Cardamom and Chili Chicken and Dal

Cardamom and Chili Chicken with Dal

Dal never looks good in photos (or in real life). No amount of vibrant coriander will make it pretty.  It is the ugly duckling of Indian food. But look past its unfortunate appearance (I think its problem lies in its texture... and maybe colour), and you will find a delicately spiced rough diamond.  This unsung hero of Indian cuisine is surprisingly easy to make - no fancy ingredients and no labourious cooking methods (hurrah!).

If fact, the Cardamon and Chili Chicken skewers are also super easy to make too.  You can leave the chicken marinading for up to a day and then just thread it on to skewers when you're ready to cook.   Superb grilled or cooked on a BBQ they can be eaten hot or cold.  Spicy and fragrant, the bashed Cardamom pods release a wonderful scent that perfumes the chicken.

Whoever said Indian cooking was hard, time consuming and labourious was fibbing.

On a side note, Cardamom also goes amazingly well with chocolate.

Cardamom and Chili Chicken

Makes enough for two

INGREDIENTS:

4 Chicken Breasts diced

For the Marinade

2 Garlic Cloves crushed

1 Tablespoon finely chopped Ginger

Large pinch of Black Pepper

5 Cardamom Pods, bashed

2 Green Chilies, finely chopped

1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1/4 Teaspoon  Ground Turmeric

1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

4 Heaped Tablespoons of Plain Natural Yoghurt

1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

Wooden Skewers

Lemon, for squeezing over the cooked chicken

1. In a bowl (not a metal one), combine all the ingredients for the marinade , then add the diced chicken.
2. Cover with cling film and leave to marinade in the fridge for a least two hours (but up to 24 hours).  
3. Using the wooden skewers, thread on the chicken.
4. Set your grill onto its highest setting, and grill the chicken skewers until cooked and nicely charred on the edges.  Alternatively, BBQ these bad boys.  Squeeze over a generous amount of lemon juice and serve with rice, dal, naan bread, dips, poppadoms and any other Indian accompaniments that take your fancy.

Dal - Makes enough for two.
3 Cloves of Garlic
1 Teaspoon finely chopped Ginger
1 Teaspoon of Ground Coriander
1 Teaspoon of Ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon of Cayenne
1/4 Teaspoon of Ground Turmeric
1/2 Onion finely chopped
2 Medium Tomatoes chopped
100g Red Lentils
500ml Chicken or Vegetable Stock
Handful of Fresh Coriander, chopped

1. In a pan over a medium heat, fry the Onions for two minutes, then add the ginger and garlic and cook for a further two minutes
2. Add the spices and stir well, cook for a further one minute
3. Add the tomatoes, stir and cook for another four minutes
4. Next, add in the lentils and the Stock.  Stir and bring to the boil.  Then turn down the heat to low,  and cover with a lid, for 15 minutes.
5. After 15 minutes, take off the lid and stir.  The lentils probably won't be done, so leave them uncovered for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add more stock or water if the lentils seem to be drying up. Test the lentils, they will be cooked when they are completely soft.  If not done, leave cooking for another 10 minutes and test again.
6. Once cooked, stir in a handful of fresh coriander and serve. 

Roast Belly of Pork with Fennel Seeds

Roast Belly of Pork with Fennel Seeds

Pork belly is criminally underrated. One of the few cuts of meat that can stand being roasted without risk of it drying out, it's tender, moist, and you get crackin' crackling with it.  Despite all this, it's also one of the cheapest cuts that you can buy.  Why? Because, it has a decent amount of fat on it, and, as we've all become fat-phobic, terrified of even a smidge of the glorious white stuff, pork belly all dressed up in its bountiful layers has been condemned to the food sin bin.  But the fat in the belly keeps the meat moist while cooking, which means that you can leave it in the oven for a while before it needs any real intervention.  Once it does come round to serving you will find that most of the fat will have melted away during cooking, leaving wonderfully tender and flavourful meat.     

If you want crackling (who doesn't?!), score the pork skin with a very sharp knife (but not into the actual meat) and rub with a good pinch or two of salt.  I've used Fennel seeds along with salt and pepper to season the pork, as the aniseed flavour works superbly well. 

I have deliberatly not specifed precise quantities of ingredients, for example, how many potatoes you'll need is dependant on how many people your serving (and what else you're serving it with i.e veg). 

INGREDIENTS:

Pork Belly (Approx 300-400g person)

Salt & Pepper - Good few pinches

Fennel Seeds - 1-2 Tablespoons

Onions, sliced, enough to create a 'bed' for the pork (roughly 2 or 3)

Potatoes, Peeled and cut into chunks, enough for everybody

1. Preheat the oven to 220C / 200 C Fan / Gas Mark 7
2. Slice the onions and put them in a roasting tin so that they make a bed for the pork to sit on.  This will stop the underside of the pork from burning. 
3. Score the skin of the pork belly with a very sharp knife and rub in the salt and pepper. 
4. Scatter the fennel seeds over the pork.
5. Peel and chop the potatoes into rough chunks and place around the pork.
6. Place the belly into the oven and cook at 220C / 200 C Fan / Gas Mark 7 for 30 minutes.
7. Turn down the oven to 170C / 150 C Fan / Gas Mark 3 and cook for about two or three hours.  Check the pork every so often just to make sure that its ticking way nicely. You don't need to be too precise with cooking times as it is unlikely that the belly will dry out.  
8. The potatoes will probably be done half way through cooking, so take them out and keep warm for serving later.  
9. It is unlikely that the cracking will be done by the time it comes round to serving, so heat the grill and place the pork ( still in the roasting tin) under the grill.  Keep a watchful eye so that it doesn't burn.  Grill until the crackling has crackled.  
10. Serve with the potatoes, veg and gravy.  

Spicy Moroccan Lamb Stew

Spicy Moroccan Lamb Stew

This stew is essentially a Tagine, albeit without the fancy cooking pot. It takes very little fuss to prepare, a bit of chopping, the opening of some tins and a gentle bubbling in a pan for a few hours.  It all results in a meltingly tender lamb, fragrant, spicy and wonderful. 

The cut of lamb used is fairly important; it needs to have a bit of fat on it, so I use Lamb neck fillet.  The fat eventually melts after a long cooking, but too much fat is not good, so any large bits of fat need to be trimmed off. 

I use typical Moroccan spices to flavour the tagine, such as cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon, along with three spices - cayenne, chili flakes and the brilliant Pimenton de la Vera (Smoked Paprika) to give a hot smokey kick to the stew.  Leave out the chili flakes if you prefer a milder flavour.  

INGREDIENTS (Serves 2 plus leftovers):
2 Tablespoons oil
350g Lamb Neck Fillet, trimmed of unnecessary fat and diced into inch cubes

1 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 Teaspoon Ground Coriander

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne

1/2 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika (Pimenton de la Vera)

1/2 Teaspoon Chili Flakes

1 large Red Onion, thickly sliced
1 large Carrot, peeled and cut into inch cubes
2 Fat Garlic Cloves squished
500ml Chicken Stock
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
1 Tin of cooked Chickpeas, washed and drained
Lemon Juice
Couscous to serve with the stew
Fresh Coriander chopped

1. In a large pan, heat the oil until hot.  Add the trimmed and cubed lamb, and fry until browned all over.  
2. Add in the spices (Cumin, Coriander, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cayenne, Smoked Paprika and Chili Flakes) and stir the lamb so that the pieces are fully coated.  Continue to fry for 2 minutes.  
3. Add in the squished garlic cloves, onions and carrots, turn the heat down and cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  
4. Add in the chicken stock, tomato puree and the tin of chopped tomatoes, stir and turn the heat down low.
5. Cook for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more stock or water if the stew becomes too dry.
6. About 20 minutes before you want to serve, add in a can of drained chickpeas. 
7. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.  
8. Scatter with chopped fresh coriander and serve with a mound of fluffy couscous

Thai Pork Burgers and Lettuce and Lime Salad

Thai Pork Burgers and Lettuce and Lime Salad

These Thai inspired beauties are the new favourite in the house, lighter than a classic beef burger, they are beautifully fragrant and spicy.  They are also a doddle to make, and most of the ingredients for the spice paste were already lying around in my kitchen, so no long searches for obscure ingredients.

These little burgers go superbly well with chunks of roasted sweet potato and/or fragrant Jasmine rice,  and the lettuce and lime salad.  This salad is crisp, bitter, refreshing, salty and zesty, a cleansing balance to the meaty spiciness of the burgers and is pretty delicious.  Close your eyes and you could be in Bangkok.... 

INGREDIENTS:

Thai Pork Burgers (makes enough for 2 greedy people):

500g Minced Pork

Thumb sized piece of Ginger, peeled

4 Garlic Cloves, peeled

2 Chillies

1 Fresh Lemongrass Stalk, outer skin peeled off

1 Small Red Onion

Zest and Juice of one Lime

1 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce

1 Small bunch fresh Coriander, stalks and leaves roughly chopped

1. In a food processor, blend the ginger, garlic, chillies, lemongrass, red onion, soy sauce and lime zest and lime juice until it becomes a paste.
2. Add this to the pork mince with the chopped Coriander and mix with your hands until thoroughly mixed.  
3. Form into small burgers and fry in a little oil until brown and cooked.  Serve with Jasmine Rice and/or roasted Sweet Potato chunks, and the Lettuce and Lime salad.  

Lettuce and Lime Salad

Crisp white lettuce, washed and roughly chopped

Small handful of Coriander, leaves and stalks

10 (or so) Mint leaves

Juice of half a lime (or to taste)

1-2 Spring Onions finely sliced

1 Green Chili, deseeded and finely chopped (optional)

Good pinch of Salt

1. Roughly chop the lettuce and place in a large bowl
2. Finely chop the Coriander, Mint, Spring Onions and Chili and toss with the lettuce leaves.  
3. Squeeze a generous about of lime juice over the salad and a good pinch of salt.  Taste and add more lime juice or salt as necessary.  Serve with the Thai Pork Burgers

Mushroom and Thyme Risotto with Pancetta

Mushroom and Thyme Risotto with Pancetta

I have a new love in my life.  It is slightly embarrassing, but ho hum, here goes, it's... Morrisons.  Yep, the supermarket.  Let me explain, a couple of weeks ago, I visited one of their newfangled fresh market stores and I was utterly blown away.  On sale was the most varied and interesting fruit and veg I have ever seen.  Things that I had never even seen before! It was amazing and I got stupidly excited.  Ohh and there's mist (!).  Some genius has come up with the idea that by spraying a fine mist over the vegetables, it keeps them perkier for longer.  It also looks like some 80's music video (it's the dry ice effect), which is pretty awesome. 

Anyways, I took a trip there (upsettingly, none of these stores are close to me, so it was a special trip) and came across some cool 'shrooms.  I got giant King Oysters, dainty egg yellow chantarelles, and... wait for it... BLUE mushrooms.  Blue! I just had to have them.  

With such ace ingredients I had to make something that would put the mushrooms center stage, so what better way than with a delicious mushroom risotto.  At home, I had some chestnut mushrooms, and also some dried mushrooms waiting to be used, so I added them to the mushroom mix.  The risotto with the mushrooms, thyme and pancetta turned out to be damn good.  Try it.  It's yum...

Make enough for two, plus left overs

INGREDIENTS:
Knob of Butter
1 Stick of Celery, finely chopped
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
2 Fat Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
150g Arborio Risotto Rice (Roughly one mug full)
Small Glass of White Wine
The leaves from a few springs of Fresh Thyme
500ml Hot Stock (Chicken or Vegetable)

Roughly 500g - 700g of Mixed Fresh Mushrooms, chopped.  I used Chestnut, King Oyster, Blue Stalk and Chanterelles.  Use the most interesting you can find - not the boring white mushrooms!    

Small Handful of Dried Mushrooms 

Freshly grated Parmesan

2-3 bits of Pancetta or Smoked Streaky Bacon per person

1. In a mug put the dried mushrooms and pour in some just boiled water to about halfway.  Stir and leave to soak for at least 30 minutes (or see packet instructions). 
2. Put the butter in a large saucepan over a medium-low heat and add in the celery, onions and garlic.  Stir regularly and cook for about 5 minutes, without letting it colour.  
3. Stir in the rice and let it cook for 2 minutes, constantly stirring. 
4. Add in the white wine and stir.  Let it bubble for 3 or so minutes.  Keep stirring so that the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan
5. Add in the chopped  fresh mushrooms. the sprigs of thyme and half of the stock, stir. 
6. Drain the soaked dried mushrooms but reserve the mushroomy water. 
7. Finely chop the soaked mushrooms and stir into the risotto along with the mushroomy water. 
8. Keep stirring the risotto every minute or so.  When most of the stock in the risotto has been absorbed. add in the rest of the stock.  
9. In a frying pan, fry the pancetta or bacon until crispy, drain and cut up into pieces.  
10.  By the time most of the stock in the risotto has been absorbed, the risotto rice should be cooked.  If not, add a bit more stock (or water).  You want the risotto to be quite oozy, so if it looks too thick, add in some stock or water to loosen it. 
11. Take the risotto of the heat, stir in a good grating of Parmesan, fresh black pepper and taste.  Add more pepper, and salt if needed.  
12. Scatter over the pancetta pieces, few thyme leaves and a bit of grated Parmesan and serve.