We’re simply thrilled to share the (extra-special, not-even-in the-book) recipe for Chef Naved's Chilli Chicken, inspired by an Indo-Chinese favourite from Bombay’s Leopold Cafe. We’ve been inundated with requests for an at-home recipe for this much-loved café staple and Chef was only too happy to oblige. We sincerely hope you enjoy it.
500g skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
Vegetable oil, for deep frying
For the marinade
20ml malt vinegar
20ml dark soy sauce
5g white pepper
A pinch of salt
A pinch of ajinomoto (MSG) (optional)
15g coriander stalks, finely chopped
1 small free range egg
85g cornflour
40g strong flour
For the sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
250g red onions, finely chopped
60g ginger, grated
60g garlic, chopped
35g green chillies, very finely chopped
35ml rice vinegar
60ml dark soy sauce
A pinch of ajinomoto (MSG) (optional)
1 tsp sugar
To serve
Spring onions, finely chopped
Lime wedges
For other Dishoom recipes, please see Dishoom: from Bombay with love, our cookery book and highly subjective guide to Bombay.
As a thirteen year old boy in Delhi with endless energy and appetite, I treasured Sunday mornings. I’d wake up early, jump on my rickety Hero Cycle bicycle and hurriedly pedal five miles to a park close to Shantivan and Raj Ghat. There, me and my friends would set-up makeshift stick stumps and play cricket for hours… or until our minds and bellies turned (inevitably) to food.
The festival of Eid al-Fitr (literally “the Celebration of the Breaking of the Fast”) marks the conclusion of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month where restraint and discipline must be practised.
In India, mealtimes are very much a family affair and everything is shared which makes these cheese-and-pastry twirls perfect for making together this half-term. They’re incredibly easy to make, which make them just right for keeping little hands happily occupied during the holidays.
The culmination of Ramadan will bring with it Chand Raat (the night of the moon), an evening of great excitement and unity. It’s the eventide or moment the first crescent moon of the month is observed, which marks the end of the holiest month of the Islamic calendar, a period of fasting, prayer and reflection, and the start of Eid, the beginning of great festivities.