smoky - Travels for Taste

London’s Hottest Food Trends with Loyd Grossman

August 21, 2014 by manjirichitnis 14 Comments

Excited to know that I would be introduced to Londons Hottest food trends at an ”Evening of flavour” I made my way to the Underground Cookery School – @cookinglesson . I love going to events hosted at this venue and I seem to have developed a great comfort level with the warm staff who always make our evenings special.

The mention of Loyd Grossman sauces – @LoydFood #GetFlavour- brings to mind their telly ad showing the man himself as a young boy keen savouring food seasoned with sauces made by him and that always comes back to when I see the bottles on supermarket shelves, as it did when I saw a huge table full of various jars and sachets of their cooking sauces .

Cru Coffee aka Cru Kafe – @crukafe , helped set the mood for the evening with their rather nice looking coffee based cocktails and many of the bloggers even tried their hand at mixing some of the cocktails , but I was already under the grips of a massive hay fever attack around that time and steered clear of the cocktail counter, although I must admit it took all of me to not steal a sip or two off my friends glass – darned Hayfever …. few months of sunshine with an opportunity to drink cold beer and eat plenty of ice cream and this mad Hayfever keeps me away from all of it …

Predicting food trends is probably as or even more difficult than predicting who stocks will rise or fall in the stock market, but The Food People – @thefoodpeople – seem to have it all figured out and they shared some of their research with us, foodies, that evening. Their research also takes into consideration what the Twitterati and food bloggers talk about, and is an indication of the future of food blogging in a way me thinks..

A staggering 37000 food outlets cater to London’s hungry tummies alone, which is quite a number,one that makes one wonder what tricks one would need to have up their sleeves in order to survive and stand out from the crowd?! So what exactly are the Hottest Food Trends that will dominate London city ,and rule the cities taste buds?

The folks at The Food People shared :

Burgers ,fries and all things American are here to stay including the rather fantastic cronut! ( Cronuts,Duffins and now Crodough – what WILL people come up with next ?!) (I had a huge craving for sinking my teeth into a juicy burger with smoky crispy bacon yesterday and I did just that by cajoling my colleagues – they didn’t need much coaxing really , to go to our fav high street burger haunt – I guess that says a lot about how trends affect our choices huh? )
The magic of Mediterranean cuisine is not going to fade anytime soon, so lovers of Greek and Lebanese food – rejoice!
Mash – ups ( think ”Ramen burgers” (!!) and ”Nacho lasagne” ) are hot right now too, classic meets new age mantra in a savoury war with gastronomically pleasing results – who can complain?

Top Trending styles are :

Small plate or tapas style dining with loads of opportunity to sample various dishes and have sharing platters doing the rounds. I can safely say I like the sound of this trend the most.( I spent yesterday evening at an authentic Spanish tapas bar and I can easily say that it is something I enjoyed thoroughly and my opinion is no way skewed by nature of having consumed over 6 glasses of the most delicious Sangria I’ve ever had!)
Meaty, smoky, spicy and moorish – no not the only BBQ food just plain and simple ”Dude Food” has charmed not just the dudes !

The flavour trending in 2014 is CHILLI – whether fiery or sweet, Chilli that is the STAR of the trend wagon! Now that one made me smile! ( I love using chillies in my cooking, think it has to do with how we prepare and relish our food back in India ,where chilli powder has a place of prominence in our beautiful round spice boxes which are a must in every Indian kitchen. So enamoured am I that even though I have very less space in my kicthen the size of a postage stamp , I still went ahead and purchased 2 small potted chilli plants one with bright yellow chillies and one with with deep aubergine coloured ones to keep on my kitchen window sill. They taste so good, promise to have them feature in my recipe posts soon! )

Future Trending cuisines are going to be Persian ( fresh,light and plenty of choice for vegetarians! ) , Israeli ( Lucky me I have an autographed copy of Ottolenghi’s book ,thanks to FBC this year!) and Greek ( Not the heavy ,oily stuff that been churned out but the beautiful,authentic flavours that feel like summer on your plate!)

John Quilter also known as the ‘Food Busker’ – @JohnQuilter – then went on to cook some brilliant fusion food for us using Loyd Grossman cooking sauces , all the while entertaining us and telling us how he has added his own imaginative touch to all the dishes based on the food trends. This fusion of food and format came onto our plates as :

Lobster Thermidor with juicy, buttery lobster in a cheesy pot with a small amount of samphire for that salty taste of the sea.

Korean Fried Chicken topped in a thin ,drippy batter infused with vodka which lends a fabulously crisp quality to the coating ,so unlike thick bulky batters that we see otherwise.These were topped with ribbons of crunchy spring onion which were dipped in ice cold water to give it a sharp crispy edge.These vanished off the plates as they were passed around , I lost count of how many wings I gobbled that evening 😉

We also had Sashimi, Iberico Schnitzel and oxtail sliders. All finished by a show stopping Panacotta with just the right wobble beautiful vanilla specks all over with a side of peaches smothered in amaretto and a crumbly sprinkling of buttery crushed biscuits.

So Londoners , those food trends should keep up in the know of how the food scene in our vibrant ,multi-cultural melting pot will be tickling our taste buds. Thanks to the ‘Food Busker’ we relished food that has yet to hit city restaurant menus created using the well researched and flavourful sauces from Loyd Grossman. So next time you are in a mood for a culinary adventure and shudder at the thought of cooking from scratch ,confidently reach out for a jar of one of these sauces knowing that it can create something as brilliant as the Korean Fried Chicken! ( Need an easy recipe to make some yourself this long weekend? Give me a shout in the comments below and will send you the recipe that was shared with us ,in a flash !)

Disclaimer: With Thanks to Loyd Grossman Sauces for a fabulous ‘ evening of flavour’ with the Food Busker – John Quilter. Many thanks to Cru Coffee and the efficient team at Underground Cookery School.

Amani – Fine Dining, Indian Style at Chelsea Harbour – Review (Permanently closed)

June 2, 2014 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

Who can resist an invitation to dine at a fine dining restaurant that faces Chelsea Harbour, make that Indian cuisine and its a double whammy.So come Thursday evening and hubster and me made our way to Chelsea Harbour, just one stop on the train from West Brompton it was a very quick journey for me from home.Bonus – time saved on commute is time spent sipping more wine 😉

We were seated at a table in the corner but still with a fairly good view of the harbour ,thanks to the weather playing spoil sport on us we couldn’t sit the balcony and risk our popadum’s flying out of the plate like little flying saucers could we? !

The friendly Manager Azad got us settled in with some white wine and our huge mixed meat and seafood platter.Hardly had we started with working our way through it that we had another platter on our table – the Bombay Street Food Platter with Paani Puri, Samsosa Chaat and Aloo patties . This mixed chaat -very Mumbai street food style platter certainly got us smiling.Its been ages since I had good, tasty pani puri and sadly not many places in London can get anywhere remotely close to the mouth watering taste of typical pani puri dripping and heaving with loads of mashed potato bits and spices floating around in ice cold spicy ,tangy flavoured liquid watery taste heaven …ummm Elco Pani Puri how I miss thee!

This is the first time ever I have tasted this hybrid version of Pani puri, with no spiced watery chutney ,which is the norm but they were still tasty, I could have done with more pani puri on that platter and done without the samosa and papri chaat altogether but then that would destroy the purpose of a tasting platter wouldn’t it?

The mixed meat and seafood platter was superb with the lamb chops totally stealing the show but the galouti kebabs were equally good , only I haven’t had them before in London…even better .These minced red meat kebabs in a complex mix of spices that is great dipped in the tamarind chutney.

R- L : Fish Cakes in batter deep fried,Tandoori King Prawns in a rich cheesy,creamy yoghurt marinade,fresh green spiced chicken,spicy red grilled chicken from the tandoor,Lamb Chops in a marinade which has seeped deep into the meat not charred but done just perfect – smoky,spicy,soft – basically perfect,Galouti Kebabs served with a side of cucumber and yoghurt dip, green mint coriander chutney and tamarind chutney.

The chef really did go a bit overboard and spoilt us royally, this spread of mains is proof that he was all set to impress us , all guns blazing. But honestly after I sunk my teeth into those lamb chops I didn’t need any more convincing that they know their spices and how to work them just right.

So spicy portuguese lamb curry,butter chicken ,dal makhani , fish curry with steamed rice, pulav and butter naan in full portions arrived at our table. In fact there was so much suddenly that we had to move and occupy 2 large tables! Ha!

Now for me faced with fish curry and steamed rice which is a meal that makes me blind to anything else I had to taste the lamb curry for as you who read me regularly have learnt by now, is a huge weakness- really huge . Humm Catch 22 situation? Yup!

So had to tear myself away from the hot fish curry sending invisible hands towards me to draw me in, I served us some dal makhni and butter chicken with the naan. I dread ordering naan in London because it is absolutely disgusting having to chew hard naam that is thick and lumpy but this naan was so light with papery layers and melt in your mouth delicious! How do you do it guys? want to let me in on the recipe? Think Not!

The butter chicken had loads of kasoori methi or dried fenugreek leaves ( much more than say Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe would ask you to add into your butter chicken),which cleverly balance the otherwise sweet gravy, this is almost how old Delhi style butter chicken is supposed to be , except its really easy to get it terribly wrong and an overtly sweet version means either leftovers have been given mew life by adding an onion puree or the chef tried some experiment that well umm went wrong. This butter chicken is great with the pulav we ate ,the pulav had a generous topping of freshly fried thin slender slices of onion sitting temptingly on the top and it was not an oily heavy pulav which is again a really good sign.

The dal makhani (black lentils in a thick gravy with loads of fresh cream) was very fresh and had a distinct twist to it, the deep fried garlic and onion gave an alternating crunchy and delicious punch as we worked our way through it with ease mopping large mouthfuls with the soft and layered naan, the thick gravy hiding in the folds of the naan just about as close to a moment of sheer foodgasm.

R- L : Spicy n Hot Portuguese Lamb Curry, Dal Makhani – which you see in the centre, Butter Chicken ,Fish Curry,Butter Naan.

Unfortunately by the time we got to the fish curry we were quite full but we couldn’t just let it sit there staring at us begging to be eaten! Now the creamy coconut thick gravy and the fresh fish which itself was perfectly cooked and tasty in itself was much sweeter than we make our curries in Konkan, I need atleast 4 small potently HOT green chillies in one cup of freshly grated coconut and coriander marinade for my curries. This fish curry nevertheless is very satisfying and perfectly paired with steaming hot basmati rice ,I suggest you abandon your spoons ,roll up sleeves and go desi style to truly enjoy this curry and rice. Dont worry if you muck up your wine glass with grubby fingers, Azad and team won’t mind and am sure the guests at neighbouring table will kick themselves for not ordering themselves a portion of this fish curry 😉

We had to stop eating now and I think we had slipped into a coma of carb induced happiness but Azad wasn’t going to let go of us just yet! The mention of hot ,freshly prepared gulab jamuns can make any self respecting foodie go weak in the knees surely? Throw in a rare find – Thandai ice cream and I use my old excuse that ice cream and gulab jamun can find a tiny little space in my full tummy and hide around other morsels of food which have just found their way inside. Hummm – gluttony? Of course! Guilty as charged!

The bang of crushed pepper in the cold Thandai ice cream with the warm gulab jamun is so so good. what is that you just asked? Oh yes – let me tell you what Thandai back home is all about – this dry fruit and saffron flavoured milk is traditionally prepared as an offering to Lord Shiva during the festival of Mahashivratri. During Holi however a rather notorious concoction is brewed by adding lots of crushed cannabis leaves to make what is called Bhaang – it is infamous for getting people drunk after they drink large glasses one after another thinking that it is nothing but an innocent little milk shake and KABOOM it suddenly hits you like a bolt from the blue and snap! An internal switch gets to repeat and whatever it is that you were doing or worse saying when the switch flipped ,its pretty much what you will continue to do on repeat mode for say the next few hours;) Sounds like fun,no? But relax this Thandai ice cream is all innocent and yumm with no naughty additives – alas 😉

It was good to see many other guests also working their way through the meat platter and the happy clinking of glasses around us. It was wonderful seeing the surrounding buildings with soft yellow lights throwing long dancing shadows on the now dark and beautiful waters of the Harbour. The madness and pace that is London seemed to fade somewhere far away.

If you looking for a fresh new place to get your Indian fix and would like to do it in style then head to Amani at Chelsea Harbour for a relaxing meal ,authentic Indian cuisine with touches of coastal Indian flavours thrown in,and stunning views of Chelsea Harbour thrown in free!

For those guests put up at The Windermere Hotel,especially this is an absolute treat, just turn a corner and your inside Amani,kills the headache of thinking about transport back to your room and allows you to have more wine – guilt free.

*With thanks to Amani for the invite and to Azad and his team for a fab evening.No monetary compensation was provided for this post.All views expressed are my own.

Lunch at Le Porte des Indes, Marylebone, London – Review (Permanently closed)

May 6, 2014 by manjirichitnis 7 Comments

Influence of the British Raj on India,its culture and their indelible influence on the railways , architecture and the many places of tourist interest is common knowledge but India was also ruled by Mughals,the Portuguese,the French and the Dutch. Each of these colonies bear distinct stamps of a deep-rooted influence especially on the food with some beautiful foods that have become a part of the local community and recipes developed by such confluence of are not only brilliant in taste but also a mixture of flavours that otherwise would not have been combined.

I had heard so much about Le Porte des Indes and Chef Mehernosh Mody who has been awarded Ethnic Chef of the Year 2012 at the Craft Guilds of Chefs Awards for people who pay attention to things like that. So when Fiona who blogs at London Unattached asked me to accompany her for a lunch at Le Porte des Indes it was an offer too tempting to pass up!

Le Porte des Indes literally means Gateway to India. The decor is warm and welcoming and I felt was in some old, Indian palace with intricate wood carvings, huge artefacts, paintings especially replicas of Raja Ravi Verma’s magnificent originals and stone statutes which reminded of the ones at Khajuraho. Indoor plants are similar to ones I would see probably at The Taj Hotel in Mumbai, India lots of wooden statues of Lord Ganesha too.

We started by ordering some drinks I ordered for a Tamarind Martini while Fiona ordered some white wine.My gin,tamarind and limoncello martini came adorned with a slice of Star Fruit on the side .The sight of the star fruit took me back to my college days when my friends and me , about ten of us would get off the train and trade the crowded bus journey on way back from school and walk home instead on the dusty footpath – our treat for walking, a tangy snack packed in an old newspaper sold by a haath – gaadi or hand cart street food vendor which included roasted peanuts in shells, tamarind -imli and star fruit slices sprinkled with chilli powder and topped with a squeeze of lime – very ,very tangy but totally fun. On a good day when we had some extra change between us we would follow this up with a fizzy drink from a small shanty opposite the gates of the IIT,Mumbai campus mummm – simple pleasures. Seems so far away now and I only ever see my friends on Facebook and comment on old scanned photographs 🙂

I fell in love with the beautiful cutlery and the copper plate sighh…

Our starter was Demoiselles de Pondiche’ry – seared king scallops with a hint of garlic in a delicious saffron sauce – succulent and morish…

The cuisine is a mix of French,Tamil and Creole influences and lots of fusion recipes using the chefs imagination.

Next up was a platter of starters with kebabs and a fish called ”Patra ni Machi” or Parsee fish (Patra – leaf , Macchi – fish) this divine fish was made using fillets of sole encased in a mint and coriander chutney steamed in a banana leaf.I remember eating this fish at a Parsee friends wedding feat in Bombay 5 years ago and it had green chillies in a generous amount in the green chutney.There was a mild hint of chilli in our fish ,just perfect, excellent in fact and I could have made more,no wonder this is Chef Mehernosh Mody’s speciality. The other starters on our platter were Kathi kebabs – spiced lamb kebabs rolled in an egg served with a dark fruity chutney. Murgh Malai Kebabs – tandoori grilled chicken tikkas marinated in a creamy cheese sauce with spices.A twist on the usual onion and potato pakoras we ate Chard Pakoras – red and green chard rolled in gram flour, green chillies,coriander, turmeric and caraway seeds and fried crisp – very tasty!All this served with Garlic and Coriander Naan.

In the picture about L-R :Murgh Malai Kebabs,Parsee fish,Chard Pakoras and in the middle Kathi kebabs.Peaking on the right side corner is a rice cracker with a roughly ground green chilli chutney with a cooling yoghurt and saffron dip.

In the picture above is the Pomegranate Raita -Natural yoghurt with pomegranate, a touch of cumin and paprika.We then ate this most perfectly cooked white fish in a rich tamarind sauce steamed in a banana leaf – pure pleasure.

For our mains we got a large assortment of dishes served Basmati Saffron Pillav Rice, Seed Naan and Red Rice– Steamed organic red rice.

L -R in the photo of our mains platter below:

Tandoori Barra Chops: British Lamb Chops Char-grilled with cinnamon, cardamom and cloves finished with caramelised onions -everything you expect from a tandoori lamb really – smoky,soft,packed with flavour and juicy ,falling off the bone.Prawn Assadh curry as it is made in Pondicherry with turmeric,ginger, green chillies,coconut, mustard seeds and green mangoes – so creamy and delicious we couldn’t get enough of it scooping it off our plate with our naan stuffed with spiced lamb.Poulet Rouge, spécialité de notre maison is a gallic inspired dish – Chicken Slices marinated in yoghurt and red spices, grilled and served in a creamy sauce. Rougail d’ Aubergine: Smoked aubergine crushed with red chilli, ginger and green lime also called Baingan ka bharta in Hindi.I was most delighted to find we had a portion of mutton – it is not easy to get goat’s meat locally and this Mutton Braised home style as in Pondicherry with robust spices and laced with coconut milk was a delicious curry with the mutton having soaked up all the flavours of the spices .With the Saffron rice it was very good.Chef Mehernosh Mody also let us in who his regular suppliers who he told us are all local British producers.

We also had a selection of chutneys to go with the naan.Though I was stuffed I was hoping I could manage to have some dessert. After all a grand meal like this is not complete without some Indian sweets!;)

Fiona had to leave in a hurry and only managed to taste some the many treats on our mixed dessert platters.

L-R : Frozen dessert – Rose flavoured kulfi -the indian home-made ice cream with no artificial flavourings or stabilizers, made using Jersey & Guernsey Milk with pistachios ,followed by a mini chocolate filled samosa – thin pastry stuffed with chocolate and deep-fried ,Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse(55% Cocoa Solids) served in traditional leaf cup – in India its is common practice to serve desserts in a dried leaf folded into the shape of a cup especially at large public gatherings like the Sarvjanik Ganpati Festival and during Navratris – these are bio-degradable and much better option over plastic or foam cups, a fruit tart and a slice of mango carved artistically.

Chef Mehernosh Mody then took me on a tour of the premises .There is so much room for big parties in the Maharajah room which is very tastefully done up antique Indian artifacts, the Shamiana perfect for weddings and a lovely,a fully private big dining room with French colonial decor for corporate lunches too.If that is not enough there’s a Jungle Bar complete with cane furniture ,palm trees and tiger skin rugs so while you sip on a tropical signature cocktail called Karma which has – oh yes coconut juice and vodka, you can pretend your on the beautiful shores of Pondicherry ne Puducherry with pristine beaches of blue water and warm silky sand and are about to set off for a hunting expedition in a while with your buddies! Did you know that Puducherry meaning New Town is also referred to as ”The French Riviera of the East”?

That’s not the talented Chef Mody also conducts live cooking classes in the restaurant where the chef and his team unravel the mysteries of Indian cooking , explain the intricacies of the spices and how to cook a great Indian Meal – fab idea for team building exercise I say where you actually eat the fruits of your labour!

The Beautiful dome of the former Edwardian ballroom this adds to the grandeur of the place.

One of the private dining rooms, notice the beautiful statues at the back? 🙂

At the Jungle Bar it was common practise for patrons to throw peanut shells across the floor and then walk all over them on crunching shells!Fun I say.

For the images of the dome, the private dinning room and Jungle bar – Image Courtesy -Le Porte des Indes

Disclaimer: With many thanks to Chef Mehernosh Mody, the attentive team at Le Porte des Indes and Fiona. I was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post. Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Mushroom Omelette with French Cheese

February 5, 2014 by manjirichitnis 34 Comments

Egg Omelettes are my ultimate delicious start for the day and on weekends if we wake early to have breakfast I like to do a huge omelette with salad ,toast and steaming hot cuppas of Masala Chai. Heaven !

My current favourite addition into a lot of salads,soups and omelettes are chestnut mushrooms so when I was sent the French Cheese Chaource produced by family-owned French dairy Fromagerie Lincet, I decided to make my own recipe for a fluffy, stuffed and thick cheesy egg omelette.

Family-owned French dairy Fromagerie Lincet has been producing cheeses typical of the Champagne and Burgundy regions for five generations. Rich,soft and creamy, the dairy’s Chaource AOP is great in omelettes ,risottos and tarts.Similar in texture to Brie and Camembert, Chaource AOP is creamier, richer and slightly acidic. With no artificial colours or flavours and 100% natural ingredients, it also benefits from PDO status.

Lincet is committed to its founding principles ‘flavour, natural ingredients and tradition, brought together to make good food’; using all-natural ingredients, traditional cheese-making methods and milk from local farms.Lincet has upheld the tradition of ladle-moulding since its opening and the dairy’s cheese curdling technique is the oldest known for making cheese.Longer than usual (12 hours +), this is what gives Lincet cheeses a melting texture and distinctive slightly acidic, flavour

Serves :2 Prep Time:5 minutes Cooking Time :5 minutes

Ingredients:

4 medium sized eggs
1 small red onion finely chopped
3-4 cherry tomatoes halved
2-3 chestnut mushrooms chopped into bite size bits
Sea Salt
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes – if you don’t want heat avoid completely
Freshly CRacked Black Pepper
A generous portion of Chaource Cheese
Some fresh coriander chopped fine to garnish
a blog of butter for the pan(2 tsp)

Method:

In a large bowl crack the eggs and add the chopped red onion,mushrooms,cherry tomatoes and chopped coriander and whisk well with a fork.
Then season with salt ,red chilli flakes (if you don’t want heat avoid completely) and pepper and whisk again with a fork.
Now add the cheese and mix thoroughly and whisk again to get the air circulating and make this omelette really fluffy and thick.
On a pan on medium heat melt about 2 tsp of butter and pour the egg and cheese mixture.
Cook for about 2-3 on one side and loosen edges with a spatula.
To watch the cheese bubble while it cooks is such a delight!

Then with a light hand loosen the omlette with the spatula ensuring it isn’t stuck to the pan or it will break while tossing over.
Flip over and cook on the other side for under 2 minutes to get a beautiful light brown golden delicious colour.

Serve hot with fresh cherry tomatoes or iceberg lettuce and warm toast and lots of Earl Grey,English Breakfast or my new fav Chamomile tea 🙂

What I like about the Fromagerie Lincent Chaource is the goeey soft ,rich taste with woody undertones, it definitely gave a depth of flavour to my omelette and am now going to use the remaining in a risotto for a weeknight dinner.

It is available at:

Waitrose, Top Tier Chaource AOP Hugerot 250g, £4.49 Waitrose
Tesco Finest Chaource 250g, £3.00 Tesco
TTD Chaource AOP 250g, £3.30 Sainsbury’s

Disclaimer: I was sent a sample of Fromagerie Lincent Chaource to test in my kitchen and was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post.Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Chicken and Red Lentil Stew – a complete ONE POT meal (Suran & Red Lentil Stew)

February 3, 2014 by manjirichitnis 33 Comments

There are times when I really want a hearty meal but don’t have the energy to stand and cook an elaborate meal. It is at times like that I turn to One pot meals, served with a warm baguette it is a filling, healthy and easy and quick to meal option which NO compromise on taste whatsoever! Moreover, its homemade, has flavour and is a satisfying experience to make .

I had been meaning to try and cook a stew using red lentils (masoor – Marathi for red lentil )for some time , they are my most favourite lentils and I am ALWAYS stocked up on a large 2 kilo pack of dried red lentils split and without skin , from my local Indian grocery shop at Tooting called Dadu’s. Also since all the other fresh ingredients were procured from my local LIDL this dish is GREAT value for money too! Am totally in love with the FRESH fruits and vegetable selection at LIDL right now.I bought some bright red long crunchy sweet peppers, a pack of medium hot chillies, fresh chicken breast fillets, a very cute packet of garlic, mixed pack of cauliflower and broccoli florets and a packet of gorgeous looking Shallots.( I have always wondered why the lentils are called RED when clearly they are a lovely light orange colour !)

I love inventing a recipe as I go along and when I got my vegetable tray out on Sunday morning I had all these lovely vegetables staring at me and I just threw in what I thought would taste good together and VOILA ! A Steaming hot , thick, wholesome and tasty chicken and red lentil broth was born.

I love having some baby potatoes in stock and they are always handy in a stew , besides being quite the self-proclaimed ”queen of curries” I always am well stocked on Indian spices so bay leaves and cinnamon sticks aplenty in my kitchen larder – oh yes

Please don’t feel put off by the ingredient list , trust me they marry well together in the taste department and the end result is well worth your time and effort!

The biggest bonus of this stew recipe is that you can create your OWN vegetarian version by replacing the chicken with Quorn or if you don’t for some reason like or have never tried or have no access to Quorn then try replacing the chicken fillets with Suran/Elephant Foot Yam, it can be chopped into big chunks and it takes up flavours very easily. But with the yam the cooking time drastically will reduce as it can go from just right and chewy to soft, goeey or totally disappear into the stew ! My aai (mum) always used suran as a meat replacement and marinated it well in the spices we would use for chicken or lamb and made a thick gravy dish with it, when I was younger she has managed to fool me many times over thinking it was mutton 🙂 – Aai I miss you and all the food you cook – sigh…. no India trip in sight anytime soon 🙁

(Dangerous though it looks the elephant foot yam is very very tasty! )

Serves:4 Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking time:35 minutes

Ingredients:

Red Lentils / Massor Dal -3/4th cup
Chicken breast mini fillets – 750gm / Comparable Quorn fillets
5-6 baby potatoes
6 shallots approx 200gm
2 large sweet and crunchy pointed Red Peppers – approx 200gm
2 short medium hot chillies
2-3 bay leaves dry
red chilli flakes as per taste
sea salt as per taste
1 veg stock pot
3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
1 large roll of cinnamon
4 tbsp sunflower oil
a handful of Broccoli and Cauliflower florets
2 large tbsp of tomato puree or half of a large tomato finely chopped
Red chilli powder
Sugar 2 tsp

Method:

Wash and soak the red lentil in water to soften them so they cook more quickly then get on with all the other chopping and cutting prep’s.
Chop the shallots lengthwise.
In a large stew pot or huge saucepan heat the oil and add the bay leaves,cinnamon stick and dry red kashmiri chillies which I have a very big packet of and am trying to finish , they only add colour and no heat so if you don’t have these you can totally leave them out – no harm done here.
Now add red chilli powder and sugar and just when the sugar starts to caramelise add the shallots and shallow fry them till they reduce and begin to turn a lovely brown colour.
Now add the 2 large tbsp’s of tomato puree or half of a large tomato finely chopped and stir till it mixes well with the shallots.
Add the roughly chopped long red peppers and baby potatoes and saute’ for 2 minutes.
Add the washed chicken fillets/suran (elephant yam), soaked red lentils with the water it was soaked in.
Add the washed and roughly chopped Broccoli and Cauliflower florets and now add enough water.
I did not measure the water I added but add enough to get a nice thick stew , while the ingredients are cooking together on a low flame ,feel free to top up with more water as the lentils easily soak up as much water as you feed it with. Having said that you don’t want to end up with a watery stew so don’t add more than 3/4th cup at one go.
Season with sea salt , I love MALDON SEA SALT which I use and I have a few packets ALWAYS stashed away, great n salads it is!
Then sprinkle red chilli flakes and gently place a veg stock cube on top on this lovely pot of goodness bubbling away. I prefer the KNORR veg stock cubes , they have a great bouquet of flavour and are very handy at times when am exhausted and need to quickly cook up something tasty!
Stir well, cover with a lid and cook on a medium flame.
The red lentil will froth as they cook not to worry simply stir now and then and mix well, don’t allow the stew to get too thick we want enough lovely gravy to slurp this stew and dip the baguette into!

I was so hungry that I didn’t click any photos of my lovely fresh ingredients but it was a brilliantly sunny day yesterday and after this wholesome stew for lunch we had to really force ourselves to go and get some much needed fresh air at Morden Hall Park – I happily left my smartphone behind so photos to share but suffice to say that it was a gorgeous walk through the huge grounds and we saw many happy families ,happy couples and cute old folks and even happier kids and dogs romping around in the muddy park fun! And because we were so good we treated ourselves to hot tea and a sandwich at a local Turkish Cafe 😉 hehehe

Am very happy and proud of this new original recipe creation from my experimental kitchen. Next time I make this stew I will smoke the sweet and crunchy long red peppers and peel off the skin , to add a deep smoky flavour to the stew and not have the skin floating around – double whammy I say 🙂