What to cook in hot weather - Butter Chicken method and other choices

The simplest recipes are the best and this is no exception.

Butter Chicken Method

Put the tomato paste in a clear measuring jug. Add water slowly, mixing as you go, to make up 8fl oz (225ml) of tomato sauce.

Add the ginger, cream, garam masala, salt, sugar, green chilli, cayenne, green coriander, lemon juice and ground roasted cumin seeds. Mix well. At this stage you can box and fridge until the finishing touch below completing the sauce.

**Heat the butter in a wide sauté pan or a large frying pan. When the butter has melted, add all the ingredients in the measuring jug. Bring to a simmer and cook on a medium heat for a minute, mixing in the butter as you do so.

Now you're ready to add your chicken.

Once again you have chicken choices. I slow cooked chicken breast ahead – one per person plus an extra two for good luck, and then froze. All that remained was to pull it all together and finish off on the day – not forgetting to defrost the chicken in the fridge overnight.

Madhur Jaffrey has another suggestion and that is to add tandoori chicken.

That suggestion gave me an idea for a spot of fusion – of culinary minds that is.

Dipna Anand is co-owner of “Brilliant” restaurant in London. The tandoori chicken is taken from a larger Tandoori Chicken Tikka Salad recipe from Dipna. This is an hommage to Madhur Jaffrey and Dipna Anand. It also proves that recipes that are 40 years old work just as well with “now”!

Chapter and verse to follow

What to cook in hot weather – the curry choices

Before I begin a small tip you may find helpful. I have this habit of re-visiting a menu plan the following day, which again might sound strange, sometimes I miss an element or there'll be an element that doesn't quite fit. In this case I didn't make any tweaks at all so I'm good to go.

I chose Butter Chicken because quite simply it's very popular and always seems to disappear. The Rendang choice is personal to me because I'm a huge fan of sweet and sour flavours. Rendang is Indonesian in origin although it has spread to Malaysia, among other countries in Southeast Asia. It's perfect to put with veggies.

It might seem pointless talking about the intense heat and what to cook after the event but I have a feeling that it will not be the last time we experience it and it's good to have an idea or two in reserve or, you might just fancy a curry in the summer.

There are heaps of Butter Chicken recipes out there – the one I use comes from my favourite Indian cookery book Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery – there was a television series too. I can't believe it's 39 years old!

Here it is :

Chicken in a butter sauce

Makkhani murghi

The sauce in this dish should be folded into butter at the very last minute as it tends to separate otherwise. However, you can combine all the ingredients except the butter up to a day ahead of time and refrigerate them until they are needed.

This is a wonderfully simple but spectacular sauce to which you add chicken.

Serves 4-6

4 tbsp of tomato purée

water to mix

1” (2.5cms) cube of fresh ginger, peeled

and grated very finely to a pulp

½ pint (275ml) single cream

1 tsp garam masala

¾ tsp salt

¼ tsp sugar

1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp very finely chopped fresh green coriander

4 tsps lemon juice

1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds

4oz (110g) unsalted butter

Coming up – the method and your chicken choices continued

What to cook in hot weather – the dessert photos

Here they are :

the Amaretti crumb - there's no set recipe, it's

so useful for desserts - I grab a couple of handfuls

pop into a strong ziploc bag, bash with a rolling

pin and then roll to a fine crumb

the strawberries

check these beauties out – they are

at their best at the moment

the Lemon Pot

All these elements can be made ahead, the pots need two hours minimum to set – I made them in the morning, to be served at teatime the same day.

Back to the beginning of the menu and the curry choices

What to cook in hot weather … the dessert

Since I mentioned I planned my menu backwards it seems only fitting that I begin with the dessert recipe :

Lemon Pots

600ml (1 pint) double cream

150g (5oz) caster sugar

finely grated zest and juice of 3 lemons**

To serve

fresh strawberries

small ramekins or shot glasses

Heat the cream, sugar and lemon zest in a wide-based pan over a low heat until at simmering point. Stir continuously for about 3 minutes until the sugar has dissolved.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly until lukewarm.

Mix the lemon juice with the cooled cream in the pan and stir.

Pour the lemon cream into the pots and transfer to the fridge to set for a minimum of 2 hours.

**If you don't have fresh lemons you can use juice and omit the zest – 4 tbsp of juice is equivalent to one and a half lemons.

Here's a thought – add another easy element :

A strawberry compote

500g ripe strawberries, hulled

4 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Cut the strawberries in half – or quarters if large – place in a large saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer. Cover and cook for 3/5 minutes until dark in colour and syrupy. Compote can be store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. I'd suggest you divide in half and freeze one for a rainy day.

If you prefer a smooth compote blitz and pass through a sieve.

The compote can be made ahead and frozen. Serve in a jug so everyone can help themselves.

Photos up next

What to cook in hot weather …

Cast your mind back to last weekend and Sunday 19^th July in particular when, during soaring temperatures exceeding 30 degrees plus in the UK, it was the British Grand Prix and we were expecting friends to watch and then eat afterwards. Many of us don't look forward to entertaining generally but in recent times getting back into the swing of it has been hard work!

It suddenly struck me that I had to plan a menu to serve relatively quickly after the race which didn't involve me melting in the process and take into account other nightmare considerations - like serving food that is difficult to control temperature-wise in extreme heat - as an example - a prawn salad is not a good idea!

I made two decisions – a flash of inspiration me thinks – the first – definitely no salad and second it's going to be curry. You might not think it but curry is an excellent choice in hot weather – eating hot to stay cool – the heat of the spices makes you sweat - or should I say glow - and sweating cools you down. The science bit – circumin in turmeric helps promote good circulation helping to speed up your blood flow and cool your body down.

I always plan my entertaining with the dessert and then work backwards – strange I know but it works for me. The extreme hot weather actually helped my decisions. Two courses, straight into the main and then dessert. I took advantage of seasonal fresh fruit, in this case bowls of strawberries and cherries, together with a bowl of crushed Amaretti crumb, everyone helps themselves. My final element was a lemon pot – zingy, chilled and a perfect palate cleanser too after curry.

I decided on two curries – here's my final main menu :

Butter Chicken

Rendang with potato, onion and peas

Pilau rice

Naan breads

Mango chutney

Raita

I could make both the curries in advance and fridge. Each of the curries “stood alone” if preferred or together if you like a combination of flavours. The rendang catered for the veggie – me! Served in bowls at the table everyone, once again, could dive in and take whatever they fancied.

Okey dokey, lets get organised!

Chilli con pollo – photos and a tip!

Shopping is always a voyage of discovery – in this case I owe a thank you to my Editor Lucas for the following recommendation!

Mildly Spiced Taco Mixed Beans in

a tomato sauce courtesy of Aldi 55p for 395g

Here's the chilli con pollo – Sally loved it

my work here is done!

Finally, a small tip. If you're trying to tempt a person to eat don't overface and serve a thumping great bowl of chilli, whilst generous, it doesn't work, can be overwhelming and have an adverse effect. There'll always be more if their taste buds are tickled. Less is definitely more!

Next up – what to cook in hot weather

Chilli con pollo – method and optional extras

First up, the method.

Seal the diced chicken in batches in a large frying pan using a drop of rapeseed oil then set aside.

Gently fry your onion and garlic, using another drop of rapeseed oil if necessary. Add the spices and cook together so that the spices are able to release their deliciousness.

Add the passata and the chilli sauce and bring to the boil. Add back the sealed diced chicken and then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Turn off and then leave to cool. At this stage you can freeze in boxes to suit your needs – remember – you can pull out two boxes if you need to, rather than have to throw away from a larger quantity or, if you're serving the whole pan set aside in a cool place and when you are ready to serve fold in the beans and pop the frying pan, uncovered into a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 20 minutes – check and stir after 10 minutes.

If from frozen, defrost thoroughly in your fridge. Re-heat gently on the stove adding your kidney beans or any of the optional extras!

For the optional extras :

150g small dice or sliced chorizo

sweet baby peppers, de-seeded and

finely sliced

Use a large frying pan and fry the chorizo gently so that it releases its oil. Set the chorizo aside, leaving the oil in the pan.

Sauté the sliced, sweet baby peppers in the chorizo oil.

If you enjoy a spicy hit you can use mixed beans in a chilli sauce instead of ordinary red kidney beans.

Serve with rice if you like but I think it's fab in a bowl with a blob of sour cream served with some rustic bread of your choice on the side or with wraps with bowls of relish of your choice – mango would work well.

Freezing serves dishes like chilli or curry very well – the freezing process allows the spices to develop.

Then there's the photos and a tip!