For many of us, Indian food conjures up images of a naughty but nice takeaway with all the trimmings, or a quick and calorific curry ready meal.
But chef Dipna Anand is determined to prove that there are healthy ways to enjoy all your favourites, from tandoori dishes to Bombay potatoes, without sacrificing flavour.
"A lot of people think Indian food is oily and greasy, and it can't be made without a lot of butter and ghee, but that's not the case at all," says the 30-year-old, whose family has run the award-winning Brilliant Restaurant in Southall, West London, since the 70s.
And to prove it she has just written her first book Beyond Brilliant, which features healthy dishes among its more than 40 recipes.
Here is one to try at home.
Ingredients (Serves 4-5):
350g boneless chicken, cut into small tikka-sized pieces
300g basmati rice (washed, soaked for 30 minutes and drained)
1 medium-sized onion, finely sliced
4 green finger chillies, finely chopped or made into a paste
1 whole green chilli, cut into julienne strips
2tbsp ginger/garlic paste
125g Greek yoghurt
10 ginger julienne strips
2tbsp fried onions
1tsp red food colouring (liquid)
1tsp green food colouring (liquid)
1tbsp chopped fresh coriander
8tbsp vegetable oil
15g salted butter, cut into cubes
350ml water
2tsp salt or to taste
1tsp kewda water (optional) – sprinkle as garnish at the end
1tsp rose water – sprinkle as garnish at the end
Spices: 8 cloves, 6 black peppercorns, 5 pods whole mace, 4 green cardamoms, 4 black cardamoms, 3 small cinnamon sticks, 3 dried bay leaves, 11/2tsp garam masala, 11/2tsp cumin seeds and 1tsp red chilli powder.
Method:
1. Finely slice the onion and leave to one side. Next, evenly coat the chicken with the yoghurt, ginger and garlic paste, red chilli powder, chopped green chillies, salt, garam masala, black peppercorns, mace, cloves, green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf. Leave to one side.
2. In a saute pan on a medium heat, add the oil and once heated add the cumin seeds, fry the cumin seeds for one minute in the oil and then add the sliced onions.
3. Cook the onions in the oil for about three minutes until golden. Add the marinated chicken spiced yoghurt mixture to the saucepan and cook for about four minutes.
4. Add the water to the saute pan, cover the saucepan and bring to the boil. Once the water is boiling, add the drained rice to the saute pan. Stir to even out and put the lid onto the pan.
5 After a minute, take the lid off, stir gently and put the lid on again. After another minute, do the same again. After another minute or so, the water will have been absorbed quite a lot. At this stage, lower the heat and slow cook for about 3-4 minutes with the saute pan lid on (gently stirring twice during this time).
6. Then sprinkle the ginger juliennes and green chilli juliennes on the top of the biryani, together with the fried onions and three cubes of butter and also the liquid food colouring (red and green of each colour, drops in random parts of the of pan) and cover the biryani with foil and saute pan lid (still on a low heat). Let the biryani steam cook for another two minutes. Do not stir.
7. Switch off the heat and leave in the pan for another five minutes
8. Remove the lid and the foil from the saute pan and add the final touches to the biryani: fresh chopped coriander and sprinkles of kewda and rose water.
9. Finally, gently lift the rice from sides of the saute pan to combine, using a flicking motion with a wooden spoon to open up and separate the rice grains. Be careful not to break the rice grains, then serve.
Beyond Brilliant by Dipna Anand is published by RMC Books, priced £19.95.
