By Christine Salins.
The recipes in Nadiya’s Fast Flavours (Michael Joseph, $49.99) are either very quick to prepare or they are what Nadiya describes as ‘fast in flavour’ – that is, they use clever shortcuts and hacks to create something delicious with less of a wait.
Nadiya Hussain is huge in Britain, where she lives and works. After winning the 2015 Great British Bake Off in a finale watched by more than 13 million viewers, she went on to present several BBC2 cookery programs, reaching a couple of million viewers a week. You might have caught some of her shows if you are a Netflix viewer.
Known for her bold and surprising flavour combinations, Nadiya is always seeking ways to take familiar recipes to the next level. Often, the rule book will be thrown right out the window. This latest book – she’s previously published five others – has a host of everyday recipes divided into chapters with themes such as sour, sweet, spicy, zesty, earthy, fruity, herbal.
Tamarind Chicken, Baked Beans Dirty Rice, and Sumac Plums are just some of the dishes that can be prepared in a flash. Others, such as One-Pan Cheese and Egg Sandwich, Lentil Hummus, Banana Skin Bagels, or Choco-Mint Roll, take up less time than they might, thanks to her touch.
The egg curry here was something Nadiya’s British Bangladeshi family normally ate at home when her mum’s dozen other curries were depleted. “But an egg curry can shine all on its own – it needn’t be the understudy or Plan B to something better,” she says. As someone who believes that eggs make the fastest, most wholesome dishes of all, I certainly agree with that.
Peanut Butter Egg Curry
Serves 4 to 6
6 to 8 duck eggs
6 tablespoons oil
50g unsalted peanuts 1 bay leaf
1 large dried chilli
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed
6 cloves of garlic, minced 2 onions, grated
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons tamarind
3 tomatoes, grated
1 tablespoon curry powder
85g peanut butter 300ml hot water
60g watercress, finely chopped
Hard-boil the duck eggs for 10 minutes in a pan of boiling water, then remove from the heat and peel when cool.
Start by pouring the oil into a shallow non-stick pan. Heat the oil on a medium to high heat. Now make sure each egg is dried of any liquid using kitchen paper. Drop the eggs into the hot oil and encourage them to move around to be scorched and bubble the texture. This should take about 5 minutes and will help the sauce stick to the egg rather than just slide off. Once they are browned and textured all over, remove from the pan.
Now add your peanuts to the pan and toast for a minute till golden, along with the bay leaf and chilli.
Add the crushed coriander seeds and allow to sizzle. Add the garlic and as soon as the garlic is golden, add the grated onion. Cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the onion is golden brown and caramelized.
Now add the salt, tomato paste, tamarind and grated tomatoes and cook till the mixture is dry. Add the curry powder, peanut butter and hot water and leave to simmer till the oil bubbles rise to the top. This should take about 10 minutes.
Add the watercress and stir in till wilted. Add the eggs back in and mix through. It is ready to eat. I like to eat this with rice or naan bread.
Recipe and image from Nadiya’s Fast Flavours by Nadiya Hussain, published by Michael Joseph, $49.99.
