Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 6: Nadiya turns her attention to one of her favourite things – special occasions. She starts with her spectacular lemon drizzle swirls. A twist on the cinnamon bun, these fluffy lemon- and cardamom-scented creations are topped with a pillowy citrus frosting.
Next, Nadiya rustles up an earthy chicken stew, featuring 30 cloves of garlic! She gently poaches the cloves in water, making them more subtle and aromatic. This heady dish, loaded with paprika and black olives, is served with a Malaysian pancake called roti jala, which initially appears difficult to create but which is made foolproof thanks to Nadiya’s own recipe.
Nadiya then makes a spectacular but stress-free centrepiece: a roast leg of lamb with jewelled couscous, pomegranate seeds, preserved lemons and pine nuts. Finally, Nadiya makes a rich red velvet cake, smothered in a snowy white cream cheese frosting and topped with fresh strawberries and an elegant drizzle of melted chocolate. Meanwhile, award-winning cookery writer Sabrina Ghayour makes a celebratory Persian rice dish, laced with both saffron and fresh orange, and piled high with king prawns.
Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 6 recipes:
Nadiya’s red velvet cake
This is my boy’s all-time favourite cake. With its two layers of bold, red, cocoa-flavoured sponge and hints of almond and vanilla, sandwiched and covered with rich vanilla cream-cheese frosting, you can see why.
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 160C/140C Fan/Gas 3. Grease and line 4 x 20cm/8in cake tins.
- Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and whisk until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one until combined. Stir in the cocoa, food colouring, vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add half the flour and the salt and mix through, then add half the buttermilk and mix again. Repeat with the remaining flour and buttermilk.
- When you have a smooth batter, mix the vinegar with the bicarbinate of soda, then add to the batter. Mix into a smooth batter and divide between the two tins, level off and bake for 40 minutes.
- Take out and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Make the icing by whipping together the butter and icing sugar. Add the cream cheese and vanilla and mix in.
- As soon as the cakes are cooled, level off the tops and reserve any offcuts and crumbs. Sandwich the cake with the icing.
- Cover the top and sides of the cake with a layer of icing. Crumble up the cake scraps and press into the sides of the cake before the icing forms a crust.
- Arrange whole strawberries around the top edge of the cake and drizzle them with melted chocolate. Dust the strawberries with a little edible gold glitter to finish.
Lemon drizzle swirls – Nadiya’s Fast Flavours episode 6
These lemon drizzle swirls are pure, edible joy. Soft sweet dough, swirled with lemon zest and drizzled in a thick, creamy, lemony frosting with a tiny kiss of cardamom.
Method:
- Start by making the dough. Put the flour, yeast and sugar in a mixing bowl or the bowl of a freestanding mixer. Mix well. Rub in the softened butter using the tips of your fingers until there are no large lumps left. Create a well in the centre.
- In a bowl or jug, whisk together the milk, almond extract and egg. Pour this into the dry mixture. Attach the dough hook and mix. If there are still dry bits on the base, add a spoonful of water at a time until there are none remaining. As soon as it has come together, knead on high for 7 minutes. Alternatively, bring the dough together and knead by hand until smooth and silky.
- Shape the dough into a neat ball, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
- Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients together and set aside. Grease a 30x24cm/12×9½in brownie tin with oil.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, dust the work surface with flour and tip it out. Roll it into a 50x30cm/20x12in rectangle, keeping the longer side closest to you. Spoon the filling on top and spread all over using the back of a spoon. Roll up the dough from the long side (like a Swiss roll). Cut into 12 equal pieces. Place into the tray swirl-side up with a little space between each piece. Grease a piece of cling film and cover the tray. Leave in a warm place to prove again until the edges of the buns just touch.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
- Remove the cling film and bake for 20 minutes. Leave to cool until just warm.
- Make the frosting by mixing all the ingredients together in a bowl. Generously spread all over the cooled buns. Tear, share… and enjoy.
Thirty-garlic cloves chicken with roti jalla
Seriously, you have to trust me when I say whole garlic cooked gently in a rich sauce is a thing of utter beauty. This chicken is smoky, rich and gently garlicky, and is served with netted pancakes (aka roti jalla) that are fun to make.
Method:
- Start by putting the garlic in a small saucepan with 500ml/18fl oz water. Pop onto a high heat and as soon as the water comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium and leave to simmer for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the onion quarters, salt, paprika, garam masala and tomato purée to a food processor or blender.
- Drain the garlic cloves into a colander, reserving the liquid in a bowl. Save the garlic cloves for later. Add the cooking water to the processor with the onion mixture and whizz to a smooth paste.
- Add the oil to a large, flat casserole that has a lid. Add the two lemon halves to the pan and whack the heat up to high. This will gently release flavour into the oil.
- Remove the lemon halves. Pour the onion mixture in, squeeze all the juice out of the lemon halves and discard the flesh.
- Take the garlic cloves and remove any bits of skin that haven’t already fallen off. Add the garlic into the pan and cook the mixture over a medium heat with the lid off for 7 minutes, or until the mixture is dry and there are no watery bits left in the pan.
- Add the chicken, stir through the mixture, cover and leave on a medium heat for 25 minutes. Be sure to give the whole thing a mix and turn the chicken onto the other side about halfway through cooking. If the sauce starts to catch, stir in a little water.
- -Meanwhile, make the roti batter. Add the sifted chickpea flour, salt and onion seeds to a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the eggs, milk and oil and whisk until you have a smooth batter.
- Place a 24cm/9½in pancake pan or large frying pan over a high heat. Brush lightly with oil, then take tablespoons of the pancake mixture and drizzle all over the pan to make a lacy pancake. You will get larger clumps and smaller threads, which will mean all sorts of textures and shapes. You will need about 3–4 tablespoons of the mixture for each pancake. As soon as they hit the pan, they take about 30–45 seconds to cook. They are ready to flip over when the top has formed bubbles and they look dry on the surface. Turn out onto a plate and keep going until you have used up all the batter.
- Once the chicken is cooked, take off the heat, add the sliced olives and stir through. Move the chicken pieces around to create gaps in which to place the roti jalla. Bundle the pancakes up and pop them into the gaps.
- Serve in the centre of the table and dish up.