A masterclass with Vivek Singh
Chef Vivek Singh surprised his family when he announced his intentions to become a chef. After graduating from catering college, he joined the Oberoi Hotel group focusing on Indian cuisine. Chef Singh worked at the Grand Hotel in Calcutta and moved to Jaipur in 1997 where he became the Indian chef of Oberoi’s flagship Rajvilas in Jaipur, at a young age of twenty-six.
Since the opening of The Cinnamon Club in 2001, as the executive chef of the restaurant, Chef Singh never stopped pushing boundaries and redefining the expectations of Indian cuisine. The Cinnamon Club has since picked up numerous awards for its ‘beyond authentic’ Indian cuisine such as the best curry in 2006 by United Kingdom best dishes award and the best in Britain Award every year since 2001. Chef Singh has written four cookbooks; one of which Cinnamon Club Seafood Cookbook won a World Gourmet Awards in 2006 for the best United Kingdom seafood cookbook. Chef Singh is a familiar face on television with regular appearances on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen and UKTV Food’s Market Kitchen.
4 tilapia fillets
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 lemon, for juice
4 tbsp vegetable oil
Yoghurt rice and lemon wedges, for serving
Curry Leaves & Lentil Crust
6 tbsp white urad lentils
1 tbsp split yellow chickpeas
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
20 curry leaves, dried and lightly crushed
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
For the curry leaves & lentil crust:
Place the white lentils, yellow chickpeas, fennel seeds, black peppercorns and cumin seeds into a frying pan and toast until the lentils turn golden brown and the spices release all the aromas. Place the toasted spice mixture into a mortar and pound to a coarse powder with the pestle. Place the pound spices into a mixing bowl and add in the red chilli flakes, crushed curry leaves and chopped fresh coriander. Mix well and set aside.
Season the tilapia fillets with the salt, ginger and garlic paste, red chilli powder, sugar and lemon juice and set aside to marinade for about 30 minutes. Coat the marinated tilapia fillets with the curry leaves and lentil crust. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and pan-fry the crusted tilapia fillets on low heat, for about 5 minutes on each side.
Place a pan-fried tilapia fillet onto the centre of each serving plate. Serve with yoghurt rice.
Garnish with a lemon wedge.
Serves 4