The Recipe Room

Malai Kofta is a traditional dish and is the vegetarian alternative to meatballs. It is most often eaten on special occassions. The koftas are little fried potato dumplings in a rich, heavy gravy. (Sort of like my aloo bonda snacks, except those don’t have the delicious gravy.) Needless to say this is not a low-fat recipe!

An essential ingredient for Mailai Kofta is paneer, a fresh Indian cheese. It tastes a bit like cottage cheese, so you can substitute cottage cheese if you are not able to find paneer in your local Indian grocery store. But if you can find it, I strongly suggest you buy it. It is quite delicious and will give this recipe a more authentic taste.

Malai kofta is a delicious savoury dish of Moghlai origin; it is a north Indian speciality, and they go very well served with tasty Naan bread and/or basmati rice. There are lots of varieties; in fact, in Pakistan and Iran, koftas are usually made of beef and chicken, and in Bengal, a region of eastern India, koftas are made with prawns, fish, green bananas, cabbage, as well as minced goat meat.

Honestly, it’s not a short or easy recipe, but it’s all worth it in the end – trust me.

 

Pear and Mango Chutney is a very sweet, mild chutney that goes well with my Bhaturas or vegetable samosas. Spread it on the Bhaturas, which are puffy fried breads, for a delicious afternoon snack, or a sugary breakfast.

You could also try this sweet chutney spread over a meat or fish dish. Try it over these chicken and pear burgers, since they already have a hint of pear flavour inside the burger. My chutney would be the perfect complement.

Like most chutneys, you can store this one in Tupperware or a glass container, and it will be fine for at least a month.

Ingredients:

• 1 large raw Mango
• 3 medium Pears
• 450g Sugar
• 10 almonds, finely chopped
• 10 cashews, finely chopped
• 2tbsp. raisins, mashed
• 5 cloves, ground
• 2tsp. Cinnamon Powder
• 4tsp vegetable oil
• 400ml water
• 1tsp. salt

Preparation Method:

1. Peel the large mango and the pears. It will be no problem if you use a normal peeler to do this.
2. Chop both the mango and pears very finely and put them both into one bowl. Set the bowl aside.
3. Heat the vegetable oil on a medium flame in a pot or a deep pan.
4. Lower the flame and add just 2 tablespoons of sugar to the oil. Slowly stir the sugar, until it turns light brown.
5. Now add the water.
6. Raise the heat to high and bring the water to the boil.
7. After 3 minutes of boiling, add in the rest of the sugar and allow it to come to the boil again.
8. Chop the cashews and almonds very finely. Add them to the pot and stir.
9. With a fork, mash the raisins in a separate bowl.
10. Place the raisins to the pot and stir.
11. Grind the 5 cloves in a mortar with a pestle. Now add them to the pot and mix slowly.
12. Add the cinnamon to the pot and stir.
13. Add a pinch of salt. I know this is a sweet chutney, but salt actually brings out the favour of sweet foods. Add just a pinch, and you will see that the flavours will become more intense.
14. Now add the mango and pear.
15. Cover the pot and lower the heat. Let simmer for about an hour.
16. Remove from the pot and let cool.

Makes: 2kg of Pear and Mango Chutney
Takes: 2 hours

Many people hear rumours that Indian food is fattening, but it doesn’t have to be. Many Indian recipes are quite light, and, the ones that are not can be re-worked to be made so. Often I take traditional recipes and find ways to cut down on the fat and calories.

For example, there’s a very low-fat and low-calorie way to enjoy a traditional Chicken Tandoori dish. First of all, if you only use chicken breast, it is much lighter. Secondly, using low-fat yoghurt cuts down on plenty of calories. And finally, by cooking it in the oven rather than frying it, you avoid all the extra fat from oils.

In some ways this is similar to my Chicken Tikka Masala recipe which uses more sauce and is served with rice.

Ingredients:

• 800g chicken breast, cut into thin fillets

For the marinade:

• 250g plain, low-fat yoghurt
• Lemon juice from 3 freshly-squeezed lemons
• 3 garlic cloves, ground
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 5 ground cloves
• 1 clove of cardamom
• ½ tablespoon ginger powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
• 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Pinch of black pepper

Preparation Method:

1. Mix the yoghurt and lemon juice in a large bowl.
2. Mince the garlic. Put it in the mortar and add salt to make the garlic easier to grind. Mash thoroughly. Do not remove it from the mortar.
3. Add the cumin and coriander to the mortar and grind. It should almost form a paste at this point.
4. Add the clove of cardamom and the 5 cloves. Crush well.
5. Put these ground ingredients into the bowl with the yoghurt and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly.
6. Add the ginger, cayenne pepper and turmeric and stir well.
7. Add a pinch of black pepper.
8. Put the chicken fillets in a Tupperware or a small container and cover them completely with the marinade.
9. Leave in the fridge for at least 8 hours (but no more than 14).
10. Take out the chicken and discard the marinade.
11. Place the chicken on an oven tray or gridiron. Cook it for 20 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.
12. I personally like using the grill option in my oven, as it creates the delightful texture of the slightly crispy black lines, caused by the gridiron. I highly recommend it!

Makes: 4 servings
Takes: 25 minutes for the marinade, 8 hours to marinate, and 20 minutes for cooking

Note: Check out my recipe for spicy tomato chutney as a possible dressing for the chicken. If you are looking for something sweeter, this goosegog chutney is also a fine choice.

This is one of my all-time favourite chicken curry recipes that grew out of experimenting with the combination of spices and fruit. You can make sweetheart chicken curry mild or give it a real kick by varying the type and quantity of curry paste that you use. However, I would always recommend a paste rather than a sauce, which in my opinion gives a nicer texture and a better flavour.

The turmeric powder in the fragrant rice turns it a beautiful warm yellow, and the spices give a wonderful fragrance which complements the sweetness and zest of the curry. If there’s any left over, it’s really tasty eaten cold the next day as a coronation chicken alternative, or try it cold in a sandwich.

Ingredients for the sweet chicken curry
• 2 large chicken breasts, skinned and cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 shallots or 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• ¼ tsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 tsp Pataks Madras curry paste
• ½ small tin of breakfast apricots in juice, roughly chopped or torn, plus the juice
• 3 tbsp light crème fraiche
• Bunch of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• Mango chutney to serve

Ingredients for the fragrant rice
• 1 mug of dried Basmati rice
• 5 cloves
• Pinch of turmeric powder
• 3 cardamon pods, shells removed and discarded
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• Salt, pinch

Preparation Method
1. Dry fry the fragrant rice spices in a deep-based pan for a minute until you smell the scent released.
2. Add the rice and cover well with water, freshly boiled from the kettle. Bring the water to the boil, add the salt, stir the contents very lightly just once, cover the pan with a lid, turn down the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.
3. Whilst the rice is simmering, heat the oil in a shallow-based frying pan, add the cumin and shallots, and fry on a medium heat until soft.
4. Stir in the curry paste – you can play with how much you add depending on the kick you’re looking for – and fry for a minute.
5. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked.
6. Add the apricot pieces and about half to three quarters of the juice from the tin, depending on how much sauce you want to make.
7. Add the crème fraiche and the coriander and stir in lightly so that the curry takes on a slightly marbled look with the white of the crème fraiche against the colour of the curry sauce.
8. Serve the rice and the curry onto plates along with a generous portion of mango chutney, and enjoy with a nicely chilled oaked chardonnay.

Takes: 15 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook
Makes: A generous portion for 2