National Curry Week: Andy Varma of Tiffinbites

Once the television chef of Rupert Murdoch’s Asian Star TV station, Gourmet Restaurant Group’s Chief Operation Officer and Corporate Chef Andy Varma, is now one of the most respected Indian chefs in the UK.

Varma joined Tiffinbites operator GRG earlier this year after his successful Chelsea restaurant Vama, (launched 10 years ago with brother Arjun), was acquired along with Bombay Bicycle Club, to make what chief executive Jamal Hirani calls “the largest Indian restaurant group in the UK.”

While the chef also runs a popular cookery course, offering high-paying guests the chance to experience some of the finest Indian cooking, Varma has agreed to exclusively divulge one of his favourite recipes and top curry-cooking tips for BigH readers, in aid of National Curry Week.

Varma’s top tips for making curry

1.​ Don`t panic - organise yourself, as preparation is the key. Like Chinese cuisine, Indian food needs to be prepared ahead of time before the final product is assembled.

2.​ Don`t be afraid to enhance the flavours by adding spices, as these blend in nicely after the dish is cooked.

3.​ Plan your dinner keeping in mind tastes, textures, and colours. If you only have sauce-based dishes, then your plate will look messy and runny. Balance your plate with dry textured dishes, combined with one or two sauce dishes.

4.​ Marinate ahead of time. Do your prep work a week before and freeze it, then thaw the marinated meats on the day of the BBQ for example.

6.​ Blend ginger and garlic paste and set then in a few ice cube moulds. They come in handy for Indian cooking & can be used for months.

Adhraki Gosht (Organic Baby Lamb Masala in a tomato and ginger sauce)

Ingredients​

1/2kg Diced fat-free organic baby lamb
half cup Sliced onions
3-4tsp oil
25g Ginger paste
20g Garlic paste
Pinch of red chilli powder
half tsp Garam masala
1/2kg Plum/ fresh tomatoes
1 tsp Tomato paste
40g Yogurt
Salt and white pepper to taste
Ginger Julienne’s to garnish

Method​

• In a heavy pan heat the oil, add sliced onions and cook until brown.
• Add the diced Organic baby lamb
• Cook for about 10 minutes until onions are soft.
• Add ginger paste and garlic paste cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add all the spices, tomatoes paste and yoghurt.
• Add 1 cup of water and cook on a slow fire until lamb is tender. Remove excess oil. Serve garnished with ginger Julienne.