This is the first Indian cookbook I have ever owned, I was always hesitant to buy any due to my lack of knowledge on Indian cuisine and of Indian chefs for that matter. I couldn't tell you where I found it, it has been in my amazon wishlist for bloody ages (I am a wishlist obsessive) I have a sneaky suspicion I found a review of it in the Metro on a Tuesday, which is the only day I pick one up as it has the cookery section in it (is that cool or uncool? Undecided).
So back to this uh-mazing book, Meera basically makes Indian food seem really easy and not scary or intimidating at all, there are beautiful pictures which made me literally salivate whilst reading and the instructions are clear. The best part of the book for me was the chapter on how to cook rice. I don't know about you lot, but I am rubbish at cooking rice, I think I have read too many conflicting recipes and techniques so I just decided rice wasn't for me!
So after much deliberation (an hour or two I would say) I went for the Pistachio and Yoghurt Chicken with Ferrari potatoes as a side. The pistachio was the main reason for my choice, I am currently obsessed with pistachio flavoured ice cream, well pistachio flavoured anything really.
As far as recipes go, I found the directions really easy to follow, I was nervous about cooking with all those spices as I wasn't sure the end result would taste like but I was blown away by how delicious it was. My mum even conceded defeat and admitted it was better than her chicken curry. I did get a bit flustered towards the end, I didn't put the potatoes on early enough and there was a peanut mishap which we won't even get into, but overall I feel much more capable at tackling any curry recipe now!
I would like to add one thing, the recipe calls for using a spice grinder or a food processor to grind up the nuts, I used my new Breville Blend-Active which I got from Amazon for about £20, I can't praise this device enough, it makes perfect fruit smoothies, pancakes and, more importantly, cocktails!! Although I told myself when drunkenly purchasing it was for post-excercise drinks...
Pistachio and Yoghurt Chicken Curry
Serves 4
- 100g unsalted pistachios (plus extra to serve)
- 5cm ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped or crushed in garlic crusher (any recipe that calls for chopped garlic I automatically use a crusher, the main reason is my dad despises finding a slice of garlic in his dinner so I trick him into believing I don't use garlic)
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 2 large onions, sliced into rings
- 2 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamon
- 4cm cinnamon stick or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 800g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into 2cm cubes
- 250ml hot chicken stock
- 4 tbsp greek yoghurt (plus extra to serve)
- juice of 1/2 lemon
Method
- In a food processor grind the pistachios to a fine powder and set aside, bash up the ginger and garlic in a pestle and mortar to a coarse paste and set aside
- put the oil in a wide bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat and once hot add the onions, fry until caramelized, which should take around 20 mins
- Add the garlic and ginger paste and stir fry for about 3-4 mins before adding the tomatoes
- put the lid on the pan and leave the tomatoes to cook for about 5 mins, until they start to break down, then add the black pepper, garam masala, chilli powder, coriander, cardamon, cinnamon and salt, stir then add the chicken to the pan
- Turn the chicken so that it seals on all sides, then add the ground pistachios, stir fry for a minute then pour in the chicken stock
- Lightly whisk the yoghurt with a fork then stir into the pan
- Put the lid on the pan and leave to cook for around 15 mins, I took the lid off after a while as it wasn't reducing enough for my likening
- Taste the dish and adjust as you wish, you can also add a little water to get the right consistancy if you need to (I didn't)
- Serve with a spoonful of yoghurt and scatter some chopped pistachios on top and add a squeeze of lemon. I added some chopped coriander leaves aswell because... well I love coriander
- Serve with Rice
Ferrari (pan fried potatoes with peanuts, black pepper and lemon juice)
Serves 4
- 50g peanuts, unsalted and unroasted
- 20 peppercorns (about half a tsp)
- 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 400g new potatoes, chopped into 3cm cubes
- 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped
- 4cm ginger, peeled and grated (I used the pestle and mortar again instead I can't see how that would make a difference)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 25g fresh coriander, chopped
- 1/2 a lemon
Method
- coarsly grind the peanuts using a food processor or pestle and mortar, set to one side, then grind the peppercorns the same way
- put the oil into a wide bottomed, lidded frying pan on a medium heat, when it is hot add the peppercorns and cumin seeds, a minute later add the potatoes
- Stir fry the potatoes for about 12 mins, until they start to brown, stick them with a knife to see if they are done (they will slide off easily if they are) if so then add the ginger, green chilli and salt
- Continue to cook for another 5 - 6 mins to cook the ginger and brown the potatoes
- When the potatoes are nicely brown, check the seasoning and then transfer to a serving bowl, scatter over the peanuts and coriander and squeeze over the lemon juice
Note: Be careful with the size of your potatoes, I don't think I cut mine thin enough so they took a lot longer than 20 mins to cook!
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