Fresh lime is a really powerful flavour. Squeezed over adish before serving, its acidic juice adds a welcome bitter note (especially against something hearty and sweet such as cubes of roasted butternut squash or wedges of sweet potato). Stirred into asalad, alime’s chopped flesh brings an exciting, sour burst to an otherwise gentle assembly.
Other types of lime, however, are more subtle and nuanced. Whole dried Iranian limes are one of my all-time favourite additions to soups, stews and curries, infusing them with a sweet-sharp aroma that is not only distinct and pungent, but also abit mysterious. Iranian limes are small and rock-hard, so rather than risking breaking the blades of your food processor or spice grinder by trying to blitz them to a powder, puncture them here and there with the tip of asmall, sharp knife and add to your dish while it’s cooking (remember to remove them before serving: they aren’t pleasant to bite into). Alternatively, buy Iranian lime ready-ground; it’s wonderful sprinkled on roast root veg.
Another perennial favourite is the kaffir lime leaf. If you get the chance to buy fresh leaves, grab them (they freeze really well); I love them blitzed and stirred into Greek yoghurt with grated courgette, chopped mint and crushed garlic. Freeze-dried kaffir lime leaves (from the spice rail at the supermarket) are another option, but you’ll need more of them to get the same impact as fresh.
And don’t stop at using just one type of lime: a squeeze of fresh juice added to a dish that features Iranian limes or kaffir lime leaves will give it a final top-note lift.
Black beans with coconut and lime
If you can’t get fresh kaffir lime leaves, use freeze-dried ones, but add them all to the stew: they don’t work chopped up and fried, so omit them from that stage. Serves four, as a side dish.
250g black beans, soaked overnight inplenty of water with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 3cm-wide wedges
3 garlic cloves, peeled; 2 cloves crushed, 1cut into thin slices
40g bunch coriander, tied together with string, plus 15g roughly chopped coriander leaves, to serve
1 dried ancho chilli
10 fresh kaffir lime leaves, 5 whole and 5 finely shredded (or 7-8 freeze-dried)
Salt
2 tbsp coconut oil
Roughly grated flesh from ½ small coconut (50g net weight)
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2½ tbsp lime juice
Drain the beans and put them in a medium saucepan with the onion, crushed garlic, bunch of coriander, ancho chilli, whole lime leaves and ateaspoon of salt. Add 1.3 litres of water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and leave to simmer for an hour, skimming as required, until the beans are soft. Drain, retaining the beans, onion, ancho and cooking liquid, but discarding the coriander and lime leaves.
Put the coconut oil in a large sautepan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the sliced garlic andshredded fresh lime leaves (if using) and fry for two minutes, stirring, until the garlic is golden. Add the beans, onion and ancho to the pan with 120ml of the cooking liquid, andstir through until hot. Serve at once, sprinkled with the coconut and the remaining coriander and chilli, and finish with the lime juice.
Chicken and lime soup
I find this soup both enlivening and soothing. Servesfour, generously.
8 chicken thighs, skin on and bone in
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
Salt and black pepper
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
3 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1-2 (depending on their strength) jalapeño chillies, cut in half lengthways with stalks intact so they hold together
700ml chicken stock
2 bay leaves, 20g tarragon sprigs and 40g coriander sprigs, all tied in a bundle
6cm piece ginger, peeled and cut into 3mm slices
¼ tsp black peppercorns
1 lime, skin, pips and pith removed and discarded, flesh roughly chopped
300g cooked brown rice
2 tsp lime juice, to serve
10g coriander leaves
Put the chicken in a bowl with the oil, ground coriander, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well and put in the fridge to marinade for an hour.
Put a large saucepan for which you have a lid on a high heat. Lay in the chicken skin side down and fry for five to six minutes, turning halfway, until golden-brown on both sides. Transfer to a plate.
Tip out most of the fat from the pan, leaving about a tablespoon behind. Add the onion, garlic and jalapeños, and cook for two to threeminutes, turning halfway, until they’re all slightly charred. Pour on the stock and 700ml water and add the herb bundle, ginger, peppercorns, lime flesh and chicken. Bring to aboil, cover, turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer foran hour, until the chicken is falling off the bone.
Strain the stock into a large bowl, and discard the veg and herbs. When the chicken has cooled downenough to handle, pull the meat off the bones in large pieces,then shred into 1cm- to 2cm-widestrips.
Spoon off and discard any fat from the surface of the stock, and pour it back into the saucepan. Return to aboil, add the chicken, rice, lime juice and three-quarters of ateaspoon of salt, stir for two to three minutes, to warm through, and serve sprinkled with coriander.
Urid beans, tomato and spinach
Comfort food of the highest order. Serves four.
1 tbsp ras el hanout
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
¼ tsp cayenne
¼ tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp tomato paste
5cm piece ginger, peeled and finelygrated
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 medium onions, peeled and roughlychopped
1 tsp black mustard seeds
200g whole black urid beans, soaked in water overnight, then rinsed
5 large plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
Salt
100g baby spinach
10g coriander, roughly chopped
1½ tbsp lime juice
100ml coconut cream (optional)
Put the first seven ingredients in aspice grinder with half the oil and two tablespoons of water and blitz to a smooth paste.
Put a large saute pan on a medium-high heat and add the remaining oil. Fry the onion for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time, until soft and golden-brown. Add the mustard seeds and spice paste and, stirring constantly, fry for four minutes. Add the beans, tomatoes, ateaspoon of salt and 800ml water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 40-45 minutes. By now, the beans should be soft and cooked, but still retain their shape and bite, and the sauce should have thickened to the consistency of single cream.
Add the spinach, stir through until it wilts – 30 seconds to a minute – then remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the coriander and lime juice, ladle into bowls, drizzle coconut cream on top, if using, and serve hot.
Four-lime green bean salad
You can make this ahead of time, but hold back on the lime juice until just before you serve. Serves four.
4 large kaffir lime leaves (fresh orfrozen), stems removed
½ tsp ground Iranian lime
Finely grated zest of 1 lime
30g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
10g mint leaves
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
60ml olive oil
2 green chillies, deseeded and thinlysliced
Salt
600g french beans, trimmed
100g shelled edamame or broad beans
50g frozen peas
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp black sesame seeds
Put the lime leaves in a spice grinder and blitz to a fine powder (or chop them as finely as you can). Transfer to the small bowl of a food processor and add the ground Iranian lime, lime zest, two-thirds of the coriander, the mint, garlic, oil, one of the chopped chillies and half a teaspoon of salt. Blitz to a smooth paste.
Bring a medium pan of salted water to a boil and add the french beans. Blanch for four minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer to acolander while keeping the water on the boil. Refresh the beans, shake dry and transfer to a large bowl. Add the beans and peas to the boiling water, blanch for a minute, then drain, refresh and add to the bowl.
Spoon the lime paste over the beans, pour over the lime juice, and stir to coat. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and the remaining coriander and chilli, and serve at once.
