Sea bream with dhal sauce

Vineet Bhatia is an Indian chef with supreme spice intelligence.  He is a Michelin starred chef, (Michelin is what it is, BUT...) whenever I cook a Bhatia dish from scratch I’m just floored at his ability to create an ensamble. 

Click here as this shows Mr. Bhatia’s ability. 

I have cooked many from his ‘Rasoi, New Indian Kitchen’ cookbook.  My husband and I have enjoyed (ish) his restaurnant here in Dubai on numerous occasions (and have seen the change from high end to a more free style of cooking which he has been embraced in recent years.  When I say "ish" I mean that whilst the food is good it is just not as bright and vibrant as I do at home from his own recipes so we do not go anymore.  I cook chef Bhatia's food in my home and we are happy.  

Fact, Mr. Bhatia taught me how to cook Indian.   In the most sublime forms of this incredible complex of cuisines. 

I loved everything spicey in the south east Asian style in my younger years.  Indian food left my tummy feeling heavy  and a bit sad from my experiences in Auckland. 

Then we came to Dubai.  I realised I was pretty much in India with regards to ability to source ingredients and I just decided that  with my cookbook from my bro and sis "Rasoi, New Indian Kitchen", Vineet was going to teach me how to cook Indian.  And he did.  

We may as well spend 1000dirhams on this food we eat at home.  Every single time I cook it.  It's that good.  Again, thank you Vineet, Tim and Sandra.    

Sea bream,  Vineet Bhatia's red dahl sauce.

Vineet Bhatia's pea soup

This is a dish I have done on many occasions, it's just gorgeous.  I tend to serve it cold. This time with my own additions of crispy onion, mint and poppadom. I tempered mustard seed and curry leaf.  I always add cinnamon to this (not in recipe either), it gives a background of smooth spice.   A beautiful example of Indian spice.  Elegant and balanced.  

Lemon curd blackberry tarts

They don't look perfect yet - they're sitting in the fridge ready for a dinner party tonight.  They will get dressed a little later with some freeze dried raspberries and a little touch of vanilla icing sugar, some ground pistachio and the like so they'll look nice.

But they should taste really good.  My favourite sweet short pastry (with lime zest in it), my variation on lemon curd (lots of lemon, not much butter, a couple of teaspoons of cornflour cooked out, and always a pinch of salt - works a treat for a delicious very light in calorie lemon curd and nobody has a clue).

Barra (the extra bits from the fillet I used for main) with Indian spiced prawn bisque

I had done the bisque previously and had it frozen.  This made for an easy, elegant, delicious and light entree to use the extra barramundi I had left over from filleting the fish for main course.  

Lentil salad, spiced coconut panna cotta, goan spiced paste marinade and barramundi

Barramundi.  Yeap, but from local (well Saudi) waters.  It is called red sea sea bream here.  It took a bit of study to really understand what fish I was dealing with when I bought this lovely fresh red sea sea bream and was rather chuffed to learn it was sea barra.  A sweet tasting fish with a lovely textured flesh which suits all manor of styles and Indian being one of them.

This dish is always one of my favourites and I cook it when I feel like a treat.  It is a little involved but worth every step because it just comes together in the most sublime way.  The panna cotta being the star really.  It's a coconut milk base spiced with kaffir lime leaf, curry leaf and lemon grass.  Not what you'd usually classify as Indian but they eat a fair but of kaffir lime and lemon grass in the south.

Yum.   

Beef picanha with freekah, charred cauliflower, grilled figs and yoghurt sauce

Beef picanha is a Brazilian term but means beef rump cap.  It's common in South America, France, Italy, Spain.  Basically anywhere other than countries like NZ, Australia and the UK which make absolutely no effort to use and promote different cuts of animals.  

It is sold here and it's really really REALLY scrum.  I use the same method I use for duck breasts, i.e. a low to medium pan to slowly render the fat cap so it's lovely and tasty, well rendered and cooked very pink.  

This is a sensational dish.  Just the right amount of acid and sweet.   I've also done it with cauliflower puree and burnt butter which is also just as delicious.  

Like most tasty cuts of meat which seem to scare the life out of NZers, it's a little chewy.  It does need teeth but it's not too tough, just a little more so than tenderloin and far far more tasty.

I've become a bit of a freekah fan.  I thought it was just a trendy thing like quinoa, overpriced and overrated but freekah is awesome.   Very cheap here because it's roots are middle eastern, they've been eating the stuff for centuries and it's got a lovely almost smokey taste and slightly chewy texture.