Indian style grilled chicken & veg (GF)

you could easily do this in the thermomix but mine is in hospital at the moment... *sob*

this was based on a few of Jamie Oliver's recipes and is very quick and easy

2 chicken breasts, cut into 1cm slices
2 tab tandoori paste
4-6 tabs plain full fat yoghurt
1 tin coconut cream
1 red capsicum, cut into 2" pieces
3-400g pumpkin, peeled and thinly sliced
olive oil
salt to taste
basmati rice
frozen peas (around 1 cup)
vegies of your choice - we had cauliflower and snow peas
coriander, chopped to serve

mix tandoori paste and yoghurt and mix chicken through well. leave to marinade for up to 8 hours - i only did 5 minutes and that was fine though longer would be better!

cook chicken on BBQ grill. toss capsicum and pumpkin in a splash of olive oil and grill

add remaining marinade to coconut cream in small saucepan. add salt to taste and stir well. bring to the boil and reduce ot simmer. cook until all other ingredients are done  and sauce has thickened

cook rice by absorption method, adding peas

steam vegies (i did mine over the rice, adding the cauli half way through and the snow peas when the rice was done and sitting)

serve with the sauce drizzled over and sprinkled with coriander

Super easy Chicken & Lentil Korma (GF, TMX)

enough for 2-4 depending on serving size, and whether you're eating it with rice or not.

1 heaped tspn coconut oil
1 large tablespoon full of korma paste
1 chicken breast, cut into 2cm dice
1 tin of coconut cream
1 tin of lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped

place oil and paste into thermomix and heat for 4 minutes 100' speed 1

add chicken and cook  for 4 minutes 100' reverse speed soft

add coconut cream and cook for 13 minutes 100' reverse speed soft

add lentils and cook for 5 minutes 100' reverse speed soft

add coriander and stir through and serve :)


i think you could toss some baby spinach through at the end too - i meant to and forgot!

happy birthday geoff !!

dinner at our favourite restaurant - flavours of india in gungahlin.

He insisted on ordering the vindaloo described as 'very very hot' lol

---- Sent from my 3 mobile

Spicy Mustard Chicken (GF, TMX)

just converting before making, will return to update later...

ETA : oh my goodness, this was soooooo delicious!!!! loved it!!!!!!!!!! it would make enough for approx 6 people. photo tomorrow

1 onion, peeled & quartered
40g oil
2 tspns brown mustard seeds
2-3 cloves garlic
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 star anise
dried chilli
1 tspn turmeric
2 tspns ground coriander
2 tabs mild curry powder
750g chicken, cut into 2-3" dice
up to 150g water
6 tabs plain yoghurt (optional)
salt and pepper (or 2-3 tspn stock concentrate)
fresh coriander to garnish

chop onion 5 secs speed 5
add oil, fry 100' 5-6 mins speed 1
add spices and grind speed 6 for 5-10 seconds, scrape down and repeat
fry 100' speed 1 3 minutes
add chicken, fry varoma reverse speed soft 8 min
add water & season
cook 15 mins 100' reverse speed soft
stir through yoghurt, serve with rice and coriander



posted by Karen at http://brazen20au.blogspot.com

Links - Indian

oh dear, i have 133 links saved in my bloglines ! no wonder it's so hard to find the new posts if there's not more than about 50 lol so here are the Indian ones I had saved to try one day...

Curry (Leaf) Powder
cumin / jeera bread
GLUTEN FREE bajra roti

Palak Panir
moth beans spinach gravy (what are moth beans)
vegetable & egg pulav
egg biriyani
pulav with whole spices
sweet & spicy okra
tomato saar (have made this and it's nice, VERY quick)
paneer butter masala
quick chickpea curry
aloo methi
bean & potato stirfry
garlicky lentils with spinach
potato okra stirfry
brinjal potato stirfry
tomato paneer
potato cauliflower curry
chickpea curry
Channa hariyali (chickpeas with coriander)
black bean curry & potato curry
mock aloo gobi (tmx)

chicken biriyani & gravy
methi chicken
grilled chicken kebab
Hyderabadi chicken biryani
methi murgh - chicken with fenugreek
murgh masallam
chicken vindaloo
chicken masala

koftas

aam kulfi
doodh peda
aam khand

hmmm well that got rid of 32 links lol i feel likei need to hold an indian themed dinner party to try some of these recipes - who's in?!



posted by Karen at http://brazen20au.blogspot.com

Quick Pumpkin & Spinach Curry (GF)

based loosely on this recipe, i had a craving for fenugreek seeds and not much but some pumpkin in the fridge.

i heated some oil and gently fried some fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds, and a few chilli flakes.

I then added one diced onion and the diced pumpkin. cooked til the pumpkin was just starting to soften and added in a tin of drained chickpeas and a packet of frozen spinach (totally forgetting about my garden full of silverbeet lol). also added a few tspns of turmeric, some stock concentrate and some water.

i also added approximately a tablespoon of tamarind puree and the same of agave syrup.

i had to keep adding a bit more water to end up with any sort of sauce - and then of course i added too much at the last minute!

we ate ours with homemade butter chicken, basmati rice and pappadums

Rough guide to daal and spicy vegies (indian style) (GF, TMX)

we had such yummy vegies and daal, here's a very rough guide to what i did:

Daal
heat oil, gently fry 2 tspns cumin seeds and 2tspns black mustard seeds. add in a small amount chopped ginger and 1-2 garlic cloves
when just starting to stick add water - maybe around 3-4 cups - and 1 large tspn chicken (or vegie) stock concentrate
add around 1/2 - 2/3 cup red lentil
simmer until lentils are tender (around 20-25 mins). add around 1/4 cup coconut milk and cook another 5 mins before serving


Vegies
heat oil, gently fry 1 chopped onion, approx 2 tspn aldi curry blend, 1 tspn turmeric (hmmm sure there was a third but can't remember it! i think maybe ground coriander? NOPE it was a tspn of caraway seeds! thanks clear marie :))
when it starts to stick add in a tin of tomatoes (or 3-4 fresh chopped tomatoes)
put in 1 chopped carrot, 1 green and 1 yellow capsicum (1" dice) and 1 tin drained chickpeas.
add a large tspnful chicken or vegie stock concentrate and a little water if needed
put a lid on an angle (to allow steam to escape) and cook on medium low heat until the vegies are just soft but still with some body and the sauce slightly thickened.
i think some tamarind would be nice in this too

serve with rice :)

PS: yes, you could easily do both of these in the thermomix too but i had started too late and needed to cook all 3 dishes at the same time

Chicken Korma (GF, TMX) rough guide only

i was craving butter chicken last night but had no fennel seeds so decided to do chicken korma instead. I"m finding now that homemade just beats takeaway hands down, the bought ones are just too greasy and oily to eat and enjoy.

anyway, this is the second time i've made this in the thermomix and i had to start from scratch again because i hadn't written down the instructions last time. i'm sure there'd be a chicken korma in the new indian cookbook but i wouldn't know as i didn't get one before they went out of stock :(

WARNING: this is a very very rough "recipe", please don't make this and think that it's a failure if it doesn't work perfectly - it still needs tweaking! (feedback welcome)

2 tabs cashews
boiling water to cover
1/4 tspn saffron threads (or 1/4 tspn turmeric)
boiling water to cover
1 tab ghee or oil
pinch nutmeg or blade mace
good pinch ground cloves or 5 cloves
10-12 cardmom pods, lightly crushed
1 cinnamon stick
1 medium onion, peeled & quartered
1" ginger, peeled and halved
3-6 garlic cloved, peeled
around 600g chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-1.5" pieces
1/2 tspn chili flakes
1 tspn ground coriander
1/2 tspn garam masala
approx 1/3 cup coconut milk
approx 1/3 cup plain yoghurt
fresh coriander to serve

put cashews in a small bowl and add boiling water to just cover, sit for half an hour
put saffron in a small bowl and add boiling water to just cover

heat ghee or oil 1 minute 100' speed soft
add nutmeg or mace, cloves, cardmom pods, and cinnamon stick. saute for 2 minutes 100' speed soft
remove cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and add onion. scrape down sides and chop speed 5 for 5 seconds or until chopped. saute 3 minutes 100' speed soft
add cashews (reserve water) and chop speed 6 for 5-10 seconds until cashews are finely chopped
fry for 3 minutes 100' speed soft
add chicken along with all the spices (chilli, ground coriander, garam masala, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick and fry for 5 minutes on varoma reverse speed soft
add the cashew water and cook for 10 minutes 100' reverse speed soft (add more water if it starts to stick)
add coconut milk and yoghurt and cook for another 8 minutes 100' reverse speed soft

sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve

note: i felt the chicken wasn't quite done enough, i will probably try cooking it longer next time (but i also had bigger pieces)

based on recipe from Curry

Quick & Easy Potato, Pea & Cauliflower Curry (GF)

based on a recipe from jacki passmore's curry in a hurry book

makes enough for 6 adults as the only dish, or halve the recipe to use as a side dish.

1 Large onion, sliced
oil
2 cloved garlic, peeled & chopped
1/2 tspn turmeric
4 tspns Thai Mussamun Curry Paste (check the label for gluten)
2 tspns vegetable stock concentrate (or 2 GF stock cubes, crumbled)
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
8-10 Desiree (pink skinned) chat potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1 medium cauliflower, cut into pieces the same size as the potatoes
1 cup of frozen peas

chopped coriander and steamed basmati rice to serve

heat oil in a large wok or pan, add onion and fry over medium heat until translucent
Add garlic, turmeric, curry paste, stock and water and stir well. heat and add potatoes. cover and cook for about 5-8 minutes.
add cauliflower and peas, stir well, re-cover and cook for another 8-10 minutes until all vegies are tender.

sprinkle with coriander and serve with rice.

note: this is a very mild curry.

A night at Rama's...

we haven't been there often, but Rama's is one of the few gluten free restaurants in Canberra. On Sunday night we were looking for somewhere to go out with Geoff's family and decided on Rama's. it's a Fiji-Indian restaurant located in Pearce, just south of woden, next to Ethiopia Down under (also GF recommended), 2 doors from Deeks GF cafe and next to the foodworks where you can buy deeks products when deeks is closed. a real little GF hub!

Luckily we were able to squeeze in on an early table and it proved to be a great place to take kids as it is noisy enough to cover their noise (but we could still hear) and all the staff seemed very patient of the children.

the owner of Rama's is really lovely and my memory of her from our other (pre-kids) visits was that she likes to personally visit each table for a quick chat at some stage in the evening.

we opted for the cheaper banquet on the menu and it was quite delicious and very popular with us all - there was none left! despite us carefully picking a largely GF restaurant the kids only ate pappadums and rice LOL rora did try some of the lamb and wanted more but unfortunately by the time she realised it was all gone :(

not everything at rama's is gluten free but the menu clearly sets out which items are and which aren't. in our banquet only the samosas and roti were gluten foods.

"Rama's Delight"

Entree:
Pappadums
Samosas
Bhajia

Main Meals:
Lamb Rogenjosh
Beef Vindaloo
Chicken Korma
Vegetable Bombay
Rice

Side Dishes:
Roti (Bread)

Dinner: $29.00 per person
Lunch: $25.00 per person (cash only) or
$29.00 per person (Credit Card payment)
Inc. GST

i highly recommend Rama's for a GF meal, eat in or takeaway - if you want to eat in you WILL need to book, it is VERY popular!

"Jubilant" Dal, Thermomix style

dinner tonight was this recipe, made in the thermomix (mostly) it was a very nice mild flavour. next time i'll use a little more lentils in it and do more of the steps in the tmx.

here's my version:

6 garlic cloves
1 tsp ghee
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric powder
Half tsp chilli powder (optional)
1 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
1 small - medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
200gm red lentils
1 bunch fresh spinach, shredded, or 1 packet frozen spinach
2 medium tomatoes, quartered & sliced

2 tspns Massell chicken stock powder

Place the garlic cloves in the thermomix and peel them on reverse speed 4 for 3-6 seconds
remove skins and chop on speed 6 for 2-10 seconds (until you hear pieces stop hitting the sides)
scrape garlic out and place in a small saucepan with the ghee (do not heat yet)

place oil in a pot and heat over medium-high heat, add spices

place onion in the thermomix and chop for around 5 seconds seconds on speed 6. remove and place straight into the saucepan with the spices, stir

place sweet potato in the thermomix and chop for around 5-10 seconds on speed 6 (optional - you might prefer to dice this yourself if you want bigger pieces). place into the saucepan with spices and onion, stir

add the sliced tomato in with the onion & sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or so **

in the meantime place lentils in the thermomix and add 350g of water. cook on reverse speed 2 temp 80' for 15 minutes

add the spinach to the onion saucepan and cook until wilted. turn heat down to low. when the lentils are done add more water if needed then add the onion / tomato / spice mix. cook for another 10 minutes on reverse speed 2 temp 80'
add the stock powder through the top of the lid.

meanwhile heat the ghee over medium-low heat until fragrant and starting to brown. pour in through the top of the lid.

check that your lentils are cooked - if not cook at reverse speed 2 temp 80' for 3-5 minutes longer until done.

serve with steamed basmati rice and microwaved pappadums ***

** i guess you could do this part in the thermomix too but it would increase the overall cooking time as using the stove lets you cook both at once :)

*** we learned tonight that you cannot microwave pappadums on a plate! they just would not cook! as soon as we put them on the turntable (on paper towel) they cooked perfectly!

Links - Meat Dishes #2

link to first lot

homemade breakfast sausage

asian peanut butter pork - slow cooker

Chicken & Cider Stew w/ Apple & Potato Mash

five spice pork belly

gosht do piaza (lamb with double onions)

dal gosht - spiced lamb with lentils

mongolian beef

chicken stewed in wine, garlic & cinnamon

caldo gallego (spanish soup with bacon & chorizos)

honey ginger chicken

truman capote's chicken hash

chicken with bacon, rosemary and lemon

leek and cheese (and mince) soup

Low Fat but Absolutely Bloody Delicious Butter Chicken (Thermomix)

Note: this recipe is not working all that well atm, the chicken is ending up as mush. I will be working on improving it but please be warned!

UPDATE: try cutting the chicken into 4-6cm chunks, and use only speed 1 to cook. Please let me know if this works for you! it did for us, but I will cook it a few times before I make permanent changes to the recipe. Note that the larger chunks of chicken may require a longer cooking period.

this was a combo of the butter chicken recipe i'd posted before and the thermomix recipe. I'm assuming those of you (nicola ;)) who don't have a thermomix could make this on the stove top with a food processor or a mortar and pestle. sorry for the mix of grams and spoons with the spices! lol

10g cumin seeds
20g fennel seeds
2cm peeled fresh ginger
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tspns garam masala
2 tspns sweet paprika
2 tspns ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
10 cardamom pods, bruised
1-2 tab oil
150g macadamia or cashew nuts
1 tin diced tomatoes or 4-5 fresh roma tomatoes (also add around 1/3 cup water if you use fresh)
3 ice cubes worth of tomato paste (lol probably 2-3 tabs)
1 kg chicken, cut into 2cm dice
2 tspns chicken or vegie stock powder (gluten free if needed)
½ cup plain yoghurt (i only had whole milk yoghurt so not sure how skim would go)

place cumin and fennel into tmx, dry roast 2 mins 100'c speed 1 place in bowl with other spices
place garlic and ginger in bowl, chop for 2-5 secs speed 7
add oil and spices and cook for 3 minutes at 100'c speed 1
add nuts and chop for 10-20 seconds speed 8
add tomatoes, tomato paste (still frozen is fine) and water if using, and puree for another 30 secs on speed 8
add all remaining ingredients except yoghurt, and cook for 15 minutes at 100'c reverse speed 3
add yoghurt and mix for 2 minutes reverse speed 3
and serve!

Serves 4-6

i served mine with a pumpkin and kale curry (*sob* geoff has just tole me he doesn't like kale *sob*) and basmati rice.

the curry was simple: some onion, garlic, ginger, black mustard seeds and turmeric gently fried with a little oil, add some water when it starts to stick, then add pumpkin and a tin of drained chickpeas. stir well several times, cover and cook over low heat until nearly done. put your greens on top and cover for several minutes until greens are wilted. mix well and serve.

Links - Vegetarian / Vegetables #2

first list of links to try here http://brazen20au.blogspot.com/2008/07/links-vegetarian-vegetables.html

baked vegetable jalfrezi

Dhansak (eggplant, pumpkin & lentils, indian)

5 minute indian style cabbage

malai kofta

paneer tikka

Punjabi Aloo Gobi – Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

creamy black lentils

dani's greek style baked beans

red kidney bean curry

roasted garlic cauliflower

mediterranean carrot rolls & salad

sweet potato falafel with yoghurt tahini sauce

cauliflower & date curry

paneer pasanda

masoor dal with lemon

malai kofta

Indian style side dishes

well after postponing it all weekend i finally started making the Chicken Tikka Masala at 5pm on Monday, only to discover it had to marinate overnight! ooops!

so last night I finally cooked it up. it was good, though the recipe definitely needs tweaking (it had too much lime juice for a start) like the Butter Chicken did. This recipe is a perfect recipe for the Thermomix (other than the grilling of the chicken and the marinading i did all the rest in the TMX) so when i've had a bit more of a play with the recipe i'll post a conversion.

we had it with rice (of course lol), some more of tenina's naan's (last of the freezer stash), a lentil and beet chard dish (ryan said "oh YUM, i LOVE lentils!! when he saw it lol) and a vegie dish which i thought would be a disaster, but was actually quite nice. no recipes today, but i will note down spice combos so i have them for another time...

Lentils:
brown lentils
beet chard
black mustard seeds
fennel seeds
garam masala (need to find which recipe i used and make more!)
garlic
cumin seeds
chicken stock
cardamom pods

vegies:
sweet potato
eggplant
onion
sugar snap peas
fenugreek
garlic
coconut cream
chicken stock
aagh can't remember the other spices... will have to come back later

and flickr isnt cooperating with uploading photos this morning either :(

well that was fun LOL

cooking under the influence that is !

luckily it still tasted ok ;)


the Menu:
butter chicken (i used extra cardamom pods, i love it! and a little tomato paste)
potatoes with sugar snap peas
spinach daal (i had some kind of red spinach which had a slight beet-y taste about it)
and naan breads ( i still need to blog this)

New Indian food blogs

http://www.quickindiancooking.com/archives/

http://www.sailusfood.com/

http://www.hookedonheat.com/

http://www.aayisrecipes.com/

Links - Pasta & Rice

baked ziti with rapini & chicken meatballs

broccoli, sage & bacon pasta sauce

pasta with proscuitto and peas

Sweet:
indian spiced rice pudding

Simple Vegetable Curry, yoghurt and Butterscotch Almond Cake

i forgot to say that for some bizarre reason our new increased download limit started today - but then it restarts for the new month again tomorrow! how bizarre lol. i need to remember to go find a program to download some stuff as we have 10MB to use today LOL!

Vegie Curry
anyway, last night G was making himself and the kids sausages & vegies for dinner but i wasn't really in the mood for it so i asked him just to leave me soem of the cut vegies and i'd make something. i decided i was in the mood for a curry so i pulled out some books and had a play.

the curry i ended up with wasn't the greatest but it was quick and easy and you could substitute just about anything into it, so perfect for after work dinner. i think if you added lentils or chickpea or paneer it would be a great meal on its own, or as i made it as a side dish.

the original recipe was vendakka vazhuthananga masala (okra & eggplant spicy masala) from my new curry cookbook.

this is just a rough draft of a recipe

oil
around 1/2 tspn each of
fenugreek seeds
fennel seeds
2-3 cardamom pods
cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1-2 onions, finely chopped
heat oil and add the rest above. cook over medium heat, stirring until onions are golden brown

1/2 tspn each of
turmeric
ground coriander
chilli powder (i didn't have any chilli left in the house so had to go without :()
salt
around 2 cups of chopped mixed vegies (i had potatoes, carrots, beans and corn off the cob)
stir and cook for a few minutes

2 tomatoes chopped or some leftover pasta sauce ;)
add, bring to a simmer, partially cover and simmer until vegies are done.

around 1/3 cup natural yoghurt
fresh coriander leaves
turn heat off, add and stir through. serve with rice, pappadums or a bread of some sort

Yoghurt
i finally remembered to save some yoghurt to try making my own yoghurt from the old batch. i used (probably out of date) skim milk powder and it worked perfectly! i thought 1/4 cup sugar was way too much but the final product tastes ok. i think i'll still try to get it as low as possible though.

here is the previous post about it

Butterscotch Almond Cake
over on eb someone requested testers for a new cake for a fete stall. i needed to cook a cake to share with friends so i made it. it didn't quite go according to plan though lol. now i have more of an idea of what i'm doing i will try it again in a smaller quantity and see how i go next time.

the thermomix made making it an absolute breeze, with it taking only seconds to make the ground almonds from whole ones and to mix the batter. and then only seconds more to pour it all back in and add the forgotten butter lol

oh my! i am drooling!!

look at all these delicious indian dishes..... yum yum! (yes i know, not the healthy food i was after but i have to perfect my butter chicken! lol)

What's for Lunch, Honey - Indian

and here's her butter chicken