Credit: Haarala Hamilton
Food and Drink
Craveable: 3 delicious comfort food recipes with a kick that are perfect for winter
By Alex Sims
3 months ago
7 min read
Winter is comfort season, and these recipes from Seema Pankhania’s new cookbook Craveable will help you add bold flavours and intriguing textures to the meals you crave most.
’Tis the season to eat comfort food. Whether you turn to spoonfuls of gloopy, cheesy pasta, crispy carb-heavy treats or stodgy sugar-loaded desserts, there’s no denying how powerful that hit of dopamine from our favourite dishes can be over the gloomy winter season.
But let’s face it: a lot of the food we crave can be on the bland side or become pretty samey after years of tucking into the same treats. That’s where Seema Pankhania’s new cookbook Craveable comes in.
Credit: Haarala Hamilton
Inside, you’ll find reimagined comfort food recipes with bold flavours and exciting textures. Every dish is inspired by Pankhania’s travels and the cravings we all share, so expect comforting, salty, sweet and celebratory meals that will satisfy as well as dazzle, from classics with a kick – like a Bombay fish finger sandwich and pickled jalapeno mac & cheese – to new comforting recipes to add to your roster – why not add crispy kimchi pancakes to your next evening dinner?
Here Pankhania shares three recipes guaranteed to satisfy your cravings and tantalise your tastebuds, from Korean-inspired fried chicken to a festive rum-spiked rehash of sticky toffee pudding.
Korean-ish Fried Popcorn Chicken
Pankhania says: “This iconic sticky and spicy sauce is inspired by one that was developed in the trenches of my first (and last) food truck event with Mob Kitchen, where people queued for over two hours just for a taste of a Korean fried chicken burger. I’ve taken the same sauce, developed it some more, and slathered it on crispy fried chicken for the perfect bite. I opted for sour cream here instead of the conventional mayo, because when mayo gets heated it can split, but this sauce stays luscious, with a tang to cut through the fattiness of the chicken.”
Serves 4
Prep: 30 minutes and 30 minutes optional marinating
Ingredients
For the chicken
- 500g boneless chicken thighs
- 200g sour cream – or yoghurt
- 1 tsp gochujang
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 egg, beaten
- 150g cornflour
- 150g plain flour
- Enough vegetable oil for deep-frying salt
For the spicy sauce
- 5 spring onions, finely chopped
- 3cm ginger, grated
- 3 cloves of garlic, grated
- 200g sour cream
- 100g gochujang
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp crispy chilli oil with bits (we used Lee Kum Kee)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp honey
Method
Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and put them into a bowl with the sour cream, gochujang, apple cider vinegar and the egg. If you like, you can leave it to marinate for 30 minutes or up to overnight, to tenderize the chicken.
For the spicy sauce, mix the spring onions, ginger and garlic with the sour cream, gochujang, soy sauce, crispy chilli oil, apple cider vinegar and honey.
Pour enough frying oil into a pan to deep-fry the chicken, and heat to around 175°C.
Combine the cornflour and plain flour in a bowl and season generously with salt. One by one, coat the chicken pieces in the flour, scrunching them with your hands to make them craggy – this will make the chicken extra crunchy.
Deep-fry the chicken for 4–5 minutes, until golden brown and crispy, and cooked all the way through – cut a piece in half to check.
Toss the fried chicken in the spicy sauce, and serve hot.
Serving notes
Feel free to use chicken breast for something leaner, but it is less forgiving when frying, so can dry out. You could even make this with tofu.
I used sour cream for the chicken marinade instead of yoghurt for tenderization, so you don’t have to deal with half a tub of sour cream in the fridge, but you can use a combination, or just yoghurt if that’s what you have.
French Onion Gnocchi
Pankhania says: “When it comes to winter soups, French onion soup reigns as the undisputed king. The slow caramelization of the onions is a labour of love in itself, resulting in a deep, rich flavour that’s worth every minute. In this recipe, those beautifully caramelized onions are paired with tender gnocchi, all swimming in a hearty stock infused with the umami goodness of miso and earthy mushrooms. It’s the kind of comforting meal that warms you from the inside out. Make this completely veggie by leaving out the Worcestershire sauce.”
Serves 4
Prep: one hour
Ingredients
- 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 500g onions, thinly sliced
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- 1 tbsp miso (optional)
- 1 tbsp Worcester sauce – or 1 anchovy, or omit
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar – or white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp dried thyme – or dried rosemary
- 150ml dry white wine – or chicken or vegetable stock, plus 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 500g potato gnocchi
- 100g Gruyere cheese – or any melty cheese
- 50g panko breadcrumbs
- 50g parmesan, grated – or veggie Parmesan or any hard cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt
Method
In a dry pan over medium heat, cook the mushrooms with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. The water in the mushrooms will evaporate first, and once they’re dry and start sticking to the pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook for an additional 3 minutes on a high heat until crispy. Transfer them to a bowl.
Using the same pan (no need to clean it), cook the onions with a generous amount of oil on a medium heat for 25 minutes, until they are very caramelised. Add a tablespoon of water if the pan looks dry and continue cooking.
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Crumble the vegetable stock cube into a bowl and add the miso, Worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. Stir in 500ml of boiling water to dissolve the stock cube.
Finely chop the garlic and add it to the onions along with the butter and thyme. Cook for 2 minutes, then deglaze with the white wine. Bring to a simmer, then add the vegetable stock mixture, cooked mushrooms and the gnocchi. Stir and cook for 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
Grate half the Gruyère and roughly chop the rest. Mix the roughly chopped cheese into the pan of gnocchi. Transfer the gnocchi mixture to a baking dish and cover it with the breadcrumbs, the grated Gruyère and the Parmesan. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until it turns golden and crispy.
Spiced Rum Sticky Toffee Pudding
Pankhania says: “Sticky toffee pudding was always a household favourite – it’s the first dessert I made successfully. I actually tested it for years, trying to get the perfect light fluffy sponge with sweet creamy caramel sauce that tastes like melted Werthers originals, but was also not too sweet. The light fluffy sponge here has been infused with the flavours of black Jamaican rum cake. I don’t often call for alcohol in my desserts, and this may be the only one I’ve had where the rum really complements the warmth of the spices and dark sugars.”
Serves 6-8
Prep : one hour and 15 minutes
Ingredients
- 250g whole medjool dates (approx. 16–18 dates, weighed with seeds)
- 3 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 100ml dark rum, plus more for serving – or water
- 85g butter, softened
- 200g dark brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp black treacle (molasses) – or honey or golden syrup
- 100ml milk
- 175g plain flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the toffee sauce
- 100g butter, cut into pieces
- 200g dark brown sugar
- 300ml double cream
- ½ tsp salt
To serve
- vanilla ice cream, cream or custard
- 50g butter, to reheat (optional)
Method
Reheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin.
Remove the stones from the dates, roughly chop and put into a pan with 150ml of water and 1 teaspoon of bicarb, cinnamon and ginger. Cook for 10 minutes, pushing the dates down to form a thick paste. Remove from the heat and mix in the rum.
In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, date paste, molasses, milk and mix well. Add in the plain flour, 2 teaspoons of bicarb, salt and the baking powder and mix until just combined.
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
Meanwhile, make the toffee sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the brown sugar. Cook for 10 minutes, until bubbling rapidly, then add the double cream. Cook for another 2 minutes and add the 1⁄2 teaspoon of salt.
To serve, you can slice the cake and serve it hot with a scoop of ice cream, or cream, and lots of toffee sauce.
If the cake has been fully cooled, toast the slices with some butter in a pan on both sides, then top with ice cream and toffee sauce.
For some drama, pour 2 tablespoons of rum over the top of the cake and flambé with a blowtorch.
Serving notes
I’ve made this in a loaf tin because I like how easy it is to serve for a big crowd, but you could make it in a 25cm cake tin and check it in the oven after 35 minutes.
Craveable by Seema Pankhania (Penguin Michael Joseph, £22).
Images: Haarala Hamilton
Sign up for our edit of what to buy, see, read and do, and receive a free mini-mag of the top 5 fashion trends you’re sure to see in 2024.
By signing up you agree to occasionally receive offers and promotions from Stylist. Newsletters may contain online ads and content funded by carefully selected partners. Don’t worry, we’ll never share or sell your data. You can opt-out at any time. For more information read Stylist’s Privacy Policy
Thank you!
You’re now subscribed to all our newsletters. You can manage your subscriptions at any time from an email or from a MyStylist account.