Chef Himanshu Saini is the creative mastermind behind Dubai’s leading modern Indian restaurant, Tresind and Tresind Studio. Here, he shares one of his latest creations
INGREDIENTS
- 700g coriander
- 30 coriander seeds
- 7g black pepper whole
- 3g green cardamom whole
- 5g star anise
- 5g fennel seeds
- 10g cumin seeds whole
- 3g cloves
- 3g cinnamon stick
- 10g ginger
- 20g garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 onion whole, small
- 500ml white vinegar
- 10g white sugar refined
- 30ml refined oil
- 15g tomato ketchup
- 15g cream
- 250g ghee
For the cafreal
- 160g chicken juliennes, raw
- 80g onion juliennes
- 80g green capsicum juliennes
- 20g fresh coriander leaves
- 10 shisho leaves
- 80g tempura flour
- 60-80ml (depending on thickness of batter required) water
- 20g corn flour
- 40g smoky aioli
METHOD
- Soak all ingredients for the base in vinegar for over an hour.
- Once soaked, grind it to a fine paste. Retain the remaining vinegar
- Take the chicken juliennes and deep fry them till it is cooked from the outside, drain the oil and keep aside.
- Add spoonful of oil and sauté onion juliennes as well as the capsicum juliennes till soft. Drain the oil and keep aside.
- In a medium pan, add oil and allow to heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cafreal base and allow to cook. Once cooked, finish it off with the tomato ketchup, cream and fresh coriander leaves.
- Add the fried chicken juliennes, onion juliennes as well as the green capsicum juliennes and toss.
- Allow the chicken to cook throughout, approximately 2-3 minutes, check seasoning.
- For the shiso leaf, make a batter using the tempura flour and water. Whisk it well and pass through a fine strainer to get rid of all the lumps.
- Take 4 leaves and dust them with corn flour, shake off the excess corn flour. Dip the leaves into a batter and deep fry in ghee till crispy.
- From the remaining shiso leaf, take a ring cutter and cut roundels from the leaves and put into ice cold water to retain its freshness.
- For plating of the dish, take a plate and place a crisp tempura fried shiso leaf on it. Take a spoon and spoon out some of the cooked chicken mixture in to the leaf. Make a spiral of the smoky aioli on top of the mixture and place 3 shiso roundels on top of the smoky aioli. Garnish with edible flowers.
