Goan Chorise Chili

Makes 4-6 servings.

One lazy winter evening, I was rummaging around in the fridge and saw some leftover rajma curry and day-old stir fried carrots and beans. Sigh. Then I spotted a chain of Goan sausages, and thought, huh, that stuff can zhuzh up anything. Thus was born my Goan Chorise chili. A one-pot wonder housing 3 types of protein, 5 types of veg, and even fruits (tomatoes and chillies, ok?). Part Goan, part Spanish, part Tex-Mex, this hybrid is a warming, smoky chili with all of the flavour and none of the bite.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises Poee bread + Goan Chorise chili 
– You will need parchment paper and a baking tray for the bread, and a pressure cooker (3-4 litre capacity) for the chilli.
– This recipe has been broken into 2 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: Poee bread; 8 servings 

Ingredients
1. 240 gm all purpose flour (maida)
2. 120 gm whole wheat flour (atta) + extra for dusting
3. 1 tsp salt
4. 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
5. 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
6. 250 ml warm water (38-43OC)
7. 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
8. ½ cup wheat bran or more as needed

Method
1 – Place the all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

2 – Add the instant yeast and sugar to the flour.

3 – Pour in the oil and about 1/4th cup of warm water and using your hands like a claw, begin mixing the flour with your fingers.

4 – Add the rest of the warm water, a little at a time, all the while mixing with your fingers. Once the dough is a sticky, shaggy mass, stop adding water. I used exactly 250 ml of water. Depending on environmental humidity as well as your flour, you may need to use more or less water. That’s why it’s important to add only a little at a time. 

5 – Begin kneading the dough, as you would for chapatti dough. Knead for 10 full minutes or until the dough is elastic, smooth, and only slightly sticky,

6 – Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover it with cling wrap. Set it to proof in a warm, drought-free area for 1½ – 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. Mine took about 90 minutes.

7 – While you wait, cut 8 squares of parchment paper measuring 6×6 inches. Set aside.

8 – Once the dough has risen to the desired size, remove the cling wrap. Gently press down on the dough to deflate it.

9 – Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead it for 2-3 minutes, or until it is smooth, elastic, and has reverted to its original size.

10 – Divide the dough into 8 portions and shape each into a tight, smooth ball.

11 – Sprinkle wheat bran onto your work surface. Place a ball of dough on the wheat bran and using a rolling pin, flatten the ball. Turn it over and continue flattening the ball until both sides are coated in wheat bran, and you have a disc roughly 5-6 inches across and a quarter of an inch thick. Place the disc onto a 6 inch parchment square. Repeat this step for the other 7 dough balls.

12 – Lightly cover the discs of dough with a kitchen towel and let them proof for 30 minutes. They will rise slightly.

13 – Place a baking tray on the lowest rack of your oven. Preheat your oven to 270OC or to the highest temperature it can go, (mine is 230OC) for a full 20 minutes.

14 – With the help of a spatula, transfer the discs with their parchment onto the baking tray that has been pre-heating on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake the discs for 6-8 minutes at 270OC. The poees should puff up like pita bread. Mine took 7 minutes at 230OC. Be careful not to overbake, or they will become crisp, and hard to eat. 

15 – Transfer the hot poees to a cloth lined bowl or a basket. They’re ready to be eaten when they’re cool enough to handle. 

Poee (Poi?) bread, also known as Cuniachi Bhakri, Goan pão or Goan bread, is a type of leavened flatbread that is hard to source outside of Goa. Correctly made, its outsides should be coarse and its insides, hollow and fluffy like pita bread. 3 steps are crucial to a successful poee. 1 – Adding adequate water to the dough so that ample steam is generated in the presence of heat. 2 – Ensuring your discs are rolled no thicker than 1/4th inch so that their tops are light enough to be lifted by the steam. 3 – Preheating both your oven and your baking tray for at least 20 minutes, so that the moment the poee are in, steam is instantly generated inside them and the ‘puffing’ process begins. Too little water, too thick a disc, too cool an oven—and they won’t puff. I should know, my first batch failed! After troubleshooting and making the proper adjustments, all 8 in my second batch puffed up. For my poee, I set my oven to top and bottom heating with the fan on (convection mode) to get it as hot as possible. Owing to its hollow interior, poee bread is ideal for scooping up and mopping up curries and stews; which makes it the perfect partner for this chili. Although poees are at their best fresh ‘n’ hot, straight out of the oven, you can make them a day ahead to save yourself some cooking time. Like you would store any freshly baked bread, keep them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1 day and no more. When you serve your poee, remember to cut each bun down the middle to display its hollow, fluffy interior.

Stage 2: Goan Chorise chili

Ingredients
1. 2 tsp of any neutral cooking oil
2. 120 gm carrot cut into 3 x 1.5 cm wedges (roughly)
3. 85 gm french beans cut into 3 cm long batons
4. 370 gm rosary Goan chorise/Goan sausage 
5. 1 large red onion finely diced
6. 1 tsp ginger paste
7. 1 tsp garlic paste
8. 1 large red capsicum, cut into 1.5 cm squares
9. 200 gm potato cut into 3 x 1.5 cm wedges (roughly)
10. 100 gm Brown lentils (Sabut masoor) 
11. 100 gm dried small red kidney beans (Kashmiri rajma)
12. 200 gm tomato puree
13. 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 
14. 1 tsp tamarind paste concentrate 
15. 1 ½ tbsp. brown sugar
16. 3-4 tbsp. tomato powder 
17. 1/4th tsp liquid smoke like this
18. Salt to taste
19. Pinch of citric acid (optional)
20. 500 ml plain water 
21. 500 ml hot water 

For the spice blend:
1. 3 tsp smoked paprika
2. 1 tsp sweet paprika
3. 2 tsp garlic powder
4. 1 tsp dried oregano
5. 1 tsp white onion powder
6. ½ tsp dried thyme
7. ½ tsp white pepper powder
8. ½ tsp ground black pepper 
9. ¼ tsp cayenne pepper or a spicy red chilli powder like this.

For the toppings:
1. 100 gm Colby cheddar cheese
2. 1 fresh Jalapeño pepper (optional) 
3. 2 limes
4. ½ cup sour cream
5. Tabasco or chipotle sauce (optional)

Prep
1 – Pre-cook your kidney beans. First, submerge and soak them in plain water for 8-10 hours or overnight. Thereafter, strain and wash the beans. Transfer them to a pressure cooker and add 500 ml of water with half a teaspoon of salt. Pressure cook the kidney beans on high heat for 1 whistle and then lower the heat to medium. Cook for an additional 12-15 minutes and then switch off your stove. Let the pressure release naturally. Open your pressure cooker and check that the beans are full cooked. They should mash down without any resistance. Transfer the beans and their stock to another bowl and set aside.

2 – Wash your brown lentils and soak them in water for half an hour. Thereafter, drain them and set aside.

3 – Remove the Goan chorise from its casing. Discard the casing and strings. You will be left with small knobs of meat, weighing 350 grams in total.

4 – Make your spice blend. Place all the dry spices and herbs in a small jar. Shake together to combine. Set aside.

Method
1 – Place your pressure cooker back on the stove and begin heating it on medium. 

2 – Once your cooker is hot, add the oil. Toss in the carrot wedges and fry them on medium heat until lightly caramelised, roughly 2-3 minutes. Remove them from the cooker and set aside.

3 – Throw your french bean batons into the cooker, and once again fry on medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until their outsides are lightly caramelised. Set aside.

4 – Lower the heat to minimum. Add all the chorise chunks to the cooker, and fry them on low heat for 6-7 minutes, or until all the fat renders from them.

5 – Add the chopped onions. Sauté them with the spicy chorise till they soften and become translucent. Roughly 8 minutes.

6 – Add the ginger and garlic pastes and sauté for a minute.

7 – Raise the heat to medium. Add in the diced red capsicum and fry until it has lightly softened. Roughly 2 minutes.

8 – Toss in your potato wedges, and continue frying for 2 minutes.

9 – Now put in your soaked and drained lentils. Stir fry everything together for 1 minute.

10 – Pour in the tomato puree and give everything a stir.

11 – Add ½ tablespoon of salt and pour in just enough hot water to submerge the mixture by about half an inch. I added 500 ml to mine. Give everything a stir to combine, and ensure that nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot.

12 – Close the pressure cooker and cook on high heat. After 1 whistle, lower the heat to minimum and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, and let the pressure release naturally before you open the cooker.

13 – After you’ve opened the cooker, add in the cooked red kidney beans along with their stock, and the lightly caramelised carrots and french beans. Stir, and put the cooker back on the stove on low heat. 

14 – It’s now time to add some more salt (I added 1 tablespoon more) and your spice blend. I recommend putting in the entire amount (roughly 3 tablespoons) as it is smoky, and not spicy per se. 

15 – Simmer everything on low heat for 15-20 minutes, uncovered. Stir routinely to prevent the mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan. 

16 – After 15-20 minutes, taste the chili. Balance the heat with some umami, sweet, and sour notes. Add as much Worcestershire sauce, tamarind paste, and brown sugar as your palate prefers. I added approximately 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 teaspoon of concentrated tamarind paste, and 1 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar. 

17 – Simmer the chili for 1 minute and then turn off the stove.  It should be thick by now. It will continue to thicken owing to the lentils. Add in your tomato powder and liquid smoke and give it a stir. If adding the citric acid, do so now. Rest your chili for at least 30 minutes before serving. It tastes even better the next day. In the meanwhile, prepare your toppings.

18 – Shred your cheddar cheese. Slice your green jalapeño pepper into thin rings. Cut your limes into wedges. Keep sour cream and Tabasco/chipotle sauce handy.

19 – Ladle generous portions of chili into bowls. Top each bowl with a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, jalapeno pepper rings, a dollop of sour cream, and wedges of lime. Serve with Tabasco/chipotle sauce (or both!) and your freshly baked poee breads, cut down the middle. Bom apetite!

Chili or chile con carne is a Tex-Mex chilli pepper seasoned stew that most often features meat, beans, and tomatoes. Goan chorise or Goan sausage on the other hand is an Indo-Portuguese creation. Porky and spicy and sundried or smoked; to me, it tastes like the Spanish chorizo’s much hotter cousin. Hence, this hybrid, with its liberal notes of oregano, garlic powder, and paprika. Even though I use Goan chorise as well as additional spices in this chili, it is only mildly spicy—as I’ve mellowed out the heat with lentils and beans. Moreover, my spice blend—made up primarily of paprika—adds warmth and smokiness rather than pungency. If you prefer a much hotter chili, I suggest adding more cayenne to the dish, or whatever fresh or dried chillies you like. We like to keep the chili itself less pungent, and serve it with fresh jalapeños and hot sauce for even more Tex-Mex-ness. This lets everyone customise their own bowl according to their individual tolerance for spice. Goan chorise is difficult to source if you live outside Goa, although in Mumbai, this delicious sausage is easily available. If you ever visit Goa, stock up on a big batch. When you get home, make small 200-250 gm batches and store them. Because they’re cured with chillies, spices, and vinegar, they last an age in the fridge or freezer. Boring stew? Bland curry? Simply add in some Goan chorise, whenever you want tonnes of flavour without the effort.

Blue Velvet Cake

Makes a three-tiered 6 inch layered cake.

You’ve heard of Red Velvet. She’s passionate and all the rage at parties. This is her introvert cool blue friend from another trend. Just like his more outgoing ruby peer; he too carries a buttermilk moistened crumb and background notes of cocoa. He too is sweet, he too is tender, he too is deep.  Because behind his stoic exterior lies an entire spectrum of blue hues. Paired with a buttery cream cheese frosting and freshened with blueberries and lemon zest, nothing about him will give you the blues.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises blue velvet cake + cream cheese frosting
– You will need three 6 inch cake pans, parchment paper, and some large piping bags.
– This recipe has been broken into 3 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: blue velvet cake

Ingredients
1. 260 gm cake flour (or 225gm all purpose flour + 35 gm corn flour)
2. 1 tbsp. natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3. 3/4th tsp baking soda 
4. Pinch of salt
5. 90 gm unsalted butter at room temperature
6. 300 gm white granulated sugar
7. 180 ml oil
8. 3 large eggs (171gm) at room temperature
9. 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
10. 3/4th tsp white distilled vinegar
11. 180 ml buttermilk (or 3/4th tbsp. lime juice + 175ml milk) at room temperature
12. Blue gel food paste or colouring

Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour. This makes for a more tender cake crumb. However, sometimes it’s hard to procure, which means adapting and making your own cake flour substitute. Whenever you make homemade cake flour – measure out 1 cup of all purpose flour, and then remove 2 tablespoons. Then, add 2 tablespoons of corn flour to the all purpose flour. Sift them together three times. This is your cake flour substitute. It’s not quite the same as store bought cake flour, but it does give a lighter, more tender crumb than if you were to use all-purpose flour only. Cultured buttermilk is another ingredient that’s often hard to procure. Luckily, soured milk can work as a substitute. To make your own “buttermilk” – put 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice or white vinegar into a liquid measuring cup with volumetric markings. Thereafter, top the cup up with whole milk till you reach the 240 ml mark. Stir gently and set it aside for 5-10 minutes to thicken. It’s then ready to use. In baked goods, this buttermilk substitute adds sourness and moistness like cultured buttermilk, although it lacks the same ‘yoghurt’ like taste.

Prep
1 – In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Sift them together and keep aside. This is your dry mixture.

2 – Separate your egg yolks from your egg whites. Place the egg yolks in a small bowl and the egg whites in a medium bowl. Keep aside.

3 – Grease and line three 6 inch cake pans. Remember to grease the parchment paper as well.

Method
1 – Start preheating your oven at 175OC.

2 – Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Using a handheld mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on high speed for roughly one minute. 

3 – Add in the egg yolks, the oil, the vanilla extract and the vinegar and beat everything together on high speed for roughly 2 minutes. Remember to periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is being mixed properly. 

4 – Turn your mixer down to the lowest speed and add the dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat together until just combined (you should see no floury pockets or liquidy pools). Take care not to over-mix the flour, or you’ll end up with a dense, stodgy crumb.

5 – Add the blue gel food colouring and beat it in until combined. I used 1 teaspoon of Papilon Blue Gel Food Colour + 1/4th teaspoon of Papilon Raspberry Gel Food Colour to achieve the shade that I wanted. Keep this batter aside for a moment.

6 – In a separate bowl, whisk the 3 egg whites on high speed for about 3-5 minutes or until you achieve soft, fluffy peaks. 

7 – Using a large metal spoon, gently fold the whipped egg whites into the blue cake batter. 

8 – Divide the batter evenly among your three cake pans and place them inside your preheated oven.

9 – Bake your cakes for 25-30 minutes at 175OC. For perfectly even heating, you may need to rotate your pans at the 15 minute mark. Be sure to check for doneness at the 25 minute mark; that is, if a bamboo skewer inserted in the middle of your cakes comes out clean, they’re done. 

10 – Remove the pans from the oven and cool them on a wire rack. Don’t remove the cakes from their pans until they are cool enough to handle, else you risk breaking them. Once no longer warm, wrap your cakes with cling wrap to keep them from drying out. Store them in an airtight container while you move on to Stage 2. If you don’t plan on assembling your cake immediately, wrap the cakes individually in cling wrap and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. They can be trimmed, layered, and frosted straight out of the fridge.

Always strive for even heating with cakes. My oven has both top and bottom heating sources, so I always place my cakes on the middle rack, unless a recipe specifies otherwise. If you’re serious about baking, get to know your oven, and all its “hotspots”. This is essential to evenly cooked baked goods. If your cakes tend to rise unevenly, or get cracks, or dome rapidly and then sink, their spot in the oven is too hot. To compensate for these irregularities, you’ll need to lower the temperature and/or move your pan around during the baking process. Keep in mind, if your oven has a convection mode, avoid using it for cakes if you can. Although it may speed up your overall bake-time, it will also dry out your sponge, and you definitely don’t want that.

Stage 2: Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients
1. 227 gm full fat cream cheese (not cream cheese spread or the whipped stuff) at room temperature
2. 100 gm unsalted butter at room temperature
3. 60 gm vegetable shortening
4. 900 gm icing sugar + 50 gm extra if needed
5. 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
6. 1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
7. 1/4th tsp salt

The quantities mentioned here will generously fill, crumb-coat, and fully cover this cake. For the semi-naked frosting look that I executed for this cake, you will need to reduce all quantities by one-fourth. Else, you could make the entire amount and freeze the leftover frosting.

Prep
1 – Cut your cream cheese into 1 inch cubes. Set it aside until it has softened to room temperature. 

2 – Bring your butter to room temperature. It should be firm but soft to the touch (and not melted).

3 – Sift your icing sugar. Set it aside.

Method
1 – Place the butter and vegetable shortening in a large bowl. Using a hand held mixer, beat them together for 2-3 minutes on medium speed until very smooth and creamy.

2 – Add in the cut up cream cheese. Beat the mixture once again, until you achieve a fluffy consistency, approximately 1-2 minutes.

3 – Add in the icing sugar, 1/4th cup at a time, beating on low speed for 30 seconds with each addition. Repeat until all the icing sugar has been incorporated and is combined.

4 – Add in the vanilla, lime juice, and salt. Once again, beat everything on low speed for 30 seconds.

5 – Thereafter, raise your mixer to the highest speed and beat the mixture for 10-15 whole minutes. If you have incorporated too much air into your frosting, use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to ‘mash’ the frosting against the sides of the bowl for a couple of minutes. This will push out any air bubbles.

6 – Cover your bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate your frosting for 1-2 hours before you move on to Stage 3.

Fair warning, owing to the amount of sugar as well as the addition of butter+shortening, this is a fairly sweet frosting with only a mild cream cheese taste. Feel free to use any other frosting you like. Any sort of chocolate ganache would be amazing, but cream cheese is traditionally paired with red/blue velvet. I chose to go with a crusting cream cheese frosting, rather than an all cream cheese frosting so that it would hold up well, even in fairly warm weather. In cold weather, you can replace all of the shortening with butter. However, in warm weather, your frosting will require shortening for added stability. Yes, there’s a tonne of sugar, but cream cheese is notoriously hard to stabilise (especially in India), so this amount or more is necessary to prevent your cakes from destabilising due to a runny filling. The good thing is, we’re not going to be adding a tonne of frosting, as this is a semi-naked cake! If your frosting is too loose, keep adding icing sugar, a little at a time until you achieve the desired consistency. If it becomes too thick, add a small splash of room temperature milk or cream. This frosting can be made up to 3 months in advance and stored in the freezer, or up to 5 days in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Before using chilled frosting, take it out of the fridge and rest it on your counter for 10-15 minutes. If you’re using frozen frosting, thaw it in the fridge first. If it looks a little seized up, re-beat the frosting for a few seconds so that it’s light, airy, and creamy again. 

Stage 3: Finale; cake construction & assembly

Components
1. Three 6 inch blue velvet cakes
2. Chilled cream cheese frosting
3. Fresh blueberries
4. Edible flowers
5. ½ tsp fresh lemon zest

Prep
1 – Trim the sides and tops of your cake as necessary.

2 – Ready your decorating surface. A cake turntable with a cake board is ideal for this. Place the board in the centre of your turntable. 

3 – Fill 2-3 piping bags with frosting for quick application. Snip the tips about 1 cm wide.

4 – Keep these handy: a large serrated knife, a straight palette knife, an off-set spatula, a cake scraper, and a medium bowl.

Method
1– Spread a small dollop of frosting on the centre of your cake board. This will be the glue that holds the first cake layer in place.

2 – Place your first cake on the frosting, base side down.

3 – Going in a circle from the inside out, pipe a thick layer of frosting onto the first cake’s top surface. Sprinkle half the lemon zest onto the frosting and nestle 5-6 fresh blueberries on top.

4 – Place your second cake atop the frosting, base side down. Lightly press down to secure.

5 – Once again, going in a circle from the inside out, pipe a thick layer of frosting onto the second cake’s top surface. Sprinkle the rest of the lemon zest onto the frosting and nestle 5-6 fresh blueberries on top.

6 – Place the third and final cake atop the frosting, top side down. Lightly press down to secure. Then, going in a circle from the inside out, pipe a thick layer of frosting, right on top of the cake.

7 – Rotate your cake turntable to check that all three layers are aligned around the entire circumference of the cake. If they’re not, carefully trim off any bits that are sticking out.

8 – It’s time to frost the sides of the cake. While rotating your turntable, pipe frosting all around the cake, starting at the base, and moving upwards.

9 – Use a bench scraper to remove the extra frosting from the sides of the cake. Place this extra frosting in a fresh bowl. Since this is a semi-naked cake, we’re aiming for a thin coat. You should scrape enough off to be able to just see the cake’s sides through the frosting, creating an almost translucent coating. The scraped-off icing can be saved and used for another project (like cake pops) as it’s likely to be mottled with blue crumbs. 

10 – Use the offset spatula to flatten and neaten the frosting on the cake’s top. Need help? See how to achieve the semi-naked cake look here.

11 – Place your cake in the fridge for 60-90 minutes to set the frosting.

12 – After it has chilled and set, take it out of the fridge. Top your cake with fresh blueberries and edible flowers, or whatever decorations you fancy. Marvel at your glorious creation! 

13 – Slice and serve with a handful of fresh blueberries. Now eat!

If you don’t have a turntable you can use a regular platter, but it will take a lot more manoeuvring to decorate your cake. Fully constructed, this cake will hold up relatively well at room temperature, although any sort of cream cheese or buttercream frosting is always a gamble on a hot and humid day. For best results, cut yourself a slice whenever you get a craving and store the rest of the cake, covered, in the fridge. This is a tall cake, so cutting a clean slice can be a bit challenging. I find that a sharp chef’s knife is the best tool for the job and cutting a slice is easiest when the cake is a bit cold.

Tips & Tricks

How to line a round cake pan

How to trim cakes for even layers

Bhog’er Payesh

Makes 4-6 servings.

In Bengal, the humble rice pudding is synonymous with auspiciousness. From grand weddings and religious rituals to quieter personal milestones, a spoonful of payesh can transform any occasion into a celebration. Every Bengali has their own beloved family recipe. Comprising just a few choice ingredients, this one was passed down by my dida to my mum, to me. Made with extra care, this “bhog” style payesh is offered to the deities to appease them. Humble in its elements yet complex in flavour, this is a rice pudding that’s fit for the Gods. 

At a glance

– This dish is all about the rice, the ghee, and the gur.
– You will need a medium kadhai/cooking pot (3-4 litre capacity).
– This recipe has been broken into prep and cooking. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Ingredients
1. 50 gm new gobindobhog rice (notun/aatop chaal)
2. 150 gm date palm jaggery (nolen gur/khejur’er patali gur)
3. 1 litre full fat milk
4. 20 golden raisins
5. 15 whole cashew nuts
6. 2 tsp Bengali cow milk based ghee like this
7. 1/4th tsp salt
8. 60-120 ml hot water at the ready

Whole or full-fat milk is necessary to achieve the silky, creamy, unctuous texture of a rich rice-pudding. And while neither raisins nor cashews are integral to this payesh, they do make it better. Golden raisins, specifically, add bursts of fruity sweetness, without imposing their own flavour onto the dish. Cashew nuts provide relief to the sweet dish; by way of texture as well as savouriness. 

Prep
1 – Soak the raisins in some water to plump them up. This will take about 2-3 hours, so do this step of the prep well in advance.

2 – Chop the jaggery into small shards. Keep aside.

3 – Split the whole cashews down the middle into clean halves.

4 – Ready the rice: Wash the rice just 3 times, without scrubbing at the grains. For this dish, we don’t want the rice washing-water to run clear, as some starch content must be present to thicken the payesh. After washing, submerge the rice in fresh water and let it soak for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, use a fine-meshed strainer to drain the rice and spread the grains out to air dry. You could also place the soaked and drained rice under a fan to speed things up. Once the rice is dry, transfer it to a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of ghee to the bowl and coat the grains of rice with the ghee. Keep aside. If you prefer a mushier rice texture, where the rice grains break while cooking, you could skip the coating of ghee and par-boil the rice before proceeding.


Cooking
1 – Heat 1 teaspoon of ghee in a kadhai. When it has completely melted, add the cashew nut halves. Fry them on low heat until they turn golden. Remove them from the pan and keep them aside.

2 – Pour the milk into your kadhai and raise the heat to medium. Once the milk comes to a boil, continue to simmer the milk for about 15-20 minutes. We are looking to thicken the milk by reducing it by roughly 10-15%. Remember to routinely stir and scrape the milk solids back into the boiling milk. This will also prevent the milk from burning.

3 – Lower the heat to minimum and the add the ghee-coated rice to the bubbling milk. Simmer everything on low heat until the rice is fully cooked and plumps up. This will take roughly 25-30 minutes. Stir gently throughout this process. Not only will that ensure that the payesh doesn’t burn; stirring will also release the starch from the rice, which will help thicken the payesh. Rice grains sitting in payesh will firm up, so it’s okay to overcook the rice, but absolutely not okay to undercook it. I cannot stress this enough. If the rice has not cooked and the milk has thickened down, add 60ml of hot water and continue cooking. Repeat this as necessary until the rice is fully cooked. You will know the rice is done when you mash a grain between your forefinger and thumb and it squashes down with zero resistance. Taste the rice as well. It should melt away in your mouth.

4 – Once the rice is fully cooked, turn off the heat. Add in the chopped jaggery, along with the salt, soaked raisins, and fried cashew halves. Stir everything together and cover the kadhai for 10 minutes to allow the residual heat to melt the jaggery into the mixture. 

5 – Remove the lid and stir everything together one final time. Serve your bhog’er payesh hot, at room temperature, or chilled from the fridge. It’s delicious no matter what.

This is a dish that you eat with your mouth…and your nose. Therefore, the use of authentic ingredients is paramount. Additionally, because this is a no frills recipe that uses just a handful of ingredients; those ingredients are fundamental to its success. I’ve made this payesh with basmati rice, yellow buffalo ghee, and cane jaggery. It just doesn’t match up. There is simply no substitute for the intense buttery fragrance of gobindhobog rice, the nuttiness of brown cow ghee, and the deep, malted notes of nolen gur. Without this traditional holy trinity, it’s just ordinary rice pudding or kheer, and not the divine bhog’er payesh. Whether hailing from India or Bangladesh, we Bongs take our beloved food habits along with us, wherever we go. Try your best to source the ingredients that make this dish so singular. If you look hard enough, you’re sure to find them in a specialty Bengali grocery store, tucked away in your part of the world.

Bengali Mustard Chicken

Makes 3-4 servings.

As a Bong living in Bombay, I frequently crave Bengali cuisine. Especially during the festival of Durga Puja. And there’s nothing more quintessential to Bengal than a mustard based curry. However you choose to receive her, this golden goddess carries a sharp trident, ferociously poised to strike you in the nose. The first prong will hit you with mustard paste, the second with mustard oil, and the third with fresh green chillies. Face her head on, or soothe her fiery temper with coconut milk—the choice is yours. 

At a glance

– This dish comprises marinated chicken pieces + mustard spice paste + coconut curry 
– You will need a big kadhai/cooking pot (4-5 litre capacity).
– This recipe has been broken into 3 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: marinated chicken

Ingredients
1. 1 kg skinless chicken on the bone, cut into “curry” pieces
2. ½ cup Greek yoghurt or hung curd
3. 1/4th cup mustard oil
4. ½ tsp crushed black pepper
5. ½ tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (Kashmiri laal mirch powder)
6. 1 tsp turmeric powder

Method
1 – Pat the chicken pieces dry

2 – Put the yoghurt, mustard oil, crushed pepper, Kashmiri red chilli powder, and turmeric powder in a large bowl. Whisk everything together to form a thick, smooth marinade.

3 – Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and coat each piece very well with the marinade. Cover and leave this aside for 30 minutes.

Curry pieces are the whole chicken, cut into portions. In India, we call this curry-cut and it’s readily available in this form. For more meat, you could use leg pieces or breast pieces only, but I recommend using bone-in pieces for maximum flavour and juiciness.

Stage 2: mustard spice paste

Ingredients
1. 4 tbsp black mustard seeds
2. 3 tbsp yellow mustard seeds
3. 1/4th cup warm water
4. 2 medium green chillies
5. 10 small cloves of garlic
6. ½ tsp salt
7. ½ tsp turmeric powder (haldi powder)
8. 1 tsp sugar
9. 1 tsp mustard oil

Method
1 – Put the black mustard seeds and the yellow mustard seeds in a small bowl. 

2 – Cut two green chillies in half and add them to the bowl.

3 – Pour the warm water into the bowl and leave the mustard seeds and chillies to soak for 15 minutes.

4 – After 15 minutes, the mustard seeds will have soaked up all the water. Add the entire contents of the bowl to a blender jar. Do not discard any water or add any additional water.

5 – Add the garlic, turmeric powder, salt, and sugar to your blender jar. Grind the contents just until they come together as a thick paste. Do not over-grind, as this can cause the mustard seeds to emit bitterness.

6 – Scoop the paste into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon mustard oil to the paste and stir it in. Keep this aside until ready for use.

The hulls of mustard seeds impart bitterness. When grinding fresh mustard seeds, there’s always a risk that the end result will be bitter. To make a fail-safe and quick mustard paste, mix 1/4th cup warm water with a readymade Bengali mustard powder such as this. Grind only the garlic and green chillies, and then add them to the mustard paste, along with the salt, turmeric powder, sugar, and mustard oil. Mustard powder is quite potent, so you will only need about 2-3 tablespoons worth for this amount of chicken, depending on how pungent you like it. 

Stage 3: coconut curry 

Ingredients
1. ¼ cup mustard oil
2. 2 large onions finely sliced
3. 2 tsp sugar
4. Marinated chicken pieces with the marinade
5. Mustard spice paste
6. 200 ml coconut milk
7. Salt (1.5-2 tbsp.)
8. 6 whole green chillies 

Method
1 – In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat up 1/4th cup mustard oil until it starts smoking. Then lower the flame and wait for a minute.

2 – Add the sliced onions to the pot. Sprinkle in the sugar and sauté the onions on low heat. This is not a brown curry, so don’t caramelise the onions. You’re looking to gently sweat them down until they become soft.

3 – When the onions become translucent, shake off the extra marinade from the chicken pieces and add them to the pot. Sear the meat, frying the pieces on medium-high heat for approximately 8 minutes. Stir as required to prevent sticking and over-browning. We’ll add the marinade in a bit.

4 – After 8 minutes is up, add the mustard paste to the mixture and once again, fry everything on medium-high heat for 2 minutes.

5 – Add the remaining chicken marinade to the pot and give it a mix. Put the lid on and cook the chicken for another 10 minutes at low-medium heat. If you’re tempted to add some water, don’t. The meat as well as the yoghurt will release enough water to stew the chicken.

6 – Remove the lid, and pour in the coconut milk. At this point, add the green chillies to the curry. If you like extra heat, pierce the chillies or slit them down the middle before adding. Now, gently simmer the curry for 5 minutes, without the lid.

7 – After the time is up, check for seasoning and add salt. I normally add about 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons of salt. Adjust the recipe to your taste. Let the curry simmer for 2 more minutes and then switch off the flame.

8 – Optional; right before serving, drizzle some raw mustard oil onto the curry. This adds an additional layer of pungency. Serve your Bengali mustard chicken (Shorshe Chicken) with plain steamed rice, sweet & spicy tomato chutney, roasted poppadums, and some Bengali Sweet Set Curd (Mishit Doi). Happy eating!

This is a sweetish-mild curry, but you can increase the amount of mustard and the number of chillies for more heat—and even leave out the coconut milk for a drier, sinus-clearing-curry. When making this curry, avoid aluminium vessels as they leech into acidic foods like yoghurt. Some people like to cook their coconut curries on high heat so that the oil separates and floats on top. I prefer to cook mine on a low flame so that the coconut fats stay emulsified and the gravy remains homogenous. That way, it eats less greasy. Neither is right or wrong, it simply comes down to personal preference. Like most meat preparations, this dish tastes even better the next day, once the flavours have really had time to penetrate the chicken. 

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

Makes one 8 inch cake.

If you love a good flan or crème caramel, this effortless dessert is right up your alley. Those seeking the real deal—truth be told—this one’s more custard than cheesecake. In fact, with its silky texture, mellow vanilla notes, and bitter-sweet top, you’ll feel like you’re eating a firmly set crème brûlée. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. But here’s the best part. While this cheesecake looks an absolute stunner, it’s so easy to whip up, that it will become your default dessert for lazy as well as hectic days.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises cheesecake + sour cream sauce.
– You will need an 8 inch round x 3 inch high metal cake pan and parchment paper.
– This recipe has been broken into 2 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: cheesecake 

Ingredients
1. 680 gm full fat cream cheese (not cream cheese spread or the whipped stuff)
2. 200 gm white granulated sugar
3. ½ tsp salt
4. 1 tsp vanilla extract 
5. 5 large eggs (Total mass = 255 gm)
6. 300 ml heavy or whipping cream (not the low fat stuff)
7. 28 gm all purpose flour 

Prep
1 – Before beginning, ensure that all your ingredients are at room temperature.

2 – Grease your cake pan with nonstick spray. 

3 – Then grease a big square of parchment paper (roughly 15 inch2) on one side only. You may have to overlap two sheets to achieve the size mentioned.

4 – Line your cake pan with parchment paper, greased side up. Press the paper into the bottom of the pan. Thereafter, haphazardly crease and flatten the paper to mould it against the inner sides of the pan. This will create the signature rustic, rumpled look of a basque burnt cheesecake’s sides. The parchment should poke up at least 1-2 inches over the pan’s edge. Trim the extra-long bits of paper so that the parchment height is the same all around the pan’s circumference. 

5 – Preheat your oven to 200OC.

Method
1 – Place the cream cheese in a large bowl. Using a spatula, stir the cream cheese to ensure that it’s soft and spreadable. 

2 – Add in the salt and granulated sugar. Cream the mixture till all the sugar has dissolved into the cream cheese, and everything is smooth and creamy.

3 – Switch to a handheld whisk. Pour in the vanilla extract and whisk it in. 

4 – Add the eggs one at a time, whisking with each addition, until it is fully incorporated and has emulsified with the cream cheese mixture. Adding all of them in at once will cause your batter to split.

5 – Pour in the heavy cream and once again, whisk together to incorporate.

6 – Lastly, sift in your flour and whisk everything together until fully combined. Scrape everything down with a spatula for good measure and give it a final mix.

7 – Gently transfer this runny batter to your prepared cake pan, taking care not to pour from too much of a height, as this will create air bubbles in the mixture. To eliminate any large air bubbles, tap the pan gently against your counter, so that they rise to the surface and pop.

8 – Place your cake pan in the middle rack of your pre-heated oven and bake it at 200OC for 40 minutes. I like to rotate my pan by 180O at the halfway mark to ensure even baking.

9 – After 40 minutes, raise the temperature to 220OC and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the surface of the cheesecake is very dark brown. It will dome and puff. That’s exactly what you want.

10 – Pull your cheesecake out of the oven. It should still be very jiggly in the centre, but will continue to cook on your counter. Rest it on a wire rack until it reaches room temperature. The centre will sink and collapse to form a very shiny caved in top. Once completely cooled, it will no longer jiggle. 

11 – Cover the entire cheesecake, pan et al with cling wrap and refrigerate it overnight. This cheesecake tastes best, chilled (not brain-freeze chilled, but cold).

Stage 2: sour cream sauce (optional)

Ingredients
1. 200 gm sour cream
2. 1 tbsp. white castor sugar
3. ½ tsp vanilla extract

Method
Simply whisk the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla together until it’s all smooth. Keep it in an airtight jar in the fridge until it’s ready to use.

Although this is an optional component, I highly recommend making it. Even a little smidgeon of sour cream enhances the tangy cream cheese notes in the cake itself—shifting the overarching experience towards cheesecake, and away from custard. Leave it off, if you prefer a vanilla custard flavour profile.

To serve

1 – Once your cheesecake has chilled overnight in the fridge; remove the cling wrap. Holding the sides of the parchment, lift the cheesecake out of its pan and transfer it to a serving dish.

2 – Carefully peel away the parchment from the sides. See those gorgeous brown wrinkles? Your cake is now ready to slice. 

3 – Serve each slice with a generous dollop of sour cream sauce; on the side or slathered on top of its burnished dark surface.

For perfectly clean slices, dip your knife’s blade into a tall container of hot water, dry it off, and then cut downwards in one smooth motion. Wipe off the cake residue after each cut. Again; dip, dry, cut, wipe, repeat.

Tips & Tricks

How to slice a cheesecake:

Pepperoni Pizza

Makes 2 x 10 inch pizzas.

Pepperoni pizza is a hot favourite in our home. As a result, I’ve experimented extensively before arriving at this recipe. While everything is made from scratch, you can bang out this pizza in 90 minutes flat. There’s no need to pre-bake the crust or reduce the sauce for hours. All you need is great ingredients and an appreciation for great pizza. Paying homage to both—its Italian and American legacies—this gorgeously fresh, light, and flavourful pizza is sure to become a staple in your home too.

At a glance

– This recipe covers pizza dough, pizza sauce and pizza toppings.
– You will need two 10-11 inch pizza pans, and one 10-11 inch cast iron or high heat griddle.
– This recipe has been broken into 5 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: pizza dough

Ingredients
1. 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
2. 180 ml warm water (38-43OC)
3. 1 tsp white granulated sugar
4. 280 gm all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
5. ½ tsp bread improver
6. 1 tsp salt
7. 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil plus extra for greasing

Method
1 – Place the instant yeast, warm water, and sugar in a small bowl. Stir to combine, and then cover the bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes.

2 – Place the flour, bread improver, and salt in a large bowl. Whisk all the ingredients to combine.

3 – After 5 minutes, add the now frothy yeast+sugar+water mixture to the large bowl with the flour mixture.  

4 – Add the olive oil to the bowl.

5 – Using your hand like a claw, stir the mixture together for one minute, until it forms a thick, shaggy, sticky dough.

6 – Dust your counter with flour and tip the shaggy mass of dough onto it. Knead the dough with well-floured hands, for 2 minutes until it is smooth and forms a ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a sprinkle of flour and re-shape it.

7 – Grease your bowl with olive oil and place the dough ball in it. Coat the ball with some oil too.

8 – Cover the bowl tightly with cling wrap and leave it in a warm spot for 60 minutes. You’re looking for the dough to almost double in size. While your dough is fermenting. Move on to Stage 2.

As is, this is a New York style pizza crust, but the great thing about this pizza dough recipe is that it’s super versatile and just minor modifications can yield very different results. The 60 minute fermentation time yields a medium thickness crust that crisps up and is both chewy and light. If you prefer a flatbread/focaccia style of pizza, add only 1 tsp of yeast and ferment the dough for only 45 minutes. Want a thicker, puffier crust? Ferment the dough for 90 minutes and use the entire amount to make one thick 11-12 inch pizza. After the dough has fermented, you can keep it covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. This dough freezes well too. Simply ferment it according to the recipe, then punch down on the dough to release the air, portion it out, and individually wrap the portions in cling wrap. Place them in an airtight container in the freezer, where they will keep for up to 3 months. To use, thaw the dough overnight in the fridge, and then on your counter for about 30 minutes.

Stage 2: pizza sauce

Ingredients
1. 200 gm canned San Marzano tomatoes (peeled and in tomato juice)
2. 40 gm tomato paste
3. ½ tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4. 1 small clove of garlic very finely diced
5. ¼ tsp dried oregano
6. ¼ tsp dried basil
7. ½ tsp white onion powder
8. Pinch of salt
9. Pinch of black pepper
10. ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
11. 1 tsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
12. Pinch of sugar (optional)

Method
1 – Add the canned tomatoes to a bowl. Using your hands or a potato masher, squash the big/whole tomatoes till you have a chunky, pulpy mix.

2 – Add in the tomato paste, dried oregano, dried basil, and onion powder and give it all a stir.

3 – Add the olive oil and diced garlic to a medium saucepan. Bring the pan to a low heat and wait for the garlic to just begin sizzling. Keep your eye (and nose) on the garlic. As soon as it turns light golden and no longer smells raw, remove the pan from the heat, add in the tomato mixture, stir everything together and put the lid on. Keep the saucepan aside for 5 minutes, keeping the lid on. Do not cook the mixture. We’re only looking to warm it in the already hot pan.

4 – Remove the lid and check the texture of your sauce. If it looks watery, put it on the stove and boil the mixture (sans lid) for no more than 2 minutes. Then take it off the heat.

5 – Add in the fresh basil, fresh oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir. Taste the sauce at this point and add a pinch of sugar if desired. The sauce should taste under-salted and have a fresh, tomato zing. This is enough sauce for two 10-12 inch pies it’s now ready to be used on your pizza. Let’s put our other toppings together.

There is a great divide in the pizza fraternity regarding pizza sauce – to cook or not to cook, that is the figh…question. Neapolitan purists would argue that pizza sauce should be fresh, bright, and untouched by the stove. American pizza aficionados demand that the sauce be cooked down for hours until it’s sweet, thick, and dark. Each camp thinks the other is crazy. To determine my stand, I’ve experimented with both types, and it comes down to what your palate prefers. Perhaps I patronised the wrong places, but I’ve eaten pizza that has been rendered watery, insipid, and unpleasant by raw sauce in Naples. At the same time, I do not like pizza that tastes like simmered-for-hours spaghetti sauce. So, to misquote Obelix; these Italians are crazy, and so are these Americans. My stand is a well-balanced pizza—where I can taste the fresh sweetness of a ripe tomato, as well as the cheese, as well as the crust—with no particular element dominating the eat. How do you make tomatoes taste both sweet and fresh? Get canned San Marzano tomatoes! Traditionally used in Italian pizza, they are naturally sweet, full of tomatoeeyness and have just the right amount of acid. What’s more, they’re harvested and canned when they’re most ripe, so the work has been done for you. If you use the good quality, canned variety every time, you’ll consistently get a sauce that tastes great and needs very little tinkering. So why do I tinker at all by adding tomato paste or pre-cooking my garlic? Since I don’t reduce my tomatoes on the stove, I add a little paste to thicken the sauce. Secondly, commercial pizza ovens are blisteringly hot, so a completely raw sauce is going to get cooked to some degree, even if it’s for just 90 seconds. Standard countertop ovens like mine only go up to 230OC or thereabouts. As this temperature won’t cook my sauce, I can’t risk having raw garlic in it. 

Stage 3: pizza toppings prep

Ingredients
For the basil pesto
1. 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
2. 3-4 walnut kernels
3. 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
4. 15 gm Parmigiano Reggiano (or any other parmesan)
5. 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
6. Salt to taste (we add approximately 1/2 tsp)

For the rest
1. 200 gm fresh buffalo mozzarella 
2. 60 gm Gouda
3. 150 gm spicy Italian sausage (raw)
4. 8 cherry tomatoes

Method
1 – Make the pesto by putting all the ingredients, except for the olive into a food processor. Pulse until you have a coarse, chunky, mixture. Now, keep the processor running and slowly drizzle in the oil. Once the oil has emulsified with the mixture and you have a homogenous paste, the pesto is ready. This makes roughly 1 cup of pesto. Keep aside 1/4th of the pesto for this recipe and store the rest in an airtight container inside your fridge.  

2 – Drain your mozzarella balls on kitchen towel.

3 – Roughly grate 60 gm of Gouda. Keep aside.

4 – Remove the sausage from its casing. Put a frying pan on the heat and pinch in little nuggets of sausage (½ inch squared chunks, 40-45 in total). Fry these little meatballs for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. All the oil from the meat will render out. Remove the lightly browned chunks from the pan and drain them on kitchen paper. Keep this aside. Sprinkle the spicy oil from the pan into a small bowl. Season it with a little salt and keep aside.

5 – Slice each cherry tomato into 3 rondels. Keep aside.

Keep all your toppings prepped so that you’re not floundering about during assembly. All raw meats must be cooked before they’re topped for 2 reasons. 1 – safety; the heat from your oven is not intense enough to fully cook them. 2 – aesthetics; meats like sausage release a lot of oil when heat is applied to them, resulting in oily lakes pooling and running off your pizza. Pre-cooking them on the stove will eliminate this unsightly and unpleasant occurrence. I like to drain mozzarella to prevent extra water content from leaking into the other toppings and causing them to stew.

Stage 4: shaping and assembly

After a 60 minute rising time, your pizza dough will have almost doubled in size. It’s now time to turn your fermented pizza dough into a pizza crust, atop which everything else will sit.

Part 1 – Shape the pizza crust

Components
1. Pizza dough (prepared in Stage 1) 
2. Extra flour for dusting
3. Pizza pans

Method
1 – Remove the cling wrap from the bowl. Lightly punch down on the dough to knock the air out. Divide the dough into two.

2 – Lightly flour your hands and your pizza pans. Working with one piece at a time, place it in your floured pan and begin the shaping and stretching process.

3 – Start by applying pressure in the centre of the dough; push and stretch the dough towards the edges of your pan until it’s about ¼ inch thick, and more or less a 10 inch round. Slightly roll in the edges to form a rim/lip.

4 – Using your knuckles, make light indents all over the surface of the dough, ensuring that you don’t poke all the way through to the bottom (it should look like the moon as viewed through a telescope; pock-marked and full of craters). This prevents bubbling.

5 – Repeat the process with your second piece of dough. Your crusts are ready.

6 – Set your oven to preheat at 200OC and move on to Part 2.

Always shape and stretch your pizza dough with your hands. Never flatten your pizza dough with a rolling pin as this will push out all the air and leave you with a dense, hard pizza crust.

Part 2 – Top the pizza crust

Components
1.  2 x 10 inch pizza crusts, stretched and shaped in their pans
2. 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
3. ½ cup pizza sauce (prepared in Stage 2)
4. 60 gm roughly grated Gouda 
5. 1/4th cup basil pesto (prepared in Stage 3)
6. 200 gm buffalo mozzarella, drained
7. 60 gm pepperoni (approx. 30 small slices)
8. 40–45 spicy Italian sausage nuggets (prepared in Stage 3)
9. Cherry tomato slices

Method
There’s a proper way to layer a pizza so that the dough on the bottom cooks without getting soggy, and the toppings roast without stewing or burning. Here’s how I construct my pizza, starting from the crust and moving upwards.

1 – Brush each pizza crust with half a teaspoon of olive oil. This prevents sogginess from the pizza sauce.

2 – Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on each crust. You should be able to see the white crust through the sauce.

3 – Sprinkle the grated Gouda onto the sauce. You should be able to see the red sauce through the cheese.

4 – Using a teaspoon, dollop small amounts of pesto on top of the cheese for some green splotches.

5 – Tear the mozzarella into 1 ½ inch rough chunks, and top each pizza with 100 grams’ worth. You should be able to see the green splotches of pesto.

6 – Top each pizza with the spicy Italian sausage nuggets.

7 – Top each pizza with roughly 30 gm pepperoni (or 15 small slices/pizza).

8 – Finally, top the pizzas with the cherry tomato slices, roughly 12 slices per pizza. Your pizzas are ready to bake! 

While this isn’t a Margherita pizza, your assembled pizza should still be reminiscent of the Italian flag, with its distinct areas of green, white, and red. That’s your visual cue to knowing your pizza flavours are balanced. Don’t overload your pizza with sauce, toppings, or cheese. Too much sauce will make for a wet pizza. Too much meat and that’s all you’ll taste. Too much cheese will result in a heavy, greasy pizza. When you strive for balance and exercise restraint, you’ll achieve maximum flavour and freshness.

Stage 5: finale; cooking

Components
1.  2 x 10 inch pizza pies, fully assembled and ready to bake
2. A 10-11 inch cast iron or high heat griddle
3. 8-10 fresh basil leaves
4. 20 ml spicy oil (rendered from the spicy Italian sausage in Stage 3)
5. 60 ml honey 

Method
Unless you have access to a massive oven that can fit both pizzas in side by side, you’re going to have to cook them, one at a time. Do not cook pizzas one on top of the other in different racks, as they won’t cook evenly. 

Total pizza cook time = 27 minutes.
10 mins preheat at 200OC  +  10 mins at 200OC  +  2 mins at 230OC  +  5 mins on low heat.

1 – After ten minutes preheating at 200OC, place your pizza in the bottom rack of the oven, with both the top and bottom heating elements running.

2 – Bake for 10 minutes at 200OC.

3 – Thereafter, crank up the heat to 230OC (that’s the highest on my oven) on the top element only, and bake the pizza for an additional 2 minutes. In the meantime, place a cast iron griddle (or any other kind of high heat griddle) on your stove and start heating it on high.

4 – After 2 minutes is up on the oven timer, transfer the hot pizza to the surface of the hot griddle and roast it on low-medium heat for 5 minutes. This additional step on the stove top will beautifully crisp up the crust without overcooking the toppings. 

5 – Slide your pizza onto a plate and give it two minutes to rest. This will further crisp up the crust. 

6 – Repeat this cooking process with your second pizza. 

7 – Before serving, cut each pizza into 6 or 8 slices. Drizzle your slices with spicy oil and honey. Savour.

A crisp yet chewy crust, optimally melted and blistered cheese, and a sauce that retains a fresh flavour. These should be your pizza goals; but there is no one way to achieve them. All the techniques mentioned in Stage 5 are based on what works in my kitchen. You will have to experiment with your oven to see what times and temperatures yield the best results. Too long in the oven and your sauce will lose freshness. Not enough heat and your crust won’t rise sufficiently. Uneven heating, and your toppings will burn while your crust remains undercooked. Find your problem areas and their fixes. Ready to have your mind blown? Despite having a small oven that can only cook one pizza pie at a time, I make both pizzas simultaneously! That way, they’re both piping hot and ready to slice & serve at the same time. Check out my neat little kitchen hack below:

Lemon Trio Cupcakes

Makes 12 standard sized cupcakes.

These aren’t just lemon cupcakes; they’re a rhapsodic lemon treble. The sponge hums with juice and zest. The curd filling rouses with fresh chords of tartness. And the decoration rounds it off with a citrus cadence. For those of you who find American buttercream too sweet and cloying, here’s something better. A whipped white chocolate ganache with just a hint of vanilla—simultaneously complementing and balancing out the omnipresent chorus of lemon. 

At a glance

– This recipe comprises lemon cupcakes + lemon curd + whipped white chocolate ganache frosting + royal icing decorations (optional).
– You will need standard cupcake liners, a standard 12-cup cupcake pan, (or individual moulds), some piping bags, and a large star piping tip.
– This recipe has been broken into 5 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: lemon cupcakes

Ingredients
1. 115 gm unsalted butter, at room temperature
2. 200 gm white granulated sugar
3. 2 large eggs (114 gm), at room temperature
4. 190 gm all purpose flour
5. 2 tsp baking powder
6. ½ tsp salt
7. 120 ml milk (whole, not low-fat)
8. 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
9. 1 ½ tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
10. 80 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice 

Prep
1 – First zest, and then juice your lemons. Store the zest in an airtight container as it can oxidise very quickly.

2 – In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking, powder, and salt. Sift them together and keep aside. This is your dry mixture.

3 – Line your cupcake pan or individual moulds with cupcake liners. Keep aside.

Method
1 – Start preheating your oven at 175OC.

2 – Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Using a handheld mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed for roughly two minutes.

3 – Add in the eggs one at a time, and beat at high speed for roughly 20 seconds with each new addition. 

4 – Add the vanilla extract and beat for another 20 seconds. Remember to periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is being mixed properly. Put the mixer down.

5 – Add the dry mixture to your bowl. Turn your mixer down to the lowest speed and begin to mix. Keeping the mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the milk, followed by the lemon juice, and lemon zest.

6 – Once just-combined (you should see no floury pockets or liquidy pools), stop mixing the batter! Overmixing will result in a dense, stodgy cupcake.

7 – Spoon the batter evenly into your 12 cupcake liners. Fill each only two-thirds full (roughly 3 tablespoons of batter per cupcake liner).

8 – Bake for 18-22 minutes at 175 OC. For perfectly even heating, rotate your pan at the 10 minute mark. Be sure to check for doneness at the 18 minute mark; that is, if a bamboo skewer inserted in the middle of a cupcake comes out clean, they’re done. 

9 – Remove the pan from the oven and cool it on a wire rack. Don’t remove the cupcakes from the pan till they come to room temperature. Once no longer warm, your cupcakes are ready for the next stage. Store them in an airtight container while you move on to Stage 2. If you don’t plan on filling and frosting your cupcakes immediately, keep them in an airtight container in the fridge. They will stay fresh(ish) for 3 days, although you will lose some moistness. Bring them back to room temperature before proceeding with any of the other stages.

Always strive for even heating with cakes. My oven has both top and bottom heating sources, so I always place my cakes on the middle rack, unless a recipe specifies otherwise. If you’re serious about baking, get to know your oven, and all its “hotspots”. This is essential to evenly cooked baked goods. If just a few of your cupcakes tend to rise unevenly, or get cracks, or dome rapidly and then sink, their spot in the oven is too hot. To compensate for these irregularities, you’ll need to lower the temperature and/or move your pan around during the baking process. Keep in mind, if your oven has a convection mode, avoid using it for cakes if you can. Although it may speed up your overall bake-time, it will also dry out your sponge, and you definitely don’t want that.

Stage 2: lemon curd

Ingredients
1. 3 large eggs. 1 large egg = 57 gm
2. 2 egg yolks (from large eggs)
3. 220 gm superfine white castor sugar
4. 1 tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
5. 125 ml lemon juice
6. 150 gm cold, unsalted butter, chopped into ½ inch cubes
7. Pinch of salt

Method
1 – Take a large, heavy-bottomed steel saucepan. Put in the eggs, egg yolks, castor sugar, salt, lemon rind, and lemon juice, and whisk everything well to combine.

2 – Place the saucepan on your hob and cook the mixture over low-medium heat, stirring continuously, until the sugar has dissolved completely. 

3 – Lower the heat to minimum and add 3-4 cubes of cold butter in batches, stirring continuously. Wait until one batch of cubes has melted and emulsified into the mixture; only then add in the next batch. Do this till you run out of butter. 

4 – Continue to cook the mixture on low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture is viscous and coats the back of a spoon. This can take anywhere from 5-10 minutes.

5 – Strain the mixture immediately into a bowl and cover it with cling wrap, making sure to press the plastic down onto the surface of the curd. Refrigerate the mixture for at least one hour. Once it’s cold, it’s ready to use. 

This quantity of ingredients yields roughly 1½ cups of lemon curd. You won’t need more than 12-14 teaspoons worth for the cupcake filling in this recipe. I make my lemon curd in advance, and keep it refrigerated in an airtight jar, ready for use, anytime. Leftovers make for a great spread on toast. Use up any leftovers within a week.

Stage 3: whipped white chocolate ganache

Ingredients
1. 200 gm high quality couverture white chocolate.
2. 67 gm heavy cream at room temperature
3. ½ tsp vanilla extract (leave out, if your chocolate already contains vanilla)
4. Pinch of salt

Method
1 – Chop the white chocolate into small shards.

2 – Place the chopped chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Pour the heavy cream onto the shards. 

3 – Microwave this mixture at 450 watts for 30 seconds. Stir briefly with a spatula and then microwave it for another 20 seconds. Thereafter, keep heating the mixture in 10 second increments till the chocolate has completely melted into the cream, making sure to stir briefly each time. Do not overheat or over-stir! It’s better to go low and slow rather than have a split ganache on your hands. You’re looking to achieve a glossy, thick emulsion with zero lumps. It may look a bit beige and insipid at this stage, but it won’t later on.

4 – Add salt and vanilla extract to the warm ganache and stir.

5 – Cover your bowl with cling wrap, making sure to press the plastic down onto the surface of the ganache. Let it rest on your counter till it cools to room temperature. 

6 – Once at room temperature, place the covered bowl inside the fridge, where it will need to set until it gets to the spreadable consistency of peanut butter. I like to chill mine overnight. 

7 – When you’re ready to frost your cupcakes, take the ganache out of the fridge and let it sit on your counter for 5 minutes or so. Stir the mixture with a spatula to ensure that it’s smooth and homogenous.

8 – We’re now going to transform that beige, creamy emulsion into a fluffy, glorious white cloud. Using the whisk attachment on your handheld mixer, start at low speed and then whip on high for 30-60 seconds depending on how quickly the mixture becomes fluffy and holds its shape. The best way to tell if it’s ready, is the “whisk test”. If it falls or drips off the whisk, keep whipping. If it stays steadily on the whisk, stop. Do not over-whip, or the mixture could split. 

9 – Your whipped white chocolate ganache is now ready to be piped. If you’re not going to frost your cupcakes right away, keep it covered in an airtight container in the fridge. When you’re ready to frost, you will need to take it out of the fridge and let it sit until it’s at a pipeable consistency again. If you’ve lost some volume, you can lightly re-whip it for 10-15 seconds.

Let’s talk ganache. White chocolate ganache is usually made in a chocolate to cream ratio of 3:1. In really hot and humid weather, you may need to use a 4:1 ratio for extra stability. To give yourself the best chance at success, use fresh, high quality couverture chocolate, always. Even when you source the best ingredients, things can still go wrong. A big enough difference in cream and chocolate temperatures, overheating your ganache in the microwave, or even whipping it for 10 seconds too long—anything can result in a mwunh mwunh mwunh moment. Err on the side of caution. Be mindful. Be vigilant. Be patient! You could frost your cupcake with anything really, but a ganache frosting is infinitely superior to a buttercream frosting.

Stage 4: royal icing decorations (optional)

Some people top their cupcakes with sprinkles, or crushed candies, or candied lemon slices. I wanted to challenge myself by making an entirely edible topper from scratch and hit upon royal icing. Yes, I know. Royal icing can suck. It’s often sickly sweet, rock hard, and unpleasant to eat. However, if you make your own batch to your taste, it will turn out great. Not too sweet, and aromatic with citrus, these royal icing lemons look and taste a treat. New to royal icing? Please watch this video for a full masterclass on the basics. These particular decorations are known as royal icing transfers, because you can pipe them onto a non-stick sheet and then peel them off when they’re dry. Thereafter, they can be used as decorations on any dessert. Watch how transfers are made here. Don’t plan on making this? Skip the entire section and scroll straight to Stage 5. If you do take the plunge, make these 2-3 days in advance, as they can take that long to properly dry. Before you begin on your decorations, you’ll need to keep some materials ready to help you create them. 

Part 1 – Make your Design Board

Materials
1. White A4 paper
2. White parchment paper, cut into A4 sheets
3. A pencil/printer
4. 3 binder clips
5. A standard writing clipboard

Method
1 – Print this template or trace out your lemon slice decorations on an A4 sheet of paper. You should be able to fit 20 slices in one sheet. 

2 – Place an A4 parchment sheet on top of your template sheet. You should be able to see your template through it.

3 – Attach the sheets to your clipboard. Using binder clips, secure the sides and bottom of the sheets as well. This is your Design Board. You will pipe your decorations directly onto the parchment sheet. Keep this aside. It’s now time to make your royal icing.

Part 2 – Make the royal icing

Ingredients
1. 240 gm icing sugar plus extra for stiffening
2. 1/8th tsp cream of tartar
3. 2.2 tbsp. pasteurized egg whites
4. ½ tsp vanilla extract
5. 1 drop of pure lemon extract
6. A spritz of fresh lemon juice 

Method
1 – Sift your icing sugar 2-3 times.

2 – Put the icing sugar and cream of tartar in a bowl. Whisk together to combine.

3 – Add in the egg whites. Using a spatula, stir briefly to moisten the sugar. It will look ‘soupy’.

4 – Using a handheld mixer, beat this mixture on low, to evenly mix everything. Thereafter, increase the speed to high and beat for 1-2 minutes. Add a spritz of lemon, vanilla extract, and lemon extract and continue to beat for another minute or until the mixture forms stiff peaks and is glossy and bright white. It is ready when the mixture adheres firmly to your whisk head. Do not whip or whisk the royal icing from this stage onwards, as you don’t want any air bubbles whatsoever. Your royal icing is ready. Cover your bowl with cling wrap and proceed to the next part.

Part 3 – Make the decorations
1 – Technique & Design guide here.

2 – After fully drying out your decorations, they’re ready to use on your cupcakes or to be stored for later.

This is enough royal icing to make 60-70 lemon slice decorations. Yes, that’s a lot of extra decorations, but it’s hard to make tiny amounts of royal icing without compromising the consistency. Besides, you can make as many lemon slices as you like and have them on hand for any future lemon cupcakes. Dried correctly, royal icing decorations have an indefinite shelf life. Just remember to store them in a cool dry place, in an airtight container. Unused royal icing must be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, and used up within a few days. 

Stage 5: Finale; cupcake construction & assembly

Components
1. Lemon cupcakes
2. Lemon curd (cold is best)
3. Whipped white chocolate ganache
4. Lemon slice royal icing decorations

Prep
1 – Transfer ½ cup of lemon curd into a small piping bag. Keep it ready.

2 – Re-whip your cool white chocolate ganache if it’s lost some volume. Transfer it to a large piping bag with a star piping tip. Keep it ready.

3 – Keep an apple corer handy. If you have a cupcake corer, even better!

Method
1 – Using an apple corer, go 2 ½cm downwards into the cupcake and remove its core. Take care not to go in too deep. Repeat for all 12 cupcakes. Don’t discard the tops! They’ll come in handy in a bit.

2 – Snip off the tip of your lemon curd piping bag and squeeze about 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into each cupcake cavity, or until the curd just reaches the top.

3 – Trim the cored-out cupcake tops to a height of 1cm. Plug the cupcakes with the shortened tops (and eat the scraps, you’ve earned it!).

4 – Pipe a generous serving of frosting onto your cupcakes. Watch this to see how to frost a cupcake.

5 – Top each cupcake with a lemon slice royal icing decoration. Make sure you anchor it securely into the frosting. Now eat!

Fully constructed, these don’t do well, sitting around for hours, either on your counter or inside the fridge. You don’t want the water content from the lemon curd leeching into the sponge and making it gloopy. Nor do you want the whipped ganache frosting to get weepy at room temperature or to harden in the fridge. Oil/fat and royal icing don’t get along. Decorations left too long atop the cupcake will get oily stains from the fat in the ganache. Be sure to core, fill, frost, and decorate only the cupcakes you’re going to eat immediately.

Quiche Lorraine…ish

Makes one 11 inch quiche.

Last year, I had the privilege of eating Quiche Lorraine, in Lorraine. Cream, eggs, bacon, pastry. That’s it. Yet, it was so profoundly delicious, that I had to recreate it in Mumbai. My recipe has the basic flavour profile of a traditional Quiche Lorraine, with one major modification—a phyllo pastry base. What results is a light as air, crispy crust that tastes phenomenal and is a lot easier to make than shortcrust pastry. Plus, you won’t feel quite as bad when you devour an 11 inch quiche in one sitting.

At a glance

– This recipe comprises fried yummy bits + phyllo pastry base + savoury custard filling.
– You will need an 11 inch quiche pan with a removable base.
– This recipe has been broken into 4 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: fried yummy bits

Ingredients
1. 1 large onion, finely diced
2. 200 gm lean bacon cut into ¼ x 1 inch strips
3. 200 gm streaky bacon cut into ½ x 1 inch strips

Method
1 – Put the chopped onions and streaky bacon in a cold pan and then place it over low-medium heat.

2 – Once the fat from the streaky bacon starts to render and the meat begins to sizzle, add the lean bacon chunks to the pan.

3 – Fry everything on medium heat for approximately 4 minutes. The bacon will be cooked and the onions should be softened, but not browned. Remove everything from the pan with a slotted spoon and leave it aside to cool to room temperature. Reserve the leftover bacon fat for a later date.

A traditional Quiche Lorraine uses “lardons”, which isn’t readily available where I live. If you can get your hands on slab bacon, you can cut your own lardons. You could even use a mix of streaky bacon and pancetta. I did an equal mix of lean and streaky bacon for equal parts meatiness and fattiness. Onions are not traditional to Quiche Lorraine, but I like the sweetness they bring to the dish.

Stage 2: phyllo pastry base

Ingredients
1. 10 phyllo pastry sheets 
2. 60 gm unsalted butter, melted and cooled 

Method
1 – Cut your phyllo sheets into 12 inch squares. 

2 – Using a pastry brush, grease your quiche pan with melted butter.

3 – Take one sheet and brush it all over with some melted butter. Lay the sheet, butter side up, into your quiche pan. The extra phyllo will hang over the sides of the pan. 

4 – Brush melted butter on another sheet of phyllo and, lay it slightly askew on top of the first sheet, so that the corners of the two sheets are not lined up. Repeat this process till all 10 sheets are buttered and stacked on top of each other in overlapping squares. The finished base should remind you of a sunflower with multiple ‘“petals”; read corners’ poking out from around pan’s entire circumference. Remember to gently press each sheet into the base and sides of the pan before layering on the next sheet. You want a packed base with no large air pockets between each layer.

5 – Fold, crimp, and scrunch the overhanging bits of phyllo back over the sides of the quiche pan and press it into the sides. This will form a raised, ruffled crust. Don’t worry about being refined. Rough and rustic means a crispier phyllo. Cover the entire pan with a damp cloth while you get started on Stage 3.

So, this is the biggest departure from an authentic Quiche Lorraine, which has shortcrust pastry as its base. I was not going to make shortcrust pastry in hot weather, so I thought I’d try ready-made phyllo pastry instead. Raw phyllo is stored in the freezer. Before it can be used, it must be thawed in the fridge overnight. If you put it on your counter straight from the freezer, it will thaw too quickly, get wet and mushy, and tear easily. Whenever you’re working on one phyllo sheet, be sure to cover all the others with a damp towel. This will prevent them from drying out and getting brittle. As long as these basics are kept in mind, phyllo is a lot easier to work with, any time of the year. Best of all, no blind-baking!

Stage 3: savoury custard mixture

Ingredients
1. 300ml heavy cream (full fat)
2. 5 large eggs (total mass = 285 gm)
3. ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
4. Generous pinch of salt 
5. ½ tsp white pepper powder

Method
1 – Whisk together the eggs and heavy cream, till well combined.

2 – Season the mixture with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Keep this aside momentarily. 

3 – Set your oven to preheat at 180OC and immediately begin Stage 5.

Stage 4: Finale; assembly and baking

Components
1. Fried yummy bits (no longer hot)
2. 100 gm grated Gruyère 
3. Layered phyllo pastry base in quiche pan
4. Savoury custard mixture 

Cheese doesn’t go into a traditional Quiche Lorraine. However, if you do add cheese, go with a mild, nutty Swiss cheese that balances the salty notes of the bacon rather than overpowers it with its own strong flavour. 

Method
1 – Evenly sprinkle the grated Gruyère into you prepared phyllo pastry base.

2 – Scatter the fried onions and bacon bits on top of the cheese.

3 – Give your savoury custard mixture a final stir and gently pour it over the bacon, onions, and cheese.

4 – Bake your quiche at 180OC for 35-40 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crispy, the quiche is lightly browned on top, the sides are set, and the centre is still a bit jiggly. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t overbake! It should have the texture and taste of a set custard and not a well-done omelette.

5 – Remove it from the oven. This version of Quiche Lorraine tastes best when eaten fresh, but you’ll need to cool it on a wire rack for 15 minutes to let it set before slicing into it.

6 – In the 15 minutes you have to spare, whip up a fresh, simple salad. Throw together some roquette leaves, sliced cherry tomatoes, walnut kernels, and apple slices. Toss it all with a good glug of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Done.

7 – It’s time to slice into that quiche! Remove it from the pan, cut it into wedges and serve it warm, with your fresh salad on the side.

Food purists might balk at my use of phyllo, but we love the light, crispy base that accompanies this version of the classic. I will concede; it’s not a Quiche Lorraine, it’s Quiche Lorraine…ish. And a way for us in hot and humid India to turn our homes into French bistros for a day. If you do decide to make a phyllo base, remember, cooked phyllo pastry gets soggy and leathery when it’s refrigerated or left to sit out. Leftovers need to be reheated slowly in the oven to crisp up the base again. 150OC for 30-40 minutes should do it. 

Crispy Pork Gyoza

Makes 30 medium sized gyoza.

Translucent, melt-in-your-mouth wrappers envelope a juicy flavourful filling in this gyoza. They’re so light and tasty, that you’ll go through all 30 in under 15 minutes. But these aren’t just any gyoza. What elevates this dish to dumpling heaven is the attached crispy pancake, which adds a wonderful textural contrast to the pillowy silkiness of the gyoza. Very traditional in both technique and the selection of ingredients, this recipe stays true to its delicate Japanese leanings. As a bonus, there’s something extra at the end!

At a glance

– This recipe comprises dipping sauce + gyoza wrappers + gyoza filling + crispy pancake + bonus recipe for Easy Saucy Noodles.
– You will need an 8 inch wide, non-stick frying pan with a lid. Multiple pans are useful if you want to make all 30 gyoza at once.
– This recipe has been broken into 5 stages for ease and comprehension. Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Stage 1: Dipping sauce

Ingredients
1. 4 tbsp. soy sauce
2. 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
3. Very finely diced Gari or pickled sushi ginger. See how to make it here.

Method
Make the dipping sauce by mixing everything together. Store it in the fridge in a sterilised airtight container, ready for serving whenever you like. Make a big batch in advance and keep it handy. This stuff can be stowed safely in the fridge for a whole year. Take out however much you need, half an hour before serving the gyoza.

Stage 2: gyoza wrappers

Ingredients
1. 210 gm plain all purpose flour plus extra for dusting
2. 120 ml just boiled water, cooled for a couple of minutes

Method
1 – Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Pour in the hot water, stirring it into the flour with a wooden spoon. 

2 – When the mixture starts to come together (and is cool enough for you to use your bare hands) knead the dough until it forms a clean, smooth ball. 

3 – Lightly dust your work surface with some flour. Transfer the ball of dough onto it and knead the dough for a good 5 minutes. At this point, the dough should be firm to the touch and slowly bounce back when you make an indent with your finger. 

4 – Put the dough in a roomy resealable plastic bag and seal it. Let the dough steam in the bag for 15 minutes.

5 – Remove the dough ball from the bag. It should be soft, warm, and a little moist. Stretch and roll the dough into a log, roughly 2-3 cm in diameter.

6 – Cut the log into 30 even pieces, weighing 10 grams per piece. 

7 – Roll each piece into a ball and place it on your work surface. You may need to very lightly flour your work surface if you live in a very humid environment. Then, use a small rolling pin to roll the ball into a wafer-thin, flat circle with a 10 cm diameter. Try to roll the edges slightly thinner than the centre. Your finished gyoza wrapper should be about the size of your palm. When you hold the wrapper in your hand, it should be thin enough to see the silhouette of your fingers through it! To roll my gyoza wrappers, I use a small fondant rolling pin. I place the rolling pin in the centre of the dough ball and roll towards myself, turning the dough by a quarter turn after every roll. Once I reach the desired thickness, I use a 10 cm wide cookie cutter to cut out a perfect circle. This is essential to lining up the edges when you construct and pleat your gyoza. Don’t throw away the off-cuts! Keep them on a plate and lightly dust them with some flour to prevent them from sticking to each other. Then check out my bonus recipe for Easy Saucy Noodles at the bottom of this recipe!

8 – Place the wrapper onto a lightly floured surface and continue the same process with the remaining dough. If you’re short on counter space and need to stack the wrappers, remember to liberally dust flour between each wrapper. Don’t stack more than 5 wrappers on top of each other as the weight can cause them to bear down and adhere to each other. I like to place a small parchment square between each wrapper to prevent this. You can use these straight away for Stage 4, or store the wrappers in an airtight bag and freeze them for later use.

If using from frozen – remove them from the fridge at least one hour beforehand. Once thawed, carefully separate the wrappers and sprinkle a little extra flour on each one to prevent them from getting sticky. 

Stage 3: gyoza filling

Ingredients
1. 1 cup (packed) very finely shredded cabbage
2. 300 gm pork mince
3. 2 tbsp. soy sauce
4. 2-3 drops toasted sesame oil
5. 2 spring onions, very finely chopped
6. 1 ½ tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
7. 3 tbsp. canola oil
8. ½ tsp crushed black pepper
9. 1 tsp salt 

Prep
1 – Place the finely shredded cabbage in a medium bowl. Mix in the salt. Set this aside for 5-7 minutes. The cabbage will release water and wilt slightly.

2 – Keep all the ingredients portioned out, ready for quick mixing.

Method
1 – Place the softened cabbage in a large bowl. Add the pork mince, grated ginger, and chopped spring onion.

2 –  Heat 3 tbsp. canola oil till smoking. Add the hot oil to the bowl, on top of the grated ginger and chopped spring onion.

3 – Work fast; you don’t want the hot oil sitting in one spot and cooking any pockets of the filling. Add the soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and crushed black pepper. Using chopsticks or your hands like an open claw, combine the mixture vigorously in one direction for a minute until it is well combined, and comes together like a sticky ball of dough. Your filling is ready and you can now proceed with Stage 4.

This mixture cannot be made in advance and frozen, as the fresh textures and flavours will be compromised. If you aren’t making the gyoza immediately, store the filling in the fridge and use it the same day.

Stage 4: Constructing the gyoza

Components
1. 30 gyoza wrappers
2. The entire gyoza filling
3. Some plain water (to be used as a binding agent)

Method
1 – Place 1 level tablespoon of filling in the centre of each wrapper. Do not over fill.

2 – Moisten the edges of the wrapper with a little water (if needed) and then bring the bottom edge up over the filling to meet the top edge of the wrapper. Pleat the gyoza, pressing each pleat to make sure that it’s well-sealed. Watch this to see the stuffing and pleating process.

3 – Place the gyoza on a sheet of parchment paper. Repeat the above process to make all 30. 

Fresh, homemade gyoza wrappers don’t require water as a sealing agent. The inherent stickiness of the sheet will do the job. If you have over-floured your sheets to prevent stickiness, you may need to moisten the edges to get a good seal. Store-bought wrappers will most definitely require their edges to be moistened. Once filled, a raw, sitting gyoza will get soft, moist, and stick to any regular surface. The parchment paper is essential to an easy transfer from counter to pan.

Stage 5: Finale; cooking the gyoza & crispy pancake

Components
1. 30 gyoza
2. 5 tbsp. vegetable oil for frying
3. Flour slurry for the crispy pancake

For the flour slurry:
1. 3 tbsp. cornflour
2. 1 ½ tbsp. plain all purpose flour 
3. Pinch of salt
4. 250 ml water

Method
1 – Put 1 tablespoon of oil in a non-stick frying pan and heat it on medium. Once hot, arrange 6 dumplings in the pan in a spiral pattern. You should hear a sizzle. Cook, untouched for 2-3 minutes or until the bottoms of the gyoza begin to brown. 

2 – While the gyoza are browning, make a slurry with the cornflour, plain flour, salt, and water. Whisk together and transfer it to a jug for easy pouring.

3 – Pour 1/5th of the slurry between and around the gyoza, to form a “latticework pancake”. Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to low. Steam for 5 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the gyoza are cooked through. The “gyoza skins” should be translucent and glistening. Run a spatula under the pancake to gently loosen it. Cook, uncovered, for a further 1-2 minutes or until the pancake is crispy. Carefully flip the “gyoza pancake” onto a plate, pancake side up.

4 – Repeat the cooking process with the remaining 4 batches of gyoza.

5 – Serve the gyoza with the dipping sauce. Now eat.

To cut down the total cooking time, you could use a large pan that comfortably fits 11-12 gyoza in one go. However, it’s very challenging to flip the cooked gyoza pancake structure onto a plate without burning yourself, bursting a delicate gyoza, or breaking the pancake.

Bonus Recipe! Easy Saucy Noodles

Ingredients
1. Gyoza wrapper offcuts
2. 100 ml water
3. ½ tsp vegetable oil
4. 1 tsp soy sauce
5. 1 tsp mirin
6. 1 tsp sake
7. 1 tbsp. kecap manis or sweet soy sauce
8. 1 tbsp. oyster sauce
9. 1 tsp finely chopped green onions

Method
1 – Heat up 100 ml of water in a frying pan. Once it comes to a simmer, add the gyoza wrapper offcuts and boil on medium for about a minute. This is long enough to cook the “noodles”.

2 – As soon as the noodles are cooked and most of the water has been absorbed, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to the pan and lightly toss the noodles in the oil.

3 – Whisk together the soy sauce, the mirin, the sake, the kecap manis, and the oyster sauce and then add the mixture to the pan.

4 – Cook the noodles in the sauce for about 2-3 minutes until you have a thick, sticky, glossy saucy mess of noodles.

5 – Transfer to a plate and serve hot with a sprinkle of chopped green onions on top. Easy!

Fudgilicious Brownies

Makes 9 brownies; 2 ½ x 2 ½ inches, each. 

Imagine the thikkkest, gooiest, chocolatiest brownies you’ve ever sunk your teeth into. Cakey brownies? Not on my watch. When I tasted these for the first time, I broke into a jig. The sort that’s really embarrassing. Throw out all your brownie recipes, this one’s a keeper. Cooked to just under, every fudgy bite is an exercise in decadence. In fact, they’re so dark with triple chocolate goodness, that it would be inaccurate to call them anything but “blackies”.

At a glance

– You will need a saucepan, some mixing bowls, an 8 inch square metal brownie pan, and some baking parchment.
– Please read the entire recipe from start to finish before beginning.

Ingredients
1. 185 gm unsalted butter
2. 2 tbsp. unflavoured vegetable oil
3. 150 gm dark muscovado sugar
4. 200 gm golden castor sugar
5. 3 large eggs (171 gm) + 1 egg yolk
6. 115 gm all purpose flour, sifted.
7. 90 gm Dutch process cocoa powder, sifted.
8. 250 gm 70% cocoa couverture chocolate (baking or eating chocolate)
9. 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
10. 2 tbsp. instant espresso coffee granules
11. 1 tsp table salt 
12. Flaky sea salt for topping (3/4th tsp approx.)

This recipe calls for cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and chocolate chunks, so it’s quite literally loaded with chocolate. The almost black colour comes from Dutch process cocoa powder, while dark muscovado sugar adds all the moisture and depth of molasses. Look for a couverture chocolate with 70-80% cocoa. Any less and it will be too sweet. Any more and it becomes unpleasantly bitter. Whatever you do, don’t use compound chocolate or candy melts, ever! You’re free to compromise on the ingredients—you could use light brown sugar, or plain white castor sugar, or natural cocoa powder, or a low quality couverture chocolate—but you won’t achieve the same phenomenal results. 

Prep
1 – Grease your brownie pan. Line it with parchment and then grease the parchment. Keep aside.

2 – Roughly chop the chocolate into small chunks. Divide into 2. 

3 – In a medium bowl, place 60 grams of the cocoa powder, the flour, and table salt. Whisk to aerate and combine, and keep this dry mixture aside.

4 – In a large, heat proof bowl, add half the chocolate chunks, the remaining 30 grams of cocoa powder, and the espresso granules. Keep aside.

Method
1 – Melt the butter using your stovetop. Simmer the butter on low for 4 minutes. The butter should be hot and bubbling, but not burnt. Leave it to cool for a minute.

2 – Pour the hot butter into the bowl containing the chocolate chunks, cocoa powder, and espresso granules. Let it rest, uncovered, for 5 whole minutes.

3 – After 5 minutes. stir the mixture together with a spatula to ensure that the chocolate has melted and emulsified with the butter.

4 – Add the oil and both the variants of sugar to the still-hot mixture. Using a handheld whisk, beat everything together until the sugar has mostly dissolved and the mixture has cooled. 

5 – Start preheating your oven to 170OC. Ten minutes should suffice.

6 – Once the mixture is cool, add in the eggs and egg yolk one at a time, beating well to incorporate with each addition. This will give your brownie that coveted crinkly top.

6 – Add the vanilla extract and beat the mixture well once again.

7 – Remember the cocoa powder+ flour+table salt mixture you kept aside? It’s time to incorporate this dry mix into your wet mixture. Sift it in gradually, a third at a time. Using a spatula or a large metal spoon, gently fold it into your batter with each addition. Once you no longer see any floury pockets, stop. Do not beat or overmix!

8 – Add the remaining chocolate chunks to the batter and very gently fold them in. The batter should be really thick and gooey at this point.

9 – Pour this batter into your greased and lined brownie pan. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula. 

10 – Place the pan inside your preheated oven. Bake at 170OC for 10 minutes only. Yes, that’s right! Because now we’re going to perform a little trick to get some great looking cracks on the surface of your brownie.

11 – First, fold a large tea towel into a square that’s a bit bigger than your brownie pan. Lay the folded towel on your counter top. At the ten-minute mark, using oven mitts, very carefully take your pan out. From a height of about 6 inches, slam the pan onto the folded tea towel 4-5 times. This slamming motion will agitate the semi-baked batter and give your brownie top those quintessential gorgeous cracks. At this point, top your brownie with a sparse sprinkling of flaky sea salt and put the pan back in the hot oven. 

12 – Bake it for another 10-12 minutes at 170OC. Make sure to check for doneness at the 10 minute mark. Feel the surface of the brownie, it should be firm but squish down when you apply pressure. Check the corners with a bamboo skewer; you should see some crumbs and gooeyness. Do not be alarmed, as the brownie will continue to cook on your countertop. Unlike a cake, you’re not looking for the skewer to come out clean. A clean skewer means a cakey, over-baked dry brownie.

13 – Wait at least an hour before cutting into the brownies to help it to set. Your knife should be smeared with chocolate with each cut if you’ve got the cook just right.

All ovens are different. Like me, you too will have to experiment and see which settings will give you the best results.  If you use the convection mode, you’ll have to lower the temperature accordingly. If you have only top heating rods, you’ll have to adjust for that. In my oven, the middle rack at 170OC (upper and lower heating, non-convection) for a total bake time of 22 minutes yields the best brownies. I also turn my pan around when I put it back in for the final bake, to account for any potential uneven heating. Always check your brownies at least 2-3 minutes before the specified cooking time is up.

Tips & Tricks

How to line a square baking pan with parchment: