Thai Nam prig pow and vegetable fried rice recipe

I actually can't believe that this is my first Thai recipe on this blog, when it is one my all time favourite cuisines! My husband and I have been to Thailand many times and we have completely fallen in love with the country, cuisine, culture and most of all, the people!

I actually think that this is a very suitable dish to have as my first Thai recipe on blog, simply because It was one of the first dishes that I had on my very first visit to the land of the golden smiles.

What I love about this dish is that this recipe calls for left over rice. So what I always do, is cook double the amount of rice the day before. It then makes for a really good lunch time, or evening meal.
You don't even have to add the veggies if you don't want to, or you have little time to spare.

One thing I would recommend you try although it is definitely not essential, is to make your own nam prig pow paste. The one that you buy from the shop is truly delicious, it is just good to be able to make it according to your own tastes and also you know that there isn't any rubbish going into it. It isn't hard to do, just make sure to do it in advance. I will post my recipe next. Oh I'm sorry, im forgetting to say what nam prig pow is!!!! It is a massively amazing versatile Thai  paste, containing caramelised shallots, garlic, chillies and other ingredients. I don't live very close to an Asian supermarket, so I like to make my own. It will last for about 3 months in an airtight container in the fridge.

Here is the link for the paste recipe below. 😄

Nam prig pow chilli paste recipe

Here is the recipe for nam prig pow fried rice!

2-3 cups of left over rice. Jasmine or basmati is preferable.
1/2 a large white onion,
3 spring onions,
1 carrot
3 or 4 large leaves of Napa cabbage or Chinese leaf
1/2 cup cooked green peas
1/2 large red pepper,
1 large red chilli
3 cloves garlic
Bamboo shoots and water chestnuts just to taste
1 tbs fish sauce,
3 tsp nam prig pow chilli paste.
Lime wedge for seasoning to taste
2-3 eggs. One for frying and popping on the top.

Directions
Prepare everything befor cooking.

1. Julienne the all of the washed vegetables to a uniform size. Just roughly chop the garlic.

2. Heat a tbs of oil into a wok and wait until it reaches smoking point.
3. Add the onions and fry for about a minute before adding the chilli and the garlic.

4. Add the carrots and fry for about a minute, then quickly add the peppers, spring onions, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts.add the Chinese leaf at the end and only stir fry for a minute or so.Stir fry until done. Set aside.

5.to the same wok as you were just using, add another 1/2 tbs oil and wait until it reaches smoking point.
6. Add the left over rice and stir fry for a minute or so, but make sure that you break up all of the lumps.
7. Push the rice to one side and break an egg into the pan. Scramble the egg until it is in fairly small pieces.

8. Mix the rice and the egg together and then add the fish sauce and the nam prig pow. Mix everything together really well.

9. Add the vegetables and stir fry everything together for a few minutes. Taste for balance of flavours

10. Heat up another frying pan for the egg. Quickly fry the egg, ensuring that you leave the yolk runny.
 11. Serve the hot rice into bowls or plates and serve the fried egg on top with the wedge of lime.

ENJOY!!!!!

Baked Camembert recipe

MMMMM CHEEEEEEEESE!!!!!!!

Don't ever get me wrong, spicy food will always be my favourite food BUT, cheese is just something else! Just when you've gotta have it, you've gotta have it lol!

When there is no-one in the house and no-one to cook for, it is only right that you deserve a little indulgence and if I am ever in that situation, what do I do? I reach for the cheese!!! :-)

So here i share with you my guilty secret. If you want to be generous, it is amazing to share, but i highly recommend that you don't share this one! keep this one to yourself!!! :)

All you need is,

1 boxed camembert cheese. (it has to be in a box that is suitable for the oven)
A few sprigs of rosemary.
A clove or two of garlic, thinly sliced. depends if you are a garlic fan or not.
A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil,
A drizzle of runny honey.

Directions:-

1) Preheat your oven to 180c.
2) Chop the garlic and tear the rosemary into little bits and keep aside.
3) Carefully cut the top rind off the camembert, being extra careful not to waist too much cheese! :)

4) Place your camembert onto a baking tray and pop as much or as little of the garlic and the rosemary as you like. I love it smothered! ;)
5) Then drizzle some olive oil over the top, then some of the honey (probably about 1 tbs) and then pop into the oven for about 20 minutes.

I loved to serve this with fresh sliced baguette and cranberry sauce or red currant jelly!
I hope that you enjoy this as much as i do!! Please let me know :)

South Indian Okra in a Yogurt and Coconut sauce.

This is a realy good dish if you need introducing to okra, becuse of the sauce, it is sweet and sour and rich with coconut. It really is so delicious.

I am not exactly sure of this dishes actual name because a friend has kindly given this recipe. My friend is from kerala and is not to sure on how to write in english.

Last week she invited me over for lunch and she had heard about me blogging about real indian food. She said that she could remember me saying one time in her favourite restaurant, that I would've liked to of recreated the thali that we enjoyed on that particular day. She was going to be cooking this dish anyway for her family so she remembered about me :-) Of cause i was overjoyed to receive the invitation and I gladly accepted.

I decided to walk to her house because it was quite a nice day, one of those days where it is cold and crisp, but a nice bright sun. Once I had arrived at the end of her street I could smell her food! It reminded me of one of those cartoons where the hungry animal gets a whiff of some delicious food and floated it the air to follow the scent :-) As i walked up her garden path the fabulous aroma got stronger and stronger and even more delicious. She must have seen me coming to the door, because she opened the door before I could even knock. She greeted me with open arms and said come in, come in! I walked into her kitchen and it was full of her female relatives. They were all busy doing something, Her Mother was grinding some batter for dosa, her sister was kneading some bread, and there was some of her aunts and cousins there too. It was a kind of organised kaos. She called me over to the cooker and firstly asked if they could get me anything to drink. Her aunt gave me a cup of chai (Indian tea) and my friend and I sat down for a chat.
When we had finished our chai she said to me that we should get on, she handed me a pen and paper and she said that as a gift for being a good friend, she was handing me this recipe that had been through her family for a very long time. I could thank enough, but she just kindly replied " just invite me round for tea" I love her so much! Thanks hun! :-)

Here is my friends beautifully simple, South Indian Okra recipe.

Ingredients:-

2 cups of fresh okra, washed and dried, cut into 1/2 inch flowers
1/2 cup of fresh yogurt (dahi)
1/2 cup freshly grated, frozen or desiccated coconut. If you are using desiccated coconut then you should soak in boiled water for about 1/2 hour, reserving the coconut water.
3 tbs oil,
1 tsp mustard seeds,
10-12 curry leaves,
1/2- 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder,
1/2 tsp green chilli paste,
water - as required.
salt to taste,
1 1/2- 3 tsp sugar- as per your taste,
fresh green coriander to garnish.


Directions:-

1) Heat some oil in a pan and fry the okra on a low to medium heat until browning at the edges and all of the sliminess has disappeared. Make sure that you don't keep stirring the okra otherwise it will become really slimy and not very nice. Drain on kitchen paper.

2) In a blender, or with a hand blender, mix together the yogurt, red chilli powder, coconut, salt and sugar. Blend until you have a fairly cause paste.

3) Check the seasoning and add sufficient water, but not too much. Test again.

4) Heat a saucepan over a medium to hot heat and add the mustard seeds. Wait until they pop and then add the curry leaves. Let them splutter and then add the okra and sauce.

5) Reheat gently up to boiling point and then serve hot with chapatis and rice, or as part of your favorite thali

Sev Mumra recipe (chickpea vermicelli and puffed rice) Or simply sev, or simply mumra!

Sev mumra is one of those things that you never really think to cook, because I must admit that the shop bought stuff is actually delicious. So for years I have probably spent a small fortune on the stuff.

One of my friends came over for a catch up one day and came with a bag full of homemade sev mumra that she had left over from the weekend. We filled a big bowl full and we sat and nattered and nibbled on this wonderful snack. I said to her that it was the best I had ever tasted by far! She then told me that it was actually home made and one of the easiest things that they prepare in their house. They even prepare this after their main meal is ready, that is if you have some sev already prepared.
It is that easy!! Any way you really must try it, it really is too good to miss!!

Ingredients for the sev:-

1 cup of chickpea flour, (besan)
a pinch of turmeric,
a tsp oil,
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
a tiny pinch of hing,
a pinch of baking soda.
Water as needed.
1/2 tsp of salt


Tip!! You need a sev maker to proceed!

Directions:-

1) Prepare a pan of oil and heat it over a medium heat. There oil should be a few inches deep to cover the sev as it is cooking.

2) Grease the sev maker inside and around the lid and screw. (This just helps with the cleaning)

3) Mix together the above ingredients ensuring that the oil gets well incorporated.

4) Slowly add the water and mix until you have a very sticky batter. It should not be runny, but it definitely doesn't want to be hard, otherwize your sev won't turn out very good.

5) Once you are happy with the batter, check to see if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small drop of batter into the oil and if it sizzles to the top straight the way then the oil is ready. ( also make sure that it is not too hot either otherwise it will taste burnt.)

6) Fill the sev maker with the batter by using a spoon and screw up the lid. Then gently turn the handle over the oil, using circular movements so that the sev almost looks like lace, or if you remember what one looks like a spirograph pattern. :-)(showing my age!) When you have got enough sev in your pan, turn the handle in the other direction to stop the flow of batter.

7) Cook until the oil calms down and then turn the whole thing over to cook the other side.

8) Again cook until the oil calms down and drain onto a piece of kitchen paper.
Repeat the process until you have used up all of your batter.

You can enjoy sev on it's own like this, or use it as a topping for chaats... or you can proceed to make sev mumra!!

ingredients:-

6 cups of puffed rice (Mumra)
7-10 fresh curry leaves,
1/2 - 1 tsp homemade chilli paste,
1/2 tsp homemade garlic paste,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
2 tbs oil,
a large pinch of salt.

Directions:-

1) Heat the oven to the lowest temperature that your oven will go to.

2) In a large, clean roasting tin, mix in all of the above ingredients together thoroughly.

3) Pop the tray into the oven and after about 10 minutes, take them out of the oven and give everything another good stir. You must make sure that your sev does not burn.

4) Repeat this process another 2 times. the sev should only need about 25 minutes in total.

5) Once your mumra is ready, it needs to be cooled down to room temperature.

6) This is actually quite nice nike this to, but i like to mix it with some of the above sev. Just mix to your liking! ENJOY!!!

Feel free to leave your tips and feedback, it is always very welcome! :-) :-) :-)

Bhindi masala with onions and peppers (okra)

This is such an awesome dish!! It Is packed full of nutrients, takes only a jiffy to cook and tastes amazing with basmati rice khadi and chapatis. If you are new to okra, you must realise that you have to cook it just right, otherwise it turns out sticky and not very nice.

There are various key points to remember when cooking okra. My method is absolutely fool proof and has never failed me yet!

1) It must be washed and and dried thoroughly before you even start to consider chopping it.

2) After you have washed and prepared your okra, you should let it air dry on a paper towel for as long as possible, even the night before!

3) During the cooking process you should never touch or stir the okra more than you have too. Just leave it alone to cook gently on a low to medium heat.

I always tend to stir fry the okra in a small amount of oil and also a important tip is to never add salt to okra when it is cooking. only ever add salt at the end.

Anyway here is my recipe.

Ingredients:-
(On this occasion I used frozen okra, but fresh is really recommended)

1/2 bag of frozen okra,
1 tbs oil, + 1/2 tbs extra,
1/4 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
a pinch of hing ( asafoetida)
1 small onion, or half a large, (Cubed)
1 small yellow pepper, (washed and cubed)
1 large tomato (washed and thinly sliced)
1/2 tsp garlic paste,
1 tsp ginger paste,
1-2 green chillies,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1/4 tsp chilli powder,
1 tsp coriander-cumin powder,
1 tsp sugar,
salt to taste,
fresh coriander and a sprinkle of lemon juice.

Directions:-

1) Heat 1 tbs oil in a large frying pan on a medium to high heat. Once the oil is hot enough, add the frozen okra and gently spread the okra evenly in the pan. It is important not to crowd the pan whether you are using fresh or frozen okra.
Now leave in the pan to thaw out for a few minutes on a medium to high heat, but make sure that you turn the okra once to make su

Turn very occasionally until the okra is golden and starting to colour around the edges.

2) Drain onto kitchen paper and set aside.

3) Add the remaining 1/2 tbs oil into the same pan as the okra was fried and heat over a medium heat. once the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds, wait for them to pop like popcorn, then add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida (hing).

4) Then add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and fry until they start to caramelize around the edges.

5) Then add the curry leaves, tomatoes, garlic paste, ginger paste, green chilli, chilli powder, coriander-cumin powder turmeric and cook until the tomatoes turn into a thick paste and and all of the moisture has been cooked away.

6) Add the sugar and the peppers and cook for another minute before adding the okra,

7) Sprinkle over some lemon juice and coriander and mix in. Check the seasonings before you serve and adjust to your taste.

8) Serve with basmati rice and chapati or paratha.

Please enjoy and share your thoughts............Many thanks!!! :-) :-) :-)

Aloo Gobi Matar recipe ( potato, cauliflower and pea curry )

This such a great every day curry. It uses basic ingredients that you are definitely going to have already in your kitchen and it is very highly nutritious. The ingredients in this curry are the ones that you use every day, although if you want to have this for a special occasion you can always add a few more special spices.

This curry reminds me of when I first moved out of home and I hadn't really got a clue on how to cook for myself :-) When I used to go to my friends mothers house whom I lived with at the time, used to cook this dish a lot for us. This was to make sure that we were getting a good wholesome meal once a week. Manjula used to serve this dish with Gujarati kadhi and rice with chapati, although this does go with any bread. The last time I cooked this dish, I did it with layered paratha's. Every day I would eat it with chapatis but it really does taste amazing with poories! You should definitely try it!!

Ingredients:-
1 large potato, ( peeled and cubed )
6 nice sized florets of cauliflower, ( washed and boiled )
1-2 tomatoes ( washed and cut into 8th )
1 1/2 cups of green peas,
1/2 tsp garlic paste,
1/2 tsp ginger paste,
1 green chilli,
1/2 tsp mustard seeds,
1/2 tsp cumin seeds,
a large pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder,
1 tsp coriander cumin powder,
1 tsp sugar,
salt to taste,
fresh coriander to garnish.

Directions:-

1) Peel and cube the potato and the tomatoes and set aside. Boil the cauliflower.

2) Heat 1 tbs oil in a medium to large pan. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds. Let them pop and then add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida.

3) Let them sizzle for a few seconds and then add the turmeric, chilli powder, salt and tomatoes. Cook the tomatoes for about 3-5 minutes or until just staring to soften.

4) Add the potatoes and the sugar and stir well to coat with all of the spices. poor about a cup of hot water and simmer with the lid on at a very low temperature for about 15 minutes before adding the cauliflower and peas.

5) Simmer for about another 10-15 minutes, or until everything is nice and tender.

6) Check the seasoning and add the coriander.

Serve with kadhi, tomato rasam, rice and your choice of bread. As an extra treat serve with pickle and poppadoms. :-) :-) :-)

Please leave your comments and suggestions as this would make me the happiest person in the world!!! :-) :-) :-)

Aloo masala (versatile potato mixture)

This potato mixture is so versatile, I use it for so many different things like stuffed mirchi bhaji (chilli pakora), aloo paratha, dosa, batata vada etc..
I actually use quite a lot of garlic in this recipe, but you can omit if its not to your taste, but it really does make a difference to the dish because it becomes very mild once it has been cooked down and becomes all scrumptious.

Ingredients:-

1 kg floury potatoes- boiled
About 10 cloves of garlic or a very large tsp of garlic purée,
1-2 green chillies,
about 7 fresh curry leaves,
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 onion diced,
a large pinch asafoetida,
1/2 tsp turmeric powder,
1 tbs fresh coriander,
1/2 tbs lemon juice or to taste,
1 1/2 tbs oil
salt to taste.

directions:-

1) Heat the oil in a pan over a medium to hot heat and add the mustard seeds. Wait until they pop like popcorn.

2) Add the cumin seeds and the asafoetida and let them sizzle for a second or so before you add the onions. Saute the onions until they are light brown.

3) Add the garlic, chillies and the ginger and stir for a few minutes

4) Add the lemon juice, salt, coriander and the turmeric and give it a quick stir before adding the potato.

5) Mash the potato into the mixture making sure that you leave some chunks of potato.

Test the seasoning to cheek if is your taste and a just if you need to.

Enjoy the countless things you can do with this amazing mixture. On this opportunity i made potato vadas.