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.
2 lamb racks, fat trimmed and cut into halves
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
20ml corn oil
Pilau rice, for serving
Corn Sauce
80ml ghee
8 cloves
2 black cardamoms
1 bay leaf
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp garlic paste
100g lamb trimmings, finely diced
200g corn kernels, boiled and divided
2 tbsp yoghurt
150ml lamb stock
1 ginger knob (about 20g), peeled and chopped
50g chopped fresh coriander
1 lemon, for juice
Coat the lamb racks with the garlic and ginger paste, salt and red chilli powder and set aside to marinade for about 30 minutes. Heat the corn oil in a frying pan and pan-sear the marinated lamb racks on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Finish in a preheated oven at 175°C for about 7 minutes. Remove baked lamb racks from the oven and set aside to rest for about 4 minutes before serving.
For the corn sauce:
Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed sauté pan. Add in the cloves, black cardamoms and bay leaf and sauté until they start to crackle. Add in the chopped onions and sauté until they turn translucent. Add in the turmeric powder and salt and sauté briskly. Then add in the garlic paste and continue sautéing for a few more minutes. Add in the diced lamb trimmings and sauté until the meat turns slightly brown, for about 5 minutes. Add in 150g corn kernels and yoghurt and cook on a low heat until the corn kernels are tender, for about 30 minutes. Add in the lamb stock and bring liquid to a boil again. Add in the chopped ginger, chopped fresh coriander and the remaining of the corn kernels and cook on a medium heat until sauce has thickened. Season with the lime juice.
Place a roasted lamb rack onto the centre of each serving plate. Serve with the pilau rice and drizzle over the corn sauce.
Serves 4