Naanwich

Serves 4-6

Naanwich (Jason Lowe)

Another great find at Feastival was an outfit called Brindian who have very cleverly combined Indian food with a British twist. I managed eventually to get to the front of the queue to sample a 'Naanwich', which is basically a naan-bread sandwich. You can also make this as a vegetable, meat or fish curry.

For the flatbread

500g strong white bread flour
7g dried yeast mixed with about 150ml warm water
1tbsp clear honey
3tbsp vegetable oil
2tbsp natural yogurt
2tsp salt

For the curry

1tbsp fenugreek seeds
1tbsp fennel seeds
1tbsp fenugreek leaves
1tbsp cumin seeds
1tbsp dried chillies
½tbsp caraway seeds
½tbsp nigella seeds
6 cloves
1tbsp mustard seeds
½tbsp podded cardamon seeds
1tbsp ground cumin
1tbsp ground coriander
1tbsp ground or freshly grated turmeric
1tsp ground cinnamon
500-600g neck of mutton fillet, diced into rough 2cm pieces
3 medium red onions, peeled, halved and finely chopped
5 medium cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
30g of root ginger, scraped and finely grated
A good pinch of saffron
50g ghee
1 black cardamom pod
Small handful of curry leaves
1tbsp tomato purée
1ltr lamb or beef stock
4 dried red chillies 
A handful of coriander, roughly chopped, to finish

First make the flatbread: mix the ingredients together in a mixing machine with the dough hook for 2-3 minutes with enough warm water to make an elastic dough. Cover the f bowl with clingfilm and leave to prove in a warm place for a couple of hours or until the dough has doubled in volume.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it back to its original size on a lightly-floured table. Lightly flour a rolling pin, divide the dough into 4 and roll the dough into rough slipper shapes and place on a lightly-floured tray and cover with a damp cloth; leave to prove again while the curry is cooking.

Coarsely grind all of the whole spices in a spice grinder, or with a pestle and mortar. Then mix them with the already ground spices and sprinkle into a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly and not letting them burn, until they turn dark brown. Transfer to a plate and leave to cool.

To make the sauce, gently cook the onion, garlic, ginger, saffron, curry leaves and black cardamom, in two-thirds of the ghee for 3-4 minutes until soft. Add the curry spices and tomato purée and stir well.

Add the stock and dried chillies, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 40 minutes. Remove the chillies, blend half of the sauce in a liquidiser until smooth, then add it back to the rest of the sauce.

Return to a low heat and continue simmering until the sauce has reduced and thickened.

Heat the remaining ghee in a frying pan, season the mutton pieces and fry for 3-4 minutes, turning as they are cooking, until lightly coloured. Pour the sauce in and simmer gently for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally until the mutton is tender. It may need a little longer as it's difficult to put an exact cooking time on slow-cooked dishes. Roughly chop the coriander and stir into the curry and keep warm with a lid on.

Heat a ribbed griddle pan on the stove and lightly brush with oil. Carefully remove the flatbreads from the tray and place on the griddle and cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side. To serve, place the flatbreads on warmed serving plates, spoon the curry on half of the bread and fold the rest over.