
2 Recipes To Try From BiBi’s Chet Sharma
THE SPICE BLENDS & OILS
BiBi Chaat Masala
Makes: 200g
Blend all the ingredients to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder.
Store in an airtight container for up to one month.
Garam Masala
Makes: 250g
Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Spread all the spices except the dagad phool, rose petals and bay leaves on a baking tray. Roast in the oven for 4 minutes, then remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Blend the roasted spices along with the remaining ingredients to a fine powder in a spice or coffee grinder.
Store in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
MSG Oil
Makes: 700g
Heat the oil in a pan to 130°C. Add the whole spices and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
Add the roughly chopped onions, shallots, ginger and coriander and herbs to the oil. Heat to 160°C and cook for 20-30 minutes until the onions and shallots are golden and caramelised. Remove from the heat and pour into a container on top of an ice bath to cool the oil down quickly. Leave to infuse in the refrigerator overnight.
The following day, pass through a fine sieve and mix in the MSG with a hand blender. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Peanut Oil
Makes: 200g
Preheat the oven to 160°C. Place the cumin and coriander seeds on a tray and roast in the oven for 1 minute. Add the dried chillies to the tray and roast for 3 more minutes. Remove the toasted spices from the oven and set aside.
On a separate tray, place the sesame seeds and roast in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.
Put all the ingredients except the oil in a food processor and blend until finely minced, then add the oil and blend for another minute until emulsified. Put the mixture inside a vacuum pouch and seal. Set up a dehydrator or a steam oven to 70°C and cook the oil for 15 hours.
Pass the oil through a fine sieve. Keep the pulp and oil in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
THE RECIPES

Achari Middlewhite Pork Belly
People from all over the world come to Mayfair, meaning that BiBi has been discovered by every nationality under the sun. Unfortunately, what that also means is that we can rarely ever feature pork on our menu which, religion or dietary choices aside, is a big shame for me personally because I love it. It’s probably my single favourite meat, and it is just so versatile. Cured and preserved as salami, jamon and bacon, chops cooked over charcoal, slow-smoked pulled pork or a braised belly – each one is so distinct but has the single thread of piggy deliciousness. And we haven’t even mentioned bangers and mash. The wakame salad is not traditionally Indian, and you could make it with cucumber if you prefer, but it’s essential for cutting all the fatty, pungent heat from the pork sauce.
To make the sesame chutney, preheat the oven to 160°C. Roast the peanuts and sesame seeds on a tray for 10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes until light golden. Place all the ingredients in a high-speed blender or Vitamix and blend until smooth.
To make the achari marinade, char the bell pepper over a flame. Once fully black, wrap in a cloth and let it cool down. Peel the pepper, then discard the stem, seeds and charred skin. Blend all the ingredients along with the red pepper pulp in a high-speed blender or Vitamix to a smooth paste.
Coat the pork belly on both sides with the salt and leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Brush off the salt and rub the belly with 75g of the achari marinade. Place in a vacuum pouch and seal. Set up a steamer, or a combination oven, on full steam to 72°C and cook it for 12 hours. Once cooked, strain the juices and set them aside. Chill the confit belly in the refrigerator overnight, pressed with a weight on top. Remove the skin and set it aside. Portion the pork in about 2 slabs of 8cm x 4cm (how many slabs you get will depend on the shape of the belly).
Set up a charcoal grill. Heat the pork belly cooking juices and 25g of the achari marinade in a saucepan, and reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Reserve the sauce for serving. Once the charcoal is ready, brush the pork with the remaining marinade. Grill the belly until it’s warmed all the way through and lightly charred around the edges.
To serve, carve the pork belly, put it off-centre on a plate and gently pour the sauce on the side around the pork.

Okra Salan
Second only to aubergine, okra has to be my favourite exotic ingredient. I say exotic because, while most Indians will argue that okra (or bhindi as it is more often known) is from the subcontinent, its origins are more likely from the east coast of Africa. Technically, it was all one supercontinent around 150 million years ago, so who are we to draw such arbitrary lines? All I know is that bhindi is something that would almost always be in the fridge at home because of its versatility and how quickly it cooks. When we train new people on the grill section how to cook this dish, we often say it’s better to almost forget that you need it, so you cook it right at the last minute, to keep the shape and colour of the vegetable, but making sure any of the slimy parts inside are properly cooked out.
To make the peanut and sesame salan, preheat the oven to 160°C. Put the sesame seeds on a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 5 minutes. Open the oven, add the peanuts and white poppy seeds to the tray, and roast for 10 more minutes or until golden, mixing them every 3-4 minutes to ensure they roast all over. Remove and set aside.
Put the desiccated coconut on a separate tray and roast in the oven for 9 minutes, stirring it every 3 minutes to ensure all of it gets golden. Once golden, add it to the peanut and sesame mix. Add the peanut, sesame and coconut mixture to a food processor along with 100g of the water and blend until a butter texture is achieved. Reserve.
Heat the rapeseed oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the cumin and fry until it starts cracking, then add the chopped garlic, ginger and fenugreek seeds, and fry for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the curry leaves and cook until they splutter. Turn off the heat. Add the Kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala, salt, fried onions, tamarind and jaggery. Mix in the pan with the residual heat. Put the remaining 275g of water in a blender with the peanut and sesame mixture and the onion and spices mixture. Blend at full speed until smooth, adding 50g more water if needed. Pass through a fine sieve.
For the okra chilli mix, thinly slice all the vegetables using a mandoline and mix them in a bowl with the MSG oil. Set up a charcoal grill. Once the charcoal is ready, place the sliced mixture in a metal sieve, and cook directly over the charcoal until the onions are translucent.
For the peanut podi oil, preheat the oven to 160°C. Mix the peanuts with the salt and 10g of the peanut oil. Place the peanuts on a baking tray and roast in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring them every 3 minutes to ensure they colour all over. Remove from the oven and, once cool, place them with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly .
Set up a charcoal grill. Trim both ends of the okra and, when the charcoal is ready, grill them until blistered and lightly charred all over. Warm up the peanut and sesame salan in a pan. Place the okra chilli mix in the middle of a plate. Put the peanut podi on top of the okra chilli mix. Pour the warm peanut and sesame sauce around the okra chilli mix. Rest the grilled okra on top of the okra chilli mix and serve.
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