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