HAKE, SPICED CHICKPEAS, MASALA BUTTER (SERVES 4)
Arun’s Murgh Oudhi – my version of the ever popular, creamy chicken, Murgh Makhani. We’ve based this recipe on a dish my father’s good friend used to enjoy whilst at college in Lucknow (Oudh). Bizarrely enough, this particular recipe uses cheese for added richness, an ingredient used in more opulent, banqueting dishes the rich Northern Indian Nawabs encouraged their chefs to prepare for them. Fresh cardamoms, creamy sauce, simple cooking….beautiful!
WHAT YOU NEED
For the Chickpeas
Ingredients:
1 jar Medium Curry Sauce Green Saffron’s
1 tin chickpeas
For the Masala butter
Ingredients:
200g butter, at room temperature
1½ tsp Green Saffron ‘Garam Masala’ spice mix
½ tsp lemon zest, finely grated
1tblsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
A couple of tsp ofGREEN SAFFRONGaram Masala(optional)
For the Fish (Sea Bream, Hake, Whiting or Salmon (pan-fried))
Ingredients:
4 fillets of your chosen fish
a little (cold-pressed) Rapeseed oil
a little sea salt to season
2 ‘rondelles’ or knobs of ‘Masala Butter’ (see above)
HOW TO MAKE IT
For the chickpeas:
- Pour the ghee sauce into a heavy-bottomed saucepan or casserole dish and heat on a medium flame (temperature)
- Open the tin, drain the chickpeas in a sieve. Discard the salty water – you’re not going to need it. Pour the chickpeas into the pan, turn up the heat and gently stir.
- Heat the mixture until it just starts to bubble, then turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes to reduce the sauce to your required consistency, 8 or 10 minutes will do.
- Then, turn the heat off, sprinkle with GREEN SAFFRON Garam Masala and set aside, keeping it warm.
For the Masala butter:
- Take a small bowl, mix all the ingredients together and pop in the fridge for later.
*N.B. If you like, you could at this point take a square of cling-film, lay it out on your counter-top, place the butter mix at one, then carefully roll it up into a ‘sausage–shape’. Twist each end like a ‘Quality Street’ sweet and pop into the fridge for later. When you need it, simply slice a disc shape off the end, the thickness of a Euro or Pound coin, remove the cling film and off you go!
For the Fish:
- Grab a large thick-bottomed frying pan or skillet, place on medium heat, add a glug of oil and allow to heat up for a minute or two. Ideally, the pan should be hot, but not quite at the smoking point.
- Sprinkle a pinch of salt onto the fillets of fish, then using a fish slice or pallet knife, carefully place the fillets into the pan, skin side down
- Allow cooking until the white flesh starts to just turn opaque and milky, approx. 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet
- Take the pan off the heat, turn the fillets over so the skin side is facing up and add the Masala Butter
- Gently swirl the pan around once or twice making the butter slide around, then set the pan down.
*TIP: have a small jug of water to hand and add the smallest bit to the pan if the butter looks like it’s a little too hot.
To Serve:
- Take a generous couple of tablespoons of the Chickpeas, place in the centre of each dinner plate, pop a fillet of fish on top, then, using a tablespoon, spoon some of the buttery juices from the pan around the fish onto the plate and serve immediately. Ta-dah! Enjoy…
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