Atul Kochhar
Atul Kochhar is one of the world’s top Indian Chefs and Restauranteurs. He was the first chef in the UK to be awarded a Michelin Star for Indian cuisine at Tamarind. He sailed world famous Benares restaurant into Michelin star status and is currently the Executive Chef of Indian fine-dining restaurant, Kanishka, based in Mayfair, London. He is bringing a whole new style of Indian cooking to the city, introducing the flavours of the region of North East India’s ‘Seven Sister States’.
As an International and UK nationwide TV personality, he has been featured on popular programs such as Million Dollar Menu and Saturday Kitchen and now he has teamed up with Parson’s Nose.
Using only the finest cuts from Parson’s Nose, here are some of his favourite recipes from his new book, 30 Minute Curries for you to try at home!
Chicken and Spinach Curry
Murgh Palak Curry
My intention was to write a chicken and sorrel curry recipe, but as sorrel has such a short season it seemed more useful to give you a recipe using spinach. When you find bunches of sorrel on sale in the spring, however, grab several to use instead of spinach.
Ingredients:
200g baby spinach leaves, or sorrel leaves
3 long thin green chillies
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white poppy seeds
3 tablespoons Onion Paste (page 218)
1 teaspoon Garlic Paste (page 220)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon red chilli powder, or to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground cumin
200ml water
3 tablespoons Tamarind Liquid (page 223)
sea salt
fresh coriander sprigs, to garnish
Directions:
Bring a large covered saucepan of water to the boil and assemble all the ingredients and other equipment before you begin. You also need a long-handled wooden spoon, a sieve or colander, a food processor fitted with a chopping blade, a non-stick pan for toasting the spices, a spice grinder and a large sauté or frying pan.
Cut the chicken thigh fillets into bite-sized pieces. Rinse the spinach leaves well. Remove the stalks from the green chillies, if necessary, then finely chop the chillies. Drop the spinach leaves into the pan of boiling water, pressing them all down with a wooden spoon, then almost immediately drain them and rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking. Drain them again, squeezing out any excess water, then transfer them to the food processor. Add 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil and blitz until puréed. Set aside.
Heat the dry non-stick pan over a high heat. Add the poppy seeds and stir until they are lightly browned, aromatic and pop. Transfer these to the spice grinder and finely grind. Set aside.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in the sauté pan over a medium-high heat. Add the green chillies and chicken. Season with a pinch of salt and stir to seal the chicken on all sides. Add the onion paste and garlic paste and stir them with the chicken for about 30 seconds. Add the ground coriander, chilli powder, garam masala and cumin. Season with salt and stir for 30 seconds to cook the spices. Watch closely so they do not burn.
Add the puréed spinach, stirring to blend the ingredients together. Stir in the poppy seed powder, then add the water and tamarind liquid and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and leave the curry to simmer for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
Meanwhile, rinse some coriander leaves for a garnish.
Adjust the seasoning with salt, if necessary. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
Remember to take a look at our delicious chicken available for delivery to compliment this delicious curry!
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