1. Tandoori Story
Our weakness, our pleasure, is sandwiches. We think they’re more exciting to make than a plate of food mainly because the eater cannot bite discriminatively, they no longer have the freedom to delicately fork around their mash to dip their sausage in their beans. Each bite of a sandwich is all encompassing, restricting any liberty to tamper or manoeuvre around its content. We’re making eating a sarnie sound like gastronomic communism haha but the point we’re making is the creator can take great excitement from their sandwiches being enjoyed as one unavoidable union of flavours.
We really like Max’s Sandwich Shop, he’s got some awesome stuff in his book too. So we thought we’d kick off with some Max inspired combinations. If you get some meat to fall off the bone, marry it with some crispy and then some tangy and sling them between two slices of bread you’ll have a good time. Let us know what you think…
Ingredients
2.5kg Lamb shoulder
2 tbsp curry powder (we used masala powder)
1 tbsp cumin powder
3 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
5 garlic cloves smashed and roughy chopped
A large knob of freshly grated ginger
2 fresh chillis chopped
1 whole lime juiced
Touch of apple juice (or any juice you’ve got in the fridge)
Salt and pepper
Raita
Cucumber
Yoghurt
2 tbsp of chopped mint
Lemon zest
Onion bhaji
2 finely sliced onions
100g Flour
½ tsp gluten-free baking powder
Tsp of turmeric
Tsp of chilli powder
Vegetable oil for frying
Homemade Ciabatta
For Poolish
2 1/4 cups (11.25 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) water room temperature
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
For Ciabatta Rolls
Poolish from above
3 cups (13.5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
6 Tablespoons to 3/4 cup water lukewarm
Method
Meat
Mix all the ingredients for the rub to form a thick paste
Coat the meat in the rub, place in a roasting tray and cover with cling film
Let marinade for as long as you can. 24hrs is ideal
Preheat the oven to 220˚C
Roast for 20 mins
Turn heat down to 110˚C and leave for 5hrs.
Baste every 30 mins for the remaining 1.5hrs.
Rest for 30mins+
Bread
Remove poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour prior to making dough.
Stir together the flour, salt and yeast in a 4 quart mixing bowl. Add the poolish and 6 tablespoons of water. With a large spoon (or low speed with a mixer attached with paddle) mix until ingredients form a sticky ball. If there's loose flour add additional water as needed and continue to mix.
Using you hands work the dough quickly into a smooth mass. Rotate the bowl with opposite hand while stirring to ensure all dough gets stirred equally. Stir for about 5-7 minutes or as long as needed to form a smooth, sticky dough. If using an electric mixer, mix on medium speed with paddle attachment for 5 to 7 minutes or as long as it takes to create a smooth, sticky dough. Dough should clear sides of bowl but stick to the bottom. You may need to add additional flour to firm up the dough.
Sprinkle flour on counter to make an 8 inch square. Transfer sticky dough to floured surface using a bowl scraper or spatula dipped in water. Dust dough with flour, and pat dough into a rectangle. Wait 2 minutes for dough to relax. Coat hands with flour and lift dough from each end stretching to twice the size. Fold dough over itself and return to a rectangular shape.
Brush/spray over the dough with oil, and dust with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap.
Let rest for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold again. Mist with oil again dust with flour and cover. Let sit covered 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. It should swell but will not necessarily be doubled.
Remove dough and place on floured surface, being careful not to knock air out of the dough. Separate into 8-10 equal pieces. Sprinkle with additional flour and shape into 3 inch rolls. Lay rolls on the cloth with generous separation between them. Bunch the cloth in between rolls to make a small wall. Mist dough with spray oil and dust with flour cover with a towel.
Let rest for 45 to 60 minutes at room temperature or until dough has noticeably swelled.
Prepare oven by placing empty steam pan (i.e. metal loaf pan) on bottom rack. Place baking tray on 2nd rack in centre of oven. Preheat to 500 degrees. Heat about 1 cup water until almost boiling.
Slide dough rolls onto heated baking tray. I baked in 2 separate batches. Pour 1 cup hot water into the steam pan and close door. Cook for 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Rolls will feel quite hard but will soften with cooling. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
Toppings
Onion Bhaji
Soak the onion in cold water while you make the base mix.
Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl, then add the chilli powder, turmeric and a good sprinkling of salt.
Mix in about 100ml of cold water to make a thick batter – add a splash more if it feels too stiff.
Raita
Peel the cucumber and grate it into a sieve set over another bowl
Mix the remaining ingredients with some seasoning and the drained cucumber – squeezing out any extra moisture with your hands
