Collard Greens with Pancetta and Blackened Chillies

Unlike a lot of traditional southern recipes, I like my collard greens al dente and slightly chewy. My quick-cook method is full of texture and crunch, and pairs the fibrous greens with crispy bits of salty pancetta and smoky, blackened dried red chillies, all pulled together at the end with the bright, finishing note of lemon juice.

Ingredients 
1 lb [500 gms] Collard Greens
4 oz [125 gms] Pancetta*, diced
1 tbsp Olive Oil
4 whole Dried Red Chillis
2 cloves of Garlic, minced
Salt (to taste)
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Juice of ½ Lemon

1. Wash collard greens, remove and discard stems and centre ribs, and cut leaves in half vertically. Stack 4–5 leaves together, roll up, and cut into ½-inch-wide strips. Add collard greens to a pot of boiling water and cook over high heat for 30 mins. Drain water and set aside greens. (You can prepare the collard greens up to this point a day ahead and store in the fridge.)
2. In a large skillet or frying pan, render pancetta over high heat until crisp and golden. Remove pancetta with a slotted spoon and set to drain on a paper-lined plate. Pour out any fat in the skillet and wipe clean.
3. Heat olive oil in the same skillet over high heat until smoking. Add dried red chillies and stir briskly for about a minute until the chillies just start to blacken. Add garlic, and fry for about 1 min, until lightly golden.
4. Add collard greens, pancetta, salt, and pepper, and cook for 5 mins. Sprinkle water if the skillet gets too dry. Turn off heat, add lemon juice and stir well. Let sit for 5 mins before serving. 

*TIP: You can substitute pancetta with bacon or uncured pork belly.

Quick-Cooked Prawns with Three Chillies

This fragrant and fiery recipe is perfect for the summer—fast on prep time and a breeze to cook—so you don’t have to hover around a hot stove for long. It’s also a supremely noshable dish, so the biggest challenge is to prevent Tastey Boy from swiping half the platter before it even reaches the dining table!

Ingredients 

3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
4–6 whole Dried Red Chillies
1 tsp Black Mustard seeds
4–6 fresh Green Chillies, cut into half lengthwise
2 Shallots, sliced
2-inch piece Ginger, peeled and cut into thin slivers
4 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 lbs [1 kg] Prawns, peeled, de-veined, and washed
1 tbsp ground Coriander
½ tbsp ground Cumin
1 tsp Chilli powder
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Salt (to taste)
1 tbsp Fish Sauce or Soy Sauce
Juice of ½ lemon

1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large skillet or frying pan over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add dried red chillies and sauté briskly for 1 min until they are blackened. Set aside chillies in a small bowl, crush half of them roughly into small pieces and leave the others whole. 
2. Add remaining oil to pan and heat until it is smoking. Add black mustard seeds and sputter for a few seconds until they start to pop. Add green chillies, shallots, ginger and garlic, and cook for 2–3 mins, until lightly golden. 
3. Add prawns, coriander, cumin, chilli powder, dried red chilli, black pepper, salt and fish sauce, and stir so the prawns are well coated with the spices. Continue stirring briskly for 4–5 mins, until the prawns are pink and cooked through. Remove from heat, sprinkle with lemon juice, and serve immediately.

Broccoli Rabe and Chickpeas with Cumin and Dried Red Chillis

Rapini, also known as Broccoli Rabe, has a distinct bitter taste, which mellows when charred. The key is to cook it in a smoking hot skillet without any oil or fat. I paired that delicious blackened flavour with the smokiness of cumin and dried red chillis, and the sweetness of caramelized shallots and garlic. This dish is great served warm, or just as delicious when made ahead of time and put out as cold antipasti.

Ingredients 

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1½ tbsp whole Cumin
6–8 whole Dried Red Chillis
3 Shallots, finely sliced
3–4 cloves of Garlic, cut into thin slivers
1½ lbs [700 gms] Broccoli Rabe, washed and with the ends of the stalks trimmed off
16 oz [2 cups] canned Chickpeas, drained and thoroughly washed
Salt (to taste)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or frying pan over high heat until smoking. Add cumin and dried red chillis and stir briskly for about a minute until the chillis just start to blacken. Lower heat to medium, add shallots and fry for about 3 mins until they are lightly golden. Add garlic and stir for another min. Remove skillet from heat and pour shallot-garlic-spice mixture, including the oil, into a small bowl and set aside.
2. Heat the same skillet until smoking. Add broccoli rabe and sauté for 5–7 mins until the ends start to char and blacken. Add chickpeas and salt, and continue to stir for another 2–3 mins, making sure the greens are evenly charred and the chickpeas start taking on some colour.
3. Turn off heat, add shallot-garlic-spice mixture to skillet, and stir well. Put a lid on the skillet and let sit for 5 mins before serving.

Roasted Potatoes with Blackened Chillis

On a cold and rainy day like today, I’m too lazy to stand in front of the stove for more than 5–10 mins. So that calls for a “cheating” update to one of my favourite snacking recipes—Quick-Fried Potatoes with Blackened Chillis. In go the ‘taters into my trusty oven for a hassle-free roast and I get the same irresistible pop’ems in a breeze.

 

Ingredients 

1 tsp Vegetable Oil
36 whole Dried Red Chillis
4 lbs [2 kgs] Potatoes (cut into 1-inch cubes)
Sea Salt (to taste)
4 tbsp Olive Oil

1. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add chillis and sauté briskly for 1 min until they are blackened. Remove chillis from pan and set aside on a large platter. 
2. Pre-heat oven to 450º F (230ºC). 
3. Put potatoes on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt, drizzle with olive oil, and using your hands, toss well to mix. 
4. Roast in the oven for 30 mins, then stir the potatoes with a large spoon to ensure that they caramelise evenly. Continue roasting for another 15 mins. 
5. Remove potatoes from oven and transfer to the platter with chillis. Using your hands, crush the whole chillis roughly into small pieces and toss well with potatoes. Serve immediately.

Quick-fried Okra

This fast and easy okra dish was a staple of my childhood, just like the recipe for Quick-fried Potatoes that I posted a few months ago, and there was always a plateful lying around in the kitchen from which I’d sneak a handful. In the original recipe, the okra was deep-fried in golden, fragrant mustard oil and finished off with a simple dusting of salt. I’ve tweaked it to suit our health-conscious age and while the pungency of the mustard oil cannot be replicated, my amended shallow-fried recipe is just as irresistibly crunchy and delicious served on its own or as a topping over steaming rice and daal.

Ingredients 

4 tbsp Olive oil
6–8 whole dried, red chillis
3 lbs Okra, cut into quarters lengthwise
Salt (to taste)

1. Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Add chillis and sauté until they blacken. 
2. Add okra and fry briskly for about 10-12 mins until golden and cooked through. The okra should cover the pan in one layer only. If the pan is not large enough to accommodate all the okra, then fry them in batches. 
3. Remove okra to a serving dish. Sprinkle salt and toss well. Serve immediately.

Quick-fried Potatoes with Blackened Chillis

Growing up in Cal, most of the packaged foods that American children are used to (like chips and soda) were forbidden in our house, and this potato dish was what I considered comfort snack food. If dinner was running late, I remember devouring these steaming hot and fresh from the kitchen, to hold us over till mealtime. The golden, slightly squidgy potatoes, spiked with the smoky heat of blackened chillis, is the kind of irresistible dish that pleases everyone, and no matter how much you make, it will always be gone in minutes.

Ingredients 

4 tbsp Vegetable Oil
8-12 Whole Dried Red Chillis
2 lbs Potatoes
Salt (to taste)

1. Wash and dry potatoes. Leave the skin on and cut into approximately 1/8” slices. 
2. Heat 1 tsp of oil in a large skillet or frying pan over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add chillis and sauté briskly for 1 min until they are blackened. Remove chillis from pan and set aside on a large plate. 
3. Add remaining oil to pan and heat. Add potatoes and fry briskly for about 10 mins until lightly golden and cooked through. The potatoes should cover the pan in one layer only. If the pan is not large enough to accommodate all the potatoes, then fry them in batches. 
4. Remove potatoes to plate with chillis. Using your hands, crush the whole chillis roughly into small pieces and mix with potatoes. Sprinkle salt and toss well. Serve immediately.