A long weekend offers a good chance to while away a few hours in the kitchen and, with a little luck, produce something spectacular — or, at least, a trade up on the midweek, hastily shoved-in-the-oven shebangs. The Coronation is the right royal excuse to go all out.There are already Buckingham Palace-approved suggestions out there — Ken Hom’s lamb with an Asian-style marinade, Nadiya Hussain’s yoghurt-topped aubergine, Adam Handling’s strawberry and ginger trifle and, er, Gregg Wallace’s prawn tacos with pineapple salsa (everything all right at home, Gregg?) — as well as the infamous broad bean quiche. Twee, Britain? Surely not. Recipes for all of these can be found online here but, for those looking for something a little different, three of London’s top chefs have shared their recipes that are fit for a — oh, you get it. And don’t worry if things go wrong — the pubs are staying open two hours beyond their usual chucking out time. Cheers, Charlie!
Coronation cocktail
Preman Mohan, Chutney Mary, Amaya and Veeraswamy, realindianfood.com
Makes: 1 cocktail
Ingredients
- 45ml dry gin
- 30ml Cocchi vermouth
- 15ml raspberry purée
- 15ml lime juice
- 10ml raw acacia honey
- 5ml egg white
Method
- Shake all ingredients bar the egg white over ice, strain, and then dry shake with the egg white. Serve in Champagne coupe.
Rogan josh shepherd’s pie
Vivek Singh, The Cinnamon Collection, thecinnamoncollection.com
In my opinion, my rogan josh shepherd’s pie is a perfect Coronation dish as it combines two of Britain’s best loves — a pie and rogan josh together! The use of lamb in this dish is inspired by the King’s love of lamb, so it is both celebratory and comforting at the same time.
Serves: 8-10
Ingredients
For the filling
- 500g boneless lamb, preferably from the leg, diced
- 1kg minced lamb
- 1 cup ghee
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- ½ tsp cloves
- 2 x 2” cinnamon sticks
- ½ tbsp green cardamom, and ½ tbsp fennel seeds
- 3 blades of mace
- ½ tbsp royal cumin
- 3 star anise and 3 bay leaves
- 1kg white onion
- 15g ginger and 15g green chillies, chopped
- ½ cup ginger garlic paste
- 1 tsp turmeric powder, 4 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tbsp coriander powder, 1 tbsp cumin powder, 1 tbsp salt, ½ tbsp sugar
- 250g tomato paste
- 250g sweet potato, peeled, diced and fried and 250g celeriac, peeled, diced and fried
- 1 tbsp Garam masala, 1 tbsp dried rose petals, crushed
For the topping
- 800g floury potatoes such as Desiree, peeled and cut into chunks
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 100g butter
- 100g Cheddar, grated
- 2 tablespoons single cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
For the stir-fry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1 red onion, cut into rings
- 250g green peas½ tsp salt
Method
- In a thick-bottom pan heat ghee and oil, add the whole spices and when they splutter, add the onions and fry until golden.
- Add the ginger garlic paste and stir fortwo minutes.
- Add the diced lamb and stir for about five minutes till the lamb is well seared and brown.
- Now add the ground spices followed by the minced lamb and seasoning and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Next, add the tomato paste and cook covered on a low heat for about 45 minutes till the lamb is cooked through.
- Add the fried root vegetables and stir well.
- Sprinkle rose petals and garam masala and remove from heat.
- Boil the potatoes with turmeric and salt until tender. Drain and pass through a fine sieve and mix with the butter, cheese, cream and coriander leaves.
- To prepare the pie, spread 200g of meat in an ovenproof dish, around 15cm in diameter, and pipe 150g of the potato cheese mixture on top of it to cover the entire surface.
- Bake in an oven at 200°C for about eight minutes until it caramelises on top.
- Meanwhile, toss the green peas in the oil with cumin, onion rings and salt. Sprinkle some of it on top of the pie and serve hot.
Smoked salmon laksa with a soft boiled egg
Sebby Holmes, Payst and Farang, faranglondon.co.uk
I recently found out that the King eats a boiled egg with every meal, so I thought I’d create a recipe that really highlights the humble egg in all its glory. Boiled eggs are used throughout Asian cooking and they’re a great way to elevate a dish, because they add a richness and depth that not many ingredients can. This gluten-free laksa is originally from Indonesia, and offers characteristics of a curry and a soup, making it ideal to eat with noodles and to soak up all the delicious curry juices. It’s also a real comfort — ideal if you’ve been celebrating the Coronation a little hard the night before.
Serves: 3
Ingredients
- 300g red curry paste
- 1 tbsp mild curry powder
- 10g dried shrimp, flossed using a pestle and mortar
- 2 medium whole eggs
- 1 tbsp brown soft sugar
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 400ml coconut cream
- 200ml fish stock
- 400g smoked salmon fillets, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2g fresh coriander
- 3 tbsp toasted peanuts, lightly crushed
- 300g thin vermicelli noodles, blanched in boiling water and refreshed in cold water
- 20g pickled mustard greens, chopped
- 1 lime, chopped
- 100ml vegetable oil
Method
- In a medium sauce pan, heat the oil and when sizzling hot add the red curry paste, the mild curry powder and the shrimp. Fry for eight to 10 minutes, making sure it doesn’t stick, until all the ingredients come together and the paste looks a little darker.
- Meanwhile, soft boil and peel your eggs, then leave these aside at room temperature.
- Next, add the sugar into the paste and continue to cook for a further few minutes until the paste goes darker still, then de-glaze the pan by adding the fish sauce and the fish stock and bring it all back to the boil.
- Once boiling, add the coconut cream and bring to a simmer, and check the seasoning.
- Lastly, drop the smoked salmon into the curry and serve in a bowl with the cooked noodles, pouring the hot curry over the noodles to heat them.
- Garnish with a sprinkle of coriander, pickled mustard greens, with the soft boiled egg ripped in half and dribbling into the curry.
- Squeeze a little lime over it for freshness.
Roast Coronation Chicken
Tom Cenci, Nessa, nessasoho.com
Fed up with serving the same boring roast again this weekend? This is perfect if you fancy trying something new while celebrating the Coronation in style. It’s a roast coronation chicken with an apricot, almond and tandoori sauce, finished with curried scraps and vadouvan. I reckon it’s best served with a coriander-dressed salad and blackpepper fries.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized chicken
- 50g salt
- Just over a litre of water
- 500ml chicken stock
- 250ml double cream
- 3g curry powder
- 3g Garam masala
- 50g gram flour
- 5g curry powder
- 30g flaked almonds
- 30g golden raisins
- 50g dried apricots, sliced
- ½ bunch fresh coriander
Method
- First, make a brine by bringing the salt and a litre of water to a simmer, so all the salt dissolves. Then, allow it to cool.
- Next, cover the chicken with the brine for a maximum of 24 hours before draining. Place it onto a plate and let it dry in the fridge overnight but don’t cover it; this will allow the skin to crisp up better when you’re roasting it.
- Next, make the sauce by reducing the chicken stock, double cream, curry powder and Garam masala until it thickens, then set aside, and taste for seasoning.
- Rub the chicken with a bit of oil, then place it onto a roasting tray and cook at 190°C for 45 minutes. Cover in foil. Let the chicken rest for at least 30 minutes.
- While the chicken is cooking, you can make the curry scraps by mixing the gram flour, a pinch of salt and curry powder, and adding water until it forms a thick batter that can be poured.
- Drizzle this batter into a pan of shallow oil on a medium heat and allow it to crisp up to form little curry scraps, and once crisp, drain and place onto a plate with some kitchen paper.
- Once the chicken has rested, carve it in half or pieces, depending on how many people you are serving, and place it onto your serving dish. Then just heat up the curry sauce and pour over the chicken.
- Finish with the flaked almonds, golden raisins, dried apricots, and coriander, then sprinkle with the curried scraps.
