Category: coriander

Categories
chicken coriander cumin curry onion potatoes spinach yoghurt

indian pot roast chicken

indian pot roast chicken

This meal represent a confluence of good fortune: I receive a job-lot of Total Greek Yoghurt one minute and a copy of Leon Naturally Fast Food the next. I’ve never been so instantly bowled over by a cookbook, it’s extremely wedded to the way I cook and makes perfect sense. It’s beautifully presented in a scrapbook style, and packed with a very real voice. It’s utterly charming.

I was drawn to the pot-roasts, and had a curryish state of mind going in. So this seemed like the one to use as a starting point. I’ve added a few bits and pieces.

It was very satisfying, but personally I underseasoned it. It will be utterly delicious the next time.

Indian chicken pot roast (serves 4):

4 chicken quarters

300ml 0% Total Greek yoghurt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon garam masala

2 potatoes, sliced into thick discs

1 lemon, sliced into thick discs

1 onion, sliced into rings

1 large bag of spinach

  1. Brine the chicken in enough water to cover with 8% salt for 6 hours. Afterwards, rinse under a cold tap and pat dry.
  2. Mix the yoghurt and spices together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Marinate the chicken in this lovely pink mix overnight.
  3. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of a large lidded casserole dish. Lay the onions on this, then the lemon slices. Season well, then plop the chicken on top of this with any leftover marinade.
  4. Bake for 1½ to 2 hours, until the chicken is done. Get the chicken out carefully with tongs, tip the spinach in and pop the chicken back on top. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and is tender.
Categories
cabbage coriander fennel

pickled cabbage

A guilty pleasure of mine is a kebab from a kebab shop. I don’t even get drunk to have them. Part of the fun is reeling off the list of accompaniments you want with yours. One of my favourites is the pickled cabbage. As such, I’ve perfected my own kebab shop-style pickled cabbage.

Pickled cabbage:

¼ white cabbage, finely shredded

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

White pepper

Sea salt

  • Combine all the ingredients and toss well. Pick up the cabbage and let it drop back into the bowl through your fingers to mix. Add a really large pinch of salt at this stage, and you’ll adjust it later.
  • Leave for two hours or more, tossing every half hour. When it’s tenderised to where you like it (about two hours for me), check for seasoning. Use salt, pepper, more white wine vinegar and a maybe a pinch of sugar to get the flavour balance of salty and sharp. If it’s gone too far you can always rescue it by rinsing under cold water.
Categories
cheese chicken coriander cumin food tortilla

chicken hawaij quesadillas

Cultures collide in one of my favourite sandwiches: the quesadilla. Hawaij is a Lebanese Jewish spice mix, with a lovely cardamom perfume kick. Wedged into some tortillas with cheese and chicken, I could eat this kind of thing all day.

Chicken hawaij quesadillas:

For the hawaij mix:

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

Crushed seeds of 2 cardamom pods (discard pods)

2 chicken breasts, diced

4 flour tortillas

1 red onion, sliced

A couple of handfuls of grated cheese

Chopped coriander leaves

Creme fraiche and salsa to serve

  1. Mix all the hawaij ingredients together and marinate the chicken for at least an hour.
  2. Fry the onion in a pan for a minute, then add the chicken mixture. Continue to stir fry until the chicken is cooked through, then set to one side.
  3. Lay a tortilla out, sprinkle some cheese on it, add some chicken then top with more cheese and a blast of coriander. Sandwich another tortilla on top.
  4. In a dry pan fry the tortilla sandwich, pressing down to glue it together. Keep your nose peeled for burning smells, you want to catch it about a minute before this! Flip over and fry the other side.
  5. Cut into wedges and munch with a scoop each of creme fraiche and salsa, or guacamole if that’s your thing.
Categories
coriander cumin curry food lamb potatoes

lamb keema sag with rosti topping

lamb keema sag with rosti topping

This is a recipe I’ve plucked from the pages of the April delicious magazine. I seem to be drawn to each every curry-style recipe at the moment – I’ve another planned for Sunday! This one seemed utterly irresistible, with spicy, rich lamb combined with a crisp potato topping.

I decreased the chilli for my version – we prefer it a little milder – and I’ve been off sweet potatoes since the awful barefoot contessa persuaded me that combining them with orange juice would be a good idea. Those changes made, the cook was on. I begins as a pan stir-fry, then finished in the oven to cook out the potato topping. The trickiest bit is draining the potato of excess water – I need to think of a way to squeeze them out without scalding myself. That aside, this was enormously satisfying. Filling, savoury, meaty and a dense mouthful on every fork. Very tasty indeed.

Lamb keema sag with rosti topping:

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon turmeric

½ chilli powder

2 onions, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

500g lamb mince

300ml lamb stock

1 tin tomatoes

300g spinach

1 teaspoon garam masala

Juice of ½ lemon

2 maris piper potatoes, grated

  1. Fry the seeds in a dry pan for 1 – 2 minutes until fragrant. Grind to a powder and mix with the turmeric and chilli.
  2. In the same pan fry one of the onions with the garlic and ginger for a few minutes until softened. Tip the ground spices into this.
  3. Fry the lamb until browned. Tip away the excess fat and add the stock and tomatoes. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lamb is tender and the sauce has thickened. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
  4. Wilt the spinach in a colander by pouring over boiling water. Immediately run under cold water and squeeze off excess liquid. Add this to the mince with lemon and garam masala. Check for seasoning.
  5. Back in the colander repeat the boiling water trick with the potatoes and other onion. Tip onto a tea towel and squeeze out the excess liquid. Mix with a little oil and season, then spread on top of the mince.
  6. Put the pan into the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until browned in top.
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