carrot and chilli pickle

Omg! i could eat this stuff till the cows come home! lol. i make this pickle every month and i have to have it with pakoras, potato wada, gujarati potato's and anything like that.
the first time i had this pickle it was bought from an indian sweet mart on belgarve road and i tried for years with no succes to make it for my self, so i about gave up untill one chrismas, my dad was making home made pickles, so i made sure that i watched him prepare the pickles. He had a different way of drying the veg which i had never thought of, so i tried it with this pickle and it was a success!! Thanks Dad x i will add some photo's soon


CARROT AND GREEN CHILLI PICKLE

about 6 large carrots
about 20 green chillis
1tbs mustard oil
1tbs lemon juice
2 tbs split mustard seeds
1/2tsp tumeric
salt

METHOD

1. Peel the carrots and wash the chilli's
2. Cut the carrots into halfs and then into quarters. You shoud have eight peices from each carrot.
3. slit the chilli's
4. Put the carrotts and the chilli's into a bowl and mix 1 tbs of salt and mix well. dont worry if it sounds like alot because this will be rubbed away.
5. Leave over nite for the water to drain from the veg.
6. The next day drain the veg in a collinder and leave to drain for 1/2 hour
7. lay a few layers of kitchin paper and lay the carrots and chillis onto the papper to dry leaving a space between so that the papper can soak up the water. Place another few sheets over the carrots.
8. place a large book over the carrots to help draw out the moisture. The more moisture you can take out the better the pickle will be.+ it will last longer.
9. in a few hours repeat the proces with kitchin paper because it wont dry on wet paper!
10. you may need to do this another time before you leave them to dry over night.
11. the next morning check how dry the carrots are, if the are still abit damp then keep them wrapped up till lunch time.
12. when they are dry, transfer them into a clean container and mix in all the other ingeadients, and leave over night.
13. your pickle is ready to eat. dont forget to give the container a shake before you serve.

The reason i dry the veg out this way is because i live in the damp midlands. If you live in a lovely dry hot climate you can dry the pickles in the sun over night.

Potato and courgette curry (zucchini)

If you are not a fan of the bitterness of an aubergine, but you like the juicy soft texture, then this is the recipe for you!
I think that this dish is a real comforting dish. I love to have this with chapattis chili pickle and garlic pappad.

INGREDIENTS:-

4 white potato
1 large courgette/ zucchini
1 large tomato
1tbs oil
1-2 green chilli's
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
2 cloves
1/4tsp hing / asafoetida
1/2tsp cumin seeds
1/2tsp black mustard seeds
5-8 curry leaves
1 heaped tsp coriander/cumin powder
1/2tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and coriander to taste

* in a pan heat the oil on a low to medium heat and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds.
* Add hing and curry leaves, cloves and wait for seeds to crackle.
* add ginger and chilli's and fry for 1 minute.
* add the chopped tomato and fry for 30 seconds.
* add the spices with 1-2 tbs water so that the spices do not burn and stir for 30 seconds or untill the water and oil thickens.
* then add the potato's and stir until well mixed.
* add about 1 cup of water and simmer for ten minutes.
* add the corgette's/zucchini salt and sugar. stir well so that everything is coated.
* simmer untill everything is nice and soft.
* sprinkle on the lemon juice and coriander, stir and serve!!!!! yummy!!

Home made Lincolnshire Sausage and Egg Butter Muffin recipe

I am a true believer of saying that there are too types of healthy food. There is food for the brain and the body, then there is the food that is good for the soul. This dish is definitely the later. Once in a while i just absolutely crave for something fried.

This takes probably the same time to cook, as it is to go down to you local fast food establishment and definitely also healthier!

Ingredients:-
All butter muffins
a smear of butter
1 1/2 Lincolnshire sausages
Free range eggs
Burger cheese
Oil for frying

Directions:- Pre heat grill for the muffins.

1)Fry the sausages until golden brown and drain on kitchen paper, but in the meantime you need to grill the muffins, but just on the cut side for now.

2)When the muffin is done, smear a small amount of butter onto the grilled side. Fry the egg while you are doing this. Cook the egg to your liking, but i like mine well done. (Its not as messy)

3)So, place a slice of the cheese on the bottom. Slice the sausages in half length ways. Then place on top of the cheese, drain the egg on kitchen paper and place on top of the egg, top with the other half of the muffin.

4)When it is fully assembled, place the whole muffin under the grill again to warm up the whole thing and to make both side of the muffin are nice and toasted.

Creamy and rich Butter chicken recipe

Even though my preference is vegetarian when it comes to Indian food, sometimes i just get a real craving for a meat curry. I know my husband does! :-) You can always bet you bottom dollar that when it comes to a really easy curry that everyone is bound to enjoy is this one! Even your kids will like this one!! I think that the reason why people like this one is because its not to hot, but really nice and rich because of the butter and the yogurt. I have tampered with the original recipe because i don't use as much butter and i only use a tablespoon of cream with the yogurt, But still, this dish is definitely one to tickle your taste buds!!

Ingredients:- For marinade and will serve 4 people.

For the marinade to really do it's magic, i recommend that you marinate the meat the night before you want it, but if you don't have time, try and marinate for at least a few hours in the fridge

about 850g-950g of chicken. I have used diced breast in this one but i recommend using chicken thighs.
500ml or 2 1/2 cups of yogurt.
1 tsp garlic paste.
1 tsp ginger paste.
1 1/4 tsp paprika.
1 tsp cumin powder.
1 tsp coriander powder.
3/4 tsp garam masala powder.
about 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice

The butter sauce ingredients:-

1 large tin of chopped tomatoes - pureed.
1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder.
3/4 tsp turmeric
1-2 fresh fenugreek or dried.
1/2 tsp garam masala
1-2 tbs single low fat cream.
100g butter
fresh coriander to garnish

Directions:-

1)Chop the chicken to your desire, or if using chicken on the bone, score the meat well to let the marinade penetrate the meat. Leave over night in the fridge to tenderize, or for as long as you can.

2)When you are ready to cook, heat a large pan over a medium to hot heat and add about 2 tbs of oil.

3)Fry the tomato puree until you start to see the oil separating and all of the moisture has been cooked away.

4)Then add the spices and the fenugreek leaves and give it a quick stir.

5)Turn down the heat to low and add the spices, give it a quick stir and then add the chicken. Cover and cook until your chicken is cooked through.

6)When the chicken is properly cooked, add the cream and mix well. Then add the butter and mix well. Adding the cream first will help the butter to emulsify and stop it turning into ghee and separating from the sauce. You want the sauce to be very smooth. Garnish with coriander.

Serve with Garlic, chilli and coriander naan bread and pilau rice

English Breakfast stir fry recipe

This is really just a chuck it in the pan recipe. I first made this recipe when i was feeling a little worse for wear on a Sunday morning. I tell you something! This must be the BEST hangover cure there is! lol! Another reason i like this recipe as a refreshing change from a full English breakfast as there is hardly any washing up to do afterwards. It really is sometimes the one thing that puts me off a homemade breakfast, is all the effort that goes into all of the preparation, timing and tidying up. As if you can really be bothered after a good weekend! :-)

You will need:- for 2 people

A big wok / large frying pan. (but a wok works best)
2 medium potatoes cubed
2 small onions or 1 medium or 1/2 large roughly chopped
4 rashers of bacon roughly chopped
2 eggs
1/2 tsp paprika (this is what i use as it really does make the dish. Black pepper in this dish is fine if you don't have any paprika but a pinch black pepper is all that is needed)
1 tbs oil
(no added salt should be needed as you are cooking the bacon in the same pan.)

Directions:-

1)Heat the oil in the wok on a medium heat and add the potatoes.

2)Fry covered for about 10 minutes, giving it a couple of stirs in that time. you need to fry the potatoes quite a bit because the other ingredients don't take very long to cook.

3)When the potatoes are browning nicely, add the bacon and the onion. Stir fry everything until nice and crispy.

4)Turn the heat down to low and add the paprika and mix everything really well

5)Push everything over to one side, Crack the egg into the pan and let it gently fry until nearly done and then give it a bit of a scramble in the pan, trying to keep it like a cross between scrambled and a fried egg.

6)When the egg is cooked, mix it all together and serve hot with a dollop of tomato sauce. Enjoy!

Healthy mixed vegetable curry recipe

This is a really good recipe to do because it uses up all of your left over vegetables, or whatever you have in your fridge. All combinations of vegetables go really well cooked like this so just let your imagination go wild! Oh I forgot to mention that its mega healthy too because it hardly needs any oil! How goods that!

Ingredients:-
( What i used on this occasion )

3-4 tomatoes (chopped)
2 large potatoes (peeled and chopped and put in a bowl of salted water)
1 small sweet potato (peeled and chopped, but slightly larger than the white potato.)
1 aubergine (roughly peeled and chopped(put into a bowl of cold salted water)
5-6 florets of broccoli (par-boiled)
5-6 florets of cauliflower (par-boiled)
a hand full of sugar snap peas (de-stringed)
1 carrot (peeled, chopped and par-boiled)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida or to taste
1 tsp garlic paste
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1 green chilli (chopped into rings)
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder but just use 1/2 normal chilli powder
3/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 heaped tsp coriander and cumin powder.
1 tsp sugar or to taste
1 tsp salt or to taste
fresh green coriander
1 tbs fenugreek leaves (optional)

Directions:-

1)Heat 1 tbs oil into a large pan and add the cumin seeds, let them pop like pop-corn for about 30 seconds. Then add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida. Give it a quick stir and then ad the tomatoes. Cook them until the are all nice and mushy. This should take about 5-10 minutes

2)Add the garlic, ginger and the chilli's and cook for a few minutes, stirring all of the time to make sure that the bottom does not burn on the heat. You should start to get a really nice aroma from the fresh ingredients and this is the time to add all of the powdered spices and a splash of hot water- but only a splash! Cook the spices on a very low heat for about a minute.

3)Add the fenugreek leaves and some of the fresh coriander. cook until wilted and mix in the sugar and the salt.

4)Drain the potatoes and aubergine, add to the pot and give the mixture a really good mix together. You might need to add a splash of water, cover and cook for 5 or 10 minutes or until the potatoes are nearly done.

5)Add all of the other par-boiled vegetables and mix in carefully to avoid everything breaking up to much. Cover again and cook for about 10-15 min on a low heat, just to let all of the flavors come together.

6)Check that all of the vegetables are cooked through. Oh and don't forget to check the salt and sugar levels. The best curry is the one where the balancing of the flavors are taken into careful consideration. Don't be scared to keep checking the seasoning and that way it wont take you long to learn how to use them.

7)Serve hot with the sprinkled coriander. Tastes really good with naan bread or chapatis.

Tip:-
Use the water from the vegetables to add to your curry. This will replace the vitamins lost in the bar-boiling process.

Garlic, chilli and coriander naan bread recipe

I was so so chuffed with myself when i had a go at doing naan bread. It came out so so good i could of eaten just the naan bread on its own.

The first time i tried to make naan bread it came out very nice but it just tasted like normal bread. I make chapattis usually to go with my curry and on special occasions i would cook batura's or poories. But i have always loved naan so much so i had to give it another go.......

Ingredients:-

1 tsp yeast-mixed with warm water for 10-15 min
2 cups of plain white flour
2-3 tbs yogurt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white sugar
2 tbs sunflower oil

To be mixed in at the end:- (combinations are changeable to suit your taste)

1-2 green chilli ( i like just one but two is very hot but nice)
3 roughly chopped garlic cloves (but according to taste. I sometimes use more or less)
2 tbs roughly chopped fresh coriander
1/2 tsp black onion seed's (kalonji) Optional

Butter or ghee for spreading:-

Directions:-
1)Mix the flour, yogurt, salt, sugar, oil and yeast together in a bowl and gently knead the dough gently in a folding action, just for a few minutes until the dough is smooth.

2)If you have a metal bowl, place the dough in there and in a warm place for at least 4 hours, but the longer the better. No more than 10 hours though otherwise the end result will be sour. Cover the bowl and prick one or two little holes to let a bit of oxygen in to help with the process.

3)Pre-heat the oven to full blast.

4)When the dough has risen to over double its volume, remove the cover and sprinkle on all of the other ingredients, reserving some of the coriander for sprinkling on at the end. Give the dough another quick knead just to roughly incorporate the ingredients together.

5)sprinkle a baking tray with some plane flour and press and shape the naan into the tray. It tends to work better if the edges are a bit thicker and parts of the inside nice and thin to crisp up.

6)Place on the very top shelf and keep a close eye on it because it can burn quickly. It should only need anything between 4-10 min but no more.

Sprinkle with coriander and serve with a meat or vegetable curry.

Mutter Paneer - green peas and indian cheese

This is one of mine and my husbands favourite curry's!! It really is a quite a master piece, even if i do say so!! ;-)

It is originally a Punjabi dish so it is ment to be really rich, creamy and buttery, but i have made it slightly healthier so that it can be eaten as an everyday meal.

Mutter paneer tastes absolutely delicious with naan, chapatti's, pickle and pappad.

Ingredients:-

1 block of paneer - cubed (indian cheese) Gently and lightly fried (optional)
1 1/2 cup of frozen green peas

To be blended together:-

3 tbs cashew nuts - soaked in boiling water 1/2 hour
1 small onion
1 inch fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves

Other:-
2 tbs oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida (hing)
3 bay leaves
3 tbs fenugreek leaves (methi)
3 tbs fresh coriander (hari dhania)
220g tin of tomatoes
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp paprika powder
1/2- 1 tsp Punjabi garam masala or normal.
1 tsp sugar (optional)
salt to taste
2 tbs butter
1/2 cup fresh yogurt, or 1/4 cup cream
fresh coriander to garnish.

Directions:-

1)Heat the oil in a pan on a medium to high heat.

2)Add the cumin seeds and the hing and stir fry for a for second before adding the bay leaves. Fry for just a moment.

3)Add the onion paste and fry for about 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture has turned a few shades darker.

4)Add the tomatoes and the leaves and cook until all of the tomatoes have mixed into a paste and the oil separates.

5)Add a splash of water and also all of the powdered spices. Cook for a minute or so.

6)Add the sugar and salt, mix well. Then add the green peas and cook for a couple of minutes with out a lid, making sure that you give it a little stir to prevent it from sticking.

7)Add the paneer and cook for about 10-15 minutes to ensure that all of the spices and flavors have developed and intermingled.

6)Add the butter and the cream, but cook for no more that a minute, otherwise the butter will split and become grainy.

7)Garnish with coriander and spot small drops of the cream onto the curry as decoration.

Serve with naan or chapattis or garlic, chilli and coriander naan. Very nice sprinkled with spring onion... Enjoy

Please feel free to leave comments for my learning journey.

My ginger paste

This recipe really saves you alot of time, money and effort! In the early days of my cooking jurney, i used to throw away so much ginger because i could't use it all up quick enough. Now i prepare it this way in bulk and freeze. Then when ever you need it you can just spoon it out into your cooking.

Ingreadients:-

As much ginger as you want to store ( Maybe 3 whole roots )
salt

Directions:-
1) Peel the ginger and roughly chop

2) Put all of the ginger into a blender or an electric grater

3) empty the ginger into a bowl and add enough salt to stop the ginger from freezing. The reason that i have not given definite amount is that it is really trial and error. I don't worry if i have not used enough because all it means is you have to freeze it anyway and then give the block of frozen ginger a good scrape with a spoon or something like that to make this humble ginger paste into something of a real time saver.

4) Freeze the ginger paste and if you remember, after a few hour you can take out the ginger and give it a bit of a stir. Freeze, and then again after 3 or four hour, give it another stir. Really don't worry if you forget because i always do! To be honest if you spend a bit more time scrapping it with a spoon instead if stirring it all the time, you get a much fluffier end result.

5) when you have followed all of these steps, your ginger is ready to use to make your cooking more convenient. Just simply add as required.

Khandvi

Oh where do i start with this dish!! I could really go on forever about this melt in you mouth dish!!



This tini little roll of yummy sunshine is probably one of the dishes that sent me on my mammouth quest for indian culinary masterpeices.



I can remember the first time i tryed this dish very vividly. And i will be really honnest with you and tell you that i actually didnt like this dish much. The thing is, i kept on trying it out of polliteness really and it was almost every mouth full tasted better and better!



There was one time when i was invited to an indian wedding to do the brides hair. It was a very important wedding so i insisted on lots of practices. This was definitely in my benifit as i could perfect the brides and hair, but there was a huge bonus! Lots and lots of fabulas food! This is the first time that I really thought Wow! I all of a sudden turned into this khandvi monster!! :-) What I mean is, this dish.... i am obessed about ever since! I dont know what happened to me that day but it was almost like a bolt of lightning, or a spell being cast apon me!!! Ok, Ok, O.T.T i know, but can i really explain how much i now love these amazing Gujarati delicacy's! I could absolutelt go on forever about how much i love these beauties!!!



I am sooo addicted!!!

Ingredients:-

1 cup besan ( chick-pea flour )
3/4 cup of sour yogurt- if it is not that sour you can add a few drops of lemon juice.
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 grean chilli
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
a pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups of water
2 tbs oil
Tempering ingredients:-

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
a pinch of hing
about 10 curry leaves
2 tbs oil

Garnishing ingredient:-

grated coconut or desiccated
fresh coriander
red chilli powder

Directions :- Line a long piece of foil out onto the work surface.

1)In a bowl with an electric blender, blend the flour, yogurt, ginger, green chilli, turmeric, hing and water, until you have a smooth lump free batter.

2)Heat 2 tbs oil in a large pan (the larger the better) and add the batter.
TIP:-
You have to keep stirring with a flat spatula and keep the temperature on a low heat. Maybe occasionally you might need to whisk the batter to keep it nice and smooth.

3)After about 10 minutes you can just check the mixture to make sure that the flour is cooked. I usually cook mine for about 15-20 minutes because i use a really low heat, so i would check it after 10 minutes.

4)When the mixture is leaving the sides the batter should be ready for rolling. A really good way to test if it is ready is to smear a small amount onto a plate, let it cool and see if you can roll the khandvi's. If it roll's easily, it is ready to go, BUT, you must work quickly from hear.

5)Blob the batter around the foil and spread evenly with a spatula. The thinner the better, but not quite as thin as so you can see through it.

6)Leave the batter to cool and set. Then with a pizza cutter, cut long thin sections to roll. You may want to tidy the edges to help make the rolling easier.

7)Roll the khandvi's and arrange on a plate.

8)Heat 2 tbs oil in a small frying pan and add the mustard seeds. Fry until they pop and splutter.

9)Then add the asafoetida, let it sizzle and then quickly add the curry leaves and sesame seed, but be careful of the spluttering.

10)Poor the tarka over the khandvi, sprinkle over the coconut, coriander and red chilli powder. Serve.

TIPS:-
1)If the batter is under cooked, it wont roll properly and will taste floury.

2)If it is over cooked it wont roll properly either. But you can always add some water, mix very well and cook again.

3)If the batter is spread too thick onto the foil, it wont spread properly.

4)I don't want to make this sound complicated, but if you spread it to thin it wont roll properly.

5)The perfect batter wouldn't be spread so thin that you can see through it, but only a tiny bit thicker.

Aloo Methi ( potato's and fenugreek leaves )

I really don't know if this recipe is how it should be done, but i can tell you that cooking it to this recipe is soooo good! It is always a winning recipe in our house-hold.

I had first tried this recipe in a resturant and i was hooked imedietly! i had tryed to recreate this recipe with reference and i was never satisfied, so the other night when i had a craving for this i just thought right, i know what flavours i want in this recipe so i am just going to do it!

It was a huge success! Not just with my family, but with my friends too! :-) :-) :-)
HAPPY DAY'S!

Ingreadents:-

4 medium sized potatoes Peeled and cubed
2 medium tomato's chopped
lots of fresh fenugreek- to your taste. I only had frozen methi so i just used a block.
fresh coriander chopped
3 large garlic cloves chopped or puree
1 tsp shedded ginger
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 chilli powder or to taste ( I used about 1 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp coriander-cumin powder
1 tsp sugar
sprinkle of lemon juice
salt

Directions:-

1)Heat 1 tbs of oil in a pan and let it get hot on a medium to hot temperature and add the mustard seeds and cook until the pop and splutter.

2)Add the cumin seeds and asafoetida and let them sizzle for a few moments.

3)Add the ginger and the garlic. Give it a stir for about 30 seconds, and then quickly add the chopped tomatoes. Cook until all nice and pulpy and the oil is separating. ( You may not see the oil seporating as i have only used minimum oil.)

4)Add the rest of the spices with a splash of hot water and cook for a minute or so.

5)Add the chopped and washed fenugreek leaves and some of the fresh coriander and cook until the leaves have wilted.

6)Then add the cubed potatoes and the salt and coat well with the spice mixture. Make sure there is enough water to cook the potatoes but don't add to much water,just a splash, you don't want this dish to have too much sauce.

7)Cover the potatoes and turn down the heat to very low and cook until the potatoes are tender.

8)When the potatoes are nice and tender, sprinkle on the rest of the fresh coriander and sprinkle the lemon juice.

Serve with bread of choice, but i love this with buttered chapattis or naan. It goes very nicely with Gujarati kadhi and rice