Grilled prawns with orange cilantro dressing

I love reading detective thrillers, but I am a little put off when I come across phrases that are connected with pain and torture — but are couched in culinary terms. You know, something like cooking someone’s goose. I have a problem with grilling a suspect as well. I imagine a poor chap being marinated overnight, and then put on the grill in the police backyard the next afternoon.

Grilling is such a nice word — and should really be reserved for meat and veggies. I have had some great grills in Calcutta, including at the Tangerine, one of my favourite restaurants — not just for its food and its wonderful vista but its two innovative chef-cum-owners, Chef Subhas Basu and Chef Sujit Sinha. Chef Basu is in charge of the Continental fare, and I have had some nice conversations with him on grilling the perfect lamb or chicken.

Tangerine is now opening a branch — a 75-seater wok and grill — at 4, Hindustan Park. The new menu — very imaginatively designed — features, among other things, Spedini of grilled vegetables with saffron pilaf, grilled prawns with a Creole sauce, grilled bekti, pork chops with wine glaze and pot roasted lamb chops in red wine jus.

Lamb chops in red wine jus

I am going to try out Chef Basu’s recipe for lamb chops one of these days. To serve four people, take 1kg lamb chops. For the marinade, you need 100ml oil, 1tbs garlic paste, 1tsp cornflour, 1tsp crushed thyme, 100ml red wine and salt and pepper to taste. For the sauce, assemble 15gm butter, 2tbs chopped onion, 2tsp chopped garlic, 1 sprig thyme, 60ml red wine, 1tsp cornflour. And for the accompanying vegetables, take 100gm carrots, 400gm mashed potato, 100gm French beans and 60gm broccoli.

Now lightly hammer all the chops to break the fibre of the meat. Marinate well with all the ingredients for the marinade, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, seal all the chops on high heat — very quickly — and grill in an oven for 8-10 minutes basting with the marinade. Remove from the oven, keep the meat aside and preserve the pot liquor.

Grilled pork chops with parmesan potato

Prepare the sauce by sautéing onions and garlic in butter. Add thyme and red wine, and then the pot liquor. Check the seasoning and end with diluted cornflour and a little frozen butter. Cut the veggies into fancy shapes and blanch. Serve with mashed potatoes.

That’s the great thing about grilled food — it’s delicious, but the method is always simple. Chef Basu, who has been in the business for 23 years (of which 17 eventful years were at various branches of The Taj), says it’s important that you get the right temperature for grilling. Your grilled food should not be too rare, unless you prefer it that way, and neither should it be overdone. You have to first grill it over high heat so that the juices get sealed. But this has to be done very quickly because you don’t want to burn it either. And then grill it on low heat.

The next important step is the marinade. Your ingredients have to be just right. While marinating lamb, you have to make sure that the meat has been patted completely dry — else the taste will suffer. The selection of your ingredients is important as well — the meat, for instance, should be tender and the vegetables must be as fresh as possible.

The significance of a good marinade is apparent in this recipe that he has given me for grilled prawns with an orange cilantro dressing (for four). For the marinade, mix 2tbs garlic paste, 1tsp mustard paste, 1tsp paprika powder, 10ml oil, the juice of two lemons, salt and pepper.

Grilled bekti with balsamic reduction

Now take 900gm of prawn. Slit the prawns with the shell, wash and clean, and then pat dry with a clean duster. Marinade, and then grill till done. In 20gm of butter and on high heat, toss vegetables — 100gm of zucchini ribbons, 100gm of thinly sliced carrots, 4 pokchoi, 2 shredded leeks, 20gm sliced red and yellow peppers, 1tsp ginger juliennes. Add 15ml white wine, salt and the juice of a lemon to the vegetables.

Prepare a sauce by broiling in 3tbs of butter 2tsp chilli flakes, 30ml orange juice and 1tbs chopped coriander leaves. Add a little lime juice to the sauce, and season. Serve with prawns and the veggies.

I have always believed that grilled food gives you the best possible taste, be it of fish, vegetables, lamb or chicken. It keeps the firmness of the ingredient, and makes it tender from within at the same time. And, of course, the juices are all trapped inside. Grill whenever you get the chance — and, unlike the dour looks at the police stations, you’ll see happy faces around you.        

Spedini of vegetables

Ingredients
For the vegetables

•100gm carrots l80gm zucchini • 100gm baby corn • 80gm red peppers • 80gm yellow peppers • 100gm broccoli • 50gm gherkins • 40gm asparagus • 8 prunes • 100gm cottage cheese

For the marinade

• 30ml olive oil • 15ml lemon juice • 1tbs garlic paste • 1tbs cayenne pepper • 1tbs balsamic reduction • 1tsp roasted clove powder • 1tbs chipotle paste • l30ml sundried tomato paste

For the salad

• 200gm iceberg lettuce • 20gm juliennes of red and yellow peppers • 20gm juliennes of beet root l10ml vinaigrette dressing

For the rice

• 20gm butter • 4 small cups cooked rice • Diluted saffron, for colour and flavouring • Salt and pepper to taste l1tbs chopped jalapeno

Method

Wash, peel and cut all the vegetables in fancy shapes. Marinade with all the ingredients mentioned. Keep for 30 minutes. Spread vegetables on a baking tray and grill till done. Mix the rice well with butter, saffron and jalapeno. Mix the ingredients for the salad with the dressing. Serve.