Tag Archives: curry

I’ve always loved Indian food. It started as a child with my mum’s chicken curry – a fragrant, creamy but surprisingly hot affair that got me enthusiastic about the joy of combining sweet, creamy and spicy flavours. At uni in Leeds there was a shop called Maumoniat General Stores (you can read Jay Rayner reminiscing about its samosas here) which was a wonderful Aladdin’s cave of spices, pulses and tongue-scorching pickles.

It was here that I discovered real Indian ingredients like paneer and tamarind, and would do my weekly shop for under a tenner – buying bunches of coriander, bulbous aubergines and bags of split lentils. But my expertise when it comes to Indian cooking cannot be described as anywhere near sophisticated – I’ve always just gleaned recipes from well-travelled friends and improvised. So when I was offered the chance to do a Indian cookery masterclass with one of the capital’s most revered Indian chefs – Vivek Singh from Cinnamon Club and Kitchen, I jumped at the chance…

“I use spices like an artist uses a paint palette,” says Vivek Singh. “The spicing is the secret to Indian cookery – it comes before ingredients or technique every time.” It’s a Saturday morning and there’s about seven of us gathered around Vivek and his two long-standing chefs of 12 years, Abdul Yaseen and Hari Nagaraj, in the unusually empty kitchen at the Cinnamon Kitchen. We’re here to learn about, and cook some contemporary Indian cuisine, or, more specifically, Vivek’s style of applying traditional Indian techniques and flavours to European ingredients.

First we’re introduced to the spices – tasting black cardamom, which has a menthol, eucalyptus quality to it – and talked through the most commonly used spices like turmeric (which, we’re told has antiseptic qualities), cinnamon and coriander. Then we split off into teams to make each course. This was our decision, and one I’d recommend if you go to a multiple-course class as it means you’ve got time to be really hands-on with your dish, rather than rushing through the repertoire with too much help from the chefs.

I set to work on the starter dish of seared duck breast with sesame with my partner for the morning and chef Hari, who is on-hand to guide us through the cooking. All of the ingredients are provided and specifically arranged for ease when cooking, and Hari is the perfect mentor – explaining exactly why we’re doing what we’re doing, and helping us whilst giving us the autonomy that’s needed to learn. The only point that he has to intervene is when I’m about to be a little heavy handed with the chilli powder and nearly throw our subtly spiced sauce of balance.

At various intervals throughout the cooking (like when we’re marinating the Barbary duck breasts in chilli, salt, oil and ground star anise and cinnamon) we’re encouraged to walk around to the other teams and see what they’re doing – and even get stuck in and taste things. After a couple of hours behind the stoves, when we’ve all had a go at plating our dishes, it’s time to take our seats at the dining bar and be served our handy-work in a procession of courses.

We kick off with a punchy cinnamon bellini before feasting on the pan seared duck with sesame, haddock with crab and kokam berry crust, griddled asparagus and aubergine salsa and a deliciously light desert of Shrikhand (lightly spiced Indian yoghurt) cheesecake. While we’re chowing down on the three courses, which are washed down with a procession of perfectly matched wines (something the restaurant is renowned for) I actually momentarily forget that we’ve done the cooking – I’m that impressed by the standard. So if you’re a connoisseur of curry with a desire to recreate restaurant refinement in your kitchen, go and see Vivek Singh.

By Rosie Birkett