nik sharma

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Nik Sharma’s latest cookbook, The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking in 114 Essential Recipes, includes a recipe for this delicious-sounding black pepper chicken. It’s a dish without a chili in sight that still promises to deliver its fair share of heat! The chicken is served atop basmati rice — read on for Sharma’s recipe, plus his how-to for getting the rice just right.

Black Pepper Chicken

By Nik Sharma

Before chillies arrived in India, black pepper was an important ingredient that provided heat in cooking. There are a few different versions of black pepper chicken, some dry and some with a more gravy-like sauce. If you prefer a drier chicken, use half the amount of coconut milk indicated in the recipe.

The flavour approach:&nbsp;

The heat in this dish comes from the pepper. For a more pronounced aroma and taste, use Tellicherry peppercorns, inspired by the South Indian stew of the same name.

Fennel seeds and slow-cooked onions provide sweetness to counteract the heat. Onions contain long chains of fructose molecules called fructans that break down on heating to release the sweeter-tasting fructose molecules.

Coconut milk is an emulsion of water, fat, proteins, and sugars that provides creaminess.

Use a fragrant coconut oil to get the full impact of coconut fragrance and flavor in this dish.

Black Pepper Chicken

Black Pepper Chicken: Nik Sharma's heat-filled recipe is for nights when you want something wonderfully warm

tbsp black peppercorns

coriander

tsp fennel seeds, ground

tsp turmeric

lime juice

salt

lb [1.4 kg] boneless, skinless chicken thighs

coconut oil

onions

garlic cloves,

13.6 fl oz [403 mL] can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk

tbsp chopped cilantro, for garnish

Plain Rice (recipe to follow),

[200 g] basmati rice

[960 mL] water

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Nik Sharma’s Spiced Coffee Kulfi is an icy-cool sweet that’s also a little bitter. Just as great-sounding: it’s really easy to make, requiring no special equipment — not even a coffee maker, just some ramekins or kulfi molds if you’ve got ‘em. So if an easy, coffee-plus-kulfi treat is your idea of a good way to beat the heat, this one’s for you! Scroll down to grab the recipe, which comes from his cookbook, The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking in 114 Essential Recipes.&nbsp;

Spiced Coffee Kulfi

By Nik Sharma

When I was in high school in India, a street-food vendor would drop by the school every afternoon during our lunch break. Attached to the back of his bicycle was a large metal box filled with chunks of ice and metal containers of frozen kulfi. I’m hesitant to call kulfi an Indian ice cream, because it really isn’t that; it’s a type of frozen dessert. Unlike ice cream, in which ice crystals are a negative trait, a kulfi will contain a certain amount of ice crystals and is a little firmer than a soft ice cream. Kulfi is one of the easiest treats to make at home. Make ahead of time to allow ample time to freeze.

The flavor approach:

The flavor molecules in the whole spices are extracted into the milk fat for a more delicate flavor to complement the coffee. For a stronger dose of spice, add ½ tsp of ground spices directly to the milk. If you want to reduce the flavor of coffee, use ½ Tbsp.

The use of instant coffee helps in two ways: It dissolves very easily, and it provides a very concentrated dose of coffee flavor without increasing the liquid volume, which would otherwise pose a problem in achieving the correct frozen texture. Excess water will cause a higher proportion of ice crystal formation by changing the ratios of the ingredients involved such as fat, proteins, and sugars.

Evaporated milk acts as a shortcut here; it provides the taste of caramelized lactose, a characteristic feature of kulfis made in India.

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