The latest tome from healthy fast food restaurant chain LEON is all about curries.
The first LEON restaurant opened in London's Carnaby Street back in 2004. It has since grown into a much-loved brand, with a Dublin branch opening in Temple Bar in early 2019 and another one due to open in Dundrum Town Centre in the coming months.
The brand inspired a collection of cookbooks - with 120,000 copies of the Happy series sold to date. Written by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent, the new Happy Curries contains more than 100 recipes inspired by dishes from Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Burma, Somalia and the Caribbean. It features everything from quick sides to firey mains, as well as tips and ingredient swapping advice.
Recipes include Sri Lankan jackfruit and vegetable curry, Kashmiri lamb rogan josh, skinny salmon and coconut curry and Katsu chicken. We have a trio of dishes below for you to try at home.
Shumaiya's Family Chicken Korma
"When John gets takeaway, he orders curry from Nizam in Haywards Heath, and he doesn’t even need to ask what his kids want: korma. Our friend Shumi (or Shumaiya)’s family is from Bangladesh. ‘A Bengali kulma (aka korma) is buttery and rich, and quite unlike what most of Britain knows as a korma. Its natural sweetness comes from slow-cooked onions and whole spices. Made for special occasions, this recipe has been passed down from generation to generation.'"
Click here for the recipe.
Thai Style Clam Curry
"Nam prik pao, a Thai roasted chilli paste, is a powerhouse of an ingredient and is now widely available. Use it on its own to add a wallop of flavour to stir-fries, or mix with coconut milk in curries."
Get the recipe here.
Sag Paneer
Once upon a time, Rebecca was a vegetarian. Her student house had a Wednesday ritual of watching Sex and the City (the first series!) and getting a takeaway. This gloriously rich and creamy curry house favourite was always her order. In India, you might find it made without the cream, in which case a dollop of ghee, melted in at the end, is a good idea.
Give it a try here.
We also have three copies of LEON Happy Curries to give away to FOOD AND WINE fans. To be in with a chance of winning, click here.
LEON Happy Curries by Rebecca Seal and John Vincent (€19.53) is published by Octopus. Photography by Steven Joyce.
