Hyderabadi Biryani

There are times you want to eat within half an hour of deciding your hungry; hell, there are times when 30 seconds is too long and snack food is reached for and, if you’re anything like me crammed in to your mouth before you have a chance to think twice/feel guilty/feel full.

Then there are the other times, the times like this evening when I am suffering from lack of sleep and a pretty hectic day and all I want to do is spend the evening cooking. This dish isn’t quick and it also isn’t easy, but it’s a project and the results are simply delicious. I have just sat down to eat it and it didn’t even touch the sides.

Curry is a beautiful dish. Referring to it in that generic way simply doesn’t do it justice, there are so many types. It requires time and patience and skill and without wanting to sound too wanky, love. You have to really commit yourself to cooking a curry, if you knock one up you are no doubt cheating/ not doing it right. Curries  shouldn’t be smothered and drowning in thick neon sauce, they should be fragrant, and dense with spices that are layered to delay your tasting of them. Indian food is without a doubt some of the most beautiful in the world, and for the most part it’s very healthy, and very diverse and varied depending on where in the country you are. I’ve had a love affair with Indian food for years, but am just getting confident in cooking it myself.

Ingredients (feeds 4) – 500 g lamb leg cut into bitesized pieces, 250 g natural yoghurt, 175g pure ghee (don’t panic! You can buy it in most supermarkets, certainly in the world food section and I bought mine from a local shop selling Indian foods.) 3 onions sliced – though I can often get away with one if it’s absolutely massive, as I did today, 2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste (recipe to follow), 2 large handfuls of fresh mint leaves, 2 large handfuls of fresh coriander leaves all chopped finely, 2 green chillies roughly chopped and deseeded. 3/4 teaspoon of red chilli powder, 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds coarsley ground, seends of 7 cardamom pods (bash them in a pestle and morter and discard the husks) 2 whole green cardamoms, 2 cinnamon sticks, 10-15 black peppercorns, 3 cloves, salt to taste.

For the rice – 500g rice, soaked for 20 mins, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon  saffron strands soaked in 50 ml milk for 2 hours, juice of 2 limes. 

Garlic and Ginger paste – can be made in 2 ways: the first being peeling and chopping the garlic and ginger before whizzing it all in a foodprocessor until you have as much as you like. I cheated, as I don’t have a food processor so took powdered forms of both and added water little by little until I’d made a smooth paste. Literally no difference I’d say.

Method –

Firstly measure 50 ml of milk into a bowl and sprinkle in saffron strands, as these have to stay there for 2 hours.  They look so beautiful as their vivid colour seeps into the milk. As soon as these are in, toss the lamb in the yoghurt making sure its well covered, and leave it to marinade in the yoghurt for 1 hour.

In a large pan heat the ghee and add the onions, frying them until they start to brown. As soon as they start to colour turn the heat down and keep stirring to prevent burning. 

Remove the onions from the ghee with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen roll on a large tray, spread them to keep them crispy. Having marinated the lamb for an hour add it to the ghee and stirfry it for 5 mins or so, then add 2/3 of the fried onions and all the herbs and spices. Cook for an hour or so on a low heat and when the lamb is tender set the pan on one side.

  

To cook the rice boil the water and add salt and garam masala, tip in the soaked and strained rice, cover the pan, reduce the heat and let the rice cook. Loads of people think you should stir rice, however leaving it is far better.

In a new pot layer the rice and the meat ending with a layer of rice, gently mash the saffron in to the milk and pour over the rice and meat with the lime juice.

Place a tight fitting lid on this and then weigh it down. I have no idea why, just do it. Now this bit is really weird and I’m not sure as to why it’s done, except that I was always told to so I always have. Put a frying pan over a high heat then put the covered and sealed biryani pan on this for 15 mins.

Garnish with the rest of the crispy onions.

EAT.

The Best Chilli in the World Ever. Fact. And dinner.

This evening has turned into a cooking extravaganza. We and some friends are part of a film club which translates to once a month rocking up at someone’s house, eating dinner and watching a film. Everyone has a different job, either providing the venue or the food or the film (there are 6 of us so this works well). Anyway P and I are exempt from the venue as our telly is so small it borders on the silly, and six people crowding round it seems a little bonkers, so instead we are providing the food and film for tomorrow. As I’m cooking at someone else’s house I thought I’d make the food in advance and just bring it to reheat. The best for this in my view is chilli con carne. 

Chilli is amazing stuff. It’s warming and hearty, can be eaten on its own or enjoyed with soft fluffy baked potatoes or long grain rice. It tastes amazing with creme fraiche or sour cream dolloped on the top and the best thing about it is, any left overs you have, they just taste better the longer you leave them. Within reason of course. This particular recipe is from my mum, no custard style disasters here, this is officially a wonderful, spicy chill, guaranteed to sooth the hungriest of bellies and the pickiest of tastes.

Ingredients:150g chorizo – ask for a chunk rather than slices so that you can chip off your own sized morsels.  Though chorizo is expensive I put more than 150g in the recipe as I think it is a vital ingredient and adds decent flavour.

500g minced beef
half a teaspoon ground cumin
half a teaspoon ground coriander
half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
3 cardamom pods, bruised [I have never had any of these around so don’t use]
1xgood jar of good quality tomato and chunky vegetable sauce [the type you would buy for pasta]
1 x 390g can of mixed spicy beans, red kidney beans are also absolutely fine
60 ml [4 tablespoons] sweet chilli sauce
quarter teaspoon chilli flakes [optional or if your beans are not spicy – I don’t use them]
 

Method
Put the chorizo pieces in a hot, heavy based pan and cook over a medium heat until the sausage crisps a little and gives up its orange-red oil
 
Add the mince and cook for about 5 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden fork to help it brown
 
Stir in the spices and then add the pasta sauce, beans and chilli sauce as well as the chilli flakes if you’re using them
Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes
 
You can eat this with rice or just as it is.  Soured cream is nice on top and grated cheese.  You could do baked potatoes.
 
Serves 4 people

 

So that is happily bubbling on the stove simmering on a very low heat, while dinner is also in various stages of being ready… loaded potato skins

These are so easy, very filling and actually (depending on what you put in them) not quite as guilt inducing as you might think….

You need as many potatoes as there are people (for two skins each) though obviously as many as you like depending on people/hunger.

 

For 2 – Ingredients: 2 baking potatoes, 10 or so closed cup mushrooms (quartered), 1 pepper (diced), 2 chillies (diced), bacon (cut into thin strips), cheese as much or a little as you like. Cheddar is fine, one red onion diced, anything else you think would be lovely!

For lower fat versions – use low fat cheese and less of it, bacon medallions, any bacon with all the fat trimmed off, don’t use any cream to bind it together, this recipe doesn’t use any and is fine so don’t think you need to, up your veggies.

Method: the long part of this process is baking the potatoes and there is only one way to do it right… 

Preheat the oven to 200

Pour a little olive oil into your hand and rub all the potatoes in it until well covered, then pour salt into your hand and rub all the potatoes with that too. Finally, prick them all over with a fork. Then put them in the oven for 1 1/4 hours. You can then forget about doing anything else – unless of course you have a batch of chilli to make in which case you’d better crack on. 

About half an hour before the potatoes are due out (if you’ve not already) chop your vegetables/bacon grate your cheese. Then add all the veg/bacon NOT THE CHEESE to a frying pan for about 15 mins or so until everything is crispy.

Take the potatoes out cut them in half and scoop the insides out into a mixing bowl, they should come out nice and easily with a spoon leave the skins on the side cooling. Add the mixture from the frying pan and most of the cheese to the potato mixture and stir well, sprinkle the last of the cheese over the skins and whack in the grill for no longer than 5 mins or until the top is golden and bubbling. Serve with salad.

Both dishes are surprisingly easy and they taste wonderful!

I’m now off to watch Masterchef on iplayer, heaven. 

Roast Dinner and everything you can do with the left overs

Good evening all,

Today has been a day of cooking in various guises all over. From the roast pork itself, to the veggies that went with it, to the apple crumble (see last Sunday’s recipe) that finished it off. We had 5 for lunch, a pretty average number, but the quantities can be adjusted accordingly.

Roast Pork

What an amazing dish. A shoulder has to be slow cooked as the meat is very muscly and needs a long time cooking to become tender and sweet. I tend to roast mine for about 7 hours, which may sound terrifying however you get up sort it out and then can go straight back to bed should you so desire. There is something utterly wonderful about slow roasted pork, it’s juicy and tender and can be pulled  apart with a fork when done right. You can pull it off the bone using only the slightest force and it melts in your mouth. This beautiful velvety texture is offset by the resounding teeth jangling CRUNCH, that is the crackling that comes with it. Your teeth sink through the soft layer of fat before colliding with the crispy skin and the juxtaposition of the soft and the crunch in your mouth is unrivalled. Apart from possible the ham and crisp sandwich. This recipe may seem elaborate however you do have 7 hours to prep everything so it’s really not too much of a pain.

SLOW ROASTED ROAST PORK SHOULDER

Ingredients – Pork Shoulder – Get from you local butcher, they can tell you everything from how to cook it. to how long, and everything else. Mine was on the bone (which always gives a better flavour) but your butcher can cut your meat however you’d like. They also score it making for excellent crackling. 2 Red Onions, 5 carrots, 5 potatoes (maris piper), 4 long shallots, a tbsp of plain flour, 1 pint chicken stock.

Method – 7 hours before you want to eat (in at 8:30 to eat at 3:00 approx ) prepare your pork shoulder. Rub the skin with olive oil and then rub salt and pepper into the skin, especially the scored lines, this will make the skin extra crispy. Place on a large baking tray in a preheated oven at 200 degrees and then turn the heat down to 160 degrees immediately. Now leave and go back to bed/your book/reading this blog etc.

The Potatoes and Veg

2 hours before eating put on a pan of boiling, salted water and cook your potatoes for 15 minutes or so, drain them and then give them a good bashing with a potato masher. DO NOT MASH THEM. You simply want to crush the outside a bit which will make them roast beautifully. Wrap them in a tea towel to soak up all the excess  water. Meanwhile peel the onions and shallots. You can peel the carrots too, but I tend not to bother. Quarter the onions and the shallots, halve the carrots and then quarter those into batons.

Take the pork out of the oven and add the chopped veg and ‘dried out’ potatoes around the pork and drizzle with olive oil. Return to the oven and leave.

15 mins before eating time, take the pork out of the oven and transfer it and the veg to a separate dish. Let them rest and absorb all the juices from each other.

GRAVY

All the meat juices should have collected at the bottom of the pan add your table spoon of plain flour and stir into the juices until it makes a paste, the add the chicken stock bit by bit, until it becomes thick and smooth.

TO SERVE

When carving the pork I tend to stick a knife through the skin and break up the cracking before pulling at the pork witha fork making it shred and rip. This makes for very easy service. I then tend to put the veg and pork in the middle of the table and tell people to dig in, they always do.

This dish is ever so simple with hardly any prep or attention that needs to be paid  until the last hour and then the last 15 minutes. A wonderful crowd pleasing dish; comforting, always welcome and always appreciated. Clean plates all round.

 

LEFT OVERS

Fritters

Ingredients

• your diced Leftover pork
• 1 tsp Mixed Herbs
• 1 clove Garlic crushed
• 1 beaten egg
• 5oz/150g sifted self raising flour
• salt & pepper to taste
• Enough milk to make fritter batter to light whipped cream consistancy

1. Combine flour, salt & pepper,herbs, garlic,egg and some milk.
2. Beat with a whisk until thick and lump free.
3. Add more milk a little at a time whisking until batter resembles lightly whipped cream consistancy.
4. Fold in diced pork and leave to rest for 30mins minimum.
5. Heat a fry pan to medium heat add a knob of butter and equal quantity of oil when hot add a ladle full of batter at a time cooking until bubbles form on top turn over and cook for 30 seconds more remove to papered plate and cook the rest adding butter and oil as necessary. Reheat in a warm oven if required.
6. Alternate cooking method make batter to whipped cream consistancy and add spoonfuls of batter and deep fry until crisp and golden.
7. Serve both with leftover veg and potato and sweet chilli sauce.

 Roasts are funny things. I never believed myself capable of making a  ‘proper roast’ that was always the domain of my mother or aunt. Making my own was a rite of passage, and one I am ashamed I came to rather late. I’d been watching Saturday Kitchen and it had shown how to slow roast a lamb shoulder, I inadvertently ended up cooking for 12. As a roast goes you can’t get a feel for it better than this way.

I find getting the more unconventional cuts of meat far more rewarding; shin shoulder and neck for example. They take far longer to cook, but are cheaper have bags of flavour and go further. Def a winner. I rarely cook a chicken sunday lunch, not since P’s mum and dad came over for his mum’s birthday on a whim and dinner for 2 turned into supper for 6 with 2 chickens roasting in the oven. There’s always so much hassle with chicken. Will it dry out? How can I get crispy skin? Should I shove a lemon up it’s backside? etc etc. Don’t get me wrong, good Roast Chicken is incomparable, but it is time consuming and likely to come a cropper. Stick with darker meats for a more laissez faire approach to  the iconic roast.

And so to bed, full of food and very contented.

Blue Cheese and Pancetta Risotto with Roasted Vine Cherry Tomatoes.

Good Evening,

Today has been stressful. Not the whole day, just the tail end and as I cycled home the stress reached new limits. Nothing but sirens and red lights with some laissez faire pedestrians thrown in. By the time I got home I needed a sit down and something hearty and comforting, filling and rich. There is only one answer to that. Risotto.

Risotto is a wonderful dish, it can absorb pretty much any flavour, sweet and salty, rich and full, sharp and almost bitter, sour and hot, you name it and risotto can keep it, take it home and make it all its own. I want to myth bust here. Risotto is not difficult – it’s an arse – but worth every stir. The rice becomes fat and swollen, starchy and bursting with moisture, while still retaining the bite. The rice you use is important; Arborio is my personal favourite though there are others you can use, just for the love of God don’t think you can wangle using long grain rice as you’ll only end up with rice in a thin broth which is no good for anyone’s supper.

The only option for tonight was a simple, but classic combination. This feeds 2 so just increase the amounts as you need.

Ingredients – 900ml of stock (chicken or veg will do), 100g pancetta (diced), 225g Arborio rice, large knob of butter, 1 small onion (diced)

To finish – knob of butter, as much blue cheese as you want (I use gorgonzola because it’s so creamy, but any blue cheese will do) I used  90 grams but could have used more. 

Method –  gently heat the stock  

                    in a heavy bottomed pan heat the onion and pancetta until the onion goes clear and almost gold round the edges, and the pancetta’s fat is transparent and starting to crinkle. 

Then stir in the knob of butter and the rice making sure everything is coated

Next add one third of the stock and stir continuously over a low heat until all the moisture has been absorbed. Leaving this will be your downfall because it will burn and not only stick to the pan but destroy the taste.

As the rice absorbs the stock add another third until all the stock has been absorbed.

Meanwhile cut your cherry tomatoes in half and place them on a tray in the oven, drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Put them in on a high heat for about 10-15 minutes.

When all the stock is absorbed add in the now soft and sweet cherry tomatoes, the knob of butter and stir. Then crumble the blue cheese all over it and stir in. Serve in a bowl. Curl up on the sofa and feel better. 

I feel I should say something about tomatoes. I hate them.

I can eat them in sandwiches, as part of ragus and sauces, as ketchup, sun dried in olive oil and only when very pushed and trying to be polite halved and quartered in salads. I think the problem is the squishy middle, the way they burst. they remind me of zits or pimples and I simply can’t bear the idea of them bursting in my mouth.

However they are sweet and cool and delicious, they are unbelievably good for you “can cure cancer” style thing. When you take out the watery seeds and you’re just left with flesh they are far more accessible and tolerable. They’re needed in the above recipe I think, to balance out the saltiness of the bacon and cheese, it lifts it and makes it lighter on the palate as well as adding some beautiful colour.

I would have added photos but risotto doesn’t photograph well!

 

Happy Eating