CLASSIC BLEND OF CREAMY LENTILS WITH CUMIN AND GARLIC, FINISHED WITH LEMONINGREDIENTS
Put all the lentils in a pan and cover with 500ml cold water.
Bring to the boil.
Remove any white scum and reduce to simmering.
Add the turmeric, tomato and ginger. Simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the lentils are tender.
Ensure the lentils do not catch.
Remove from the heat and add the salt.
Remove ginger.
Put the olive oil into a frying pan.
Heat and add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, garlic, chilli and curry leaves. Fry gently for a few minutes.
Add the spices to the lentils and stir well.
Finish with lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander.
If the dhal thickens too much, just add water and bring back to the boil.
LAMB, SLOW COOKED UNTIL TENDER AND FLAVOURED WITH GROUND CORIANDER AND CARDAMOM, PRODUCING A RICH BHUNA GRAVY For the smoking process
Heat the oil in a large pot, add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and peppercorns and fry until they start popping.
Add the onions and sauté until golden brown.
Mix the salt, ground coriander, turmeric and deghi mirch with a little water to form a spice paste. Add this to the pan and stir well.
Stir in the garlic and ginger and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the lamb pieces, stir well to coat all the meat with the spices.
Add the tomatoes, papaya, yoghurt and 300ml water. Cover and reduce the heat.
Simmer slowly for 1 hour, until the lamb is tender and the sauce is reduced. Stir regularly – do not let it catch.
Finally smoke the curry: pour the curry into a flat dish; place the smouldering coals in a steel ramekin along with the elephant cardamoms and drizzle over the rapeseed oil. Place the ramekin beside the lamb and cover. Allow to mature for one hour.
Remove the lid and foil and garnish with chopped coriander.
TRADITIONAL BENGALI CURRY – CHICKEN ON THE BONE COOKED WITH SWEET BABY ONIONS IN A SPICY REDUCED GRAVY
Heat oil in a non-stick oven proof casserole dish. Sauté the baby onions until golden brown. Remove, pat dry and set aside.
Fry bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves and dry red chillies for 2 minutes, followed by the onion pulp.
Make a paste with the deghi mirch and turmeric, add the whole spices to the pan and sauté for 30 seconds; add the garlic and ginger. Stir continuously.
Place the chicken and the browned onions in the pot with the tomatoes, yoghurt, salt and sugar. Stir and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add the onion juice and toasted coriander seeds. Stir well.
Simmer on a moderate heat for 20 minutes.
Sprinkle over garam masala, coriander and lime juice just before you serve.
SUCCULENT CHUNKS OF BONELESS CHICKEN BREAST, MARINATED AND ROASTED UNDER AN OPEN FLAMEINGREDIENTS
Purée all ingredients except chicken in a blender until spices are well ground.
Put chicken in a large bowl. Add yogurt and spice mixture. Marinate chicken, covered and chilled, for at least 4 hours.
Divide chicken among skewers leaving 1 cm space between cubes. Arrange skewers suspended across a baking tray.
Grill chicken about 4 inches from heat, turning regularly, until browned in spots and just cooked through (9 to 12 minutes).
Hung yoghurt: pour yoghurt on to a cheesecloth and tie. Hang over a bowl in fridge to extract unwanted moisture.
For the marinade
Whole spice
Ground spices
Heat oil in a heavy based pan, add the whole spices and brown lightly.
Add the onions, garlic & ginger. Sprinkle in salt and reduce heat, cover and allow the onions to soften. This should take around 10 minutes.
Once the onions have softened (or meat juices have evaporated) add all the ground spices and mix well.
Reduce the heat and cook the spices out for two minutes, add a splash of water if it catches.
Add tomatoes, yoghurt and chicken; mix well. Add water and cover. *You can add vegetables at this point, cook until soft*
Simmer the curry for 10 minutes.
Squeeze in lime juice and adjust the seasoning then add the fresh coriander and serve.
CLOVE SMOKED POUSSIN MARINATED IN YOGHURT AND CARDAMOM For the marinade For the smoking processINGREDIENTS
Marinade: in a large bowl mix together all the ingredients for the marinade to make a paste.
Add the poussin: make some cuts in the meat, massage the marinade into the cuts and set aside for at least 3 hours.
Arrange the poussin in a large pot, put the smouldering coals in a small metal ramekin and place in the middle of the poussin, add the cloves and rapeseed oil. Cover the pot with a damp cloth, followed by the lid, and leave to smoke for 1 hour.
Cook the poussin on a hot barbecue or under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes on each side, until cooked through. Drizzle with lemon juice before you serve.
TRADITIONAL PUNJABI BLACK LENTILS WITH TOMATO
Clean the pulses well.
Add water, salt, chilli powder, onion, tomato pulp and garlic-ginger paste. Cook in pressure cooker for about 40 minutes or till the pulses are cooked. If you do not have a pressure cooker, simmer the mixture for 1 1/2 hours, adding water occasionally.
Mash the pulses and leave on low heat.
Add the beaten yogurt and cook for 3-4 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and garam masala.
If the dhal thickens too much, just add water and bring back to the boil.
Heat oil and add cumin, star anise, bay leaves, and dried red chillies. When the cumin begins to splutter, add garam masala and onions. Sauté until the onions have softened.
Add the garlic-ginger paste, turmeric, ground coriander, ground chillies, and salt. Toss the spices on a low heat until the mixture releases the oil.
Add the chicken and the tomatoes. Stir well.
Reduce the heat to a fast simmer. Boil the water and pour over the chicken.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid and reduce to achieve the consistency of the gravy you want.
Garnish with chopped coriander.
A Balti curry is any curry cooked in a Balti dish or bowl, a wok-like cooking pot made from thinly pressed steel.
The word itself came to English from Hindustani, although it is also found in Odia and Bengali, and means ‘bucket’. It was an adaptation of the Portuguese word balde, which arrived on the Indian subcontinent with Portuguese merchants in the 16th century.
The dish is particularly associated with Northern India and Pakistan, and with Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
Indeed, the Birmingham balti, a fusion of Kashmiri dishes created by the city’s Mirpuri community in the 1970s, was even the subject of a long campaign to get protected name status from the EU, before Brexit scuppered the plan. The Birmingham balti tends to be lighter, healthier and faster to cook than those found in India and Pakistan.
Some have said that the Birmingham balti developed as the men who had come over to work in the UK in the 1970s were unable to bring their wives with them, so developed the dish to be prepared quickly at the end of a long day’s work, rather than cooking all day as curries are traditionally made in India and Pakistan.
Baltis were then made lighter and healthier by chefs who began to cater for Western tastes.
As the balti is named for the utensil used to cook it, there are no definitive ingredients list associated with it. Traditional curry flavours like tikka masala, tandoori, rogan josh and korma can all be cooked in a balti style.
Nevertheless, there are some features which are common to all baltis. Baltis are cooked stir-fry style with vegetable oil not ghee, over a high heat. Any meat off the bone can be used, with onions, garlic, turmeric, and the spice mix garam masala frequently used to prepare the sauce. The meats most often used in a balti are lamb and chicken, but pork and prawns are also commonplace.
Vegetarian options will often feature mushrooms or paneer, a form of cheese found in the Indian subcontinent.
Because there are no definitive ingredients, there is no definitive level of spiciness, especially as different forms of curry flavour can be cooked in a balti style. Most standard baltis however are cooked to a medium level of spice, hotter than a korma or a pasanda, but less spicy than a jalfrezi or madras.
Restaurants are usually flexible however, and you can ask them to dial the spice up or down if you prefer, or choose one of the other traditional styles.
A proper balti is served in the dish it was cooked in, so be careful when you order one as it will be very hot! The most frequent accompaniment to a balti is either naan or rice. Naan is a pillowy, leavened, oven-baked flatbread, and is perfect for mopping up the last vestiges of balti from the dish. Some people say naan bread, which is an error – naan is itself the Hindi word for bread! Naans can be served cooked with garlic, coriander, cheese, mincemeat, or as a sweetened form called a peshwari naan. Rice is served either plain, cooked as a pilau (rice cooked in the oven with turmeric, and often many other ingredients) or with mushrooms or other additions.
Poppadoms, a thin and crispy treat that is technically a form of flatbread, made from gram or lentil flour and either fried or cooked with a dry heat, are also a common accompaniment to balti. They are sometimes served with the balti, to be dunked in, but most commonly they are used as a starter beforehand, served with raita (a mint yoghurt sauce), chutneys such as mango chutney, raw onion, coriander and other salad items or sauces. Lentil dahls, onion bhajis, pakoras and aloo gobi (a dish made of spiced potatoes and cauliflower) are other common side dishes to a balti.
In Britain, Balti is especially associated with the city of Birmingham.
The Birmingham balti may have first been served in a restaurant called Adil’s in Stoney Lane, in the Sparkbrook region of the City in the late 1970s. Although this is unproven, the area around Sparkbrook, Sparkhill and Moseley is now known as the Balti Triangle and is famous for the number and quality of balti restaurants, called balti houses in Birmingham.
Other areas known for their balti houses are a stretch of the Pershore Road in the Birmingham district of Stirchley, as well as parts of the nearby areas of Cotteridge and Kings Heath and the ‘Balti Mile’ in Lye, near Stourbridge to the west of Birmingham.
Balti houses have spread out from Birmingham to the wider West Midlands and the rest of the UK, as well as many other English-speaking countries, such as Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Despite this, many people claim it is not possible to get a proper balti curry outside of the urban districts of Birmingham and the Black Country.
2020 was a hugely challenging time for hospitality around the world. With lockdowns forcing the closure of the dining industry, in order to survive, chefs and restaurateurs had to think creatively about how to continue to trade in this new era.
Home delivery and takeaway options were the natural evolution, with food prepared by chefs in restaurants delivered to diners in their own homes, including instructions to help them prepare and serve the meals.
Reduced prices typically reflected the fact that customers aren’t having the full dine-in experience, so as well as bringing in essential revenue, this new way of serving customers also arguably opened up fine dining to an audience who previously may not have considered it. As restaurants open again, the hope is that this new set of customers will be drawn in for the full experience.
Here we take a look at some of our favourite fine dining establishments that pivoted to a home delivery model during 2020, and have continued to provide the service as normal life resumes in August 2021.
At our Michelin-starred restaurant Opheem, by chef Aktar Islam, we created ‘Aktar at Home’, a concept that was tested and proven during the past year, but is continuing as an additional service offering. The Birmingham-based chef and our team create restaurant-quality traditional Indian meals, delivered to customers all around the UK from around £70.
Aktar summarises the food as ‘simple and traditional, but the processes and flavours are complex.’ As an example of what you can expect, a Michelin-star level curry box provides a generous banquet for four, several meals for two, or a whole week of dinners for one.
Not only that, but Aktar at Home helps Opheem support the Birmingham community by allowing it to continue to provide hundreds of meals each week to charities across the region.
Link: aktarathome.co.uk/shop – you are already here!
The Elephant by Simon Hulstone was the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Torquay (which it has held for 15 years and counting) run by Simon and his wife Katy.
With all ingredients proudly sourced locally, the restaurant creates takeaway food at an incredibly reasonable price – with 3 courses at £29. The restaurant has kept its offering elegantly simple with one option available on a Thursday (at the time of writing duck as the main) and an alternative menu (monkfish) on a Saturday.
Link: https://www.elephantrestaurant.co.uk/
The Black Swan is set in the North York Moors National Park and is a Michelin-starred restaurant helmed by chef Tommy Banks (Britain’s youngest Michelin-starred chef in 2013).
‘Made in Oldstead’ is the restaurant’s premium at-home dining experience, providing UK-wide delivery of their 3 and 5 course menu boxes. With boxes for 2 people and prices between £59 and £135, it’s well priced. An example menu box has duck and cherry terrine to start, brown butter confit cod as a main and cheesecake flavoured with tangerine marigolds to finish.
Link: https://tommybanks.co.uk/product-category/foodbox/
‘Taking pasta to a whole new level’ is how Michelin-starred chef Phil Howard describes the offering from Otto Pasta. He’s taken his years of experience and honed his recipes to create simple yet superb pasta suppers, delivered to west and south-west London.
A really lovely touch on the Otto site is the inclusion of a ‘how to’ section with video guides for preparing the meals.
Meals start from £8 up to £50 for 2 people, and if you spend at least £13, delivery is free.
Link: https://www.ottopasta.com/
AKA ‘Peel’s On Wheels’, Peel’s Restaurant at Hampton Manor, Hampton-in-Arden, embraced the lockdown delivery-style service in 2020 and has continued to offer its Michelin-star quality food as we move back to normal life in 2021.
Peel’s delivers on a Friday, and has the facility to deliver nationwide. They’re often sold out a couple of weeks in advance so if you’re looking for a special meal for date night or an anniversary, make sure you order in good time to avoid disappointment.
The menu is fixed, as many of the delivery services are, and a typical selection is scallops and pancetta to start, pork loin for main, with buttermilk panna cotta to finish. The 3 course meal is £45 (with shipping calculated at checkout). You’re able to add a bottle of wine to match the food for an additional £35 to £40, and if you feel like you can manage it, a cheese course is also available for £8!
Link: https://peelstothepeople.co.uk/
The Hawksmoor bills itself as the best steak restaurant in the UK and through its ‘Hawksmoor at Home’ service, is giving customers around mainland Britain the opportunity to experience its food in a home setting.
Prepared by the restaurant team under Executive Chef Matt Brown, before being delivered and finished at home by you, the site also has ‘cook with the chef’ videos that help you serve your meal to perfection.
As an example of the selection, the restaurant’s Porterhouse 3 Course Box (serves 2) is £105 to £135, depending on whether you include alcohol.
‘The Porterhouse Box celebrates the most tender cut, the Fillet on one side and Sirloin on the other with a thick piece of fat running down the side. Start off with Old Spot belly ribs & pickled slaw. Then with the steak there’s creamed spinach, Matt Brown’s Ultimate Oven Chips (cooked thrice), a creamy peppercorn sauce and garlic mushrooms, finished with a sticky pudding for two.’
The restaurant delivers nationwide on a Thursday and Friday each week.
Link: https://shop.thehawksmoor.com/
Dean Banks and his team at Haar at Home in Perth started the delivery operation for their superb luxury boxes during the national lockdown, and have decided to continue to offer the service even though the restaurant is operational again. A crowdfunded cash injection has helped enhance the set up, with improved sustainable packaging, a refrigerated van and expansion of menu options.
The seafood-based luxury boxes start at £40 and go up to £90, and the restaurant delivers to a number of postcodes in and around Scotland.
Link: https://haarathome.co.uk/
Simon Rogan at Home delivers award-winning 3 course meals (made using seasonal ingredients and sent in eco-friendly packaging) nationwide. They have their meals set a couple of months in advance and advise you to order early as there is limited availability and a weekly newsletter enables you to keep up to date with upcoming recipes and plans. Videos take you through the finishing of your meal, step by step, to help you get the best result from your fine dining experience.
The meals have meat or vegetarian-based options. An example of one of the meat-based meals has dry aged short rib of Dexter beef as its main, while the vegetarian equivalent is terrine of artichoke. Delivery is just £10 nationwide (or free for orders over £200).
Link: https://simonroganathome.co.uk/
Stein’s at Home is the delivery option from legendary chef Rick Stein. The food boxes cover an astonishing range of meals including afternoon tea, barbecue boxes with cocktails, breakfast boxes and a wide selection of fish dishes and Indonesian curries. Prices range from around £50 for afternoon tea, to £160 for a barbecue box with cocktails – and delivery is free if you spend over £100.
Link: https://shop.rickstein.com/collections/steins-at-home-food-boxes
It’s clear that Michelin-star level home deliveries and takeaways are here to stay. The provision has shown to be a superb way to introduce a new audience to fine dining in their own home, and there are plenty of options available to suit all budgets and tastes.