recipes

Barbecued poussins with za’atar and roast pumpkin houmous

Barbecued poussins with za’atar and roast pumpkin houmous

You can buy za’atar – a Middle Eastern spice blend – but it’s easy to make your own (and cheap, too). Making it yourself also means you can vary it. This is a very basic za’atar, others are more complicated, but thyme, sumac and sesame seeds are essential. It makes more than you need, but keep it in an airtight container and sprinkle it on warm flatbread, or use it to marinate lamb kebabs. Pumpkin houmous isn’t authentic but it gives chickpea houmous a run for its money. I vary the ingredients, sometimes adding ground cumin or dried chilli (add those when you roast the pumpkin or when you purée it). What is really important is seasoning and adding the right amount of lemon juice, so use your taste buds.
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE ZA’ATAR

  • small bunch of thyme (enough to give about 4 tbsp of thyme leaves)
  • 2 tsp ground sumac
  • ½ tbsp dried wild oregano
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds toasted
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes

FOR THE POUSSINS

  • juice of 1 lemon plus lemon wedges to serve
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 poussins spatchcocked

FOR THE HOUMOUS

  • 800 g 1lb 12oz pumpkin or butternut squash
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 135 g 4¾oz cooked chickpeas
  • 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 2½ tbsp tahini
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 50 ml 2fl oz extra virgin olive oil

Instructies

  • First of all make the za’atar.
  • Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2.
  • Strip the leaves from the thyme.
  • Put them in a small roasting tin and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.
  • Put the dried leaves into a mortar and pound lightly.
  • Add the remaining ingredients.
  • Pound a little more, but not so much that you grind the sesame seeds, just to release the aromas.
  • Mix 4 tbsp of the za’atar with the lemon juice, garlic, olive oil and pepper.
  • Trim any raggedy bits of skin from the poussins.
  • Put them in a dish and cover them in the marinade.
  • Cover with cling film and put in the fridge for four hours or overnight.
  • Bring to room temperature before cooking.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6.
  • Cut the pumpkin into chunks then remove the seeds and peel.
  • Put into a roasting tin, drizzle with the regular oil, season and roast for about 25 minutes, until completely tender.
  • Prepare a barbecue to the stage where the coals are hot but no longer flaming.
  • Lift the poussins out of the marinade and put on to the barbecue.
  • Cook for 10 minutes, then turn and cook for another 10 minutes.
  • Check to see if they are done and return the poussins if they need more cooking, changing their position on the barbecue.
  • It usually takes 25 minutes in all.
  • Quickly purée the pumpkin with the other ingredients for the houmous.
  • Sprinkle the poussins with more za’atar and serve with the houmous and some Greek yogurt.
  • You don’t need any starch, as the houmous provides that, but a green salad, tomato salad, or roast tomatoes are lovely on the side.
  • Provide lemon wedges as well, to squeeze on the poussins.
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Recipe Category Barbecue / Chicken

Chicken shish with toum

Chicken shish with toum

Chicken kebabs are ubiquitous all over the Middle East and are one of the easiest things to make for a barbecue. I prefer chicken thighs (it’s much juicier meat) but they are always more ragged; you can cut breast fillets into much neater chunks. Do whichever you prefer. After years of using wooden skewers I now always use metal ones, as they help the meat cook by conducting heat into the centre of the chicken pieces. (You can also use the marinade on whole skinless boneless thighs and just griddle them, if you don’t want to make kebabs.) Toum is Lebanese garlic purée – quite like a Catalan allioli – and is for serious garlic lovers. The oil has to be added carefully and gradually – just as if you were making mayonnaise – until you have a thick emulsion. It will end up pale, almost snowy looking. It makes a wonderful paste to spread on warm flatbread; just put your skewered chicken on top. This quantity makes more than you need for the recipe but it’s very hard to make it in a food processor in smaller amounts.
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE CHICKEN

  • 1 kg 2lb 4oz skinless boneless chicken thighs or breasts
  • 2 tbsp Aleppo pepper
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 1¼ tbsp ground cumin
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 8 garlic cloves grated
  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • Greek yogurt to serve

FOR THE TOUM

  • 4 bulbs of garlic cloves separated and peeled
  • 350 ml 12fl oz mixed groundnut and olive oils
  • ½ tsp sea salt flakes or more to taste
  • juice of 1½ lemons or more to taste
  • 100 ml 3½fl oz iced water

Instructies

  • Cut the chicken into chunks, about 4 x 2.
  • 5cm (1¾ x 1in).
  • Put these in a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.
  • Cover and marinate in the fridge for four hours (or longer, if you can).
  • Bring to room temperature before cooking.
  • For the toum, halve each garlic clove and remove any green shoots inside.
  • Put in a food processor and blitz to a purée, stopping the machine to push the garlic down the sides.
  • You’re aiming to end up with a smooth purée.
  • Now start adding the oil a tiny drizzle at a time, with the motor running, as if you were making mayonnaise, but taking even more care.
  • Stop every so often and stir the mixture.
  • Add the salt and, still with the motor running, add the lemon juice and iced water.
  • Taste.
  • You may want more salt or lemon juice.
  • Scrape into a bowl.
  • Thread the cubes of chicken on to skewers (if you are using thighs make sure you tuck in any extraneous bits).
  • You can cook them on either a griddle pan or the barbecue.
  • If you’re using the barbecue, put them on to the rack when the flames have died down but the embers are still hot, placing them round the edge.
  • It should take about eight minutes to cook them through; you need to turn them as they cook.
  • If you’re doing them on the griddle, heat it until it’s very hot, lay the kebabs on it and cook, turning every so often and adjusting the heat, until the chicken is cooked through.

Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:

Serve with warm flatbread, a salad of leaves, cucumbers and tomatoes, Greek yogurt and the toum.
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Recipe Category Chicken

Chicken with griddled leeks, roast peppers and salbitxada

Chicken with griddled leeks, roast peppers and salbitxada

Salbitxada is a Catalan sauce. It most often ends up fairly finely ground – like a purée, or pesto – but I like to find chunks of tomato in it, it’s much fresher. You can, if you prefer, make it in the food processor, but a mortar and pestle gives a good chunky result. The chicken doesn’t have to be breasts, this is just as good with a roast chicken (in fact it makes a fabulous big feast when served with loads of roast peppers and griddled leeks). Don’t feel restricted to leeks and peppers either; you can serve griddled artichoke hearts or asparagus as well. Want to make it simpler? Just go with the chicken, the sauce, one vegetable and sprigs of watercress.
Portions:6
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE CHICKEN

  • 6 skinless boneless chicken breasts
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 3 red peppers
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 18 –24 baby leeks trimmed
  • pea shoots to serve

FOR THE SALBITXADA

  • 250 g 9oz tomatoes
  • 2 garlic cloves very finely chopped
  • sea salt flakes
  • 3 tbsp blanched almonds lightly toasted
  • 1 red chilli halved, deseeded and chopped
  • 4 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
  • ½ tbsp sherry vinegar or to taste
  • 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil ideally Spanish, or to taste

Instructies

  • Put the chicken between two sheets of greaseproof paper and bash with a rolling pin (a couple of bashes is enough).
  • Put in a dish with the virgin oil, lemon zest and juice.
  • Cover and leave for 30 minutes (more if you have time) in the fridge.
  • Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
  • Put the peppers in a roasting tin, drizzle with regular oil and season.
  • Cook them in the oven for 40 minutes, until soft and scorched in places.
  • Meanwhile, make the sauce.
  • Drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 20 seconds or so, then run cold water over them and peel off the skins (I sometimes can’t be bothered).
  • Halve the tomatoes, scoop out the seeds and core and chop the flesh.
  • Put the garlic and salt into a mortar and pound to a paste.
  • Add the almonds and chilli and pound these.
  • Now add the parsley and tomatoes and pound, but mix with a fork too, so the ingredients are combined but don’t form a purée.
  • Stir in the vinegar, virgin oil and pepper.
  • Taste to check if you need more oil or vinegar.
  • It should be assertive but balanced.
  • Cut the peppers into slices, lengthways.
  • I don’t remove the skin – I like the taste – but if it comes off naturally, discard it.
  • Try to time things so the leeks and chicken are ready at the same time.
  • Brush the leeks with regular oil and season.
  • Heat a griddle pan and cook the leeks for about five minutes, turning, until nicely coloured.
  • Reduce the heat and cook until tender.
  • Heat a frying or griddle pan, season the chicken and cook for about four minutes on each side.
  • It should be cooked through.
  • Serve on a platter with the leeks, peppers and pea shoots, with some of the sauce spooned over the top and the rest on the side.
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Recipe Category Chicken

Chicken piri piri

Chicken piri piri

Whenever I go to Portugal my first pit stop is the same: a chicken piri piri restaurant that is little more than a shack (there are no real walls, just bits of matting hung on a frame) at the side of a dusty road. The place is full of Portuguese families noisily shouting for more piri piri sauce. Nothing else is served. Just frango piri piri, salad and chips or bread. The chicken is cooked on huge braziers and it’s difficult to replicate the special smokiness when you cook it at home, but you can almost get it. The Portuguese piri piri I’ve eaten always has a great red colour and is slightly sweet. I’ve tried to replicate this here by adding roast pepper. It’s hard to be prescriptive about cooking times as it depends on your grill (and some domestic grills are very poor), so these instructions are guidelines only. If you prefer to roast your joints, put them on a rack set in a roasting tin and cook for 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7. In Portugal, whole small chickens or poussins – spatchcocked – are cooked this way, so use those if you prefer (get your butcher to do the spatchcocking). There is enough piri piri here for four poussins. Roast them just as you would joints.
Portions:6
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Ingrediënten

  • 1 small red pepper
  • 50 ml 2fl oz olive oil
  • 4 red chillies
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 2 tsp dried oregano or chopped fresh oregano leaves
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • ½ tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp sea salt flakes
  • 6 skin-on bone-in chicken legs drumsticks and thighs attached

Instructies

  • Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
  • Halve and deseed the pepper, brush with a little of the oil, put into a small tin and roast until its flesh is soft (about 25 minutes).
  • Peel the skin off if it comes off easily; leave it if it doesn’t.
  • Chop roughly, then crush in a mortar and pestle.
  • Set aside.
  • Remove the stems from the chillies and deseed them.
  • Chop finely, then put into an empty mortar with the garlic, oregano and chilli flakes.
  • Pound to a rough paste, then add the vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, remaining oil and red pepper.
  • Put the chicken into a broad, shallow dish and pour on most of the marinade.
  • Turn to coat, cover with cling film and put in the fridge for about four hours (overnight is even better), turning a couple of times.
  • Bring to room temperature before cooking.
  • Heat your grill and arrange the chicken on the grill pan, skin side up.
  • Place the grill pan 10cm (4in) from the heat and grill for 12 minutes on each side, reducing the heat halfway through.
  • Baste every so often with the juices or a little more marinade.
  • Move the chicken another 10cm (4in) from the heat and grill for another six or seven minutes on each side.
  • The chicken should be cooked through (make sure the juices are clear and there is no trace of pink), sizzling and dark red.
  • Serve immediately with a lettuce, cucumber and tomato salad and fried potatoes or coarse country bread.
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Recipe Category Chicken
Country European / Portugese

Chicken fatteh

Chicken fatteh

A feast with lots of elements, textures and temperatures. Layer the components judiciously, each needs wise seasoning. And be generous with the herbs, to make it sing. Finish with pomegranate seeds and pistachios.
Portions:8
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion very finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 x 400g cans of tomatoes
  • ½ tsp soft light brown sugar

FOR THE CHICKEN

  • 1.8 kg 4lb chicken
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves

FOR THE RICE

  • 300 g 10½oz basmati rice
  • 25 g scant 1oz unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion finely sliced
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • 500 ml 18fl oz chicken stock

FOR THE REST

  • 2 pitta breads
  • 25 g 1oz butter, melted
  • 8 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 aubergines in 3cm/1¼in cubes
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • squeezes of lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 500 g 1lb 2oz Greek yogurt
  • large handfuls of chopped parsley and coriander leaves
  • 50 g 1¾oz pine nuts, toasted

Instructies

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  • For the sauce, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft and pale gold.
  • Add the garlic and cinnamon and cook for two minutes.
  • Add the tomatoes, seasoning, sugar and 100ml (3½fl oz) of water.
  • Simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
  • Heat the pittas in the oven for a couple of minutes, then split and brush with melted butter.
  • Cut in triangles and bake for 10 minutes, until crisp.
  • Put the chicken in a roasting tin and rub the oil over it, season and massage with the spices.
  • Roast for 1 hour 15 minutes, basting.
  • It is ready when the juices between the leg and body run clear with no trace of pink.
  • Transfer to a dish to rest for 15 minutes, covered with foil.
  • Put the tin over a medium heat, add 200ml (7fl oz) of water and bring to a simmer, scraping up any bits.
  • Cook until you have about 100ml (3½fl oz) of liquid left.
  • Wash the rice well.
  • Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan and fry the onion for 12 minutes, until golden, stirring now and then.
  • Add the spices and cook for two minutes.
  • Set aside.
  • When the chicken is cooler, tear the meat into pieces.
  • Keep warm.
  • Heat 4 tbsp of olive oil over a medium-high heat, add half the aubergines and fry until soft and golden.
  • Add half the spices, season well and squeeze on lemon juice.
  • Keep warm.
  • Repeat.
  • About 30 minutes before eating, add the rice to the onions.
  • Add the stock and boil hard until the surface of the rice looks pitted.
  • Reduce the heat to its lowest, cover and cook for 17 minutes.
  • Don’t stir it but do check to make sure it isn’t sticking.
  • Now layer the components in a large dish.
  • Everything should be hot apart from the bread and yogurt, so reheat the sauce.
  • Stir the garlic into the yogurt.
  • Squeeze lemon juice on the layers as you go and sprinkle most of the herbs on too.
  • Start with pitta, then rice, then chicken – seasoned and mixed with 5 tbsp of its gravy – then aubergine, tomato sauce and yogurt.
  • Scatter with more herbs, the pine nuts, pomegranate seeds and pistachios with a drizzle more yogurt (serve the rest on the side).
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Recipe Category Chicken

Jewish chicken with tzimmes

Jewish chicken with tzimmes

I first had this for lunch at the home of a Jewish friend who knew I would love the sweet-savoury flavours (at first, I thought it was a Moroccan dish). The word tzimmes means ‘to make a fuss over somebody or something’ so I suppose that’s why it’s such a mixture. It’s a dish of root vegetables and fresh and dried fruit that is cooked around the chicken – and is very sweet – but you can tone it down by adding less dried fruit and replacing some of the sweeter vegetables (the carrots and sweet potatoes) with ordinary potatoes, if you want. (Carrots are very important at Jewish New Year though, as they are symbolic of the good deeds you hope to do in the coming year, so if you’re making it for Rosh Hashanah it’s best not to tamper with the carrots!)
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Ingrediënten

  • 2 kg 4lb 8oz chicken
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • 500 g 1lb 2oz carrots, long slim ones if possible
  • 550 g 1lb 4oz sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
  • 3 tart apples halved, cored and cut into wedges
  • 12 prunes
  • finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
  • 250 ml 9fl oz chicken stock
  • 250 ml 9fl oz red or white wine
  • 2 cm ¾in root ginger, peeled and grated
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp soft light brown sugar or to taste
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • ½ tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves optional

Instructies

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  • Put the chicken into a roasting tin, big enough for the vegetables and fruit to fit around it.
  • Rub with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  • Peel the carrots if they need it, or wash thoroughly.
  • Leave whole if they are slim, cut in half lengthways if they aren’t.
  • Put the carrots, sweet potatoes, apples and prunes round the chicken (tuck the prunes underneath as they will burn if exposed).
  • Heat the orange zest and juice with the stock, wine, ginger and cinnamon.
  • Pour over the vegetables.
  • Sprinkle on the sugar and season.
  • Put into the hot oven and cook for 1 hour 25 minutes, basting the chicken every so often with the juices.
  • If, at the end of cooking time, you still have quite a lot of liquid, you can remove the chicken, veg and fruit to a heated platter and reduce the liquid by boiling.
  • This is supposed to be a sweet dish, but make sure the juices don’t become off-puttingly sweet when you boil them.
  • Squeeze the lemon juice over the vegetables and sprinkle with the parsley.

Notes / Tips / Wine Advice:

My friend Helen serves this for Rosh Hashanah with potatoes roasted in chicken fat.
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Recipe Category Chicken
Country Israel

Roast chicken with truffles

Roast chicken with truffles

Before you conclude that I’ve gone quite mad with the cash, consider this: this is a lovely dish, special, a real treat, something you can enjoy with your partner or a few good friends. In my life, I’ve made it on only a handful of occasions (though never before now with fresh truffles) and I’ve never regretted it. Depending on how flush you are, this dish can be incredibly expensive to make or – at the other end of the scale – cheaper than buying four takeaway pizzas. In descending order of expense you can use fresh black truffles (summer are cheaper than winter truffles), truffles that are frozen or in jars in their own juice, or sliced truffles preserved in oil. The price of fresh truffles varies. The cheapest form – sliced black summer truffles in oil – costs about £7.50 for 30g/1oz (about the amount you need for this dish). You get what you pay for but even the sliced and preserved truffles, in my opinion, are gorgeous. Since you are cooking with truffles it makes sense to get the best bird you can afford. You could buy the best your local butcher provides, or a Label Anglais, or go all out and buy a Bresse chicken (you can read more about ‘high end’ chickens in the introduction). All forms of truffles – and truffle butter – can be found online.
Portions:4
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Ingrediënten

  • sea salt flakes
  • 1.5 kg 3lb 5oz chicken
  • 30 g 1oz black truffle, sliced or shaved
  • 25 g scant 1oz unsalted butter
  • 300 ml ½ pint good home-made chicken stock
  • 30 g 1oz truffle butter

Instructies

  • Start 24 hours before you want to cook the dish: salt the bird, then put it in the fridge.
  • Bring the chicken to room temperature.
  • Preheat the oven to 210°C/410°F/gas mark 6½.
  • Carefully loosen the skin of the breast and legs of the bird (see technique for Roast chicken with mushrooms and sage butter under the skin).
  • Put slices of truffle – keeping a few back to add to the sauce – under the skin.
  • Put into an ovenproof dish (a copper or cast-iron one is good) of a size in which the bird will sit snugly.
  • Rub the regular butter all over the breast and legs.
  • Put into the hot oven – the legs should be toward the back of the oven – and cook for 50 minutes (check for doneness by looking at the juices that run out between the leg and the body of the bird, they should have no trace of pink).
  • Transfer the chicken to a warmed platter, put a foil tent over it to keep it warm and let it rest.
  • Pour off most of the fat (it has such a good flavour I keep it for frying potatoes) and set the dish on the hob.
  • Deglaze with a bit of the stock (obviously not so much that the pan is overflowing) and stir and scrape up the dried-on bits with a wooden spoon.
  • Transfer this to a saucepan, add the rest of the stock and boil until you have about 150ml (5fl oz).
  • Add the truffle butter a bit at a time, whisking with a small whisk (the sauce will turn glossy) then stir in the reserved truffle slices.
  • Joint and serve at the table, offering the sauce in small warmed jug.
  • I love this with sautéed potatoes and some watercress.
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Recipe Category Chicken

Smoked paprika roast chicken, potato wedges and saffron allioli

Smoked paprika roast chicken, potato wedges and saffron allioli

A lovely, golden dish. It’s only chicken and potatoes but the smoked paprika – the taste of Spain – and the saffron allioli takes it to a whole other level. You can make the allioli the day before you want to serve it, cover and keep it in the fridge. A few caperberries – either on each plate or in a small bowl on the table – add another Hispanic touch.
Portions:6
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE CHICKEN AND POTATOES

  • 6 tbsp olive oil plus more for the potatoes
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 2.4 kg 5lb 5oz chicken
  • 2 kg 4lb 8oz potatoes (don’t peel them)

FOR THE ALLIOLI

  • 2 garlic cloves peeled
  • sea salt
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 300 ml ½ pint mild fruity olive oil
  • ¼ tsp saffron strands
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice or to taste
  • ground white pepper
  • white wine vinegar to taste (optional)

Instructies

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  • Mix the olive oil, salt and pepper and 3 tbsp of the paprika together.
  • Paint or spoon this on to the chicken.
  • Roast in the oven for 1 hour 50 minutes.
  • It is cooked when the juices which run out between the leg and body are clear, with no trace of pink.
  • Meanwhile, make the allioli.
  • Crush the garlic with a little sea salt in a large mortar and pestle, or a bowl.
  • Stir in the egg yolks.
  • Add the oil drop by drop, very slowly at first, beating with a wooden spoon or an electric hand mixer as you do so.
  • Only add more oil once the previous lot has been incorporated and the mixture has thickened.
  • When you’ve added all the oil, heat the saffron in the lemon juice and leave to cool.
  • Gradually add this to the allioli, taste and season with more salt, white pepper and any lemon (or vinegar) you think you need.
  • It’s better to taste as you go rather than sticking to specified amounts, as vinegars vary in strength.
  • Cover and keep in the fridge.
  • Cut the potatoes into wedges, about 3.
  • 5cm (1½in) at their widest, put them in a roasting tin, add a couple of tbsp of oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper and the remaining smoked paprika.
  • Turn everything over with your hands.
  • Put them in the oven to cook in the final 20 minutes of the chicken’s cooking time.
  • (That way they can cook while the chicken is resting.
  • ) Give them a shake halfway to move them around a bit.
  • When the chicken is cooked, cover it with foil.
  • Leave it to rest for 15 minutes while the wedges finish cooking, before serving with the potatoes and the allioli.
  • This dish can take the grand treatment: put the bird on a heated platter and pile the wedges around it.
  • Serve with the allioli and a green salad, or sautéed spinach with pine nuts and raisins.
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Recipe Category Chicken / Vegetables

Royal chicken korma

Royal chicken korma

Once I had made chicken korma myself, I was never able to order it from a takeaway again. This is based on a recipe from my great friend Roopa Gulati and it’s simply stunning. Doubling the recipe – so it serves 12 generously – is easy, so you can really put on a feast. There are many variations on chicken korma, some include rose water and white poppy seeds, others coconut, but all are rich. I like this with a rice pilau with dried fruit. Wisps of edible gold or silver leaf added to the pilau is in keeping with the Moghul cooking style and will make your feast even more sumptuous. It’s a joy to put this on the table.
Portions:6
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Ingrediënten

  • 2 large onions finely sliced, plus 2 onions, finely chopped
  • vegetable oil to deep-fry
  • ½ tsp saffron strands
  • 25 g 1oz raw cashews, plus 1 tbsp roasted, unsalted cashews, to serve
  • 25 g 1oz blanched almonds
  • 4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • 12 green cardamom pods bruised (not broken)
  • 5 black cardamom pods bruised (not broken)
  • 1 cinnamon stick halved
  • 800 g 1lb 12oz skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into big chunks
  • 4 cm 1½in root ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • ½ tsp red Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 2 tsp toasted ground coriander seeds
  • ½ tsp ground white pepper
  • 50 g 1¾oz plain yogurt
  • 75 ml 2½fl oz double cream
  • good squeeze of lime juice
  • ½ tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Instructies

  • Sprinkle the sliced onions liberally with salt, put in a sieve or colander and set aside for 30 minutes.
  • Squeeze any excess liquid from the onions and pat them dry with kitchen paper.
  • Heat about 12.
  • 5cm (5in) of oil in a deep pan or a wok and deep-fry the salted onions in batches.
  • When they turn golden, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
  • Put the fried onions into a food processor with 75ml (2½fl oz) of hot water and process until you get a smooth paste.
  • Set aside.
  • Soak the saffron strands in 3 tbsp of warm water and set aside for 30 minutes until the liquid turns a deep auburn (you really do have to leave it this long, don’t rush or skip this step).
  • Prepare a nut paste: soak the raw cashews and the almonds in warm water for 15 minutes.
  • Put the nuts into a food processor with 50ml (2fl oz) of the soaking liquid and purée.
  • Now you can start making the main curry base.
  • Heat the ghee or clarified butter in a wok or heavy-based pan and cook the chopped onions for 10 minutes, until soft.
  • Stir in the cloves, both types of cardamom and the cinnamon.
  • Cook for a couple of minutes more.
  • Now add the chicken thighs to the pan followed by the browned onion paste, ground nuts, ginger, garlic, chilli powder and crushed coriander seeds and white pepper.
  • Season with salt.
  • Increase the heat a little and continue frying everything together for another 10 minutes.
  • Pour 150ml (5fl oz) of hot water on to the chicken and simmer gently until the thighs are tender; this takes about 15 minutes.
  • Stir in the saffron liquid, yogurt and cream and heat through but don’t boil.
  • Taste for seasoning, then add a squeeze of lime juice and sprinkle on the garam masala, toasted cashews and chopped coriander.
  • Serve with naan bread or rice and chutneys.
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Recipe Category Chicken

Middle Eastern rose-scented poussins with sour cherries and yogurt

Middle Eastern rose-scented poussins with sour cherries and yogurt

It might seem odd to marinate anything in flower water, but it gives only a slight scent (and has strong spices to compete with). The roses bring a little romance (so it’s good for a Valentine’s dinner) but it’s definitely not a girly dish, there are plenty of robust flavours here.
Portions:4
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Ingrediënten

FOR THE MARINADE

  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 –4 tbsp rose water
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • about 12 mint leaves torn
  • 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 poussins

FOR THE DRESSING

  • 4½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil fruity rather than grassy
  • 3 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 2½ tsp runny honey or to taste
  • 3 tsp rose water

FOR THE YOGURT

  • 40 g 1½oz dried sour cherries
  • ½ cucumber
  • 350 g 12oz Greek yogurt
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 10 g ¼oz walnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint leaves plus more to serve
  • unsprayed rose petals to serve

Instructies

  • Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and lay the poussins in a broad shallow dish.
  • Pour the marinade on and turn the birds over in it.
  • Cover loosely with cling film and put in the fridge.
  • Marinate overnight if you have time, but just give it a couple of hours if that’s all you have.
  • Turn the birds over a few times while they are marinating.
  • To make the dressing, just whisk everything together.
  • Take the poussins out of the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook them.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
  • Shake off the excess marinade, put in a roasting tin and roast the birds in the hot oven for 50 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, for the yogurt, soak the cherries in just-boiled water for 15 minutes so they plump up.
  • Peel the cucumber, halve it, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and discard.
  • Chop the cucumber flesh into small cubes and mix with the yogurt, garlic and half the extra virgin oil.
  • Put into a flat bowl.
  • Drain the sour cherries and sprinkle them across the top, then the walnuts too.
  • Drizzle with the rest of the extra virgin oil and scatter with the mint.
  • Serve the poussins with the dressing spooned over them and the yogurt on the side.
  • Scatter some more mint and the rose petals on top.
  • Bitter leaves and bulgar wheat are good on the side.
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Recipe Category Chicken / Fruit
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