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.

Naan Bread

 

MUNCH RATING: 4.5/5

 

I copied this recipe into my recipe book ages ago, but I didn’t write down where I got it from. After the nice naan bread that I’d made using the Hairy Bikers’ recipe, Steve was reluctant for me to try a different recipe. But I love to try new recipes, particularly as the Hairy Bikers’ one wasn’t perfect enough to warrant a 5/5 Munch Rating!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

The only thing I changed was the amount of yoghurt I used. The recipe said to use 4 tablespoons, but when I measured it out from a 150g pot there was only about another tablespoon left and I didn’t want to put it back in the fridge or in the bin so I just added it to the mix.

 

I also only used ½ teaspoon salt as I always try to cut down on salt. Perhaps that’s why they weren’t as tasty as they could have been, but I would rather add healthier flavourings, like herbs and spices, than add more salt.

 

TASTE TEST:

I made 6 small naans that were about the size of a small side plate. They were just the right size when served with curry and rice.

 

Steve said these were the closest I’ve got to making naan bread like you get from a restaurant or from a packet from a shop. They had a lovely soft texture and went really well with the curry we had (leftover from a Keema Pie I made). They didn’t get a full 5/5 because they needed more flavour, as we couldn’t really taste the garlic or onion seeds.

 

But this is definitely going to be the naan bread recipe that I’m going to stick to and just experiment with different flavourings. Not only does it taste better, but it has less ingredients than the Hairy Bikers’ recipe.

 

• Makes: 4 large or 6 small naans
• You will need: a large bowl, a large non-stick frying pan

 

Ingredients:

• 250g plain flour (plus extra for dusting/kneading)
• 7g sachet fast action dried yeast (I used Allinson Easy Bake Yeast)
• ½ – 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 level Tablespoon black onion seeds
• 1x 150g pot natural yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 100ml warm water
• sunflower oil for greasing

 

Directions:

1. Sift the flour, stir in the yeast, salt and black onion seeds.
2. Mix together the yoghurt, garlic and the warm water, then pour this onto the dry ingredients.
3. Mix to form a soft dough, then knead on a floured board for 5-8 minutes until the dough is soft and elastic (you may need a couple of handfuls of extra flour).
4. Place the dough back in the bowl and cover with cling film/plastic bag and leave to prove for 30-45 minutes until roughly doubled in size.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and split into 4-6 pieces. Flatten and stretch the dough until approx. ½ cm thick (cover with a tea towel if not cooking straight away).
6. Lightly grease the frying pan with the oil (use a piece of kitchen towel to mop up any excess oil and use this to continue oiling the pan) then fry the naan in batches over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes on one side until golden brown, then use the oiled kitchen towel to lightly oil the naan on the uncooked side and flip over and cook for another 3-5 minutes.

 

COOK’S TIPS:

• Cooked naans can be frozen. Store them in an airtight container with greaseproof paper in between them. To reheat: bake in an oven from frozen at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C for about 5-7 minutes.
• The warm water that you add to the dough should be quite hot, but cool enough to be able to stick your finger in it for a few seconds.

 

NUTRITION:

• 150 calories, 0.6g fat per large naan

Devilled Mackerel with potatoes and spinach

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

We got two whole mackerels in the weekly shop so I searched for a recipe on the BBC Good Food website and found this one.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I halved the recipe as I was only cooking for myself and Steve. I stuck to the majority of the recipe, except I fried the potatoes on their own for about 10 minutes to get them nice and brown, then I added the chopped onion. I also used an ovenproof pan instead of using a roasting tray.

 

TASTE TEST:

We really liked the dish except Steve wasn’t too keen on the bones in the mackerel! He would have much preferred fillets of fish as it took him so long to pick out the bones that his fish went cold. I would definitely make the potatoes and spinach again as it made a quick and easy side dish.

 

I had to gut the fish myself and Steve’s Mum asked if they had any roe inside. I said one had soft roe and the other one had hard roe. She was a bit gutted (no pun intended!) that I’d thrown them away as she loves eating the hard roe! So I must remember to save them for her next time!

 

• Serves: 2
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C

 

Ingredients:

• 2 mackerel, cleaned, gutted and heads chopped off
• 2 tbsp curry paste (I used Patak’s Rogan Josh)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 400g potatoes, cubed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 large handfuls of spinach

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C. Make a couple of slashes in both sides of the fish and rub with half the curry paste. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan/roasting tray, then fry the potatoes for about 10 mins until starting to brown, then add the onion and cook for a further 5 minutes.
2. Stir the remaining curry paste into the potatoes, then sit the fish on top and roast for 20-25 mins (I cooked mine for 20 mins as they were quite small) until the fish and potatoes are cooked.
3. Lift the fish onto plates, then place the potatoes back over a high heat. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for 1-2 mins until completely wilted. Scoop out and serve with the fish.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• If using fillets of fish, roast the potatoes for 15 mins before adding the fish, then roast for 10 mins more.

Naan Bread – Hairy Bikers

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

In their ‘Hairy Bakers’ series Simon and Dave made naan bread when they visited the Peak District. I’ve made flatbread before, which was good, but their naan bread looked really lovely and more authentic. So I looked up the recipe online and found it on the bbc.co.uk website.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I had to halve the recipe because I only had a 150g pot of natural yoghurt (which worked out as 100ml) but it worked out fine. It was a really sticky dough and I only used about 100ml of the 150ml of milk. With most bread recipes you have to use the recipe quantities as a loose guide and adjust them as different types of flour need a different amount of liquid.

 

The website recipe said to knead for 20-25 minutes, which I thought was really excessive, so I only kneaded for about 10 minutes and it was fine. I decided to double check the recipe by watching the episode again on YouTube. I found that the method was completely different, in that they added the ingredients in a different order. Plus on the show Si says to knead for 15-20 minutes, which I think is still quite a long time for bread.

 

It was an easy dough to work with because it was so soft and kneading it was easy, apart from the stickiness. I had to add quite a lot of flour, but if you watch the video of the episode then you will see Dave spill flour all over the board because the top falls off the flour duster and Si says “That’ll do, that’s perfect that dude!” so I wouldn’t worry if you need a lot of flour.

 

I would advise to add the milk to the dough very gradually, so I would follow the “wrong” BBC recipe as it tells you to add the milk at the end.

 

TASTE TEST:

Despite the BBC website providing the “wrong” method, my naan bread was actually really nice. But it wasn’t like proper naan bread from an Indian restaurant, it was more like focaccia, which is still delicious! So I would make this recipe again, but I would treat it like a focaccia bread or pizza and load it with toppings.

 

So here’s the BBC recipe that I’ve adapted to show the half recipe:

 

• Makes: 4 or 8
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 9/475°F/240°C

 

Ingredients:

Full recipe – makes 8	Half recipe - makes 4
500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 2 tsp dried yeast 2 tsp poppy seeds* 2 tsp fennel seeds* ½ tsp salt ½ tsp baking powder 1 free-range egg, beaten 2 tsp olive oil, plus extra for glazing 200ml (300g) plain yoghurt 300ml whole milk, warmed	250g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting 1 tsp dried yeast 1 tsp poppy seeds*  1 tsp fennel seeds* ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp baking powder ½ free-range egg, beaten 1 tsp olive oil, plus extra for glazing 100ml (150g) plain yoghurt 150ml whole milk, warmed

* I substituted the poppy and fennel seeds for cumin seeds.

 

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, yeast, poppy and fennel seeds, salt and baking powder in a large bowl until well combined.
2. Add the egg, olive oil and yoghurt and stir with a plastic spatula until well combined.
3. Add two thirds of the warm milk to the dough mixture and stir until well combined. Gradually add the remaining milk as necessary until the dough is smooth and soft (you may not need all the milk).
4. Using floured hands, knead the dough on a clean, floured work surface for 10 minutes, or until soft and elastic. Put the dough into a clean lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and set aside in a warm, draught-free place for one hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
5. When the dough has risen, divide it into 4 or 8 parts. Using your hands, stretch and flatten each of the naans until they are thin and even, then transfer to a baking sheet. Brush each naan with olive oil.
6. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 9/475°F/240°C.
7. Bake the naan breads for 7-10 minutes, or until pale golden-brown but still soft inside.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can freeze them after they have been baked. Defrost and then reheat in the oven at Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C for about 5-7 minutes.

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.

Flatbread/Naan

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I made these last night to go with my Massaman Curry and they were really nice, just like naan bread from an Indian restaurant! I got the recipe from BBC Good Food and the dough is basically the same as for pizza or foccacia, you just cook it in a dry frying pan. They’re really easy to make so I’ll definitely be making these again, although I put the rest in the freezer (uncooked) so I have a ready-made supply to last me a while!*

I read the comments that other people had left about the recipe on the Good Food website and I tried cooking them both slowly on a low heat and faster on a higher heat. The results were much better on the higher heat, as the bread puffed up so it got the distinctive air bubbles and it was crispy on the outside by still nice and soft inside. On the low heat it just became too crispy. I followed everyone else’s advice and rolled my breads as thinly as possible and I agree that the recipe does not give you 250g portions!

Next time I will probably add some garlic or crushed coriander seeds to jazz them up a bit.

• Makes: 8 flatbreads

Ingredients:

• 500g strong white flour
• 2 tsp salt
• 7g sachet fast-action yeast (I used 1 tsp Doves Farm Quick Yeast)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 300ml lukewarm water

Directions:

1. Mix the flour, salt, yeast and oil in a large bowl and add enough water to make a soft, but not sloppy, dough.
2. Knead well (for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springs back when gently pressed).
3. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size (I find the airing cupboard is a good place!).
4. Divide the dough into 8 pieces (about 100g each) and use a rolling pin to flatten each one into a circle, 15cm in diameter. Try to roll them as thinly as possible, about 2-3mm thick. Then leave the pieces on a lightly floured baking tray to prove for 5 minutes.
5. Heat a large frying pan to a medium heat and dry-fry each piece until browned on both sides, about 5 minutes in total. Set aside to cool slightly before serving.

* FREEZING:
The recipe on the website says you can freeze these, but it didn’t say whether to freeze them cooked or uncooked. I froze mine uncooked, with layers of greaseproof paper between them. Unfortunately I think you’re supposed to freeze them cooked, because they have been a disaster when I’ve tried to cook them! I did defrost them before cooking. The first time I left them to defrost on the greaseproof and they stuck like mad, so that was a mistake. So the second time I peeled them off the greaseproof and laid them on some Magic Non-Stick liner to defrost. I tried cooking them in the oven for 15 minutes at Gas 4, but they were like cardboard. Dry frying them in the pan didn’t work either. So I’m going to try freezing them cooked next time!

Curried Potato Pasties

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

I made these ages ago but I didn’t take a photo because I couldn’t wait to eat them! Luckily I kept some in the freezer and we had them for lunch today. They were just as nice cooked from frozen.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
This recipe is from BBC Good Food, but I tweaked the recipe and added sweet potato, which adds a lovely sweet flavour and compliments the curry flavour. Because I added an equal quantity of sweet potato to normal potato, I had some leftover potato filling so I’m going to use it to make fish cakes.

I used the other 340g block of puff pastry (from the pack that I bought for the Duck Puffs) to make these tasty little pasties. I have changed the method for rolling out the pastry to make it easier.

• Makes 8 and I would serve 2 per person
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 30 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 300g/10oz potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm dice
• 300g/10oz sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1cm dice (optional)
• 100g/4oz frozen peas
• 2 teaspoon oil
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 1-2 teaspoon curry paste (I used 2 tsp curry powder, ½ tsp chilli powder and 1 Tbsp tomato ketchup instead)
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds (I didn’t use these)
• Juice of ½ lemon (About 1 tablespoon)
• handful coriander, chopped (I hate this stuff so didn’t use it)
• 340-375g block of ready-rolled puff pastry
• 1 egg, beaten 

Directions:

1. Heat a large pan of water, add the potatoes, then cook for 8 minutes until just soft. Add the peas 1 minute before the end of cooking time. Drain, then set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until soft and slightly coloured. Add the curry paste/powder mix and mustard seeds, then fry for a few minutes more until the mixture smells fragrant. Carefully stir in the potatoes and peas, trying not to mash them. Add the lemon juice and coriander, then leave to cool.
3. Heat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Place your pastry block onto a lightly floured surface and cut it into 8 even sized rectangles. Roll each rectangle flat until it is approximately 3x5 inches in size. Place about a tablespoon of the potato filling onto one half of the rectangle, then brush the edges with beaten egg and then fold the pastry rectangle in half to cover the filling. Pinch the edges together along the 3 open edges to seal the parcel.
4. Place on a baking tray, lined with greaseproof paper and brush with more egg and bake for 20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown. 

COOK'S NOTES:

• If you need to re-roll your puff pastry, stack the trimmings on top of each other to keep the layers. 
• Freezing: don’t brush with beaten egg if you want to freeze the pasties and cook for 30 minutes if cooking from frozen.

You might also be interested in: Duck Puffs

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.