EGG BIRYANI

EGG BIRYANI

This is a recipe from my great pal John Roderick in India, who used to run the legendary “Eat Vell’ Hotel (that’s what café’s are called in India) in Kotagiri, Tami Nadu.


Biryani is one of my favorite food discoveries as the permeations and combinations are endless. Veg, non-veg, a bit of this and a lot of that, but the Egg Biryani is the king - for now!

400gr Basmati Rice (soaked)

2 big Onions (sliced)

5/6 Tomatoes (diced)

2/3 Green Chilles (whole slit into to parts)

1 bundle Coriander (chopped)

1 bundle Mint (chopped)

3 Cloves

3 sticks Cinnamon

3 Cardamoms

3 star aniseed

3 bayleafs

2 tblsp Ginger/Garlic Paste

1 tsp Turmeric powder

6 boiled Eggs (peeled)

Salt & Pepper to taste

600ml water (salted)

In a large pan fry the onions & green chilles till golden brown, then add the chopped green coriander & mint and fry for 2/3 minutes.

Then add the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, aniseed, bayleaf and the diced tomatoes. Mix all & fry well together.

To this add turmeric powder & the ginger - garlic paste –this also has to fry along with the other ingredients. This is your masala.

Put in the eggs (prick the sides of the eggs wtih knife so that some of the masala goes into it). 


After 2 minutes of frying in the masala remove the eggs set aside. Now add the rice and water.

Cover with tight lid and cook for 20mins.

Add the eggs and eat.

Raita: In a bowl put some yogurt, some chopped onions (fried till they're almost burnt), tomatoes, a sprig of chopped green coriander, and salt & pepper...

WHORE STYLE PASTA (PASTA ALLA PUTTANESCA)

WHORE STYLE PASTA (PASTA ALLA PUTTANESCA)

Lotsa lotsa love for my Bella Granny Franca in Roma for giving me this killer recipe.

For this she uses spaghetti but other type of pasta is good. I asked her where the name came from and she just shrugged and said it’s what they (the whores) used to cook for their customers!

4 teaspoons of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic (chopped)

3 anchovies

100 gr. of black olives (no stones)

1 small tin of capers

2 teaspoon chilli flakes

400 gr. peeled tomatoes (fresh or tinned)

50ml of wine

350g pasta (Spaghetti or Macaroni or Fusilli)

In a frying pan put the olive oil, the garlic cloves, the anchovies, the seeded black olives cut in bits, the capers and the chilli. Fry for a few minutes, add a sip of wine and let evaporate

Add tomatoes, little salt and cook for 10 minutes or until sauces thickens

Cook the pasta the pasta “al dente” and add sauce – eat while steaming hot.


Here's some shots of Roma to put you in the mood...

Central Station/Coronation Street 50th

Here is a video (above) and some photos (below) I shot at the first part of a mentally good exhibition in Manchester (where else???) last week, created by my pals Central Station, all in honour of the 50th Anniversary of Corrie. Big love to Pat, Karen, Sam and Matt.

I Came I saw I conquered: I got down with Ken, got off with Deirdre/Sexy Specs, talked big gay 'tasches with Kevin, ate some lovely pie and peas (cooked by Betty's fair hands), got fat-blanked by legendary photographer Kevin Cummings, spent some time with Passarella Death Squad and even met a couple of footballers, but the less said about that the better as (only kidding).

Some Photographic Art

Just had these (and some others) printed large format and framed for the Street Knowledge Exhibition in Jan. A kind of take on street art - old and new. The top is from Rome and the other is from one of last remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall. Both hanging in my yard till 9th Jan 2011.

Tandoori Chicken and Yellow Egg Basmati Rice

When my homeboy Irv bought me my own mini-tandoori clay oven a few years back I never realized how much I'd use it. It's the kind of thing you get bought and never use, but I love it and use it whenever I've got the urge to make some Indian chicken. I rolled it out last night and sorted out some lekker Tandoori chicken and yellow rice with eggy-wegg...

Tandoori Chicken

Chicken (Doh!) (Can be breast, legs whatever)
2 tbsp Garlic & Ginger paste
2 tbsp Tandoori powder or paste
2 tbsp Yoghurt
Juice of 2 lemons

Mix the above in a big bowl and add the chicken pieces. Stab the chicken with a shank so it's covered in holes. Rub the paste in with your hands so its properly coated, cover with cling film and leave for as long as you can.

Soak the clay oven in water for a bit and place in the oven at 220. When it's hot, remove and bung in the marinated chicken, with as much touching the sides as possible.

Cook for about and hour (you can tell when it's cooked, when it begins to fall off the bone).

Remove chicken and pour juice from tandoor into a pan, adding the remnanst of the marinade. Add a bit more water, half a chicken stock cube, some chilli and pepper and then boil - this the Rassam (gravy).

Yellow Basmati

350g Basmati Rice (soaked)
2 tsp Turmeric
1 Cinamon stick
2 Cloves
4 Cardarmons (bruised)
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Coriander powder
2 Eggs (boiled and peeled)
2 tbsp Yogurt
2 tsps Chilli flakes (optional)

Stick the above in a pan and fill with water so it's a finger joint above the rice. Mix well and add a decent amount of salt.
Bring to boil and cook on lowest heat possible for 20-mins. Do not remove lid untill cooked.


Serve with chicken and gravy splashed all over...

Leeds Street Knowledge Exhibition Postponed

None of the art or the books arrived, or will arrive on time so I've got no other choice but to push the show back till 9th Jan 2011. Soz...

A Shot in the Dark

This is from a collection of photos 1994 - 2010 that I'm sorting out for the show on sunday...

This is a shot of a breakdancer from 2003 who was performing in Riverside Park in front of a outdoor cinema screen, whilst the film WIld Style was playing. It was a mental night and after he has been getting down for a while, he started chatting up the ladies. I fired away and even though it says Nike on his hat, it's actually a Kangol...

STREET KNOWLEDGE EXHIBITION LEEDS

From the 12th December to 16th January there will be an exhibition of killer street art from artists such as Blek le Rat, Hush, 100proof, Jimmy Dodd, Asbestos...

It's all tied in with Street Knowledge and features work from artists featured in the book.

Facebook Event

Gallery North Site

Pizze: That's Amore!

Motorino Pizza on Graham Ave, and, Roberta’s Pizza on Moore St, both in Brooklyn are the inspiration for these pizzas. I’ve taken the recipe from 1950s Italy and tweaked it a bit for the tastes of 2010 (I’ve added sugar).

The trick is to use ‘00’ flour and some good quality toppings. Make your own tomato sauce and you have a dynamite combination for the freshest pizza you gonna get at home…Bada bing!

Base:

500 g strong white bread flour ‘00’ flour

1 level tablespoon  sea salt

2 tsps of dried yeast

1tsp sugar

650ml lukewarm water

In a large bowl sieve the flour and add the salt, sugar, yeast.

Slowly mix in the water, until a dough forms that isn’t too sticky.

On a clean surface sprinkle some flour and knead dough for about 10 minutes, until it feels light and elastic.

Place dough in large bowl and cover with cling film and place in a warm place and allow dough to rise for a couple of hours.

When dough has doubled in size, return to the floured surface and divide the dough into 3 parts and shape each into a disk and pad the middle, so that the crust forms. Then stretch the dough until it’s the size of a medium pizze.

Click here to watch a video of someone who knows how to do it properly.

Sauce:

10 small Tomatoes

Oregano

1 clove garlic

Salt & pepper

Place the above in a pan and smash with a potato masher until a rough sauce forms. Spread this on the bases and then top with:

Topping combinations:

Artichoke & Parma Ham

Peri-peri stuffed Olive & Anchovy

Rocket & Parmesan

Italian Salami

Chop mozzarella into thin slices and place on top and then bake in oven at 180 C for 15- 20mins.

Lekker Chicken Noodle Soup

After a roast chicken for Sunday lunch, make this the next day - if you want some decent soup.

Remove as much meat as you can from the chicken, then boil up the carcass in a big pan for a couple of hours with a lid on.

Drain this stock into a smaller pan though a sieve and then add a chicken stock cube, some garlic, a couple of carrots chopped into matchstick-sized pieces (could be left overs), and some salt and pepper.

Boil for 5-mins (or 10 if you use raw carrot) and then add the noodles and the left over meat.

Cook for 3-mins and then serve with optional lemon and peri-peri...

Mmmm...Lekker!

Vietcong Salad

Not your usual saturday lunch starter but what the fuck... Cooked this before some Italian food which was a little random, even for me. But it was all good in the hood.

Vietcong Salad

500g/17½oz sirloin steak
1 Romaine lettuce (chopped)
1 beefsteak tomato (chopped)
5 shallots (chopped and fried with peanuts until almost burnt)
50g/2oz peanuts, roasted and chopped


Slice the beef into 1inch strips and marinade in a bowl with:


1 red chilli, roughly chopped
4 tsps garlic & ginger paste
1 lime juice only
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper


Marinade steak for as long as possible... 


Make your salad in individual bowls...then cooking steak in a skillet or wok.


After 3 mins add the rest of the marinade, then cook for a couple more mins before serving on top of salad.


Sprinkle peanuts and shallots on top...

The new definition I've been looking for...

For some time now I've been thinking about how to pigeon hole all us lot: people who are into their food and other street cultures but really refuse to be know as 'Foodies'. I really don't like the word, the idea, the image it sums up; too middle-class, too much like something I'd fight against.

And so the other night I was chatting to my mate Someotherguy (part of Central Station) and he was telling me about his uncle and he described him as a real 'Food Head'... the penny dropped and I knew he had just given me what I was looking for.

So from this day on all of us will be collectively known as 'Food Heads'...

Street Knowledge price drop

Street Knowledge is now £9.60 on Amazon.co.uk

This is the time to invest. Buy low...

Click to go there...

Cape Malay Cookbook + Mince & Pea Cape Malay Curry

Just discovered that one of my all time cookbooks is available free on Google Books.

Click here to check it out... see below for one of my versions of the classic mince and pea curry...

Mince & Pea Cape Malay Curry

Feeds 4

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, sliced

1 tin tomatoes

3 pieces cinnamon bark

5 cardamom pods

3 cloves

3 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon turmeric

4 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ginger paste from a jar

3 teaspoons garlic paste from a jar

500g/18oz minced steak or lamb

425ml/3/4 pint/scant 2 cups stock (the same as your meat of choice)

4 potatoes, peeled and quartered

200g/7oz frozen peas

Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onion and fry until golden. Add the tin of tomatoes and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes.  Then add all the spices and simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the mince, allow to brown, and then add the stock and cook for at least 30 minutes on the lowest heat, stirring constantly.

Add the potatoes to the mixture and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to crumble, adding more stock if needed – you want it to be fairly wet. Finally, add the frozen peas and cook for 5 minutes.

Serve with Indian breads such as rotis or parathas.

Street Kitchen

Don't normally write about stuff like this as that is what the million other fuckers out there do, but I'm a big fan of the Street Kitchen. Love the ideology, love the food, the freshness, and the energy. It even has the same initials as my favorite book right now. Big ups to Mark and Jun... check it's location by clicking here.

Sabich

I discovered this with Pilpeled on the streets of Tel Aviv. He couldn’t believe that I’d never eaten Sabich and afterwards neither could I. A very healthy vegetarian option to all that meat out there… See the above interview in Time Out Tel Aviv where I bang on about it, and then check the recipe below...

SABICH RECIPE

Makes 4 sandwiches

4 large pitas

4 hard-boiled eggs (peeled and sliced)

2 large Aubergine (washed sliced 5cm tick)

2 tsp olive oil

2 tsp paprika (smoked)

1 onion (finely chopped)

2 tomatoes, finely diced

1/2 cucumber, finely diced

Juice of 2 lemons

jar of hummus

jar of tahini

1 pack  parsley (chopped)

Mango pickle

Make a salad of the parsley, tomatoes, cucumber, and lemon juice.

Dust the Aubergine slices with paprika and fry in batches until browned.

Then sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Lightly toast pitta and slit top.

Inside the pitta (with the back of a spoon) spread tahini on one side and Hummus on the other.            

Fill with salad, egg, fried Aubergine and top with mango pickle.

Add salt + Pepper and squeeze of lemon juice.

It's Curry Night

Having a few peeps over for a curry tomorrow night round mine, so in honour of that, here's a photo of me in 1992 with my curry mentor John Roderick, both of us properly drunk on the way to catch a train from Coimbatore Junction.

Those locks are something else, but this guy taught me about Indian food - Southern Indian food to be precise... So much love for this guy and his wife Heather...

Here's the market where I used to shop in Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu:

And an old boy sat outside the towns General Store...

Le Cool Interview

click here to read the Le Cool London cover story, with a clue to the new project...

Made a couple of pots of this yesterday.

During my time in Paris I would buy pâté from a deli in the Bastille and eat it spread on French bread from a local bakery, sitting in the street watching the beautiful students and hipsters of Paris’s hippest district schlep past. That’s living all right! But these days it's all about spending as much time as I can with my family in-between traveling, and my kids love a bot of this when they get in from school on Warburton's toastie bread (the orange packet)

Feeds 4-6

250g frozen chicken livers (keep the pots they are packed in and wash thoroughly)
1 small onion, chopped into 4
3 cloves garlic
2 egg yolks
a lot of salt and black pepper
a splash of brandy or whisky
a dash of double cream
butter

Cover the livers, onions and garlic with water and simmer for about 20 minutes until cooked.
Slide the egg yolks into the water while the liquid is simmering.

When the livers are cooked, pour off the fluid and throw it away. Put the remainder through a mincer or blender. Add plenty of salt and pepper to taste, and more garlic if needed. Then add a splash of brandy or whisky, and a dash of double cream. Combine everything well and re-use the thoroughly washed plastic pots to put the pâté in.

Melt enough butter to cover the top of the pâté. Leave the pâté to cool, then refrigerate and use within a week (although this pâté can be frozen). Serve spread on hot toast with black pepper and fresh lemon juice.

Food is in the air...

From here to there and back again. After cooking for 200 people in Amsterdam last week end, I'm back.
...in the words of legendary rapper Rakim: It's been a long time, I shouldn'ta left you, without a strong rhyme to step to...' or should I say ' a dope recipe to cook to...'