Atul's Curries of The World, by Atul Kochhar Published by Absolute Press, an imprint of Bloomsbury publishing On sale from 14 March 2013, £20.00 Hardback. Atul Kochhar’s latest cookery book looks beyond India to embrace curry recipes from all over the world. His trademark approach to recipe writing demystifies the complexities of curry cooking while this time, incorporating spices and flavours beyond his usual repertoire. This beautifully photographed book will have you reaching for your spice rack. Here, Atul shares with Food Tripper a preview of his global curry collection. ATUL KOCHHAR: "I grew up in India where I was lucky enough to live and study in different parts of the country so I have been exposed to all kinds of different Indian curries. But I’ve also been living in the UK for over 20 years so am very familiar with the British ‘curry house’ and its offerings. And in my work as a chef, I’ve had the good fortune to travel, sampling food from all over the world. I think this global selection reflects just how wide-ranging our ‘national dish’ can be and I hope you will enjoy experimenting with the flavours and culinary styles as much as I’ve enjoyed writing, learning about and above all cooking them!" CAMBODIAN CHICKEN CURRY Karry Sach Moan Khmer
Kroeung, the Cambodian curry paste, has an amazing blend of spicy flavours that are unique to this country, including turmeric, lemongrass and galangal. Spicy and rich, with a sour flavour cutting through – that’s the balance required for curries
from this part of the world. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan and fry the potatoes over a medium heat until lightly coloured. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside until required. Add the chicken to the pan and, using the same oil, fry over a medium heat until lightly
coloured all over. Heat the remaining tablespoon of the oil in a wok and sauté the kroeung paste on a medium heat for 5–7 minutes or until aromatic. Add half the coconut milk and simmer slowly to reduce until the
paste becomes shiny and the oil starts separating out. Add the onion, fish sauce, sugar, star anise, cinnamon and salt to taste. Sauté for 2–3 minutes, then add the chicken and the remaining coconut milk and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the potatoes and mix them in, then continue simmering until they are completely tender and the chicken is cooked through. Add the spinach leaves, stir and remove them as they
wilt. Serve with rice and garnish with the pickled onions. Ingredients 3 tablespoons vegetable or groundnut oil 500g potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges 4–6 tablespoons Kroeung (Cambodian Spice Paste; see page 224) 500ml coconut milk 8–10 chicken drumsticks, with skin 1 onion, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons fish sauce 4 teaspoons sugar 4 star anise a 5cm cinnamon stick salt a handful of baby spinach leaves
pink pickled onions, to garnish Extract taken from Atul’s Curries of the World, by Atul Kochhar. |