Nadiya Hussain joined us on stage at our 2016 Food Fair and wowed us with a trio of terrific dishes. The beauty of her dishes (besides from their delicious flavours!) is that anyone can accomplish them no matter whether you’re a novice or keen cook.

Nadiya’s Bengali Korma

From ‘Nadiya’s Kitchen: Over 100 Simple, Delicious, Family Recipes’

Ingredients

7 tablespoons butter or ghee
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
5 whole cardamom pods
1 whole star anise
10 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
7.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and crushed
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 large onions, finely chopped
400ml water
6 chicken thighs (skin off)
6 green chilies, split lengthways and remove seeds (leave seeds in if you want it to be spicier)
6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled

Method

• Put a large pan over a medium heat, and add the butter and oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cardamom pods and star anise. Heat until the spices darken slightly.
• Blitz the garlic and ginger in a food processor, and add a little water so that they form a paste, then add this to the pan with the salt. Cook gently over a low heat for 10 minutes.
• Now add the onions and cook gently for another 20 minutes. Add the 200ml water and continue to cook gently until the onions melt down completely. To help the process along you can use a potato masher.
• Now add the chicken to the pan, and leave it to cook over a medium heat covered, which should take around 15 minutes. Once the chicken is cooked, add the eggs and cook for 10 minutes more. Finally, add the split green chillies.
• This is best served with hot basmati rice.

Nadiya’s Za’atar and Lemon Palmier

From ‘Nadiya’s Kitchen: Over 100 Simple, Delicious, Family Recipes’

Prep: 15 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling
Cook: 15 minutes
Makes: 18–20 (each palmier is about 7cm long by 5cm wide after baking)
Can be frozen before baking (if you did not use frozen pastry)

Ingredients

500g puff pastry (shop-bought, or you can make your own)
Plain flour, for dusting
50g za’atar
Zest of 2 lemons
1 medium egg, beaten
50g sesame seeds

Method

• Roll out the puff pastry on a floured surface, to a 30 x 35cm rectangle the thickness of a pound coin.
• Put the pastry on a baking sheet – this will make it easier to move when it has been rolled up.
• Spread the whole rectangle of pastry with the za’atar, making sure to firmly press the spice into the dough.
• Now sprinkle the lemon zest all over the pastry, distributing it as evenly as you can.
• With a short end towards you, roll the two long edges of the pastry inwards. Where the two rolls meet in the middle, brush the join lightly with the egg.
• Put the whole thing in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C. Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper.
• After 30 minutes remove the roll from the fridge and, using a sharp knife, cut it into slices about 1cm thick.
• Lay the palmier flat on the baking sheets, brush them with egg and sprinkle over the sesame seeds. Bake for 15 minutes, until light, golden and slightly puffy.
• Leave the palmier to cool on the baking sheets for 15 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely.