Seychelles Fish Curry

Less than 30 mins preparation time

10 to 30 mins cooking time

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the massalé

• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cardamom pods
• 1 tsp cloves
• small piece of cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground chilli
• 1 tsp grated nutmeg

For the curry

• 900g/2lb red snapper or monkfish
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp massalé
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• small piece ginger, chopped
• 3 tbsp tamarind water
• leaves from 2 sprigs thyme
• ½ tsp anise
• 450ml/¾ pint fish stock or water

Preparation method

1. Dry roast the whole spices until lightly coloured and set aside to cool. Grind finely and stir in the chilli and nutmeg. It can be stored for up to 2-3 months in an airtight jar.
2. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the onion until golden. Stir in the massalé and turmeric and lightly fry. Add the pieces of fish, and all the other ingredients. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until the fish is ready.
4. Serve with rice.

Masala-marinated chicken with minted yoghurt sauce

Overnight preparation time

30 mins to 1 hour cooking time

Serves 4-5

Dieting or not, this is one of our favourite recipes. It’s mouth-wateringly good – the spicy marinade makes the meat really tender and full of flavour, while the yoghurt sauce sets it off a treat.

464 calories per portion.

Ingredients

For the marinade

• 6 cardamom pods
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1-2 tsp hot chilli powder (the more you use, the spicier the dish)
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp flaked sea salt
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 40g/1½oz piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 100g/3½oz low-fat natural yoghurt
 

For the chicken

• 1.65kg/3lb 8oz chicken
• 1 lime, quartered
• freshly ground black pepper
• fresh watercress or baby leaf salad, to serve

For the minted yoghurt sauce

• 200g/7oz low-fat natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp ready-made mint sauce

Preparation method

1. To make the marinade, split the cardamom pods and remove the seeds. Put the cardamom seeds in a dry non-stick frying pan and discard the husks. Add the cumin and coriander seeds, cloves and black peppercorns and place the pan over a medium heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly until the spices are lightly toasted – you know they’re ready when you can smell the spicy aroma.
2. Tip the toasted spices into a pestle and mortar, or an electric spice grinder, and pound to a fine powder. Transfer to a mixing bowl and stir in the fenugreek, turmeric, paprika, chilli powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the garlic, ginger and yoghurt, then mix well and leave to stand while you prepare the chicken.
3. Place the chicken on its breast on a sturdy chopping board and cut carefully either side of the backbone with good scissors or poultry shears. Chuck out the bone and cut off the foot joints and wing tips.
4. Strip all the skin off the bird apart from the ends of the wings (which are easier to remove after cooking). You’ll find this simpler to do if you snip the membrane between the skin and the chicken flesh as you go. Cut off and discard any obvious fat – it will be a creamy white colour. Open out the chicken and place it on the board so the breast side is facing upwards.
5. Press down heavily with the palms of your hands to break the breastbone and flatten the chicken as evenly as possible. This will help it cook more quickly. Slash the meat with a knife through the thickest parts of the legs and breast. Place the chicken in a shallow non-metallic dish – a lasagne dish is ideal – and tuck in the legs and wings.
6. Spoon over the marinade and really massage it into the chicken on both sides, ensuring that every bit of bird is well coated – get your hands in there and really go for it. Cover the dish with cling film and put the chicken in the fridge to marinate for at least four hours or ideally overnight.
7. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Take the chicken out of the dish and place it on a rack inside a large baking tray, breast-side up. Squeeze over some juice from the lime and season with ground black pepper.
8. Roast for 45-50 minutes until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked throughout, tossing the lime quarters on to the rack for the last 20 minutes to cook alongside the chicken. They’ll be good for squeezing over the meat later. The juices should run clear when the thickest part of one of the thighs is pierced with a skewer. Cover loosely with foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving.
9. While the chicken is resting, make the sauce. Spoon the yoghurt into a serving bowl and stir in the mint sauce until thoroughly combined. Transfer the chicken to a plate or wooden board and carve into slices, discarding any skin. Serve with the sauce and some watercress or salad and enjoy!

Extra Special Beef Biryani

Overnight preparation time

1 to 2 hours cooking time

Serves 6

Tender chunks of gently spiced beef in a fluffy saffron rice. If you like a bit more heat, don’t worry about deseeding both the chillies.

Ingredients 

• 100ml/3½oz full-fat milk
• 1 heaped tsp saffron strands
• 1kg/2lbs 2oz braising steak, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 4 onions, peeled
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 25g/1oz fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 5 cloves
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• ¼ cinnamon stick
• 12 cardamom pods
• 2½ tsp sea salt flakes, plus extra to season
• ½ whole nutmeg, finely grated
• 135ml/4¾fl oz sunflower oil
• 200ml/7fl oz natural yoghurt
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 325g/11½oz basmati rice
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 50g/2oz butter

To serve

• 50g/2oz sultanas
• 40g/1½oz flaked almonds
• 3 large free-range eggs
• freshly ground black pepper
• fresh coriander

Preparation method

1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan, add the saffron threads and heat gently for two minutes without boiling. Remove from the heat and set aside for 2-3 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Trim the beef of any hard fat and cut into bite-sized pieces. Heat two tablespoons of oil in the frying pan. Season the beef with salt and freshly ground black pepper and fry in 2-3 batches over a medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Transfer to a large, lidded saucepan.
3. While the beef is frying, roughly chop two of the onions and put in a food processor with the garlic, ginger and chillies. Add 50ml/2fl oz cold water and blend to a smooth paste.
4. Put the cloves, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, 1½ teaspoons salt and seeds from the cardamom pods into a pestle and mortar. Grind until a fine powder. Grate the nutmeg into the mixture and tip into the onion paste. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Mix until all the ingredients are combined.
5. Add a further three tablspoons of oil into the same frying pan that was used to cook the beef and fry the spiced onion paste over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until lightly browned, stirring often. Place the mixture into the pan with the beef. Stir in the yoghurt, 450ml/16fl oz water and bay leaves. Place the pan over a low heat and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer gently for 1½ hours or until the beef is tender, stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the lid from the pan and stir in the sugar. Increase the heat and simmer the sauce for 10 minutes, or until reduced and thick. Add a little more salt and pepper to taste.
7. Toast the almonds in a non-stick frying pan and cook over a medium heat for 4-6 minutes. Stir the sultanas into the almonds and immediately tip into a heatproof bowl. Set aside to cool.
8. Cut the remaining two onions in half and slice thinly. Pour two tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and fry the onions for 6-8 minutes over a fairly high heat until softened and golden-brown, stirring frequently. Set aside.
9. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
10. Half-fill a large pan with water, add one teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse under plenty of cold water. Stir the rice into the hot water and return to the boil. Cook for five minutes and drain well. Add the coriander and stir until well combined.
11. Transfer half the meat and sauce into a large, ovenproof dish. Spoon over half of the part-cooked rice and drizzle with half the soaked saffron threads and milk. Top with half the fried onions. Repeat the layers once more. Dot with the butter. Cover the dish with two layers of tightly fitting foil and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Hard-boil the eggs for nine minutes until firm and drain in a sieve under running water until cool enough to handle. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters.
13. Remove the dish from the oven and discard the foil. Use a fork to lightly fluff the rice. Garnish with the freshly boiled eggs, scatter with toasted almonds and sultanas. Add a few fresh coriander leaves and serve.

Chicken Biryani

30 mins to 1 hour preparation time

30 mins to 1 hour cooking time

Serves 2

 

A family favourite, this easy chicken biryani is not too spicy and easy to make for a comforting weeknight supper.

Ingredients

1. 200g/7¼oz basmati rice
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 2 tbsp vegetable oil
4. 8 shallots, chopped
5. 2 medium onions, chopped
6. 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
7. 2 tsp fresh root ginger, grated
8. 6 chicken breast fillets or 2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced into strips (chicken breast fillets are the small, tender fillets on the underside of the chicken breast, available in some supermarkets)
9. 1 tsp chilli powder
10. 1 tsp ground cumin
11. 2 tsp ground coriander
12. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
13. ½ tsp ground turmeric
14. generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg
15. ¾ cup plain yoghurt
16. 2 tsp caster sugar
17. 4 or 5 handfuls raisins

Preparation Method

1. Wash the rice in several changes of water until the water runs clear, then leave to soak in tepid water with the salt for 30 minutes.
2. Drain the rice and place in a pan with enough cold water to come about 2cm/¾inch above the top of the rice.
3. Bring the water to the boil, then reduce the heat to as low as possible, cover and cook for about ten minutes, or until 'holes' begin to appear on the top of the rice and all the water has been absorbed.
4. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the shallots, onions, garlic and ginger and fry for a couple of minutes, until golden-brown. Remove a tablespoonful and set aside for garnishing.
5. Add the chicken and stir fry for four minutes.
6. Add the spices and stir for one minute, then stir in the yoghurt and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the sugar, raisins and part-cooked rice. Cover the pan with a clean tea towel and cover with a lid (this will hold in all the steam).
7. Place over a very low heat and cook for ten minutes.
8. Remove from the heat and leave to rest for five minutes.
9. Serve large spoonfuls garnished with the reserved shallot and onion mixture.

Slow Cooker Beef Curry

Less than 30 mins preparation time

Over 2 hours cooking time

Serves 4-6

Use your slow cooker for this simple beef curry - it’s full of flavour and guarantees meltingly tender beef. Serve with rice and naan bread.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp sunflower oil
• 800g/1lb 12oz beef braising steak, cut into 2.5cm/1in pieces
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 chillies, finely chopped, plus extra to taste
• 2.5cm/1in piece fresh root ginger
• 4 tsp ground cumin
• 4 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 x 400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 200g/7oz natural yoghurt
• small handful fresh chopped coriander

Preparation method

1. Heat half of the oil in a frying pan and fry the beef pieces for 4-5 minutes, or until browned all over. (You may need to brown the meat in batches.) Tip the browned meat into the slow cooker.
2. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the onions for five minutes, then add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and fry for another minute, then tip the mixture into the slow cooker.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes to the slow cooker, then fill one of the empty casn with water and add the water to the slow cooker.
4. Stir everything together, pressing down so that everything is covered in liquid and cook for 8-10 hours on low.
5. About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the garam masala and yoghurt and season to taste with salt and a little more chilli. Cook for a further 30 minutes, then stir in the coriander