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 304Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 402mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 7gSugar: 25gProtein: 5g

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Cuisine: Balti
I hope you enjoyed the chicken Balti recipe. If you do try it, please don't be a stranger. Let me know in the comments. 

Prawn Balti

By 3 Comments

If you like a good prawn balti, you're going to love this recipe.

Balti curries like this prawn balti are pretty straight forward and can be made in minutes. If you're looking for that restaurant quality prawn balti flavour, you'll get it with this recipe.

I like to serve this recipe with homemade naans. In fact I always have a little naan dough at the ready in the fridge so I can treat myself when I feel I deserve it. 

Prawn balti
Great served with hot naan, chapati or paratha.

For those of you who are not familiar with baltis, they are usually quite dry and are meant to be eaten without cutlery. Just dip a hot naan in and go for it. 

 

Step by step photos...

Frying onions in balti bowl
Fry the chopped onion in a balti bowl over high heat for about 3 minutes. Stir in the ajwain.
Adding garlic and ginger paste to balti pan
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about 30 seconds.
Adding ground spices.
Now add the ground spices and give it all a good stir.
swirling in the tomato puree
Swirl in the tomato puree and bring to a simmer.
Adding base sauce to prawn balti
Add a ladle of base sauce and the green chillies.
Adding coriander to balti bowl.
Throw in the coriander and stir well.
Adding tamarind to balti bowl.
Stir in the cream and tamarind concentrate and bring to a simmer.
Prawn balti
To finish, add the cooked prawns, season with salt to taste and add lime juice to taste.

If you like this prawn balti, you might like to try some of these popular baltis too...

Chicken balti
Chicken balti no base
Duck and mushroom Balti
Duck Jalfrezi balti
Chicken and chickpea balti

Prawn balti
Serve flaming hot right from the pan.

Dig in!

 

Yield: 1

Prawn Balti

Prawn Balti
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil or ghee
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/4 tsp ajwain
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp basar curry powder OR
  • 1 tbsp mixed powder
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) tomato puree
  • 250ml (1 cup) heated base curry sauce
  • 2 green bird's eye chillie, slit down the middle
  • 1 tsp tamarind concentrate
  • 3 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro)
  • 2 tbsp single cream
  • Juice of one lime
  • 250g (9 oz) cooked prawns
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee or oil in a balti bowl over high heat. When hot, add the chopped onion and fry for about three minutes.
  2. Sprinkle in the ajwain. Be careful not to add to much. It has a very strong flavour.
  3. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about 30 seconds and then stir in the ground spices.
  4. Cook the ground spices in the sauce for about 30 seconds and then add the tomato puree and bring to a simmer.
  5. Stir in one ladle of the base sauce. Remember, baltis are thick curries so add more if needed but not too much.
  6. Add the green bird's eye chillies, tamarind and cream. Then stir in the coriander (cilantro). Taste the sauce and add lime juice to taste.
  7. To finish, stir the cooked prawns into the sauce and season with salt to taste.

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© Dan Toombs
I hope you enjoy this prawn balti recipe, made just like they are at the best balti restaurants

 

 

Pan Seared Scallops

By 8 Comments

You can upscale the pan seared scallops recipe to feed a crowd.

Today I was craving pan seared scallops so I went into town to get some. As it was a bit late in the day, my fishmonger only had four left but I took them. You can upscale this pan seared recipe to feed more.

This is a really easy pan seared scallops recipe. The ingredients are simple ingredients you can find at all supermarkets and you might already have them on hand.

Pan seared scallops with fried shallots, chillies, garlic, lemon and coriander.

About this pan seared scallops recipe.

This is not just a recipe but instruction on how to perfectly sear scallops for any recipe that calls for pan seared scallops. Like my other scallop recipes, I kept this recipe simple so that the scallops are the star and not the sauce. Pan seared scallops aren't cheap and their flavour and texture is to die for when you cook them correctly.

So you really can have a play with what you add to these pan seared scallops. Once you sear them, you can serve them with whatever you like. For example, try them with this coriander chutney and you will not be disappointed.

How do you sear scallops to perfection?

Scallops only need a couple of minutes in the pan to cook through. This is where many people go wrong. Be sure to watch the scallops as I describe in the photos and recipe below. If you fry them too long, they will become tough and not very nice.

In this recipe, you simply dry and then season the scallops with a little salt and then dust them with plain (all-purpose) flour. Not much, just a little. The flour is optional but it does help achieve a nice golden brown colour on the exterior of the scallops.

Then you fry the scallops on one side in hot oil for a couple of minutes to brown them before turning them to finish off the cook. This is when you really need to watch them so that they don't overcook. The butter you add in this recipe also helps give the scallops a nice golden brown colour so I usually add some regardless of how I am serving the scallops.

Can you use frozen scallops for this recipe?

Frozen scallops can actually be very good and are often quite comparable to fresh ones, as long as they’re high quality and properly thawed. Here are a few things you need to consider:

1. Freezing Process: High-quality frozen scallops are typically flash-frozen on the boat or shortly after harvesting, which helps preserve their flavour and texture. This process locks in freshness and prevents the scallops from degrading over time.

2. Availability: Fresh scallops can be harder to come by, especially if you’re not near a coast. Frozen scallops make it easier to get consistent quality regardless of season or location.

3. Taste and Texture: If frozen and thawed properly, the taste and texture of scallops can be very similar to fresh. However, some say fresh scallops have a slightly more delicate texture. 

4. Preparation: To get the best results with frozen scallops, thaw them slowly in the refrigerator (ideally overnight) and pat them dry to remove excess moisture before cooking. This helps them brown and sear nicely.

5. Cost: Frozen scallops are often cheaper than fresh scallops.

Can you use queen scallops instead of jumbo scallops.

Yes but you need to consider the size of the scallops. They are smaller so they will cook faster. Get that pan flaming hot and only sear them for a minute or so.

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the recipe all laid out and ready to start cooking.
Get all of your ingredients ready before you start cooking.
Cutting the roe off of the scallops.
This step is optional. If you want to cut the roe off, do it. If not, you can leave it on.
Drying the scallops with a paper napkin.
Touch dry the scallops with a paper napkin. This will help sear them better.
Seasoning the scallops with salt and pepper and dusting with flour to fry.
Season the scallops with a little salt and pepper and then dust them with a little flour. Tap the flour into the exterior of the scallops.
Placing the scallops in a hot pan to fry in oil.
Heat a pan over a high heat and add 2 tbsp oil. When shimmering hot, add the scallops. Fry for about 2 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.
Flipping the scallops over to fry the other side.
Flip them over. This is when you really need to watch them. Look at the side of the scallops to ensure you are not overcooking them. Another minute should do.
Adding the butter, garlic, shallots and chillies to the pan.
Add the butter, garlic, shallots and chillies and stir them in. Cut the butter into small pieces so that it melts and sizzles quickly.
Adding lemon pieces to the pan with the other ingredients.
Stir in the lemon pieces too at this stage. Watch those scallops and take them out of the pan if cooked through.
Serving the pan seared scallops on a plate with the sauce.
To serve, place the pan seared scallops on a plate and top with the other ingredients from the pan.
Pan seared scallops on a serving plate with the fried veggies and lemon and butter.
Enjoy!

 

Yield: 2

Pan Seared Scallops

pan seared scallops on a serving plate with the sauce.

This pan seared scallops recipe can be prepared in minutes. You can upscale the recipe to serve more people. Watch the scallops closely as they sear to ensure they are cooked to perfection and not overcooked.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 3 minutes
Total Time 13 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 large scallops
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tbsp plain (all purpose) flour
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 generous tbsp soft butter
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
  • 2 green finger chillies
  • 1/2 lemon, sliced into thin rounds and then quartered
  • 2 tbsp coriander (cilantro) roughly chopped
  • Flaky salt to garnish and to taste

Instructions

  1. If you don't like the roe, you can cut it off the scallops. I love it but cut it off for another recipe.
  2. Tap the scallops dry with a paper napkin and then season with salt and pepper. Then dust all over with the flour. Be sure to shake off any excess flour before adding the scallops to the pan.
  3. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a high heat. When the oil begins to shimmer, place the scallops in the pan to sear for one to two minutes. I used very large scallops so I seared mine for 2 minutes on the first side.
  4. Flip the scallops over to cook for another minute or so. Watch them carefully so that you don't overcook them.
  5. While the shallots are frying on the second side, add the butter, shallot, garlic and chillies and stir them in. Then add the lemon pieces and continue cooking until the vegetables are soft. Remove the shallots if cooked through.
  6. To serve, place the scallops on a serving plate and then garnish with the other ingredients from the pan. Season with a little flaky salt if you like and some addition black pepper.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 179Total Fat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 665mgCarbohydrates: 26gFiber: 4gSugar: 12gProtein: 8g

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian

 

Simple Staff Chicken Curry

By 73 Comments


Restaurant staff curries are awesome. Try this simple chicken curry! 

A few years after I started writing this blog, I was invited to Punjabi restaurant, Sachins in Newcastle to learn some of their recipes.

One of the recipes that I learned was this simple chicken curry which also happens to be one of their staff curries.

Since then, I have seen staff curries like this made on numerous occasions at different restaurants. Now I would like to show you how it's done. 

Simple chicken curry
This simple chicken curry is so good. You can do so much with it too.

What is a staff curry?

Most restaurants will have a lamb, seafood or something like this simple chicken curry cooking in the kitchen for staff.

In Sachin's case, I think this Punjabi chicken curry was also on their menu.

Usually, however curries like this are served to staff as they are much more like the curries they eat at home.

It might be the chicken tikka masalas, lamb madrases and vindaloos that get people in the doors of a restaurant but that is not what the staff want on their plates. 

Make this simple chicken curry your own...

This simple chicken curry is delicious as it is. There is so much you can do with it though.

If you like spicy curries, you might like to add some Mr Naga pickle to it to taste. This makes an amazing naga chicken curry.

You could also add black mustard seeds, curry leaves and coconut milk to the mix for a more south Indian flavour.

Like saag curries? Why not blend up some spinach and fresh chillies and pour it in with a little cream?

I often add chicken tikka to this simple chicken curry along with the bone in thighs. Then I take the tikka out with some of the broth and use it in my BIR (British Indian Restaurant) style curries. 

Other ideas...

In the winter months I like to cook this simple chicken curry but with mild flavoured game birds such as pheasants and partridges. When I do, I cook the whole birds cut into about three or four pieces.

There really is no reason why you couldn't use other meats too. Lamb leg cut into small chunks on the bone is always a big hit at my house. This is also a popular staff curry at some restaurants. 

Just in case you like cooking with step by step photos, I have photographed the method for this simple chicken curry for you...

What makes this curry so easy?

One thing I really like about this authentic Punjabi chicken curry recipe is its simplicity! You only need one pot. Get your ingredients prepared before starting and the recipe is so easy.

The flavours are out of this world too. Just let the curry simmer slowly and you will be in for a real treat.

Working ahead...

Just like most curries, this Punjabi chicken curry is even better the next day.

I thought I should point this out. If you are having friends over or a curry feast, cook everything the day before and then just heat it up to serve. Your friends will be amazed at the flavours in this easy curry and you won't be left standing in front of the oven. Get your curries cooked and then enjoy the party!

How long can you store this simple chicken curry in the fridge?

You can keep it covered in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. Then all you need to do is heat it up and serve. Pour it all into a pot and heat it through over a medium heat. If you only have a little to heat up, go ahead and use your microwave oven.

Can you freeze this curry?

Yes and it freezes really well. You can freeze it for up to 6 months and it is so nice to have on hand when you have a last minute curry craving.

To reheat, let it defrost completely and then heat it up in a pan over a medium heat or in your microwave.

If you are freezing the curry, be sure to freeze it in portion sizes that are convenient for you.

Step by step photographs.

Infusing spices in ghe
Infuse the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and cinnamon stick in the oil or ghee.
added onions and garlic ginger paste
Fry the onions until soft and light brown. Then stir in the garlic and ginger paste.
Added ground spices
Add the ground spices and stir them into the onion mixture.
added tomato and chicken
Stir in the chopped tomatoes and tomato puree and simmer for a few minutes. Then add the chicken.
covered chicken with water
Add just enough water to cover the chicken.
simmering curry
Simmer covered for about 10 minutes.
Simmering curry
Continue simmering until you are happy with the sauce consistency.

 

Simple chicken curry
I like this with a nice thick sauce. You could have a runnier sauce. Just don't simmer as long.
simple chicken curry
Dig in!

If you like this simple chicken curry recipe, you might like t0 try some of these too.

Beef Biryani
Chicken Biryani
Chickpea Biryani
Chicken Karahi
Lamb Korma
Shami Kebab
Aloo Gobi
Lamb Nihari
Chapli Kebabs
Lamb Seekh Kebabs
Staff Chicken Curry
Butter Chicken
Chicken Haleem
Tarka Dal
Pilau Rice
Chicken Tikka Masala
Grilled Lamb Chops
Lamb Tikka
Spicy Kashmiri Lamb Chops

 

Have you tried this staff chicken curry recipe?

If so, please give it a star rating in the comments below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I'm sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

If you are not already doing so, please follow me on Instagram and Facebook for all my latest recipes.

Yield: 4 - 6

Easy Punjabi Chicken Curry

Simple chicken curry staff chicken curry
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 12 chicken thighs - skinned and on the bone
  • 75ml vegetable oil
  • 3 onions - finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons garlic and ginger paste
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder (more or less to taste)
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 4 tennis ball sized tomatoes - finely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoons garam masala
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. In a large saucepan that has a lid, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the cumin seeds, coriander and cinnamon stick and infuse for around 30 seconds. Pour in the chopped onions. Stir continuously so that the onions become soft and translucent. Fry for about 15 minutes ensuring that the onions do not brown or stick to the pan.
  2. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste, chilli powder and turmeric followed by the chopped tomatoes and allow to sizzle over medium heat for about five minutes. Add about a teaspoon of salt. This will help the onion release moisture into the sauce.
  3. The onions and tomatoes will begin to break down, turning into a thick sauce. This is a sauce you can use for any restaurant style curry. You may want to leave the chilli powder out though if you’re making mild curries.
  4. Add the chicken pieces and tomato paste.
  5. Stir it all up nicely and pour in just enough water or spice stock to cover the chicken.
  6. Cover the curry and let it simmer for about ten minutes. The sauce will become nice and thick and will stick to the chicken pieces as they cook.
  7. Remove the lid and stir adding a drop more water if you prefer a thinner sauce or turn up the heat if it is too runny.
  8. You’ll know when the curry is ready when the oil comes to the top. Simply skim it off.
  9. Stir in one tablespoon of the garam masala and taste. Add more if needed. I usually use about two tablespoons of garam masala.

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Grilled Octopus

By 1 Comment

Like tandoori seafood? You'll love this spicy grilled octopus!

I love grilled octopus. Whether it be cooked in an oven, on a barbecue or in a tandoor oven, it's always a real treat.

This spicy tandoori style grilled octopus is one of my favourite recipes for it.

Depending on where you live, you might find octopus difficult to come by. A good fishmonger will be able to get it for you. 

Buy it fresh or frozen. I always freeze and then defrost fresh octopus as it helps ensure the meat is super tender. 

Tandoori octopus
Delicious cooked in a tandoor or on a barbecue.

I'm going to tell you how it's done. 

If you purchase frozen octopus, simply let it defrost in the fridge. If fresh, you need to freeze it and the defrost it. 

This step is essential to achieving the most amazing grilled octopus. 

Another must is boiling. Once your octopus has defrosted, you need to boil and then simmer it in water for 90 minutes. 

Depending on the recipe you are following, different spices and herbs can be added to the water for addition flavour. 

In this case we are going to be using tandoori spices and salt. 

Working ahead...

With that long boil that needs to be done, it might be more convenient to work ahead.

You can boil the octopus and then store it in the fridge, covered tightly with cling film for up to 24 hours. 

The spice level is important.

I really like spicy tandoori octopus. 

This isn't for everyone though. If you are not keen on really spice tandoori seafood, feel free to tone it down some. 

I use quite a lot of Kashmiri chilli powder but you could use less or even substitute paprika. The red colouring of both options looks and good as it tastes. 

What if I don't have a tandoor?

No worries! You can cook the octopus on skewers over a barbecue or even place it in a 200c (400f) oven for about 20 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking. 

Octopus
You might think octopus are difficult to clean. They are actually easier than most fish.
Cutting off the octopus head
Locate the eyes and slice off the head. Just take the eyes and slice below them.
Locating the beak
Locate the beak on the underside of the octopus.
Curring out the beak
Using a small knife, slice around the beak and remove it.
Pounding the octopus
In is important to pound the octopus with a meat mallet to break down the fibres and make it more tender.
Bringing seasoned water to a boil
Season the water and bring to a boil.
Dropping the octopus into the water.
Drop the octopus into the water.
Cooked octopus
Simmer the octopus in the water for 1 1/2 hours. Then transfer to a cutting board.
Cutting the octopus
Cut the octopus into large bite sized pieces.
Mix the marinade ingredients together and then add the octopus pieces. Marinate for 30 minutes.
Mix the marinade ingredients together and then add the octopus pieces. Marinate for 30 minutes.
tandoori octopus cooking in tandoor oven
Your tandoori octopus can be cooked in a tandoor, on a bbq or under the grill in the oven.
tandoori octopus
Dig in!

 

 

Yield: 4

Barbecued Octopus Curry Masala

Tandoori grilled octopus

Ingredients

  • 450g (1 Lbs.) or more – octopus – cleaned with eyes and beak removed – a good fishmonger can do this for you.
  • FOR THE COOKING LIQUID
  • 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 Indian bay leaf
  • 1 tbsp tandoori masala
  • FOR THE TANDOORI MARINADE
  • 4 generous tbsp Greek yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp mustard oil
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp tandoori masala
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 teaspoon – finely chopped green chilli peppers
  • Juice of one lemon

Instructions

  1. Mix the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.
  2. Bring a large stockpot of water to a boil in a suitable sized pan and add the cooking liquid ingredients
  3. Place the octopus in the water and simmer over medium heat for 1 and a half hours.
  4. After 1 and a half hours, trasfer the octopus to a cutting board and cut into bite sized tikka.
  5. Place the octopus tikka in the marinade and marinate for 30 minutes.
  6. If cooking on a barbecue, prepare it for direct heat cooking. If cooking in the oven under the grill, turn the grill on to high heat.
  7. Skewer the octopus tikka and place over the coals or under your grill. Be sure to turn often so that the meat cooks and chars evenly.
  8. Grill until the octopus is nicely browned and charred in some places.
  9. Season if you like with more salt to taste and serve with lemon wedges or a good raita.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian BIR
 I hope you enjoy this restaurant style tandoori grilled octopus recipe. If you do give it a try, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. 

Mango Pickle

By 12 Comments

This is a mango pickle like no other!

Mango Pickle
Time to make another batch of mango pickle

This mango pickle is like nothing else on the market. It is so good. The only problem is that it takes a week to make. Sorry but there aren’t any shortcuts.

If you've tried my lime pickle recipe you will know that the effort is worth it.

My lime pickle takes about the same amount of time to make and it is one of the most popular recipes on my site.

This mango pickle keeps indefinitely. I've kept a jar for up to six months and found it to be even better with age.

I usually make this recipe in much larger batches because of the work involved. You might like to consider doing the same. It is so nice to serve papadams with a selection of your own homemade chutneys, raitas and pickles!

I love having these homemade products on hand.

Mango pickle can also be stirred into curries at the last minute to add more flavour and depth. Be sure to add it right at the end of cooking as mango will turn hard if over cooked.

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Chunky Mild Mango Pickle

Chunky Mild Mango Pickle

Ingredients

  • 3 green mangos – pitted and cut into bit sized pieces
  • Juice of three limes
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon brown mustard seeds
  • 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 inch piece of ginger – skinned and cut into slivers
  • 2 teaspoons (or more) red chilli powder
  • 4 tablespoons garlic puree
  • FOR THE TEMPORING
  • 450ml sesame oil
  • 10 fenugreek seeds
  • 1 teaspoon nigella (onion) seeds
  • 6 dried long red chillies
  • 15 cloves garlic

Instructions

  1. Place the mangos, salt and turmeric in a large glass jar with a tight fitting lid.
  2. Mix well and then partially cover and allow to sit for three days. The mango needs a little air at this stage.
  3. Stir the pickle once or twice each day.
  4. On the third day, add the lime juice and stir again – leaving for one more day.
  5. On the fourth day, add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and the ginger, garlic puree and chilli powder.
  6. Again stir well so that all of the ingredients are nicely mixed together.
  7. Heat the sesame oil in a large pan over medium heat.
  8. When hot, add the rest of the tempering ingredients and fry for about two minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
  9. Remove the oil from the heat and allow to cool.
  10. When cool, pour it all into the mango mixture and stir very well to ensure the mango pieces are coated well.
  11. It is important that the mangos be completely covered with the oil. If not, you could either remove some of the mangos to eat as a snack or heat up a little more oil – allow it to cool and then cover the mango pickle.
  12. You now need to let the mango pickle sit for four days in a tightly covered jar or bowl. The mixture needs to be stirred twice daily.
  13. TO STORE
  14. Scoop the mixture into air tight sterilised jars and store in a cool dark cupboard.

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Springbok Curry

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This springbok curry just had to be!

springbok curry
springbok curry and homemade naans

Just a few weeks ago I didn’t even know what a springbok was. I’d seen them on African jungle television shows but never really picked up what they were called. I guess I didn’t really care.

For those of you who are now wondering what these animals look like, they are the long horned – deer like – animals that are always getting chased by cheetahs until the slowest in the herd finally meets its rather painful end.

The other day I was sent some springbok meat to try by Alternative Meat. I marinated it for a couple of days and then cooked it in my tandoor oven until it was nicely charred on the outside but still red rare on the inside.

The meat was fantastic but it was still a bit tough. We ate what we could but decided the leftovers needed to go into a slow cooked curry. Not one for waiting, I did this the very next day.

The resulting springbok curry was honestly one of the best red meat curries I have ever tasted. If you like game – or even if you aren’t that crazy about it – I really hope you give this springbok curry a try.

The meat has a fantastic flavour. In fact my fussy kids gobbled it up thinking it was beef. Every plate was clean.

You could serve this curry with rice but I served it with naans which went very well with this homemade springbok curry!

Yield: 4

Springbok Curry – Slow Cooked And Mildly Spiced

Springbok Curry – Slow Cooked And Mildly Spiced

Ingredients

  • 900g (2 lbs.) springbok meat cut into one inch cubes
  • 125ml vegetable/olive oil or ghee
  • 4 onions – finely chopped
  • 1 small carrot – grated
  • 2 green chilli peppers – finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes - finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 1 tablespoon ginger puree
  • 1 heaping tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon smoked or unsmoked cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 small bunch of chopped coriander

Instructions

  1. Pour the oil/ghee into a large sauce pan and heat it over medium high heat.
  2. Toss in the onions and fry them – stirring regularly for about 15 minutes.
  3. When the onions are nice and soft, sprinkle in about a teaspoon of salt. This will help them release more moisture into the pan.
  4. Now add the chopped tomatoes and the carrot and stir to combine
  5. Continue frying until the onion, carrot and tomatoes begin to break down and start looking like a sauce.
  6. Add the green chilies and the garlic and ginger purees. At this stage you will need to be stirring the ingredients continuously so that they do not burn.
  7. Sprinkle in the garam masala, cumin and the chili powder before dumping in the cubed springbok.
  8. Add just enough water to cover the meat and add the cracked pepper.
  9. Bring to a boil and then cover and cook over a very low heat for about four to five hours when the meat will be so tender!
  10. TO SERVE
  11. Check for seasoning and mix in the chopped coriander. Squirt in the lime juice and serve immediately!

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main

 

 

By The Way: The meat used in this springbok curry was supplied free of charge for me to try by Alternative Meats. I highly recommend their service and products!

Lamb Keema Curry

By 2 Comments

This easy lamb keema recipes is so good!

lamb keema
Chef Kiran Virma's lamb keema!

Lamb keema is one of those Indian dishes that is easy to make and a lot of fun to serve. I was recently contacted by Chef Kiran Virma, the owner and head chef of Kiran's in Houston. She offered to send me some of her most popular recipes and I've had a lot of fun trying them.

This lamb keema is simple but absolutely delicious. Try it on its own or served with rice, naans or pasta. I have to say my kids love it served over homemade pasta.

You could also use this versatile recipe to make keema naans, samosas or keema pooris. Yum!

The following recipe is quite close to Chef Kiran's though I have changed it ever so slightly because I couldn't be bothered to convert the US measures to UK measure. I can assure you, you're going to love this one!

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Yield: 6

Kiran's Lamb Keema Recipe

Kiran's Lamb Keema Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons cooking oil
  • 1 kilo (2 lbs.) ground lamb leg (all fat trimmed)
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder
  • 1 tabelspoon garam masala
  • 100ml plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons green chilies (minced)
  • 4 tomatoes (pureed)
  • 1 tablespoon sea salt
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro (finely chopped)
  • TO GARNISH
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 250ml baby green peas
  • 4 cherry tomatoes
  • 6 ginger slivers
  • ½ medium-sized red onion

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium high heat.
  2. toss in the onions and cook until they turn light brown and translucent.
  3. Now add the ginger and garlic paste.
  4. Cook for two minutes and then sprinkle in the turmeric powder and cayenne pepper or chili powder.
  5. In goes the ground lamb. Cook for five minutes or until lamb appears cooked.
  6. Add tomatoes and yogurt and salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Cook for five minutes and add the garam masala and chilies. My garam masala recipe is here.
  8. Cook for a further five minutes.
  9. Add cilantro and mix. Sauté the garnish ingredients and add them to the curry.
  10. Enjoy on top of rice, naans or even pasta.

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main

 

 

 

Vindaloo Pork Ribs

By 21 Comments

I have always been a big fan of properly cooked pork ribs!

Pork ribs
Pork ribs with vindaloo spices

This recipe is a bit of a play on my other pork vindaloo recipes. My kids all love it so I do make it quite often especially in the Summer months.

This is not a particularly spicy recipe though you could easily make the ribs a lot spicier by simply adding a bit more chili.

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The secret to success is the long slow cooking time. That and ensuring that you spray plenty of the vinegar mixture on the ribs when they’re looking thirsty.

I usually make this in my barbecue but it is much easier and almost as good done in a low oven.

Try to find a spray bottle for the vinegar mixture as it will make life a lot easier for you.

 

Yield: 4

How To Make My Favourite Vindaloo Pork Ribs

How To Make My Favourite Vindaloo Pork Ribs

Ingredients

  • 4 racks of pork ribs
  • 15 cloves garlic smashed into a fine paste
  • 2 inches ginger – peeled and smashed into a paste
  • 3 green chili peppers finely chopped
  • FOR THE SPICE RUB
  • 2 tablespoons cumin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 5 cloves
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 4 dried red chili peppers
  • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 3 tablespoons soft brown sugar
  • 1 inch cinnamon stick
  • 3 bay leaves
  • FOR THE VINEGAR SPRAY
  • 250ml Cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Worchester Sauce
  • The juice of 2 limes
  • 2 squirts (or more) Tabasco
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Massage the ribs with the garlic, ginger and chili peppers and allow to marinate for 2 to 24 hours. The longer the better.
  2. Pre-heat your oven to about 125c.
  3. Place a dry frying pan over medium heat and pour in all of the spice rub ingredients except for the sugar.
  4. When the spices become warm to the touch, grind them to a fine powder with the brown sugar.
  5. Cover the ribs with this spice rub powder.
  6. Place the ribs on a rack in the oven and allow to cook for at least four hours.
  7. Combine the vinegar spray ingredients.
  8. After the pork ribs have been in the oven for about two hours, start spraying them from time to time with the vinegar. This will help keep them moist and will also give them the vinegar flavour that is so important in good vindaloo recipes.
  9. Serve the ribs dry or follow the sauce recipe for one of the vindaloo sauces on this site. Personally I prefer the ribs without any sauce!

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Bhindi Masala

By 10 Comments

Bhindi masala is both delicious and healthy!

I get asked for vegetarian recipes all the time and bhindi masala has to be one of the most requested. There's good reason for this. Cooking with bhindi (okra) in English can be a bit daunting but if you follow my advice below, you find it's actually quite easy to get spectacular results. 

Bhindi masala
This bhindi masala is a dry curry with loads of flavour from northern India

About this bhindi masala recipe...

There are of course many different bhindi masala recipes all over Indian. They differ from region to region. This bhindi masala is done Punjabi style. 

It's a healthy curry prepared with okra, ground and whole spices, tomatoes, onions and garlic. Although it is a popular side dish, this bhindi masala can be served as a main too. 

What exactly is bhindi masala?

Bhindi is okra. Masala means mixture in Hindi. So what you are getting with this curry is a mixture of okra and many delicious spices and fresh ingredients that make it the amazing vegetarian curry that it is. 

As curries go, this is such a quick and easy vegetarian curry to prepare. This okra curry is hugely popular in northern India as okra is a vegetable that grows well and is available though out the year.

You can enjoy this veggi curry over white rice or wrapped into a hot chapatti or naan. If you are planning an Indian veggie feast, this one definitely needs to be on your menu.

Why is it difficult to get okra right?

One of the things I learned on my numerous trips to India is that when cooking bhindi masala, you need to prepare and cook the okra correctly or it will not impress!

If you break a piece of okra in half, you will find that it is quite slimy. This slimy substance is called mucilage. This slimy mucilage can actually ruin a dish. You need to get rid of that mucilage when cooking with okra or your okra dishes will be gooey and sticky. Yuck! And I do mean yuck!

It's easy to prepare okra for cooking...

First you need to wash and then dry your okra so that there is no sign of moisture on the exterior. I usually wash the okra and then salt it a little. this draws out some of the natural mucilage. Then I wash it all again and dry thoroughly.

Then cut into bite sized chunks and fry over medium heat in a little oil. This needs to be done immediately as if you let the okra sit too long, that mucilage will begin to creep our again. Once the frying is done, you can carry on with the remainder of the recipe without any gooey trouble. DO NOT add salt directly to the frying okra! That too can cause slimy issues. Salt is only added to other ingredients and to season the curry right before serving. 

Is mucilage bad for me?

No! The funny thing is, it's the mucilage that is one of the things that makes okra so good for you. It's full of healthy, fibre and protein. You just don't want excess amounts or your curry will be very healthy but not very good.

 

 

Yield: 4

How To Make Bhindi Masala - A Stir Fried Okra And Onion Curry

How To Make Bhindi Masala - A Stir Fried Okra And Onion Curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 450g (Lbs.) Fresh okra (small and tender, chopped small circular discs)
  • 1/2 tsp. black mustard seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. methi (fenugreek) seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. kalonji (onion) seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
  • 1/4 tsp. coriander seeds
  • 3 dried whole red chili
  • 1 red onion finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 2 - 3 green bird's eye chilies, finely chopped
  • 1 medium tomato, diced
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon mango powder
  • Handful grated coconut
  • 1 fresh lemon
  • 1 teaspoon plus ½ tsp. (one for cooking, half for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Stir in the chopped okra and fry until tender and beginning to char a little. About five minutes should do the job. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
  2. Now add the mustard seeds to the pan and when they begin to crackle, stir in the fenugreek seeds, onion seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and dried chillies. Stir and then add the chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
  3. Now add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a further 30 seconds.
  4. Sprinkle with salt and stir in the mango powder, coconut, green chillies and chopped tomatoes. Bring this all to a simmer and then add the cooked okra. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top and serve, garnished with more coconut.
  5. Enjoy with white rice or wrapped in chapattis or naans.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 273Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 25mgSodium: 1196mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 4gSugar: 11gProtein: 11g

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main or side dish

 I hope you enjoy this bhindi masala curry recipes. If you do give it a try, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. 

Christmas Turkey Curry

By 2 Comments

Use leftover turkey and sausage or try my recipes below. Just be sure to make this Christmas turkey curry!

We all look for ways to use up that leftover turkey from Christmas dinner. This, however is a recipe I make year round!

Turkey is lean and healthy and also offers a good alternative to chicken. 

So with this Christmas turkey curry recipe, I show you how to use up that leftover turkey and sausages but also feature a good tandoori turkey and pork kofta recipe that you can come back to whenever you want. 

Turkey curry
Seriously delicious!

How to make this Christmas turkey curry with leftover ingredients...

Curries offer an excellent and delicious way to give leftovers new life.

So if you have some leftover turkey and sausages, just use them instead of making the tandoori turkey and sausage koftas.

When you use up your leftovers in this turkey curry, you will literally be able to whip up an amazing dinner in about 15 minutes. What could be wrong with that? 

I am a big believer that recipes are guides. If you don't have enough leftover turkey for the Christmas turkey curry below, no worries! Use what you have, add more sausage or throw in something else you have on hand. There are no rules. Just add what you've got.

If it sounds good, it probably will be. 

The tandoori marinade below is perfect for any whole roast turkey...

When planning your Christmas dinner, you might like to give tandoori turkey a go. 

Why not? Every year I make one traditional turkey and another that is rubbed with tandoori marinade and then marinated for about two days before roasting. 

At my house, that is always the most popular turkey on the dinner table. The leftovers are perfect for this Christmas turkey curry recipe too!

Turkey crown
If using fresh turkey instead of leftovers, dice the turkey breast into bite sized piece.
Meat marinade for turkey
Mix the turkey meat with 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste, the juice of 1 lemon and about a teaspoon of salt
Turkey marinade
Whisk together 4 tbsp yoghurt, juice of 1 lemon, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tbsp each of tandoori masala and garam masala.
Marinating turkey meat
Leave to marinate for a few hours or overnight. You only need to do this if you are not using leftover turkey.
Grilling turkey tikka
Cook in a tandoor or over coals on your barbecue.
Grilling turkey tikka
Using marinated and grilled turkey tikka gives the curry another layer of deliciousness!

How to prepare the whole tandoori turkey if cooking as a roast...

There are a number of ways you can do this. 

The easy way is to simply rub the skin with the tandoori marinade. Rub the skin with melted butter or ghee and then apply the dry marinade. 

You will get better results, however if you carefully slide your hand between the skin and meat. Then mix the tandoori marinade with about 5 tbsp butter or ghee and then apply the marinade under the skin. 

As with all marinated meats, you should allow the turkey to marinate overnight but a couple hours will be fine. Then just cook the turkey following the recipe you use every year. 

Cooking tandoori turkey tikka on skewers...

My favourite way to prepare this Christmas turkey curry recipe, when not using leftovers, is to cut the meat into tikka (pieces).

If doing this, add 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt to the marinade spices and then do the following.

Place the turkey tikka in a large mixing bowl and salt generously. Then add two tablespoons of garlic and ginger paste and the juice of one lemon.

Mix well, rubbing these ingredients right into the flesh and allow to marinate  for 20 minutes while you prepare the second marinade.

Whisk all of the 2nd marinade ingredient together with the yoghurt. Then apply to the turkey meat and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes or up to 48 hours for best results. 

Can I use raw turkey in this Christmas turkey curry?

Yes! All is explained below. 

I do recommend using either tandoori turkey tikka or leftover Christmas turkey though. It makes cooing the curry faster and also adds another layer of flavour. 

What if I don't want to make the pork koftas?

You could just leave them out or use leftover sausages from Christmas dinner.

This recipe is great for using leftovers so make it as written or feel free to use up what you have on hand. 

If you do want to make them, just follow these photos and read the exact instructions in the recipe below.

pork kofta
Form the minced (ground) pork into small meatballs or kofta.

Step by step photographs for the sauce...

Melting ghee
Melt the ghee over high heat
Adding onion to pan
Fry the onion for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
Adding chopped green chillies to pan
Add the chopped green chillies.
Adding raw pork kofta to pan
Add the raw koftas to the pan or just add some leftover sausages.
Adding ground spice to the sauce
Now stir in the ground spices.
Adding chopped tomatoes
Stir in the chopped tomatoes.
Adding water or stock to pan
Then add enough water or turkey stock to cover and cook it down to thicken.
Adding meat to pan
As the curry cooks down and thickens, add the leftover turkey pieces or turkey tikka.
Adding marinade or yoghurt to pan.
To finish, add a few tablespoons of marinade or plain yoghurt.
Frying bacon
This is totally optional but I like to fry up some bacon to serve on top.

If you like this leftover turkey curry recipe, you might like to try these too...

Peshwari turkey curry
Leftover turkey soup

Yield: 6

Christmas Turkey Curry

Turkey curry
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • FOR THE PORK KOFTAS
  • 11.5oz (300g) minced pork
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • FOR THE CURRY SAUCE
  • 2 tbsp ghee or rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 2 green chillies, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 14oz (4oog) chopped tomatoes
  • 2lbs 3oz (1 kg) raw, tandoori tikka or leftover turkey meat
  • 3 tbsp yoghurt or leftover tandoori marinade if you have it or just plain natural yoghurt
  • 1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) optional
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • Salt to taste
  • Juice of on lemon
  • 3 tbsp cilantro (coriander), finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp streaky bacon, but into small pieces

Instructions

  1. To prepare the optional pork koftas ( you could just use leftover pieces of sausage in this recipes) mix all of the kofta ingredients together and then form into small golf ball sized kofta. Set aside.
  2. Heat the ghee or oil in a large pan and when visibly hot, stir in the chopped onion. Fry for about 8 minutes or until soft, translucent and lightly browned.
  3. Now add the garlic and ginger paste along with the chopped chillies and fry for a further 30 seconds.
  4. Add the ground spices followed by the chopped tomatoes and stir well. If using raw turkey and the pork koftas, you can add this now. If using cooked sausages and turkey, these can be added later.
  5. Bring the sauce to a simmer and then stir in 2 cups (500ml) water and again bring to a simmer.
  6. Reduce the sauce down until it has thickened some and then add the leftover turkey or tandoori turkey tikka.
  7. Allow to cook until you are happy with the sauce consistency. It should be quite thick and coating the meat nicely.
  8. Adjust the flavours by trying the sauce and adding more chilli powder if needed and salt to taste.
  9. whisk in the yoghurt of leftover marinade one teaspoon at a time and then add the kasoori methi, garam masala and lemon juice. You can let the curry simmer over a low heat while you prepare the bacon.
  10. In a small frying pan over medium heat, add the bacon bits and fry until crispy. This should take about 10 minutes. You might need to add a little oil to the pan but they streaky bacon I purchase has plenty of fat on it to cook in its own fat.
  11. Serve the curry over rice, garnished with coriander (cilantro) and the bacon bits.

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Cuisine: American

I hope you enjoy this easy Christmas turkey curry recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. 

Goat Paya

By 29 Comments

You need to allow at least six hours to prepare a good goat curry!

Goat curry
This goat curry is so good!

Why are so many people afraid of goat meat? I just don't get it! If you are, then I hope you will trust me and give this goat curry a try. If you like lamb curry, then you will love goat curry if it is cooked long and slow.

Goat meat is quite tough but if you cook it for a long time it will become very tender and all the tremendous flavour in the sauce will make it all worth the wait.

Goat Paya is a Pakistani curry. I've introduced a few ingredients such as coriander and curry leaves which are used more in Southern Indian cookery but they work well here. There's no point leaving great herbs out for the sake of authenticity!

Paya is usually made with goat or mutton trotters. I used free range goat meat on the bone from Farmer's Choice. It was fantastic. If you're in the UK, they can deliver all sorts of free range meat to your door.

I love serving this recipe with homemade naans. Goat curry and hot naans... you will have a hard time finding a nicer meal!

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Yield: 4

How To Make Goat Paya - A Tasty Pakistani Goat Curry

How To Make Goat Paya - A Tasty Pakistani Goat Curry

Ingredients

  • Serves 4
  • 1000g goat meat on the bone
  • 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil
  • 20 curry leaves (optional)
  • 4 black cardamom pods (or 8 green)
  • 3 large onions finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 1 tablespoon ginger puree (This is simply ginger or garlic blended with a little water to a paste.)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 3 cassia bark bay leaves or 1 inch piece of cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 100ml tomato paste
  • 1 bunch finely chopped coriander
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee or oil in a large pan with a lid.
  2. When hot, throw in the curry leaves and cardamom pods and let them sizzle for about 30 seconds.
  3. Dump in the chopped onions and let them fry for about 15 minutes. Stir continuously so that the onions caramelise nicely. You do not want them to get two dark.
  4. Now add the chopped tomatoes and continue frying and stirring for another five minutes.
  5. Add the ginger and garlic purees and stir to combine.
  6. The vegetables should now begin to break down slightly.
  7. Add the rest of the spices and the tomato puree and continue stirring for another 2 minutes.
  8. In goes the goat meat. Mix it all up allowing it to brown slightly while coating it with the vegetable mixture.
  9. All you need to do now is cover the meat with water, place a lid on the pan and place in in a low oven (about 150c) or turn down your stove to its lowest setting.
  10. The goat curry needs to cook slowly for about 5 hours until the meat just falls off the bone and is very tender.
  11. TO SERVE
  12. Stir in the chopped coriander and check for seasoning. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve over rice or with homemade naans.

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I would like to thank Farmer's Choice for supplying the goat meat free of charge for me to try in this recipe! The goat curry is presented in a karahi supplied by Indian Tiffin.

Mango Salad

By 2 Comments

This mango salad brings together some of the most popular fresh flavours of India!

Mango salad
So many different flavours!

Though it's true that many of the ingredients in the mango salad didn't make their way to India until quite late, they are all very popular in Indian cooking now.

With this salad, I wanted to bring them all together. I think you will agree that this mango salad is perfect for the warmer Spring and Summer months. I like serving it at barbecues. There are so many interesting flavours and textures.

It goes well with other types of food too but I have yet to make an Indian dish which wasn't the perfect companion for this fresh, bright, sweet and somewhat tangy salad.

I have used sesame oil which isn't used in many Indian recipes though it is starting to be more popular in Indian cookery lately.

Yield: 6

A Mango Salad With Tomato, Cucumber, Lime And Chillies

A Mango Salad With Tomato, Cucumber, Lime And Chillies

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons Japanese sesame oil
  • The juice of 4 limes
  • 1 inch peeled and finely grated ginger
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 2 fresh green chilli peppers - finely chopped
  • 1 English cucumber - skinned, seeded and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 2 ripe mangos - peeled, pitted and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 3 tomatoes - diced into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1 large handful of finely chopped coriander
  • 1 large handful of finely chopped mint
  • 20 roughly chopped peanuts
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. In a salad bowl, combine the sesame oil, lime juice, minced ginger and minced garlic.
  2. Toss in the cucumber, mangoes, tomatoes and finely chopped chillies.
  3. Stir in the mint and coriander and season with the salt and black pepper to taste.
  4. Add the crushed roasted peanuts just before serving.
  5. That's it!
  6. I love serving this mango salad with tandoori meat, chicken or fish. In fact, it is really good served with lightly seasoned white fish as it has such a nice flavour that is not overpowering when eaten with the fish.

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Side Salad

 

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Homemade Naan Recipe - Restaurant Style Yeast Free Naans

By 20 Comments

This is a homemade naan recipe with a difference!

Indian naans
You are going to love my new homemade naan recipe!

I don't know about you but when I go out for a curry I always order naans. It's mandatory. My whole family just loves them.

Dining out we've had some pretty amazing naans and we've also been disappointed on a few occasions. My new homemade naan recipe will sort that problem out!

Over the past couple of years I've experimented with many recipes. When I first started my blog I published a recipe called 'The Best Naan Bread You Will Every Eat'. That post is now removed, but be sure to check out this recipe for amazing stove top naans!

They weren't bad but didn't quite deserve the title. I've also demonstrated how to make naans in a small home tandoor oven as well as on the stove. For me, it was the use of fresh yeast that made my homemade naans the perfect addition to my curry evenings.

So it goes without saying that last weekend was a real eye-opening experience for me. I was invited by Bob Arora - the owner and head chef of Sachins in Newcastle to cook with him.

I learned some gorgeous recipes, one of which was similar to this naan recipe which I have tested in my oven and also in the tandoor.

Anyone who has dined at Sachins will know how extraordinary their naans are. I was very surprised to learn that Bob doesn't use yeast in his naans.

Instead, he uses full fat plain yogurt which he mixes with other ingredients into a soft dough which he then allows to rest for at least six hours before cooking. The active cultures in the yogurt work like yeast but the dough doesn't rise as much as if yeast were used.

Working ahead

Are you ready for a real homemade naan treat?

Here is a homemade naan recipe that will get you through until the next time you get to go to Sachins and eat them there.

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Yield: 4 - 6

A Yeast Free Naan Recipe I Learned At Sachins In Newcastle

A Yeast Free Naan Recipe I Learned At Sachins In Newcastle

Ingredients

  • 450g plain flour
  • 150ml warm milk
  • 150ml full fat plain Greek Yogurt
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg - lightly beaten
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon nigella seeds (Often referred to as black onion seeds though they aren't onion seeds at all.)
  • Ghee or butter

Instructions

  1. Mix all of the ingredients together and knead into a soft dough. The dough should be a little sticky but you should be able to work with it without it sticking to your hands.
  2. Place the dough in a floured bowl and cover with a damp cloth for at least six hours. The dough can be stored in plastic wrap for up to three days in the fridge.
  3. When you are ready to cook the naans, heat your oven to its highest temperature and place a pizza stone or baking try on the top shelf.
  4. Separate the dough into about 6 tennis ball sized dough balls.
  5. On a floured surface, roll them out into large thin circles or the shape of your choice. If you prefer crispy naans, roll them out as flat as you can. For thicker, chewier naans make them about 1/4 inch thick. Note: At Sachins the naans are served thin and crispy. They are really nice.
  6. Place one of the naans in the oven and cook for about six minutes. Ovens do vary so please watch the first few so that you don't burn them.
  7. Store the finished naans in a warm place while you cook the rest.
  8. Just before serving, brush a little melted ghee or butter over the top of each naan. I think you're going to love this one!

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Cuisine: Indian

 

Cod Curry With Coconut

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This simple cod curry is so good!

I think you're going to like this cod curry. Very few spices are required but the ingredients just seem to work so well together. 

It is important not to overcook the cod. If you do, it will fall apart. 

Your curry will still taste very good but I like it with large pieces of cod, drizzled with the sauce on top of a bed of steaming hot Basmati rice.

This easy cod curry is awesome served over Basmati rice.

 

This cod curry was developed to taste like the amazing fish curries in Southern India.

I learned to make this cod curry in Kerala where it was made with Kingfish instead of cod.

Kingfish is an oily fish and has a different flavour and texture to cod but I was pretty sure this recipe would work using cod. Luckily I was right!

Having cooked Indian food for many years, I wasn't surprised to see the chef in India using processed cheese in his sauce. This is done quite often nowadays.

As I didn't have any processed cheese on hand, so I used Cheddar and it worked very well. This is optional, however so you could just leave it out. 

Working ahead...

If you find it more convenient to get things cooked earlier in the day, this cod curry is a good one for that.

Like most curries, the flavours develop and the curry actually tastes better if allowed to sit for a while. 

I often make the sauce in the morning and then place it in the fridge.

Then I heat it up, add the cod and let it cook for just a few minutes and serve. 

Can I use other fish?

Yes! Any meaty fish will work well here. I have made this same cod curry using other fish and loved them too. 

You could try it with mackerel, halibut, salmon, codling... If it sounds good, do it. 

In fact, the sauce is delicious brought to a simmer and then used to steam mussels or clams. 

What if I can't find fresh or frozen curry leaves?

Unfortunately, there is no substitute for curry leaves. You could make this cod curry without them but they aren't usually all that difficult to find. 

I purchase mine from a local Indian grocer but they can also be found at online Asian retailers and even Amazon. 

I highly recommend trying to source some curry leaves for this cod curry. You'll be glad you did. 

infusing the spices into the oil
Infuse the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves into the oil.
frying onions
Add the onions and fry for a few minutes. Then add the garam masala/curry powder and turmeric and stir it in.
Adding garlic and ginger paste to the base masala
Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook off the rawness.
Stirring the chillies into the sauce
Stir in the chopped chillies.
Adding coconut milk to the sauce
Add the coconut milk and saffron and bring to a simmer.
Stir in tomatoes
Stir in the tomatoes.
Adding the cod
Stir in the cod. It only needs to cook a couple of minutes in the hot sauce.
Finished cod curry
All done!

If you like this cod curry recipes, you might like to try some of these too...

Malabar fish curry
Keralan fish curry
Keralan prawn curry
Thai Grilled Fish
Thai fried whole fish with garlic and chilli sauce
Goan fish curry

cod curry
Dig in!

 

Yield: 4

Cod Curry With Coconut

Cod Curry With Coconut
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 x 200g cod fillets (Any meaty white fish will do just fine)
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil or coconut oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp garam masala or curry powder
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 green bird's eye chillies - finely chopped
  • 4 plum tomatoes quartered
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 400ml thick coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon grated Cheddar cheese smashed into a paste with a pinch of flour (optional)
  • A pinch of saffron
  • 3 tbsp chopped coriander
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp garam masala
  • Juice of one lime

Instructions

  1. Cut the cod fillets into two inch chunks and set aside.
  2. Heat the oil over medium high heat. When hot, throw in the mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the curry leaves, cumin seeds and turmeric and allow to infuse in the oil for about 30 seconds.
  3. Add the chopped onion and fry for about three minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
  4. Now add the ginger and garlic paste and let it sizzle for 30 seconds to cook off the rawness. Add the chopped chillies and garam masala/curry powder and diced tomatoes and stir well to combine.
  5. Saute for about a minute mixing all the ingredients well.
  6. Now pour in the coconut milk. You want to bring it to a nice hot bubble and then add the Cheddar paste and the saffron.
  7. Whisk quickly so that the Cheddar blends well into the rest of the sauce.
  8. Just before serving, add the cod. You only want to cook the fish through. It should only take a minute or two. Do not over cook or the cod will fall apart and you'll be left with a fishy mess rather than a hot curry with nice chunky pieces of cod.
  9. To serve, squeeze the lime juice over the fish and carefully stir in the chopped coriander.
  10. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the garam masala. Serve with hot chapatis or plain white rice.

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I hope you enjoy this cod curry recipe. If you do try it, please let me know in the comments. I'd love to hear from you.

Pan Seared Salmon With A Creamy Saffron Sauce

By 1 Comment

Pan seared salmon with this easy saffron sauce is out of this world!

 

Salmon with sauce
Pan seared salmon with a lightly spiced saffron sauce

The saffron sauce served with this pan seared salmon is so good. I like it because it's not at all overpowering.

The sauce compliments the delicious flavour of the salmon perfectly.

Tips for the perfect pan seared salmon

  • The Skin

There is a lot of moisture in salmon skin, especially when fresh out of the water. If you don't get that moisture out of the skin, it won't be crispy when cooked. What a waste!

Crispy salmon skin is one of the best parts of homemade and restaurant style pan seared salmon.

Take a sharp knife and scrape it over the surface of the skin. As you do this, you will see the moisture coming out of it. Repeat this two or three times. This skin should feel as dry as paper. 

  • Cooking

Although the doneness for this seared salmon recipe is completely up to you, I would like to suggest that you only cook the fish until it is just cooked through. I like mine cooked only until pink in the middle. 

Working ahead.

You can get the moisture out of the skin a few hours ahead of cooking and then keep in the fridge until ready to cook. 

You can also make the sauce up to a day before serving. So if you're having friends around for your beautiful seared salmon masterpiece, you can entertain rather than spend the evening cooking. 

Frying onions and spices
Fry the onion for about 5 minutes. Then stir in the garlic and ginger paste and ground spices.
Adding wine to sauce.
Add the wine and reduce until it has almost all evaporated.
Simmering the sauce
The add the stock and reduce by half.
saffron infusing into milk.
Meanwhile, infuse the saffron in warm milk.
smashing cheese.
Pound the cheese into a paste. Adding a drop of water will help with this.
Adding cream to sauce
Add the cream and cheese to the sauce and stir well to combine.
simmering cream sauce
Reduce again until the cream sauce is quite thick.
adding saffron milk to sauce
Add the saffron milk and continue simmering for a couple of minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce.
Adding green peppercorns
Add the green peppercorns (if using) just before plating.
Salmon with saffron cream sauce
Dig in!

If you like the look of this pan seared salmon recipe, you might also like to try these. 

Salmon Curry with Broccoli and Coconut
Thai Steamed Salmon
Tandoori Salmon Tikka
Salmon Fillet Steamed in Banana Leaf
Steamed Salmon with Soy Sauce and Chilli

Yield: 4

Pan Seared Salmon With A Creamy Saffron Sauce

Salmon with sauce
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 x 200g salmon fillets
  • 2 tbsp rapeseed oil or vegetable oil
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 small white onion - finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste (Equal amounts of garlic and ginger smashed into a paste)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli powde
  • A pinch of saffron infused with about 100ml warm milk125ml (1/2 cup) fish stock or water if you must
  • 120ml (1/2 cup) dry white wine
  • 1 tbsp Cheddar cheese smashed into a paste
  • 70ml Double cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Juice of one lime
  • 3 tablespoons chopped coriander to garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat one tablespoon of the butter over low heat in a frying pan.
  2. Add the chopped onions and fry slowly for about ten minutes until the onion is soft and caramelised.
  3. Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir well to combine.
  4. Now add the cumin and red chilli powder followed by the white wine.
  5. Turn the heat up and cook the wine until all of it has almost evaporated.
  6. Add the fish stock and reduce by half. Add the cream and again cook it down by about half.
  7. Pour in the saffron infused milk and the Cheddar cheese.
  8. Whisk it all into one creamy sauce and set aside while you cook the salmon.
  9. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  10. When the oil is nice and hot, carefully place the salmon fillets into the pan - skin side down.
  11. Fry until the salmon is about half way cooked through. You will be able to see the cooking progress as it cooks.
  12. Carefully flip the salmon over to continue cooking to your referred doneness. I like mine pink inside.
  13. To serve, place each piece of salmon onto four heated plates.
  14. Ensure the sauce is nice and hot and then squeeze in the lime juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
  15. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve the fish with the sauce drizzled over and around it.

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main
I hope you enjoy this pan seared salmon recipe. If you do give it a try, please don't be a stranger. Leave a comment. I would love to hear from you. 

Wagyu Beef Curry

By 3 Comments

Wagyu beef is so tender and delicious.

My Wagyu beef curry
My Wagyu beef curry!

As soon as I received my joint of Wagyu casserole beef from Alternative Meats, I tweeted about it. I was that excited.

The funny thing is, I called it Kobe beef and was soon contacted by several different people explaining that Wagyu does not equal Kobe. I have since learned that Wagyu quite literally means 'Japanese Cow' and Kobe are of course Japanese cows.

My Wagyu beef was reared in Wales and has a similar marbling to that of Kobe. Whatever you call it, the flavour was absolutely amazing.

Wagyu beef
Check out the marbling in this Wagyu beef.

You've got to cook Wagyu beef with respect so I decided to cook a bhuna. Bhunas are slow cooked. The meat is first lightly fried and then just enough water is add to let it simmer slowly. Extra water is added over the two hour cooking until you are left with quite a dry curry that is so tender.

I couldn't help myself from trying the meat after the first few minutes of frying. It was still quite red inside and already melt in the mouth tender.

You could of course make this recipe with any red meat but if you really want to treat yourself go for Wagyu or indeed Kobe if you can get it.

Yield: 4

Wagyu Beef Curry - 'Kobe Beef' Or Not, This Recipe Is Fantastic

Wagyu Beef Curry - 'Kobe Beef' Or Not, This Recipe Is Fantastic
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo Wagyu casserole meat cut into one inch pieces
  • 3 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large white onion - finely chopped
  • 1 tabelspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 5 cloves
  • 3 black cardamom pods
  • 1 ince piece of cinnamon or cassia
  • A pinch of turmeric
  • 1 tablespoon garlic paste
  • 1 tablespoon ginger paste
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Place a dry frying pan over medium high heat and roast the cumin and coriander seeds for about 30 seconds.
  2. Grind the roasted cumin and coriander into a fine powder with a pestle and mortar or spice grinder.
  3. Now pour in the olive oil into a large pan or wok.
  4. Toss in the chopped onions an fry until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
  5. Add all of the spices and mix well and then add the meat.
  6. You want to try to brown the meat a little without burning the spices. If the spices begin to burn, add a little water to the pan.
  7. Let the meat fry for about 20 minutes stirring continuously then add the garlic and ginger pastes.
  8. Pour in about 250ml of water and simmer slowly. It will take about 2 hours to cook this curry and you may need to add a little more water during the cooking time.
  9. The Wagyu beef curry is ready when the meat is tender to your liking.

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Cuisine: Indian Fusion / Category: Main

 

 

The Wagyu meat used in this beef curry was supplied to me free of charge to try by Alternative meats. Thanks very much! It was amazing.

Spicy Indian Fried Chicken

By 5 Comments

The spiciness of this Indian fried chicken can be easily adjusted to taste.

Over the past couple of months I have been experimenting with Indian fried chicken. I've tried adding more and less chili powder along with chili pastes. The not so spicy ingredients are important too and now I think I've got the perfect blend. If you likespicy dishes and fried chicken, you are going to love this spicy recipe.

Indian fried chicken with two spicy dips
The perfect fried chicken recipe!

About this Indian fried chicken recipe...

This fried chicken recipe offers the perfect blend of warming and hot spices. You can take the recipe where you like.

If you are a big fan of really spicy dishes, add more chili powder. That's normally what I do but when cooking for my family, I tone the spicing down some.

You can also add naga chili paste which will really spice it up. 

Double frying is best!

In this recipe, you will be double frying the chicken.

The first fry is to cook the chicken almost through. It will be nicely browned and crispy after the first cook.

Then you turn up the heat for a short second fry. This is what makes this recipe the ultimate Indian fried chicken recipe!

How is the fried chicken made?

It's really simple!

  • Marinate the chicken with the first marinade.
  • While that sits, you prepare a second marinade. This marinade can flavour the chicken for up to two days before frying.
  • Dust the marinated chicken with the flour and spices.
  • Fry the chicken in hot oil for 6 minutes.
  • Put the Indian fried chicken back in hotter oil to finish.

What do you serve this fried chicken with?

You can really serve this Indian fried chicken with whatever sounds good. I like to serve it with coriander chutney and a good raita. 

It can also be served with chips, rice and/or a good green salad.

Photos of Indian fried chicken being made...

Adding first marinade to the chicken
Rub the vinegar, salt and garlic and ginger paste right into the flesh of the chicken. This is the first marinade.
Adding chili powder to the chicken
Then add the chili powder and rub it in well too.

A word about chili powder...

In this recipe I used Kashmiri chili powder. It's mildly spiced and the chili powder of choice in most Indian recipes.

You could use another chili powder but remember, chili powders have different heat levels.

If not sure about the chili powder you are using, try some. Then add it to taste.

Chicken with chili powder
After you have rubbed the chili powder into the chicken, it will look like this.
Second marinade for the Indian fried chicken.
Whisk the second marinade ingredients together until smooth.
Chicken marinating in second marinade.
Rub the second marinade into the chicken.

How long to marinate the chicken?

You could just get on with the recipe after adding the second marinade. That said, your Indian fried chicken will be much better if you allow it to marinate for longer.

I usually let my chicken marinate for 24 to 48 hours.

Chicken coated in flour, ready for frying.
When ready to cook, coat the chicken with the flour mixture.
Chicken frying
Fry the first time for about 6 minutes. Then fry a second time for a couple more minutes. This will make the chicken extra crispy.

Do I have to fry the chicken twice?

Nope. You will get crispier chicken if you do though. Another bonus is if you are making this for a party or big dinner.

You can fry the chicken once and set aside. Then heat the oil up to fry for a couple more minutes just before serving. For many cooks, this will simplify the recipe as most of it can be prepared ahead of time.

You are in for an Indian fried chicken experience like no other!

Finished Indian fried chicken
Transfer the Indian fried chicken to rack to drain off any excess oil and serve hot, drizzled with the ghee and chat masala.

Other ways you can serve this Indian fried chicken...

Personally, I prefer this fried chicken hot, right out of the oil.

That said, this Indian fried chicken makes a great picnic! You can serve it cold and it is absolutely delicious.

Does the chicken need to be cooked on the bone?

No! That is how I like it. You could use other pieces too.

Try this Indian fried chicken recipe using bite sized pieces of chicken breast or thigh. You will never have chicken nuggets that are so good!

Once I tried this recipe with a whole chicken too. To do that, I made shallow slits all over the chicken and fried it in a big wok. The result was spectacular. If you are interested in doing that, you might like to try this recipe too from my cookbook 'The Curry Guy BBQ'.

Can you cook this fried chicken in an air fryer?

Yes. But you might need to do that in batches. I recommend spraying the basket with oil spray. Then spray the flour coated chicken with the oil spray too.

Air fry on high for about 20 minutes and adjust the cooking time if needed. You can always take a peek as it cooks. 

Here are a few more chicken recipes you might like to try...

Chicken tikka masala - This recipe is just like the chicken tikka masala you find at the best curry houses!
Butter Chicken
Korean Fried Chicken
Thai Chicken with Cashew Nuts
 

Indian fried chicken
Dig in!
Yield: 4 - 6

Spicy Indian Fried Chicken

Indian Fried Chicken
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 kg chicken pieces on the bone
  • 3 tbsp distilled white vinegar
  • 3 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 ½ tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tbsp naga chilli paste (optional)
  • 125g (1/2 cup) full fat Greek yoghurt
  • 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
  • 1 cup corn flour (cornstarch) or rice flour
  • 2 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
  • Oil for deep frying (optional)
  • 5 tbsp (1/4 cup) melted butter or ghee (a microwave will do fine)
  • 1 tsp chaat masala

Instructions

  1. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl and pour the vinegar over them. Then add the garlic and ginger paste, salt and half the Kashmiri chilli power. Allow to marinate while you prepared the yoghurt marinade or up to 2 hours.
  2. Whisk the yoghurt, turmeric, garam masala and naga chilli paste, if using together in a mixing bowl until smooth. Pour this over the chicken and rub it right into the flesh and skin. Allow to marinate for up to 48 hours or continue with the recipe immediately. The longer marination time will benefit the flavour.
  3. When ready to start frying, heat your oil to 165c/325f in a large high-sided pan, wok or deep fat fryer. While the oil is heating up, pour the flours onto a plate and mix with the salt, pepper and remaining Kashmiri chilli powder.
  4. Remove any excess marinade from the chicken and dredge each piece in the flour so that they are completely coated. Shake any excess flour off each piece.
  5. When your oil is up to heat, fry in small batches for about 6 minutes until golden lightly browned. Transfer the chicken to a wire rack to drip any excess oil. Once all of the chicken has been cooked, turn up the heat to 200c/400f and fry the chicken for a second time in batches for about 2 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Transfer it all to the wire rack.
  6. Stir the chaat masala into the melted butter or ghee and baste each piece of chicken generously. Serve immediately with the sliced red onion and lemon wedges along with your choice of sides.

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main

I hope you enjoy this Indian fried chicken recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Onion Chutney for Poppadoms

By 53 Comments

Curry House Style Onion Chutney is so easy to make!

You know those sliced onions that are served in a red sauce with poppadoms and samosas before the meal at Indian restaurants? Well, it's a lot more popular than you may think. I get asked for this recipe all the time.

The fact that you are looking at this recipe means that you probably know exactly what I'm talking about.

So many Indian restaurants purchase commercial brand pickles and chutneys. It just isn't cost effective to make their own. I think that's one of the reasons this red onion chutney is so popular. It is always made fresh.

onion chutney for poppadoms

About this onion chutney recipe.

As recipes go, they don't get much easier than this. You can make this recipe exactly as you want it. Most people prefer the onion to be thinly sliced before mixing with the other ingredients. That's not the only way this onion chutney is served though.

You might like to finely or roughly chop the onion instead.

Everyone has their favourite version of this famous curry house red chutney so chop and slice it the way you prefer.

Working Ahead

This onion chutney is best served super cold, right from the fridge. Therefore, you should make that sauce and get it chilled. As a result you will get the perfect sauce for the chutney. Slice up you onions and stir them into the sauce too. This can all be done a day or so ahead of serving..

How long will this onion chutney keep in the fridge?

This onion chutney will keep in the fridge nicely for a few days. I find it best though to serve the onion chutney about 30 minutes after you stir the onions in. This will ensure that the onion is still really fresh and crispy.

How do you serve curry house style onion chutney?

Just as you like. Pile it high on poppadoms or spread a little over tandoori dishes. I know someone who can't get enough of the stuff and spreads his onion chutney all over the surface of his poppadoms like a pizza.

This easy onion chutney just plain gets it and you should serve it as you like. If it sounds good, do it!

How do you make onion chutney?

As you can see from the photos and short video, it really is easy to make this red cold onion chutney. 

It only takes minutes to make and will keep in the fridge for 3 - 4 days. Therefore, if you are planning a curry feast for friends, you might as well get this one done early.

All you need to do is slice the onions and mix the red sauce ingredients. Then place the onion chutney in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.

Variations...

Many people like a lot of sauce. Others don't.

This is completely up to you so feel free to vary the recipe some.

In the photo below, I made some with a lot less dressing and then sprinkled chilli powder on top. 

If you like a lot of sauce, go for it. Add more ketchup and/or tomato paste. Taste as you go. That's what making these curry house recipes is all about. By tasting as you go, you will be able to get the right flavour balance for your taste preferences.

Onion chutney
Here is the onion chutney with a lot less dressing.

Those toasted cumin seeds... Do you have to toast them?

No. But personally I prefer the flavour of toasted cumin seeds in the onion chutney.

It's the difference between bread and toast! By toasting the seeds, you not only bring out the flavour of the cumin but I think it makes the chutney more interesting too.

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the chutney.
Get all your ingredients together and prepared before starting.
The dressing ingredients for the chutney.
Place all of the dressing ingredients in a small mixing bowl and whisk with a fork to combine.
Adding onions to the chutney dressing
Add the thinly sliced or chopped onion to the dressing.
The onion coated with the red dressing.
Stir the sliced or chopped onion into the dressing. Be sure to check out variations above!
Onion chutney
So popular and so easy to make too.

What else?

As I mentioned above, this curry house style cold onion chutney can be made ahead of time. I suggest you do this because this of course isn't the case with many recipes.

As it will keep in the fridge covered for at least three days so it's one you can easily check off your list of things to prepare for that upcoming curry feast.

I recommend serving it with papadums and a selection of other pickles and chutneys like my homemade lime pickle and/or spicy vegetable pickle. You might also like to try this smooth garlic, chilli and mint raita.

cold onion chutney
So good on popadums.

What to serve this famous onion chutney with? Here are some delicious ideas.

Pappada Vada
Home Fried Papadums
Homemade Stovetop Naans
Smoked Toor Dhal Samosas
Lamb Seekh Kebabs

Have you tried this onion chutney recipe?

If so, please give it a star rating in the comments below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I'm sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

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Yield: 4

How To Make Cold Onion Chutney

Onion chutney

This is the famous cold onion chutney found at curry houses around the UK. It's quick and easy to make and tastes amazing.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion - finely sliced or roughly chopped
  • 3 tbsp ketchup (I use Heinz)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp rapeseed (canola) oil (optional)
  • A pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Place the sliced onions in a bowl of ice water and put in the fridge for about an hour.
  2. When the onion slices are good and cold, drain the water and tap them dry with a clean cloth.
  3. Now mix the ketchup, tomato puree, chilli powder, cumin seeds and salt with the sliced onions.
  4. Stick in the fridge for about 45 minutes before serving.
  5. This recipe is perfect with papadams though I could eat it on its own!

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 34Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 166mgCarbohydrates: 8gFiber: 1gSugar: 5gProtein: 1g

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Cuisine: British Indian Curry House / Category: Indian Accompaniments

BIR Jalfrezi Turkey Curry

By 3 Comments

This turkey curry is so easy to make.

If you're looking for a good and healthy turkey curry recipe, look no further.

This curry house style jalfrezi turkey curry offers a delicious way to use up leftover turkey or you could cook it tandoori style and add it to the sauce.

I think you're going to love this one.

jalfrezi turkey curry
Make this with tandoori turkey tikka or leftover turkey. Both very good.

A bit about this turkey curry recipe...

Those of you who have been following my blog for a while will know that I am a big fan of British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style cooking.

I have many recipes for BIR curries and also have a curry sauce recipe that makes cooking BIR curries faster and easier.

Curry house style cooking is perfect when you just want to whip up a turkey curry like this quickly. You will need to make the essential base sauce but that's easy.

You can also use it in all of the BIR recipes on my blog.

Does this curry have to be made with turkey?

Absolutely not! But if you want to cook with turkey meat, you will love it.

This turkey curry recipe can be used with any meat or fish. try it with chicken tikka or lamb tikka and you won't be disappointed.

Remember though, if you are using other types of meat such as lamb, goat or beef, you will need to cook the meat a lot longer so that it is tender and nice before serving.

Tandoori turkey tikka vs leftover turkey...

I developed this turkey curry recipe to be used with leftover Christmas or Thanksgiving turkey.

I didn't have any leftover turkey when I wrote this so I used tandoori turkey tikka. You can find an easy recipe for that here. 

Using marinated and grilled turkey tikka adds another layer of delicious flavour but you won't be disappointed with plain old leftover turkey.

This turkey curry can be made with either and it's a great way to use up leftovers and give them new life. 

Step by step photographs...

Frying mustard seeds and curry leaves
Heat the oil and then add the mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add the curry leaves.
Adding onions and peppers to pan
Add the onions and peppers and fry for about 5 minutes or until about 80% cooked.
Adding chillies to pan
Then stir in the chopped green chillies.
Adding ground spices to pan
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste, ground spices and then the tomato puree.
Adding basse sauce to curry
Follow this with one or two ladles of base sauce. Bring to a simmer.
Adding the meat to the pan
stir in the tandoori turkey or pieces of leftover turkey.
Finishing the jalfrezi turkey curry
Add the quartered tomato, the fenugreek leaves and salt to taste. A good twist of lime juice is also good!

If you like this turkey curry, you might like to try some of these recipes too...

Peshwari turkey curry
Leftover turkey soup
Chicken tikka masala
Chicken korma
Lamb rogan josh
Chicken chilli garlic
Lamb vindaloo

You'll find all the curry house favourites on my blog and in my cookbooks. Turkey can be used in any of them.

Turkey curry
Dig in!

Yield: 2

Turkey Curry With An Easy BIR Homemade Curry Sauce

Jalfrezi turkey curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
  • 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 each yellow, red and green bell peppers, thinly sliced
  • 2 green bird's eye chillies, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 4 tbsp tomato puree
  • 300ml (1 1/4 cups) base curry sauce (approx.)
  • 1 tbsp mixed powder
  • 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tomato, quartered
  • 1/2 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • Salt to taste
  • Juice of one lime

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a pan over medium high heat. Add the black mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the curry leaves and fry for about 30 seconds.
  2. Add the sliced onions and bell peppers and fry for about 5 minutes or until about 80% cooked through. Then stir in the green chillies.
  3. Stir to combine and the add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about 15 seconds. Add the ground spices and tomato puree.
  4. Now add about 1 or 2 ladles of base curry sauce and bring to a simmer. No need to stir the pan unless it is sticking. Be sure to scrape any sauce that is caramelising to the side of the pan back in for even more delicious flavour.
  5. Simmer for a few minutes. For a saucier curry, add more base or just cook it down for a drier curry.
  6. To finish, add the kasoori methi (dried fenugreek), the quartered tomato and salt to taste. Squeeze over the lime juice and serve.

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I hope you enjoy this jalfrezi turkey curry recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Puris

By 24 Comments

There are so many great Indian restaurant starter dishes that go well with puris!

homemade puri recipe
This homemade puri recipes is delicious.

I can still remember the first time I tried a stuffed puri. I was at an Indian restaurant in Croydon with a group of friends. One ordered prawn puri and recommended I do the same. I went for the lamb keema puri and it was amazing.

Since that day about 20 years ago, puris have become sort of a naughty treat. I love them but they aren't exactly low in calories.

Fattening though they may be, they are so nice.

If you are having a group of people over for a curry night dinner and really want to impress, making homemade puris should be on your to-do list. You can serve them with prawns, lamb mince, potatoes, chicken tikka... almost anything you serve with these fried breads will go down well.

Most restaurants use cooking oil to fry their puris. The traditional way to fry them is in ghee. I'll leave it up to you. You will get a much more British Indian restaurant (BIR) experience if you use oil but I have to say I do love puris cooked in ghee.

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Yield: 6

Puri - How To Make Delicious Puris At Home

Puri - How To Make Delicious Puris At Home

Ingredients

  • 500g (4 cups) chapatti flour
  • a pinch of salt
  • warm water
  • Oil or ghee for deep frying.

Instructions

  1. Sift the chapatti flour into a large bowl with the salt.
  2. Slowly add the warm water until you have a soft, pliable dough.
  3. Kneed the dough for about ten minutes and then set to the side, covered with a tea towel for about 30 minutes.
  4. Separate the dough into smaller balls that are just slightly larger than golf balls.
  5. Using a rolling pin, roll the small dough balls on a floured surface until round and quite flat.
  6. Heat the oil/ghee in a large wok. When the oil/ghee is hot enough to brown a bread crumb in about 25 seconds, it's ready for frying.
  7. Slowly lower the flat puris into the oil one at a time and deep fry for 30 seconds until the puris puff up and are light brown in colour. I usually turn my puris in the ghee/oil at least once.
  8. Remove when ready to rest on paper towels which will absorb any excess oil.
  9. You can serve puries on their own like you would naans or filled with the filling of your choice.
  10. For best results, serve immediately.

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Aloo Kebabs

By 2 Comments

You are going to love these aloo kebabs!

Aloo Kebabs
This is the best recipe for aloo kebabs!

For some reason it has taken me over a year of cooking and eating Indian food to feel right about using any other type of cheese besides paneer in my recipes. I don't know why. I guess I just wanted to use the cheese in my recipes that is used most often in India.

The thing is, many very popular Indian chefs use other types of cheese such a Cheddar and Mozzarella in there new-age Indian recipes and they taste great. This aloo kebab recipe was given to me by a friend who works up the road from me at a new Indian restaurant.

I have to say that I've been making potato cakes for many years and these have to be one of my favourites now. The recipe is simple but offers so many delicious flavours that go deliciously well together.

At the restaurant, these  kebabs are served on wooden skewers. I have chosen here to make simple patties. It's easier and easy is good.

 

Yield: 4

Aloo Kebabs - Potato Cakes With A Difference!

Aloo Kebabs - Potato Cakes With A Difference!

Ingredients

  • 3 large jacket potatoes - peeled and quartered
  • 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
  • 3 fresh green chillies - finely chopped
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 5 tablespoon grated Cheddar cheese
  • 1 tablespoon sifted gram flour
  • 5 tablespoons chopped coriander
  • 250ml (1 cup) semolina flour
  • 250ml vegetable oil

Instructions

  1. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and add the potatoes.
  2. Cook for about 25 minutes until the potatoes are soft.
  3. Drain and return the potatoes to the pan and mash. Set aside to cool.
  4. Heat a small dry frying pan over medium heat and roast the cumin seeds and mustard seeds. Move the seeds around in the pan so that they roast evenly and remove from the heat when they begin to smoke.
  5. Add the cumin seeds, green chillies, lemon juice, Cheddar cheese, gram flour, red chilli powder and chopped coriander to the mashed potato and mix.
  6. Form into 8 patties.
  7. Heat the oil in a large frying pan until a piece of bread turns brown in about 25 seconds.
  8. Dust the aloo kebabs with the semolina powder and shallow fry for about three minutes per side. Be careful when turning so that the aloo kebabs don't turn into oily aloo slop.

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Cuisine: Indian Tandoori / Category: Main

 

aloo kebabs served in an Indian Tiffin
Aloo kebabs served in an Indian tiffin

How To Make Poppadoms

By 19 Comments

Home fried poppadoms so much better than the packaged poppadoms you find at the shop!

Whether you spell them poppadoms, poppadom, papadums or papadoms, you are probably looking at this recipe because you love these tasty pre-dinner snacks. 

Frying and serving your own poppadoms is so much more enjoyable than simply placing a few shop bought pre-fried poppadoms on the table. This is how the chefs at good Indian restaurants prepare their poppadoms. It's how I do it too unless I decide to go all out and make my own poppadoms from scratch.

Two stacks of poppadoms

About this poppadom recipes.

Frying poppadoms like this is easy so you really should give it a try. Here I want to show you how to fry poppadoms and make them look just as good as you fine at restaurants.

There is a trick to it and if you look at the photos that follow, you will see how easy that trick is.

How do you choose papads to fry into poppadoms?

There are many different brands out there and they all taste about the same. Some are thicker than other which turn really crispy, where other are really thin which is nice if you like to stick your finger in a stack of poppadoms to break them for serving.

Be sure to look for the thickness you prefer. It is also a good idea to decide if you would like flavoured poppadoms. I like them flavoured with black pepper, green chillies and also cumin but you might find other options you want to try.

Papads with different flavours; black pepper, green chilli, cumin and plain.
You will find papads with many different flavourings. Try those you think look best.

How do you serve poppadoms?

At curry houses in the UK, poppadoms are usually served as a starter with a selection of raitas, pickles and chutneys. That is a good way to serve them at home too.

In India, these popular snacks are not usually served as a starter but to give texture to a dish. Often they are served on top of a curry such as this coconut chicken curry.

They offer a crispy texture which together with the curry always goes down well. 

How do you get your poppadoms really flat like they are at restaurants?

If you have ever fried poppadoms before, you may have found that they are rather difficult to stack. This is because they naturally get larger in the hot oil and do not always stay very uniform.

There are two things you can do to get them to look like those you find at restaurants. First, always fry the poppadoms in twos. Frying two together will not only speed up the process but it also helps keep them flat.

Another trick is to weigh them down with a heavy plate when they first come out of the oil. 

Showing the difference between poppadoms that have been flattened with a plate and those that have not been.
The stack in the back were not weighted down. The poppadoms in front were. The plate has two poppadoms under it on a paper towel to soak up oil.

How do you make your own papads for poppadoms?

Papads are the thin lentil discs needed to make poppadoms. They are available at almost all Asian grocers. I've even seen them sold at some supermarkets. 

The discs are made by preparing a dough and then flattening small balls of the dough before drying them. Purchasing papads is a lot easier but you will enjoy homemade poppadoms much more. 

If you would like to give it a go, you should check out my recipe here.

Is this the only way to cook poppadoms?

Nope. Frying them like you do in this recipe is the way it would be done at Indian restaurants. You could also cook them in a microwave for about 30 - 40 seconds and watch as they become crispy. It actually works and with a lot less oil since there is no deep frying.

One of my favourite ways to cook them is on a barbecue or in a frying pan. Simply place the papads on a medium-high heat and flip them often until they are cooked through and crispy. 

Working ahead and storage

You can fry these up  a good week in advance. That's how they are done at most restaurants. Keep the fried poppadoms in air-tight containers in a cool location such as a cupboard.

Useful equipment.

  • Tongs: These come in really handy for placing the papads in the oil and getting them back out again.
  • A wok or high-sided pan: This is used for deep frying. Most home deep fat fryers are not large enough to fry the papads as they do get bigger when fried.
  • Paper towels: You need these to soak up any excess oil on the cooked poppadoms.
  • A heavy plate: A plate or something else heavy enough to weight the freshly cooked poppadoms down.

Step by step photographs of the frying process.

Using tongs to place two papads in hot oil to fry into poppadoms.
Use tongs to carefully place two papads together into the hot oil to fry.
Frying poppadoms
Once you place the papads in the oil, they will quickly puff up and become bigger. Flip them with your tongs a couple of times until crispy.
Two cooked poppadoms being coming out of the oil using tongs.
Remove the crispy poppadoms from the oil and shake off any excess oil.
Placing a plate on top of two freshly fried poppadoms to weight them down and make them flat.
Transfer the two poppadoms to a paper towel and quickly weigh them down with a heavy plate.
Demonstrating both weighed down poppadoms and a stack that was not weighted down.
There are 15 poppadoms in each stack. This is why you might want to weigh them down if you are serving a big group.

Do you have to weigh the poppadoms down?

No. This is done only for presentation and to make serving easier. If you are just cooking a few, it really is not needed.

Then again, perhaps you like the idea of a huge stack of crispy poppadoms at the table. You can decide which you prefer. 

Once you make your poppadoms, you might like to make one or more of these to dip them in. 

Mixed Vegetable Pickle
Lime Pickle
Cold Curry House Style Onion Chutney
Coriander and Mint Chutney
Mint Coriander and Mango Chutney
Smooth Garlic, Chilli and Mint Raita
Tomato Raita

You will find many spicy and delicious recipes on my blog. Here are some you've got to try!

  1. Curry house style base sauce - Make a curry just like those at the best curry houses using this sauce.
  2. Lamb Bhuna from Scratch - This one is from my book 'The Curry Guy One Pot'
  3. One Pot Chicken Dhansak - from my book 'The Curry Guy One Pot
  4. Asian Honey Glazed Baked Salmon
  5. Sri Lankan Black Chicken Curry
  6. Peruvian Chicken - Pollo a la Brasa
  7. Korean Braised Beef Stew
  8. Dal Makhani - An Indian restaurant favourite!
  9. Tonkotsu Broth - When only the best will do. This one takes some time but it is just like you find at the best ramen restaurants!
  10. Tonkotsu Ramen - Use that homemade tonkotsu broth in this ramen!
  11. The Best Butter Chicken - Try it and you'll agree.
  12. Authentic Saag Recipe - This is so good
  13. Thai Beef Green Curry - Authentic recipe with homemade curry paste
  14. Air Fryer Chicken Biryani
  15. Cajun Mac and Cheese - The creamiest mac on the planet!
  16. One Pot Chicken Vindaloo
  17. Chicken 65 - One of my favourites. You might also like to try this air fryer chicken 65.
  18. One Pot Chicken Chilli Garlic Curry
  19. Homemade Sriracha Sauce - So much better than any sriracha you can purchase!
  20. Tandoori Chicken Tikka - Homemade is alway best and this recipe gets restaurant quality results.

Have you tried this poppadoms recipe?

If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I’m sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

If you are not already doing so, please follow The Curry Guy on Instagram and Facebook for all our latest recipes.

 

Yield: 4

How To Make Poppadoms

Demonstrating both weighed down poppadoms and a stack that was not weighted down.

Make your own crispy and delicious poppadoms at home with this easy recipe. Learn the secret tricks to frying poppadoms like a pro.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 Papads
  • Rapeseed (canola) oil for deep frying

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large wok over medium high heat.
  2. When a piece of papad puffs up and rises to the top on contact with the oil, it is hot enough to get started.
  3. I usually cook two papads at a time to speed things up a bit. It also keeps them more uniform.
  4. When you drop the papads in the oil, they will very quickly become full sized poppadoms. Turn them once with your tongs to ensure even cooking. Then pick them up with your tongs and shake off any excess oil. You can also use a large slotted spoon for this.
  5. Don't be tempted to let them turn a light brown as they will burn. The poppadoms continue cooking when removed from the oil.
  6. Place the cooked papadams on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil. If you prefer them to lie flat like they do at restaurants, weight them down with a heavy plate.
  7. Serve immediately with a selection of pickles and chutneys or store in a very low oven until ready to eat. You can also store them in an air-tight container and serve at room temperature.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 57Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 79mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 3g

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Cuisine: Indian

Barbecue Sauce Recipe

By 2 Comments

This has been my 'go-to' barbecue sauce recipe for decades!

If you want to make your own barbecue sauce, this barbecue sauce recipe is the perfect place to start. You are going to love it and it can be used in so many ways.

Stir it into baked beans or serve it next to barbecued chicken, beef, lamb or pork. You really can't go wrong with this one. Compare it to what you can purchase and well... there simply is no comparison. This barbecue sauce recipe is the best. I promise.

Barbecue Sauce

About this barbecue sauce recipe.

Over the years I have been perfecting this recipe so that it has the perfect combination of sweet, sour, spice and savoury flavours. This is of course hugely important for a good barbecue sauce. 

You can and should taste the barbecue sauce as you cook it. We all of different flavour preferences. The required ingredients are all there. You just need to try it and adjust to your own taste.

How to make this barbecue sauce recipe your own.

Taste as you go! If you prefer a sauce that is more sour, add more vinegar or lemon juice. For sweetness you can add more or less sugar or syrup. For a savoury flavour, use salt to taste and to achieve the right amount of spice, use your chillies of choice to taste. 

The black pepper in this recipe is also a good way to spice it up.

Can you work ahead?

Yes. This barbecue sauce will keep in the fridge for at least a week, probably longer.

You can also freeze it for up to 3 months. Just let it defrost and use it how you like.

How do you use this barbecue sauce recipe?

This barbecue sauce is great whenever barbecue sauce is called for in a recipe. It's amazing on beef, chicken, pork, lamb and seafood.

You could use it as a dipping sauce for a steak or even stir some into a bowl of hot prawns or mussels. It is also amazing slathered over pork or beef ribs!

Just have fun and enjoy! If it sounds good, it probably will be.

Step by step photographs

Ingredients for this barbecue sauce recipe
Get your ingredients together before starting. I mixed all the liquid sauce ingredients and sugar together before adding to the pan.
Frying the onion, bell pepper, chillies and garlic.
Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add the chopped onions and bell pepper. Fry until the onion is soft and translucent. Then stir in the garlic and chillies and fry for a further minute.
Simmering the sauce ingredients
Pour in the ketchup and all the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken some.
The finished barbecue sauce recipe
Use as needed. You can keep this in the fridge for at least a week and it freezes well for up to 3 months.

Have you tried this barbecue sauce recipe?

If so, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I alway like receiving your feedback as I'm sure other readers of my blog do.

 

Barbecue Sauce Recipe

Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

  • 70ml (1/4 cup) rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 2 onions, very finely chopped
  • 1 green bell pepper, very finely chopped
  • 3 green finger chillies, finely chopped (more or less to taste)
  • 2 scotch bonnet chillies (optional), finely chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 500ml (2 cups) ketchup
  • 250ml (1 cup) water
  • 175ml (3/4 cup) Worcestershire sauce
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) cider vinegar
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) Maple syrup
  • 12 tbsp (3/4 cup) brown sugar
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) hot sauce (I use Frank's Original)
  • 70ml (1/4 cup) whole grain mustard
  • 1 - 2 tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 1 tbsp ground black pepper
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the chopped onions and green bell pepper and fry for about 5 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
  2. Stir in the chillies and garlic and fry for another minute.
  3. Add everything else to the pan and bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Then continue simmering for about 10 minutes until you have a nice thick but still pourable sauce.
  4. Check for seasoning and store in the fridge until ready to use. This will keep in the fridge for at least a week.

Notes

Be sure to taste the barbecue sauce as it simmers. You can and should adjust the sweet, sour, savoury and spicy flavours to preference.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 97Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 206mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 2gSugar: 13gProtein: 1g

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Cuisine: Tandoori / Category: Main

Rajasthani Goat Curry

By 7 Comments

This goat curry can also be made with lamb with great results!

goat curry
A sweet and sour goat curry

In India and Pakistan, goat meat is used much more often than lamb. Goat meat has a flavour that when cooked correctly is melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous! Unfortunately it isn’t all that easy to find in North Yorkshire.

So when I was contacted by Jeanette at Alternative Meats I was over the moon. Jeanette offered to send me some kid goat meat which I served my family over the weekend.

goat meat from Alternative Meats
Packed goat meat from Alternative Meats.

One of the great things about food blogging and social media is that you come across some great companies that you may otherwise never have found. I am really looking forward to trying some of the other meat available at Alternative Meats! They sell rose veal, kobe beef, goat, bison and some really interesting looking game from all around the world.

For now, however I want to rave about the goat meat.

Goat meat needs to be cooked longer than other meats. Be sure to marinate the meat for at least three hours. I marinated mine for 48 hours. The longer marinating time helps tenderises the meat.

Also, leave yourself enough time for the meat to cook. I usually cook goat meat for about three hours which is twice as long as I would cook lamb.

Personally I prefer the delicious flavour of goat meat to lamb in curries. If you've tried goat, you will probably know what I mean. If not, give goat a try! It is so good!

Pre-order and Reserve your copy of my Cookbook on Amazon UK!

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Only £12.99

 

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Yield: 4

Sweet, Sour And Ever So Slightly Spicy Rajasthani Goat Curry

Sweet, Sour And Ever So Slightly Spicy Rajasthani Goat Curry

Ingredients

  • 500g goat meat cut into 3/4” cubes
  • 500ml goat, lamb, beef or veal stock
  • FOR THE MARINADE
  • 200ml plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon pureed garlic
  • 1 tablespoon pureed ginger
  • A pinch of coriander powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 3 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter
  • 2 large white onions finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 4 black cardamom pods
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 four inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 2 tablespoons ginger puree
  • 2 tablespoons sweet mango chutney
  • A pinch of ground nutmeg
  • 1 tablespoon dry fenugreek leaves
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon tamarind pulp or 3 tablespoon lime juice

Instructions

  1. First make the marinade. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
  2. Place the goat meat in the marinade and ensure it is mixed well. You could rub the marinade into the meat with your hands. I do.
  3. Cover the meat with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for at least three hours or as long as 48 hours.
  4. In the meantime, take one of the chopped onions and fry it very slowly over low heat in about one tablespoon of the ghee and the sugar. You want the onion to be translucent and glossy brown. This could take about half hour. Once fried, place in a food processor or pestle and mortar and blend/pound to a paste.
  5. This onion paste can be used immediately or stored in the fridge for up to three days.
  6. When you're ready to make the curry, heat the remaining ghee in a large pan or wok.
  7. Toss in the cinnamon stick, cloves and the cardamom pods.
  8. When the spices become quite fragrant - about fifteen seconds - pour in the remaining chopped onion.
  9. Stir the onion to combine with the spices.
  10. Scrape as much of the marinade off the meat as you can and then add the meat to the pan and brown it for about five minutes. Be sure to retain any leftover marinade.
  11. Now add the garlic and ginger purees, the mango chutney and the nutmeg before pouring in the stock.
  12. Bring to a nice bubble and allow to simmer for about three hours. Three hours is not in stone! Check the meat after about two hours. The curry is ready when the goat meat is very tender.
  13. Just before serving, add the fenugreek leaves, the tamarind or lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. I used lime juice by the way.
  14. Then add the remaining marinade one tablespoon at a time while stirring continuously. If you don't have very much marinade, you might like to add another one to three tablespoon of plain yogurt.

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Disclaimer:The goat meat was sent to me free of charge to try by Alternative Meats. Thank you so much Jeanette!

Bombay Potatoes (Bombay Aloo)

By 22 Comments

Bombay potatoes are so easy to prepare in one pot.

There are many recipes for Bombay potatoes. This recipe has been on my blog for many years but recently I made it again and liked it so much I decided to feature the recipe in my cookbook 'The Curry Guy One Pot'. Yes, you can use a couple of pots if you like but this whole Bambay potatoes recipe can be prepared easily in one pot. 

The recipe is a bit oil heavy for some but it's supposed to be. If you prefer, you could pour some It is a bit oil-heavy, but it’s supposed to be. If you prefer, you could pour some of the oil out after frying the potatoes and then carry on with the recipe.

Bombay Potatoes

What are Bombay potatoes?

Bombay potatoes, also known as Bombay aloo, is a popular Indian dish made with potatoes that are seasoned with a variety of spices. The dish is known for its flavourful and aromatic blend of spices, giving it a delicious and distinctive taste. While there can be variations in the recipe, typical ingredients include potatoes, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, turmeric, chili powder, coriander, and sometimes other spices like garam masala.

Why are they called Bombay Potatoes?

The name "Bombay potatoes" is likely a reference to the city of Bombay, which is now known as Mumbai.

The dish itself is rooted in Indian cuisine, and the use of the term "Bombay" in the name is a nod to the cultural and culinary influence of the city. Naming dishes after places is a common practice in India, and it can signify the origin or association of the dish with a particular region or city.

Should they not be called Mumbai Potatoes?

While Mumbai is now the official name of the city, you will still come across the term "Bombay potatoes" as a nostalgic or traditional reference to the time when the dish gained popularity.

The name is more about the cultural and culinary heritage associated with the city rather than any specific ingredient or preparation method unique to Bombay (Mumbai).

How do you cook Bombay Aloo?

The potatoes are usually boiled or parboiled before being deep fried, sautéed or roasted with the spices to ensure they absorb the flavours. This Bombay potatoes recipe also includes ingredients like onions, tomatoes, and fresh coriander for added taste and texture.

How long can you keep Bombay potatoes in the fridge?

You can easily keep your Bombay potatoes in the fridge for about 4 days if not longer. In fact, as the potatoes sit in the sauce, they will become even better. So this is a dish you can prepare ahead and just heat it up right before serving.

Can you freeze Bombay potatoes?

Yes. This is a dish that freezes really well for up to six months. If you do decide to freeze it, just let the potatoes defrost completely. Then heat them in a pan over a medium heat or even place them in your microwave which is easier.

Are Bombay potatoes spicy?

Generally speaking, Bombay aloo is not really spicy. I tend to add more chili powder as it is countered by the potatoes which cools everything down.

You should add chilies and chili powder to taste. Chili powder is an ingredients that can be added any time during cooking so be sure to taste as you go and then just cook out the rawness of the powder for a minute or so.

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for Bombay Aloo.
Get all your ingredients together before you start cooking. It's a lot easier that way.
Simmering the potatoes in turmeric water.
Bring enough water to a boil to cook the potatoes. Stir in the turmeric and then add the potatoes. Par-cook for 10 minutes and strain. The potatoes should still be a bit hard.
Frying the par-cooked potatoes to crisp them up.
Dry your pan and place it back over a medium-high heat with 190ml (3⁄4 cup) of oil. When the oil is visibly hot, add the par-cooked potatoes and fry for about 3–5 minutes or until golden brown. 

Frying the potatoes.

This is a step that you can do a couple of days before serving. If that sounds more convenient to you go ahead and do it.

You can keep the oil if working ahead. Transfer the golden brown fried potatoes until golden brown and then transfer to a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.

Infusing fenugreek and mustard seeds in the oil.
Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds to the hot oil. When the mustard seeds begin to crackle and pop, add the dried Kashmiri chillies and let them flavour the oil for about 30 seconds.
Adding dried chillies to the oil.
Stir in the dried chillies and fry for about 30 seconds.
Adding the chopped onions to fry.
Then add the thinly sliced onions and fry for about 8 minutes or until they are turning golden brown. Add the chopped garlic and green chillies and fry for a further 45 seconds, 
Adding the ground spices to the pan.
Now add the curry powder, chilli powder, cumin and coriander. Stir well to combine. 
Adding water and tomatoes to the pan.
Add 70ml (1⁄4 cup) of water and the diced tomatoes. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes to let the tomatoes break down a little.
Returning the potatoes to the pan and adding tamarind paste and finger chillies.
Then stir in one teaspoon of tamarind paste and the whole green finger chillies, if using and the cooked potatoes.
Covering the pan to allow the flavours to develop.
Cover the pan and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes to develop the flavours.
Finished Bombay aloo.
When you lift the lid, your bombay potatoes are ready to serve.
Bomby aloo
Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro). Sprinkle in the garam masala.
Bombay Potatoes
Serve hot as a side or main dish over rice.

If you like this Bombay Potatoes recipe, you might like to try some of the Indian Vegetarian favourites.

Dum Aloo
Pakistani Chickpea Biryani
Punjabi Saag Curry
Punjabi Rajma
Butternut Squash Curry
Sri Lankan Green Beans Curry
Aloo Gobi
Saag Paneer
Onion Pakora Curry
Chana Saag Curry
Potato Curry
Mushroom Curry
Masala Corn
Gobi Manchurian
Masala Dosa
Saag Aloo
Tandoori Hummus
Tarka Dal
Masoor Dal
Dal Makhani
Chana Dal
Homemade Poppadoms From Scratch
Green Bean Thoran
Cabbage Thoran

Have you tried this Bombay Potatoes recipe?

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Yield: 4

Bombay Potatoes (Bombay Aloo)

Bombay Potatoes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 20 new potatoes, cut in half
  • 1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 generous tsp salt
  • 190ml (3⁄4 cup) rapeseed (canola) oil 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 5 fenugreek seeds (optional)
  • 3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced and
  • cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 green finger chillies, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1–2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • 3 green finger chillies, left whole
  • 3 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely
  • chopped
  • ½ tsp garam masala, shop-bought or homemade
  • Lime wedges, to serve

Instructions

  1. Fill a high-sided frying pan with enough water to cover the potatoes (don’t add them yet) and bring to the boil over a high heat. Stir in one teaspoon of the ground turmeric, the salt and the potatoes and simmer until tender but still a bit too undercooked to eat. This should take about 10 minutes. Strain through a colander.
  2. Dry your pan and place it back over a medium-high heat with 190ml (3⁄4 cup) of oil. When the oil is visibly hot, add the par-cooked potatoes and fry for about 3–5 minutes or until they are golden brown. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the potatoes to a plate and set aside.
  3. Add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds to the hot oil. When the mustard seeds begin to crackle and pop, add the dried Kashmiri chillies and let them flavour the oil for about 30 seconds. Then add the thinly sliced onions and fry for about 8 minutes or until they are turning golden brown. Add the chopped garlic and green chillies and fry for a further 45 seconds, while stirring continuously.
  4. Now add the curry powder, chilli powder, cumin and coriander along with 70ml (1⁄4 cup) of water and the diced tomatoes. Continue to simmer for another 5 minutes to let the tomatoes break down a little, and then stir in one teaspoon of tamarind paste and the whole green finger chillies, if using.
  5. Simmer the sauce for another minute and then add the crispy fried potatoes. Stir them into the simmering sauce. Cover the pan and simmer for another 5 minutes, lifting the lid a few times to give it all a good stir.
  6. Add 250ml (1 cup) of hot water and bring to a rolling simmer. Then cover the pan and continue simmering for 5–8 minutes, or until you are happy with the consistency of the sauce.
  7. To finish, taste it and add more salt, if needed. Add half of the chopped coriander (cilantro) and the garam masala and stir it all in. Garnish with the remaining coriander (cilantro) and serve with the lime wedges, which you can squeeze over it all, to taste, at the table.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 406Total Fat: 3gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 862mgCarbohydrates: 90gFiber: 15gSugar: 12gProtein: 13g

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Main or side

 

Steak And Kidney Pudding With An Indian Touch

By 4 Comments

This is steak and kidney pudding with a spicy difference!

Yield: 6

Steak And Kidney Pudding With An Indian Touch

Steak And Kidney Pudding With An Indian Touch
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 350g self rising flour
  • 250ml cold water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 200g beef grated beef suet
  • 1 kilo beef rump cut into 2 inch cubes
  • 200g finely chopped ox kidney
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1 large onion finely cut
  • 1 tablespoon ginger puree
  • 2 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 2 green chilli peppers finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 small bunch finely chopped fresh coriander
  • 2 bay leaves
  • beef stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions


1. Mix the pasty ingredients together and then whack the dough onto a floured surface and kneed into a soft dough ball.

Now place the beef cubes,, kidney, flour, chopped onion, ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin powder and chillies into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.

Roll your pastry out into a 14” circle and then cut one forth of the pastry off as pictured to use as a top to your pudding.

2. Fold the remaining 3/4 circle together to form a bowl shape and place in your 3 litre bowl. Be sure the the pastry dough is about an inch higher than the top of the bowl.

3. Flatten the excess dough around the top of the bowl and sprinkle a bit of water around the pastry rim.

Pour the beef mixture into the pastry bowl and then fill almost to the top with beef stock.

4. Roll out the remaining dough - the part you cut off - into a round top for your pudding and cover it pressing hard to ensure no juice can get out. Cover this with a floured tea towel and tie into place with a piece of string.

5. Place some sort of rivet inside the large pan. I use a 1 kilo metal kitchen weight. Place a tea towel on it and then put the steak and kidney pudding bowl on that.

6. Carefully fill the pan basin with water so that the water level is about half way up the steak and kidney pudding bowl.

Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a nice steady simmer. Cover the pan and allow to steam for four hours.

Be sure to check the water level often to ensure it doesn't boil dry.

7. Tip upside down on a serving plate to reveal an amazing spicy steak & kidney pudding!

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© stepforth
Cuisine: Asian Fusion
I think a steak and kidney pudding like this one could very well have been presented at the great feasts of the British Raj.

Yesterday afternoon I was a bit tired and trying to think of something easy to make for dinner. I started thumbing through my old cookbooks and found a recipe I’d made many times before but had forgotten about in recent years.

It was the steak and kidney pudding recipe in Rick Stein’s Food Heros cookbook. It is such an easy recipe though it looks like it could be difficult. It really isn't.

This time I decided to change it a bit. I wanted to see what Rick’s recipe would taste like with a bubbling hot beef curry inside the tasty suet pastry. I’m so glad I did. It was amazing.

So here it is. There wasn’t a drop of sauce or a crumb of pastry leftover.

Note: You will need a 3 liter oven proof round bowl, a large pan with a tight fitting lid big enough to hold the 3 litre bowl, two tea towels and some string.

I usually make my pastry first.

 

Cutting the pastry dough
Cutting the pastry dough

 

The pastry in the bowl
How the pastry should look in the bowl

 

The meat is in the pastry.
The meat meets the pastry

 

The pie is ready
Almost ready!

 

All tied up - steak and kidney pudding
All tied up.

 

steak and kidney pudding in the pot
The pudding's in the pot!

 

 

When steaming the steak and kidney pudding, be sure to check the water often so that it does not boil dry.

To Serve

Sometimes when I make this meal it works perfectly. I turn the pudding upside down and out plops a perfect steak and kidney crusty dome.

When this happens, it’s time for a celebration!

Alas this time it didn’t. I turned my steak and kidney pudding over and it all fell apart.

It's just the way it goes sometimes!

It still tasted great. In fact, next time I serve this dish I might just serve it directly from the bowl.

I really liked this play on a British classic. I hope you do too. Be sure to let me know how you get on by writing a comment.

Steak and kidney pudding is one of my all time favourites.

 

If you enjoy this recipe try my other Indian beef recipes:

Beef Madras
Bef Massaman Curry
Goan Beef Croquettes

How To Make A Fresh Hake Curry

By 2 Comments

This hake curry is a mix between authentic Indian and Indian restaurant style curry.

Hake Curry
I served my hake curry and rice in tiffins supplied by my new sponsor - Indian Tiffin.

I learned how to make hake curry from a friend who works in my favourite local Indian restaurant. The only difference between his original family recipe and this one is the addition of double cream.

If you are trying to cut back on the calories, just substitute more plain yogurt and cut out the cream. I made it with the cream as I was cooking for my kids and knew they love a good creamy curry. 

Make this hake curry recipe your own...

Everyone has their own taste preferences, especially when it comes to curries!

Just like I changed the original hake curry recipe for my family, I encourage you to do the same if you wish. Add more chillies or leave them out.

Don't like coriander? Leave it out or if you love it, add more. You really can't go wrong. 

This might be a hake curry but the recipe works well with any meaty fish like cod, haddock and if you want to go all out halibut.

Important cooking tip!

Where most people go wrong with fish curries is they overcook the fish.

If you over-cook hake, the beautiful chunks of fish will turn to mush so... DON'T DO THAT! 

Just cook it through and you will get delicious results. 

UPDATE: I am currently going back and remaking and photographing all of my curries. This hake curry is next on the list so be sure to check back soon for step by step photographs. 

Looking for other seafood curry ideas? Try some of these...

Keralan fish Curry
Keralan Prawn Curry
Sri Lankan Halibut Curry
Pan Seared Salmon in Saffron Sauce
Salmon Curry with Broccoli and Coconut

 

Yield: 4

How To Make A Fresh Hake Curry

Hake Curry

Ingredients

  • 500g (1 pound) skinless and boneless hake fillets
  • 500g chopped onions
  • 3 tablespoon corn oil
  • 5 tablespoons plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 1 tablespoon ginger puree
  • A pinch of ground cloves
  • A pinch of ground cinnamon
  • A pinch of hot red chilli powder
  • 150ml plain Greek yogurt
  • 100ml double cream
  • 3 red chillies finely chopped
  • A pinch of turmeric
  • Finely chopped coriander to garnish
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cut the hake fillets into 2 inch chunks and dust with the flour.
  2. Now heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.
  3. When the oil is hot, add the fish chucks in batches. It is very important not to over-crowd the the pan.
  4. Roll the hake pieces around in the oil browning them on all sides. You really only want to cook it about 50% and then remove from the pan.
  5.  Once all of the fish is browned and carefully set aside, toss in your chopped onions.
  6. The onions need to be browned slowly in the oil too and you may need to add a drop more oil. You want the onions to be translucent and light brown but not burnt.
  7. Once the onions are nicely caramelized, add the ginger, garlic, clove powder, cinnamon powder, yogurt and cream.
  8. Stir to combine and then transfer to a blender and blend the onion sauce mixture for about two minutes until very smooth.
  9. Pour the onion sauce back into the frying pan and carefully fold in the hake pieces to cook them through.
  10. It should only take about two minutes for the hake to heat through and finish cooking.
  11. I cannot over emphasize how important it is not to over cook the fish. Do it right and you will be serving a curry of lovely chunky fish. Over cook it and your fish chunks will disintegrate into the sauce.
  12. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle with the fresh coriander and chopped chillies. What a great way to serve fresh hake!

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I hope you enjoy this hake curry recipe. If you do try it, please don't be a stranger. Leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Spinach Dhal

By 2 Comments

This spinach dhal is so easy to make and so good!

Lately I have been experimenting with dhal and trying to come up with different recipes like this spinach dhal.

It's nothing too out of the ordinary but it's simple and quick to prepare. If you're looking for Indian vegetarian recipes to try, this dhal should be on your list.

spinach dhal
Inexpensive, delicious and healthy... Give spinach dhal a try.

About this spinach dhal recipe...

Spinach and lentils go so well together. Spinach dhal like this one are served all over India, both as a main course and side.

To develop this recipe, I simply gathered a few ingredients that I knew go well with dhal and through them in.

The end result as just as good as I expected.

Working ahead...

Lately I have been trying to cook healthier meals so I almost always have some cooked dhal on hand.

It will keep in the fridge for about a week and also freezes well. So I recommend doing this.

By having ready-cooked dhal on hand, you can be free to experiment with your own ideas. They may not always be as good as this spinach dhal but with practice and a bit of creativity, you will be able to come up with many recipes of your own.

If you would like to fry up the tarka ahead of time, this can also be done a day or so before serving. Just heat it up and pour it over the cooked spinach dhal.

Step by step photos...

It's always good to see how things are made in pictures. 

So I have done that for you here with this spinach dhal. Don't worry too much about following the recipe exactly. You can use more or less of any of the ingredients mentioned in the recipe.

simmering lentils
Soak the dhal for 30 minutes and then bring to a simmer, skimming off any foam that rises to the top.
Simmering lentils
After about 30 minutes, the dhal will become soft. Be sure to add more water as required to do so. 
Adding spinach to dhal
Once you're happy with the consistency of the dhal, you can add the spinach. I used 4 block of frozen spinach but fresh could also be used.
Making tarka
While the dhal is simmering, make the tarka. Bring some ghee to a simmer and add the black mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the other whole spices and curry leaves.
Preparing tarka
Then add the remaining ingredients and sizzle on medium heat until the onion is soft and light brown. Stir in the ground spices.
Finishing spinach dhal
Pour the tarka over the spinach dhal and season with salt to taste.
spinach dhal
Serve with rice or chapatis.
spinach dhal
So good! This spinach dhal can be prepared in less than 40 minutes.

If you like this spinach dhal recipe, why not give some of these a try too...

Balti Dhal Fry
Chana Dhal
Tarka Dhal
Black Dhal
Chana Saag Balti

Yield: 4

Spinach dhal

spinach dhal
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Additional Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 400g (2 cups) chana dhal
  • 4 cubes of frozen spinach or the equivalent fresh
  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 10 fresh or frozen curry leaves
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 2 green bird's eye chillies, finely chopped
  • 2 medium tomatoes, diced
  • 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder, more or less to taste
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 3 tbsp coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Soak the lentils in in water for about 30 minutes.
  2. Drain and rinse and then place in a large pan with twice as much water. Bring to a simmer, skimming off any foam that rises to the top. After about 30 minutes, the dhal will thicken and the lentils will be really soft.
  3. Add the spinach and stir well to combine. Continue simmering while you make the tarka, but be sure not to burn the lentils. Add more water if needed.
  4. To make the tarka, heat the ghee over medium-high heat. When visibly hot, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the cumin seeds and curry leaves and allow these all to infuse into the oil for about 30 seconds.
  5. Add the chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes, until the onion is soft, light brown and translucent.
  6. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste, garlic slivers , chillies, tomatoes and ground spices and stir it all up well
  7. Pour this over the cooked dhal and stir it in, retaining a little of the tarka for presentation at the end.
  8. Season with salt to taste and garnish with the chopped coriander to serve.


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I hope you enjoy this spinach dhal recipe. If you do give it a try, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Coconut Curry Mussels

By 8 Comments

Really easy... Give these coconut curry mussels a try soon!

I love mussels and cook them all the time. This recipe coconut curry mussels is one of my favourites. I learned the recipe while visiting Kerala in southern India. It was so good, I couldn't wait to try making them for my family back home.

Coconut curry mussels in a clay pot just after cooking and ready to serve.

How to prepare your live mussels...

When using fresh, live mussels for this coconut curry mussels recipe, it is important to clean them first.

Pour your mussels into a colander and get another bowl ready to place the mussels when cleaned. Farmed mussels attach themselves to ropes while they grow. If using farmed mussels which most are these days, you might find that there is a little of the rope still attached to them between the shells. Pull this off them and discard.

When you first pick up a mussel, it should close tightly. If it doesn't, tap it a few times and if it doesn't close, discard it as it's dead. Wash the shell very well and then place it in the bowl. Do this with all your mussels. Cleaning a kilo (2 lbs.) of mussels will take you about 10 minutes.

Can you use frozen or vacuum sealed mussels instead of live?

Frozen and vacuum-sealed refrigerated mussels can be good alternatives to fresh mussels, though they do have some differences in flavour and texture. Personally, when cooking coconut curry mussels, I almost always go for fresh but you will find the pros and cons of using frozen, vacuum sealed and fresh mussels below:

Fresh Mussels

Pros: Fresh mussels have a clean, briny, slightly sweet flavour and tender texture. They are typically at their best when cooked simply and briefly (e.g., steamed or in a broth).
Cons: Fresh mussels require cleaning and must be used quickly (usually within a day or two of purchase). They also need to be inspected individually to ensure they are alive before cooking.

Frozen Mussels

Pros: Frozen mussels are often cooked and flash-frozen immediately after harvest, locking in much of their natural flavour. They’re convenient since they’re usually pre-cleaned and de-bearded. They work well in soups, pasta dishes, and casseroles.
Cons: The texture can be slightly softer or chewier than fresh mussels, especially after thawing and reheating. Frozen mussels may have a milder taste, missing some of the briny sweetness fresh mussels offer.

Vacuum-Sealed Refrigerated Mussels

Pros: Vacuum-sealed mussels are typically partially cooked, allowing them to retain a closer-to-fresh flavour and texture than frozen mussels. They often come pre-seasoned or marinated, making them flavourful and convenient to use directly in recipes or eat as-is.
Cons: They can sometimes be saltier due to added brine or seasonings. Since they’re partially cooked, cooking them further can lead to a tougher texture. They also have a shorter shelf life than frozen mussels, so timing is important.

How do you store live mussels.

This advice comes straight from my fishmonger and he's a good one. If you purchase mussels, they often come in a net sack or often fishmongers will have them lose in a bowl and give them to you in a paper or plastic bag.

Pour these out into a colander and then place some wet news paper or wet paper napkins on top and put them in your fridge on a plate.

Fresh mussels should stay live for one to two days.

Is this coconut curry mussels recipe spicy?

This version of my recipe is quite mild. The only heat is from the fresh chillies you add.

That said, I also make a spicy version which includes more chillies and also 1 teaspoon or two of Kashmiri chilli powder. If you want your coconut curry mussels to be spicy, just add more chillies and/or chilli powder.

Working ahead...

You can do pretty much everything up to actually cooking the mussels ahead of time.

If working ahead of time suites your lifestyle, go for it. Add everything else to the pot and follow the instructions. Then just reheat it before adding the mussels.

You can also clean the mussels a few hours before cooking.

How to serve spicy mussels...

When I learned this recipe, I was served the spicy mussels with red rice or matta rice. Simple!

You can serve them in the sauce over Basmati rice or get some crusty bread and just dig in with your hands, dipping the bread in the sauce as you do.

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the recipe laid out on a countertop.
Get all you ingredients prepared and ready before you start cooking.
Infusing the mustard seeds and curry leaves into the melted butter.
Melt the butter in your pot over a medium-high heat and add the mustard seeds. When they bring to crack, stir in the curry leaves.
Adding the shallots to the pot.
Add the chopped shallots and chillies and fry until soft which should take about 5 minutes. At this stage, you could also add the turmeric though I added it later in cooking this time around.
Adding garlic and ginger paste to the pot.
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let if fry for about 30 seconds to cook out the raw flavour.
Pouring in the coconut milk.
Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.
Adding the mussels to the simmering sauce.
When it comes to a simmer, add the mussels and stir them in.
Covering the mussels to let them steam.
Cover the pot and let the mussels steam in the sauce for about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring once or twice during the cook.
Adding the turmeric and saffron to the sauce.
Once the mussels have opened, add the turmeric to the coconut milk along with the saffron. Stir well to combine until the sauce is a vibrant yellow.
Adding the cream to the pot of mussels.
Pour in the cream and a handful of the chopped coriander (cilantro) and again stir to combine.
coconut curry mussels in a pot, ready to serve.
Look at that! Season with salt and pepper to taste. These coconut curry mussels are so good!
Coconut curry mussels ready to serve, garnished with chopped coriander.
Enjoy.

If you like this recipe for spicy mussels, you might also like to try some of these...

Easy prawn curry
Malabar fish curry
White fish curry
Keralan fish curry
Spicy fish curry with coconut

Yield: 4

Coconut Curry Mussels

Coconut curry mussels in a clay pot with the curry sauce.

This coconut curry mussels recipe is best with fresh mussels. They take some work to clean but it will be worth it. You can add more heat to this dish by adding more chopped chillies and/or chilli powder.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 kg (2 lbs.) live mussels
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter (see note)
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 20 curry leaves
  • 4 shallots - finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
  • 3 fresh green chilies - finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 400ml thick coconut milk
  • 1 tbsp sugar or jaggery
  • 200ml double cream
  • A pinch of saffron
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro) , finely chopped

Instructions

  1. Melt the butter in a large pan that has a tight fitting lid over medium heat.
  2. When the butter has melted, throw in the mustard seeds. when they begin to crackle, toss in the curry leaves and chopped shallots.
  3. Fry until the shallots turn soft and translucent. This could take about 5 minutes.
  4. Now add the chopped chillies, garlic and ginger and stir to combine for about 30 seconds.
  5. Pour in the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Then pour in the mussels and cover with the lid to let them steam for about four minutes. Stir once or twice while they are steaming.
  6. They are ready when the shells open.
  7. Add the ground turmeric and the saffron by rubbing it between your fingers. Then add the cream and the jaggery or sugar. Stir well so that the sauce turns a vibrant yellow from the turmeric and saffron and the sugar has dissolved.
  8. Try the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. To serve, garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro).

Notes

When I tried this coconut curry mussels recipe in Kerala, the chef used coconut oil. This is very good. If you have some on hand, use it instead if you like.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 546Total Fat: 49gSaturated Fat: 34gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 317mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 2gSugar: 11gProtein: 11g

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Seafood Recipes

Indian Fillet Steak

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This Indian inspired fillet steak offers so much flavour for very little work

Fillet steak by The Curry Guy
Fillet steak served rare as it should be!

If I could eat steak every day, I would.

But I can't so I don’t.

Therefore when steaks are on the menu for the evening, I make sure they are special.

I insist on purchasing my meat from a good butcher who knows where his meat is from. The beef must be well hung. The butcher I use most often hangs his beef for 30 days and the flavour is out of this world.

You really don’t need to do much to the steaks when you purchase beef of this quality.

The following marinade and recipe can be used with any cut. For this Indian inspired dish, I have used fillet steak which I marinated for eight hours.

 

Yield: 4

A Fillet Steak Recipe That Is Sure To Impress

A Fillet Steak Recipe That Is Sure To Impress
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 steak fillet about 36 to 40oz
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Juice of three limes
  • 6 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
  • 1/2 inch ginger - chopped
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 1 fresh green chili
  • 1 tablespoon crushed black pepper
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  1. Place all of the marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend to a smooth paste.
  2. Set your whole steak fillet on top of a piece of cling film that is large enough to wrap tightly around the meat about five times.
  3. Pour the marinade over the meat and rub it into the flesh.
  4. Now tightly wrap the fillet into a tube, pulling the cling film as you do so that you form the fillet into a tight sausage shaped tube.
  5. Marinate in the cling film for three to eight hours.
  6. When you are ready to cook, unwrap the fillet and cut it into four equal sized round steaks about 1 1/2 inches thick.
  7. Heat the butter and olive oil in a frying pan over medium high heat.
  8. When the pan is good and hot, fry the steaks until cooked to your preferred doneness. I like my steaks rare which takes about four minutes per side for a 1 1/2 inch thick fillet steak.
  9. Serve the fillet stead with a green salad, French bread or garlic naans.

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian Fusion / Category: Main

 

Tandoori Baked Salmon

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Tandoori baked salmon in 30 minutes!

If you like salmon, you're going to love this tandoori baked salmon recipe! One of the great things about tandoori seafood is that it doesn't need to marinate for long. Unlike meat which benefits from a long time in the marinade, fish can be prepared and cooked immediately. You could, however leave this tandoori baked salmon to marinate for up to 30 minutes.

Tandoori baked salmon
You're going to love this tandoori baked salmon! So good with a coriander chutney.

What is tandoori?

Tandoori is a style of cooking where meat, fish, cheese and vegetables are cooked in a tandoor oven. The thing is, not many people in the west own a tandoori oven. For that reason, I came up with this tandoori baked salmon recipe which will get you fantastic results.

When people think of tandoori cooking, they do think of that juicy fish and meat they find at tandoor restaurants. But it's not just about the tandoor oven.

By using marinades that are used at Indian restaurants, you can achieve very good, if not better results to the tandoori dishes found at the best curry houses.

This tandoori baked salmon can be served hot or cold...

Salmon is one fish that tastes great hot or cold. So if you have any leftovers, be sure to save them for the next day.

 

You can flake the tandoori baked salmon into a salad or use it as a sandwich filling. 

Can this salmon be air fried?

Yes and I have done just that. You will find instructions in the recipe card below.

Step by step photographs

Ingredients for tandoori baked salmon
Get your ingredients together before starting. It's a lot easier that way.
Salmon marinade
Mix the liquid and dry ingredients together for the marinade until smooth. Add a drop more oil if it looks too dry.
Salmon marinating
This is not a contest on how much marinade you can get on the salmon. A thin film of marinade is all you need.
Salmon ready for cooking
Place the salmon on lightly oiled foil and bake under a hot grill (broiler) for 4 to 10 minutes.

Why is there such a large cooking time span?

Easy. People prefer their salmon cooked differently. I'm happy with it cooked for 4 to 5 minutes. You might want your salmon well done, so cook it for about 10 minutes.

There is nothing wrong with checking as you cook! Watch it carefully and you will be happy with the results.

 

Tandoori baked salmon
Plate it up!
Finished tandoori baked salmon
And dig in!

If you like this tandoori baked salmon, try some of these too...

Honey Glazed Baked Salmon
Meen Molee - Salmon in molee sauce
Steamed Salmon with Soy Sauce and Chillies
Cedar Plank Salmon with Chilli Oil

Yield: 4

How To Make Home-Cooked Tandoori Salmon

Tandoori baked salmom
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 x 200g (1/2 lb) thick salmon steak
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 tbsp garlic and giner paste
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp tandoori masala or garam masala
  • 2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 small bunch of chopped coriander leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Place the salmon fillets in the marinade and rub it into the flesh. Allow to marinate for up to 30 minutes.
  2. Pre-heat your grill (broiler) to it's highest setting and place the salmon, skin side down on a foil-lined baking tray on the top shelf of your oven.
  3. OVEN BAKED TANDOORI SALMON: Roast for about 4 to 10 minutes or until lightly charred on top and cooked through to your liking. To check for doneness, use a fork to see if it flakes easily. You will need to watch it closely so that it does not over cook.
  4. AIR FRIER TANDOORI SALMON: Preheat your air frier to 200c/400f. Place the salmon fillets in the cooking basket and air fry for about 8 minutes. If using thin fillets, they will cook faster so be sure to check during cooking. If the fish flakes easily with a fork, it's ready. If not, cook for another minute or until cooked to your liking.
  5. Season with flaky salt to taste and serve with a good raita or two.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

4

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 519Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 143mgSodium: 256mgCarbohydrates: 4gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 51g

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Cuisine: Indian / Category: Indian Seafood Recipes
I hope you enjoy this tandoori baked salmon recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Tandoori baked salmon
You may have visited and seen this older version of the recipe. It included yoghurt in the marinade. My new tandoori baked salmon does not.

Rotisserie Goan Pork Vindaloo

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You don't need a rotisserie to make this delicious Goan pork vindaloo

This Goan pork vindaloo recipe is an updated version of what you might have found on this page previously. I like to go back and improve recipes and as this Goan pork vindaloo hadn't been touched since I first published in back in 2013, I decided it was time to do so.

Cooking the marinated pork on a rotisserie gives the meat a delicious, smoky flavour with the perfect blend of vindaloo spices. If you don't have a rotisserie, no problem! Just cut your pork shoulder into bite sized pieces before applying the marinade. Then cook it on skewers or on the cooking grate of your BBQ. If cooking over fire doesn't excite you, you might want to try this simplified Goan pork vindaloo that can be cooked in one pan, indoors.

This Goan pork vindaloo goes so well with red matta rice or  plain Basmati rice.

Goan pork vindaloo

About this Goan pork vindaloo recipe

With most Goan pork vindaloo recipes, you marinate and then gently simmer pork in a spicy sauce until tender. This is another way of doing it which I saw prepared in Goa. 

Placing the marinated pork shoulder on a rotisserie and letting it cook slowly for about 3 hours give the meat an amazing smoky flavour that is so good in the curry. In fact, you could just leave out the curry bit and serve the meat on it's own. It's so juicy and spicy, you might find it difficult to wait for the curry to be prepared.

Do you have to cook the pork on a rotisserie?

No! I like to cook mine on a rotisserie because I find it quite convenient. If you want the same smoky flavour, go ahead and cut your pork shoulder into bite sized pieces and then marinate it. You can then skewer it and cook the meat over the coals just like you would chicken tikka.

What are the origins of Goan pork vindaloo?

Vindaloo was inspired by a Portuguese dish called carne de vinha d'alhos (meat marinated in wine-vinegar and garlic). You might like to try the original Portuguese recipe too. You can find it here.

The Goans took the original dish and made it into the famous Goan pork vindaloo that is now world famous. Compare the Portuguese dish and this vindaloo and you will see that there are a lot more spices in vindaloo.

To make it the Goan way, you will be using chillies and chilli powder but not so much that the heat of the chillies overpowers all the other spices used.

How to cook the perfect Goan pork vindaloo?

As mentioned above, there are a couple of ways to do it. Most common is to stew the pork in the sauce ingredients. You cook the pork until it is melt in the mouth tender. Cooking the meat in this way also flavours the curry sauce.

With this version, I'm not sure which came first, you cook the meat over fire, once again until tender. As the meat cooks, it will char on the exterior which is a good sign its ready to start slicing off. The cooked pork can then be added to the sauce which then becomes even more tender and releases an amazing charred and smoky flavour.

Either way, you want to ensure that the pork is super tender.

How spicy should Goan pork vindaloo be?

That's up to you but I can tell you from experience, the vindaloos in Goa are very spicy. Not as spicy as a British curry house style vindaloo but spicy all the same. 

With this recipe, you can and should taste it and adjust the spicing to taste.

How long can you keep pork vindaloo in the fridge?

This curry will keep well in the fridge for 3 to 5 days. Of course this depends on how fresh your ingredients are when you make it. In fact, the your Goan pork vindaloo will actually get better sitting, covered tightly in the fridge as the flavours will develop.

Can you freeze pork vindaloo?

Yes! You can freeze this Goan pork vindaloo curry for up to 6 months. It will still taste amazing and some people think it actually tastes better after freezing.

How do you reheat Goan pork vindaloo?

You can just heat it up in your microwave. For best results, however, heat it up slowly in a saucepan. Let it come to a simmer and then simmer lightly over a low heat until you are ready to serve.

If reheating from frozen, allow the pork vindaloo to defrost completely before reheating. 

Pro Tips for making Goan pork vindaloo

  1. Marinate the pork:  Marination is an important step in preparing Goan pork vindaloo. To achieve maximum flavour, marinate the pork in the marinade for 2 to 4 hours. This will give the pork a tangy, spicy and aromatic flavour, resulting in a rich and well-seasoned dish.
  2. Balance the Spices: Goan pork Vindaloo is known for being spicy, but it's important to balance the heat with other flavours. Be sure to taste the sauce as you cook and feel free to adjust the spicing to taste. If you don't know your spice level, be sure to add the chilli powder in small amounts until you are happy with the spiciness.
  3. Slow Cooking for Tender Meat: To achieve tender and succulent pork, you need to cook it gently and slowly. That's one of the reasons I prefer using a rotisserie. After you cook the pork, let it simmer in the sauce slowly over a low heat for a while. This will help flavour the sauce to perfection. 

Step by Step Photographs

Ingredients for rotisserie Goan pork vindaloo
Get all your ingredients together before starting.
Toasting the spices for the vindaloo marinade.
Toast the whole spices over a medium heat until warm to the touch and fragrant but not yet smoking.
The ground vindaloo spice blend.
Allow the spices to cool some and then grind into a fine paste in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar.
Marinade ingredients ready to blend.
Add the remaining marinade ingredients to the ground spices and blend to a smooth paste.
The blended marinade
Your finished marinade will look something like this.
The marinade rubbed into the pork
Remove the outer fat on the pork and this slice it thinly. Rub the marinade right into the meat.
Frying garlic slivers in oil.
While the pork is marinating, start your sauce. Heat the oil over medium high heat and add the garlic slivers.
Crispy garic flakes
Fry the garlic flakes until crispy and light brown but not burnt. Be careful. Then transfer the garlic flakes to a paper towel to soak up any excess oil.
Infusing the flavours of mustard seeds and curry leaves into the oil.
Add the mustard seeds to the same oil. When they begin to crackle, stir in the curry leaves to infuse for about 30 seconds.
Adding and frying the onions in the pan.
Stir in the chopped onions and fry for about 7 minutes or until soft, translucent and golden brown.
Adding chopped tomatoes to the pan.
Stir in the chopped tomatoes. Then add a little water to cover.
Simmering the Goan pork vindaloo sauce
Simmer covered for about 15 minutes and continue simmering until you are happy with the sauce consistence. Set aside. This can all be done on your barbecue if more convenient.
Pork cooking on a rotisserie
Wipe off and retain as much marinade as possible. Cook the pork on a rotisserie for about 2 to 3 hours, slicing the meat off as it chars and cooks through. 
Cooked pork cut into bite sized pieces.
Once all the meat is cooked, cut it into bite sized pieces if it isn't already.
Finishing the vindaloo on the barbecue
Add the pork and all the retained marinade to the curry and heat it up. You can continue simmering over a low heat for additional flavour.
Finished Goan pork vindaloo.
Stir in the fried garlic and season with salt to taste to serve.

If you like this Goan belly pork vindaloo, you might also like to try some of these recipes...

Authentic pork vindaloo
BIR curry house style vindaloo sauce
BIR style lamb vindaloo

Yield: 6 - 8

Rotisserie Goan Pork Vindaloo

Goan pork vindaloo
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours
Total Time 3 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2kg (4 lbs) pork shoulder, outer fat removed.
  • 2 - 3 tbsp coconut or rapeseed (canola) oil
  • 1 head of garlic – cloves cut into slivers
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • 20 fresh curry leaves
  • 3 onions – finely chopped
  • 3 tomatoes – finely chopped (about 400g)
  • 1 tbsp chilli powder (more or less to taste)
  • Juice of one lime or to taste
  • FOR THE VINDALOO MARINADE
  • 6 dried red chillies
  • 2 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 2 tsp black cardamom seeds
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 8 cloves
  • 1 inch cassia bark stick
  • 20 black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 8 green chillies – finely chopped
  • 125ml (1/2 cup) palm or red wine vinegar (plus more if needed)
  • 2 tablespoons soft brown sugar (more or less to taste
  • 2 tbsp tamarind paste (or another two tablespoon of vinegar)
  • 3 tbsp garlic and ginger paste

Instructions

  1. To make the marinade, place all the whole spices in a dry frying pan over medium heat and roast until they become fragrant and warm to the touch but are not yet smoking.
  2. Transfer to a plate to cool slightly and then pour the spices in a food processor with the turmeric and grind to a fine powder. You could also use a pestle and mortar but that's a lot more work.
  3. Add the chillies, vinegar, tamarind concentrate, brown sugar, garlic and ginger and blend to a smooth vindaloo marinade paste. Removed any excess fat from the exterior of the pork shoulder and slice it into thin pieces, about 1/2 inch thick. Place the sliced pork in a large bowl and cover with the marinade and leave to marinate for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours.
  4. When ready to cook, heat the oil in a saucepan, large frying pan or wok over low heat. Add the garlic slivers and allow to cook gently for about 10 minutes. Be careful not to burn the garlic. It should be a bit crispy and just beginning to turn a light brown. Transfer the garlic with a slotted spoon to a plate and set aside.
  5. Using the same oil, heat your pan over medium high heat. When visibly hot, add the mustard seeds and when they begin to crackle, stir in the curry leaves.
  6. Fry for about 30 seconds until the curry leaves are very fragrant and then toss in the chopped onions.
  7. Fry the chopped onions for about 5 minutes over medium-high heat until they turn soft and translucent. Sprinkle a little salt over the onions. This will help release moisture from them.
  8. Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli powder, bay leaves and cover the pan to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the lid and allow to cool and set aside.
  9. Set up a medium fire in your barbecue.
  10. To cook the pork. Secure it on a rotisserie skewer or just skewer it up to cook over the fire. Rub as much marinade off the meat as you can and retain it. To cook on skewers, cut into bite sized pieces and cook over the hot flames until lightly charred and cooked through.
  11. Cooking the pork on a rotisserie takes a bit longer but the smokiness you get adds delicious flavour Let the pork cook on the rotisserie for about 3 hours, slicing off the cooked bits of meat as it cooks. You can add the cut pork directly to the curry. Continue cooking and slicing until all the meat is cooked through.
  12. Add the cooked meat to the sauce and top with a little water to cover along with a couple tablespoons of the reserved marinade. Bring to a simmer and try some. You can adjust the flavouring my stirring in more marinade. Be sure to simmer it for a while as the marinade will have touched the raw meat.
  13. You can continue simmering over a low heat for a while if you like. Add more water if needed. You do not want to serve the vindaloo until the pork is really tender. The longer cooking time will also help flavour the curry.
  14. To serve, stir in the fried garlic. Try the curry and add salt to taste. You can also adjust other spicing at this time such as additional chilli powder. Just be sure to simmer it in the sauce for a couple of minutes to cook out the raw flavour. Season with salt and lemon juice to taste.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 267Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 13mgSodium: 794mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 7gSugar: 13gProtein: 10g

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Goan Indian / Category: Main
 I have a few traditional Goan vindaloo recipes on this site but this is my favourite of the moment.

Crab Crust Salmon

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Crab crust salmon takes me back to my California days.

crab crust salmon
Crab crust salmon served on fresh spinach leaves

This crab crust salmon recipe is now officially my wife’s favourite fish dish!

I happen to like it a lot too and hope you'll feel the same. Crab and salmon just seem to go so well together.

This is actually a play on a recipe I was brought up with back when I was growing up near San Francisco. Dungeness crab live in abundance off the Pacific Coast and my grandfather used to serve crab crust salmon with nothing more than lemon juice and olive oil. The flavours were amazing. I remember helping him put it all together knowing we were in for a gorgeous feast.

It is with this in mind that I kept the ingredients quite simple here.

I find the brown crabs that are caught off the coast of North Yorkshire work so well with this recipe. They have more moisture in the meat which when blended with a handful of dry breadcrumbs makes the meat easy to spread over the salmon steaks and quite tasty too.

 

Yield: 4

Crab Crust Salmon Served With A Coconut And Saffron Sauce

Crab Crust Salmon Served With A Coconut And Saffron Sauce
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • FOR THE SALMON
  • The meat of two brown crabs
  • 100g country white loaf of bread
  • Rind of two lemons
  • 30 black peppercorns coarsely ground
  • 4 x 150g salmon steaks - skinned
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 2 tablespoons ghee
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • 2 inches finely chopped ginger
  • 2 small shallots finely chopped
  • 2 fresh green chillies
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 100ml single cream
  • A pinch of saffron
  • A pinch of turmeric
  • 4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
  • Juice of one lime

Instructions

  1. Start by making your sauce.
  2. Heat the ghee in a large pan or wok over medium heat.
  3. When melted, add the shallots, garlic, ginger and chillies.
  4. Allow to sizzle for about a minute and then add the cumin, coriander powder and turmeric.
  5. Again, let this fry for about a minute.
  6. Now add the coconut milk, saffron and turmeric and bring to a simmer while stirring continuously.
  7. Add the single cream, chopped coriander and lime juice just before serving.
  8. Now for the salmon.
  9. Pick all of the meat out of the crabs and set aside.
  10. In a food processor, blend the bread into very fine bread crumbs and then add the lemon zest and ground pepper.
  11. Toast the bread crumb mixture over medium heat in a large pan until it is just beginning to brown.
  12. Depending on the consistency of your crab meat, you may need to add more bread crumbs to it if it is too liquidy.
  13. Season your salmon steaks with salt and pepper and the spread the crab paste evening over the top.
  14. Sprinkle with the bread crumbs.
  15. Place the steaks on a baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. I like to serve my salmon pink in the middle so watch the steaks carefully to ensure they cook through to the way you like them.
  16. You could serve this crab crust salmon and sauce with rice but I like serving it with simple new potatoes and stir fried baby spinach leaves.

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Cuisine: Indian inspired / Category: Main

 

 

 

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Lamb Methi

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This lamb methi is certain to get gobbled up!

Lamb methi
Perfect lamb methi

Cooking meat on the bone in curries is not done very often in British Indian restaurant (BIR) style cooking. Mainly because it is more difficult to prepare and eat. If you’re cooking these curries at home, however you will enjoy the extra flavour it adds to your meals.

This is how my son and I decided to cook a large lamb methi curry over the weekend. Normally I would use pre-cooked meat for my restaurant style lamb methi but as we were making the curry for a large group and had hours to do it, we decided to go all out.

We purchased a leg of lamb and we went to work on it. My butcher gave me his meat cleaver when he retired which made the job a lot easier. We took turns chopping away at the leg cutting it into two inch sections.

Once this was done, we roasted the leg parts in the oven which was set to the highest setting and browned the meat for about 40 minutes

 

The following recipe leaves this step out though by all means do it if you like. This lamb methi is spectacular!
 

I like to serve this lamb methi curry with fresh naans like this recipe I learned at Sachins in Newcastle.

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How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Methi

How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Methi

This is a homemade version of what you might get at a popular Indian restaurant. My ebook shows you how it's done in a busy restaurant kitchen!

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo (2 lbs.) lamb shoulder - cut off the bone into bite sized pieces - retaining the bone
  • 125ml tablespoon ghee or vegetable oil
  • 2 onions - finely chopped
  • 1/2 carrot - grated
  • 1 tablespoon cumin powder
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 tablespoon red chilli powder (More or less to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon garlic puree
  • 1 tablespoon ginger puree
  • 250ml (1 cup) chopped tomatoes
  • 1 small bunch fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves or 5 tablespoons tried methi leaves
  • 2 tabelspoons plain yogurt
  • 3 tabelspoons chopped coriander leaves
  • Juice of on lime
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee/oil in a large pan or wok.
  2. When hot, throw in the sliced onions and fry for about 15 minutes stirring continuously so that the onions become soft and translucent but not browned.
  3. Sprinkle in a pinch of salt - this will help release some of the liquid from the onions - and fry for a further minute or two.
  4. Now add the, grated carrot, and the garlic and ginger purees and stir to combine.
  5. Pour in the cumin powder, coriander powder, curry powder and the red chilli powder.
  6. Stir all the ingredients and then add the chopped tomatoes, the meat and bones and just enough water to cover.
  7. Cover and simmer for at least one hour until the meat is nice and tender. Don't rush this stage! If it takes longer, then so be it.
  8. Once the meat is tender, add the turmeric along with the methi leaves followed by the yogurt one teaspoon at a time. It is import to stir the yogurt in slowly or it will curdle.
  9. Let simmer for a further five minutes before adding the chopped coriander and the garam masala.
  10. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  11. Add the lime juice and serve with white rice or naans.

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How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Bhuna

By 43 Comments

This restaurant style lamb bhuna will get you great restaurant style results.

I have made a lot of beef and lamb bhuna curries over the past year. The authentic Indian bhunas are quite a lot harder to make than this restaurant style bhuna. Bhuna cooking is a style of cooking in India where hot oil is used to release the flavours of a long list of spices before adding raw meat - often cut into small pieces on the bone.

Once the meat is added, stock or water is sprinkled into the pan in small amounts which is then cooked into the meat.

This process is repeated for an hour or more until the meat becomes fall off the bone tender and the flavour in the resulting dry curry is out of this world.

lamb bhuna curry
Delicious with a thick gravy that is perfect picked up with a naan or chapati.

How is curry house style lamb bhuna different?

Authentic bhuna cooking as mentioned above would not be possible in a busy Indian curry house so the recipe has been changed.

BIR lamb bhuna is still a dry curry with a rich thick gravy but it is made in a fraction of the time as cooked meat is used instead of slow cooking raw meat.

Also, at curry houses, a base curry sauce is used which becomes the sauce for the curry. This too is a time saver but it also gives the lamb bhuna its unique curry house flavour and texture.

Many Indian restaurants add a drop or two of red food colouring to this dish which gives the meat an attractive pink glow. I didn't do this but you can if you wish. 

The food colouring adds no flavour but it does look good. 

What do you serve lamb bhuna with?

If you'd like to make this curry into a feast, you've come to the right place. You could just go for a side of Basmati rice or mushroom fried rice.
If you'd like to make naans, why not try one of these?  Instant naans, Peshwari naans, stove top naans, keema naans, garlic naans, tandoor naans (if you have a tandoor oven), or if you're cooking outdoors, karahi naans. Oh, and really easy but just as delicious are homemade chapatis.

You might also like to serve up an easy curry house style tarka dal or slowly cook dal makhani.

Want to start your lamb bhuna off meal right? How about fried shop bought poppadoms or if you're feeling ambitious, make your own poppadoms from scratch and serve them with coriander chutney, red onion chutney, and/or tamarind chutney.

Forward Planning

As with most of my British Indian restaurant style curries, you will want to pre cook your meat and make a base sauce first. Once this is done, you can literally cook this lamb bhuna curry in under 10 minutes.

It is always a good ideas to prepare your ingredients before starting cooking.

You don't want to have to start looking for ingredients when that pan is hot.

Ingredients for lamb bhuna

Curry Sauce

I have written a large and small version of my curry sauce recipe which will need to me made before cooking this recipe.

The large version is made just like they do in the best curry houses. Make a large batch for best results. It keeps in the fridge for three days and freezes well.

The small batch version works well too though it's not as authentic.

PRE-COOKED MEAT

I pre-cook meat in two ways. Most restaurants slow cook their meat in a spicy sauce such as this one for this recipe. They usually swirl in a little of the cooking juices too for extra flavour.

If you're feeling adventurous, you might like to add tandoori lamb tikka instead.

There is another option too if you're in a rush. Simmer the meat in your base sauce until it is really tender. 

Don't rush this! Simmering the meat in the base sauce will also give the sauce a delicious meaty flavour. 

Following are some step by step photos I took of the cooking process.

Frying onions, peppers and chillies
Heat the oil over medium-high heat and fry the onion, bell pepper and and chillies for about 5 minutes
Adding garlic and ginger paste to the pan
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and let it fry for about 30 seconds.
stirring in the tomato puree
Stir in the tomato puree and bring to a bubbling simmer.
Adding base curry sauce to the pan
Stir in a ladle or two of the base sauce. This is a dry curry but you can add more from time to time if the curry is looking too dry.
adding meat to the pan
Add the pre-cooked lamb to the pan. You can add more base sauce if needed. Only stir if the sauce is sticking to the pan.
Simmering lamb bhuna
As the curry simmers, the base sauce with caramelise to the side of the pan. Scrape this in for more flavour. Season with salt to taste to serve.

 


Here are more curry house curry favourites you might like to try!

Chicken Korma
Chicken Madras
Chicken Dhansak
Lamb Rogan Josh
Lamb Vindaloo
Chicken Chilli Garlic
Chicken Patia

Have you tried this lamb bhuna recipe?

If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I’m sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

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Yield: 2

How To Make British Indian Restaurant (BIR) Style Lamb Bhuna

lamb bhuna curry
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat the ghee or oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. When visibly hot, add the chopped onion and bell pepper and fry them for about four minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent.
  2. Stir in the garlic and ginger paste along with the coriander stalks and fry for a further 30 seconds
  3. Stir in the tomato puree and when it begins to simmer, stir in the mixed powder and tandoori masala, followed by about half of the base sauce.
  4. Bring this to a simmer and let it bubble for a couple of minutes, only stirring if the sauce is sticking to the pan. As it simmers, the sauce will caramelise to the side of the pan. Stir this into the sauce for additional flavour.
  5. Stir in the pre-cooked lamb and stir to coat with the sauce. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
  6. Increase the heat to high and add the remaining base sauce. Continue simmering until you have a really thick sauce.
  7. To finish, reduce the heat to medium and whisk in the yoghurt. Check for seasoning and add salt to taste. Top with the fresh coriander and serve with a good squeeze of lime juice and garnish with the spur chilli rings.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 586Total Fat: 42gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 125mgSodium: 1446mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 30g

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: British/Indian / Category: Restaurant Style Curries
 I hope you enjoy this lamb bhuna recipe. If you do try it, please leave a comment. I'd love to hear from you.

Tandoori Masala - Homemade Tandoori Spice Powder

By 22 Comments

For the best tandoori, make your own tandoori masala!

You will find many tandoori masala recipes out there. This tasty spice blend is amazing on poultry, meat, paneer and vegetables. You'll get amazing results every time as the spices are freshly ground and roasted. Doing this really brings out their flavour!

Tandoori masala isn't only good in a marinade. You can use it as a spice blend for many curries including this curry house style chicken tikka masala. 

Tandoori Masala

WHY MAKE YOUR OWN TANDOORI MASALA?

It's just plain better! The roasted and ground spices take everything up a notch. There is so much more flavour than anything you can purchase.

The resulting tandoori masala is great used as a dry rub or mixed into marinades and curries.

I usually use mango powder (amchoor) to add a nice citric flavour to the blend. If you want that tandoori restaurant flavour, however you will need to use citric acid powder.

STORING YOUR TANDOORI MASALA

Your homemade tandoori masala will keep for at least three months in an air tight container. This is how I normally store it.

Once you’ve made this recipe, you might like to try making a tandoor masala paste with the powder. Here is the link to my recipe.

The paste lasts longer than the ground powder and is delicious stirred into curries, raitas and marinades.

I don't always add red food colouring powder as it adds no flavour.

If you want that curry house look, however, you might like to add it.

STEP BY STEP PHOTOGRAPHS

Roasting spices for the tandoori masala blend
Roast the whole spices over a medium high heat until warm to the touch and fragrant but not yet smoking.
The roasted spices on a plate cooling.
Pour the hot, roasted spices onto a pate to cool a little.
Adding the roasted spices to a spice grinder
Pour the cooled spices into a spice grinder or grind the with a pestle and mortar.
Adding the dried onions and garlic to a spice grinder.
Add the dried onions and garlic and then grind it all to a fine powder.
Adding the ground spices to the tandoori masala.
Once finely ground, add the turmeric, paprika, amchoor, dried ginger and chilli powder.
Adding red food colouring to the tandoori masala.
This is totally optional. If you would like your tandoori masala to be bright red, add about a tsp of red colouring.

 


 

Yield: 2 cups (about 18 tbsp)

Tandoori Masala

Adding the ground spices to the tandoori masala.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
  • 3 tablespoons cumin seeds
  • 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
  • 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
  • 6 green cardamom pods
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 3 dried bayleaves
  • 1 small piece of mace
  • 3 tablespoons dried garlic flakes
  • 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
  • 1 tablespoon ginger powder
  • 1 tablespoon anchoor (mango) powder or citric acid
  • 1 teaspoon (or more) red food colouring powder (optional)

Instructions

  1. Place the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and mace in a dry frying pan and place over medium heat.
  2. Move the spices around in the pan so that they roast evenly. When the spices become warm to the touch and fragrant, remove them from the heat to cool.
  3. Grind these spices with a spice grinder or pestle and mortar until you have a fine powder.
  4. Now grind the garlic and onion flakes until you again have a fine powder and add this mixture to the ground spices along with the ginger powder and amchoor or citric acid powder.
  5. Add food colouring until you are happy with the colour and then store the tandoori masala in an airtight container in a cool cupboard and use as required.

Notes

If you don't have dried garlic and/or dried onions, you can substitute about a tablespoon garlic powder and 2 tsp onion powder. Just add it when you add the other ground spices.

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As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

18

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 14Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 3mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 1gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

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© Dan Toombs
Cuisine: Indian BIR / Category: Spice Blends