An Indian Meal Cooked Over an Open Fire

Inspired by unusually hot April weather and a family request for a curry meal, I decided that I needed to be outside in that glorious early evening sunshine and cook the whole meal on the barbeque. That's everything, rice, vegetables, bread and the main dish itself.

I'd spent a fair amount of time driving to and from meetings in the afternoon so I had plenty of time to mentally plan how I would do this. It would all be done over charcoal making the most of the gradually decreasing cooking temperature over 45 minutes or so.

I decided on a menu:

- Grilled tiger prawn tandoori kebabs

- Chicken tikka with red peppers and spring onions

- Broccoli with ginger, garlic and spring onion cooked in foil

- Steamed basmati rice

- Wholemeal chapatis

- Cucumber raita

(see below for all recipes)

This meal took a leisurely two hours from start to finish. First I prepared all of the raw ingredients and marinades before lighting the charcoal briquettes in the chimney starter. All of the ingredients and utensils came into the garden with me and the rest was done sitting by the brazier in the early evening sun.

There was a fair amount to prepare so I started by making the chapati dough and wrapping it in foil to be rolled out later. Then the chicken breast pieces were left to marinate in the tikka curry paste and the defrosted tiger prawns in the tandoori marinade. I then prepared all of the onions, red peppers, garlic, and grated ginger for each of the recipes.

The meal was to be served at 6pm, so I needed to ignite the charcoal in the chimney starter just before 5, allowing 20 minutes for the coals to come to temperature. Once the coals were ready I heaped them in the centre of the brazier to create a hot spot in the middle and less hot areas around the edges.

RECIPES (all recipes to serve 4, generously):

GRILLED TIGER PRAWN TANDOORI KEBABS

- 20 defrosted tiger prawns

- 1 tbsp tandoori masala spice mix (I used Natco brand)

- 1 tbsp natural yoghurt

- 2 spring onions cut into 3cm lengths and split down the centre

- Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

- 1 lime cut into 4 wedges

Put the prawns, spice mix and yoghurt in a bowl for 20 minutes or so. Thread the prawns onto metal skewers (or thoroughly soaked bamboo skewers) with a slice of spring onion between the prawns. Grill over the coals about 10 minutes before serving. The coals will be gentler by then. Garnish with the coriander leaves and serve with lime wedges. Makes a great starter.

CHICKEN TIKKA WITH RED PEPPERS & SPRING ONIONS

- 3 large chicken breasts cut into cubes

- 1/2 jar of tikka masala paste (Pataks in this case)

- 2-3 spring onions

- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped

- 1 red pepper chopped

- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes

- 1 large handful of fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped

- Olive oil

Start by mixing the chicken, tikka masala paste, spring onions and half of the coriander leaves in a bowl to marinate for 1/2 hour or so. Once the coals are ready and at their hottest, fry the chicken marinade mix in a large (metal handled!)  frying pan in the centre of the fire in a bit of oil. Stir constantly for 5 minutes or so until the chicken pieces are mostly cooked. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and put it back in the bowl and cover with foil.

Add a bit more oil and fry the onions and red peppers until the onions are just soft. You may need to add a bit of liquid (water or beer) to loosen any spices stuck to the pan. Then add the tin of tomatoes, give it a good stir and let the sauce cook down for 10-15 minutes. About 10 minutes before serving, return the chicken pieces to the pan, stir will and bring back to a simmer. Move the pan to the edge to keep it warm.

Serve the chicken tikka masala with a generous garnish of fresh coriander.

BROCCOLI WITH GINGER, GARLIC & SPRING ONION COOKED IN FOIL

- 1 medium sized head of broccoli cut into pieces

- 2cm cube of fresh ginger, grated (I keep ginger in the freezer, easier to grate and always fresh)

- 3-4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

- 2-3 spring onions, roughly chopped

- 1/4 cup of water or chicken stock

Find a flat bottomed cereal or pasta bowl and line it with two layers of foil, leaving plenty overhanging the edges. Place the spring onions on the bottom, add the broccoli pieces, and then the garlic and grated ginger on top and add the water or stock. Make a lid (a bit like a pie!) with another piece of foil and tightly seal the edges to make a flat bottomed parcel.

Place the parcel around the edge of the coals turning them every few minutes to make sure it cooks evenly and the bottom doesn't burn. Allow at least 20-30 minutes, slow and gentle is best and it takes a while to start off. If you listen carefully you should just hear a gentle simmer going on inside and a small amount of steam escaping.

STEAMED BASMATI RICE

-1 cup of washed basmati rice

- 2 cups of water

- 2 bay leaves

Put the washed rice, water and bay leaves in a small saucepan with a lid. Put the sauce pan around the edge of the fire without the lid, giving it a shake every now and then until it starts to simmer. Keep checking it and once the water gets to the level of the rice put the lid on and keep it to the edge, turning the pot every now and then. From this point the rice needs only 5 minutes of gentle heat, and then a further five just kept warm with the lid still on. You could remove it from the heat and wrap it in a tea towel.

I would start the rice about 30 minutes before serving. It takes a bit to get going, and will stay hot in the covered pan until needed.

WHOLEMEAL CHAPATIS

One of my all time favourite unleavened breads. Great for camping and can be made with white flour for a softer Mediterranean version. See one of my very first posts: Unleavened Bread

- 200g wholemeal flour (strong or plain)
- 90ml warm water
- 1 tbsp olive oil

Mix the ingredients in a bowl with a knife and knead for a few minutes until fully blended. Wrap the ball of dough in cling film or foil at least an hour before it is required.

It will only take about 5-7 minutes to cook so when ready, divide the dough into 4 and roll each piece out on a floured board to about 20cm in diameter. The coals should be fairly gently by now, so grill the breads a minute or so on each side until puffy and just browned. As they become ready, wrap them in a tea towel to keep them warm and prevent them from drying out. If the fire is really hot when you are cooking them, cook them on a dry skillet instead.

CUCUMBER RAITA

- 1/2 peeled cucumber, chopped
- 2-3 tbsp natural yoghurt
- 1/4 tspn garam masala
- pinch of salt

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and serve.

A Moroccan Menu

January is always a Fire Food challenge. Fortunately, we had planned a dinner party for a few lovely friends and after trawling our library of recipe books found a main course that would define the Moroccan theme for the evening.

Then began the research. Choosing a theme is great because it focusses the mind and provides a framework for deciding the menu. Hankering for some warmer weather and desperate to burn some charcoal, a Mediterranean/North African meal just felt right.

Moroccan food culture is wonderfully ritualised and steeped in tradition. Loads of lovingly prepared courses are designed to delight and comfort the guests. Sometimes dozens of tiny courses are served, usually local dishes and prepared over a period of days. Bread making takes on an almost religious role, families use their own traditional recipes and the children take the loaves to communal ovens for baking.

Our UK lifestyle required a practical adaptation to the Moroccan approach. We planned the meal around three courses, where the Moroccans may have turned the same meal into six or seven:

FIRST COURSE: Moroccan spiced chicken skewers with parsley, almond and feta, home made unleavened bread and mint yoghurt

MAIN COURSE: Lamb with anchovy and harissa, sprouting broccoli and slow roasted tomatoes

DESSERT: Cinnamon oranges

The skewers and unleavened bread would be cooked over charcoal on the Weber to keep the smoke out of the kitchen, and the lamb was to go in the oven.

The starter is from a recipe we found at waitrose.com, the main course came from the 'Autumn' section of a fabulous cook book "A Year in My Kitchen" by Skye Gyngell, and the desert recipe was discovered at eHow.com under "Easy Moroccan Desserts" .

I got back from food shopping some time after 2pm and loads of various elements needed preparing. I was lucky to have just enough time before my guests arrived at eight. As usual, I prepared a plan. It began by toasting and grinding the spice mixes by hand, one for the kebabs and one for the harissa. Several large red peppers were blackened under the grill and their skin removed (for the harissa). 6 cloves of garlic were then crushed for the chicken rub and harrisa, and another two cut into slivers for the lamb.

The slow roasted tomatoes would take 3-4 hours at 100 degress, so they went in the oven. Medium sized red ripe vine tomatoes were halved, sprinkled with a bit of salt and sugar and laid out, cut side up, on a baking dish.

To feed eight, I bought two small legs of lamb. I was worried that one large leg might not do and was hoping for some leftovers anyhow. I removed the bone from each leg and 'butterflied' the lamb. I laid the lamb skin side up in a large baking dish before poking holes every 3-4cm with a paring knife and pushing a sliver of garlic and half an anchovy fillet into each one. I brushed the lamb with melted butter, seasoned it with lots of pepper and a bit of salt, covered it with foil and put it aside at room temperature.

The recipes required coriander, mint and parsley, so I chopped them finely and put them in sealed containers in the fridge.

The spice rub for the chicken skewer starter is a delightful mixture of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, saffron, turmeric, garlic, salt, lemon zest and olive oil. The recipe called for boned chicken thighs, but I opted to use breast instead. My charcoal fire was going to be hot and the risk was that thigh may have been undercooked when burnt on the outside. Breast takes minutes to cook and should be just lightly charred on the outside.

Following the quantities in the waitrose.com recipe, there was an abundance of the spice rub. I used four chicken breasts for 8 small skewers, and each cube of breast was thoroughly coated into what became an intensely aromoatic crust after just a few minutes of char-grilling. I used metal skewers (even soaked bamboo skewers would not survive this kind of heat) and put coriander leaves between each cube of chicken.

The parsley, almond and feta salad came out very differently to what the recipe intended. Firstly, after visiting two major supermarkets and the fruit and veg stall at our local market, flat leaf parsley was nowhere to be found. Curly parsley only. I prepared all of the ingredients, crumbled the feta, toasted and chopped the almonds, chopped the dates and added the parsley. Possibly something to do with the type of feta I used, but mixing it all together, however gently created something that resembled more of a dip than an salad. Nonetheless, the flavour was great and it would still look good on the mezze style plate for the starter.

For the unleavened bread I used my favourite method. Basically an Indian chapatti recipe, but using plain white flour instead of wholemeal, and olive oil instead of ghee. I made the dough a couple of hours before the guests arrived, wrapped it in foil and left it at room temperature. I made enough dough for 4 small flat breads (1 cup of flour) so each starter plate could be served with two quarter pieces.

The minted yoghurt to be served with the starter was basically a Greek tsatsiki recipe, using drained grated cucumber, a mixture of fresh and dried mint, crushed garlic, a squeeze of lemon and a bit of olive oil. I made this in advance and put it in the fridge to chill.

I prepared the harissa in the food processor, being careful not to put in too much chilli, covered it with cling film and left it room temperature. Meanwhile, my lovely wife prepared the cinnamon oranges and put them in the fridge.

Finally, I washed and trimmed the broccoli, prepared a light, herby stock with a bit of saffron added for the cous cous (to be prepared just before serving).

With the guests arriving at eight, I had just enough time to clear up the kitchen and put some decent clothes on. I would put lamb in the oven and light the charcoal once the guests arrived and hoped that the rest of the timing would all fall into place.

By 8:15, they had all arrived. After we provided everyone with a drink and made the necessary introductions, the lamb went into the preheated oven and I lit the Weber chimney starter. This meant 20 minutes before I could grill the kebabs and make the bread, and an hour before we could serve the main course. The recommended cooking time for the lamb was 40 minutes plus resting, 20 minutes under foil and 20 minutes to brown the skin side.

Whilst waiting for the charcoal fire to mature, I rolled out the four flat breads and wrapped them in a tea towel to stop them drying out. As planned the coals were searingly hot in good time so on went the paella pan to heat up for the bread, on on went the skewers. I was constantly moving them about to stop them burning whilst cooking the flat bread and wrapped them in a cloth to keep them warm. The whole thing took just a few minutes, five at the most, and the starter was ready to serve.

I covered the skewers with foil in the hot pan I had used for the bread to keep them warm back in the kitchen whilst the feta, parsley and almond "salad" and tsatsiki were spooned out. I finished off the plate with the hot skewers, pieces of flat bread, a lemon wedge, a single caper berry and a sprinkling of fresh coriander leaves over the chicken.

Needless to say, it went down a treat. The sweet and sour provided by the feta and dates, refreshment from the yoghurt, lemon and mint, and the intense complex flavour of the marinated chicken worked for me. The starter was sufficiently substantial to bridge the 30 minutes or so before the main course would be ready.

For the main course, all there was left to do was steam the broccoli, prepare the cous cous, carve the lamb and serve it up. Using my just sharpened carbon steel Opinel knife, I carved the lamb into thin slices across the grain of the muscle and returned them to the baking dish to keep warm under foil. I put the dish on the hob with a gentle flame to keep the pan juices hot for serving.

The sliced lamb, brocolli, pan juices and harissa were served on to warmed plates and garnished with two roasted tomatoes.

The lamb was not pink (I had left it in a bit longer), but very tender and full of flavour with the anchovy fillets and garlic slivers providing extra little bursts along the way. The harissa? Well I was impressed. Complex flavours from the spice mix, just a bit of bite from the red chilli and all that elevated freshness from the coriander leaves. Unfortunately, I had overcooked the broccoli, which was a shame, but it was all eaten all the same.

After a reasonable break and plenty more wine, my lovely wife served up the pre-prepared cinnamon oranges. Wow, nothing like I have ever had before. Juicy chunks of orange mixed with slivered almonds, finely chopped dates, lemon juice, ground cinnamon and a bit of castor sugar. The refreshing, cleansing effect was a perfect finish to the meal.

A Middle Eastern Menu

This meal was prepared in honour of a visit from our fabulous friend from Perth, Tads. She was in the UK for a wedding and we were lucky enough to entice her and her friend Helen to come to Oxfordshire for a serious Saturday night.

Subconsciously willing warmer weather, I came up with a meal inspired by Middle Eastern cuisine.

Traditionally, a middle eastern feast starts with a mezze, or mixture of appetizers. There being only 4 of us, I thought a more European approach might be more managable in terms of how much food I should prepare (and how much time I had). I was pretty much fixed on a main course of slow cooked spiced shoulder of lamb, so I needed a starter and side dishes to complement. A bit of web research helped and I settled on chicken koftas as a way to begin the theme.

STARTER:

- Chicken and mint koftas with yogurt, cucumber and unleavened bread

MAIN:

- Slow roasted lamb shoulder with cumin
- Saffron cous cous
- Tabouleh
- Warm salad of slow roasted tomatoes (3 hours at 100 deg) and steamed asparagus

DESSERT:

Le Colonel (not at all middle eastern but very popular in the south of France and very refreshing) - aka shop bought lemon sorbet served with a big dash of vodka garnished with fresh mint and lime. Brilliant.


I found a good recipe for the koftas and decided to add an egg white, a teaspoon of plain flour and a handful of mint to the listed ingredients before putting them in the food processor. I pre-prepared the kofta mix and divided it into balls so all that needed doing on the night was to grill them for 10-15 minutes before serving.

The lamb recipe is an original favourite. A few simple ingredients used in excess, but in no way overpowering. I bought a whole shoulder of lamb (about 1.8kg) and then ground up at least half a cup of cumin seeds in my mortar and pestle. I rubbed the lamb with some olive oil and then rolled it in the ground cumin to coat it completely. I put the shoulder in a baking dish, added about 250ml of liquid (stock, or in this case beer), covered it in foil and put it in a hot oven. The total cooking time was 4 hours, starting off at 200 deg for 15 mins, and then lowered to 130 deg for the remainder of the cooking time. By then, the only two bones almost fell out, making carving the shoulder really simple. During cooking, a further 250ml of stock (or beer) was needed to keep up the steam. A rich, thick, aromatic sauce was the reward which I spooned over the lamb as it was served.

The meal was a success and then 5 other friends turned up as planned for the dessert, cheeses and coffee. We devoured almost a litre of vodka between us just with les colonels, lit the outside fire in the brazier, danced, laughed, and enjoyed what was a mild, still September evening.

Unleavened Bread

Another heart warming pleasure. Soft, warm, yeast-free bread cooked on a hot dry skillet. Great camping food, or just as good in the kitchen. The batch in the photos was cooked one cool spring evening when we were staying in a Mongolian yurt at Larkhill Tipis in Wales.

This is my Mediterraneanised version of the traditional Indian chapatti. Look up any chapatti recipe (or use mine below), and replace the wholemeal flour with plain white flour, and the ghee with olive oil. A pinch of salt and that's it. You might want to add a few simple Mediterranean herbs, but I prefer it as it comes.

Mix the dough an hour before you need it and work it until it is soft and elastic (5-10 minutes), then wrap it in cling film or foil to let the moisture equalize.

When the fire (or hob!) is ready, divide the dough into golfball sized portions and roll them out as thinly as possible dusting with a little flour as you go.

On a hot dry skillet (I use a paella pan), cook the breads for as long as it takes for them to puff up a bit on each side. Depending on how hot the skillet is this could by anything up to about half a minute. As they come off the heat, wrap them in a tea towel to keep them warm and to stop them from drying out before serving.

The paella pan in the photos is sitting on hot embers and a few small rocks to keep an air gap between the embers and the pan.

Perfect with any Indian or Middle Eastern meal, rewarding to make, and even better to eat.

Dough mix (makes 6 small rotis):

1 cup plain flour

1/3 cup warm water

1 tablespoon of olive oil