Madras Bean Curry, with Flat Cut Turmeric Potatoes

A simple vegetarian Madras bean curry, made with kidney beans, black chickpeas, white and red onion, diced orange pepper, Green peas, powdered ginger, carrot, salt, tomato puree, and diced green finger chillies (3).

The black chickpeas were soaked overnight, but the kidney beans and the peas came from tins. The curry was based on those, plus carrots, white onion, Madras curry powder, ginger powder, tomato puree, and diced finger chilli. Cooked for at least an hour and a half under glass.

The dish was served with flat cut potato pieces, cooked in turmeric and salted water for twenty five minutes under glass. Plus a side-serving of finely sliced red onion, strips of orange pepper, and garden peas, steamed for half an hour.

The dish was dressed in a large pinch of coriander leaf. Delicious!

Chickpea Curry with Pilau Rice

Black chickpeas were soaked in water for six hours, until they became soft. Then they were boiled, and I added diced carrot, diced leek, diced green chillies (3), tomato puree, a dessert spoonful of Madras curry powder, half a teaspoonful of powdered ginger, and three crushed garlic cloves. Plus the vegetable stock, and a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric. Cooked slowly under glass for two hours.

The basmati rice was cooked slowly with pilau rice spices, and a pinch of turmeric, for fifteen minutes, in a partially lidded pan.

Served with a garnish of coriander leaf.

Winter Vegetable Stew with Beetroot and Chilli

Beetroot and chilli? It actually works. I'd already made a borscht earlier in the week, so decided to do something different with some beetroot which needed to be eaten.

Essentially this is a vegetable stew made with carrot and onions, turnip and tomato puree. Plus the diced pieces of beetroot. The vegetables were stir-fried in some sunflower oil. The haricot beans came from a can of baked beans which had been in the fridge for a couple of days.

I added water to the stew, three finger chillies, and some vegetable stock. Allowed to simmer on the hob for about an hour at a low heat under glass, stirring occasionally. Add a little oregano before serving.

Served with half a toasted naan bread, or another flatbread of your choice. Delicious!

Spaghetti Chicken Parmigiana

This is a version of the Chicken Parmigiana recipe posted recently, so this is something of a recap.

Made with the meat from two chicken drumsticks, an onion, tomato passata, two cloves of garlic, and 75 grams of finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.  The one difference from the earlier recipe is the addition of four topped green finger chillies.

The chicken drumsticks were preroasted, and still with their skins, into which some sea salt had been rubbed. Both the skins and the flesh were decanted into a small saucepan, together with one diced onion, and a little sunflower oil. Stirfried for four minutes at a medium heat, after which 150g of tomato passata was added, along with the finger chillies.

Simmer for fifteen minutes under glass, with a little black pepper. After that, allow to cool a little for five minutes, and then decant into a tray suitable for grilling.

Grate the cheese into a bowl. Then shake the grated cheese over the surface of the grilling tray, ensuring an even spread (I used a dessert spoon for this). Leave to stand for five minutes while you fire up the grill.

Toast the cheese under the grill for seven to nine minutes (check the progress by eye). When the cheese has melted and browned, remove from the grill rack. Allow to cool for five minutes, then decant into a serving bowl.

Served with spaghetti, boiled with a little turmeric. Delicious!

Peppers & Spring Onion with Rice

A simple vegetarian dish which is quick to make (ten minutes or so). Chop halved red and yellow peppers into strips, and then dice the strips into squares. Dice two large spring onions into similar sized chunks.

Cut the stalks off two finger chillies and add to the mixture. Fry in sunflower oil in a small non-stick pan at a medium heat for about seven minutes, stirring frequently.

Boil the rice (one third of a cup) for five minutes in water with a little sunflower oil added to prevent sticking. Drain, and shock with cold water. Add the rice back to the pan, and add more boiliing water. Cook for a further five minutes, and drain. Add the vegetables and stir together.

Remove the chillies before serving. Serve the dish with a dressing of dark soy sauce.

Ground Pork Chilli Hash

A ground pork chilli was in the fridge, and I used that as the basis of this dish.

The pork chilli component was made with stir-fried pork, onion, red pepper, red chilli. The pork was stir-fried with white onions and diced red pepper in sunflower oil until the pork began to brown. I added water and a hanful of oat flakes (oatmeal will do as well). It was simmered for at least an hour under glass, stirring every few minutes. I added two squeezes of tomato puree, and two dried red chillies, two pinches of dried sage, two pinches of paprika, and two dessert spoonfuls of dark soy sauce. It was cooked  until the dish began to thicken.

The hash was made with chunks of potato, two sliced red onions, some diced green, yellow and red pepper, four chopped spring onions, four finger chillies, a clove of garlic, and a handful of diced celery. The vegetables were stir-fried in sunflower oil until the potato chunks began to brown. After that I added a dessert spoonful of vinegar which had been used to preserve red peppers (ordinary vinegar will do instead), and then two cupfuls of water.

I added the pork chilli, and stirred it in thoroughly. Cooked at a high heat for five minutes, then at a low heat under glass for at least another forty-five minutes. Et voila: ground pork chilli hash. Delicious!

Pepperoni in a Neopolitan Sauce

A simple pepperoni dish served with wheat-free spaghetti.

The ingredients are sliced and diced pepperoni sausage (about 150 g), sliced onion, garlic, hot finger chillies, half a green pepper, sliced, spelt grains, half a carton of tomato passata, diced fresh basil, diced fresh spinach leaves, and some onion gravy granules.

Fry the onions until golden brown, then add the diced pepperoni sausage and the green pepper, and cook for five minutes at a medium heat.

Add boiling water and the tomato passata, and stir together. Add the basil and the spinach, and stir through the sauce. Add the garlic and the finger chillies (remove the stems). Add half a handful of spelt grain, and finally two teaspoonfuls of onion gravy granules. Stir thoroughly until the gravy granules have dissolved.

Simmer under glass at a low heat for about twenty minutes until the sauce is reduced to the required consistency. Serve with spaghetti and freshly ground black pepper.

Thai King Prawn, with Rice and Green Finger Chillies

Thai style king prawns from Vietnam. With coconut, lime leaves, and lime juice.

A  prawn dish which was intended to be consumed as part of an Asian salad with Asian pickles. I chose to make something different with them.

I made a Thai style sauce, using a teaspoonful of Thai spices, with red peppers, onion, coconut, garlic and four green finger chillies This was allowed to simmer for ten minutes before the prawns were added.

The prawns were pre-heated in a steamer for about ten minutes. Add to the sauce, and simmer for three to five minutes.

Served with basmati rice on a spiral of dark soy sauce.  Garnished here with two padron peppers.

Beef Burger with Barbecue Sauce

I bought a pack of burgers from Sainsbury's at a good price. I don't do burger buns with cheese, etc., so I decided to make a barbecue sauce for them with some healthy vegetables.

The ingredients of the sauce are: two small white onions, two thirds of a red and green pepper, three cloves of garlic, two small chopped finger chillies, a teaspoonful of powdered coriander, 150g of tomato passata, and half a teaspoonful of smoked paprika.

The onion was sliced and cooked at a medium heat until it began to go golden brown. Then I added the chopped peppers and the other vegetables. Cooked for ten minutes at a low heat, then I added boiling water. Then the passata, the powdered coriander, and the smoked paprika. Cooked for twenty minutes. No cornflour thickening required.

The burger had already been pan-fried the day before, so much of the fat in it had gone. I put it in an omelette pan with a drizzle of sunflower oil from a jar of grilled peppers (imparts great flavour!), and covered it with a glass lid. Cooked thoroughly for fifteen minutes at a low heat, and turned once or twice before serving.

Served with a chopped fresh spring onion, a dusting of black pepper and shredded coriander leaf. Delicious and simple! Cajun seasoning for the barbecue sauce is an alternative option.

Beef in Oyster and Spring Onion Sauce

Stir-fried beef strips, with batoned carrots, chopped onion, and sliced red pepper and three finger chillies.

The beef strips came from a roast, so did not to be cooked from scratch. Everything else was. The onion, red pepper, carrot and chillies were stir-fried for five to seven minutes at a medium heat. Then the beef strips were added, and the contents of the wok cooked for another five minutes.

Then the oyster and spring onion sauce was added, with a little water, and the mixture was further cooked at a low simmer for another half an hour. Served with Basmati rice cooked with two pinches of Sumac.