Ingredient is king

A huge aspect in cooking good food is sourcing the best seasonal ingredients. Menus today prominently combine high-quality food and fresh produce with local influences. To ensure the best of ingredients that go into their dishes, chefs today interact with farmers regularly to use the best of the latter’s knowledge of the region, soil, temperature and season. And it is the obtaining of such quality ingredient from their original source that Chef Vikram Ganpule, Executive Chef Andaz, Delhi, attributes as the reason for the reputation of his restaurant.

“A good connect between a farmer and the chef always transports the best on the plate. Reflecting the unique culture of the capital, we offer consciously sourced ingredients and produce from local artisans who directly or indirectly contribute towards the well-being of society. We have some fun along the way, using bold flavours and letting the freshness and creativity in the kitchen speak for themselves. For us ingredient is king in all our recipes,” adds Chef Ganpule.

Interestingly, Annamaya, the upscale hotel restaurant serving North Indian and European cuisines, follows the ‘Made in India’ concept. All products used have to be made in India and must have a communally inspiring story behind the trade execution. More importantly, their present corporate component must be communally pertinent to help societies and their particular settings in India. “I prefer working with what is in season and is accessible and like going back to roots, working with local farmers. If there is a specific ingredient that works well, I endorse it across my restaurants be it from a small-time wheat supplier or a vegetable farm,” adds Ganpule.

PLANTAIN LEAF FISH

Ingredients:
Fish: 400 gms
Gongura pickle: 100 gms
Jaggery: 20 gms
Lime: 1
Plantain leaf: 1

Method:
Make a paste of jaggery by dissolving it in water. Marinate 200 gm steaks of fish with gongura pickle and jaggery paste.
Wrap the marinated fish in a plantain leaf.
Grill the wrapped fillet on a hot plate for 1 minute from each side, bake it in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for about 10 minutes.
Serve hot with lime by the side.

CHICKEN MILLET BIRYANI

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Jhol
Chicken thighs, boneless: 320 gms
 Red chili powder: 20 gms
 Turmeric powder: 5 gms
 Ginger paste: 15 gms
 Garlic paste: 15 gms
 Cinnamon stick: 5 gms
 Green cardamom: 5 gms
 Cloves: 5 gms
 Green cardamom powder: 5 gms
 Mace powder: 5 gms
 Fresh mint leaves: 10 gms
 Fried onions: 100 gms
 Yoghurt: 100 gms
 Lime juice: 10 ml
 Oil refined sunflower: 30 ml
 Sliced red onion: 50 gms
 Salt: 10 gms

For the millet
Barnyard millet: 150 gms
Cinnamon stick: 5 gms
Cloves: 5 gms
Green cardamoms: 5 gms
Salt: 5 Gms
Oil refined sunflower: 30 ml
Lime juice: 10 ml

For dum
Desi ghee: 15 gms
Oil refined sunflower: 15 gms
Saffron flavoured milk: 40 ml
Coriander leaves chopped: 5 gms
Mint leaves chopped: 5 gms
Green chilly slited: 5 gms
Brown onion for garnishing: 15 gms
Mixed dry nuts: 35 gms

METHOD
Heat oil in a pan and add all the whole garam masala and cook until it crackles.
Add sliced onion sauté until it is brown in colour. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté till cooked. Add chicken pieces and sauté again for 3 to 4 minutes.
Add water to it, and cover the pan let it simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes. Add beaten yoghurt and the rest of the powdered masalas and again cook it for a while in high flame.
Add the seasoning. Add fried onion and mint leaves. Cover the pan and cook until the chicken is tender.
Separate the chicken pieces from the gravy and strain the gravy. Add the chicken pieces back to the strained gravy.

For the miller
Wash millet and soak it in water for about 15 to 20 minutes. In a cooking pot, add water generously for about 3 to 4 litter or more than that.
Add salt to it.
Add whole spices. Add oil and lime juice, mix it well. Bring the water a boil.
Add the soaked millets into the boiling water. Cook it until it is 80% done. Strain the millet completely and let it rest aside.

For the Dum
Take a cooking pot in which biryani is cooked. Coat the base of the pot with ghee. Add the chicken pieces with the gravy into it and spread it evenly. Add the cooked millets over it and spread it evenly.
Add the mint leaves and slit green chilies. Do three more layers of the same.
Over the millets, pour evenly saffron flavoured milk, fried brown onions all over the millet. Add desi ghee on top.
Sprinkle little kewra and rose water on top. Cover the lid and seal it tightly with a dough or put heavy weight on the lid.
Switch on the flame. Place a skillet/tawa on the flame. Place the cooking pot on the tawa. Dum the biryani for about 10 to 15 minutes on high flame.
Reduce the flame to sim and dum the biryani for about 20 minutes on sim flame. Switch off the flame.
Dig the biryani from one side of the corner. The biryani should be taken out with a spatula from the bottom to the top.
Serve hot and garnish with mint leaves, mixed dry nuts and ghee served raita by side.

FREE RANGE CHICKEN

(Free range chicken is a method of animal husbandry where the chicken for some part of the day can roam around freely rather than being confined in an enclosure.)

Ingredients:

Baby chicken: 4, de-boned

For marination:
Onion powder: 50 gms
Garlic powder: 30 gms
Ginger powder: 30 gms
Dark soya sauce: 20 ml
Jaggery: 30 Gms
Coriander root: 5 gms
Cumin seeds: 5 gms
Black pepper: 5 gms
Cinnamon powder: 5 gms
White wine vinegar: 5 ml
Salt: 5 Gms

For sweet potato
Sweet potato: 400 gms
Butter: 20 gms
Salt: 20 gms

For house salad
10 lettuce leaves: 200 gms
Cucumber dice: 40 gms
Cherry tomato dice: 40 gms
Orange dressing: 20 gms

For Orange Dressing:
Fresh orange juice: 3 litre
Olive oil extra virgin: 1 l
Oil refined sunflower: 1 l
White wine vinegar: 100 ml
Honey: 80 gms
Ginger: 50 gms
Galangal: 30 gms
Kaffir lime leaf: 30 gms
Lemon grass: 30 gms
Kashmiri red chili powder: 15 gms
Salt: 5 gms
Black pepper crushed: 5 gms

Method
For free range chicken:
Roast cumin, black pepper & coriander seeds in a pan.
Blend all the marination ingredients and roasted spices together.
Marinate the chicken with the above mixture.
Grill it on hot plate for a minute on either side, then cook the grilled chicken in a hot oven at 180 degrees C till well done.

Sweet potato
Marinate the sweet potato with butter and salt and cook it at 140 degrees C for 15 min till well done.
Serve both the items hot together along with house salad.

House salad
Toss 10 lettuce leaves, diced cucumber and cherry tomato with orange dressing.

Orange dressing
Reduce the orange juice with galangal, ginger, kaffir lime leaf and lemon grass to half, strain then combine all remaining ingredients in mixing bowl and whisk it and season with salt and crushed black pepper.

RAW MANGO SALAD

Ingredients:

For the Asian dressing:
Sugar: 200 gms
Water: 250 mls
Finely chop green chilies: 60 gms  
Finely chop red chilies: 60 gms
Finely chop ginger: 60 gms  
Chopped coriander leaves: 60 gms
Light soya sauce: 85 mls
Dark soya sauce: 85 mls  
Salt: 10 gms
Crushed black pepper: 5 gms

METHOD

For the Dressing:
Make sugar syrup with water and sugar, once ready keep aside to cool, mix all the ingredients of asian dressing together with a whisk in a bowl.

For grilled Avocado slice
Cut one avocado into 6 slices vertically after removing the stone from it. Grill the avocado slices on both sides in a hot grill for 15 sec each side.

For Salad
Mix all the ingredients together, serve it with slice grilled avocado.
Garnish with coriander sprig.

LAMB SEEKH KEBAB

Ingredients:

Lamb chunks: 300 gms
For Marination:
Processed cheese: 75 gms
Fresh coriander roots: 15 gms
Garlic cloves peeled: 15 gms
Ginger peeled, sliced: 15 gms
Mint leaves:    15 gms
Salt: 10 gms
Cumin powder: 15 gms
Annamaya garam masala: 15 gms

For Seekh mixture
Onion chopped: 20 gms
Green chili chopped: 20 gms
Crushed red chili: 10 gms
Crushed coriander seeds: 15 gms
Boiled egg white chopped: 40 gms

METHOD
Wash lamb chunks, let the lamb rest in a strainer to remove excess water.
Mix the meat with all the marination ingredients, let the meat rest for one hour, process the meat in meat mincer twice to get fine mince of the same.
Mix chopped onion, chopped green chili, grated boiled egg, crushed red chili and crushed coriander seeds to the above lamb mince mixture.
Fold the mince mixture onto the skewer and cook in tandoor till done, baste the seekh kebab with butter to prevent loss of moisture.
Serve with mint chutney and onion rings.

SPICY MANGO PRAWN CURRY WITH KERALA RED RICE

Ingredients:
Raw mango (peeled and diced): 400 gms
Prawn cleaned: 1200 gms
Coconut milk powder: 1 kg
Oil refined sunflower: 60 ml
Fenugreek seeds: 5 gms
Mustard seeds: 10 gms                                          
Curry leaves: 20 gms
Chopped onion: 1 kg
Chopped tomato: 1 kg
Chopped ginger: 40 gms
Chopped green chili: 40 gms
Ginger paste: 40 gms
Garlic paste: 40 gms
Kashmiri Red chili powder: 20 gms
Turmeric powder: 20 gms
Salt: to taste
Tamarind pulp: 200 ml
Kerala red rice: 400 gms

Method
Heat oil in a sauce pot, add fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds and let it crackle, add curry leaves and chopped onion, cook till onion becomes translucent. Add tomato, ginger and chili and sauté for 2 minutes.
Add ginger and garlic paste, cook another 2 minutes. Add chili powder, turmeric cook the spices.
Make coconut milk with 1 part of coconut milk powder and 1 part of warm water, add coconut milk to the cooking sauce pot and the diced raw mango.
Let it simmer until the gravy is slightly thicken and mango becomes tender.
Add cleaned prawn to the curry and cook till done.
Add tamarind pulp just before removing the sauce pot from heat.
Wash and soak the red rice for 2hours in ample amount of water.
Boil the rice until well done, serve hot mango curry with Kerala red rice.