https://www.thecaterer.com/news/trade-deal-chef-visas

As I have a fair amount of pre-cooked cull yaw to use up, and as I wanted a change from cull yaw biriani, I though I would attempt to make a cull yaw dhansak.  As far as I can tell there are no dedicated recipes for either lamb or mutton dhansak on the forum, so I decided to try Richard Sayce's version, which calls for "pre-cooked dhal".  And serendepitously, when I was in Farmfoods yesterday, I noticed that they had 300gm packs of Laila dal tadka which I thought might (a) fit the bill, and (b) cut down on preparation.  So a simple question, "does anyone have experience of Laila dal tadka ?", and if so "what do you think of it, and do you think it would work well in Richard's recipe ?  And I suppose I should ask at the same time "does anyone think that there is a better dhansak recipe than Richard's on which I should base my attempt ?".
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** Phil.

I was in Great Cornish Food (adjacent to Waitrose in Truro) recently, and was looking at the butchery counter where I saw "cull yaw".  Having no idea what "cull yaw" was, I asked the butcher and he explained that when a ewe gets too old to breed, some farmers will give her an extra year of life at pasture, after which she is culled and hung.  The result is meat that is as tender as lamb but with all the flavour of mutton and arguably more.  This sounded perfect for a biryani, so I bought 3/4kg shoulder which I then skinned and diced.  The following is basically the recipe from a Shan Mutton Biryani mix, with notes where I deviated.  The results were out of this world.

CULL YAW BIRYANI

1.   Heat 1 cup of ghee/oil and fry 3-4 medium, finely sliced onions (400gm) until light golden.
2.   Add 750 gm bone-in cull yaw, three tablespoons fresh garlic paste, two tablespoons fresh ginger paste and stir-fry for a minute. Add one packet Shan Memoni Mutton Biryani Mix and stir-fry for 5-6 mins.
3.   Add 3-4 cups of water, 1¼ cup (250g) of plain, whipped yoghurt and two medium (250g), peeled and halved potatoes - [I omitted the potatoes]. Cover and cook on low heat until the meat is tender [For this I used an “Instant Pot” clone, slow cook setting, two hours duration].
4.   Add four medium (300g) diced tomatoes [I probably used less], 10 medium/large whole green chillies and 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (two lemons) [I forgot to add the lemon]. Stir and remove from heat.
5.   Separately:  wash 3½ cups (750g) of Shan Basmati Rice and soak for 30 minutes [or Laila — I didn't bother to wash or soak].  Boil 15 cups (three litres) of water ]Fairly certain that I used far less water than this — 1 cup of basmati rice needs 300 ml water when cooked on the rice setting in an "Instant Pot" or clone if you want no excess water at the end of the cooking period] and stir three tablespoons of Shan salt [I used pink Himalaya] and the soaked rice.  Boil the rice until ¾ cooked [Again, in the Instant Pot clone, 4 minutes on rice setting, with the addition of mixed whole masala — this would have been better put in a strainer container].  Remove and drain thoroughly.
6.   Spread ¾ of the boiled rice in a pot and pour the cooked meat curry over it [I didn’t pour most of the sauce — there was far too much].  Then spread and cover with the remaining rice. Cover and cook on low heat for 10 minutes.
7.   Heat ½ cup of ghee/oil and pour over the rice [I just poured on some of the fatty layer from the sauce — I also added a little green, yellow and red powder food colouring at this stage, and allowed 20 minutes for it to set before stirring].  Mix the rice well bottom to top. Cover and cook for five minutes.

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** Phil.

Masala Chicken

In this chicken dish from Chetna Makan, a crispy, well-seasoned exterior gives way to juicy meat inside. Makan says that after she developed this recipe, she couldn’t stop eating it, and we can see why.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) chickpea flour
• 1/4 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (see Notes)
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder
• 1 teaspoon kasoori methi
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon kala namak
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 4 to 6 chicken thighs, halved, or quartered if large (1 1/4 pounds total)
• 3 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil
• Ginger-chili chutney, for serving (optional)
• Cooked white or brown rice, for serving (optional)
• Naan or flatbreads, for serving (optional)

Directions
Total: 30 mins

• In a large cast-iron or non-stick skillet over a low heat, toast the chickpea flour, stirring constantly, until it starts to darken, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and carefully wipe the hot pan clean.
• To the bowl with the flour, add the yogurt, chili powder, fenugreek, garam masala, kala namak and cumin and stir until well combined. Add the chicken and toss until well coated.
• In a skillet over a medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the chicken in a single layer — it’s okay if some pieces are touching. Cook, undisturbed, until the chicken turns brown and crisp, 4 to 5 minutes. Watch carefully and reduce the heat if the chicken starts to burn. Flip the pieces and continue cooking until the chicken is golden on all sides and cooked through to an internal temperature of 165 degrees C, 3 to 5 minutes. (Thicker pieces of chicken may take a bit longer.) Divide among shallow bowls and serve with chutney, rice and/or naan, if using.

Notes

Be sure to use plain yogurt, not Greek yogurt, when making this recipe. If you have only the latter, thin it with a few tablespoons of water or chicken stock until it is the consistency of plain yogurt.

Storage: Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 350-degree oven or toaster oven for about 10 minutes, or until heated through.

Adapted from “Chetna's 30 Minute Indian: Quick and Easy Everyday Meals” by Chetna Makan (Mitchell Beazley, 2021).

In modern Indian cookery, "curry" refers to spice blends with turmeric as their key ingredient; spice blends without turmeric are called masala.

Source:  https://www.etymonline.com/word/curry#etymonline_v_491
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** Phil.