Spicy Fish Fry with Yellow Dal and Tomato Chutney

Prep Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins

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Serves 4

Ingredients

Tomato Chutney

2 ts vegetable oil

¼ tsp black mustard seeds

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

1 small green chilli, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ginger paste

2 sprigs curry leaves

400g can crushed tomatoes

1 tsp white or brown sugar

¼ cup finely chopped coriander

1 tsp lime juice

Spicy Fish Fry

1 small brown onion

4 garlic cloves, peeled

3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp salt

½ red chilli powder

½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

600g skinless basa fillets, cut into 4cm pieces

2 tbs cornflour

2 tbs rice flour

Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Yellow Dal

75g red split lentils

75g yellow moong dal

75g skinned, split urad dal

75g toor dhal

1 tbs vegetable oil

1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

3 sprigs curry leaves

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1-2 small green chillies, halved lengthways

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp asafoetida (hing powder)

1 large vine ripened tomato, chopped

25g butter, chopped

1.25L vegetable stock

1 quantity dal tempering mixture (below)

2 tbs chopped coriander

Dal Tempering Mixture

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp ghee

1 dried chilli

1 small green chilli, halved lengthways

1/2 tsp black mustard seeds

¼ tsp cumin seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

Fish Fry Tempering Mixture

3 tbs of vegetable oil from frying the fish

¼ tsp black mustard seeds

¼ tsp fenugreek seeds

2cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 sprigs curry leaves

1 green chill, halved lengthways

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbs finely chopped cashew nuts

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tbs plain yoghurt

2 tsp lemon juice

Method

1. To make tomato relish, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, onion, chilli, garlic and ginger and cook until onion is soft and translucent.

2. Stir in tomatoes and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer, partially covered, stirring often for about 15 minutes or until thickened and reduced. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes. Stir in coriander and lime juice to serve.

3. To prepare fish fry, process onion, garlic and ginger to form a paste. Add lemon juice, turmeric, salt and chilli powders and process to combine. Transfer to a large bowl and add fish. Toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, for 30 minutes to marinate.

4. Meanwhile, to make the yellow dal, wash and drain the lentils.

5. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, carrot, curry leaves, garlic, chilli, turmeric and asafoetida. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft. Stir in tomato and butter. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil. Simmer, covered, stirring often until dal has thickened and lentils are very tender and starting to break down.

6. To make dal tempering mixture, heat oil and ghee in a small saucepan. Add chillies, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in to the dal. Stir in chopped coriander

7. To finish making the fish fry, sprinkle combined cornflour and rice flour over marinated fish mixture. Toss to coat.

8. Half-fill a large saucepan or wok with oil. Place over medium-low heat to reach180C (to test when oil is ready, a cube of bread turns golden brown in 10 seconds).

9. Add fish in batches and cook without touching, until golden brown, crisp and cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper.

10. To prepare fish fry tempering mixture, add 3 tbs of the oil from deep frying the fish, to a large wok over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, ginger, garlic, curry leaves and green chilli. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in salt and garam masala. Stir in combined nuts, soy sauce and yoghurt. Remove from heat and add fish to tempering mixture. Toss to coat. Add lemon juice and toss to coat.

11. Serve spicy fish fry with yellow dal and tomato relish.

Tips

If you like a thicker dhal, you can cook a little longer or blend a portion and add it back to the pan.

Adjust the amount of chillies in the dish to suit your taste.

Chicken Biryani with Cucumber Raita & Pickled Onion

Prep time: 30 mins + marinating

Cook Time: 45 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 skin-on chicken thighs, bone in

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbs ginger paste

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, finely chopped

10 curry leaves

2 hard boiled eggs, halved

Chopped coriander, to garnish

Chicken Marinade

500g plain yoghurt

4 tbs tomato sauce

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tbs ginger paste

2 tsp garam masala

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp ground turmeric

½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground cloves

2 tsp salt

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

Picked Onion

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

1 small green chilli, halved lengthways

125ml lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

Cucumber Raita

1 Lebanese cucumber, seeded

125g plain yoghurt

125g sour cream

¼ cup finely chopped coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

Pinch grated jaggery or caster sugar

Biryani Rice

360g basmati rice, rinsed, drained

1 tsp salt

25g ghee

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 stick cinnamon

5 cardamom pods, bruised

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

10 curry leaves

Method

1. To make chicken marinade, combine all ingredients in a large non-reactive bowl.

2. Score chicken on both sides with shallow slits (to allow marinade to penetrate meat). Add chicken to marinade and use your hands to massage mixture into meat. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge for 3 hours or up to overnight to marinade.

3. To make pickled onion, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate, covered, until required. Drain to serve.

4. To make raita, coarsely grate cucumber into a sieve and squeeze out any excess water. Place in small bowl with remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Season. Refrigerate until required.

5. Heat oil in a large saucepan or stock pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, tomatoes and curry leaves. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft. Add chicken and marinade. Cook, stirring and turning chicken occasionally, for 10 minutes or until chicken is half cooked.

6. Meanwhile, to prepare biriyani rice, place the rice in a medium saucepan and add enough water to cover rice by 2cm. Stir in the salt. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Drain and set aside.

7. Heat ghee and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add mustard and cumin seeds, cinnamon and cardamom. Cook for 1 minute and let them splutter. Stir in onion and curry leaves and cook until onion is soft and lightly browned. Stir in rice.

8. Add rice mixture to saucepan with the chicken mixture and stir gently to combine. Cook, covered, for about a further 15 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through.

9. Divide chicken biriyani among serving bowls and top with boiled egg halves. Serve with pickled onion and raita. Garnish with coriander.

Kerala Prawn Curry with Roti and Spiced Potato & Eggplant

Prep Time: 1 hour 20 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

Chopped coriander, to garnish

Roti

280g plain flour

200ml warm water

60g ghee, melted

Kerala Prawn Curry

1 tbs vegetable oil

3 tsp black mustard seeds

2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 large brown onion, thinly sliced

1 large vine ripened tomato, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ginger paste

2 small green chilies, halved lengthways

10 curry leaves

3 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbs tamarind puree

400ml can coconut milk (we like to use the Kara brand)

12 king prawns, peeled, cleaned

1 tbs lemon juice

Spiced Eggplant & Potato Curry

2 tsp vegetable oil

2 tsp ghee

2 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 brown onion, thinly sliced

800g vine ripened tomatoes, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp ginger paste

2 small green chilies, halved lengthways

10 curry leaves

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp ground turmeric

500g small potatoes, cut into 3cm pieces

1 large eggplant, cut into 3cm pieces

Method

1. To make roti, place the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the water and use your hands to bring the mixture together until a soft dough forms. Turn onto a floured surface and gently knead until smooth. Place in a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth. Set aside for 30 mins to rest.

2. Meanwhile, to make the prawn curry, heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.

3. Add mustard, fenugreek and fennel seeds. Cook for 30 seconds or until they spit and crackle.

4. Add onion and cook, stirring, for about 7 minutes or until pieces are golden and starting to brown on the edges. Add the tomato, garlic, ginger, chillies and curry leaves and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes or until tomatoes soften.

5. Add garam masala, turmeric, chilli powder, black pepper and cumin. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in tamarind puree. Stir in coconut milk and 125ml water. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, partially covered, for 15 minutes to infuse flavours.

6. Meanwhile, to make eggplant and potato curry, heat oil and ghee in a large saucepan or medium heat.

7. Add mustard and cumin seeds. Cook for 30 seconds or until they spit and crackle.

8. Add onion and cook, stirring, for about 7 minutes or until pieces are golden and starting to brown on the edges. Add the tomatoes, garlic, ginger, chillies and curry leaves and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until tomatoes soften.

9. Stir in garam masala and turmeric. Stir in 125ml water. Bring to a simmer. Simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes to infuse flavours. Stir in potatoes. Return to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, stirring often, for 10 minutes. Stir in eggplant and cook for about a further 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender and curry is reduced, thickened and flavoursome. Season.

10. Divide rested roti dough into eight portions. Roll out each portion on a lightly floured surface until about 2mm thick.

11. Heat a large heavy-based frying pan (we used a tawa) over medium-high heat. Brush roti with ghee and cook in batches until bubbles appear. Turn and cook for 30 seconds or until brown spots start to appear underneath and roti puffs up, brushing throughout with ghee.

12. Add prawns to infused curry sauce and cook for 3-4 minutes or until almost cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes to allow residual heat to gently finish cooking prawns. Season. Stir in lemon juice.

13. Serve prawn curry with potato and eggplant curry and roti.

Tips

We used a cast iron tawa pan to cook our roti.

We recommend either serving 3 king prawns per person or 5 large prawns per person, depending on what is fresh and available on the day.

Pistachio Ice Cream Chocolate Dome

Prep Time: 45 mins + cooling + freezing

Cook Time: 20 mins

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate, melted

Gold leaf, to decorate

Pistachio Ice Cream

500g shelled pistachios

2 ½ tbs lemon juice

440g caster sugar

625ml thickened cream

500ml milk

Almond & Orange Zest Crumb

50g blanched almond, toasted

70g caster sugar

50g plain flour

1 tbs finely grated orange zest

Pinch smoked salt

80g cold butter, chopped

Method

1. To make ice cream, place pistachios, lemon juice and half the sugar in a processor. Process until finely chopped.

2. Place cream, milk and remaining sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Stir in pistachio mixture. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for 4 hours or up to overnight for flavours to infuse. Pour mixture into an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a shallow freezer proof container and freeze for several hours or overnight until firm. Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, scoop four balls of ice cream (just smaller that the silicone half-sphere chocolate moulds) onto tray and freeze until firm.

3. To make chocolate domes, spoon chocolate into four holes of an 8cm-wide silicone half-sphere mould (125ml-capacity). Spread evenly over inside of half sphere. Freeze until firm. Gently remove chocolate domes from the moulds.

4. Preheat oven to 180C. Line an oven tray with baking paper.

5. To make almond and orange zest crumb, place almonds in a small processor and pulse to form coarse crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add combined sugar, flour, zest and salt. Stir to combine. Add butter and rub in with your fingertips to form a coarse crumble. Pour onto prepared tray in a single layer.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool completely.

7. To assemble, place ice cream balls onto serving plates and top with the chocolate domes. Decorate with gold leaf and sprinkle around the crumble.