Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 1: Nadiya Hussain kicks off the series with her take on comfort food, and every recipe is fizzing with flavour.A classic macaroni cheese is transformed with the addition of evaporated milk for richness, Worcestershire sauce and yeast extract for depth of flavour and crushed cheese puffs for the ultimate cheesy kick.
Nadiya then shares her tried and tested recipe for beef vindaloo, letting us into kitchen secrets passed down from her mum and grandma, as well as treating us to her time-saving trick for the perfect paratha.
Next up is Nadiya’s twist on classic French toast, swapping eggs for a comforting custard and a standard syrup for a bejewelled maple and pistachio crumb. Finally, Nadiya turns her attention to her first love, baking, and rustles up a feel-good ice-cream cake, packed with fresh blueberries for zing and fennel seeds for a wonderfully unexpected hit of citrus.
Across the series Nadiya also wants to shine a spotlight on the skills of some of the country’s incredible cooks and food writers who share her passion for flavour. This week, award-winning food writer Olia Hercules shares her recipe for borscht, a comforting but complex vegetable and herb broth that brings back happy childhood memories of family life in Ukraine.
Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 1
Nadiya Hussain
Nadiya Jamir Hussain is a British TV chef, author and television presenter. She rose to fame after winning the sixth series of BBC’s The Great British Bake Off in 2015. Since winning, she has signed contracts with the BBC to host the documentary The Chronicles of Nadiya and TV cookery series Nadiya’s British Food Adventure and Nadiya’s Family Favourites; co-presented The Big Family Cooking Showdown; and has become a regular contributor on The One Show.
Nadiya Hussain is a columnist for The Times Magazine and has signed publishing deals with Penguin Random House, Hodder Children’s Books and Harlequin. She has appeared as a guest panellist on ITV’s Loose Women. She was invited to bake a cake for the 90th birthday celebrations of Elizabeth II.
In 2017, Hussain was named by Debrett’s as one of the 500 most influential people in the UK and was on BBC News’ 100 Women list. She was also shortlisted for Children’s Book of the Year prize at the British Book Awards for Bake Me A Story and was nominated for Breakthrough Star at the Royal Television Society Awards for The Chronicles of Nadiya. Ted Cantle, the author of a government report on community cohesion, said Hussain had done “more for British-Muslim relations than 10 years of government policy”.
Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 1 recieps:
Beef cashew vindaloo
If you like spicy food then this is a vindaloo that lives up to the hype! It has lots of chilli, but it’s balanced gently with aromatics, spices and a drizzle of cashew cream.
Method:
- Make the curry first. Pour the oil into a large pan and as soon as the oil is hot, add the cashews and gently brown. Add the fennel, cinnamon, bay leaves, cardamom and chillies and warm through to release the flavours.
- Add the onion and cook till very golden brown and dark. As soon as it is, add the garlic, ginger and salt and cook through. Add the tomatoes and cook until soft.
- Now add the turmeric, chilli, cumin and curry powder and mix, cooking them till the oil rises to the surface. This indicates the spices have cooked through.
- Add the beef, stir and cover with the water. Leave to very gently simmer for 3 hours.
- To make the rice, wash the rice until the water runs clear. Put in a large pan with 800ml/1⅓ pint cold water, salt and cardamom pods. Stir, making sure the rice does not stick on the base. As soon as it comes to the boil, keep mixing until the water has really reduced. Lower the heat, cover and leave to steam with the lid on for 7 minutes.
- For the parathas, take the block out of the packet and cut into 9 equal squares. Roll into balls, then roll out on a floured surface to about 15cm/6in diameter. In a dry non-stick frying pan, fry each paratha on both sides until golden brown.
- Make the cashew cream by putting the cashews in a blender with a little hot water and salt and blending to a cream.
- Once everything is ready, serve the rice and parathas with the vindaloo and drizzle of cashew cream. Chop the chillies, coriander and spring onions and sprinkle on top.
Mac and cheesy
Nadiya’s twist on mac and cheese will have kids of all ages excited. It’s made using cheesy puff crisps, which are crushed, mixed with the sauce and used to top the mac and cheese along with breadcrumbs. It’s fun, it’s delicious and it’s bright!
Method:
- Start by cooking the macaroni as per the packet instructions. When the macaroni is cooked, drain, rinse under cold water and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
- Make the sauce by putting the butter in a flameproof 30cm/12in casserole and popping onto a medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk in. Add the milk a little at a time, whisking all the time until incorporated.
- Keep whisking till the mixture begins to thicken. Add the evaporated milk and yeast extract and cook until the mixture is thick. Take off the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes.
- Add the cheese to the sauce and mix in until melted. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and half the cheese puffs, then add the macaroni and mix through. Level off the top.
- Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs, remaining cheese puffs and the grated cheese.
- Bake for 30–35 minutes. Take out and leave for 10 minutes before eating.
Blueberry ice cream cake – Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 1
Nadiya’s ice cream cake turns an easy no-churn blueberry ice cream into a delightful make ahead dessert to impress. The ice cream is sandwiched in a light Genoise sponge and the sides coated in crushed biscuits.
Method:
- Start by making the cake. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line the base of a deep 20cm/8in loose bottom tin (it needs to be about 8cm/3¼in deep).
- Add the eggs and the sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat using an electric whisk until the mixture is light and fluffy, and when the whisk is lifted the mixture should leave a visible trail – this can take about 8 minutes. Now add the melted butter around the edge of the egg mixture and whisk for a few seconds to incorporate. Add the sieved flour and fold through until there are no floury lumps. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes until golden on top and slightly shrunk around the edges.
- Once the cake is baked, leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack. Peel off the paper.
- Wash the cake tin ready to assemble the ice cream cake. Grease the base and sides of the tin and line with greased baking paper (the side pieces particularly need to be generously greased so the crushed biscuits will stick to them later). Grease a piece of baking paper for the top too.
- Add the fennel seeds to a small pan and toast very gently until golden brown and the oils are released from the seeds. Take off the heat. Crumble the biscuits and the fennel seeds to a fine crumb in a food processor or in a pestle and mortar.
- To make the ice cream, add the cream, condensed milk and vanilla to a bowl and whip until just thickening, this will take 5–10 minutes. Fold in the blueberries and orange zest.
- Cut the cake in half horizontally to make two rounds. Lay the first layer of cake in the bottom of the prepared tin. Take your biscuit and fennel mixture and gently press into the edges, all around the inside edge of the tin, until you have used it all up. Add the cream mixture on top of the cake. Add the second layer of cake, cover the top with greased baking paper to prevent freezer burn and leave in the freezer overnight or for at least 6 hours. Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before you plan to serve so that it will easily slice. Best eaten as soon as possible. Enjoy! I know I will!