Category: Big bites

Perfumed Lamb Stew with fennel, peppadew

I bet you never expected to see “perfumed” and “lamb” together. This stew is amazingly fragrant from the mixed notes of fennel and grapefruit zest. Enjoy!

SPECIAL TOOLS:

Dutch oven (Le Cruset).

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 lb boneless butterflied leg-of-lamb cut into large 2 inch chunks, after removing the fat layers + salt and pepper
  • Aromatics: 1 medium onion, diced + 2 pods garlic, crushed + 2 anchovy fillets + 1 medium-sized carrot, cut into thin discs
  • 1 cup red wine
  • Vegetables: 1/2 fennel, thinly sliced cross-wise + 10 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced + 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
  • Topping: 1 medium grape-fruit, zested and juiced + 1/8 cup pitted kalamata olives + 5-6 small pickled hot peppers (Peppadew), with 2 tbsp pickling liquid (optional: dash of Pernod)

METHOD

Mix the lamb with the aromatics in a thick bottomed pot (Le Cruset). Note that you do not have to add any liquid. Cover and cook at 325 F for 1 hour. Stir and continue to cook covered for another hour. Note that the meat will be neatly browned by now.

After 2 hrs (or less, depending on your oven, size of your pot etc), deglaze with red wine and mix in the vegetable ingredients and cook uncovered for another 45 mins to 1 hr till fork tender. Remove from the oven and mix in the toppings and keep covered for 5 minutes. Serve hot with rice.

NOTES, HINTS, TIPS:

  1. I love the no-fuss browning technique. Two sources of browning here. The usual hot surface of the pot (hence don’t stir) and the second is the browning of the exposed surface from the heat in the oven when the lid is removed.
  2. I had stumbled upon the browning technique of above out of sheer minimalism or laziness for elaborate procedures (like coating with flour, browning individually etc).
  3. If your pot has a larger surface area, you may lose the juices faster than if all is crammed into smaller space. So, make your adjustments accordingly and adding a little water if required.
  4. Adapted from the French, à la Gardiane.

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Armenia meets India: Ghapama

When I was in Armenia, every meal was a feast and every feast had ghapama. I was surprised to learn the inroads this Thanksgiving staple had made in Armenia. I can’t help but give an Indian twist with kala chana and tur dal- two iconic Indian legumes. Just a hint of spices with aromatic ghee. This fusion ghapama is bound to steal your heart.

Special tools:

None.

Ingredients

  • 1 pie pumpkin; cut the top to make a lid; scoop out interior; brush with a little EVOO and sprinkle a little salt
  • Legumes: 1 cup kala chana, 1 cup tur dal, each soaked separately in plenty of water for 1-2 hrs, then cooked separately till tender and drained
  • 1 cup wheat berries, cooked until done (follow the instructions on the packet, approx 15 minutes in 2.5 cups water)
  • 1/2 cup figs, each fig quartered
  • 2 tbsp ghee + 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • Indian spices:
    • 1 tsp whole cumin seeds; 1/2 tsp asafoetida (heeng)
    • garam masala: 1 tsp cinnamon powder + 1/4 tsp clove powder
  • salt to taste

Method

Filling: Heat the ghee and oil. Splutter the cumin seeds, add the heeng. Don’t let this burn and immediately add the figs. Then all the legumes and wheat berries. Mix well. Add salt and garam masala powders. Taste for seasonings.

Stuff the bottom half of the pumpkin with the filling. Place the pumpkin lid on top. Keep the rest of the stuffing aside to serve separately on the side. Place the whole pumpkin on a baking tray.

Bake at 350 F for 1 hour.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. Do not be embarrassed to take the help of your sous chef -The Microwave. Soften the pumpkin skin in the microwave for 2-3 minutes and then cut the top off.
  2. I used the 9″ chef’s knife. Be careful when using a large knife and a stubborn pumpkin. Assume Murphy’s law that if an accident could happen, it will. For the heterodox use of the knife here, always keep the sharp edge away from you.

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Greek Lamb Pie with Kadhi Crust

Sheldon declared the Greek lamb to be “chewy and …”, on national television, via Big Bang Theory. I took the Nobel Laureate Physicist’s criticism to heart and have been tenderizing lamb with extra loving care 🙂 Here too.

In my version of a classic Greek Lamb Pie, I use some curly kale and cauliflower (instead of rice). I also give a Kadhi accent to the yogurt crust. The one-pot, complete meal turned out fantabulous. Enjoy!

Special tools:

Food Processor.

Ingredients

  • 2.5 lbs (deboned) butterflied leg of lamb, fat trimmed and cut into chunks
  • Marinade:  1/2 large onion, finely diced +  5-6 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped + black pepper + 1.25 tsp (edible) citric acid + salt & black pepper to taste
  • Vegetables: 4 scallions chopped; 1 cup curly Kale processed; 6 cups of cauliflower processed (or grated)
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 tbsp besan
  • Kadhi Crust: 3 cups Greek yogurt + 3 eggs + 3 tbsp besan + 3 tbsp mint leaves finely diced + salt & red chilli pepper to taste
  • Topping: 1 cup grated Greek (Kasseri) cheese

Method

Marinade the meat for at least one hour. In a thick bottomed pan (LeCruset) brown the meat. Deglaze with wine and 1/2 cup of water and cook till the liquid evaporates. Add the scallions and the curly Kale and mix well. Add a little water if too dry. Mix in 1 tbsp besan.

Flatten the top, and pack it in with a spatula. Mix all the kadhi ingredients with a wire whisk. Dot the surface with the kadhi-mix. Then smooth it out lightly and evenly with a spatula, till a uniform layer is formed on top.

Bake at 350 F, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes. Check after 30 mins to see if it requires more time- the top should be lightly browned. Then cover and bake for another 20 minutes. The top will puff up. Sprinkle the cheese topping and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let cool slightly and serve hot.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. 1 average sized head of cauliflower yields 6 cups. Here I use all the 6 cups- that gives a very healthy proportion of veggies to meat.
    But you could use less if you so prefer (4 cups or even 2 cups). If you do use less, you can reduce the kadhi crust to (2 cups yogurt+2 tbsp besan + 2 tbsp mint) and also baking time by 10 minutes or so.
  2. Sheldon will have no complaints about this dish: the citric acid is a gentle tenderizer that is very effective!
  3. You could skip the wine, since the citric acid already gives a light tanginess to the dish.
  4. Of course, you can use your favorite greens and vegetables to augment the meat in the dish.
  5. You can kick it up a notch with aromatic Indian spices or Mexican Oregano.

Lamb with whole grains and yogurt-tahini crust. Almost six years later (14 Dec, 2025) I made a slightly different version of this dish again. Delicious, what can I say!!

The changes to the above were: using kaffir lime leaves (4-5) in the lamb marinade and using 1 cup of mixed grain (for the 1.6 lbs meat) with some baby Bok choy thrown in. Used 1/2 cup white wine and 1 1/2 cup water to cook the grains. With the yogurt topping I mixed in 1 tbsp of tahini + finely chopped mint, kaffir lime leaves and 2 Indian green chilies. I just baked uncovered for 30-45 mins.

I did not cover the meat completely with the yogurt crust that made the dish a little drier than I expected. Good point to keep in mind– I used the Straub pan which has a larger surface area and the thick yogurt (that got even tighter with the tahini) could not cover the whole surface.

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Silk Road: Tbilisi Chicken Stew

In my recent trip to Tbilisi, I bought a clay baking dish (ketsi) from a subway vendor. We communicated animatedly via miming. Gesturing creatively, she urged me to make chicken in the ketsi (or, so I think!). I also picked up a melange of spices at a street market, from an equally warm vendor whose enthusiastic chatter was translated by her young daughter. This is my homage to the gorgeous Georgian ladies.

Dairy and meat is not a common duo, but inspired by the Tbilisi experience, I present a version of shkmeruli, albeit with some spices (the above street-market spices) and a light, fragrant broth. Enjoy!

Special tools:

Claypot.

Ingredients

  • 3.5 lbs chicken (whole OR thighs on the bone) + salt and pepper to taste
  • Mirepoix: 1/2 cup beet greens, finely chopped, dry roasted, optionally, for about 4 minutes (measures 1/2 cup after processing)
  • 2 cups whole milk + 10-12 garlic cloves crushed,softened in 2 tbsp neutral oil (optional)
  • Georgian spices: 1 tsp Utskho suneli (“foreign” spice or blue fenugreek powder) + 2 tsps kharcho (mixed spices)
  • 10 sage leaves
  • Topping (optional): Georgian Ajika, a chilli-garlic powder

Method

Wipe the chicken pieces dry with kitchen towel and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Brown both sides of chicken in a heavy bottomed pan. If using a claypot, line the claypot with the greens and place the browned chicken pieces on it. Deglaze the heavy bottomed pan with little water and pour on the chicken. If using an enamel iron pot (Le Cruset), add the greens directly and there is no need to explicitly deglaze.

Mix the Georgian spices in milk and pour gently over the chicken. Sprinkle the sage leaves all over the chicken.

Bake covered at 325 F for 1 hour. If not done, remove lid, baste and bake uncovered until interior temp to 165 F. Serve hot with topping.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. Just a couple of weeks before my travel to the Caucasus, I had experimented with a citrus-milk-chicken stew. In a Baader-Meinhof coincidence I ran into shkmeruli -chicken stewed in milk- at Sakhli, ostensibly one of the top Georgian restaurants in Tbilisi. My version here is slightly different from this classic Georgian dish and I present the citrus chicken below.
  2. If you don’t have Georgian spices, you can substitute with mix of garam masala and coriander powder.
  3. When using chicken thighs, I skin it to reduce the chicken fat in broth.
  4. My Mirepoix: I use dry roasting greens, instead of the classical French technique (eponymous!). Any greens will do- just make sure they are finely diced.
  5. Claypot enables even low-heat cooking; but Le Cruset is a lazier use, since it lets one brown, deglaze and cook in the same pot.
  6. The milk in the stew curdles– providing little cheese curds and a tasty, light broth.
  7. Ajika is reminiscent of the Maharashtrian garlic powder (with chilli, coconut, sesame). Almost all cultures –East Asian to Indian to Mexican– seem to have a version of this lip-smacking, hot, pungent topping.
  • Citrus Chicken: Here is a floral chicken stewed in milk, that is equally gorgeous. Substitute the Georgian spices with:
    Zest of 1 lemon, 2 oranges + 1 orange cut into pieces + 1 tsp ground cardamom + 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon + 9-10 garlic pods, skinned, smashed and softened in 2 tbsp oil
    In fact adding the zest at the end gives a stronger citrus aroma to the dish.

Malwani Chicken: The technique is inspired from above- it turned out like restaurant chicken, but without the oiliness. I used no more oil than the little fat the chicken thighs came with. The artesanal Malwani spice was the high end mix from Mumbai Food Court.
— 1.15 lb chicken skinless, on the bone, thighs. Salt and chilli pepper on both sides. Heat oven-proof calphalon. Add chicken thighs, fat side down to render it. Leave untouched for 1 minute. Then turn the thighs. Add 5 crushed garlic and let it heat till garlic is fragrant.
— Make a mix of 3/4 cup lactose-free skim plus milk (a little sweeter that just skim plus. wonder why) +1 1/4 thin yogurt (made from 1% milk) + 2 tsps Malwani spice mix + salt to taste
— Cook covered at 325 F for 1 hr. Then turn down to 300 F for another 15 mins.

Bengali Swordfish: Does the technique transfer to fish ? Here is the application on a firm-fleshed swordfish. Used the same recipe as above- except used Kalyustan’s Bengal Spice mix and baked at 300 F. Turned out Bengali great!

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Honeynut Squash: Easy Petit-Dumplings

Gnocchi is an Italian dumpling made with flour and a mainstay ingredient (usually potatoes) and another usual suspect, egg. Poached in water and dressed in a light sauce, it is an absolutely delicious pasta. Italians, take a bow!

Gnocchi-making takes some expertise. The flour in the classical gnocchi plays a vital structural role for handling and shape-retention (with egg) in the unforgiving boiling water.

I present here a friendly version that you can knead simply, roll, cut and shape. I strike out the egg and cut the flour down to absolute minimum (just enough to absorb the excess moisture). And, just microwave (instead of poaching) to retain the delicate shape of the dumplings. With squash as the only ingredient -and, potatoes as the invisible delivery agent-, the pristine honeynut, with a dab of EVOO, shines. Enjoy!

Special tools:

Food processor; potato masher or ricer.

Ingredients

  • 1 honeynut squash halved lengthwise and the internal pulp and seeds removed
  • 3-4 small potatoes
  • 1/4 cup flour (buckwheat)
  • Seasoning: salt and pepper to taste
  • Dressing: EVOO and sea salt

Method

Place the halved honeynut squash with the cut side up on a baking tray. Brush with EVOO. Roast at 400 F for 30 mins. Run the squash, with skin, in the processor.

Wrap the potatoes in damp kitchen paper and microwave for 4 minutes; peel and mash while still warm, mixing in the processed squash. Add the seasoning and the flour to knead lightly. Cut the dough into four equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a rope of 1/2 inch thickness and cut into (roughly) 20 little cylinders. Lightly mark with a fork. Place on a platter and refrigerate till ready to cook.

Cover with damp kitchen towel and microwave 20 at a time for 1 minute. Mix lightly in the dressing and serve.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. The recipe makes 20 X 4 = 80 gnocchis.
  2. Using buckwheat flour and omitting the eggs gives gluten-free, vegan dumplings.
  3. If the squash is hard to cut, microwave for 2 minutes or so till it just softens enough for the knife to run through.
  4. The skin of the squash will be in bits but not completely pulverized. if you don’t like this texture, you can remove the peel. My recommendation is to use the peel: it breaks the monotony of a smooth texture. Also, the peel has more nutrients than the interior flesh.
  5. I used buckwheat flour, but you can use regular white flour. And, even an egg.
  6. Even just EVOO makes this little gnocchis irresistible. But you could use other elaborate sauces of your liking.
  7. See the Honeynut Squash Mousse, for an alternative treatment. Simple too.

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Silk Road: Lavash to Swirly Roomali Roti

Along the Silk Road theme, I present homemade Lavash bread of the Caucasus. Perhaps the precursor of the Indian Roomali Roti (literally, handkerchief bread). [I am sure that the Jewish matzo is a close sibling somewhere on that taxonomy.]

Lavash is traditionally made in a tonir (a tandoor) in Armenia, where the incredibly thin, oval, flat bread is slapped on the inside of an extremely hot tonir and the bread cooks rapidly. A creative chef came up with the idea of using an inverted bowl/kerai/wok to make the handkerchief-thin bread rapidly in the kitchen or even at roti counters at restaurants. I have to research the origin of this ingenious idea, that is so ubiquitous in India.

I must confess that this is a difficult one and requires some flat-bread (roti) making expertise. But if you have some basics under your belt, this is well worth a meditative challenge. It is amazing what just flour and water can produce! In this rendition, I give a swirly take on the classic with activated charcoal.

Special tools:

Rolling pin and board; thick bowl or wok or kerai.

Ingredients

  • White dough: 1/2 cup whole durum wheat flour (atta) + 1/2 cup white all-purpose (maida) flour + salt
  • Black dough:  1/4 cup atta + 1/4 cup maida + 1/2 tsp food-grade charcoal powder + salt

Method

A. It is important that the dough be soft- make each dough with water. Rest them for at least 15-30 minutes, covered with damp kitchen towel.

B. Divide each dough into eight equal-sized parts. Then roll each in your palm of your hand into ropes. If not malleable, rest the dough again to make it so till you can get an even rope of length 10-12 inches. Pair a white and black rope (the black will be slimmer than the white) and swirl into a disk as shown in the pictures. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let them rest for at least 10 minutes.

C. Using plenty of bench flour (white flour), flatten the disk and roll using your pin until the roti is at least 10 inches in diameter. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let it rest.

D. Heat the inverted kerai/wok on HIGH heat- you will be making the roti on the concave surface (not convex!).

E. While the wok heats, for the final “roll” use your hands to slap the roti from one hand to the other, while flipping it (I learnt from the Armenian women –who are primarily the Lavash makers– that you can use your forearm as well while flipping, particularly since the traditional Lavash is large and oblong shaped). When your knuckle shows through– it is thin enough.

F. The kerai must be very hot by now; place the roti on it. Flip after 30 seconds and 15 seconds on the other side. Don’t overcook- then it will harden.

G. Fold into quarters and keep covered till ready to serve. Go to Step E. to make the next roti.

Notes, hints, tips:
  1. You can always make just a white roomali roti. 1 1/2 cups flour (50 % atta, 50% maida by volume) makes 8.
  2. Do NOT destroy any sophisticated (not-stick etc) wok on this. I used a much-beaten, old kerai (that was on its way out) for this and it turned out perfect. Time and over-use had already seasoned it. Resurrected, now it occupies a new, special place in my cabinet.
  3. Flatbread / roti making is usually accompanied by “flour-shower” in the kitchen (haha!) that will take some cleaning-up effort. But well worth the trouble.
  4. Here’s what makes a roti roomali:
    • (a) white flour in the dough to provide the gluten for it to stretch thin;
    • (b) soft-soft dough, but using plenty of bench flour to roll (some suggest to use milk instead of water to make the dough);
    • (c) rest the dough, covered with damp kitchen cloth as often as necessary, and, more;
    • (d) HIGH heat cooking for about 30 secs on each side- as you place the roti on the metal surface, it should immediately start puffing.
  5. Can’t do the air-flipping of Step E: No worries. Roll it thin using the rolling pin. Can’t roll thin: No worries. See the following.
  6. Can’t roll thin enough (or only upto 6-8 inches diameter): No worries. Follow the exact process, but roast for about 45-60 secs on each side. Just before serving, puff it on the open fire (ala Indian phulka). It may not be roomali, but will still be a deliciously soft roti.
  7. In Yerevan, I saw hard Lavash being sold in the markets: the makers and sellers were almost always women. In any case, if you wanted your Lavash soft, they sprayed water on it. How clever!

Lahmacun: In Istanbul I learned the trick of a quick lahmacun with store bought lavash bread. The following filling:bread ratio is more than the usual. But very, very delicious!!
Filling: 1 lb ground lamb + finely diced (1/2 large red onion, 1 tomato, 1 green pepper, 1/2 bunch of parsley)
+ salt + black pepper + red chilli pepper + 1 tbsp EVOO
Use a base of two layers of store bought lavash bread on silpat on baking tray. Divide the filling into four and spread it out on the lavash bread. Brush the meat filling with cold water.
Bake at 500 F for 10 mins.

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