A new trend is to take some classic regional dishes and giving them a contemporary makeover with new flavours and cooking technique
The trend now is to go back to the roots and find the gems of the different cuisines around the world. But the idea is not just to reinvent the dishes of a region but to make them more contemporary and give them a global appeal. This would endear the dishes both to the well-travelled locals as well as the international travellers.
Indian food was traditionally a ‘curry and side dish concept’. This is undergoing a metamorphosis with chefs incorporating different, interesting and complementing flavours on a single plate. Now it’s about marriage of different flavours on the same plate.
There is also a lot of emphasis on smaller and healthy dishes and using the most modern cooking techniques such as sous vide (slow cooking in a vacuum bag). This helps keep the meat succulent and juicy without it losing much of the natural juices and flavours as compared to very rigorous cooking.
An example is the dish called ‘stuffed chicken breast served with coriander rice and honey spiced carrots’ which is actually an improvisation of ‘chicken chaps’. As the chicken is slow cooked at 80°C for around 1.5 hours, it will keep the chicken very tender. It is served with a mild and spicy coconut-based gravy. The sweetness of the coconut milk is balanced by the spiciness of the coriander rice. Also, the honey will accentuate the sweetness of the carrots and will be balanced by the chilli flakes. The plate is vibrant with lots of colours incorporated.
Rajeev Menon is an Executive Chef at Crowne Plaza, Kochi
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Adaptation of classic fish moilee into a soup and this in turn baked with pathiri dough. The crispy baked covering keeps the aroma of the soup intact and also acts as a crispy accompanying bread for the soup
Baked seafood thengapal (coconut milk) soup, crispy pathiri (bread) dough
- Prawns chopped 1 tbsp
- Seer fish cubes 1 tbsp
- Squid rings 1 tbsp
- Mussels 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Black pepper crushed 1/2 tsp
- Onion chopped 1 tbsp
- Ginger chopped 1 tsp
- Curry leaves chopped 1 tsp
- Coriander leaves chopped 1 tsp
- Green chilli chopped 1 tsp
- Tomato 1/3
- Fish stock 1/2 cup
- Coconut milk 1/3 cup
Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped vegetables and sweat them until soft. Add the turmeric powder and the seafood. Sauté well.
Now add the fish stock and allow it to simmer for 10 minutes. Add coconut milk and finish.
Pathiri dough
- Roasted rice flour 1 cup
- Water ½ cup
- Cumin 1 tsp
- Coconut grated 1/2 cup
- Shallots sliced 2
- Ghee 1 tsp
- Salt to taste
Boil water, add ghee and salt. Remove from fire and add the rice flour and knead well. Lightly crush the coconut, cumin and shallots in a mixie with a single spin. Add the mixture to the dough and knead well. Make the dough and roll out a thin pathiri. Pour the soup into a bowl and cover the neck with the rolled pathiri and seal the sides with water. Bake in preheated oven at 200º C for 5 minutes.
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Using the classic recipe of ‘chicken chaps’. Cook the chicken in a modern sous vide cooking method to retain the moisture and succulent texture. it’s a Complete meal with starch and vegetables. Mild spiced curry sauce is well complimented by sweetness of carrots and spiciness of coriander rice
Stuffed chicken breast
- Chicken breast without skin — 1
- Chicken minced 40 gm
- Onion chopped 1 tbsp
- Ginger and garlic paste 1/2 tsp
- Chopped green chilli 1/2
- Curry leaves 4
- Coconut oil 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
To make stuffing, heat oil in a pan and sauté onion, ginger and garlic, green chilli, curry leaves, turmeric powder. Now, add the minced chicken and cook. Make a small slit on the side of the chicken breast and stuff with the mixture.
- Mild spiced coconut gravy
- Coconut oil 2 tbsp
- Onion sliced 1
- Ginger & garlic paste 1 tbsp
- Green chilli slit 3
- Curry leaves 1 sprig
- Chilli powder 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
- Coriander powder 2 tsp
- Fennel powder ½ tsp
- Tomato sliced 1/2
- Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
- Coconut milk 1/2 cup
- Chicken stock 1/2 cup
- Salt as required
Heat oil in a pan and add onion, ginger, green chilli, curry leaves. Sauté until the raw smell of ginger and garlic disappears and onion becomes soft. Add all the dry spices and sauté. Now add the sliced tomato, chicken stock and let it simmer slowly. Finish with coconut milk and garam masala. Strain the gravy and reserve.
Coriander rice
Cooked basmati rice 100 gm
Ghee 1 tsp
For paste
- Coriander 1 small bunch
- Green chilli 1
- Salt
Make a paste of coriander and green chilli Toss the rice with ghee and coriander paste to get a dark green colour.
- Honey glazed carrots
- Carrot cut into batons 8
- Butter 1/2 tsp
- Honey 1 tsp
- Chilli flakes pinch
- Spring onion leaf 1
- blanched
Cook the carrot batons in boiling water, toss with butter, honey and chilli flakes. Tie the carrots into a bundle with spring onion leaf.
Finishing
Marinate the chicken breast with chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt. Sear the chicken on a hot pan. Vacuum pack the chicken breast with half of the gravy. Gently simmer a pot with water and immerse the bag into it and cook for 45 minutes ensuring all the while the water doesn’t boil. Once it is cooked, pour the juices into the remaining gravy and reduce to sauce consistency. Serve with coriander rice, honey spiced carrots and papad.
