Recipe: Tandoori Lamb Salad

Bit of a cheat recipe, but it's so quick to make, delicious, and super healthy! These "Minted Lamb Kebabs" are 2 packs (with 4 kebabs in each) for £5 in Sainsburys at the moment. Totally worth it! Using the griddle pan reminds me of when in some Indian restaurants, when you order a tikka, tandoori, or shashlik dish, and the waiters come to your table with a big sizzling griddle full off spiced meat and onions- yum! This is definitely a MAN salad!

Tandoori Lamb Salad (serves 2)

 

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garam masala
4 Sainsburys Minted Lamb Skewers
12 cooked small new potatoes, halved
½ white onion, sliced
¼ tsp garlic salt
140g spinach
12 cherry tomatoes

Dressing

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 220C. Put a griddle pan onto a high heat with the extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle the garam masala over the lamb skewers, and put onto the hot griddle pan, cooking for 2 minutes each side.
2. Place the skewers on an oven tray and put into the oven for 8 minutes. Meanwhile, put the new potatoes, sliced onion and garlic salt straight onto the hot griddle pan, and cook for 7 minutes, stirring often.
3. Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients until well combined, season to taste and set aside. Place the spinach and cherry tomatoes on two plates. Remove the lamb skewers from the oven, remove the sticks, slice, and put on top of the spinach and tomatoes.
4. Top the salads with the fried onions and new potatoes, drizzle over the dressing and serve!

Recipe: Chicken Jalfrezi

Heres another hot recipe for you girls and boys! I've been getting much more into my spicier food lately, not sure why. I think i just tend to go through phases with the sorts of foods I eat. Like I might for instance, live off salads and soups for weeks, and then the next month literally have chips every day. Same with spicy food- in a spicy mood at the moment, but i could go completely back to Korma-land in a bit. I put quite a lot of natural yoghurt on top of this as a garnish, but that's because it ended up being hotter than I expected again!

Chicken jalfrezi    (serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
350g diced chicken breast
½ tsp garlic salt
1 white onion, finely chopped
1 tsp freshly minced ginger
Handful fresh coriander, chopped
1 hot dried red chilli, chopped up finely (add seeds if you want it even hotter!)
½ green pepper, diced
1 tsp asafoetida
1 tbsp curry paste
1 tsp cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
300g passata
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Natural yoghurt for garnish (optional)

1. Add the oil, chicken and garlic salt to a pan on high heat. Cook the chicken for a few minutes until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. In the same pan, add the onion, ginger, chilli, coriander, green pepper and spices, and fry for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are beginning to brown.

2. Add all the other ingredients, and the reserved chicken, and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season to taste, and garnish with extra natural yoghurt if desired.

Recipe: Aloo Gobi

A traditional street food dish- aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower curry) can be found cooking on all the food stalls in Pakistan, as well as in our good ol' fashioned curry houses back in Blighty. The sweet cauliflower matched with the soft spiced potatoes make this recipe a delicious- and very cheap!- dinner, paired with some steamed basmati rice and peshwari naan bread. A big dollop of mango chutney on the side goes very nicely with it as well!

Aloo Gobi (serves 4)

500g potatoes, peeled and diced
2 tbsp oil
60g butter
1 white onion, diced finely
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 green chilli, finely diced
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
½ tsp mild chilli powder
½ a cauliflower, diced
350g passata
400ml water
1 tsp salt
Large handful of fresh coriander, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
Sugar and black pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. In another large pan, fry the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli and cumin seeds In the oil and butter, for 10 minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and chilli powder, and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the potato and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.
3. Season to taste, and serve with extra fresh coriander!

Recipe: Spiced Chilli Lemon Chicken with Potato Wedges

This is a nice relaxed saturday lunch i made for me and my boyfriend over the weekend- it was really using what we had in the fridge really, but i fancied something a little bit spicy, a little bit healthy, but filling- and this fitted the bill. The recipe is for two but it is very easily multiplied.

Spiced Chilli Lemon Chicken, with potato wedges (serves 2)

1 tsp Lazy red chillies in white wine vinegar
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp ginger paste
Juice of ½ a lemon
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
Salt and pepper
3 chicken breasts

4 medium sized maris piper potatoes, sliced into wedges
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary
Salt and pepper

1. Mix together the chillies, garam masala, paprika, garlic, ginger, lemon, sugar and oil. Add the chicken, coat it in the marinade, and then marinate for a minimum 30 minutes (maximum 24 hours).
2.Preheat the oven to 180C. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, and boil the potato wedges for 6 minutes. Drain and add the parboiled potatoes into a roasting tray, with the olive oil, rosemary and plenty of salt and pepper. Toss to coat, and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bake the marinated chicken breasts (with the marinade) in the oven for 30 minutes. Once cooked remove chicken and potato wedges from the oven, and serve- with the remaining marinade poured over the chicken breasts, acting as a sauce.

Recipe: Creamy Coriander Chicken

Hey guys. Made this the other day because I had this block of creamed coconut that'd had been in the fridge for aaages, and a load of fresh coriander and chillies to use up- so I sort of chucked this together really! Rather scrummy, kinda like a passanda but very fragrant. Quite rich too- bit of a treat, considering i've been watching my weight and working out a lot lately. Mind you, it seems it doesn't matter what I do about my diet- pig out every day, or survive on nothing but salads and ryvitas for weeks, my weight always stays the same. Eh, maybe i'm just supposed to be this size- just "normal-sized"? Anyway, I served this with rice and peas and that went very nicely with it.

Creamy Coriander chicken (serves 2)

½ white onion, diced
Large handful coriander, roughly chopped (plus extra for garnish)
2 green chillis, seeded.
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 tbsp garam masala
100g creamed coconut
400ml vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blitz the onion, coriander, garlic and chilli with a little water in a food processor until it forms a paste. Fry the onion, garlic and coriander in the rapeseed oil for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken and garam masala and fry for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add the other ingredients, and cook on a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is thick and the chicken is cooked. Serve with some extra fresh coriander on top.

Recipe: Raita

A "Raita" (pronounced RAY-EE-TAH) is an Indian yoghurt dish, served often as an accompaniment to spicy curries. Traditionally it is a mix of yoghurt, mint, cucumber and various other seasonings. Sometimes you may find varieties with cumin and/or fresh coriander in, but this is the simple traditional version.

Raita
300g Natural yoghurt
½ cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh finely chopped mint
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper or paprika for garnish

1. Mix all the ingredients together, season to taste, and serve with a sprinkling of cayenne or paprika for garnish! Perfect on the side of a tasty curry.

Recipe: Turkey Saag

Hey guys! Sorry I havent posted in a while, but i've been doing a lot of shifts at Cosy Club lately, and then I had to cater for a big street festival on sunday (which i'll fill you in on all the details in a couple of days). This is another really nice recipe incorporating turkey, a meat that I am becoming very fond of at the moment. It's just nice to know that the meat i'm consuming is incredibly low in fat and very high in nutrients at the same time. I've converted Nick onto it as well, he loves it too now. "Saag" is the Indian word for Spinach, and you will often see Chicken (Murgh) or Lamb (Goscht) Saag in Indian restaurant menus, although in my recipe i chucked in a few new potatoes as well to make it a little more filling. PS: I made the paste using my new hand blender/ processor attachment thing, am in love with it SOOO much!!

Turkey Saag (serves 4)

Curry Paste:
½ white onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green chilli, seeded
Small handful fresh coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil

Curry:
2 tbsp olive oil
500g diced turkey breast
1 tin coconut cream
300ml chicken stock
1 red pepper, diced
125g (about 3) new potatoes, diced
200g spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
Coriander for garnish

1. In a food processor, blend together all the curry paste ingredients until it forms a paste. Heat some olive oil in a large saucepan, and add the curry paste, frying for a couple of minutes. Add the turkey, and cook for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add all the other ingredients (except the spinach), and cook for a further 20 minutes on a high heat, stirring often. Add the spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste and serve with some extra fresh coriander.

Recipe: Butterbean Korma

Hey guys, phew, what a relief- i've got all my assignments completed for my first year of university! Yay! To be fair i've still got my exams in a couple of weeks, but I can't really prepare for them very much, so the worst of it is all over now. I'll be able to post up scrummy recipes a bit more often i hope! Another recipe with butterbeans you will notice- i've realised as a student that beans (of any variety- from baked to kidney beans, lol!) are such a cheap food, and really filling, so theyr'e always on my shopping list. Heres a delicious curry, that won't break the bank! Serve with basmati rice and fluffy naan breads to mop of the sauce.

Butterbean Korma (serves 4)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 knob of butter
1 red onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
Large handful fresh coriander, chopped
2 generous tbsp mild curry paste
400g diced ripe tomatoes
2 tins butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 tin coconut milk
300ml vegetable stock
1 tbsp ground almonds
Salt pepper and sugar to taste

1. In a large pan sauté the red onion, garlic and coriander in the oil and butter, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry paste and cook for a further minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for a further two minutes.
2. Add all the other ingredients, and cook on a high heat, stirring often, for about 25 minutes, or until the sauce has become fairly thick. Serve with some extra fresh coriander on top.

Recipe: Thai Dahl

Bit of a fusion dish really- lots of earthy indian flavours and ingredients, but cooked with a tin of coconut milk added as well, giving the dish a distict thai/malaysian flavour. Mum said if Thai restaurants served more dishes like this then she would prefer it much more as a cuisine! I say 30 minutes in stage 2, but basically it's ready as soon as it's the thickness that you prefer it. I served this with steamed basmati rice and salad on the side of the bowl.

Thai Dahl (serves 3)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 red onion, diced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Large handful fresh coriander, chopped
1 tsp mustard or nigella seeds
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp lemon juice
250g red lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tin coconut milk
2 large ripe tomatoes, diced
Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

1. Sautee the onion, garlic, chilli and coriander for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the mustard seeds and garam masala and cook for a further 2 minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients, and cook on a low heat, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring often. Season to taste, and serve with a little extra fresh coriander on the top for garnish.

Review: The Bengal Brasserie

I know I mentioned these guys on a takeaway review about a couple of weeks ago, but I went for a meal there tonight so I thought I would you guys a more “in depth” review of this place- definitely my favourite Indian restaurant. We were going to celebrate my brother passing his driving theory test, although with our family to be honest there can be any excuse for going for a curry! When we booked they made sure they got us our favourite seat- this booth in the corner (haha, the Booths in the booth, lol!) which is great, because for some reason whenever me and my family go for a meal there, we always end up in absolute hysterics at least a couple of times during the night. Don’t know what It is about the place, but it’s just a really nice relaxed atmosphere.

We had a few poppadums with all the relished whilst we were choosing the rest of our meal- the onion salad they do here is actually REALLY nice, normally I never touch the stuff in most Indian restaurants, but the salad here is delicious. I ordered the vegetable puri for starter, and this was of course fantastic- they do the best veggie puri in the entire world, if you go here you must try this as your starter. Although we did have an issue with the service at this point. My dad ordered the vegetable thali, which is usually a big platter, which also includes 1 onion bhaji and samosa as well, but because he wanted to have his starters with the rest of us, he asked them to serve them as a separate starter. They completely forgot about this and took a while once dad mentioned about it to bring his stuff. And to be honest Michael couldn’t start eating his starter for a while because they had forgotten to bring the yoghurt dip that comes with it. This was the only issue with service the whole night really.

Starters went and the mains came really quickly. I had ordered chicken bhuna, “special rice” (which is just like vegetable rice basically), tarka dahl and a peshwari naan. The chicken bhuna was delicious, as was the rice, but I had a couple of issues with the other dishes. Their tarka dahl could have done with a bit more salt, and in my opinion (although mum thought it was all right) the peshwari naan was over cooked. Didn’t like the naan at all actually, didn’t have nearly enough coconut in it. I mean it was kinda crap compared to the naan I had had in The Mint Room, but then again it was definitely the nicest naan bread I ever had in that restaurant, it would be hard to compete with that. I didn’t finish my main course, probably only ate about ½ of it- and got the rest in a takeaway (to have as tomorrows breakfast, I’m just such a slob, lol!), but the portions there are incredibly generous, and also I wanted to save some room for dessert. I know most Indian restaurants have the same frozen desserts as all the other ones (just like a lot of Italian places have same ones too) but I really like the puddings at The Bengal Brasserie. I had a pistachio kulfi, which tasted mostly of rosewater, but it was very nice and refreshing. The bill came to £84 including tip, which is very reasonable, considering we all had a three course meal with a couple of drinks and loads of side dishes, and there were four of us. It would have been about £8/£9 extra for normal people but me and my brother got student discount off on it (in fact we reckon they discounted a little too much by accident- oops! Lol!). Overall basically if you go for a curry in Bath, or want to take some mates out that are visiting you in Bath, take them to the Bengal Brasserie, it’s a great atmosphere and its fantastic reasonably priced food. I would mark the service at an 8/10, and the food an 8/10 as well (although if it wasn’t for the naan in this occasion, it would be a 9 or 10 for food).

Review: The Mint Room

This weekend I really decided I wanted to treat my family and my boyfriend, because they are all so lovely to me, but mainly because I have come into a bit of money recently so can afford it (lol) ! I decided to take them to The Mint Room, which is this new-ish gourmet Indian restaurant that they all love. My boyfriend has been there a few times actually, as he even went to the opening night and raved about the food there (he got his food free of course on the opening night, the cheeky mare!), my family have been there a couple of times before, and I went for a birthday meal there back in November. It isn’t somewhere we all go often though, because when it comes to curry-houses, this place is very upmarket- much more expensive than our usual haunts (The Bengal Brassiere and The Shaad, both of which are lovely). I tried booking the table for 8 o clock, but the guy over the phone said it would be better to make it 8:30pm, due to the fact they were doing “sittings”. I thought, eh, all right then, we usually don’t eat that late but I didn’t mind too much.

When we all got there, we could see it was very busy, but also noticed that there seemed to be many people at different stages of their meal (starters/ mains/ puddings/ getting ready to leave). I thought this was rather confusing, because if they really had done “sittings” then everyone would generally be at the point of leaving by now. So basically I reckon they either lied over the phone to make it easier for them, or perhaps they had late or annoying customers, I dunno. When we got in, we were asked to sit down and wait 5 minutes for our table. We ended up waiting 20 minutes for our table, whilst steadily getting a bit annoyed and thinking of going to another place.
So eventually they sat us at our table, and gave us the drinks menus. I say “us”, for some reason they only gave us 2 drinks menus (and there were 5 of us), which I thought was a bit weird. We then waited another 20 minutes before someone came over to take our drinks order, but then we were left at our table for ages without even having looked at the food menu yet! We managed to grab one of the passing waiters to ask for some menus, who tried giving us the same 2 drinks menus again! I just thought how ridiculous this was, because I had read in a local magazine recently that the manager of this place said they wanted to aim for a Michelin star. My only response to that is ‘ARE YOU ACTUALLY TAKING THE PISS??’They obviously do not know anything about The Michelin industry otherwise they would not have said anything this stupid. Not even the Royal Crescent, or The Priory (anymore, it lost its star a couple of years ago) in Bath is Michelin. With service like this, they wouldn’t even get close to a rosette.

Anyway, we finally got the food menus and got served little mini poppadums (well, actually, they were obviously just broken up normal sized ones) with two homemade chutneys. We got through them really quickly, as they were only little, so we asked the waiter whether we could order some normal sized ones. He said this was impossible. I think the mini poppadum thing is a mistake- I mean, they are trying to be gourmet and everything, which I understand, but big poppadums with all the relishes and accompaniments are part of the Indian meal culture in this country- either you go completely against the norm and DON’T serve poppadums, or you serve them properly I think. As I mentioned earlier, I had visited The Mint Room once before. Strangely enough last time we hadn’t had any problems with the service, but I had a fair few issues with the food (despite everyone else at the table LOVING it). First of all, my starter last time I felt was quite bland- the Aloo Tikki (which was fried spiced mash potato cakes stuffed with brie), and then my main course, both the Murgh Palak Paneer (Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and Paneer, served with an Indian tomato sauce) and the vegetable curry side dish were waaay too spicy for me. I wanted to like it, because I knew it was flavourful, and the meat was very tender, but it was just blown away with chilli. I know I’m quite sensitive to chilli, but basically last time I was at this restaurant I ended up disappointed by how spicy the food was. This time however, I ordered some really nice dishes, and was very happy with what I chose. Often, I will give certain restaurants a second chance, because I am aware that sometimes it is not the food there that was bad, it’s just that I happened to have ordered something off the menu that unluckily I didn’t really like. Theres a difference between having bad food at a restaurant, and knowing that you should have chosen something else off the menu. Definitely.

I ordered the “Paneer Pepper Fry” for starter, a Chicken Rogan Josh for main (The Mint Room does “normal” or “classic” style curries, as well as their “signature dishes” which are a bit more alternative) and a peshwari naan and an aloo Gobi on the side. Whilst we ordered our food, we got this waiter that basically scowled at us the whole time we were ordering, which was slightly disconcerting, and then once we’d all ordered (in traditional Booth, and I now realise, Steel style, we had ordered quite a lot) he then repeated all of our choices back to us REALLY SLOWLY, and in broken English, which if I’m quite honest, was PAINFUL! Honestly, you don’t get that in restaurants!! The only place I ever have that is when I order a Chinese delivery on the phone, which I can kinda understand because if they screw up a delivery order it’s much harder to fix. But yeah, honestly, that guy did not have to repeat this, it was just really annoying, time consuming, and awkward.

However, this is the point where all the negatives end, and where all of the positives begin. I find it very hard to fault their food. Our starters were delicious- mum and dad had the shared vegetarian platter, my brother had the chicken pakora (which is a starter he has in pretty much every Indian restaurant we go to- and he said these were very good) and me and Nick had to “Paneer Pepper Fry”. It was like a tasty paneer and pepper dry curry that had been shaped into a circle, garnished with a raw salad of beetroot, carrot and mooli, and served with a mild yoghurt mint dip on the side. This was very tasty, and just the right portion size for a starter. Then the main courses came and my god they were so flavourful! Everything tasted really fresh, without losing the signature Indian depth of spices and curried flavours- my Rogan josh was great, with very tender chicken, my peshwari naan was fluffy and had plenty of coconut filling, and my aloo gobi was the nicest aloo gobi I’ve ever had actually (I reckon because they had used fresh cauliflower instead of frozen like a lot of restaurants do). Me and Nick shared a pilau rice too- and it wasn’t all fake coloured like you get from takeaways, it was fluffy, and garnished with crispy fried onions. I also had a taste of my mum’s vegetable bhuna, and I can vouch from tasting this that their vegetarian options certainly weren’t lacking flavour either. Was absolutely stuffed from the main course, I ate much more than I normally would in other Indian restaurants. Although don’t worry about the posh-ness of the place- if you can’t finish your dinner, it’s completely fine to ask them to give you a doggy bag, because they also run as a takeaway (although I’m really not sure who would get a takeaway from this place with those prices!).

Normally I would have ordered dessert, but just down to my personal preferences I just didn’t really like anything on the dessert menu. They had about 6 options on the menu, including some sort of halva cake thing, gulab jamun, poached spiced pear, mango or lime sorbet- but I didn’t really fancy any of it. I would have ordered- and I really reckon they should put something like this on the menu, as it’s their sort of style- some Kheer, or “Indian rice pudding”. It’s definitely one of the nicest Indian desserts- that and proper kulfi. They could go for a bit more effort on the puddings to better their menu I think.

So I had some jasmine tea instead, and we got the bill sorted, and it all came to £142. I gave them £150 (I certainly wasn’t going to tip above 10% with the service we had had tonight) and thought actually, this wasn’t too expensive, compared to the price of a lot of meals out I have. I mean, often when we go to a Chinese restaurant with my buddies, the bill usually ends up at £25, although I realised the difference here was that we hadn’t really drank much at The Mint Room. Usually when I go out with my friends, we have at least 3 beers each, but only Nick and my dad had had two beers each, and mum had one vodka and coke, and me and mike stuck to soft drinks. I figure that actually, considering how much food we got, £30 each is a very reasonable price. I mean, honestly (I have the receipt in front of me to check, lol) altogether we had: 4 starters, 4 mains, 5 alcoholic drinks, 3 non-alcoholic drinks, 11 side dishes (!), 2 desserts and one pot of tea. That’s not frickin bad for thirty ey?

It was at the end of the meal where they started improving their service, strangely enough. I remember there was one guy, who seems to be the manager perhaps (although he’s very young with an east London accent, lol?) that was really nice the last time we were there, and again was really really nice this time as well- apologising for the wait, and making sure our main course came out fast after all the previous mistakes. He then got talking to us all after the meal, shaking hands, asking names, asking whether me and Michael were at University etc. He also offered to do Nick’s canapés for free on his Comedy Festival Opening Night as well (because the restaurant wants to get involved in local events, for publicity, which is a good proactive thing to do as a restaurant I think)! Gawd, Nick goes out for a free meal and then gets another amazing thing free- he’s so jammy! Overall, despite the niceness of the main manager guy, I still can’t help but rate this place’s service preeety badly. If you’re going on a night out, for a big celebration, and you know you will be paying more than normal for something, you expect good service- and we just didn’t get that last night. I will rate the service a 5/10 (and this would be 3 if it wasn’t for previous experience and the nice manager too!) but the food, which is outstanding, a 9/10- giving a score of 7/10. I hope this place does well for itself, which it seems to be doing considering how busy it was yesterday, but it’s got a hell of a long way if it’s reaching for the stars (The Michelin ones anyway, Haha!!)

Recipe: Quick Chicken Curry for One

This is a really quick dish that you can make for lunch, that doesnt require too much preparation or too many ingredients, but you end up with a nice big tasy bowl of sumthin! As explained in the serving size, it is a good meal for one, but you often end up with a fair bit of sauce leftover, so you can save some of the sauce to have later on a baked chicken breast or grilled lamb chop, or you can chuck it into any casserole or stew to add flavour.

Quick Chicken Curry for One (serves 1, with a little extra sauce)

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
Handful fresh coriander, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
1 chicken breast, diced into large chunks
1 tsp tomato paste
1 generous tbsp Balti curry paste
½ tin chopped tomatoes
200ml chicken stock
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Fry the red onion, garlic and coriander in the rapeseed oil for 5 minutes. Add the chicken, tomato paste and curry paste, and cook for a further few minutes, stirring often.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, and cook on a high heat for 20 minutes, stirring often. Season to taste, and serve with some extra chopped coriander on top!

Recipe: Mel's Savoury Rice

Hey guys. Now I call this dish "savoury rice" because the colour, and the smell of it when it's cooking, really reminded me of that Batchelor's savoury rice- do you remember? The instant stuff that came in a packet that you added water to? I wonder if they still sell that any more, i used to quite like it! This dish however, is far superior to that packeted variety! It's sweet, tangy, and chock full of vegetables and chicken. It's perfect for me to eat either before or after a workout, because before the workout it works as a big portion of protein and carbs to fuel my time at the gymn, or after workout its great because usually i'm so hungry- a massive portion of anything is what I want! Maybe slightly defeats the purpose of excercizing to lost weight, if all it does is make me excessively hungry, but never mind!

Mel’s Golden Rice (1-2, depending on personal greed, lol)

80g basmati rice
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
Handful fresh coriander, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
6 spears asparagus, diced
½ red pepper, diced
Handful leftover roast chicken (preferably dark meat)
150ml chicken stock
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook the basmati rice for 9 minutes in a pan of boiling salted water. Drain and set aside.
2. In the same pan, fry the onions, garlic and coriander for 3 minutes in the oil, stirring often. Add the spices, asparagus, red pepper and chicken, and stir fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, soy sauce, honey and sweet chilli sauce, and bring to the boil. Boil for 3 minutes.
3. Add the reserved rice, and stir fry for a further 3 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been soaked up. Season to taste, garnish with a little extra coriander, and serve!

Recipe: Leek and Potato Cakes, with Chickpea and Carrot Salad

The last of the leeks- and pretty much everything else in the garden to be honest! Theres only about a dozen little red chillies left on my plants, and i expect the first frost will kill them off. This was a nice little relaxed brunch i made for me and my parents- i spose the leek and potato cakes are pretty much like bubble and squeak, except for the indian spices. Good way of using up leftover mashed potato if you have any as well.

Potato and Leek Cakes, with a Chickpea and Carrot salad (serves 3)

For the Cakes
1 kg potatoes, peeled and chopped
50g butter
1 tbsp medium curry powder

30g butter
1 large/2 medium leeks
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp olive oil (plus maybe extra if needed)

For the Salad
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 carrot, peeled and grated
Handful fresh coriander, chopped
15ml lemon juice
10ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Natural yoghurt (optional garnish)

1. (Either use leftover mash, or…) Boil the potatoes for about 25 minutes, or until soft. Drain, and mash with the butter and curry powder. Set aside.
2. In a large deep frying pan, fry the leeks in the butter and sugar covered for 10 minutes. Cook for a further 10 minutes uncovered. Add the leek mixture to the potato mixture and mix until well combined. Season to taste and set aside (with the lid off to allow to cool).
3. Mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, sugar and some salt and pepper. Add all the other salad ingredients, season to taste, and set aside.
4. Heat a large frying pan up with 2 tbsp oil until quite hot. Shape the potato/leek mixture into 6 patties. In batches (adding more olive oil if needed) fry the patties about 3 minutes on each side, or until the patties have become browned.
5. Serve the patties with the chickpea salad, and a dollop of natural yoghurt on top if desired.

Recipe: Sweet Chilli Chicken Curry

This is a really nice, quick, simple supper dish for two. It's not really like a chilli chicken dish you get in chinese restaurants (my boyfriend luuuuuuurves them), i've used some indian spices here to make it taste a little different. I've got a bit of a cold at the moment as well, and the slight spiciness in this dish was really good for making me feel a bit warmer and better!

Sweet Chilli Chicken Curry (serves 2)

2 tbsp oil
1 small white onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½ tsp crushed ginger
Large handful fresh coriander, chopped (plus extra for garnish)
2 chicken breasts, diced
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chilli powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 tin tomatoes (or 400ml passata)
200ml chicken stock
50g sweet chilli sauce
1.5 tsp sugar
1 bay leaf

1. Fry the onion, garlic, ginger and coriander in olive oil for 5 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the chicken breasts and fry for a further 3 minutes on a high heat. Add ground coriander, chilli powder and cinnamon and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Add all the other ingredients, and cook for 10 minutes covered for 10 minutes. Continue to cook for a further 15 minutes, uncovered, stirring often, until the sauce has become lovely and sticky and thickened.
4. Season to taste, garnish with fresh coriander and serve!

Recipe: Aloo Sag Pie

This makes rather a lot but it is darn tasty! Our family started getting those Riverford seasonal vegetable boxes again, and I had a load of spinach, spring onions, and some tomatoes left- so I came up with this! Thats one of the things I like about these weekly veg boxes- they make me be a bit more creative with the vegetables that I have. The pie filling is rather nice by itself just as a curry really- but you know me, I like sticking things into pastry! I have served this with a cucumber raita- just some natural yoghurt mixed with grated cucumber, fresh coriander, and a little cumin. It works as a sauce essentially, and stops the dish from being too dry.

Aloo Saag Pies (makes two large pies, serves 8)

1250g potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3cm cubes)
2 tbsp olive oil
8 spring onions, chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
¼ tsp chilli flakes
1 tsp crushed ginger
3 tbsp Pataks Korma Curry Paste
100g diced ripe tomato
300g roughly chopped true spinach (or baby spinach)
2 large sheets ready rolled puff pastry
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg (for egg wash)- optional

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add a bit of salt and boil the potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a large frying pan sauté the spring onions in the olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and chilli flakes, and cook for a further two minutes.
3. Add the crushed ginger, curry paste, and diced tomato, and cook for two minutes. Begin to gradually add the spinach, adding more as it continues to wilt. Cooking all the spinach until it wilts and is well combined with the rest of the ingredients usually takes about 10 minutes.
4. Take the spinach mixture off the heat and mix in the potatoes. You want to mash the potatoes a little, but you still want a few chunks of potato here and there. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Lay out the two sheets of puff pastry onto separate baking trays that have been lined with greaseproof paper. Pour half of the mixture onto each pastry sheet, fold the pastry over the topping, and crimp at the edges to seal.
6. Brush with beaten egg and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with a cooling cucumber raita!

Recipe: Chickpea and Spring Green Curry

This is a delicious vegetarian curry, using nice seasonal spring greens and lots and lots of coriander. I LOVE coriander! Oh and I get these beautiful delicious 'young spring greens' from waitrose- i'm not sure how long they'll be selling them for. But yeah definitely go out and buy them, cause they are so flavoursome and tender, and you dont have to remove any of the stalks or anything. In the picture here i have got the natural yoghurt on top as a garnish, but actually I reccomend to stir it into the curry before serving- I reckon it all tastes nicer that way.

Chickpea and Spring Green Curry (serves 2)

3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
120g young spring greens, roughly chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 large handfuls chopped fresh coriander (plus extra for garnish)
2 tsp dukka (a mix of toasted ground cumin, coriander and sesame seeds)
2 tsp garam masala (plus a little extra for garnish)
¼ tsp chilli powder
1 tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
250ml vegetable stock
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp natural yoghurt
Extra coriander and a sprinkling of garam masala for garnish

1. Put a deep frying pan on a high heat. Stir fry the spring greens in the oil, cumin seeds, garlic, and seasoning for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, take the spring greens out with a slotted spoon (to drain the oil off) and put them into a bowl. Set aside.
2. In the same frying pan, adding another tbsp of oil if needed, lower the heat and fry the red onion, garlic and 1 handful of fresh coriander, covered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the dukka, garam masala, chilli powder and chickpeas and stir all the ingredients to coat the onions and chickpeas in the spices. Add all the other ingredients, except the reserved spring greens, natural yoghurt and garnishes, and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the spring greens and another handful of fresh coriander, stir in, and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the natural yoghurt and serve, garnished with MORE fresh coriander and sprinkled with garam masala.

Recipe: Lamb and Green Bean Curry

This is a delicious creamy curry! Cooking the lean lamb in the stock and coconut cream in this way makes it SO tender- melt in the mouth! A little too mild for my boyfriend I guess, but he's the kinda type that enjoys ordering a curry with a multitude of chillies, and then sweats his way through the meal! This is mild, but sometimes i want something mild. It's a curry that's not as sweet or as creamy as a korma or a passanda, and has a nice rich meaty flavour from the lamb. With stage three, where i reccomend to add some yoghurt if it has become too salty, i think that has only happened to me over the last couple of times because i've used Knorr stocks. I'm sorry, but they are all FAR too salty! From now on I am sticking to good old Oxo cubes (or Oxo's nice concentrated beef liquid one).

Lamb and green bean curry (serves 2)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp crushed ginger
3 spring onions, sliced
400g lamb (lean diced leg)
2 tbsp Pataks Mild curry paste
1 small tin coconut cream
250ml chicken stock
150g French beans, ends trimmed and then halved
Handful Fresh coriander (separated into stalks and leaves)
½ tsp sugar
2 tbsp natural yoghurt (optional)

1. Cook the red onion, garlic and ginger on a medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add spring onions and lamb, and cook for a further 3 minutes.
2. Add curry paste, stir to coat, and cook for 2 more minutes. Lower the heat a little, and add the stock and coconut cream and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Finely chop the coriander stalks, and leave the coriander leaves for garnish. Add the coriander stalks, green beans and sugar, and cook for 15 more minutes. Taste, and if it is too salty (which can happen depending on what chicken stock you use) add the natural yoghurt and stir in.
4. Garnish with the coriander leaves, and serve over some basmati rice!

Recipe: Masoor Dahl

This recipe is a firm family favourite. Would never want to calculate the calories in it, with all that ghee! But it's the ghee and the crispy spiced onions that give this dahl such a beautiful flavour. The perfect addition to a vegetarian indian thali- have a bowl of dahl, basmati rice, a couple of veggie curries and a salad- perfect. I would say that this soup should definitely be eaten fresh- leftovers dont keep that well really- not that we usually have any!

Masoor Dahl (serves 4)

315g red lentils
1.5 litres water
¼ tsp dried ginger
¼ tsp turmeric
130g ghee
2 red onions, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Handful fresh coriander
1 tsp salt

1. In a large saucepan, bring the red lentils and water to the boil, removing any scum or white foam that may form. Once boiled, lower the temperature, partially cover (put the saucepan lid on, on an angle, so it is “half covering it) and simmer for 40 minutes.
2. In a large frying pan, melt the ghee. Fry the red onions and garlic in the ghee for 10 minutes, until the onions are beginning to brown. Add coriander, cumin and cayenne pepper, and fry for a further two minutes. Add coriander and cook for one more minute.
3. Once the lentils have had their 40 minutes, pour the spiced onion mixture into the saucepan. Add salt, and stir round until the onions and lentils have been well combined.

Recipe: Sweet Chicken and Red Pepper Curry

First time I made this I literally licked the bowl clean- it is Soooo nice. I really like creamy mild curries- i don't think i will ever get to the heavily chilli-tolerant feats of my dad and my boyfriend. I do wonder sometimes whether the whole 'liking spicy foods' thing is some sort of judge of masculinity? That maybe if men don't order the spiciest thing on the menu, it's considered by other men as being wimpy or 'girly'. Ah well, maybe one day my tastes will change and i will get the same thrill that they get from those vindaloos and fahls- this sort of chilli induced euphoria. Until then I will eat and thoroughly enjoy my kormas and passandas, and experiment with other lovely mild curries.

Sweet chicken and red pepper curry (serves 2)

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
2 breasts of chicken cubed
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 tin coconut milk
2 tbsp Pataks Mild curry paste
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar

1. Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add chicken, red pepper and curry paste and cook for a further 5 minutes.
2. Add all other ingredients and cook on a medium heat for 30 minutes, until nice thick and creamy. Season to taste and serve.