the magic of the biryani of the dubai

Honestly, we all know the biryani isn't precisely local here, but really what actually is? This is by no means an ultra traditional number and I'm not here to divide nations and have battle lines drawn up, I just kind of know what I like. I think it would be proper to have it cooked under a pastry crust, which I'm not going to, so there's my first group offended. Here is simply my take on what has long been a downtown Satwa favourite. If you can do anything which might offer some authenticity to your buryani, do marinate the meat overnight as this helps massively to tenderise it

 

A Mutton Biryani

 

Serves 4-6

 

500g mutton, diced into bite-sized pieces

15g Greek or natural yoghurt

1 tblsp freshly grated root ginger, plus a 2cm knob of fresh root ginger, peeled

1 crushed garlic clove, plus 2 cloves, peeled

1 tsp mild chilli powder

1/2 green chilli, seeded and roughly chopped

1 tsp coriander seeds

Pinch of ground turmeric

2 tblsp olive oil

1 small onion, sliced

100ml single cream

Squeeze of lemon juice

Few drops of rosewater

Handful of coriander leaves

 

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp olive oil

250g basmati rice, rinsed

2 cinnamon sticks

4 star anise

4-5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

Peel of 1/2 orange and 1/2 lemon

600ml hot lamb or chicken stock

Knob of butter

 

Marinate the mutton in the yoghurt, grated ginger and crushed garlic for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

 

Place the remaining ginger, garlic, chilli powder, chilli, coriander seeds and turmeric in a food processor and whiz to a fine paste. If necessary, add a little olive oil or water to get the paste moving in the processor.

 

Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan or a cast-iron casserole with a little olive oil. Tip in the onion and cook over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes until softened. Stir in the spice paste and cook for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Add the mutton and yoghurt to the pan and season well. Stir in the cream and cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid. Cook over a low heat for 11/2-2 hours until the mutton is tender. Stir the mixture occasionally and add a splash of water if the mixture looks too dry.

 

Now start preparing the rice: preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Sauté the onion in the oil in an ovenproof pan for 4-5 minutes until soft. Tip in the rice, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom and peel. Season and stir over a medium-to-high heat for 30 seconds. Add the stock, bring to the boil and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Transfer the pan to the oven for 20 minutes.

 

Remove the rice from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Mix through a knob of butter and season, fluffing the grains of rice with a fork to separate them.

 

Pile the rice on top of the mutton and sprinkle over the lemon juice and rosewater. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and return to the oven for 10-15 minutes to warm through.

 

Bring the pot to the table to serve. Stir through the coriander leaves and mix the rice and mutton together before piling on to individual plates.

the beetrot curry in Sri Lanka, sort of but not really at all

I can't do it nearly as authentic here as I have tasted there, so I'm not going to bother actually worrying about it. Beetroot in any way shape or form is a treat, so simply dressing it up a little makes for something really quite nice indeed

Roasted pumpkin and beetroot with goat’s cheese

Serves 4

200g pumpkin
100g beetroot
20g goats cheese
1 sprig fresh thyme
20ml olive oil
10ml red wine vinegar
10g rocket
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180c, wash the beetroot and pat dry, rub with a touch of olive oil and put in the oven roast for 30 minutes or until tender. Remove from the oven allow to cool down slightly, then peel and cut into quarters and set aside

Cut the pumpkin in half; remove the seeds and slice into 5mm pieces. Season with salt and pepper and put onto a lightly oiled griddle until golden brown on both sides

Transfer the pumpkin to a baking tray and put into the oven to roast for 8 minutes or so until tender

Mix the red vinegar olive oil, and thyme in a bowl then put the beetroot in to marinate, seasoning with salt and pepper

Place the pumpkin in the centre of the plate then top with the beetroot, sprinkle with grated goats cheese and garnish with rocket; finally drizzle with the remaining vinegar dressing

the spice of sri lanka

 

The place is properly magical, the food all consuming, the people curiously incredible and hypnotic. The island where your watch, quite literally, stands still for a few brilliant moments in time

Sri Lankan fish curry

 

Serves 4

 

900g seer fish fillet, or any firm white fish although salmon will do just fine

1 tblsp sunflower oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

8 fresh curry leaves

½ tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

2 tblsp sri lankan curry powder (see below)

2 medium-sized tomatoes, skinned and chopped

50ml tamarind liquid

400ml coconut milk

Salt

Mango or lime chutney to serve

 

For the Sri Lankan curry powder

2½ tblsp coriander seeds

1 tblsp cumin seed

1½ tsp fennel seeds

A healthy pinch of fenugreek seed

2.5cm piece cinnamon stick

3 cloves

2 green cardamom pods

6 black peppercorns

 

For the curry powder, toast everything over a high heat in a dry pan and then simply grind everything together in a spice grinder into a fine powder. Store in a screw top jar

 

Rinse the fish under cold water and dry on kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a large, shallow pan, add the onion, garlic, curry leaves and fry gently for 7-10 minutes until the onions are soft and only just turning lightly golden

 

Add the turmeric, chilli powder and 2 tblsp of the Sri Lankan curry powder and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tamarind liquid, coconut milk and 1 tsp of salt and simmer gently for 15 minutes

 

Add the fish to the pan and spoon some of the sauce over the top of the fish. Turn the heat right down and simmer gently for 5 minutes, then cover the pan and set aside for 30 minutes. The fish needs to take in the flavour of the sauce and after 30 minutes should be cooked through - but if not, just return to the heat for a few more minutes until it is. Serve with some steamed basmati rice and some poppadoms should you feel inclined to do so

 

just some lamb chops

Grilled lamb with tzasiki

 

Serves 4

 

A cool cucumber and yoghurt dip is a refreshing accompaniment for grilled chops. Sometimes I add a clove of garlic to it, sometimes not. Sometimes nothing at all is needed but juicy fatty meat. Chips with chops, that might be the ticket.

 

4 lamb steaks or large chops

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp fresh oregano

 

For the tzasiki

Half a cucumber

250ml thick, natural yogurt

2 spring onions

1 handful mint leaves

 

Grate the cucumber into a sieve or colander, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and sit it in the sink for half an hour. This will rid the cucumber of much of its water.

 

Tip the yoghurt into a mixing bowl. Finely chop the spring onions and stir them into the yoghurt along with the mint leaves, roughly chopped. Squeeze any excess moisture out of the cucumber with your hands then stir it into the yoghurt.

 

Don't be tempted to season the yoghurt; it should be just fine as it is.

 

Keep the tzasiki cool until you need it. Get the grill hot. In a small bowl mix the olive oil with the oregano and a seasoning of salt and black pepper then rub or brush it over the meat. Cook the lamb over a hot grill or in a griddle pan. Ideally the outside should be dark brown and sizzling, the fat crisp and the inside of the meat a deep, juicy rose pink.

 

Serve the lamb with the tzasiki. Or chips.

 

horseradish vodka, borscht and rabbit dumplings

There aren't all that many dishes at -10 c that cut the mustard, but horseradish vodka, borscht and rabbit dumplings seem to be doing the just just fine here in Kyiv. What a splendid place, even in the dead of winter, where the warmth of the people totally overcompensate for the lacking in the city's temperature. Where else are you welcomed with a glass of 40% proof horseradish to take the chill off I ask? Follow that up with a smoked plum beer and I'd eat a dumpling filled with anything whatsoever. Interestingly enough, these dumplings are so outright delicious, they're served only with some sour cream. No need for chilli, vinegar or soy here - they simply don't need any more flavour - properly rabbity good.

On the soup thing, this is where the source of internal warmth seriously lies. There are way too many variations of this burgundy coloured soup to even start dissecting, all of which reflect the Eastern European heritage of many Romany people. This one is, I hope, is in the Ukrainian style befitting the incredible hospitality of these brilliant people.

Borscht

 

Serves 6

 

1.2 litres vegetable or chicken stock
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
225g raw beetroot, peeled and grated
500g potatoes, peeled and diced
600g red cabbage, shredded
2 large tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 onions, grated
4 tblsp soured cream
12 chives

 

Put the stock and vinegar in a large pan and bring to the boil. Add the beetroot and potatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add the cabbage and whole tomatoes.

 

Cook for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft, then remove them from the pan with a slotted spoon, purée them in a liquidiser or push through a sieve, and return to the soup.

 

Add the bay leaf and season to taste. Stir in the onions and cook for 20 minutes until the onions are soft. Garnish with a blob of soured cream and a few chives and serve.

 

 

a comforting chicken pho

When a bit of an illness hits you, there's always a go to food for comfort and nourishment. hicken noodle soup from a packet seemed to be the way my Mum brought colour back into my cheeks, but now I'm all grown up and fancy I can assume another level for this miracle remedy.

Pho has to be one of the better known Vietnamese dishes, a sustaining bowl of fragrant noodle soup full of lovely bits and pieces. Good-quality home-made stock is considered vital by those in the know, but if you're short of time, use tubs of fresh stock from the store and just make sure you pack it full of all the amazing contrasts of flavours the broth is generally famed for. This recipe could easily be made with big fat prawns of strips of beef instead of chicken.

Chicken pho

Serves 2

600ml chicken stock
2.5cm chunk of fresh ginger, sliced thickly
1 garlic clove, chopped
2 star anise
1 bundle of vermicelli rice noodles
1 tblsp fish sauce
1 free range chicken breast, sliced very thinly
A few sprigs of fresh coriander and mint
4 spring onions, finely sliced
A handful of bean sprouts
1 red chilli, finely sliced
A lime, quartered

Heat the stock with the ginger, garlic, star anise and a good grind of black pepper. Simmer very gently for half an hour or so, topping up with water if necessary

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain while still a little undercooked and rinse under a cold tap. Stir the fish sauce into the stock.

Divide the noodles between two bowls and top with slices of raw chicken. Pour the boiling broth over the top, which will cook the meat instantly.

Scatter with a little coriander and put more on the table, along with the mint, spring onions, bean sprouts, chilli and lime wedges, for people to add to the soup.

lobster roll, decadent and frivolous but who cares

New Year, New You? No actually, New Year, Let's eat WELL.

 

This sounds properly luxurious, but was - and in some places still is - a casual (and often surprisingly cheap) snack to be eaten on the beach where lobster is in decent supply. Perfect for when the weather is exactly as it is right now (well it is here anyway)

 

A good lobster roll

 

Serves 1

 

1 x 500g lobster, cooked and shelled, and meat chopped into 3cm pieces

3 sticks celery, finely chopped

10g horseradish mixed with 20g mayonnaise

Juice from ½ lemon

A quarter of an avocado

salt and pepper

15g butter lettuce leaves

1 brioche hot dog style bun

 

The method is very straightforward. Make some lobster salad by mixing cold cooked lobster in bite-sized chunks (with as much of the sweeter meat from the claws as possible) with some finely chopped celery, horseradish flavoured mayonnaise, a little lemon juice, diced avocado and salt and pepper.

 

Lay some lettuce leaves inside the toasted buttered hot dog bun and tumble in the lobster salad.

 

This dish is best accompanied by a decent packet of crisps. And better still, a sandy beach.