Spicy Okra

By Chef Priya Menon

Ingredients

• 250g ladies finger or okra, washed and dried
• 1 big onion, sliced finely or diced
• 5 pieces dried chilli, break into small pieces
• 1 tbsp ginger, diced
• 1 tbsp garlic, diced
• 1 tbsp green chilli, diced (optional)
• 1 tsp whole mustard seeds
• 1 tsp whole fennel
• 1 tsp whole cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 small sprig curry leaf
• oil and salt as required

Method

Wash and dry okra. Its important that the okra is dry to avoid its slime. So dry it before you slice the okra as desired.
Heat oil in pan over very low heat and add mustard seeds, cumin and fennel.
When mustard seeds start to splutter, add the diced onions, garlic, ginger, curry leaves, green and dried chillis.
Stir fry the whole masala for about a minute and then add turmeric and okra.
At this stage , bring the heat up to medium and add salt to the okra.
Gently stir fry till the okra is coated with the spices.
When the vegetable is soft to the touch, its done. Remove from heat and serve.
Note : this is the best way to familiarise your self with the taste of whole spices. This is a very familiar classic Indian dish. This is Still one of my favourite all time vegetacle dish. If you add yogurt to this dish , it becomes a fried okra raita. the possibilities with this basic dish is immense.

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