Jolly Food

Baking for Children in Need

2011-11-15T11:33:00.001Z

I have decided to fundraise this year and get some money off my work colleagues for charity! They like to eat for free, but I'm sure they would not mind to pay a £1 for a cake. The big event is on Friday, 18th November, so if you would like to get involved, you still have enough time. Just head to http://www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey to download printable posters and get ideas.

I will report back with pictures and recipes of my creations later in the week.

National Curry Week

2010-11-25T22:59:00.000Z

It's been ages since I posted anything... Anyway, it is National Curry Week this week and it is a good time to start getting into proper cooking again. It is sponsored by Cobra beer and you can find some recipes and 2 for 1 restaurant deals on curry, so have a look and see if you can find something for yourself, unfortunately nothing comes up when I enter my post code so I will have to stick with my own cooking.
Being sponsored myself with a few Cobra Zero beers ;), the only ones I found that actually have 0.0% of alcohol, I present you with two dishes for which you can find recipes on Cobra's site.
I don't see the need to repeat the recipes and the instructions, so just have a look at them there. I tried Chicken Naag and Nawabi Pilau, you can see the results below. Enjoy!

Baked Rice and Apple Pudding

2010-09-25T12:00:00.001+01:00

Although I called it 'a pudding' and it is definitely sweet, it is served as a main course, in my family anyway. I am sure that there will be no harm done if you make little pots and serve it as a dessert, maybe with ice cream, as you would do with hot apple pie, yum! Anyway, if you do that, you may want half the ingredients, as this recipe yields at least 6 large, not dessert, portions.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
8 large cooking apples (or any type you have), peeled, cores removed, and thickly sliced
handful golden sultanas (optional, but they go really well with apples)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
sugar500g rice
1 litre full fat milk
vanilla or vanilla essence
100g unsalted butter

Method
Placed peeled and sliced apples in a cooking pot, add sultanas if using, cinnamon, a liitle bit of water and heat stirring from time to time until apple are soft but not mashed up. Add sugar and set aside.
Wash rice in cold water until it runs clear, place it in a cooking pot, cover with milk and bring to the boil. Add a pinch of salt, tablespoon of sugar and vanilla. Be careful not to burn the milk or escape from the cooking pot! When rice is almost cooked and it has absorbed almost all the milk, turn off the heat and let it stand covered until all the milk is absorbed and rice fully cooked.
Heat the oven to 180C and generously butter your baking dish. Place half of the cooked rice in dish and spread evenly, now add your apple jam and another layer of rice. Sprinkle with sugar and ground cinnamon and pieces of butter. Bake for around 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.
You can also arrange the layers in small individual pots or ramekins.
Serve sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon. I am sure golden syrup or maple syrup would taste great too!

Food Branding and Promotion

2010-09-23T19:00:00.001+01:00

I've been thinking for some time now about the popularity of certain types of food, the way they suddenly become ingredient of every other recipe, feature on all cookery shows, blogs and sell in all restaurants. How does this start? Who decides what is the next big thing in the food world?
I came across this link, it is about branding baby carrots in the US. Can you make kids eat carrots by presenting them in form they know as junk food, something they obviously love and are familiar with? How powerful are those messages, and will we see baby carrots all over UK in pretty packs any time soon?
I am sure you have seen the other trends like pea shoots, macaroons, pancetta and cupcakes, to name a few. This phenomenon is also true for cooking techniques.
How do they become famous and glamorous? Can you make one ingredient or very specific type of food suddenly appear everywhere?
I am not sure why, but I thought about sauerkraut. Could you make unpopular ingredient (at least in the UK) appear in shops and restaurants other than just 'weird food aisle'. How do you market not the brand, but the ingredient itself?
What do you think? Any ideas?

Cupcakes with Rose and Orange Icing

2010-09-16T20:35:00.001+01:00

Happy Eid everyone! You still have time to make some cupcakes, I am sure you have some parties to go to! I made mine this weekend and I loved them, although my friends who were invited to dinner decided to leave space for proper food and not eat 'junk' as they called it! I am glad they like my cooking, but cupcakes are not junk, they are delicious, a bit sugary but not falling into 'junk' category, not in my world anyway :D
You can make any topping you like, the more colourful, the better. Most of the recipes for cupcake icing call for buttercream, but you can make them as I did, using cream cheese instead of butter, healthier and not sickening!

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
For the cupcakes
120g butter, softened
120g caster sugar
120g flour
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
little bit of milk if needed
12 cupcake cases

For the icing and topping
300g full fat cream cheese
150g icing sugar
For flavour use rosewater and rose syrup (pink icing) or orange essence and candied orange peel (white orange icing), you could also use different less healthy methods and food colours
Decorate with hundreds and thousands, sugar crystals, chocolate chips, small fruits.

Method
Heat the oven to 180C. Place butter and sugar in a bowl and mix until it becomes pale and light. Add one egg at a time and mix until well combined. Now add flour and baking powder and mix until all ingredients are combined. The consistency should be similar to yoghurt, easy to spoon into cases. If it is too thick, add a few tablespoons of milk. Place a spoonful of dough in each case and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, if they light brown on top, they are done. Remove from the oven and cool.
Prepare your icing by mixing cream cheese with icing sugar and any flavouring if using. Decorate your cupcakes with icing and sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Enjoy!

Seasonal Courgette Soup

2010-09-07T13:15:00.000+01:00

I always thought that soups take hours to cook. I remember my mum and grandmother cooking soups for hours, preparing stock from scratch boiling chicken and veg, than removing some of it, keeping the rest, adding extra vegetables, pulses or whatever else was required to achieve the end result. Soups were very rarely blended, with bite sized pieces of vegetables and chunk of boiled chicken.
Now, this is how soups are made in Poland, England is a different story. I actually remember my friend who came to work here over summer missing something to bite in their soup! I guess baby food comes to mind.
There is one major benefit to preparing soups the English way, they are quick and easy, and most often require very few ingredients.
If you wanted to make your own stock, the process will not be that much quicker, but surprisingly not all the soups require stock. Another strange thing I found is using butter to fry vegetables before adding any liquid.
Anyway, I got some courgettes from my garden neighbour who had way to many to eat on her own, and she told me to try this soup. She said it was surprisingly delicious, as courgettes don't really taste of much. I have to agree with her, it was lovely.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
4 courgettes medium sized, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
knob of butter
stock cube, or use fresh stock
water
2 tablespoons Philadelphia (original or the one with herbs) or any other cream cheese, crème fraiche or sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Melt butter in a saucepan, add chopped onion and fry for a few minutes. Add celery and courgette and continue to fry. When the vegetables become soft, add crushed garlic, stock cube and water, cover the saucepan and simmer on a medium flame. When vegetables are fully cooked, blend them using hand blender, add cream cheese or cream, salt and pepper and serve hot. Tastes great with a piece of fresh bread, with butter of course.

Saffron Custard Tart with Mirabelle Plum Coulis

2010-08-28T11:29:00.001+01:00

Doesn't it sound posh? :)
I made it, ate it, and thought to myself: 'I'm a genius!’ It happens to me quite often actually, I love my food, but this one is really good. Tonnes of sugar and butter, but we all deserve a treat after a day of fasting (or insert any other good reason here, if you are not fasting). The recipe is long, but do not give up, it is worth it!

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
for the pastry
180g unsalted butter (if you are using salted butter, do not add any extra salt)
240g flour
4 tablespoons cold water
pinch of salt

for the custard
150ml single cream
250ml full fat milk
4 egg yolks
100g golden caster sugar
generous pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon starch or Polish budyn

for the Mirabelle plum coulis
300g Mirabelle plums (more or less)
sugar to taste
water

Method
Put the butter in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place the flour on a work bench, add a pinch of salt. Make sure to keep all the ingredients as cold as possible. Grate the cold butter into the flour and work quickly rubbing it into the flour. Don't worry about the butter lumps, just add a little bit of cold water and work the dough quickly. As soon as it sticks together, put into a plastic bag and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C, prepare a tart dish.
In the meantime, place milk and cream in a saucepan, add starch or budyn as well as saffron when still cold, mix well and bring to simmering point, remove from heat and set aside. In a bowl whisk egg yolks with sugar until they are light in colour and thickened. When milk cools down, whisk in the egg yolks.
Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and roll quickly. Place it in the tart dish and press with your hands to even it out. Take fork and make a number of holes in the dough. You will be baking it blind, so if you have dry beans, add them in as this will keep your pastry flat and it will keep the desired shape while baking. Place the pastry dish in the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When the pastry is done, remove from the oven and pour in the custard. Reduce the oven to 180C and put the tart back in for around 30 minutes.
When your tart is in the oven, wash plums and place them in a small saucepan. Don't bother removing the stones, the plums are too small for that and they will be discarded later. Add a little bit of water to your plums and boil them until they are mashed up. Take a sieve and pour the plum mixture in. Squeeze it in well to remove all pulp and juice; you only want seeds and skins left in your sieve. Now taste the sauce, it is most likely very sour, so add sugar to your taste, but keep the sauce sharp, as it is meant to be a contrast to sweet tart.
Remove tart from the oven and let it cool, the custard will set, so do not worry if it seems slightly wobbly when hot. Cut into pieces and serve with plum coulis on the side.

Couscous with Peppers and Feta

2010-08-15T17:30:00.001+01:00

Serve this delicious couscous on its own or with a nice piece of meat. Make it in advance, it tastes better the next day!

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients
300g couscous
400ml stock, use chicken or vegetable stock
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 peppers, cut into large chunks
1 red chilli pepper, sliced
200g feta cheese, crumbled
handful chopped coriander or parsley, or use mint if serving with lamb
juice of one lemon
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Place couscous in a bowl and add hot stock, cover and keep for at least 5 minutes. Place peppers and chilli pepper in a hot grill pan or under the grill in the oven until they are soft and char-grilled. Mix all the remaining ingredients, adjust salt and pepper and serve hot or cold.

Ramadan Flapjacks

2010-08-11T21:46:00.002+01:00

If you are not Muslim, you may not know that Ramadan started today. For the whole month Muslims around the world will not eat or drink from dawn to sunset. It is advised to eat breakfast before dawn (suhoor), even if it is only one date, as this is what Prophet (pbuh) used to do. If you cannot eat much at 3am for breakfast, flapjacks may be the answer :)

These Ramadan Flapjacks are full of dates and other dried fruit and oats too which makes them perfect Ramadan breakfast. They do not have too much added sugar, but loads of super sweet fruits and will give you quite a lot of energy, and the oats will keep you full for long. Have it with a glass of milk for a perfect start to fasting!

Ramadan Mubarak to you all!

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
180g unsalted butter
100g golden caster sugar
4 tablespoons golden syrup
400g jumbo porridge oats
dates, apricots, golden sultanas - as many as you wish
pinch of salt

Methods
Put the butter, sugar and golden syrup into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until they are well combined. Add the oats and mix well. Now add cut dried fruits and mix. Press into a well greased square baking dish.
Bake in the oven at 180C for 25 minutes or until evenly golden brown. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely in the form before cutting into pieces.

Perfect for Summer

2010-07-22T20:00:00.014+01:00

I've been felling very lazy recently and I blame it on the weather ;) So, here is a very simple recipe, no instructions needed, just watch and do what the man says :D Enjoy!

Weekend in Brighton

2010-06-11T22:10:00.001+01:00

This is not really a recipe post, although I will show you some lovely food I ate last weekend in Brighton. The food was amazing and I liked it so much that yesterday I tried to make something similar at home, and it worked! We went to Thai restaurant Giggling Squid which serves lovely seafood. Below you can see the pictures of everything, but I had locally caught crispy fried red mallet with cold dressing (this is what I tried making at home and I will share it with you soon), red and green Thai curries with vegetables, rice and for starters Samui - crispy fried king prawns and squid with a few different chilli sauces. It was all very very good, so if you are around, you should go there.

And a few pictures of the sea...

Asparagus Continued

2010-05-22T01:32:00.001+01:00

I have seen this recipe, which I think I remembered for what it exactly was, on one of the Jamie Oliver's shows. There was definitely filo pastry, mash and asparagus on top, the rest I am not so sure about, it was a long time ago. Anyway, my version came out really good, so here you go, another recipe for asparagus.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 40mins

Ingredients
300g asparagus
4 large potatoes, cut into 4 pieces
1 packet filo pastry
100g salted butter
150ml single cream
handful of cheese of your choice
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Set the potatoes to boil in salted water. Melt the butter in a small bowl. You can use microwave, but be careful not to set it too high, as the butter may explode. I know, it happened to me :) Take a large oven proof dish and lightly grease it with melted butter using a pastry brush. Now start layering the filo pastry. You will have to be quick, or cover the remaining pastry while you work, as it dries out really quickly. Place one layer of pastry and grease with melted butter, place another and grease again until you are done and you have a nice case of pastry covering the dish. If you have any butter left at the end, don't worry, it will go into your mash.
Your potatoes should now be cooked, drain them and mash well. Add remaining butter, cream and cheese. You need to mash them really well, you don't want any lumps. Check the seasoning, remember this is the only part of the dish where you can adjust anything. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper if required.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Spread the mash evenly in the dish on top of the pastry case. Wash the asparagus, pat dry, and arrange it in a way so that once the top of the asparagus is on one side and then the end. If you are using a round dish, just place them to form a star like design. Lightly press and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

My Babies

2010-05-19T20:06:00.001+01:00

I went to my garden today on the way back from work and it looks like my radishes are finally grown big enough to be eaten. Still quite small, but I need to start eating them now as there are many more to come!
Here are my babies :)

Simple Asparagus

2010-05-15T11:46:00.001+01:00

This is very quick and simple asparagus recipe. I have not eaten a lot of asparagus in my life (not really popular in Poland) but this one is my favourite. The season is here, so go and get some while you can.

Preparation time: 1 min
Cooking time: 5 mins

Ingredients
250g fresh green asparagus
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
shavings of parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano) to garnish (optional)

Method
Wash the asparagus (see note below). Heat a griddle pan, drop the asparagus and grill for 2 minutes and then turn and grill for another 2 minutes. Now add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and toss it until it is well covered and seasoned. Remove the asparagus from the pan and plate. Garnish with shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Note: You may need to peel the ends of the asparagus as they may be tough. To check, try to break the end of a spear with your hands. If it snaps easily, there is no need to peel, if it doesn't, you may want to peel to avoid chewing later. If you are buying fresh British asparagus with fine ends, there will be no need to peel.

Lemon and Ginger Cheesecake

2010-05-11T23:07:00.002+01:00

After a long break, which I have a lot of excuses for, a delicious cheesecake. I have so many recipes to share and feeling so lazy to post them here. I have made this cheesecake over the weekend and it was really good so it is coming first.

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
for the cheese filling
500g ricotta
250g mascarpone
200g icing sugar
1 lemon, juice and zest
2 inches fresh ginger, grated and squeezed, juice only

for the base
300g digestive biscuits, crumbled
150g butter, melted
2 tablespoons brown sugar

for the lemon and ginger glaze
3 lemons, juice and zest (I used whole slices and it came out slightly bitter, so use juice and zest and discard the white bits)
1 inch ginger, sliced
4 tablespoons sugar

Method
Break the biscuits either by wrapping them in clean tea towel and bashing the table, or use rolling pin. Add melted butter and sugar, mix well. Prepare a spring form (22cm) and line with the mixture. Press it down and even out.
Mix all the cheese filling ingredients until smooth and thick, adjust sugar to your taste. Spread it on the biscuit base and even out. Place in the fridge. You can eat it as it is, but it is much better with the glaze, so keep on going for better results :)
In a small cooking pot combine all glaze ingredients and cook on high heat until it starts to form a loose jelly/jam on a spoon. Stir and test the thickness often. You can add a few tablespoons of water if needed.
Decorate the cheesecake with the glaze, chill for a couple of hours or eat immediately if you cannot wait.

Potatoes, Tomatoes and Spinach Indian Style

2010-04-29T21:01:00.002+01:00

Very healthy recipe and absolutely delicious. It uses only a few spices but it is still hot and nothing like your usual take away.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
4 medium tomatoes, cut into 4 pieces
300g fresh spinach leaves, washed
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
handful freshly chopped coriander leaves
squeeze of lemon
salt to taste
oil for frying

Method
Heat oil in a large non stick pan. Add mustards seeds and allow them to splatter. Now add potatoes, salt and fry them until golden brown. Add turmeric and chilli powders and fry for a minute. Now add tomatoes, spinach, coriander leaves, cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Gently stir and check the seasoning, add more salt and squeeze some lemon juice.
Serve with white basmati rice.

Minted Lamb Burgers

2010-04-27T21:11:00.002+01:00

Homemade burgers go well with almost everything. They are so easy to make, so please do yourself a favour and never buy them ready made, at least you know what goes into them. Serve them with rice, mash, daal, vegetable curry, make a proper burger (with bun and salad and all that), or use leftovers to make the most delicious sandwiches.
You will see in the recipe below that I add dry old bread to the mince. Now, I am really not sure why, but this is how everyone in my family does it. If this is not a good enough explanation for you, you can try to work it out for yourself, but there two reasons I can think of. Firstly, you get more burgers by adding the ingredient that would normally land in the bin. Secondly, it soaks up the eggs really well. Let me know if you have any better explanation to this mystery.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
500g minced lamb meat
50g dry bread (if it is hard like a stone, soak it in water first, then drain, otherwise, break it into small pieces)
2 eggs
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
handful fresh meant leaves, chopped (you can use dry mint, but as always, fresh is better)
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
oil for frying

Method
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. You should end up with a reasonably smooth paste.
Heat oil in a non stick pan, form each burger using a handful of mince and place them in the hot pan. Fry first on high heat and then reduce to medium. Fry for around 10 minutes on each side, or until you are happy with them and sure that they are cooked inside. It is that easy!

Batter Fried Spicy King Prawns

2010-04-25T15:48:00.001+01:00

So here it is, another craving resulting from my cycling. Sometimes the only thing I can think of at the end of the day is food I am going to cook when I get home :) And once my dreams come true and the food is cooked and eaten, I'm happy and ready to go to sleep ;) Grzesiu, if you are reading this, trust me, you would love them! So don't be scared of prawns, they can be great! This is a snack or appetizer rather than the main meal, but I had it just like that for dinner and they were so good!

Preparation time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins (you remember I have a small fryer, right? they actually only take 2-3 minutes)
Ingredients
for the prawn marinade
400g raw, shelled king prawns
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dark unrefined cane sugar
generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
squeeze of lemon juice

for the batter
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
water

cornstarch or flour for dredging
oil for frying

Method
Wash the prawns and remove veins from them. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, add prawns and marinade for 20 minutes.
In a separate bowl mix all the dry batter ingredients, add fish sauce and water, mix well. The batter should have double cream consistency. Leave it to stand for 15 minutes.
Heat a lot of oil in a pan or heat your deep fryer. Remove the prawns from the marinade into a bowl with cornstarch or plain flour and coat them until they are dry. Holding each prawn by its tail, deep it in batter and fry a couple at a time, or as many as you can fit easily in the oil. Fry them until they turn golden brown. Remove and drain on a paper towel as they soak a lot of oil. Do not fry them until they are brown, the prawns will become dry and much smaller and they will not stick to the batter. When they are golden, the crispy batter coats them and they are nice and moist in the middle.
Serve them immediately with sweet and sour sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Rhubarb Crumble

2010-04-22T19:41:00.001+01:00

Crumble is so much better than a cake - you get only the best bits! So quick and easy, you can make it any time! It was delicious and I feel bad because I want more, but have to share... I will be making more of it as rhubarb is in season and other fruits can be used as well, so there are really no excuses :)

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
for the rhubarb
500g rhubarb, cut into 1cm pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
little bit of water

for the crumble
75g flour
60g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons porridge oats
3 tablespoons dark brown unrefined cane sugar (you can use regular sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method
Place rhubarb in a cooking pot, add sugar and few tablespoons of water and cook for 10 minutes stirring from time to time.
Pre heat the oven to 200C.
Place all the crumble ingredients in a bowl and work it with your hand, do not use food processor for this, it does not have to be finely mixed. You should end up with slightly sticky, but loose mixture.
Place rhubarb in the oven proof dish, sprinkle crumble on top and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Serve hot with custard, cream, or on its own.
before baking

and cooked

Butter Chicken

2010-04-21T22:12:00.002+01:00

This is a result of one of my cycling cravings. Delicious creamy, buttery tomato sauce and chicken. There is no way you will not like it.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 mins

Ingredients
for the chicken
1 large chicken, skinless and cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons ghee or butter
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon salt

for the sauce
1 tablespoon ghee or butter
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
handful cashew nuts
2 green chillies, chopped
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
handful dry fenugreek leaves
handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
few drops red food colour (optional)
300ml single cream
coriander leaves for garnish

Method
Wash the chicken well, add chilli powder, coriander, salt, ginger and garlic. Mix well and marinade for a few minutes. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the chicken until it becomes golden brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add more ghee, cumin seeds and fry them for a minute. Now add chopped onion, garlic, ginger and fry for 2 minutes. Add chilli powder, coriander powder, cashew nuts, green chillies and fenugreek leaves, cook for a few minutes. Now add tomatoes, coriander leaves, salt, sugar, cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Blend everything using hand blender until smooth, add food colour if using, drop in the chicken and cook for 10 minutes. Now add the cream, mix and heat it through. garnish with fresh coriander leaves, serve with basmati rice.

Enjoy Spring with my Baby Onions

2010-04-19T21:06:00.001+01:00

Have a look at this! My onions are growing :D

Porridge with Homemade Apple and Kiwi Jam

2010-04-18T18:02:00.001+01:00

This is a perfect Sunday breakfast. Healthy and delicious. Even if you do not like porridge, you should try this one, and if you are not willing to try porridge, use the jam on toast.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
for the porridge
1 1/2 cup jumbo porridge oats (use about 1/2 cup (50g) per person)
3 cups milk (double quantity milk to porridge)

for the jam
1 large apple, cut into large pieces
4 kiwi, peeled and sliced
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons water
squeeze of lemon

Method
Take a cooking pot, add porridge oats and milk and cook on a low flame until thick stirring often. Your rice cooker might have an option of cooking porridge, then there will be no need for stirring, just lock it in and leave it to cook.
Place the cut fruits in a small cooking pot or pan, add little bit of water, sugar and cook on a high flame stirring from time to time. Try not to mash the fruits and cook until your fruits are soft and the jam thickens.
Place porridge in a bowl, spoon the jam on top and serve hot. Mix well before eating. The jam should be sweet enough to sweeten the porridge.

Creamy Mushroom Spaghetti

2010-04-15T21:02:00.001+01:00

Whenever I go home for holidays I make sure I bring back some dry porcini mushrooms. I would get up early morning, go out to the forest (it is less than a minute away) and pick as many as I can find, clean them, cut and dry in the sun (or in the oven if it is raining). I would normally end up with a bag full of mushrooms that I can use until the next summer. They are very aromatic and perfect in soups, pasta and any Polish cabbage dishes.

In here I mixed my porcini mushrooms with normal white mushrooms in a creamy sauce with onion and parsley. You can use any other type of pasta here, It will taste just as nice. What I wanted to do, and I forgot, was to add some freshly fried breadcrumbs on top of the pasta. You can fry them in butter or olive oil, your choice, and sprinkle on top when your pasta is ready. If you remember to make your breadcrumbs, please let me know if you liked it that way.

Oh, and remember, never wash your mushrooms! They soak water like a sponge and become soggy and horrible. If they have some dirt on them, just take a paper towel and rub it off.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
500g pasta
500g white mushrooms, cut into 4 pieces
1/2 cup dry porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes, or use 1 cup of fresh ones
1 small onion, finely chopped
450ml single cream (I used 300ml and it was a little bit too dry)
2 tablespoons butter
olive oil
handful of parsley, chopped
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
Heat olive oil and butter in a large pan, add white mushrooms and fry for 10 minutes.
Boil the pasta in salted water (you can add the water the porcini mushrooms were soaked in) for about 9-10 minutes, but check on the pack to make sure and try it from time to time.
Now add the drained porcini mushrooms to the pan and fry for another 5 minutes. Add your onions, salt and fry for 5 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper, cream and parsley and heat for another 5 minutes.
Drain the pasta and drop in the sauce, mix well and serve immediately.

A New Discovery

2010-04-13T13:53:00.004+01:00

Watching cooking programmes is one of my favourite pass times. Yesterday during my lunch time I was looking for something to watch on iPlayer and this is what I found The Delicious Miss Dah l. There are three parts available to watch and i have just finished watching the third one. From what I saw on the Internet, she had rather unfavourable reviews, but I have to say that I love it and will watch the rest when it airs.

I am not sure if this is because her way of thinking about food is just like mine, or is it because it is so sweet and girly and romantic way of cooking that is so appealing, complete with small bits of poetry and childhood stories. Either way, if you have nothing better to do, you might as well have a look.

She shows some basic food, but also encourages you to experiment with cooking and enjoy it. Cooking is not a chore, it is a pleasure in itself followed by the pleasure of eating. If you want to eat good food, you might as well learn how to prepare it.

So here it is, a woman who started as a model, showing you how to cook simply because she loves it (and because this is how she makes her living now).

Sevian - Sweet Indian Milky Dessert

2010-04-10T21:09:00.002+01:00

I love this one. It is very easy to prepare and it smells fantastic!

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
50g vermicelli noodles
50g golden sultanas (they are my favourite)
50g cashew nuts
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
10 green cardamom pods
400g can evaporated milk (you can use condensed milk as well, but it may come out too sweet and using unsweetened milk lets you control the sweetness)
1 cup semi skimmed milk
4 tablespoons sugar (adjust to taste)
3 tablespoons ghee or clarified butter or unsalted butter

Method
Heat ghee in a saucepan, add noodles, sultanas, nuts and the whole spices. Fry for 5 minutes stirring continuously as it is very easy to burn your raisins and nuts. Now add two types of milk and cook for around 20 minutes stirring very often. Your milk should now have thickened and it will thicken even more if you let it stand for some time. Now add the sugar and cook for further 5 minutes. You can serve it hot or cold.

Roasted Vegetable Chicken

2010-04-08T21:58:00.001+01:00

This time something different than a curry, still delicious. If you are vegetarian you could try adding some mushrooms instead of chicken, I am sure it would be great as well.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 chicken, skinless and cut into 8 pieces
1 can of tomatoes, or 4 fresh tomatoes, cut into small pieces
2 peppers, cut into large chunks, choose different colours for better effect
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
1 medium marrow, peeled, de-seeded and cut into large cubes, or use 2 courgettes, thickly sliced
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 stock cubes, or use fresh reduced stock
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
olive oil

Method
Wash the chicken and pat dry it and season with salt and pepper. Place cut onions, peppers and marrow in the large oven proof dish, pour a generous amount of olive oil, mix well and stick under a hot grill for 20-25 minutes stirring every 5 minutes.
Heat olive oil in a large non stick pan, put the chicken in and fry for 5 minutes. Now add garlic and stock cubes and fry turning the chicken from time to time until it is lightly brown. Remove it from the pan and set aside.
Your vegetables should now be roasted. Remove them from the oven and put them all in the pan you fried the chicken in. Add tomatoes, herbs, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes. Now add the chicken to the vegetables and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust seasoning and serve with rice.

Tuna Fish Cakes

2010-04-07T21:40:00.002+01:00

It is amazing what you can come up with when there is little to eat and cook with at home. Fish cakes are one of these things that can be made with any fish and a few basic ingredients that you normally keep at home at all times. They came out really good so I am sharing my recipe with you.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients
3 cans of tuna chunks in brine or spring water, drained
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large potatoes cooked and mashed
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs
handful fresh chopped parsley or 2 tablespoons dry parsley
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 lemon or lime, juice only
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
oil for frying

Method
The only thing you have to do is mix all the ingredients, but leave some breadcrumbs for frying. Be careful not to mash the tuna so that you have nice large pieces of fish rather than a paste.
Heat the oil in a non stick pan. Form the fish cakes by rolling them in between your hands. Cover them with breadcrumbs and fry on both sides on medium heat until they become golden brown. Serve with sweet chilli sauce or whatever else you like.

Green Chicken Curry

2010-04-03T20:31:00.001+01:00

I planned to make Coriander Chicken but as it turned out, i did not have enough of coriander. Instead I used some spinach along the coriander and the result is this very green chicken curry. Very tasty :D

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time 1 hour

Ingredients
1 chicken, skinless and cut into 8 pieces
4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 green chillies
2 inch piece fresh ginger
5 cloves garlic
1 bunch coriander leaves
1 bunch spinach
1 cinnamon stick
8 cloves
8 cardamoms
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 lime, juice only
3 tablespoons yoghurt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste
oil

Method
Wash the chicken well and set aside. Put chopped onions, fresh coriander, green chillies, ginger and garlic in to a bowl and blend with a hand blender or put it all into a food processor and blend to a paste.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom and fry for 2 minutes. Add chicken and brown it. Now add potatoes, salt, turmeric, cumin and coriander powders and fry for 5 minutes. Now add the paste and cook for further 10 minutes. Now place chopped spinach in a bowl and blend it to a smooth paste, add it to the chicken. Add yoghurt, lime juice, black pepper and cook for 15-20 minutes on a low flame. Adjust salt and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve with plain basmati rice.

White Cinnamon and Dark Orange Chocolate Cake

2010-04-02T18:56:00.003+01:00

This is one of the recipes that sounded good in my head so I decided to make it. This doesn't always work, but this one tastes good ;)

Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
For the pastry
180g unsalted butter (if you are using salted butter, do not add any extra salt)
250g flour
4 tablespoons cold water
pinch of salt

For the chocolate fillings
200g dark chocolate
200g white chocolate
300g double cream
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped home made candied orange peel

Method
Put the butter in the freezer for 10 minutes. Place the flour on a work bench, add a pinch of salt. Make sure to keep all the ingredients as cold as possible. Keep your hands under cold water, open the window in winter, anything you can think of. Grate the cold butter into the flour and work quickly rubbing it into the flour. Don't worry about the butter lumps, just add a little bit of cold water and work the dough quickly. As soon as it sticks together, put into a plastic bag and place in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
Take two bowls and brake white and dark chocolates and place in the two bowls. Place them in microwave for 2-3 minutes to melt. When melted, add cinnamon and 150g cream into white chocolate and mix well. Add 150g of cream and candied orange peel into dark chocolate and mix well. Place both bowls in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200C, prepare the cake or tart dish. Remove the pastry dough from the fridge and roll quickly. Place it in the dish and press with your hands to even it out. Take fork and make a number of holes in the dough. You will be baking it blind, so if you have dry beans, add them in as this will keep your pastry flat and it will keep the desired shape while baking. Place the pastry dish in the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes.
When the pastry is done, remove it from the oven and allow to cool. Your two chocolate fillings should now be completely cold and thick. Whisk them for a minute, spoon into the pastry case and slowly spread. You can try to form a nice design using two types of chocolate, but it will taste good whatever you do with it.

Sweet Cream Cheese and Buckwheat Groats Crepes

2010-03-25T19:52:00.003Z

This is a recipe from home, made up by my brother. A mix between the cottage cheese and buckwheat groats dumplings we ate once, long long time ago and crepes. The filling with cream cheese works perfectly with crepes. Great served with maple syrup or thick vanilla yoghurt.

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour (plus 10 mins extra if you want to bake and make them crispy)

Ingredients

For crepes

1 cup flour

2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon sugar

pinch of salt

oil for frying

For the filling

200g buckwheat groats, cooked and cooled

400g cream cheese

2 egg yolks

vanilla extract to taste

sugar to taste

3 tablespoons butter (if baking)

Method

Mix well all the crepe ingredients in a bowl and leave it to stand for 10 minutes. You have to use common sense while making these, add more flour or milk/water if required, you are aiming for 'double cream consistency'. Do not add too much sugar into the mixture, it will make your crepes hard.

Heat a little bit of oil in a non stick pan, pour enough mixture to thinly cover the pan and fry until it becomes golden, then turn and fry for a minute or so on the other side. Repeat until your mix is finished.

Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Fill the crepes by spreading around 2 tablespoons of filling on each. Cover only half of each crepe and start rolling from the side with the filling on. Now, you can eat them as they are, or butter an oven proof dish, place them in and cover with some more butter. Place in the hot oven for 10 minutes.

Onion Pakora

2010-03-24T19:24:00.001Z

This is a great and easy to prepare Indian snack. You do not have to stick to onions, use shredded spinach, peppers, cauliflower florets - anything that fries well.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 3-4 mins each (total time depends on the size of your fryer)

Ingredients
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
1/2 cup rice flour
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
handful fresh chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
oil for frying

Method
Mix the sliced onions with a teaspoon of salt, this will release the moisture. In a large bowl mix all the powder ingredients, then add fresh coriander and green chilli. Now add the onions and mix everything well. You may need to add a little bit of water to make all the ingredients stick and form a very thick batter. Once the mixture is ready, use a spoon to form the pakoras and place them in a deep fryer. Mine fits only 4 and it takes forever to cook, but if you have reasonable sized fryer, you should be able to fry everything in 2-3 batches. Fry until they become nice and brown.
Serve with a selection of you favourite dips and sauces.

Egg Curry

2010-03-23T20:28:00.002Z

A different take on eggs, and so much tastier!

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
10 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
2 large onions, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
10-15 curry leaves
2 whole red chillies
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste (or freshly grated ginger and crushed garlic, 1 teaspoon of each)
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons dessicated coconut
golf ball size piece of tamarind soaked in one cup of warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt to taste
handful of fresh chopped coriander leaves for garnish
oil

Method
Heat the oil in a large non stick pan, add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle, now add cumin seeds, whole red chillies, fenugreek seeds and fry for a minute. Now add chopped onions and a teaspoon of salt. After a few minutes add curry leaves and green chillies. When the onions become golden brown add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste, mix well and fry for further 2 minutes.
Now add a little bit of water and the remaining powdered spices (cumin, coriander, red chilli) and the coconut. Stir continuously and let the spices cook for 2 minutes, you should be left with thick spice and onion paste.
Now add tamarind juice, sugar and the tomato paste. Add little more salt if required and simmer on a low flame for 15 minutes. Now you can add your boiled eggs. You can either cut them in half or leave whole, or cut some and keep the others whole, whatever you prefer. You do not need to cook it for much longer, just for the eggs to become hot inside. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and serve with white basmati rice.

Lemon Thyme Salmon

2010-03-22T19:46:00.002Z

Very simple and delicious recipe. I learned this one from my Mum.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
4 salmon fillets
1/2 lemon
4 teaspoons thyme
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste
olive oil
OR
4 salmon fillets
4 teaspoons of my Lemon Thyme mix
olive oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C (400 F).
Wash the salmon well. Squeeze juice of lemon all over the fillets, rub all the spices in.
Prepare an oven proof dish that would easily fit all the fish. Spray the dish with olive oil spray or use your hand to spread a thin layer of olive oil to prevent fillets from sticking. Place the fish in the dish and spray some more olive oil on top. If you are not using spray, use a little bit of olive oil while you are rubbing in the other ingredients.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Serve with roasted potatoes and a salad of your choice.

Buttery Cabbage

2010-03-19T20:57:00.002Z

This is my Dad's recipe. Easy to make and delicious. Smells just like my Grandma's pierogi (Polish dumplings) I will always miss...

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
900g sauerkraut
2 large onions, finely chopped
300g closed cup mushrooms, cut into large pieces
125g butter
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 teaspoons Vegeta

Method
Rinse the sauerkraut under the running water. Place it in the cooking pot, add a cup of water and set to cook on a medium flame.
In a non stick pan heat half of the butter and fry onions until they become translucent. Set them aside.
Now in the same pan heat the rest of the butter and fry the mushrooms.
Put the fried onions and mushrooms into the pot with sauerkraut, season with Vegeta and black pepper. Let it cook on a low flame for 30 minutes. Serve hot with mashed potatoes and meat of your choice.

Sweetcorn Quorn

2010-03-18T19:52:00.001Z

I came from work today and there was nothing to eat. I found some Quorn pieces in the freezer, added a little bit f vegetables and spices, and surprisingly, it was delicious! So here it goes, cooked in minutes.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
4 Quorn 'chicken' fillets, thickly sliced
1 large onion, sliced
1 small can sweetcorn
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 green chilli, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 sprigs coriander, chopped
1 tablespoon butter
salt to taste

Method
Heat butter in a non stick pan, add onion, cumin seeds and fry for 5 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste, Quorn and green chilli and fry for further 5 minutes. Now add sweetcorn, coriander and salt. Mix well and cook for 10 minutes. That is it, enjoy!

Pepper Chicken Chettinad

2010-03-14T19:20:00.002Z

This is my take on the recipe you can see here. Have a look at the method of cooking there, it is very helpful.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients
1 chicken, skinless, cut into 8 pieces
2 onions, chopped
4 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 can of chopped tomatoes
2 teaspoons ginger garlic paste, or 4 cloves of crushed garlic and teaspoon of minced fresh ginger
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick, broken into pices
6 cloves
6 cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 green chilli, chopped
10 curry leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tablespoon coarsely freshly ground black pepper
salt
oil
fresh chopped coriander leaves for garnish

Method
Wash chicken well and set aside. Heat oil in a large non stick pan, add mustard seeds and allow them to crackle. Now add cumin seeds and fry for a minute. Add whole garam masala (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaf) and fry for a minute. Now add onions and fry them until they become golden brown. Add green chilli, curry leaves, ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder. Fry for 2 minutes.
Now add tomatoes and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of powdered spices, chilli, cumin and coriander powders, mix well and cook the tomatoes until most of the water evaporates and you are left with the thick spicy paste.
Add around 2 teaspoons of salt and the chicken, mix well, reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Let the chicken cook for about 25 minutes. Add black pepper and mix well. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves, serve with white basmati rice.

Potatoes with Fenugreek Leaves

2010-03-13T12:31:00.002Z

Preparation time: 5 mins
Coking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
300g potatoes (use whole new baby potatoes or normal cut into cubes)
3 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves
salt to taste
oil

Method
Heat oil in the large non stick frying pan. Add the garlic, green chilli and chopped onion, fry for 2 minutes. now add fenugreek leaves and turmeric and fry for a minute longer.
Add potatoes to the pan, teaspoon of salt and fry for 2 minutes. Now add chopped coriander leaves, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done.

Upma (South Indian Spicy Semolina)

2010-03-10T20:40:00.002Z

Upma is a breakfast dish, but I don't think I will ever understand eating this kind of meals early morning. It is great for lunch or dinner too.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
1 cup coarse semolina
2 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
handful channa daal, soaked in water for 30 mins
1/2 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons urad daal
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
10 curry leaves
2 green chillies, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste (around 2 teaspoons)
little oil

Method
Heat oil in a large non stick pan, add mustard seeds and allow to splatter. Now add cumin seeds and fry for a minute. Add peanuts, channa daal (without water) and roast on medium heat for 5 minutes. Now add urad daal and fry for further 2 minutes.
Add onions, green chillies, curry leaves and ginger and fry for 5 minutes. Add turmeric powder, salt and 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil.
When water is boiling, slowly add semolina and stir continuously. Now reduce the flame to low and cover the pan. Let it cook for another 10 minutes. Serve with pickle of your choice, or with pickle flavoured vegetables, see below.

Pickle Peppers

2010-03-10T19:57:00.002Z

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients
4 peppers, cut into large chunks (use different colours for better effect)
2 tablespoons pickle (I used ginger, but lime or lime and chilli would be good as well)
salt to taste
little oil

Method
Heat little oil in a pan, add peppers and onion and stir fry for 5 mins. Now add pickle, some salt, mix well and fry for further 5 mins. Serve hot.

Spicy Chicken Fried Rice

2010-03-09T21:02:00.001Z

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 cup rice
1 large onion, chopped
300g minced chicken
1 carrot, chopped
1 handful frozen peas
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 stock cubes
2 green chillies
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil

Method
Wash the rice and set it to cook adding sock cubes in the water. In a pan heat little oil, add cumin seeds and fry them for a minute. Now add the chopped onion and fry until it becomes slightly brown. Add the vegetables, chicken and the spices. Fry for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked. When the rice is cooked add it to the chicken and mix well. Fry for further 5-10 minutes, add salt if needed.

Chinese Leaf and Spring Onion Salad

2010-03-09T20:44:00.002Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins (it's raw)

Ingredients
1 Chinese leaf
1 bunch of spring onions
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
4 tablespoons natural yogurt
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
freshly ground black pepper to taste
salt to taste

Method
Slice Chinese leaf and spring onions, place them in a salad bowl. In a cup mix all the remaining ingredients, adjust the seasoning and mix wit the cut vegetables.

Spaghetti with Black Olives, Capers and Tuna

2010-03-06T14:48:00.002Z

This is very easy and quick recipe and very tasty too. This quantity will make 6 large portions, but you can easily halve the ingredients if you need.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
500g spaghetti
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 cans tuna chunks in brine
3 tablespoons marinated capers
70g black olives
1 teaspoon dry basil
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
olive oil
handful of grated cheese

Method
Boil water in a cooking pot, add teaspoon of salt and spaghetti, cook according to the instructions on the pack.
Heat little olive oil in a large non stick pan, add chopped onion, crushed garlic and fry for a few minutes but do not brown. Now add tomatoes, capers, olives, salt and black pepper. Cook for 10 minutes.
Now add basil and tuna to the sauce and stir slowly trying not to break tuna too much.
Drain pasta and add it to the sauce, mix well. Sprinkle with cheese and place under hot grill for 5 minutes, serve hot.

Lamb Cooked with Cardamom

2010-03-04T21:00:00.001Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 kg leg of lamb cut into small cubes (with or without the bone)
4 potatoes, cut into 4 pieces
1 cup natural yogurt
30 green cardamoms, ground, or use 4 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
3 large tomatoes, chopped
salt to taste
oil

Method
Wash the lamb well. Heat the oil in a cooking pot. Add ground cardamom and black pepper and fry over a low heat for 3 minutes. Add meat, potatoes, turmeric, chilli and coriander powders and fry for 15 minutes stirring frequently making sure the spices do not stick to the pot. Add little water if necessary.

Add yogurt, tomatoes and salt to taste and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add two cups of water, cover the pot and cook on low heat until the meat is tender. Serve with basmati rice.

King Prawns in Sweet and Hot Curry

2010-02-21T17:50:00.002Z

My weekend cooking.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
400g shelled raw king prawns
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
3 green chillies, chopped
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 large onions, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 can chopped tomatoes or 4 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon jaggery or sugar
10-15 curry leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh coriander
salt to taste
oil

Method
Wash prawns and remove the veins. Soak tamarind in warm water.
Heat the oil in a cooking pot and fry the onions until light brown. Add cumin seeds, green chillies and garlic and fry for 2 mins. Now add all the spice powders and fry for a minute stirring continously. Add the tomatoes and fry for further 5 mins.
Now add the tamarind with the water it was soaking in, jaggery (or sugar), curry leaves, coriander leaves and about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, fry for another 2 mins. Now add prawns and cook until they are done. Prawns cook very quickly, so 5 mins should be enough. Taste and adjust sugar and salt, garnish with coriander leaves, serve with rice.

Vegetable Rice

2010-02-21T17:22:00.004Z

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
2 cups of basmati rice
4 cups frozen vegetables (you can use fresh vegetables as well, choose carrots, peppers, peas, sweetcorn, broccoli, cauliflower)
1 stock cube
1 teaspoon salt
pinch chilli flakes
1 tablespoon oil

Method
Wash rrice well, add teaspoon of salt and set to cook.
In a separate pan heat oil, add stock cube, crush it and allow it to melt. Now add vegetables and fry until they are cooked, around 10 mins.
When the rice is cooked add it to the pan with vegetables, mix well and fry for 5 mins.

Peri Peri Salmon

2010-02-18T20:07:00.002Z

Peri Peri works best with chicken, but it is good with fish too. This was my today's dinner.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
4 pieces of salmon or any other oily fish of your choice
4 teaspoons Peri Peri mix (garlic, salt, chilli flakes, black pepper, paprika, lemon, oregano or parsley)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method
Heat the oven to 200C. Wash fish well. Add oil and a little water to the Peri Peri mix to make a thick paste. Apply the paste to the fish, rub it in well. Place the fish in the ovenproof dish and bake for 20 mins. Serve with roasted potatoes or home made chips and a salad.

Worth Recommending

2010-02-17T16:39:00.004Z

You have to visit this guy's channel on YouTube! He is the best!
I am not great at explaining anything really, but when you watch Sanjay, it is like a private cooking lesson, you really cannot go wrong! Loads of good Indian food, but not only.
I tried so many recipes and they are all good, plus he is fun to watch. You have got to love his enthusiasm :D

http://www.youtube.com/user/vahchef

Pancakes with a Difference

2010-02-17T16:16:00.005Z

I know it is a day late for pancake's day, but this is what I had yesterday. If you like pancakes and you like cheese and you like spicy food, you will love these!

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (use more if you are using normal flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
150g grated cheese (or as much as you like :))
1 chopped green chilli, or 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
chopped fresh coriander or any other herbs you like
1 teaspoon roasted cumin seeds (optional)
oil for frying

Method
Mix flour, baking powder and salt, then add eggs and milk. Mix well. Add cheese, herbs and cumin. Mix again. Now fry.
The pancakes are fatty because of large amount of cheese and if you are using non stick pan, there is no need for oil, if you are using normal pan, you may want to add a little.
Fry until they lightly brown on both sides. Enjoy plain or with spicy sauce of your choice.

Chickpeas with Green Peppers

2010-02-15T14:15:00.002Z

This is very simple and quick recipe, and very healthy too. Proteins come from chickpeas, it is low fat and has veggies too!

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
400g cooked chickpeas (2 cans), you can cook them from dry if you wish
2 large green peppers, cut into large chunks
2 large tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
2 green chillies, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tablespoon oil
fresh coriander for garnish (optional)

Method
Heat oil in a non stick pan, add cumin seeds and fry until they become fragrant, around 1 minute. Add grated ginger, turmeric powder, chopped green chillies, green peppers and fry for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Now add chickpeas, tomatoes, salt and cook for 5 more minutes.
Garnish with fresh chopped coriander.

Chicken and Potatoes with Fresh Dill

2010-02-15T13:53:00.002Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 chicken, skinless, cut into 8 pieces
4 large potatoes, cut into 4
2 green chillies
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
6 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
1 cinnamon stick
6 cloves
6 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 all spice
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 cup yogurt
squeeze of lime or lemon
salt to taste

Method
Wash chicken well and set aside. Heat oil in a large non stick pan, add whole spices and fry until they become fragrant, around 2 minutes. Add chicken and potatoes, garlic, ginger, green chillies, salt, coriander and garam masala powders, stir well so that chicken and potatoes are well coated and let it fry for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Add yogurt, cover and cook for 20 minutes on a medium flame. Now add chopped dill and a squeeze of lime or lemon and cook for further 5 minutes, or until chicken and potatoes are fully cooked.
Garnish with fresh dill and serve with rice. Goes well with cucumber salad.

Aloo Gobi (Potato and Caulifower Curry)

2010-02-11T15:46:00.007Z

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
4 large potatoes, cut into cubes
1 small cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
chopped fresh coriander
salt to taste

Method
Heat oil in a large non stick pan, add cubed potatoes, teaspoon of salt and fry until they are lightly browned and half cooked. Add whole spices and fry them until they become fragrant, around 2 minutes. Now add grated ginger and chopped green chillies (if you do not have green chillies, use chilli flakes), coriander and turmeric powders, add cauliflower pieces and stir well so that the vegetables get coated in spices. Now add a cup of water, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes, chopped fresh coriander, and cook for 5 more minutes.
When all the vegetables are cooked, sprinkle with garam masala powder, stir and garnish with fresh chopped coriander.
Serve with rice or chappatis.

Tomato and Cucumber Raita / Salad

2010-02-11T15:39:00.006Z

Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 0 mins, it's raw :)

Ingredients
1/2 large cucumber, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped (optional, it is more colourful)
handful of roasted peanuts
lemon juice to taste
generous pinch of chilli flakes, to taste
salt to taste
fresh coriander, chopped

Method
The idea is that you mix it all together and the end result looks lovely and colourful, and tastes great too.

Fragrant Basmati Rice

2010-02-11T12:10:00.006Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients
400g basmati rice
1 tablespoon of ghee/butter/oil
1 large onion
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
8 cloves
8 green cardamoms
2 bay leaves
1 green chilli, sliced lengthwise
handful of fresh mint leaves (optional, but will make your rice much better)
salt to taste

Method
Wash the rice well in cold water. It it is best if you could use rice cooker as I believe this is the only way to measure the correct amount of water required. Place the washed rice in the cooker, add required amount of water, teaspoon of salt and allow the rice to soak for 30 mins.
In the meantime, thinly slice one onion. Heat your proffered type of oil/butter in a small pan, add all the spices and allow them to fry for a minute or two to become fragrant. Now add the sliced onion and green chilli, fry until the onion is light brown in colour.
Add onion with spices to the rice, if you are using mint, add it now as well. Turn on the rice cooker and wait for the lovely rice.

Masala Chai

2010-02-09T22:13:00.005Z

There are possibly as many recipes for masala chai as households in India. The best way of finding the perfect recipe for your taste is to keep trying and experimenting. You may want to try mixing any of these spices: peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, fresh or dried ginger, coriander seeds, mace, nutmeg and all spice. I'm sure there are many more :?

Preparation time: 1 min
Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients
400 ml milk
200 ml water (if you are using skimmed milk, you may want to use milk only)
3 teaspoons of loose assam tea
8 peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick, broken into smaller pieces
1 star anise
8 cloves
8 green cardamoms, lightly crushed
sugar to taste

Method
Place milk and water in a saucepan, add all the spices and bring to a boil. When the liquid is hot, add tea and cook for further 5 mins, Your chai should now be light brown in colour and very fragrant. Add sugar, drain the spices and tea using a fine sieve. This will make 2 mugs or 4 small tea cups.

Chicken Dopiaza

2010-02-09T09:30:00.015Z

Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
1 chicken, skinless and cut into 8 pieces
1 teaspoon salt
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons ghee or oil
4 large onions (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 cups yogurt
6 cloves
1 brown cardamom
12 black peppercorns
2 pieces cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon fresh ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
3 tomatoes (thickly sliced)
1 medium onion (chopped and fried)

Method

Wash the chicken. Mix the salt and lemon juice and rub all over the chicken, set aside for 30 minutes.
Heat the ghee in a deep pan and add cloves, cardamom, peppercorns and cinnamon stick, fry until the spices become fragrant. Add the chicken, chopped onion, garlic, turmeric and chilli powder. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add yogurt and stir for 5 minutes over a low heat. Now add water if required, cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, or until the chicken is tender. When chicken is cooked, sprinkle with garam masala powder, arrange the tomatoes around the dish and cover with fried onion.
Heat the oven to 180 C and cook for 10 minutes before serving. For the quick fix, garnish the chicken with fried onion and tomatoes cooked for 1 minute on the highest microwave setting, as the idea is for the tomatoes to be hot, but not mashed with the chicken.

South Indian Kadhu

2010-02-08T15:18:00.005Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 40 mins

Ingredients
1 kadhu (white pumpkin)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tablespoon cumin powder
2 green chillies
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons rice flour
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2 red whole chillies
1 tablespoon urad daal
10-12 curry leaves
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
2 tablespoons oil

Method
Peel and cut the pumpkin into small cubes.
Cook the pumpkin in 2 cups of water, salt and turmeric powder. When half done, add coconut, cumin powder chopped green chillies, black pepper and rice flour and simmer until it thickens, stir frequently. In a separate pan, heat oil and add mustard seeds, when they start to crackle add whole red chillies, urad daal, curry leaves, sesame seeds and asafoetida, fry for 2 minutes. Mix with the cooked pumpkin. You can garnish it with chopped fresh coriander.

Arhar Daal

2010-02-08T14:59:00.004Z

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients
250g split red lentils (masoor daal)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
2 green chillies
2 dry whole red chillies
1 tablespoon chopped ginger
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons of mixed spices (onion seeds, fenugreek seeds, aniseeds, cumin seeds and mustard seeds)
2 tablespoons butter or ghee
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

Method
Wash the lentils in cold water, cover them with water add turmeric, salt and sugar and cook over a medium flame. Add half of the ginger along with the cumin powder to the lentils. At this stage you may need to add some more water if needed.
When the daal is cooked and thick remove from the fire.
Heat the ghee in a pan and add the mixed spices. When the mustard seeds start to crackle add bay leaves, remaining chopped ginger, slit green chillies and broken red chillies. Fry for 2 minutes and pour over the daal. Mix thoroughly and serve hot preferably with basmati rice.

Yoghurt Rice

2010-02-01T16:30:00.004Z

This is one of my favourite dishes ever, and one of the easiest to prepare! Serve with your favourite pickle or chutney. I like it with Lime and Chilli Chutney.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients
2 cups of uncooked basmati rice (or leftover white rice)
1 tablespoon oil
3-4 round dried red chillies, cut into small pieces (will also work with normal dried red chillies)
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon urad daal
1 tablespoon channa daal
handful curry leaves
500g natural yogurt
salt to taste

Method
Wash rice in cold water, and boil it according to pack instructions. Rice should not be undercooked.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and allow them to splatter. Add channa and urad daal and slightly roast them, add red chillies, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes. Cool it down, add yogurt, little salt and mix well. To this add cold rice and mix. If it is very thick, add little water.
Be aware that the daal grains will remain hard and crunchy unless you decide to eat the rice the next day.

Tarka Daal

2010-02-01T15:23:00.003Z

There are countless versions of recipes for tarka daal (sometimes spelled as dhal or dal), but this is my favourite.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 45-60 mins

Ingredients
250g yellow moong daal (will also work with split red lentils, channa daal, or even split peas)
1 tablespoon oil or ghee
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
pinch of hing/asafoetida
2 green chillies, sliced lengthwise
6 cloves of garlic, chopped (you can never have too much garlic in tarka daal)
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 tomatoes, chopped
lemon juice
chopped coriander
salt
butter

Method
Wash lentils in cold water until it runs clear, place them in a saucepan, cover with water and boil until the grains mash easily.
Heat oil or ghee in a pan, add cumin seeds and fry for a few seconds until they become fragrant. Add chopped onion, green chillies and turmeric and pinch of hing, fry for a couple of minutes. Now add ginger and garlic and after a minute 2 chopped tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes. This is your tarka.
When lentils are cooked, add tarka and mix well. Add salt as desired, chopped coriander, tablespoon of butter and little lemon juice. Serve with rice.

You do not have to be very precise with the recipe, nothing will happen if you add spices in the wrong order or miss butter or even tomatoes, it will still taste delicious!