Weekend food with Darina Allen

WE HAD another terrific guest chef at the cookery school recently.

Sunil Ghai is a tall handsome chef from Gwalior, but he is firmly established on the Irish restaurant scene. He was chosen as Chef of the Year in Ireland in August 2009 by Food and Wine Magazine — no easy task at the best of times but even more difficult for a non-Irish chef.

He is widely respected and admired by his fellow chefs for his knowledge, affable personality and the food served in the Indian restaurants he is associated with in Dublin. Some may have seen him on Masterchef Ireland last week.

I have a deep affection for Indian food, in all its extraordinary diversity. I enjoyed the food at Ananda so much that I invited Sunil to come and teach at the cookery school.

His food is simple and delicious, the recipes work and we can now easily source the Asian ingredients and the fresh spices, tamarind, Kashmiri chilli powder, kolonji seeds, chatt masala and ghee are available in most supermarkets and the growing number of Asian shops.

In Cork city it’s still so worth a visit to Mr Bell in the English market from whom I’ve been buying ‘ethnic’ ingredients for over 30 years.

For fresh spices, it’s difficult to beat Green Saffron for freshness — Arun Kapil now has a mail order list: check out www.greensaffron.com or seek him out at Mahon Point, Midleton or Douglas Farmers Markets. We all loved the dishes that Sunil cooked for us and I’ve done several since. Aloo Tikka are delicious little potato cakes with a secret filling of peas, fresh ginger and spices. We love them as a starter or they could be a vegetarian main course.

Sunil’s version of the classic Rogan Josh is particularly delicious and we absolutely loved the easy peasy Lahsooni Patta spinach with cherry tomatoes and spices. The rice pudding is like none you’ll ever taste, but definitely exotic enough to serve for a dinner party.

Here are some for you to try, and if you want to taste the original check out Ananda Restaurant at anandarestaurant.ie/

Sunil Ghai’s Kashmiri Lamb Curry

Rogan Josh: There are various stories attached to this controversial recipe — Roganjosh is a classical preparation traditionally with lamb but it has versions into chicken, seafood and even vegetables.

Serves 4

Soak 2 almonds over night

1 kg (2¼ lb) leg of lamb

150 g (5oz) natural yoghurt – tenderises, gives a sourness

½ g saffron

30 g (1½ oz) almonds, peeled and crushed

100 ml (3½ fl oz) sunflower oil

Whole garam masala

1½ tsp cumin seeds

6 green cardamom

2 black cardamom

1 inch (2.5 cm) cinnamon

8 cloves

1 star anise

2 blades mace

1 tsp black pepper

350 g (12 ozs) onions

50 g (2 ozs) ginger-garlic paste – (2 ½ teaspoons)

10 g (½ oz) red chilli powder – Kashmiri chilli powder

10 g (½ oz) coriander

3 g garam masala

5 g turmeric

Salt

60 g (2½ oz) tomato paste

1 bunch coriander leaves

10 g (½ oz) ginger – peeled and cut into fine julienne

Trim the fat from the lamb, remove the bones and cut into 1 inch (2.5cm) cubes.

Whisk the yoghurt, add almonds, saffron, salt & half the ginger garlic paste, add the lamb, toss and marinade for two hours or overnight in the fridge.

Meanwhile pound the whole spices roughly in a mortar and pestle. Peel and slice the onions thinly.

Wash and& finely chop the coriander leaves, peel the ginger and cut into fine julienne.

Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy bottomed pan.

Add the pounded spices, and stir while the spices start to crackle.

Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the sliced onions, add 2½ teaspoons ginger garlic paste, stir and cook for about five minutes until golden brown. Add the lamb and all the marinade.

Stir and cook on a high heat until the oil separates and the meat is browned & 3/4 cooked.

Add the dry spices and cook for five minutes. Then add the tomato paste.

Add ½ pint water and salt, bring back to the boil and simmer covered until the lamb is cooked.

* When the lamb is added it will shed excess moisture and cook in its own stock, if there isn’t much liquid in the pan, some water or lamb stock may be added. Once the meat is browned, it will tend to get stuck at the bottom, one has to keep stirring and scrape the bottom.

This is important for the characteristic development of the flavours.

Serve in a warm bowl, garnished with coriander and ginger julienne.

Roganjosh can be served with saffron rice or an Indian bread

Sunil Ghai’s Aloo Tikka with Spiced Peas and Sweet and Sour Yoghurt

Serves 4-6

2-3 large potatoes, boiled in their skins

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

1 tbsp gram flour (optional)

Stuffing

2 tbsp of oil

½ tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 green chilli, chopped

110g (4 ozs) green peas, cooked or frozen peas defrosted

20g (¾oz) chopped raisins (golden)

¼ tsp salt

red chilli powder, to taste (optional)

1 tsp coarsely ground dry-roasted cumin seeds

1 tbsp ghee (or oil), for pan-frying.

To Serve

250g (9oz) yoghurt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sugar

pinch of salt

Peel the potatoes and once they are cool enough to handle, grate them very finely.

Add salt and ghee and knead until properly mixed, add one tablespoon of gram flour if too soft and starchy.

Divide it into 12 equal portions and roll each into a small ball.

To make the stuffing: Heat the pan and add the oil, then add ginger and green chilli and sauté for one or two minutes.

Add the green peas and raisins and all the spices and check the seasoning.

Taking one at a time, gently flatten each ball into a round patty of about 1cm (1/2 inch) thick and place a portion of stuffing in the centre.

Fold the edges together very carefully so that mixture does not come out.

Now very gently flatten it into a 5cm (2 inch) patty. Repeat the procedure for all potato balls.

To make the stirred yoghurt: Heat a pan over a medium heat.

Roast the cumin until really quite dark, grind in a pestle and mortar.

Add one teaspoon to the yoghurt with the sugar and a pinch of salt.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Heat the ghee or oil in a non-stick pan over a low heat.

Slip in the patties, not too many at a time, into the pan.

Fry on both sides until crisp and golden brown, over a low heat, adding ghee if required.

Serve aloo tikka hot with stirred yoghurt.

Saffron Pear with Saffron Jelly

Serves 10

2 litres (3½ pints/8½ cups) water

750 ml (27 fl oz) sugar

6 green cardamom

1 bay leaf

2 cinnamon sticks

4 star anise

10 g (½ oz) fennel seeds

10 pears

Thinly pared rind of 1 orange

4 g (¼ oz) saffron

Boil the water, sugar and thinly pared rind of one orange, add the spices and saffron and boil for at least 20 minutes to get the spice flavour in the syrup. Peel the pears, remove the seeds. Add the pear to the syrup and let it boil until the pear gets the saffron coating and the pear is cooked in the syrup but still holds its shape.

Saffron Jelly

1 cooked pear

4 g (¼ oz/1½ leaves) gelatine

150 g (5 oz) pear syrup

Soak 1½ leaves of gelatine in a bowl of cold water.

Use the pear syrup, strain it and puree one cooked pear and add to the syrup bring it to the boil and add the gelatine and set aside for three hours until it forms a jelly.

Hot tips

Piemontese cattle are from the mountainous region of Piedmont in Italy and have less fat, cholesterol and calories than chicken. For those who like really lean meat you can now order Irish Purebred Piemontese Beef from Michael and Mary Fennelly’s farm in Stradbally Co Laois, they will courier it to you. See www.irishpiemontesebeef.ie for more information.

There’s a growing interest among chefs and enthusiastic amateurs for home-curing and sausage making. If you’d like to try your hand Philip Dennhardt will take the mystery out of it when he teaches a one day course at Ballymaloe Cookery School on Saturday, October 15. Phone: [phone] or book online www.cookingisfun.ie

Kilree goat’s cheese made by Knockdrinna Farmhouse Cheese was crowned Supreme Champion at this year’s British Cheese Awards. A record total of 905 cheeses were entered and a further 30 additional Irish cheeses enjoyed success at what is known as the “Oscars” of the dairy world.

On a recent visit to Dublin, I ate at a gastro pub in Stoneybatter called L Mulligan’s Grocer. Kish Fish text them every day to tell them what is fresh and all beef on the menu is grass fed and Irish. They also serve a selection of Irish craft beers and cider. See the full menu on www.lmulligangrocer.com.

Tasting of heirloom apple varieties at Midleton Farmers Market today, try Ardcairn Russet, Pitmaston Pineapple, Ergemont Russet, Allens Everlasting, Ballinora Pippin, Orleans Reinette and much more on Saturday, October 8, from 10am to 12:30pm.