Nargisi or Shahi Kofta

Been away from the kitchen for a few days - well, it was my birthday!

These tasty treats take a little time to make however they are a real treat and worth the time and effort that goes into making the “Royal” dish, as we used to call the koftas (scotch egg curry for the non Asian eaters) due to the name.

Preparation & Cooking 2 hours + overnight soaking

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 kg meat cut into cubes
half cup chana daal (lentil) soaked in water overnight
2 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon poppy seed
4 medium onions finely chopped
2 tablespoon peanut paste
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 table spoon garlic and ginger paste
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (for curry)
enough oil to deep fry egg koftas
salt to taste
½ teaspoon saffron soaked in 1 tablespoon rose water
10 eggs hard boiled and shelled
1 egg beaten
1 large bunch coriander finely chopped
4 green chillies

Method

• First boil the meat cubes in 2 cups of water. When meat has boiled for 5 minutes, put the chana daal, pinch of salt & 1 teaspoon garam masala and mix well.
• Cook in a medium heat until the meat and chana dal is fully cooked and water has dried. Let it cool for 10 minutes, then mix 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds in the meat and grind into a mince.
• Mix the beaten egg into the ground meat. This will help to bind when you are wrapping the meat mix around the eggs.
• Chill the mince mix in the fridge for 15 minutes to firm up. Mix half the chopped coriander and then divide the mix into 10 parts.
• Now comes the fun bit. Flatten each mince mix to a patty shape, wrap around an egg and then gently fold the mixture until the whole egg is covered. Press to ensure there are no air pockets. Think scotch egg!
• Deep fry the wrapped eggs until light brown. Drain on kitchen paper and when slightly cooled (do not let it become cold) halve all the egg koftas.
• Put the halved egg koftas in the curry sauce, add rest of coriander and whole chillies, then simmer for 15 minutes before serving with plain rice and raita.

Curry

• Put oil in the pan and fry the chopped onions until golden brown. Add ginger/garlic paste, turmeric, cumin & chilli powder along with 1 teaspoon garam masala & peanut paste and cook on medium heat till the powder smell disappear and you have a thick gravy.
• Add half cup water and cook until it boils, reduce heat and add the rosewater/saffron mix in the gravy and mix well. Check seasoning before adding the egg koftas.

Note

If you do not have a large pan to accommodate all 20 egg halves then once the curry is made, pour half in a large baking dish, add the eggs and pour the rest of curry on top, add coriander and whole chillies. Bake in a very slow oven for 15 to 20 minutes. You will know the dish is cooked when some oil rises to the top of the dish.

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing

Here, after a couple of busy days, is the recipe to go with the pictures below! I used a mix of white and wholemeal flour to give it some texture and lots of carrots to make the cake moist. The cake will keep for up to three days but in our house it does not even last a day!

Preparation:  20 minutes             

Cooking: 1 hour

Tin size: 23 cm round or 20 cm square greased and lined with baking paper

Oven: 180C (fan 160C)

Ingredients

3 cups thickly grated carrots

1 plain flour

¾ cup whole meal flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ginger

½ teaspoon mixed spice

¾ cup roughly chopped walnuts

¾ cup sultanas

3 large eggs

1 ½ cups dark brown sugar

¾ cup vegetable oil

Method

• Whisk oil and sugar together until combined.
• Add eggs one at a time beating well into the mixture.
• Sift flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda & spices over the wet mix and stir with a metal spoon until almost combined.
• Then add the grated carrots, sultanas and walnuts – mix well with the spoon.
• Pour into the prepared tin & bake for 60 minutes or until a skewer (inserted in the middle) comes out with clean/with little crumbs. Check the cake after 40 minutes and cover with baking paper if browning too much.
• Cool in tin, then tip out on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, spread with icing of your choice.

Cream cheese icing

Take 250g full fat cheese and mix with a wooden spoon till smooth. Add 1 ½ cups sifted icing sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of finely grated lemon rind and 1 ½ teaspoons of lemon juice and mix until well combined. Spread over the cake and chill in fridge for one hour before serving.

Notes

• If you don’t like icing then just give a dusting of icing sugar or simply eat plain – the cake is yummy eaten warm or cold.
• If you don’t like nuts, substitute with half a cup extra of sultanas.
• To make the cake more decorative, place whole walnuts on top of the cake mix before baking.