Equipment and preparation: You will need a barbecue and some charcoal.
Ingredients
For the smoke
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 4 black cardamom pods
For the ox cheeks
- 1 tsp clarified butter
- 4 ox cheeks (300g–400g/10½oz–14oz), trimmed and halved
- 1 veal foot (ask your butcher to cut it into pieces)
- 100ml/3½fl oz corn oil
- 3 black cardamom pods
- 1 stick cassia bark
- 3 cassia leaves
- 3 cloves
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 4 onions, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp ground Kashmiri chilli
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- handful coriander stalks
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the confit cabbage
- pinch bicarbonate of soda
- 1 savoy cabbage, green leaves only, separated
- 1 hispi cabbage, leaves separated
- iced water
- 50g/1¾oz butter
- 1 tsp nigella seeds
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced into rings
To serve
- 2 tbsp snipped fresh chives
- ½ lemon, juice only
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 head red chicory, leaves separated
- pinch chat masala
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
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For the smoke, put enough charcoal in a kettle barbecue to come to a depth of 7cm/3in and bring it to smouldering point. Add the green and black cardamom to the charcoal. Preheat the oven to 140C/120C Fan/Gas 1.
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For the ox cheeks, heat the clarified butter in an ovenproof pan that will hold the meat and fit inside the barbecue. Add the ox cheeks and veal to the pan and put it in the barbecue. Cover the barbecue with the lid and leave the meat to infuse in the smoke for 2–3 minutes. Separate the veal foot and ox cheeks.
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Heat the corn oil in a lidded casserole dish. Add the three black cardamom pods, the cassia bark and leaves, cloves and peppercorns and heat for 1 minute to infuse the oil.
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Add the onions and cook until they begin to caramelize. Add the ground chilli, ground coriander, turmeric and the garlic and ginger paste. Cook for 1 minute.
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Add the smoked veal foot, tomato purée, tomatoes, carrots and coriander stalks.
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In a separate pan, heat a little oil and seal the cheeks on all sides. Add to the casserole.
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Cover the meat with boiling water, put the lid on and cook in the oven 3–4 hours, or until tender.
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Remove the ox cheeks from pan and set aside. Discard the vegetables and veal foot. Pass the cooking liquor through a sieve into a clean saucepan. Simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Put the ox cheeks back in the sauce.
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For the confit cabbage, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the bicarbonate of soda and a pinch of salt. Add the cabbages and cook for 3 minutes, until tender. Refresh the cabbage in iced water, drain and pat dry with kitchen paper. Finely shred the cabbage
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Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan until foaming. Add the nigella seeds and shallots. Cook until soft, then stir in the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes.
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Place the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Just before serving, dress the red chicory leaves in the dressing and dust with the chat masala.
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To serve, divide the cabbage between four shallow bowls. Rest the pieces of ox cheek on top and pour sauce around the sides. Garnish with the dressed chicory, chives and coriander.