Yellow Chicken Curry

Ok, so this looks like a pile of dog sick, but it's actually a really great dish and one of my favourite chicken curries. Adapted from a Delia recipe, it's quick, easy and delicious, and I make it all the time. We had it on Wednesday, when Steve came for dinner and to play board games - it went down very well, but I was still able to snatch one portion away to freeze before it was all gobbled up.

Yellow Chicken Curry
(serves 2 people - easily multipliable for more)

Chicken pieces (I use chicken breast meat, skinless and boneless and cut into bite-size pieces, but you can make it with bigger pieces, pieces on the bone, etc - you just cook it for longer when you first put it in the oven) - enough for 2 people
1 large red pepper, roughly chopped
1 large green chilli, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped or blended in a food processor
2-3 cloves garlic
Large knob of ginger
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
8 cardamom pods
1 tbsp turmeric
approx 200ml soy cream
salt and pepper
oil

Choose an oven-proof dish that is big enough to fit all the chicken pieces in a single layer. In this dish, grate the ginger, crush the garlic, add 1-2 teasps oil, the turmeric, salt and pepper. Mix together, and then add the chicken to this dish and coat the chicken in the mix. You can put this straight into the oven if you're in a rush, otherwise, leave this to marinade.

If you are using skinless boneless meat as I did, put it in the oven uncovered and start doing the following steps straight away. If the meat has bones, you will need to cook it for at least 30 minutes before starting on the rest of the recipe.

In a frying pan with no oil, heat the cardamon, cumin and coriander seeds, tossing them for a few minutes until you can really smell them and they turn a shade or two darker. Tip them into a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.

Put the finely chopped or ground onions into the frying pan with a little oil, and fry until they turn golden. Add the red pepper and green chilli with some salt, and then add the ground spices. Cook for a few minutes until the pepper has softened, and then take the frying pan off the heat. Add the soy cream and stir until you have a thick, brownish sauce. Remove the chicken from the oven, and pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the chicken with foil and return to the oven. Cook for at least 15 minutes like this (probably longer if your chicken has bones).

In the meantime prepare your rice or whatever accompaniment. About 10 minutes before you are ready to eat, remove the foil from the chicken and stir. The sauce should now look yellow as you mix in the marinade from the chicken into the sauce. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes and then serve.

Chicken Dhansak

There's no picture today as the battery in my camera died before I could take it, although this isn't a particularly photogenic dish anyway. Sorry - you'll just have to imagine this one - it's a greenish-brown curry with quite a thick sauce which is served with caramelised onion brown rice.

This is a Parsi dish from Mumbai, something I've been wanting to try for a while as vegetable dhansak is my brother's favourite curry in his favourite Indian restaurant. I had looked online in the past for a dhansak recipe but never found anything very appealing, and I was also put off by the description of dhansak curries as "sweet and sour" - in Chinese food that is my worst flavour combination.

Anyway, for our anniversary a couple of weeks ago, my mum bought us Camilla Panjabi's 50 Great Curries of India, and there was a recipe for Chicken Dhansak that looked very appealing. I made quite a few changes and substitutions but it turned out beautifully - it's spicy and tangy and has a really unusual flavour that is very different to the curries I usually make. The sauce is thick and creamy, but not made with dairy (or dairy substitutes) but with lentils and vegetables, so it is a really nutritious dish. I will definitely be making it again, it is yum!

Chicken Dhansak
(serves 2)

1 large chicken breast or enough chicken for 2 people, cut into chunks
100g toor dal (these are yellow lentils)
1 inch piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic
3oz red pumpkin (I substituted a courgette for this)
2oz aubergine (this is about 1/2 an aubergine)
1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tbsp fresh coriander, chopped
7 fresh mint leaves
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves or fresh fenugreek (I couldn't find this so left it out)
1 tsp Parsi sambar marsala (I couldn't find this so I used 3/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, 1/2 tsp mustard seeds, 1 tsp red chilli, 1/2 tsp ground pepper)
1 tsp dhansak marsala (I did find this but if you can't, mix 1 1/2 tsp garam marsala, 1/2 tsp star anise, 1/4 tsp nutmeg)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tomato
2 green chillies
1 tsp jaggery/palm sugar (I substituted dark brown muscovado sugar for this)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp tamarind paste

Brown pulao rice

6 fl oz brown basmati rice (I use 3 fl oz per person - always measure rice by volume, not by weight)
1 small/medium onion, finely chopped
Cinammon stick, bay leaf and some whole cloves (or some garam marsala instead)

Start by soaking the dal, and leave for 30 minutes. While it is soaking, prepare all the vegetables: chop the aubergine and courgette (or squash or pumpkin or whatever you can find) into 1cm cubes and put it in a large saucepan with a quarter of the ginger, 1 garlic clove, the fresh dill, 1/2 tablespoon of fresh coriander, 3 of the mint leaves and the turmeric. Add 1/3 pint of water and when the dal has soaked, drain the water and add it to the saucepan. Simmer until cooked and soft (should take 15-20 minutes).

While this is happening, toast any of the whole spices in a dry frying pan (you can use ground spices for everything but I prefer whole spices, so I put cumin seeds, coriander seeds and the fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds which are part of the Parsi sambar marsala into the pan). After a few minutes, tip these together with all of the ground spices into a pestle and mortar, and grind and blend together. Even if you are only using ground spices, blend them together before cooking with them.

Drop the tomato into some boiling water for 1 minute and then remove, slipping the skin off. Chop the tomato and the 2 chillies (remove their seeds unless you like a REALLY hot curry), and then heat a tablespoon of flavourless oil (I like rapeseed) in the frying pan and add the tomato, chillies, the remaining fresh coriander, the remaining mint leaves and all the spices, and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the cut up chicken and fry for another few minutes, making sure it is browned on all sides. It doesn't matter if the chicken isn't totally cooked through at this point because it will continue to cook in the sauce.

When the dal is cooked (this should hopefully happen at about the same time as the chicken is browning), use a stick blender or pour the contents of the saucepan into a blender and blend until smooth. Then add the chicken and any of the spicy mix in the frying pan to the saucepan together with 1/3 pint of water and let it simmer, covered.

While it cooks, start making the rice, as it will take about 20 minutes to cook. Start by frying the onion in a saucepan until it is lightly golden. Then add the (dry uncooked) rice to the saucepan, and fry the rice for a minute or so. Add 12 fl oz water (or twice the volume of the rice), some salt and the cinammon, bay leaf and cloves. Cover and let it simmer slowly.

After about 15 minutes, uncover the chicken and see how liquidy the sauce is, as you may want to reduce it. Add the lime juice and tamarind and salt to taste. Let it simmer until the rice is ready, and serve.

Chicken Puttanesca with Basil Pappardelle

Blondini and I had the most fabulous weekend in France avec les parents. Such delicious food was eaten (organic roast chicken - it really tasted different - and daurade royale, and amazing peaches and other fruit.. and a fantastic peach tart) and lovely wine was drunk and there was swimming and sunbathing and general chilledness. The only bad element was that as soon as we touched down in London on Sunday a cold sprang up out of nowhere. So I went to work on Monday all tragic and sniffling and was told I could leave early, which meant 9:30pm. I felt even worse yesterday so didn't go in, and spent a lovely day in bed with hot drinks, watching films. But since I was home, and since you're supposed to feed a cold (I have been using that excuse since Monday to eat absolutely everything I want - noodles, brownies, jelly tots, etc) I decided to make something easy but tasty and filling for dinner. I therefore present....

Chicken Puttanesca with Basil Pappardelle
(serves 2)

1 large chicken breast, cut into pieces (or however much chicken you think you need for two)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of capers, rinsed
1 tablespoon of sliced olives
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil (a large handful of leaves will make this amount)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
250g fresh pasta (or I think it would be 160g dried pasta) - for this dish my preferred pasta is basil pappardelle

Cut the chicken into pieces, season, and fry in a small amount of olive oil until brown on both sides. Remove from the pan.

Heat a little olive oil in the pan and add the crushed garlic and finely chopped chilli. Fry for a few minutes, and then add the chopped tomatoes. When it is bubbling, add a little water together with the capers, olives and basil. Stir and taste for seasoning. Then add the chicken to the pan and cover the pieces with the sauce. Cook, covered, for about 20 minutes. If the sauce seems too thin (it should be quite thick), then take the lid off and reduce for a few minutes, stirring often to avoid the mixture burning on the bottom of the pan.

When you are ready, cook the pasta (if fresh, it will need only 2-3 minutes but dried pasta will need around 10 minutes). Serve the pasta with the puttanesca on the side or on top, as you wish!

Singapore Stir-Fried Noodles

This post is a bit out of sequence, but who cares. The shrooms I used in the pasta were lovely, but as I only used half a box of each, I needed to come up with something else to use them up. I asked around and a lot of people recommended things using cream and other dairy products. Now, even if I didn't have a possibly slightly irrational hatred of most things dairy, that wouldn't work since I was planning to use chicken again and, as I will explain in a later post, chicken and cream = not for the kosher eaters amongst us. So, a few googles later, I came across a Delia Smith recipe for Singapore Noodles. I like spicy things, I like noodles.. I had to read on. Unfortunately this was really not a kosher recipe - shrimps, prawns (aren't they the same thing anyway?) and other no-goes - so I made up my own. The result, despite slightly al dente rice noodles, was absolutely delicious!

Singapore Stir-fried Noodles
(serves 2)

Chicken - either use leftover roast/grilled chicken, or if you haven't got any already cooked chicken you'll need the equivalent of a large breast (or whatever - it doesn't have to be white meat)
4oz rice noodles
2 tablespoons rapeseed (or other flavourless) oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Approx 1sq inch fresh ginger, grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 red pepper, cut into pieces of about 2cm
Approx 200g mushrooms (I used a mix of shiitake and maitake), cut into pieces of about 2cm
4 spring onions, finely chopped including the green parts
1 dessert spoon of Madras curry powder
1-2 tablespoons soy sauce
Salt & pepper

First, if the chicken isn't already cooked, season and fry the chicken in a little oil, making sure it is cooked through. Then remove and keep aside. You could also grill or bake the chicken, depending on what part of the bird you're using.

Next, heat the oil in a large pan or wok and when it is very hot, add the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, red pepper and mushrooms. Stir it all and fry it at that temperature for a few minutes, and then bring the heat right down to low. Allow the vegetables to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While it is cooking, prepare the rice noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Ours said they needed 8-10 minutes but that wasn't enough, though in the past we've had trouble with rice noodles clumping together in thick glutinous cords, which isn't very pleasant. Any tips on rice noodle preparation would be great. Additionally, shred the cooked chicken - this is best done with 2 forks like they do in Chinese restaurants. This is also the time when you could be chopping the spring onions.

After 15 minutes of cooking (and when the noodles are ready), add the salt and curry powder to the frying pan. Stir, and then add the shredded chicken and the noodles - you may want to turn the heat up now as well. Use a fork to get everything mixed together, and then add the soy sauce. When the noodles and chicken are hot, serve!

Trompetti with Chicken and Wild Mushrooms

I've been dying to blog all week but I have been so busy at work that I really haven't had a minute. I've had quite a good cooking week and I don't want a huge backlog to write up (plus Blondini keeps pestering me about blogging - I think he wants to see his photos online). So I'll start with Sunday night's dinner, although there is stuff to write about the weekend too, but it will keep.

On Sunday I saw a box of maitake mushrooms in Waitrose and as we don't see them often we decided to do something with 'shrooms. So we also bought shiitake mushrooms and some plain closed cap mushrooms or whatever they are called. I threw some things together and voila...

Trompetti with Chicken and Wild Mushrooms
(serves 2)

1 large/2 small chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
Approx 100g shiitake mushrooms
Approx 100g maitake mushrooms (or any mushrooms of your choice)
5 or 6 closed cap mushrooms
A handful of dried porcini mushrooms
1 clove garlic
2 shallots
2-3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A little plain flour
250g trompetti or other pasta (this quantity is for fresh pasta, adjust for dried)

Start by putting the dried mushrooms into a small bowl and covering with boiling water to rehydrate them.

Next, roll the chicken pieces in the flour, well-seasoned, and then fry. Remove and keep aside.

Finely chop the shallots and fry, together with the crushed garlic. When the shallots are translucent, add all the chopped fresh mushrooms. Turn the heat down to quite low, and keep cooking, and after a few minutes, squeeze the water out of the porcini mushrooms and add to the frying pan. Keep the mushroomy water aside. After around five minutes, add the mushroom water and the balsamic vinegar to the mushrooms, put the chicken pieces back in the pan, and make sure everything is covered in the liquid. Cover and cook for around 15-20 minutes. After this, taste and season - you may also want to add some more vinegar at this stage. (If you are cooking dried pasta you will probably want to start that at this point.) Remove the lid and let the liquid reduce. When you are nearly ready, cook the fresh pasta (it will only take 2-3 minutes). Drain the pasta and add the mushrooms and chicken. Mmm... shroomily good.

Blondini cooks for for me

I got out of work early last night (5:30) - it's tragic that this feels like a real treat, but it does - I felt like I had a whole evening stretching ahead of me. Blondini had just got in when I arrived home and I helped him prepare the chicken so that he could make us his amazing chicken stir-fry with shiitake mushrooms and broccoli. It was delicious, although of course he had to use every bowl and plate in the kitchen and there couldn't be any multitasking, no cooking of the chicken while cutting the vegetables, that doesn't work... I'm not complaining though - I love being cooked for!

Here is his recipe, created himself. I think it's great because unlike many stir-fries where you just chuck in all the ingredients and all the flavours merge into one, here you can really taste the vegetables separately from the chicken and noodles:

Stir-fried Chicken with Shiitake Mushrooms, Broccoli, Sesame and Noodles
(serves 2)

1 large or 2 small chicken breasts cut into small pieces
A little plain flour
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
Shiitake mushrooms
Broccoli (I won't eat the big one, only tenderstem or purple sprouting)
Black and white sesame seeds (around 2-3 tablespoons)
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Ginger, grated
Noodles for 2 - we like to use matcha tea noodles, available from Chinese shops, but any noodle you like will do
A little oil for frying

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and roll in the four. Add around 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to this and mix it in so that each piece of chicken is coated.

Toast the sesame seeds in a dry frying pan for a few minutes, then remove and put aside. At this point I would heat some oil in the pan and fry the chicken, and while this is cooking I would chop the vegetables. Blondini prefers to chop the vegetables and have them ready first - you can obviously do whatever is easier for for. When the chicken is cooked through, remove.

Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Crush the garlic and grate the ginger into the frying pan, and add the vegetables, together with a few of the sesame seeds. After 3 or 4 minutes, put the chicken back into the pan, stir-fry for another few minutes until the chicken is piping hot again. Add the cooked noodles and continue stir-frying, and add some more soy sauce to the noodles in the pan. Continue stir-frying for a few more minutes, serve onto plates and garnish with the remaining sesame seeds.

Thursday is freezer night

Last night we had meatballs, one of my favourite suppers to cook in advance and freeze. It's so nice to come home, stick it in the oven, make some rice and eat a delicious meal without doing any work.

This recipe is one of my own inventions, and I use chicken mince because it is healthier and less fatty. I'm sure this would work with other meats but I think the strong flavours go very well with chicken.

Chicken Meatballs in Hot Pepper Sauce

(serves 4)

1lb chicken mince, as lean as possible
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 red peppers
2 red chillies
2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 egg
Paprika
Cajun spice
Soy Sauce
Cayenne Pepper
A little plain flour
Olive oil for cooking
Salt & pepper

Finely chop one of the onions and crush the garlic. In a large saucepan, fry these until translucent. While this is frying, finely chop the chillies and cut the peppers into pieces about 2cm squared. Add these to the saucepan, and fry for a few more minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, paprika, soy sauce, Cajun spice, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper if you like it quite spicy. Keep tasting to get the flavour just as you want it. Half fill each of the empty tomato tins with water (to get any remaining tomato out of each) and add this to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, finely chop the other onion and add to a bowl with the chicken mince and egg. Mix this together and then add some flour to thicken the mixture. You want it to be thick enough so that you can form it into balls but not too dense. Add all the spices, soy sauce and seasoning to this mixture as well.When the sauce is simmering and you are happy with the taste, cover it and turn down the heat. Heat a tablespoon or so of oil in a large frying pan, and start forming meatballs. It is easiest to do this if you wet your hand in cold water first. I also like to divide the mixture up with a spoon in the bowl first, so I have an idea how big I want each to be. Out of 1lb of mince, I like to make 4 portions, and I try to do 24 meatballs in total, so they are quite small. I fry this in 2 batches of 12 but do whatever works for you and your frying pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides and then remove with a slotted spoon and add to the sauce. When they are all cooked and in the sauce, put the saucepan in the oven on about 150° (or whatever is slightly lower than you would normally roast at in your oven). Leave for at least 30 minutes, and then serve with rice or pasta (or take it out of the oven and freeze in portions).