Loughborough Butter Chicken

Just saw the postings on the blog and realized there were none in April!! Slow month for experimental cooking??  Everyone must be busy with work/home etc..

 

Weekend before last when Prudy was here I had not seen him for two whole weeks, so decided to cook something VERY special and labour intensive.. I was meant to cook a homely chicken curry but when it was done it looked a lot like butter chicken :) So decided to call it Butter Chicken of Loughborough .. hehe.. 

 

 So I used thigh pieces and drumsticks for this.. would have used breasts but this was a special occasion so decided to indulge a little. In a bowl I mixed some mustard oil, chopped ginger, chopped garlic, lime juice and little corainder powder.  I marinated the chicken in this for a couple of hours.  After about 2-3 hours I applied a second marinade to the chicken.  In a pan with a tiny bit of oil I roasted whole garam masala (2-3 cloves, 4-5 peppercorns, cinnamon, bay leaf, black cardamom) and chopped/peeled almonds.  I crushed it all together, using a bowl and side of a belan :) then mixed it all in some plain yogurt, I also put in a bit of red chilli powder to this.  I coated the chicken pieces nicely in this marinade and leaved it for another 3-4 hours. This was done on a Friday and I was working from home so it worked out alright.. otherwise would have done it over night.

 

For the gravy, in a pan with oil I fried cumin seeds, chopped ginger/garlin and chopped onions and chopped green chillies till onions were translucent. I mixed a bit of coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, salt in a bit of water and added to the pan. I also added 1 tsp of Shaan chicken curry powder not sure why I did that since all the masalas that were suppose to be in it I had already put in the chicken marinade or the pan... not sure if adding it made any difference.  Then added tomato puree (lots) to this mixture.  I then added just the chicken pieces from the marinade.  Once they were slightly cooked from the outside, I added the rest of the yogurt marinade, covered it with a lid and started cooking it on low heat.  Since the chicken pieces had a lot of oil and I had added some oil in my first marinade I didnt feel I needed to add any butter or cream, the yogurt already made it quite creamy as well. 

 

One tip that I saw on the net which I could have done as it sounded pretty cool.. was to make a small bowl out of aluminium foil and put inside it couple of small pieces of hot coal, you then float/place it in the cokking pot on top of the gravy while it is cooking and cover it.  It apparently gives a nice charcoaly flavour the the curry.  I will def try it next time.  My flatmates are into sheesha so there is always small pieces of coal available.. hehe..

 

Garnished the dish with chopped coriander and had it with rice and it was yummy as!!! :)

 

Ciao!

S

Honey-soy glazed roast lamb

Hello girls...

 

checking in after a long time.. things have been pretty quiet at work today so figrued I would catch up on a few things that I have been meaning to do for a while now.. thought I would share a couple of recipes that we have tried in the last couple of weeks that have turned out really good!

 

First roast leg of lamb (you may have seen pics of it on my FB album.. :)

 

We bought a big leg of lamb from the supermarket... not sure how much it weighed exactly but I think it was more than 1kg but less than 1.5kg.  We pre-heated the oven to about 180C.  To prepare the lamb we scored it in a cross hatch pattern and seasoned the leg really well with salt and pepper all over.  Make sure you rub it in real well.  Prudy really enjoyed doing this..hehe.. (hmmm should I be concerned!).  We then put dried rosemary and thyme all over it and rubbed that in as well.  Chopped fresh herbs are the best but we could not find any fresh rosemary/thyme in the supermaket that night.  We also chopped fresh garlic and sprinkled it all over (not too much).  Once the oven is hot we put the lamb in on top of a grill placed on top of a tray to collect all the dripping oil from the meat.  We left the lamb in for about 1.5 hours in total but I think it could have done alright with about 20 more minutes.  Ours was a little pink in the middle which was fine and we liked it that way but if you like it well done leave a little longer.

 

About half an hour into the roasting we dressed the lamb with our honey/soy dressing.  In a bowl we mixed lots of lemon juice, a big tablespoon on honey and a generous dash of soy sauce and mixed it really well.  We then spooned it all over the lamb.  Waiting abot half hour/45 minutes into the roasitng to do this meant the lamb was well sealed and the glaze stuck to the outer layers of the lamb making it shiny, crispy and tasty.  We repeated it again another 20 minutes into the roasting. 

 

Once done, we left the lamb out to rest for another 20 minutes.. it does take a lot of time to cook it.. not something you would want to make if you are really hungry and need something fast!  Prudy then carved and served it.. he was so happy!! hehehe.. And everyone in our flat loved it! We had it with chunky steak fries and garlic mayo.. hehe..

 

Enjoy!

S 

Easy to make high protein lunches

I have started to make some major changes to my diet and eating habits. I found that it is actually easier to make and implement these changes when living by your self and cooking for your self.  I do shopping just for me.. so no more 'oh maybe I will take some of this home for Prudy'.. hehehe.. It is hard to make these changes though.. as I am finding it pretty hard to look for recipes specially for lunches. And here are the reasons why:

• I want something I can make in bulk and store.  But when I do eat them they should still seem just as fresh! (or almost)
• I want the recipes to be somewhat indianized because I know I will not be able to adhere to fully european meals every lunchtime. So it has to have some of that Indian flavour.
• I dont want to be using many pots and pans partly becuase I dont have any. No blenders/graters etc either.. so quick one pot meals preferred.
• Simple ingredients.. since I dont have a full kitchen and I wont be able to either (since the flat I stay in the kitchen is tiny as!).. no indian stores so need to have readily available ingredients.
• Meals can have some carb in it but need to source some very high in protein ingredients.

Anyway after much research, trial and error.. I have come up with two recipes that fit all of the above mentioned criteria.  The major ingredients being soya chunks (like those nutralla nuggest) and chickpeas.  Doing some online research, soya chunks actually have a lot of protein! I never realised. And chickpeas although a bit high in carbs, most of the carbs are in the form of fibre rather than sugars and they are also higher in protein than other lentils. So first recipe because there is lots of protein in soya chunks and not much carbs, I am adding brown rice to it. Since every meal needs to be 40-40-20 (protein-carb-fat).  The second recipe only chickpeas used as major ingredient since it has carbs and protein.

 

First recipe, soya chunks and brown rice pilau:

• Using spray oil I lightly grease the bottom of the pressure cooker, add in onions, chopped tomato, coriander powder, cumin, chopped chillies, chopped ginger and garlic, salt.. (the usual basic spices).
• Cool the masala/onion/tomato mixture well
• Add in pre-soaked soya chunks (I love them so I add liberally :)) and pre-soaked brown rice. I dont add in much brown rice, although the recipe says its a pilau (which usually is more rice than vegies.. its more like soya chunks and mix veg with sprikling of rice)
• At this point I also add in chopped brocolli, chopped carrots and peas (or any other vegetables I have in the fridge, like mushrooms, capsicum)
• Mix everything, add in water (twice the amount to brown rice since there are heaps of veges too) and pressure cook it all together.
• Add chopped coriander at the end and store in containers.

 

Second recipe, chana chaat (chickpeas)

• Cook chickpeas separately in pressure cooker. Can cook with a piece of cinammon stick and black cardomom to add some flavour.
• Chop onions, tomatoes, cucumber, capsicum (and anything else you think will go with chickpeas)
• Drain the chickpeas well, add chopped ingredients and mix well.
• Add chaat masala, little lime juice and chopped coriander.

Sunday and Wednesday evenings are my cooking days, so I make enough for three lunches and store in the fridge.  The thing with these recipes is that they taste alright if I reheat and eat (I dont reheat the chana chat, just bring it to room temperature and eat).  Because they are vegie I dont have to worry abt it going bad etc like for meats.

 

Now the challenge is to find some similar recipes for Dinners! Dinner will be extra hard since carb content will have to be very low...

 

Any suggestions girlies.. on similar lunch/dinner recipes that fulfil the above criteria!? Help needed!! :)

 

Trick to 'phooli-phooli' rotis

This is a VERY special technique for two reasons: Firstly you will get a phooli-phooli (blown up) roti every time if you follow this technique.  Secondly my naani ma taught me this and that is partly the reason I have been very reluctant to tell this to people as it makes me feel like naani ma has passed on a legacy to me. :) But the sisterhood needs to know and this awesome technique needs to be out there! :P

 

So first you have to make sure you bel (spread with the rolling pin) out the roti as evenly as possible. Then make sure the tawa is hot (I ususally use somewhere between medium and high)! Put the roti on the tawa for literally 5 seconds then flip it. If the tawa is the right temperature it would have just lightly browned that side. So once you have flipped it (after 5 seconds).. wait ... till little bubbles start appearing.. the bubbles will be like small bumps uniformly spread around the roti. Once you see them flip it again.. now this side will be completely cooked i.e. roti will be the whitish colour with light brown spots where the bumps had grown. Now you take a clean kitchen cloth and lightly press the roti (I have a dedicated cloth that I keep just for doing this). Once you start pressing you will start to see the roti blow up - almost instantly. Encourage it by lightly pressing the blown up bits so it spreads around. And thats it!! :)... fully cooked.. phooli phooli roti!!

 

PS: no oil needed to cook it... not even while kneading the dough.. just warm water and a little bit of salt while kneading.

 

S

Atte ka Halwa

Atte ka Halwa - a new addition to favourite Indian sweets list!

 

Hello Girls..

 

Sorry havent been emailing recipes for a while. Havent really been doing much cooking lately. Going to start my new job next week - 1st Feb! Busy looking for apartments and preparing to move houses 3rd time in less than 8 months. Also just found out my PhD viva will be held on the 18th Feb via video conferencing. So its all go at the moment.

 

But once things have calmed down a bit and I get into a normal routine (is that even possible?) I am going to start trying out some of those pasta and salad ideas.

 

As for atte ka halwa:

 

I didnt make it myself.. just saw it being made by our multi-talented cook (who we hired during the shaadi time in India). Apparently he was in the mehendi business before he got told by several customers that he was no good at it.. so he left and became a cook. :) He is a pretty good and resourceful cook, so I think change for the better for him.

 

So here is what he did - very simple:

 

• You will need equal parts of Wheat Flour, Ghee and Sugar (maybe 1 cup each)
• Heat the Ghee in a pan until it has melted completely.
• Add the wheat flour and stir in with the ghee, until brownish, not lumpy and the fat starts to separate.
• Add water (lots of it maybe 4-5 cups) and sugar.
• Keep stirring until it is halwa-like consistency (because it is atta the consistency will be much smoother than for example sooji (semolina) halwa)
• Take it off heat. Add dry fruits and nuts. Enjoy! YUM YUMM

Have fun!

 

Swati

 

 

Coconut Chicken

Hey Megz...

Here is the recipe of my special coconut chicken curry. When I make it, I usually make lots.. cos we love it! hehe..

Ingredients:

• chicken thighs (~500gms)
  
• for marinade:
• curry powder (3 tbsp)
  
• red chilli powder (1 tbsp)
  
• salt (to taste)
  
• chopped onion (1 large)
  
• chopped green chillies (3-4)
  
• cumin seeds (2 tsp)
  
• curry leaves (4-5)
  
• chopped/grated ginger (2 tsp)
  
• chopped/grated garlic (2 tsp)
  
• tamarind paste (usually about 1-2 tbsp, really depends on how tangy you like your curry)
  
• white vinegar (1/4 cup)
  
• cinnamon powder (2 tsp)
  
• coconut milk (1 can)
  

1. Add marinade ingredients to chicken, rub it in well and keep it for a couple of hours
2. In a frying pan add some oil and bring to heat.
3. Add cumin seeds, cook well.
4. Add ginger garlic paste and saute well (about 1 min)
5. Add chopped onions and green chillies. Brown the onions well.
6. Add curry leaves.
7. Add tamarind paste and vinegar and cinnamon.
8. Add chicken to the frying pan and cook on med-high heat for about 10 minutes
9. Add coconut milk and bring to boil
10. Cook on low heat until chicken is cooked and all ingredients are well incorporated. You may want to cover and cook so you dont loose so much water.. unless you like your gravy thick.

Have fun! :)

s

Swati's "Better-than-Mum's" Chicken Drumsticks

Will we all be this forthcoming and prompt on a blog? Not sure about me.. at the moment I am happy keeping as an email discussion between 4 of us..

Ok so the news... last night I made chicken drumsticks based on a recipe I made up myself and they came out sooo good.. I got the best compliment from Prudy.. it was and I quote 'damn ammu.. so professional.. it tastes even better than my mum's chicken.. ooh but dont tell her .. she will kill me'.. LOL!!!

So here is what I did:
- chicken drumsticks marinated in dry spice mix (large amount of corainder powder, medium amount of garam masala, small amount of curry powder, red chilli powder to taste, salt to taste)
- fried 2-3 tbsp cumin seeds, chopped ginger and chopped garlic in a cooking pot in 2 tbsp oil
- brown 1 large onion
- add spice marinated chicken
- mix everything in the pot well (add little water if it is too dry just so spices and onions coat schicken drumsticks nicely)
- add lots of dark soya sauce
- garnish with lots of coriander and spring onions

It was so simple and it came out really well.. I think it had lots to do it with the cooking utensils.. I used non-stick cooking pot with lid.. and cooked mostly with lid on so chicken remained moist.. nothing stuck to the bottom of the pan which helped masalas cook real nice.. I dried the water at the end by jst putting on high heat with lid off for a few minutes..

We ate it with rice and rasam (that prudy made - he is a rasam expert!)..

yummy dinner!!

I am gonna try all the pasta sauces.. btw have never cooked with wine.. what is deglazing the pan?

And yes agree with all the pastry sheet ideas.. lol.. have tried one very similar to praneeti's myself.. instead of muffin tray used flat tray and made it like a pizza.. :D

Anch when I moved to the UK we didnt have a pressure cooker or a microwave-able pot large enough to cook rice.. I used to do the boil and strain rice method.. and I comp agree.. it makes the rice very light and fluffy.. but alas.. I have started using the microwave again.. just out of convenience sake. :( will get myself to go back to that method.. it does make a difference..

love to all.. sisterhood united..

s

 

A name is born and madam ceo is on-board :)

Awesome idea.. we could be the sisterhood of the travelling kadhaai... hehe

I never used to cook at home.. and now that I have started, I find that I quite enjoy cooking. I am also enjoying the process of trial and error.  I think one of the things that I didnt used to like back home was the fact having mum or mum-in-law :P constantly giving tips over my shoulder.. it is nice.. but they never let me do anything wrong and learn.. But in fact I like making mistakes and then rectifying them next time.. I feel like the kitchen is a perfect lab where you can keep modifying ur experiments in a controlled way until you end up with the perfect dish! And jst like a lab you always discovering new tips/techniques/flavours accidentally.. (btw.. dont get me wrong.. I never discovered any 'flavours' accidentally in the lab.. lol.. except once when I acidentally majorly sniffed an unmarked bottle and it turned out to be formalin.. was a bit dizzy for a good 10 minutes after that!.. it prob killed a few brain cells.. )

So here is my tip-de-jour.. when adding masalas to your tempering.. like coriander powder, garam masala, red chilli powder, haldi , salt etc etc.. I dissolve all of them in a little bit (usually half a cup depend on how much masala you are adding) of water.. and then add it to my tadka/tepering (which is usually onion, tomato, chilli frying in oil).. doing this prevents the masalas from burning as it is added to hot oil.. and retains all its flavours and aromas.. it also spreads nicely.. and not in lumps.. and it helps make the gravy thicker.. also allows the tadka to cook for longer as it doesnt dry out quickly..

I got that tip from a friend here.. who I watched doing this once in her kitchen.. I have been using it all the time since then.. :)

Here is my problem for further discussion.. I think pasta is a very easy quick meal.. but the ready made pasta sauces taste crap.. I wonder if you guys have any tricks to make these sauces more zesty or have recipes for a sauce from scratch.. that can be made and stored?? also have you guys tried wholemeal pasta or brown rice?? how is it?

PS: lets keep the title of the email as random tit-bit.. as it will keep these emails all in one folder in gmail.. which is quite handy..

love and peace out,
s (sister of the travelling kadhai - UK) :D