Baked fish masala

around700g whole sea bream cleaned or any flat fish
1 large crushed garlic
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Grind the above spices and marinate the whole fish. Leave for an hour or in the fridge for as long as possible

Fish masala
2 onions finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 green chilli
1 teaspoon fine cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tomato finely chopped
salt to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind paste or 2 tablespoon fresh tamarind juice
You can use a green mango grated too if you like
2 teaspoon fennel powder
1 teaspoon black pepper

Slices of lime and tomatoes for the fish when baking

Method:
Heat oven at 200 degrees (fan assisted oven)
1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil, when hot add fenugreek seeds. Add onions till translucent and slightly brown
2. Add ginger, garlic & green chilli, cook for 5 minutes then add cumin, coriander and chilli powder.
3. Add tomato and salt to taste, cook for 15-20min until oil separates, add a splash of water if too dry
4.  Add tamarind or and the green mango, fennel and black pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
5. Place some masala at the bottom of a oven dish, place the fish on top and place the rest of the masala on top. Slice some limes and tomatoes and place on top of fish.
6. Bake for 35 minutes, check the fattest part of the fish if its done, it should be white in colour. If not let it cook for another few minutes.
Serve with hot roltis or a lightly flavoured pilau

Leith Mess - Shrikhand

Shrikhand has been served a few times at Chai Lounge and its always been well received. I felt like I wanted to give it a bit more texture and when I read the ingredients of an Eton mess I thought it would work well with srikhand. Shrikhand goes well with soft fruit like mango, strawberries, raspberries or pomegranate.

Shrikhand (serves 8-12)

200g castor sugar or icing sugar (I find castor sugar makes the shrikhand too watery so prefer icing sugar)

1kg full fat Greek yoghurt

250g mascarpone cheese

3 teaspoons crushed pistachios

1 teaspoon cardamom powder

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

Method

1. Place the Greek yoghurt in a muslin cloth, tie tightly with a string and hang it somewhere so that it can drain. Place a dish underneath it to collect the water. Or you could use a fine sieve instead of a muslin cloth. Traditionally it’s left for 24hrs but I find that 2-3hrs are good enough.
2. Remove the yoghurt and place into a large bowl. Add the sugar ,mascarpone cheese, pistachios, cardamom powder and nutmeg and mix well. Taste and if you want more sugar add a bit at a time and mix well.

Meringue

1egg white

55g castor sugar

pinch of cardamom powder

1. Heat the oven at 100 deg
2. Beat egg whites till soft peaks are formed.
3. Add sugar, one teaspoon at a time and beat well till stiff peaks are formed. Add the cardamom powder together with sugar
4. Spoon mixture on a grease proof paper and bake for 1.5hrs.
5. Switch off oven, leave the meringues in the oven but leave the oven door slightly open. This will make them crispy and have a gooey inside texture

To serve

To make the Leith mess I used strawberries and pomegranate but any soft fruit would do. Place crushed meringues and chopped strawberries at the bottom of the serving bowl. Place a few tablespoon of shrikhand on top and garnish with more crushed meringue, roughly chopped pistachios, strawberries and pomegranate. 

Lamb Karahi

Having been off my feet for a while I wanted to cook a simple curry with not too many ingredients or time consuming. I used just a handful of ingredients in this simple lamb karahi dish. If you dont like kasuri methi use fresh methi leaves. Enjoy with hot parathas or sourdough nan bread. I have been experimenting with sour dough nan and will post a recipe soon

4 tablespoons light olive oil or sunflower oil

1 teaspoon crushed ginger  

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

500g lamb leg cut into small pieces

1 large onion chopped

2 tomatoes chopped

Salt to taste

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon fine coriander

1 teaspoon fine cumin

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder

½ teaspoon kasuri methi or use 1 tablespoon fresh chopped methi leaves

2 tablespoons plain yoghurt

3 or 4 green chillies

½ teaspoon crushed black pepper 

½ lime

Slivers of ginger and fresh coriander to garnish

Method

1.    Heat oil in kadai or heavy bottom pan

2.    When hot add ginger and garlic and cook for a few minutes, careful that it does not burn

3.    Add lamb pieces and cook for 5-10 min until browned

4.    Add onions, chopped tomatoes and give it a stir

5.    Add salt, turmeric, coriander, cumin, Kashmiri chilli powder, methi and yoghurt. Mix thoroughly and leave to cook on low heat with the lid on. Keep checking and mixing until the meat is soft and cooked. This should take around 45minutes

6.    When the oils separates from the masala, add the green chillies, black pepper, lime and cook for about 5minutes with the lid off

7.    Add chopped coriander and slivers of ginger

8.    Taste great with paratha or nan bread

Bhaji (spinach) cake

Note: Methi is another word for fenugreek. You will get it at one of the Asian stores in Leith. It has small leaves on a stem but if you are not sure, the store owner will definitely know what it is. It has a slightly bitter taste but works well in this cake.

Liquidise the following ingredients:

2 bunches methi

1/2 cup sunflower or light olive oil

1 onion

1 1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons crushed green chillies

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift together:

1 cup semolina

1  cup gram flour

1  cup plain flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tin small sweet corn

To Serve, greek yoghurt

Method

1.    Pre heat oven at 180 degrees

2.    Add liquidised mixture to the above dry ingredients. Taste & add more salt if required

3.    Add drained corn and mix thoroughly. Pour into greased pan, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake at 180 degrees for 30min. Serve with a dollop of Greek yoghurt

Lamb Dalcha or Dal Gosht

This warming flavoursome lamb stew is perfect for these cold winter days eaten with hot rotlis or ghee rice. If you don't have dried limes use tamarind. Soak the dried limes in boiling water for 10 minutes before you use them. You could poke a few holes in the lime so that it releases its flavours into the gravy. I used Coconom tumeric & tamarind sugar but normal brown sugar or jaggery will work too. Doodhi or bottle gourd can be found in Indian stores and almost like a marrow texture, you could use pumpkin instead but do try bottle gourd, it goes very well with channa dal

500g lamb cut into small pieces (lamb on the bone is preferred for this dish)
100g channa dal cooked in water till just soft in 1 teaspoon crushed ginger & garlic and a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons oil & 1 tablespoon ghee

1 large onion finely chopped

Whole garam masala that is added to hot oil : 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 3 dry red chillies, 1 large cinnamon stick, 3 cloves & 1 star anise

1 tablespoon crushed ginger

½ tablespoon crushed garlic

Handful of curry leaves

1 tablespoon coriander

½ tablespoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons  chili powder

Salt to taste

1 tomato chopped

2 dried limes soaked in boiling water for 10min (available in middle eastern shops) alternatively use 1 teaspoon tamarind paste but it will not give you the smoky taste as dried limes

1 teaspoon sugar

100g diced doodhi or pumpkin

Garam masala for meat dishes- dry roast and grind the following spices -  2 cinnamon sticks, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 1 teaspoon cloves, ½ nutmeg, 2 teaspoon black pepper & 1 teaspoon fennel. Extra garam masala can be kept in an air tight jar for a month

Method

1.  Cook channa  dal in water with ginger,garlic & salt until just soft, drain and keep aside

2.  Heat oil & ghee and when hot add whole garam masala, lower the heat and let it infuse the oil

3. Add finely chopped onions and cook slowly until brown

4. Once the onions are brown add crushed ginger, garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

5.  Add curry leaves, coriander, cumin, turmeric & chilli powder. Cook this for another 2 minutes add a splash of water if its burning

6.  Add the lamb & salt, give it a good stir to coat the meat pieces and let it cook slowly until soft (takes around 45min). Keep adding a splash of water should it get dry.

7.  When meat is just about done, add chopped tomatoes and cook for 10min. Once tomatoes are soft, add the limes or tamarind paste, cooked dal, sugar and doodhi or pumpkin, 125ml water, lower the heat and let it simmer

8. After 45 min check that the meat and pumpkin is done. If not add a bit more water and leave to simmer.  Smash 1 of the limes so that the lime flavour infuses the gravy.  When the meat and pumpkin is finally cooked, add 1 teaspoon of the garam masala, switch of the stove, close the lid and leave it to infuse for a few minutes. When ready to serve, mix in the garam masala.

9. Serve with hot rotlis or ghee rice

Restaurant Day 15 November 2014 - SOLD OUT

I'll be joining Edinburgh foody on restaurant day for a risotto pop up. Come and enjoy a wonderful meal and support our chosen charity Trussell Trust.

Where & When : Union of Genius, Forrest Road Edinburgh, 7-9pm

Menu : Butternut Squash and cardamom and Duck ragout followed by Leith Mess, sweetened hung yoghurt flavoured with nutmeg and rose water with crushed pistachio & cardamom meringues.

Book tickets via Edinburgh Foody There are only 20 tickets available. We also have some foodie prizes to be won on the night so get booking!

Chevti dal

This dal combines four different dals and gives it a great taste & texture. I usually make it with whatever I have in the store cupboard. This recipe calls for equal measures of channa dal, split moong dal, urad dal and red dal. Toor dal works well in this recipe too.

Ingredients
60g channa dal
60g yellow split moong dal
60g urad dal
60g red dal
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
pinch if hing (asafetida)
1/2 teaspoon whole cumin
1 dry Kashmiri chilli
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspoon crushed green chillies
piece of kokum for sourness or add lime
salt to taste

Method
1. Cook the dals in a pressure cooker, around 3 whistles should be good enough.
2. Heat oil in a pan, when its hot add whole cumin, when they start sizzling add the hing and red Kashmiri chilli.
3. Then add the ginger and green chillies, let this cook for a minute.
4. Add the cooked dal, tumeric, salt, kokum and 200ml boiling water.
5. Let this cook slowly for a further 10min or until desired consistency is achieved. It should not take a long time
6. Serve with hot rotlis or millet flour rotla and pickle