So popular is Chicken Tikka that you can now find it in everything from sandwiches to pastas and wraps to pizzas. But still nothing beats a beautifully cooked chicken, served with crunchy salads and your favourite chutneys and pickles.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 400g chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks ā¢ juice of 1 lemon ā¢ 0.5 recipe of Tikka Marinade
How to make itā¦ 1. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken, rub it in well and leave for 15 minutes. This will degrease the chicken and also helps the chicken absorb the marinade. 2. Shake off the excess lemon and coat the pieces in the Tikka Marinade. Leave for at least 15 minutes but preferably 24ā48 hours. 3. Preheat your oven to 170 C. Place the pieces on a baking tray, ensuring all the pieces are kept well apart and cook for 15 minutes, turning once. Check one of the largest pieces to ensure it’s cooked. If not return to the oven. 4. Serve with salads, chutneys and pickles.
CHEF’S TIP Chicken Tikka is the perfect for the barbeque, including getting those blackened edges achieved by the tandoor oven.
Handi Chicken is a popular Punjabi dish named after the wide Indian cooking pot used particularly in north India and Pakistan. The famous Balti has origins in dishes such as these.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 2 Tablespoons ghee ā¢ 3 onions sliced ā¢ 2 teaspoons ginger paste ā¢ 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped ā¢ salt to taste ā¢ 800g chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks ā¢ 5-6 tomatoes, chopped ā¢ 1 Tablespoons plain yoghurt ā¢ 1 Tablespoon double cream ā¢ small handful of fresh coriander, chopped
How to make itā¦ 1. Heat the ghee in a pan. Add Spice Mix 1 and fry for 15 seconds. to test if ghee is hot enough put in one cumin seed. It should sizzle immediately). 2. Add the onions and fry until they are golden brown. 3. Add the ginger, garlic, Spice Mix 2 and salt, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. 4. Add in the chicken and cook until all the pieces are white. This should take about 3ā4 minutes. 5. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 8 minutes. 6. Add in the yoghurt, cream and most of the fresh coriander (keep a small bit for the garnish), stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes. Ensure that the chicken is cooked through. 7. Serve, garnished with the remainder of the fresh coriander. ā¢ Recipe by Kedar Chandra, chef at Pakbo restaurant in Flic en Flac, Mauritius.
CHEF’S TIP The stalks of the coriander have the most flavour, so mix them in with the curry and keep the leaves for the garnish.
This is a dry, dark, aromatic Punjabi dish, with lovely splashes of colour thanks to the addition of the peas. This is a hearty dish, excellent with rice or mopped up with chapati. Although it’s traditionally a dry, meaty dish, you can add more Base Curry Sauce if you like your curries with more sauce or more yoghurt if you like them a bit creamier.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 4 Tablespoons ghee ā¢ 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped ā¢ 1ā5 chillies, roughly chopped, depending how hot you like your curry (optional) ā¢ 1 teaspoon ginger paste ā¢ 800g lamb mince ā¢ 400ml Base Curry Sauce ā¢ 2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup ā¢ 0.5 onion, roughly chopped ā¢ 1 small handful fresh coriander, finely chopped ā¢ 1 teaspoon garam masala ā¢ 200g peas (frozen are good) ā¢ 1 Tablespoon yoghurt ā¢ salt, to taste
How to make itā¦ 1. Heat the ghee to a high heat. Add the Spice Mix 1 to the pan and fry for 15 seconds. They should sizzle immediately. You can test the ghee is hot enough by adding the cardamom. 2. Add the garlic and the (optional) chillies, turn down the heat and cook for 2 minutes. You may have to remove the pan from the heat initially to stop it burning. If it burns then throw it away and start again. 3. Add the ginger paste and fry for 1 minute. 4. Add the mince, coat it well with the mixture and fry until all the dark red colour of the mince has turned brown. Make sure you break down all the chunks of mince. This will take about 3ā4 minutes. 5. Add the Base Curry Sauce and Spice Mix 2, stir well and cover the pan. Cook (covered) for 20 minutes on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. 6. Add the tomato ketchup, coriander stems and garam masala and onion, mix well and simmer gently (uncovered) for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. 7. Add the peas and cook for 2 minutes. 8. Add the yoghurt and salt, mix well and cook until everything is heated through. This should take about 2 minutes. 8. Serve, garnished with the coriander leaves.
CHEF’S TIP One of the great things about peas in a curry dish, like a great Keema Muttar, are their bright colour. Ensure you add them at just the right time and they are not over-cooked or they will lose that vibrant colour (think mushy peas at the fish ānā chip shop).
Keema Muttar, a Punjabi classic you’ll find in many Indian restaurants.
This is a dry, dark, aromatic Punjabi dish, made extra hearty with the potato. Although it’s traditionally a dry, meaty dish, you can add more Base Curry Sauce if you like your curries with more sauce or more yoghurt if you like them a bit creamier.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm chunks (you need about 12 pieces) ā¢ 4 Tablespoons ghee ā¢ 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped ā¢ 5 chillies, roughly chopped, depending how hot you’d like your curry (optional) ā¢ 1 teaspoon ginger paste ā¢ 800g lamb mince ā¢ 200ml Base Curry Sauce ā¢ 2 Tablespoons tomato ketchup ā¢ 0.5 onion roughly chopped ā¢ small handful fresh coriander (chop up the stems to add to the curry and set aside the leaves for garnish) ā¢ 1 teaspoon garam masala ā¢ 1 Tablespoon yoghurt ā¢ salt, to taste
Spice Mix 1 ā¢ 2 cloves ā¢ 1 cardamom, cracked but not crushed ā¢ 1 cinnamon stick (about 10cm long)
How to make itā¦ 1. Boil the potatoes and, when cooked, cover in cold water and set aside. 2. Heat the ghee to a high heat. Add the Spice Mix 1 to the pan and fry for 15 seconds. They should sizzle immediately. You can test the ghee is hot enough by adding one cardamom. 3. Add the garlic and the (optional) chillies, turn down the heat and cook for 2 minutes. You may have to remove the pan from the heat initially to stop it burning. (If it burns then throw it away and start again.) 4. Add the ginger paste and fry for 1 minute. 5. Add the mince, coat it well with the mixture and fry until all the dark red colour of the mince has turned brown. Make sure you break down all the chunks of mince. This will take about 3ā4 minutes. 6. Add the Base Curry Sauce and Spice Mix 2, stir well and cover the pan. Cook (covered) for 20 minutes on a medium heat, stirring occasionally. 7. Add the tomato ketchup, coriander stems and garam masala and onion, mix well and simmer gently (uncovered) for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 8. Add the potato, yoghurt and salt, mix well and cook until everything is heated through. This should take about 2 minutes. 9. Serve, garnished with the coriander leaves.
CHEF’S TIP If you don’t want whole spices in your curry you can skip stage 2 and add an extra teaspoon of garam masala in stage 7 instead. This recipe will create a dryish dish but if you like more sauce with your potatoes simply add more Base Curry Sauce.
Keema Aloo might be underrated but it’s the dish you’ll see the restaurant owner eating at the end of the night.
It’s hard to resist this classic Indian dish. Marinated in the delicious spices of the Tandoori Marinade and then cooked in a tandoor, Tandoori Chicken makes a great starter with salads and pickles. You can create this classic dish at home using your oven ā even down to the iconic charred edges.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 4 chicken thighs, skinned and trimmed of excess fat ā¢ juice of 1 lemon ā¢ 1 recipe of Tandoori Marinade
How to make itā¦ 1. Make 2ā3 small cuts about 3mm deep into the flesh of each thigh. This helps the chicken absorb the the marinade and gives the cooked thighs a nice look too. 2. Squeeze the lemon over the thighs, rub it in well and leave for 15 minutes. This will degrease the chicken and also helps the chicken absorb the marinade. 3. Shake off the excess lemon and coat the thighs in the Tandoori Marinade. Leave for at least 15 minutes but preferably 24ā48 hours. 4. Preheat your oven to 170 C. Place the thighs on a baking tray, ensuring all the pieces are kept well apart and cook for 25 minutes. 5. Turn the thighs over and turn the heat up to 240 C. This will blacken the edges of the thighs, creating the same effect achieved by the tandoor. 6. Serve with salad and pickles.
CHEF’S TIP You can mimic the smokey taste of the tandoor by using a small amount of smoked paprika in the Tandoori Marinade.
Bombay Aloo is the classic side dish of all Indian restaurants. Few meals pass without someone on the table ordering a portion of this potato dish. It’s very simple to make with cooked potato pieces added to some Base Curry Sauce and spices and finished off with some tomato segments.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 400g potato, cut into 5cm chunks ā¢ 2 Tablespoons ghee ā¢ 1 teaspoon garlic paste ā¢ 1 teaspoon ginger paste ā¢ 160g Base Curry Sauce ā¢ 2 tomatoes, cut into segments ā¢ salt, to taste
How to make itā¦ 1. Peel the potatoes, cut into 5cm chunks and boil until cooked. While they are cooking mix the Spice Mix with enough water to form a sloppy paste. 2. Heat the ghee to a medium heat. Add the garlic paste and ginger paste and cook for 1 minute. 3. Add the Spice Mix paste and cook for 2 minutes. It should now be thick and gloopy. 4. Add the Base Curry Sauce and cook for 2 minutes. 5. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes. They should be soft but not breaking up. 6. Add the salt and potatoes, mix carefully so as not to break the potatoes or tomatoes, and cook until heated through.
CHEF’S TIP This recipe will create a dryish dish but if you like more sauce with your potatoes simply add more Base Curry Sauce.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 6 pints full cream milk ā¢ 1ā2 Tablespoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice
How to make itā¦ 1. Put the milk into a pan and bring to the boil. Keep stirring to ensure the milk does not stick or burn as this will ruin the taste of the paneer. You’ll know it has boiled when a mound forms on the surface of the milk 2. Take the pan off the heat and add the vinegar or lemon juice a little at a time until the milk separates (these are the curds forming). The separation is pretty obvious so if the whey (what’s left after the curds are forming) still looks like milk, keep going with the vinegar or lemon juice. Let it cool for 10 minutes. 3. Next, remove the curds from the whey. Put some cheesecloth (you can also use muslin or even a J-cloth) over a large bowl and pour the mixture through it to strain out the whey. Rinse the curds with cold water to wash away the taste of the acid. 4. Bring the edges of the cloth together to wrap the curds and squeeze as gently as possible (this ensures the paneer will be soft and crumbly and not flattened completely). Make sure all the liquid had been removed. 5. Put a weight on it and leave it for an hour or more. Some more liquid will come out so put something underneath it. 6. The paneer will have formed and you can now cut it into chunks or strips for use. ā¢ Thanks to Chili Paper Chains. Main photo: Sonja Pauen, CCA.
CHEF’S TIP Full cream milk is essential for the proper taste of paneer.
Paneer is beautiful with creamy sauces such as Butter Paneer or as a side dish with spinach.
Tandoori/Tikka Marinade is what you will need for all those delicious tandoori and tikka recipes, including everyone’s favourite, Chicken Tikka Masala, starter Tandoori Lamb and other popular dishes such as Butter Paneer and Tikka Shaslick.
What you needā¦ ā¢ juice of 1 lemon ā¢ 200g plain plain yoghurt ā¢ 3 Tablespoons oil ā¢ 2 teaspoon fresh garlic paste or very finely chopped fresh garlic ā¢ 1 teaspoon fresh ginger paste or very finely chopped fresh ginger ā¢ 2 Tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped ā¢ 1 Tablespoon mint, finely chopped ā¢ 1.5 teaspoon paprika
ā¢1 teaspoon chilli powder ā¢ 0.5 tsp turmeric ā¢ 1 teaspoon garam masala ā¢ 1 Tablespoon mild curry powder ā¢ 1 teaspoon salt ā¢ 30ml water
How to make itā¦ 1. Simply mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
CHEF’S TIP If you are looking for that bright red colour for your tandoori dishes, as favoured the old-school curry houses, you can add a add in a drop of red food colouring..
Tandoori/Tikka Marinade, the key to all those delicious tandoori and tikka dishes.
Chicken Chilli Dry Fry is an Indo-Chinese stir-fry dish, combining flavours from both cuisines. It is a very hot, dry dish and should be always be served fresh.
What you needā¦ ā¢ 2 Tablespoons cornflour ā¢ 6 teaspoons soy sauce ā¢ 150g chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks ā¢ 3 Tablespoons oil ā¢ 1 small onion, roughly chopped ā¢ 0.5 green pepper, sliced into strips ā¢ 1ā3 green chillies (to your taste), chopped ā¢ 1 teaspoon ground black pepper ā¢ 0.5 teaspoon red chilli flakes ā¢ 1 tomato, roughly chopped ā¢ 2 spring onions, chopped ā¢ a few coriander leaves, for garnish
How to make itā¦ 1. Mix the cornflour with 4 teaspoons of soy sauce and coat the chicken in the mixture. Marinate for 15 minutes. 2. Heat oil to a medium-hot heat. Fry the chicken until all the pieces are sealed (about 2ā3 minutes), then set aside. 3. Add the green peppers to the pan and stir-fry until they start to soften (about 3ā4 minutes). 4. Add the onions, chillies, pepper and chilli flakes and stir fry for another 2ā3 minutes. Add a tiny bit of water if needed but not too much as this is a dry dish. 5. Add the rest of soya sauce and mix in well. 6. Add in the tomatoes and chicken and stir-fry until the chicken is cooked. 7. Garnish with spring onion and coriander and serve fresh.
CHEF’S TIP If you enjoy this dish then start looking out for other Hakka Chinese dishes, a distinct Indo-Chinese cuisine that developed from a small group of people who settled in Kolkota from China.
Bhuni Shakakandi (Roasted Sweet Potato) is a popular Punjabi street snack. It’s pretty simple to make yet tasty and filling with bread of your choice.
What you need… ā¢ 4 sweet potatoes ā¢ 1 teaspoon chilli powder ā¢ 1 teaspoon ground cumin ā¢ 1 teaspoon amchoor (dried mango powder) ā¢ 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste ā¢ juice of 1 lemon ā¢ 1 red chilli, roughly sliced ā¢ few sprigs coriander, torn ā¢ 2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
How you make it… 1. Preheat the oven to 180Ā°C. Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and bake them in the oven for about 35 minutes or until tender. 2. Leave until cool enough to handle, then peel and cut into 2.5cm rounds. 3. Put the sweet potato in a bowl, add the chilli powder, cumin, amchoor and salt and mix well. 4. Squeeze over the lemon juice, then add the chilli, coriander and ginger. Serve warm. ā¢ Recipe from Food of the Grand Trunk Road by Anirudh Arora and Hardeep Singh Kohli, courtesy of New Holland Publishing.
The Royal Curry Club 