Panko Fish with Katsu Curry Sauce

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

When I was in the Chinese supermarket with my brother and we walked past the Panko breadcrumbs I told him that’s what is used to make Chicken Katsu Curry like in Wagamamas. So he asked how do I make the curry sauce and I told him I use the Golden Curry sauce mix (Medium Hot). So he bought some, but I’m not sure if he’s used it yet. So this recipe is for you Greg!

 

 

In the packet there are 2 foil-sealed blocks of the sauce mix and each block has 4 squares. The instructions say a whole packet will make enough sauce to serve 5, but I use just 1 square to make enough sauce for myself and Steve. I calculated the amount of water is 175ml to create a nice thick sauce.

 

 

Chicken Katsu is traditionally deep fried, but I don’t really like deep frying so I always shallow fry for about 5-10 minutes until crispy and golden brown and cooked through. Fish cooks a lot quicker and only needs a few minutes each side. After I learned my new trick to breadcrumb chicken using only oil (instead of using flour and egg first - see Creamy Chicken Kiev) I used the same method for the fish and it worked really well.

 

Steve likes his curry with brown rice, but I decided to have some roasted squash and sweet potatoes with mine.

 

• Serves: 2

 

Ingredients:

• 2 fillets of white fish (I used tilapia), cut into smaller pieces if very large
• Olive oil
• 2 handfuls of Panko breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil
• 1 square of Golden Curry sauce
• 175ml hot water

 

Directions:

1. Coat the fish (or chicken) with the olive oil, then coat well with the breadcrumbs.
2. Heat a few Tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large frying pan and then add the fish when the oil is hot (test the temperature by dropping a few breadcrumbs in and if they sizzle then it’s ready). Fry the fish for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy.
3. Meanwhile, make the curry sauce by putting the hot water in a small saucepan, then add the square of curry sauce and whisk constantly over a medium heat until the square has dissolved and you have a nice thick sauce.

Lamb and Lentil Curry

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

When I was in Sainsburys looking for some stewing lamb I found a boneless lamb shoulder, which worked out cheaper than those packets of diced lamb. As it was boneless it was easy to cut up into pieces and I managed to make 2 meals from the joint. One was a Thai Massaman Curry and the other was this curry.

 

I adapted a recipe from an old Fresh magazine and I cooked it in my Tefal 4-in-1. The meat was meltingly tender and had incredible flavour as the lamb shoulder had a good bit of fat on it.

 

I served it with brown rice and home-made naan bread.

 

• Serves: 2 (the amount of sauce could serve 4 people if you double the meat)

 

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 500g lamb shoulder (or leg) cut into 4cm chunks
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 Tablespoons of Rogan Josh Curry Paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tin of water
• 1 Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste Beef)
• 2 handfuls of split red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 whole green chilli, poked a few times with a knife

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the lamb in batches until lightly browned all over. Remove the lamb from the pan (set aside in the Tefal cooking bowl) leaving the oil in the pan.
2. Add the onions and pepper to the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until soft and golden.
3. Return the lamb to the pan, stir in the curry paste and fry for a couple of minutes to release the spices.
4. Add the tomatoes, tin of water, the Tablespoon of concentrated liquid stock, the red lentils and the green chilli.
5. Bring to the boil, then transfer to the Tefal cooking bowl. Cook for 4-5 hours. You can transfer the curry back into the pan and simmer uncovered to thicken the sauce whilst you cook the rice in the Tefal.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can cook this on the hob by covering the pan and simmering gently for 1 hour 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Or you can cook it in the oven at Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C for 2-2½ hours.

Keema Pie with rosti topping

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

I’ve had a keema pie recipe from a really old issue of Delicious magazine sitting in my recipe folder for quite a while, but never got around to making it. It’s basically an Indian version of shepherds/cottage pie. What prompted me to try it was seeing another recipe in the April issue of Delicious which had a rosti topping instead of mash. Steve isn’t a huge fan of potatoes, so I consulted him on what his preference was and he decided that the rosti topping would be the lesser of two evils!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

The new recipe uses lamb mince, but the old recipe uses beef mince, so it seems that they’re interchangeable. I used beef mince as that’s what I had available, but I only had 500g instead of the 750g the recipe said to use. I also substituted the 5 large skinned vine tomatoes for a tin of plum tomatoes as it was more convenient.

 

I only used about 1½ green chilies as they were really hot when I tasted a sample, so I also omitted the ½ teaspoon of hot chili powder as I have a tendency to make food too hot! But the finished dish wasn’t all that hot and I think using all the chili and the powder would have been OK.

 

MY SKIN IS ON FIRE!

I suffered really badly from the chili burning the skin on my hands, so I did a search on Google and I found the solution of rubbing salt onto my hands. I used coarse sea salt and I rubbed it on dry, which worked quite well and removed the really stinging burning sensation. But I discovered there was still some chili on my skin when I went to take my contact lenses out and my eyeballs started burning! So I used the salt again using wet hands and it seemed to have worked as it didn’t hurt when I put my contacts in this morning. So next time I will chop the garlic, ginger and chilies in my mini chopper to avoid so much contact with my skin!

 

TASTE TEST:

We both really liked the flavour of the mince as the spices were really nice, but it was a bit too watery. Next time I will leave the lid off the pan when simmering. I would also leave out the spinach, as even though I squeezed out the water I’m sure it released more water when baking. The old keema pie recipe uses peas instead, which is a much better idea and actually more traditional.

 

We were both disappointed with the rosti topping as it didn’t go very crispy, even though I’d also shoved the pie under the grill. Steve thinks the sweet potato was to blame. Making this topping was sooooo much extra work and totally not worth the effort! So next time I would just use a mash potato topping, or even just serve the mince with some rice.

 

The recipe below is how I made it and not the actual recipe from the magazine.

• Serves: 4
• Takes: 1 hour 45 minutes to make
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C

 

Ingredients:

• 3 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Knob of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 long green chilies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 teaspoon coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon hot chili powder
• 500g beef mince
• 300ml beef stock (I used Knorr Touch of Taste)
• 400g tin peeled plum tomatoes, discard the juice
• 200g spinach
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 medium potato, coarsely grated
• 1 medium sweet potato, coarsely grated
• 1 medium onion, finely sliced

 

Directions:

1. Heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion, season well and fry until softened. Add the finely garlic, ginger and green chilies and fry for a couple of minutes.
2. In a separate pan, dry-fry the cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant, then crush in a pestle and mortar with the turmeric and chili powder until finely ground. Add to the onion mixture and fry for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the mince, increase the heat and fry for about 10 minutes until the meat is brown, Drain off the excess fat, then add the stock and tomatoes, breaking them up as you mix them in. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the meat is cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly (remove the lid if it’s too watery).
4. Put the spinach in a colander over a large saucepan and pour over a kettle of boiling water, then refresh in cold water. Squeeze out the excess water. Stir through the curry with the lemon juice and garam masala and season to taste.
5. Put the pan of hot water that you used to wilt the spinach on the heat and bring back to the boil, then place the potato, sweet potato and onion into it and blanch for 30 seconds. Drain, then tip into a clean tea towel and squeeze out all the excess liquid. Place in a bowl and toss with the remaining oil and season.
6. Tip the keema into a large ovenproof dish and top with the blanched rosti topping.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C until the rosti is golden on top – place under a hot grill for 5 minutes if it’s still not brown enough!

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• This dish can be frozen at stage 6. Bake for 40 minutes from frozen at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C.

Chicken Tikka Shashlik

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

I first came across Shashlik when Steve had a Chicken Tikka Shashlik Masala Curry in a curry house a few years ago. It’s not a dish that I’ve seen on any other Indian restaurant menu. This is basically the same thing without the masala sauce.

Shashlik is essentially meat on a stick. Apparently it originally comes from central Asia, but there are versions from Russia, Turkey and Pakistan.
Pieces of lamb or chicken are marinated in spices and either oil and lemon juice or in this case yoghurt. The meat is then threaded onto skewers with pieces of onion, green pepper and tomato and traditionally cooked in a tandoor or over a charcoal grill. I had to settle for under the grill.

The chicken was really nicely cooked and the marinade gave it loads of flavour and kept it moist. The vegetables became quite nice and charred, but Steve said it wasn’t quite the same as in the restaurant. I think the grill struggled to get hot enough.

Overall, Shashlik is a healthier way to have curry as it’s not laden with lots of cream or ghee, plus it’s grilled. I served it with rice, but I think it would actually be much better stuffed into a soft naan bread and slathered with loads of mayonnaise. Hey, I never said I was on a diet!

• Serves: 2
• You will need: 8 bamboo skewers, soaked in water

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs, deboned and cut into large chunks
• 2 Tablespoons curry paste (I used Korma)
• 2 Tablespoons natural yoghurt
• ½ onion, cut into wedges and layers separated
• ½ green pepper, cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix the chicken, curry paste and yoghurt. Cover tightly (unless you want to stink out your whole fridge) and leave in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
2. Preheat your grill to high.
3. Thread pieces of chicken, onion, pepper and tomato onto your skewers, leaving a gap at the end so you can turn them.
4. Cover a baking tray with foil (this will save on washing up) and place your kebabs on the tray and season with a little salt and pepper.
5. Cook under the grill for 15-20 minutes, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables are nicely charred.

COOK’S NOTES:

• If using lamb or chicken breast instead of thighs, then they should only take about 10-12 minutes to cook.

Thai Massaman Curry

MUNCH RATING: 5/5
This is more of a stew than a curry, but it’s delicious and there is just enough spice to make your tongue tingle. The sauce is thick and even though it contains the obligatory coconut milk, the tamarind gives it a nice zing, so I don’t find it as sickly as normal Thai Red Curry. Steve doesn’t normally like potatoes, but they’re a common ingredient in this dish, and he really liked them in this as they soaked up a lot of flavour from the sauce and were nice and sweet.

I’ve found that Massaman/Mussaman paste isn’t that widely available in your average supermarket, so I bought mine from www.bartspices.com (it is also available from Waitrose). I’ve also bought a different brand from a Chinese supermarket, which was better value but wasn't nearly as good as the Barts one. The paste usually contains chilli, shallot, tamarind, coriander and lemongrass and it is Muslim in origin.

I adapted this recipe I’d saved from one of Steve’s Neo Magazines. I slow-cooked this is my Tefal 4-in-1, but you could cook it on your stove top or in the oven for a couple of hours.

• Serves: 2 very generously with rice (or 4 if serving with starters or other dishes)
• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6-9 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil for frying
• 500g stewing beef or lamb*
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 350g new potatoes, washed and cut in half (new potatoes hold their shape better, I used Charlotte’s)
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons massaman curry paste (I used Bart’s)
• 400ml can coconut milk (I used reduced fat)
• 200ml vegetable stock
• 2 teaspoons tamarind paste (I used Bart’s)
• 2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce (or fish sauce)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Heat a Tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and fry your meat until brown and sealed. Put into your slow cooker.
2. Fry the onions, potatoes and garlic until golden brown**. Add these to the slow cooker.
3. Add a little more oil to the pan, then fry the curry paste on a high heat for a couple of minutes, until it smells really fragrant.
4. Take the pan off the heat, then add the coconut milk and stir it in really well. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly.
5. Add the stock, tamarind paste, soy/fish sauce and sugar, then boil the sauce for 5-10 minutes to thicken until it has reduced by a third.
6. Add the sauce to the slow cooker and stir well to coat all the ingredients in the pot.
7. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 6 hours cooking time.
8. Transfer the curry to a large pan and simmer for 10 minutes to thicken the sauce a bit more.
9. Meanwhile cook the rice in the cooker, which should take about 20 minutes.

*It is most commonly made with beef, but I used lamb as that’s what I had in the freezer. I used 1 inch cubes of frozen lamb, which I cut into smaller 1 cm pieces after I’d browned them in the pan (this makes the meat more tender and it goes further!).

**For the best results it’s important to brown the meat, onions and potatoes. I have tried adding potatoes without browning them first and it just wasn’t as good!

Butter Chicken Curry

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

When I first got my Tefal 4-in-1 I was desperate to find some decent slow cooker recipes and this is one I found on a forum. I’ve never had Butter Chicken in an Indian restaurant or as a takeaway, but the ingredients sounded nice and it was a simple recipe to follow.

This was the first time I’ve cooked chicken in the slow cooker and it was amazingly tender! We did enjoy the curry, but we couldn’t taste the butter so I would leave it out next time to save on calories! I would also increase the amount of spices as it needed a bit more flavour and chilli!

• Serves: 2 generously
• Cooking time: 4-5 hours

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken thigh fillets, quartered
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger (or ½ tsp ground)
• ¼ teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1 tsp ground)
• 6 cardamom pods, bruised (or 1-2 tsp seeds or ground – I left these out)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoons sugar (I used honey)
• Salt and pepper
• ½ cup cream, plus extra if desired

Directions:

1. Heat a little oil in a large frying pan and brown chicken. Transfer to preheating slow cooker.
2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, frying gently until the onion is softened.
3. Add butter and spices, and continue frying gently until spices are fragrant.
4. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and increase heat to med - med/high. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring until mixture has thickened.
5. Add cream and stir well to combine.
6. Remove from heat and pour into slow cooker, stirring to distribute the sauce evenly. Replace lid and slow cook for ½ hour on high (if using traditional slow cooker), then about 3-5 hours on low, stirring occasionally.
7. Remove cardamom and cinnamon stick. Add extra cream or yoghurt to taste.

Slow cooked Lamb Korma Curry

MUNCH RATING:3/5

 

I’ve been using my Tefal 4-in-1 to slow cook quite a few dishes and so far they’ve all been successful! For this lamb korma I used 1 packet of frozen casserole lamb which comes cut in 1 inch cubes and it’s really handy as you can cook from frozen.

 

I’d read that some people worry about using milk or coconut milk in their slow cookers, as they worry it will boil over. I didn’t have any problems using coconut milk in this recipe, but it’s probably because the Tefal 4-in-1 has such a large, deep bowl.

 

I used the Tefal 4-in-1 to cook my rice as well, so I had to transfer the curry to a pan, but this allowed me to thicken the sauce and finish cooking the potatoes.

 

Steve and I managed to eat all of this between us (because we’re extremely greedy, but we did feel ill afterwards!), but the amount of sauce would serve 4 people and you can double up the amount of lamb and potatoes for healthy appetites.

• Tefal 4-in-1 Slow Cook: 6 hours
• Tefal 4-in-1 Rice Cook: 20 minutes

 

Ingredients:

• 500g/1lb casserole lamb, cubed
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 4 tablespoons (about ½ jar) korma paste (I used Pataks)
• 1 400ml can coconut milk
• 8 small potatoes (about the size of plums), peeled

 

Directions:

1. In a large pan brown the lamb in a little bit of oil – you will probably need to do this in batches. Once brown put the lamb into the slow cooker (at this stage I switch my slow cooker on to warm it up and set it for 5 hours).
2. Add the onion to the pan and sauté until golden brown, then put the onion into the slow cooker.
3. Put the korma paste into the pan and gently fry for about 1 minute until the paste smells fragrant. Add the coconut milk and stir it into the paste until you get a nice smooth sauce. Bring it to the boil and then pour it into the slow cooker. Stir the sauce into the lamb and onions so that they are evenly coated.
4. Close the lid and check you have the slow cooker set for 5 hours cooking time.
5. Once 5 hours have passed, add the potatoes and cook for another 1 hour.
6. After 6 hours cooking, the lamb should be soft and tender. Transfer the curry to a large pan, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Then remove the lid and simmer for another 10 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.
7. Meanwhile cook the rice, which should take about 20 minutes.

Chicken Tikka Masala

MUNCH RATING: 4/5
 
This is a dish you will need to prepare in advance as you need to marinate the chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight. This makes the chicken lovely and tender and really flavoursome. I served this with pilaf rice which I cooked in my Tefal 4-in-1 rice cooker, but you can do this in the oven using this pilaf recipe.

This dish is actually really easy to make, as the sauce is basically a spicy tomato and onion sauce laced with cream or yoghurt.

• Serves 4

Ingredients:
About 4 – 6 Chicken pieces, cut into 2 inch chunks (I always use thighs but they tend to vary in size, so I allow at least 1 large thigh per person and add a couple extra).

FOR THE MARINADE

• 4 cm /1 ½ inches ginger, grated
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon garam masala*
• 1 teaspoon curry powder*
• ½ teaspoon chilli powder*
• ½ ground cumin*
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is about half of a 150ml pot)

FOR THE SAUCE

• ½ onion, chopped (use the other ½ for the pilaf rice)
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 or 3 tinned plum tomatoes or third of a tin of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml chicken or vegetable stock
• 5 tablespoons natural yoghurt (this is the other half of the 150ml pot) or double cream for a creamier, less tangy flavour.
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional) 

Directions:

1. Make the Marinade: Put the ginger, garlic, spices, salt and lemon juice into a wide shallow non-metallic dish and mix into a smooth paste, then add the chicken and mix to coat thoroughly. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 8 hours or overnight.
2. Make the sauce: Fry the onion in a tablespoon of oil until softened and golden brown. (If making pilaf rice then set aside ½ of the onion at this stage). Stir in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes, adding a splash of water if it starts to catch on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomatoes and stir over a high heat for a few minutes until they have broken down. Add the chicken stock and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened. Take off the heat and use a blender to make the sauce smooth. Return to the heat and stir in the yoghurt or double cream and honey.
3. Cook the chicken: Heat the grill to its highest setting. Arrange the chicken pieces on an oven tray and cook for 5-10 minutes until charred at the edges, then turn the chicken pieces over and cook for a further few minutes until completely cooked through.
4. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce, along with any juices from the oven tray and give it a good stir. Heat through until piping hot and serve with rice.

COOK'S NOTES:
You can adjust the spice mix to your own tastes or whatever you have in the cupboard. The 4 main spices used in curries are: turmeric, cumin, chilli and ground coriander. These were the main spices that were in my curry powder and garam masala and I added extra cumin and chilli as ‘top notes’ to my curry.