Two delicious recipes to try from Dianne Bibby's new cookbook

The two recipes promise to bring some warmth to the settling chill.

EASY BUTTER CHICKEN CURRY WITH BROWNED BUTTER

A breeze to put together once you’ve made the curry paste. Spicy, but not overly hot. Drizzle over the hot, browned butter at the end and let it trickle into the sauce.

Serves 4

700g skinless chicken fillets, cut into large cubes

160ml Butter Chicken curry paste, divided, see recipe below

Fine salt and freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable oil, for cooking

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

180ml chicken stock (250ml for a thinner sauce

5ml (1 tsp) brown sugar

1 cinnamon stick

250ml (1 cup) Greek or double-cream yoghurt

40g butter, optional

Quick herb yoghurt:

125ml (1/2 cup) Greek yoghurt

Zest of 1 lemon

15ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice

Pinch of fine salt

Handful of finely chopped fresh mint, coriander and flat-leaf parsley

1. Place the chicken and 80ml curry paste in a non-metallic bowl. Season lightly with salt and black pepper and toss to coat. Cover and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes or overnight, if time allows.

2. Heat 15ml oil in a wide-based pan until hot. Cook the chicken for several minutes, more to sear than brown. Scrape in the remaining paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, stock, sugar and cinnamon stick. Cover partially and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir through the yoghurt and cook for a further 10 minutes.

3. For the browned butter, heat the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Once the butter is melted, turn the heat up and let it splutter away until nutty and golden in colour.

4. Pour the hot, browned butter over the curry just before serving and swirl through. Offer with warm naan bread, steamed basmati rice and a quick herb yoghurt. For the yoghurt combine all the ingredients and serve with the curry.

LEOPARD CHOCOLATE BISCUIT CAKE

For the leopard effect, cut the biscuits into smallish squares. It really is an anything goes kind of recipe. Chopped nuts, dried cherries, apricots, that sort of thing. Unashamedly rich with a fudge-like texture. 

Serves 12-14

125g butter

120g dark chocolate (70%), roughly chopped

80ml honey or golden syrup

25g cocoa powder

5ml vanilla extract

A pinch of Maldon sea salt flakes

250g Eet-Sum-Mor biscuits, roughly chopped

100g dried cranberries

Topping:

150g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

30ml full-cream milk

15ml olive oil

15ml boiling water

Optional:

Melted chocolate, to drizzle

Cocoa nibs, to finish

1. Line and butter a 15cm loose-bottomed cake tin. Place the butter, dark chocolate, honey or syrup and cocoa in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Stir gently until melted, then remove from the heat. Add the vanilla and salt and whisk with a balloon whisk to break up any dry cocoa clumps.

2. Fold in the biscuits and cranberries. Scrape into the cake tin and press the mixture down firmly. Chill for several hours until set.

3. For the topping melt the milk chocolate and milk gently. Whisk in the olive oil and water. Spread the topping over the set cake and chill for 2 hours.

4. Unmould carefully and place on a cake plate. Drizzle with a little extra melted chocolate and scatter with cocoa nibs, if you like.

This story has been repurposed from the original article in the Sunday Times Lifestyle