EAT YOUR WAY INTO 2017

FEELING DOWN IN THE DUMPS? REVAMP YOUR DIET, ELEVATE YOUR MOOD AND TEST YOUR CULINARY SKILLS WITH THESE EASY, DELECTABLE GOURMET RECIPES

There’s a special kind of hell that comes around the New Year. In these times, cities are amplifiers, or even loudspeakers for loneliness. Add demonetisation to the mix and the fact that you may be far away from family, are single and stuck in one of the few places where alcohol is banned, and the picture completes itself. Lazy and dejected, in a dark corner in my flat in Ahmedabad and dying slowly of food and TV coma, I sat up and decided to cook my way into the new year. My shortlist, my friend and barrister Charles Marquand’s chicken recipe, famous chef Jamie Oliver’s vegetarian delight and my own version of a fruit layered dessert.

Ingredients

1.5 kg chicken in 4 to 6 pieces 125 g butter 4 shallots or small onions, sliced 200 g mushrooms, sliced 350 ml lager beer 1 small glass marc d’alsace or gin 300 ml cream 2 tbsp Guinness (dark beer), optional Fresh parsley, finely chopped

Method

Saute the chicken in about 50 g butter and a little oil. Add sliced onions and continue to cook until onions are soft and brown. Add the beer and marc