Miss Masala

Here we go again …

‘Indian? You speak very good English?’

It might have been the years of the Raj that clinched it.

‘I love curry. Madras is my favourite.’

At which point, I flung away my CrackBerry and launched into an impassioned monologue about real Indian food. While I was at it, I handed out a 10-minute lesson in Indian history and chucked in some quick Indian cooking tips for good measure. The driver humoured me as we turned into my street.

The lecturing got me thinking. Madras and phal may be figments of the Western culinary imagination (refer to rant (#ulink_d7a18dfe-8295-5c94-83ff-fb894bc67c27)), but some truly authentic dishes have infiltrated British curry-house fare. And not all of them take hours of preparation and stirring. Just the way I like it.

Chicken Jhalfrezi (#ulink_bc324be2-fa26-5e4a-988c-a69eeaca8dea)

Pan-fried chicken with fresh green peppers

Chicken Jhalfrezi is a personal favourite. Literally meaning ‘chilli fried’, a jhalfrezi is an Indian stir-fry. Flummoxed? So was I when I saw the curry-house version – limp green peppers swimming in a watery marinade.

This recipe really is worth dragging the beastly Ken Hom wok from the dark underbelly of my kitchen cabinet. I set it on a high heat. Fry up lean chicken and strips of pepper and onion with the tiniest amount of oil. Rip open a bag of fresh watercress and rocket to serve it on. And say a quiet thanks for chatty cabbies.

Feeds 4

4 skinless chicken thigh fillets

4 tbsp low-fat natural yoghurt

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tsp turmeric powder

/

tsp chilli powder

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 medium onions

1 large tomato

2 green peppers

1 tbsp oil

/

tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp garam masala

25g (1oz) fresh coriander, roughly chopped

salt

1. Slice the chicken into strips and soak it in the yoghurt, tomato purée, turmeric and chilli, adding the lemon juice for extra zing. While it’s marinating, peel the onions and slice these plus the tomato and green peppers into 1cm (

/

in) wide slices.

2. Warm the oil in a wok or large frying pan set over a high heat. When it sizzles, fry the onions and garlic and ginger pastes for 2–3 minutes until softened.

3. Now add the chicken, with its marinade, and stir vigorously for 5 minutes until the meat is sealed evenly. Throw in the tomato slices and keep cooking and stirring over a high heat for about 5 minutes.

4. Finally, toss in the green peppers and garam masala. Cover the wok/pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook for a further 2 minutes until the peppers soften and the chicken has absorbed its yoghurt marinade.

5. Stir in the coriander, add salt to taste and serve the chicken piled high on a bed of mixed green salad leaves tossed with fresh lemon juice, salt and chilli powder.

HOMEMADE GINGER AND GARLIC PASTES

OKAY, HERE’S THE TRUTH.

The one thing I keep failing to achieve is jars of fresh, lovingly prepared homemade ginger and garlic paste. I usually purée the amount I need for a recipe just before I get started. One fat clove of garlic and 1cm (

/

in) root ginger gives approximately 2 teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste when puréed with 1 tablespoon of water.

Jars of store-bought garlic and ginger pastes are a permanent fixture in my fridge for those exceptionally lazy days. If you can be slightly more organised than me, by all means make your own. Twelve fat garlic cloves peeled and puréed in a hand blender with 2 tablespoons of water will give you 12 teaspoons of garlic paste. For ginger, 15cm (6in) peeled root ginger puréed with 2 tablespoons of water will give you about 12 teaspoons of the paste. Seal them tight in well-washed and thoroughly dried glass jars (I reuse empty ginger and garlic paste bottles) and use for up to four days, keeping them in the fridge.

TO MARINATE OR NOT TO MARINATE

Leaving meat to sit for hours is not absolutely essential, but the longer you give it, the more flavoursome and tender it becomes. Plan shopping trips, makeup application and household chores to take place after you’ve whipped up the marinade, to make best use of time.

Aloo Gobi (#ulink_4e120cbe-78df-565c-82da-335854333fe2)

Famous sautéed potato and cauliflower

Aloo Gobi was immortalised in Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham. My mother, unlike her counterpart in the film, would have me turning professional footballer any day over queen of authentic Aloo Gobi. Thankfully, I don’t play football. Which means I am free to hold forth in the back of black cabs, extolling the virtues of this celebrated north Indian dish.

A classic bhuna or stirred dish, Aloo Gobi is cooked in its own juices and best made with the freshest vegetables. Serve it tucked into warm toasted pitta bread.

Feeds 4 Vegetarian

400g (14oz) cauliflower

4 large new potatoes