Kansal is in a “great place right now, I’m really, really happy” and has learnt she doesn’t have to fit in with anyone and can play with any flavours she likes, hence her ‘cross- pollination’ approach to cooking, melding Middle Eastern, Indian, Mexican and even Greek food ideas into her recipes.“I don’t have to make any excuses,” she says. Her style is “comfort food with an Indian soul” packed with notes of salty, sweet, crunchy and freshness, thanks to vast amounts of fresh coriander, mint, pomegranate, garlic, ginger, chillies and cumin – the ingredients she couldn’t live without. However, unlike many chefs and food writers, Kansal’s interest in cooking was not handed down via parents and grandparents.“My mum is a terrible cook. My grandma was even worse, and my dad is also not a good cook, but is a carb fiend,” explains Kansal. He’d make a mean masala omelette and Bombay-style Welsh rarebit, and her mum “loves to eat” and would take Kansal to roadside stalls in India to try the spiciest, most innovative dishes the street vendors were conjuring. Inadvertently, her mum did get her into cooking though – by putting her foot down.“It was getting really embarrassing that nobody ever wanted to come to our house for dinner because my mum would have four things in her spice box, and would only make aloo gobi, a chicken curry, one or two chutneys, and a dal,” says Kansal, who aged around 12 or 13, asked if her mum could make something different and got thoroughly shot down.
When they were next in India, Kansal went shopping for spices, started growing radishes and gooseberries at home, then took over the kitchen and became the dedicated cook of the family.The first meal she made was a vegetable biryani with gooseberry chutney and apple raita. Having trained in law and then worked in her family’s property business though, her family were a little surprised about making food her career.“It was like,‘Have you gone mad? You’re going to go and flip burgers?’ They were just like,‘No, what are you doing?’ And now it’s like, Oh, okay, we always knew you could do it,’” says Kansal with a laugh. “Now they’re ecstatic.” Bindas: Comfort Food with an Indian Soul by Mehak Kansal is published in hardback by Murdoch Books, priced £23.
1–2tsp salt, according to taste 200g canned plum tomatoes, puréed 1½tsp caster sugar 300ml double (heavy) cream, plus extra to serve
FOOD Recipe Makhani
Mehak Kansal’s chicken or paneer makhani recipe By Ella Walker, PA “This is the recipe that put Bindas on the map. It is our best-selling and most sought-after curry: butter chicken,” says food writer and cookery book author, Mehak Kansal. “A truly decadent, creamy, herby, slightly spicy, slightly sweet curry made with cream and tomatoes. I am sure there will be a permanent fold or bookmark kept on this page.You can use chicken or paneer for this recipe.” Ingredients: (Serves 4-6)- 700g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces, or 600g paneer, cut into cubes Handful of coriander, chopped, to serve (optional) For the marinade: 2tbsp Greek-style yoghurt
3tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Method:
1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Add the chicken or paneer to the marinade and stir to coat. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for at least two hours, preferably overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 175°C (330°F/gas mark 3–5). Line a baking tray with foil.
Photography by Sam Folan.Available now
3.Transfer the marinated chicken or paneer to the prepared tray and roast for 25–30 minutes until tender – do not overcook. 4. Meanwhile, prepare the makhani sauce. Heat the ghee in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium–high heat. Add the onion, chillies, and garlic and ginger purées, and cook for five to seven minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is brown and caramelised. 5.Add the ground spices and salt, along with the puréed tomatoes, and reduce the heat to medium–low. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, then stir in the sugar and reduce the heat to low.Allow the sauce to gently bubble for two minutes, then take the pan off the heat. 6. Use a hand blender to purée the sauce until nice and smooth, then return it to a medium heat. Cover and cook for five minutes, stirring every minute or so. Once the ghee starts rising to the surface, add in the cream, then crush the kasoori methi in your hands and sprinkle those in too. 7. Once the chicken or paneer is ready, add it to the sauce, along with six to seven tablespoons of the juices from the tray. Cook over a low heat for two minutes to combine, then transfer to a serving dish. Swirl in another tablespoon of cream, sprinkle over the coriander and enjoy.
2tbsp ghee, melted 1tbsp garlic purée 1tbsp ginger purée 1tsp tomato paste (concentrated purée)
1½tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground turmeric
1tsp garam masala 1tbsp chilli powder 1tsp salt For the makhani sauce: 3–4tbsp ghee 1 onion, finely chopped 2 green bird’s-eye chillies, finely chopped
2tbsp garlic purée 2tbsp ginger purée
1½tsp ground cumin 1tsp ground coriander 1½tsp ground turmeric 1tsp chilli powder 1tsp ground green cardamom 1½tsp garam masala
Photo: chicken or paneer makhani from Bindas
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