I haven’t had the pleasure of dining at Dishoom so I have no comparison to make of the restaurant dish. I hadn't used papaya paste before - it's absolutely magic the way it softens the meat and helps the spicing draw in. See them as the cherry atop your already gleeful January cake, or a welcome distraction while you await winter’s end. The next day I opened the slower cooker to let it reduce for part of the day, and by the time dinner came it was perfect. I’m fresh off the plane from my trip to Australia, and the one thing that stuck out for me about the land down under, aside from the abundance of cute marsupials, is the fact that they LOVE pies.

A gorgeous book that delves into the history and flavours of Mumbai's Irani cafes, so evocative that I can smell the keema pau even before I’ve started cooking. However, I promise that once you dive into Indian cooking and realize just how simple it can be you will be seeking out new recipes to use up your bounty, just as I do. One second nowhere near, next one - black (or so you think), but my word - make extra to sprinkle on top. Once you find your places of refuge, Bombay will become human and then - without you noticing exactly when - it will complete the seduction and become delightful. Charred chicken thighs (my favourite cut of chicken) surrounded by a rich, thick, heavenly sauce make you feel like you’ve achieved some kind of culinary miracle: an Indian restaurant quality dish in your own kitchen.Read it, and you will find yourself replete with recipes and stories to share with all who come to your table. Over 100 comfort food recipes - inspired by Parsi, Muslim, Hindu and Christian traditions - take you from dawn till dusk, starting with breakfast and ending with dinner and a nightcap.

This version from Dishoom is more of a “wet” than “dry” curry and takes the liberties of adding both chickpeas and paneer to the dish, making it not only heartier and more nutritionally complete but also a bit more indulgent. The Indian restaurant was made aware of the piracy when friends and relatives of the founders began alerting them to a fraudulent copy "doing the rounds on WhatsApp". The first Dishoom opened in Covent Garden in 2010, and there are now five restaurants in London, one in Edinburgh, and one in Manchester. It’s by far the most delicious curry I’ve ever made but having cooked it I feel somewhat traumatised as I now know what it takes to achieve this level of depth and deliciousness: butter, cream, many herbs, spices and oil.

We raved about the chicken after it was done grilling, and I'm tempted to try to make the chicken part of this on the bone on its own. served here with the amazing Aloo Sabzi recipe also from the Dishoom Book, and my homemade flatbreads. According to publisher Bloomsbury, the cookbook has sold almost 100,000 copies to date, and was No 13 in the hardback nonfiction charts last week. I made the sauce at the same time as the marinade for the chicken, so this came together really quickly on the day. If your dates are very sticky, handle them with slightly wet fingers; the water will encourage the fruit not to stick to itself.