Cookbook Preview: Bold by Nisha Katona

“Nisha’s book Bold is a true reflection of her personality, strong, passionate and most importantly, positive! Bold interpretations of modern classics with her own insightful crafted skills. Truly wonderful, unique and accessible.”

— Tom Kerridge

March 5th 2024 is publication day for Bold: Big Flavour Twists to Classic Dishes by Nisha Katona, and the book is now available to ckbk Premium Members in full. Great British Menu judge and successful restaurateur Nisha Katona’s earlier cookbooks have been mega-popular on ckbk, with Indian-flavoured street food dishes from the Mowgli restaurants such as Gunpowder Chicken, Tamarind Treacle Fries and Yoghurt Chat Bombs, and innovative rice dishes from around the world in Pimp My Rice. With Bold, Nisha sets out to (boldly) go in a new direction. No longer restricted to focusing solely on Indian flavours or traditional recipes, the recipes in Bold take flight with innovative combinations and twists on the classics. From Chilli Crab Mac ’N’ Cheese to Orange and Cardamom Liverpool Tart, the one thing these recipes are not is understated!

You can order a print copy of Bold and as a taster of what the book has to offer, check out the two sample recipes below.

CASHEW AND MUSHROOM STROGANOFF

“This is a refreshing and light vegan take on a stroganoff, which can sometimes be a bit claggy and heavy. It makes a perfect weeknight dinner for all the family. For a real gourmet feast, look out for wild mushrooms when they hit the supermarket or greengrocers in season – they will add so much more flavour and savoury umami to this already lovely dish.”

Ingredients

Serves 4

200 g/7 oz cashew nuts
3 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
500 g/1 lb 2 oz mixed mushrooms, roughly sliced or just halved if small
1 onion, finely sliced
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup vegetable stock
a large handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped, plus extra small leaves to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper
cooked pappardelle or tagliatelle pasta (check that it is vegan, if necessary), to serve

Method

First, make the cashew cream. Put 120 g/4 oz of the cashews in a heatproof bowl and pour over enough boiling water from the kettle to cover. Leave to soak for about 30 minutes, then drain them. Put them in a high-speed blender with 200 ml/7 fl oz/scant 1 cup fresh water and blend until smooth.
While your cashews are soaking, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/Gas 6, then toast the remaining cashews for 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool, then finely chop half of them.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large sauté pan over a high heat. Add half the mushrooms and cook them quickly and intensely until browned and wilted. Remove them from the pan and repeat with another 1 tablespoon of oil and the remaining mushrooms. Once cooked, remove all the mushrooms from the pan and set aside on a plate.
Reduce the heat to low–medium and add the remaining oil to the pan with the onion. Cook gently for a good 8–10 minutes until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the garlic and give it a couple more minutes. Stir in the mustard, then return the mushrooms to the pan, add the stock and simmer for a few minutes until the liquid is reduced by half.
Add the cashew cream and mint to the pan along with the toasted cashews (keep the chopped ones to one side). Cook until the liquid is warmed through again and you have a homogeneous creamy sauce. Add a splash more water if the sauce is too thick. Taste and season well with salt and pepper.
Serve the stroganoff immediately over cooked pasta, with the chopped toasted cashews and a few more mint leaves sprinkled over the top.

BANANA AND TAHINI BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING

“Not everyone is a fan of raisins, so I wondered what else I could add to a classic bread and butter pud. I instantly thought of banana – pillowy and sweet, and eternal friend to honey and cinnamon, they work beautifully in this comfort-food classic. The earthy sesame flavour of tahini grounds the sweetness for an added twist.”

Ingredients

Serves 4

50 g/2 oz butter, plus extra for greasing
8 slices slightly stale white bread
about 100 g/3½ oz tahini, for spreading
2 large bananas, sliced on the diagonal
demerara/turbinado sugar, to sprinkle
1 tbsp sesame seeds

For the custard

300 ml/10½ fl oz/1¼ cups whole milk
250 ml/9 fl oz/1 cup double/heavy cream
3 large eggs
3 tbsp caster/superfine sugar
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp tahini
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for dusting

Method

Grease a 20 x 25cm/8 x 10in baking dish with butter.
To make the custard, put the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat over a gentle heat until scalding point (almost but not yet boiling).
Meanwhile, in a heatproof jug, whisk together the eggs and sugar, then add the honey, tahini, vanilla extract and cinnamon and whisk again.
Very slowly pour the hot milk and cream into the jug, whisking all the time so that the eggs are tempered and they don’t curdle. Keep whisking until all the liquid is added and the honey and tahini have dissolved, then set aside.
Slice the crusts off the bread and slice them diagonally into triangles. Spread each triangle with butter and layer half of them over the base of the baking dish. Drizzle half the tahini over the bread. Lay the banana slices on top of the bread, then repeat by placing the remaining bread on top of the bananas, and drizzling over the remaining tahini. Pour the custard over the bread, then set aside for 30 minutes for the custard to soak into the bread.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/Gas 4.
Once the 30 minutes are up, sprinkle the top of the pudding generously with demerara sugar, the sesame seeds and a pinch of cinnamon. Bake for about 40 minutes, until the top of the pudding is golden and it is risen slightly. Serve immediately.