Salmon & Asparagus Stroganoff (Dhruv Baker's recipe for Tilda rice)

I have tried quite a lot of Stroganoff recipes, with beef, pork, chicken and turkey, but never with salmon. When I saw Dhruv Baker's recipe for Salmon Stroganoff, I just had to try it. This is such an interesting twist on a classic Russian dish.
The original Beef Stroganoff (Бефстроганов Befstróganov) was named after Count Grigorii Stroganov (1770-1857), who belonged to one of the wealthiest Russian families and served as an Ambassador to Sweden, Spain and Turkey. As a famous gourmand, he kept only the best chefs in his household(s). The legend says that Beef Stroganoff was invented by a Russian chef, who was Stroganoff's serf.
Fast forward a couple of centuries, and this Russian dish is well known around the world.

MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker has teamed up with Tilda rice to create a Tilda Rice & Spice Guide.
Each of Tilda's rice varieties offers a distinctive flavour tone and texture highlight that can be matched perfectly with dishes and spices from around the globe".

For salmon Stroganoff, Tilda suggests using Basmati & Wild rice. "The nutty wholesome taste of the wild rice matches perfectly with the Basmati grain, adding a visual twist to any dish".

Salmon & Asparagus Stroganoff (serves 4) (recipe reproduced with kind permission from Tilda rice)
Ingredients:
240g Tilda Basmati & Wild rice
1tbsp olive oil
500g salmon fillet, cubed
200g button mushrooms
125g asparagus tips, cut into 3cm pieces
200g low fat cream cheese
100ml semi skimmed milk
1/2tsp smoked paprika
1/2 20g pack chives, chopped

1.Cook the rice in boiling water for 25 minutes, drain.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the salmon and mushrooms for 3-4 minutes.
3. Stir in the asparagus, cream cheese, milk and paprika and cook for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste.
4. Mix the chives into the rice and serve with the salmon stroganoff.

It was a lovely combination of flavours and textures. The mix of wild & Basmati rice might be an unusual side dish for Stroganoff, but it works well. The only thing I missed was a tangy note of soured cream. For me Stroganoff must have a soured cream among its ingredients. I followed Dhruv Baker's recipe precisely (only halved the ingredients for 2 of us, as my boys don't like salmon), but if I cook it next time, I will swap the cream cheese for the soured cream.

You can download the Tilda Rice & Spice Guide (just click on the link on the page).

If you liked this recipe, you might enjoy another of Dhruv Baker's recipes for Tilda - Qabili Pilau.

Qabili Pilau (Dhruv Baker's recipe for Tilda rice)

The aroma of cooking pilau or pilaf takes me back to my childhood, when we used to visit family friends. The pater familias was a Korean born and bred in Uzbekistan, which is famous for its delicious pilaf dishes. He always cooked a lamb plov (that's what we call it in Russia), and it was a real feast. It has been cooked for hours in a special heavy pot, with a whole head of garlic sitting inside the rice. Memories, memories... When Tilda rice asked me recently if I would like to try some of their new recipes created by Dhruv Baker, I immediately said Yes.

MasterChef winner Dhruv Baker has been working wonders in partnership with Tilda (you might have seen and enjoyed their Limited edition rice packs). To coincide with the coming Diwali celebrations they have just released the first ever Rice & Spice Pairing Guide, which is "designed to help people understand the complex characteristics of rice and discover mealtime pairings".
This guide "helps uncover how wholegrain Basmati balances perfectly with spices like smoked paprika in a chilli con carne and why Basmati, often referred to as the Prince of Rice is an ideal accompaniment to a perfect chicken curry".

Having read the Guide, I was happy to try all the recipes. The first one I have chosen to recreate was a Qabili Pilau, which pairs Tilda Easy Cook basmati with cinnamon. I don't usually add cinnamon to pilaf, and was curious to try this combination of flavours.

Apart from cinnamon, there are also such spices as cumin, saffron and pepper. Tilda Easy Cook Basmati is exactly what it says on the packet - easy to cook. It has a unique fragrance which is ideal alongside the cumin, saffron and cinnamon.
"It is also more robust, both texturally and in terms of flavour, so it stands up to the lamb resulting in a fabulous finished dish".
What did we think of the pilau? It was absolutely spot on flavour-wise, a great combination of rice, meat, spices and vegetables.

Qabili Pilau (serves 6) - Recipe is reproduced with kind permission from Tilda
Ingredients:
360g Tilda Easy Cook Basmati
3tbsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
600g lamb, diced
200ml water
2 large carrots
100g black seedless raisins
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp saffron
1 litre of water
salt and pepper

Prep time 10 mins
Cook time 2hrs 10 mins

Method:
1. Heat a large pan with the 2 tbsp oil and add the onions and saute until brown.
2. Add the lamb and brown lightly.
3. Add the 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cumin, pepper with the water and cover. Simmer until meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove meat from the juice and set juice aside.
5. Cut 2 carrots into match stick pieces. Saute carrots and 1 tsp sugar in 1 tbsp of oil.
6. Remove from oil. Add 1 cup of raisins to the oil and cook until they soften up.
7. Simmer the leftover meat juices until it thickens into a sauce.
8. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the Tilda Easy Cook Basmati, cook for 8 mins and then drain off the excess water.
9. Add the rice back to the pan with 5 tsp of the meat sauce and the saffron. Mix the meat, carrots, raisins and rice together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Place in a large oven-proof dish and cover well to keep the steam inside. Bake for 30 mins at 200C.

11. Serve on a large platter and enjoy with the leftover meat sauce.

I have tried some of Dhruv Baker's recipes in the past, and if you are interested to check them out, please read my posts:
Dhruv Baker's Perfect Chicken Curry
and
Tilli's Tasty Tuna Bites

Disclosure: I received vouchers for purchasing products and testing a recipe.

Dhruv Baker's Perfect Chicken Curry

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Brits can't resist a curry. Being such a versatile dish, brimming with flavours and textures, it is now part of the nation's staple diet. 

But did you know that there is a scientific formula for the perfect curry? Apparently there is.

Tilda, the UK's favourite (no.1) Basmati brand, "have been working with the University of Warwick to create the scientific formula for the perfect curry, carefully balancing the flavours, textures and measures of this British take-away institution.

Tilda has commissioned Dr. Hadley from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick to create a formula for the much desired perfect curry."

Now, I can nod in agreement and pretend that I can easily read this formula. 

Let's ask the specialists to decipher the meaning of this formula:

"The key to this formula is the Basmati rice.  Inferior Basmati rice contains cheaper, broken grains which release starch and cook quicker, resulting in non- fluffy grains.  Tilda’s Pure Basmati rice has been carefully milled and rejects broken grains, resulting in separate and long rice that is the perfect fluffy fit for your curry.  

In addition, the size of the meal is decided by the fork test, whereby the ideal curry has the ratio of 1:1:1- meat or vegetable; sauce; rice- in order for every forkful to include each of the key ingredients in equal measure, providing a delicious taste and texture combination".

To demonstrate how to create the supreme curry, 2010 UK Master Chef Winner, Dhruv Baker, has brought this scientific formula to life and will take us step by step through his very own ultimate curry recipe. 

To watch Dhruv create this perfect dish, please visit Tilda.

Dhruv’s Perfect Chicken Curry

Dhruv says: "For me, this is the perfect chicken curry. It has layer upon layer of flavour, bags of depth, a hint of sweetness and just the right amount of chilli heat.  The beauty of this dish is that you can add more or less heat, you can tweak the spicing to your palate, you can add more tomato to make more sauce – in short you can make some small changes to make this your perfect curry.  Serve with some perfectly cooked Basmati rice and if you really want, some extra side dishes but I honestly don’t think you need them. Enjoy!

You only need half the paste from the below recipe so freeze one half ready to use when you next fancy this delicious curry.  If you have the paste ready then this dish is ready in 20 minutes."

I confess I didn't have all the ingredients for the recipe. My major change was from the chicken to turkey, but I will reproduce Dhruv's recipe as he intended, and it's up to you to make your own adaptations and changes.

Turkey curry

Dhruv's Perfect Chicken Curry

Serves 4 

Ingredients

75g desiccated coconut

2 x cinnamon stick

2 x star anise

3 whole dried red chillies

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 tsp fennel seeds

100ml of water

3 tsp coriander powder

1/2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp turmeric powder

1?2 tsp cinnamon powder

1?2 tsp salt

5 tbsp vegetable oil

3 x red onions, finely chopped

4 x cloves garlic finenly chopped

2 x tsp grated fresh ginger

6 x tbsp fresh curry leaves

8 x tomatoes finely chopped

500g boneless chicken thighs (skin removed) or turkey 

200ml water or chicken stock

1 x small bunch fresh coriander finenly chopped

1 x green chilli finely chopped (optional if you like it hot!)

A squeeze of lemon

My changes: less chillies, I only used 1 dried chilli, 6 tomatoes rather than 8, and also I couldn't find the curry leaves and got a small packet of fresh kaffir lime leaves, which are often added to curries.

Toast the coconut in a pan over a low heat, stirring until it turns golden brown

Remove the coconut on to a plate and into the same pan add the cinnamon sticks, dried chillies, peppercorns, star anise and fennel seeds. Roast in the pan for 3-4 minutes then add the ground coriander and chilli powder and stir for a minute. Add 100ml of water to form a paste and cook for two minutes

Remove the cinnamon sticks, star anise and whole chillies and keep for later. Add the toasted coconut, cinnamon powder, turmeric and salt to the pan. Add everything to a spice grinder or pestle and mortar and grind to a smooth paste

Heat the oil in the same pan and slowly cook the onions until they are soft – this will take about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes then turn up the heat and add the curry leaves and stir for a minute

Add the tomatoes and the spice paste, return the cinnamon stick, star anise and chillies to the pan and cook for five minutes, stirring until you end up with a smooth paste and the oil starts to separate out

Remove half the mixture and freeze or place in an airtight container which will keep in the fridge for a week or so

Add the chicken and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add 200ml chicken stock remove the lid and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through

Remove the star anise, cinnamon and chilli, stir through the lemon juice and green chilli (if using) and scatter with the fresh coriander.

Turkey curry

As you can see from my photos, my curry sauce appears very chunky. I don't have a spice grinder, and my pestle and mortar are too small, and it would have taken ages to grind the sauce to a smooth paste if I were doing it in mini-batches. 

Taste-wise, it was quite unlike the ready-made curry sauces I buy. It was very fragrant and flavourful. 

I still have a tub of sauce in the fridge (second half) and will be using it with the chicken later this week. I wonder, whether to blitz it with a hand blender for a smoother consistency? 

Disclosure: I received a pack of Tilda's Pure Basmati for trying this recipe.