Soy Pepper Chicken

By Chef Priya Menongal

Ingredients

• 750g chicken, cut into bite size piece
• 3 onions, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tbsp ginger, diced
• 3 tomatoes
• 1 tsp cumin, coarsely pounded/ground
• 1 tsp fennel, coarsely pounded/ground
• 1 tsp coriander seeds, coarsely pounded/ground
• 1 tabsp black pepper, coarsley pounded/ground
• 2 sticks cinnamon, coarsley pounded/ground
• 4 star anise, coarsley pounded/ground
• 4 cardamom, coarsley pounded/ground
• 5 dried chillies, broken
• 3 fresh chillies (optional)
• 2 sprigs curry leaves
• coriander leaves for garnishing
• 6-7 tbsp thick soy sauce
• salt or light soy sauce as required
• oil about 1/2 cup

Method

Marinate chicken in soy sauce, pepper, cumin, fennel, coriander and one sprig of curry leaf for about 30 minutes, longer if time permits.
Heat oil in pan and fry cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, cloves, dried chillies and curry leaves over low heat. Add onions,garlic and ginger and fry till onions turn slightly golden.
Add the marinated chicken and cook, stirring occasionally. When chicken is almost cooked, add tomatoes and fresh chillies and cook till done.
Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves.
Note: Always cook on low to medium heat, to prevent chicken from sticking to pot.

Chilli Fried Fish

By Chef Priya Menon

Ingredients

• 250 - 500g of your favourite fish, use whole or sliced
• 1 level tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp black or white pepper, powder or crushed (more if you like it spicy)
• 1/2 tsp garlic paste
• 1/2 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tbsp yogurt (optional)
• salt to taste
• oil for frying

Method

Mix a marinade with the spices, garlic and ginger paste, yogurt, salt and coat the fish. Leave it to marinate for at least 1/2 an hour or more if possible.
The fish can be grilled or fried.
Note: I have used this marinade for Talapia, Siakap and other fresh water fish as well.

quick salmon tikka with cucumber yoghurt

method

I love this dish. If you’re a fan of chicken tikka masala, give this one a go. You might think it odd to use robust spice pastes on fish, but it’s very common in southern India. When buying your fish, ask the fishmonger to scale it for you. You'll be amazed at how quickly these cook.

• Preheat your oven to 110°C/225°F/gas ¼
• Pop your naan breads into the oven to warm through
• Halve, deseed and finely chop your chilli
• Peel and halve your cucumber lengthways, then use a spoon to scoop out and discard the seeds
• Roughly chop the cucumber and put most of it into a bowl
• Halve your lemon and squeeze the juice from one half into the bowl
• Add the yoghurt, a pinch of salt and pepper and half the chopped chilli
• Pick the coriander leaves and put to one side

• Slice each salmon fillet across lengthways into three 1.5cm wide slices
• Spoon the heaped tablespoon of tandoori paste into a small dish, then use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon to smear the tandoori paste all over each piece (don’t dip your pastry brush into the jar!)
• Heat a large frying pan over a high heat
• Once hot, add a lug of olive oil, put the salmon into the pan and cook for about 1½ minutes on each side, until cooked through

• Place a warmed naan bread on each plate
• Top each one with a good dollop of cucumber yoghurt and 3 pieces of salmon
• Scatter over a little of the reserved cucumber, chilli and coriander leaves and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice


• from Jamie's Ministry of Food


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ingredients

• 2 naan breads
• 1 fresh red chilli
• ½ a cucumber
• 1 lemon
• 4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a few sprigs of fresh coriander
• 2 x 200g salmon fillets, skin on,scaled and bones removed
• 1 heaped tablespoon Patak’s tandoori curry paste
• olive oil

macaroni cheese

method

This is my twist on the old-school frumpy Anglicized dish of macaroni cheese. Using these four different cheeses together, each one with its own characteristics, works really well. For the classic finish, it has to be popped under the grill to crisp up and go brown on top – lovely. Once you see how quick it is, you won’t be making any bechamels or claggy old sauces for a long time.

Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Cook the macaroni in a pan of salted boiling water 2 minutes short of the timing on the packet instructions, then drain in a colander and reserve a little of the cooking water. Heat the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. When it starts to foam, add the marjoram or oregano and fry for a minute until it starts to crisp up, then turn off the heat. Add your cooked pasta to the marjoram or oregano butter, along with a couple of spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water and the Parmesan, fontina or taleggio and mascarpone. Return to a medium heat and toss and stir around until most of the cheese has melted and you have a lovely gooey sauce – you may need to add a little more of the reserved cooking water. Season to taste, then tip it all into an earthenware dish. Grate over the nutmeg, tear over the mozzarella and sprinkle over the extra Parmesan. Bake the macaroni cheese in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, finishing up with a quick whack under the grill, until golden brown and crispy on top.


• from Cook With Jamie

ingredients

• 500g/1lb 2oz good-quality macaroni
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• a knob of butter
a small bunch of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
• 100g/3½oz Parmesan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for grating
• 100g/3½oz fontina or taleggio cheese, roughly torn
• 100g/3½oz mascarpone cheese
• ¼ of a nutmeg
a small ball of buffalo mozzarella cheese