Curry Legend Chef Specials - Staff Home Testing!
Developing a brand new cookbook is always a time of great excitement at Spicery HQ! From the early stages where the initial idea is planned out and research trips are taken, to further along the timeline where the recipes are cooked and tweaked in our test kitchen to perfection- there's a real buzz in the air as we can start to see the book coming together!
Of course once the recipe selection has been finalised by the recipe developers, the most thrilling part of the process for the rest of the team is the obligatory staff home testing - of which we've been licking our lips in anticipation!
As well as giving our lovely customers a sneak peek of the delicious dishes they can look forward to, staff testing is a brilliant way to make sure that the recipes run successfully when cooked in normal home kitchens and the feedback provided is pivotal to the final edit of the book! On that note, we hope you enjoy this preview of our latest extra special recipes which will feature in our upcoming new book: Curry Legend Chef Specials! Look out for more details next month including a massive pre-sale offer!
Georgia - Mango Fish Curry, Mangalore Coconut Bajji, Pineapple & Ginger Chutney
Georgia: Delicious! The heat level was perfect - a bit of a kick from the mirchi and ginger which was balanced by the sweetness of the mango in the curry and the pineapple in the chutney. The curry was rich and flavourful (even Tom who supposedly doesn't like fish really enjoyed it!) and the fruity chutney paired perfectly with it. The star of the show was the coconut bajjis - I followed the recipe and cooked enough for 4 people, but we easily polished off the lot between 2 of us. They were crispy, crunchy and salty on the outside, but spongy on the inside (they reminded me of Jamaican festival dumplings), with the perfect amount of coconut flavour. These were also really easy to cook - I think a lot of people are put off by 'deep-frying' (this only used 2cm oil so more of a shallow-fry really) but it was actually very simple and the outcome was so tasty.
The sauce for the curry was really thick and rich and the mango gave it a lovely deep orange colour - the fish fell apart a bit due to leaving it cooking for slightly longer than necessary whilst I finished off the other bits but there were still some nice big chunks of cod. In hindsight I probably over-stirred it which contributed to the fish breaking apart. The bajjis looked particularly impressive - I meant to add some chopped green chilli to the batter but forgot. If I were to make it again I would definitely remember to add this, as I think it would have added a nice pop of colour to an otherwise very orange meal, as well as a nice extra bit of heat!
Marc: Salmon Tikka, Spicy Green Chutney, Prawn Gassi, Navratan Korma
The salmon looked tasty and the simple lemon salad complimented the dish well - it was really tasty and a good sized portion for a starter! We all enjoyed this dish! We served it with the suggested spicy green chutney and we thought it all worked really well together. The method for the spicy green chutney was really simple and easy to follow and it looked impressive with the Jeera topping- although I would consider this as being more of a dipping sauce than a chutney!
The Prawn Gassi was also an extremely tasty dish which had a good amount of heat to it and it was a good portion size if a little runny - next time I may cook the prawns uncovered to allow the sauce to thicken and reduce a bit.
The Navratan Korma was really good, we used carrot, potatoes and swede. I believe the swede made the dish a bit to sweet so probably wouldn't use swede again, however this dish really did dazzle like nine jewels with the cashews and pomegranate!
Robyn: Coconut Korma, Table Naan, Coconut and Ginger Dhal, Sweet Mint Raita
Everything was so delicious and the Korma tasted just like one I've ordered from an Indian Restaurant! The whole spread was mild and fragrant and went down well with Eden who even asked for seconds!
The table naans definitely had the wow factor! They had a good crunch on the top and soft in the middle. Although the sweet mint raita was slightly runny it was extremely moreish and found myself dipping in the naan over and over! The toasted coconut on the top of the dhal was inspired!
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