Cook this: Buttermilk chicken pakoras from Ammu

Article content

Our cookbook of the week is Ammu by Asma Khan, owner of London’s Darjeeling Express and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. Over the next three days, we’ll feature more recipes from the book and an interview with the author.

Article content

Asma Khan’s second book, Ammu, covers five decades of her life. Dedicated to her ammu (mother), Khan begins with the recipes of her childhood and ends with becoming a mother herself. These buttermilk chicken pakoras are among Khan’s “quick, modern recipes for instant solace” in the final “Being Ammu” chapter.

Her teenage son Fariz, the youngest of two children, is “not into Indian food at all,” says Khan. “I’m waiting for him to find his way home. He prefers to eat other cuisines.”

As a compromise, Khan looks for ways to make dishes Fariz enjoys while bringing in her culinary heritage. “He loves fried chicken,” says Khan, laughing, so chicken pakoras were a natural fit.

“You cannot make food into a battleground with your family, with your partner, with your friends. I’m deeply committed to this idea that you should not use food as a way of separating people,” she adds. “To eat is a privilege. And for me, the privilege was to make this for my child over the pandemic.”

Article content

Serve the golden fritters with cilantro and mint chutney or raw mango chutney (the recipes are in the book), Khan suggests. Or do as her sons do and use “random dips,” including mayonnaise.

Though Khan would have liked Fariz to eat something else, she was happy to see him devouring these pakoras.

“Life is all about holding on and letting go, and this is that. The buttermilk pakora was the holding on and letting go,” says Khan. “I have to let go of things that I know, at the moment, I cannot achieve. I cannot get him to eat my traditional food, but I still can do something that he enjoys.”

Article content

BUTTERMILK CHICKEN PAKORAS

2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes
Generous 1 cup (500 mL) buttermilk
2 cloves
1 in (2.5 cm) piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 tsp fennel seeds
3 green cardamom pods
2 tsp salt
1 cup (150 g) rice flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup (120 g) full-fat Greek-style yogurt
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Step 1

Put the chicken in a pot with the buttermilk, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel seeds, cardamoms and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked and tender. To check, take out one piece of chicken and cut it in half to ensure it is no longer pink in the middle. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and spread out on a plate. Strain the liquid and set aside, discarding the spices.

Article content

Step 2

Put the rice flour in a bowl, add the cumin, chili powder, and the remaining salt and whisk in a scant 1 cup (200 mL) of the strained buttermilk, followed by the yogurt, until evenly combined.

Step 3

Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep pot over high heat. Drop a little of the batter into the oil to test if it is ready — it should immediately start to sizzle and darken. If the oil is not hot enough, heat it for a bit longer and test again. Using a slotted spoon, remove the trial batter and lower the heat to medium. Do not fry pakoras over high heat or the outside will burn and the inside of the batter will remain raw.

Step 4

Dip the chicken pieces in the batter, ensuring they are totally covered, and then fry the pakoras in the hot oil in small batches. Do not overfill the pan, since that will reduce the temperature of the oil and the pakoras will not get crisp. Drain on paper towels as you take each batch out of the oil. Serve hot.

Serves: 4–6

Recipe and image extracted from Ammu by Asma Khan (Interlink Books, $45) Photography by Laura Edwards.

Article content

Our cookbook of the week is Ammu by Asma Khan, owner of London’s Darjeeling Express and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. Over the next three days, we’ll feature more recipes from the book and an interview with the author.

Article content

Asma Khan’s second book, Ammu, covers five decades of her life. Dedicated to her ammu (mother), Khan begins with the recipes of her childhood and ends with becoming a mother herself. These buttermilk chicken pakoras are among Khan’s “quick, modern recipes for instant solace” in the final “Being Ammu” chapter.

Her teenage son Fariz, the youngest of two children, is “not into Indian food at all,” says Khan. “I’m waiting for him to find his way home. He prefers to eat other cuisines.”

As a compromise, Khan looks for ways to make dishes Fariz enjoys while bringing in her culinary heritage. “He loves fried chicken,” says Khan, laughing, so chicken pakoras were a natural fit.

“You cannot make food into a battleground with your family, with your partner, with your friends. I’m deeply committed to this idea that you should not use food as a way of separating people,” she adds. “To eat is a privilege. And for me, the privilege was to make this for my child over the pandemic.”

Article content

Serve the golden fritters with cilantro and mint chutney or raw mango chutney (the recipes are in the book), Khan suggests. Or do as her sons do and use “random dips,” including mayonnaise.

Though Khan would have liked Fariz to eat something else, she was happy to see him devouring these pakoras.

“Life is all about holding on and letting go, and this is that. The buttermilk pakora was the holding on and letting go,” says Khan. “I have to let go of things that I know, at the moment, I cannot achieve. I cannot get him to eat my traditional food, but I still can do something that he enjoys.”

Article content

BUTTERMILK CHICKEN PAKORAS

2 lb 3 oz (1 kg) boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 in (2.5 cm) cubes
Generous 1 cup (500 mL) buttermilk
2 cloves
1 in (2.5 cm) piece of cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3 tsp fennel seeds
3 green cardamom pods
2 tsp salt
1 cup (150 g) rice flour
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup (120 g) full-fat Greek-style yogurt
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying

Step 1

Put the chicken in a pot with the buttermilk, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, fennel seeds, cardamoms and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked and tender. To check, take out one piece of chicken and cut it in half to ensure it is no longer pink in the middle. Remove the chicken from the buttermilk and spread out on a plate. Strain the liquid and set aside, discarding the spices.

Article content

Step 2

Put the rice flour in a bowl, add the cumin, chili powder, and the remaining salt and whisk in a scant 1 cup (200 mL) of the strained buttermilk, followed by the yogurt, until evenly combined.

Step 3

Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep pot over high heat. Drop a little of the batter into the oil to test if it is ready — it should immediately start to sizzle and darken. If the oil is not hot enough, heat it for a bit longer and test again. Using a slotted spoon, remove the trial batter and lower the heat to medium. Do not fry pakoras over high heat or the outside will burn and the inside of the batter will remain raw.

Step 4

Dip the chicken pieces in the batter, ensuring they are totally covered, and then fry the pakoras in the hot oil in small batches. Do not overfill the pan, since that will reduce the temperature of the oil and the pakoras will not get crisp. Drain on paper towels as you take each batch out of the oil. Serve hot.

Serves: 4–6

Recipe and image extracted from Ammu by Asma Khan (Interlink Books, $45) Photography by Laura Edwards.