Jules, Meg, Nick and James
I have a great friend, Nick Owen, who is from England. His wife, Julia, is from Wales. Now, they live in Los Angeles with their two children, Meg and James. They are some of our very best friends and we miss them terribly since we moved to Minnesota. We used to stay up with them eating delicious food, drinking great wine and playing some serious games of Jenga. They both are amazing cooks.
Nick makes the best Indian dishes I have ever tasted. He takes his curries very seriously. He even has all of the appropriate serving platters just like in an Indian restaurant. Here is a rare look inside his delicious recipes, in his words (I had to sensor a couple of them):
“Here you go Baby girl, try this out. Make it for yourself first it’s a piece of cake. (if stuck call me xxx xxx xxxx)
ENJOOOOOOYYYYYYY!!!! You’ll love it!
The PERFECT Restaurant Curry…Lamb or Chicken Madras. (Beef works too if you don’t fancy Lamb!)
Ingredients. (And stick to em or you’ll fxxk it up!!)
1lb of Lamb or Chicken Breast (not chicken thigh strips or goujons as they’ll fall apart)
2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil, Butter or Ghee (preferred)
1 large Onion
6 cloves of Fresh Garlic
3 x 1 inch piece of Fresh Root Ginger
1/2 can of Tomato Puree
6 Fresh Tomatoes or 1 Regular Sized tin of Tomatoes
1 x Jar of Pataks Madras Curry Paste
1″ Cinnamon Stick
6 Fresh Cloves
6 x Green Cardamoms (break the shell with the back of the spoon but don’t peel them – leave the seeds in the shell)
1/2 Cup of Fresh Water (if required if the dish seems to thick).
1 Bunch of Fresh Cilantro
1. Fry off 1 x lb of lamb or Chicken pieces in the oil or Ghee until golden. (Remove from pan and set it aside) – don’t clean the pan.
2. Rougly chop 1 large onion, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins in fresh water until translucent, rinse with cold water and strain thru a seive (this stops the onion taking over the spices).
3. Add soft onion to blender with 6 cloves of garlic and 3×1 inch piece of fresh root ginger. Blend for about a minute until all is smooth like a puree texture (looks like apple sauce).
4. Add onion mix to pan juices with a tablespoon of butter or ghee and fry on a moderate heat for 3 mins. Ghee is best.
5. Add 4 heaped tablespoons of Pataks Madras curry paste to the onion mix in the pan and mix/simmer gently until oil starts to float – about 3/4 mins (this means the spices are cooked).
6. Now add the cooked meat, stir into the mix and add two tablespoons (half a small can) of tomato puree. Cook in gently for 2 mins it’ll look gross at this point but don’t worry.
7. Blend a can of tomatos or preferably 6-8 fresh tomatoes in the blender like you did the onions puree and add to the pan. Stir in.
8. Add 1 x inch cinamon stick, 6 cloves and 6 green cardamoms to the pan. Don’t add any more spices to pep it up other than a pinch salt/ground black pepper to taste- it will be spicy enough.
9. Cover and Simmer for at least 2/3 hours on a very low heat stirring occasionally (add 1/2 cup of water if the sauce becomes too thick – don’t panic!).
10. 5 mins before serving add handful of chopped cilantro and remove cinamon stick (unless you want ot break your teeth).
11. Serve with Basmati Rice, Nans and Chapatis with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro on top to make it look cool. ( also freeze what’s left.. It tastes even better.)
The Perfect RESTAURANT CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA
1lb of Lamb or Chicken Breast (not chicken thigh strips or goujons as they’ll fall apart)
1 and and Half Cups of Plain Natural Yoghurt
2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil, Butter or Ghee (preferred)
1 large Onion
6 cloves of Fresh Garlic
3 x 1 inch piece of Fresh Root Ginger
1/2 can of Tomato Puree
6 Fresh Tomatoes or 1 Regular Sized tin of Tomatoes
1 x Jar of Pataks TIKKA MASALA Curry Paste
1″ Cinnamon Stick
6 Fresh Cloves
6 x Green Cardamoms (break the shell with the back of the spoon but don’t peel them leave the seeds in the shell)
1/2 Cup of Fresh Water (if required if the dish seems to thick).
1 Bunch of Fresh Cilantro
1. Take 1 and a half cups of Natural yogurt and mix in a large bowl with 5 tablespoons of Pataks Tikka Masala Paste.
2. Add 1 lb of Diced Chicken breast (2-3″ pieces) or Lamb to the Yoghurt, cover with a plate or glad wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or better overnight.
3. The next day (or 4 hours later after a lot of foreplay with hubbie)!!!
4. Rougly chop 1 large onion, bring to the boil in fresh water and simmer for 10 mins in fresh water until translucent (this stops the onion taking over the spices).
5. Add onion to blender with 6 cloves garlic and 3 inch piece of fresh root ginger. Blend for about a minute until smooth like a puree texture.
6. Add a tablespoon of butter or ghee to the frying pan and add the onion mix and fry on a moderate heat for 3 mins. Ghee is best.
7. Now add the yoghurt and meat mix to the onions in the pan and simmer gently until oil starts to float – about 5/6 mins (this means the spices are cooked) it will be really thick but don’t worry!
8. Add two tablespoons (half a small can) of tomato puree. Mix in gently for 2 mins.
9. Blend a can of tomatos or preferably 6-8 fresh tomatoes in the blender like you did the onions puree and add to the pan. Stir in. (It will look thinner now and wonderfully marble effect to look at!)
10. Add 1 x inch cinamon stick, 6 cloves and 6 green cardamoms to the pan. Don’t be tempted to add any more spices to pep it up other than a pinch salt to taste!
11. Cover and Simmer for at least 2/3 hours on a very low heat stirring occasionally (don’t let it burn or stick to pan) add a little water if it becomes too thick.
12. 5 mins before serving add to your curry a handful of chopped cilantro, half a cup of fresh cream and remove the cinamon stick – stir gently together and serve.
13. Serve with Basmati Rice and Nan Breads with a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and a drizzle of cream on top to make it look cool. ( you can also serve with some Lemon wedges and squeeze a little lemon juice on it if you like but not too much.)
14. Freeze what left – and nuke in the microwave for a quick lunch – It Rocks!
Tips and accompaniments.
1. Chapatis – In the fridge section at the indian spice shop you will find uncooked chapatis called roti’s. They are in a zip lock bag about 20 in the packet and you dry fry them in a hot frying pan, they swell up like baloons when you fry them and then settle as the air escapes and they are perfect chapatis. Much better than the cooked nans you buy from the bread aisle but they’re ok if you cant get Rotis.
2. Fry up some Papadoms – available from any spice shop and follow the instruction on the packet.
3. Pickles and condiments to serve up with the Papadoms. Try spooning them on individually or mix em up! Tasty!!
Onion Relish – finely chop a small onion and mix with 1 tablespoon of Ketchup. Serve Chilled.
Onion Raita - finely chop a small onion and mix with 1 tablespoon of Mint Sauce (or fresh mint mixed with Vinegar). Serve Chilled.
Mango Chutney – available at most store
Lime Pickle – an aquired Taste but you’ll dig it after a while
Yoghurt Raita – mix a half a cup of the plan yoghurt with a TBSP of fresh mint or mint sauce
4. Try some Indian beer Kingfisher and Cobra are the popular ones.
5. Ghee (unclarified Indian Butter) you’ll have to get from the Spice Shop.
6. If too spicy for you then tough it out you weener – drink some Milk!”
Thank you, Nick!
Here is another recipe from Foodista:
