Coconut and Pine Nut Crusted Chicken

So taking inspiration from TV cooking shows, such as Masterchef and Great British Menu, I decided to make this Monday meal. This was me really trying to balance flavours and have particular ingredients running throughout. Normally I like to take inspiration from various recipes, however, this time I got a bit creative.

 

It it begins with sweet potato purée, made with cream, garlic and smoked paprika. Followed by garlic and cream spinach. Coconut and pine nuts helped to create the crumb, alongside butter and chilli flakes. After cooking, the chicken sat on a bed of tomato, chilli and coriander salsa.

 

I think the next stop for me is cooking fish! Tilapia perhaps?!

Jeera Chicken

I’ve always been a boneless and skinless chicken eater, to be more specific, I previously only ate boneless breast meat! However, after influence from my boyfriend and the women at the local butchers, I have decided to branch out. This jeer chicken recipe is made using thigh meat. The end product was super soft, moist and tender, as well as flavour packed!

 

The recipe I used was http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-jeera-213808 and didn’t even take too long. So for a delicious and relatively quick meal, try this! I jazzed up the recipe by finishing it in theoven with some onions.

Chilli paneer just like in the restaurants!

Every time we go to an Indian restaurant (normally in North London), we order at least one portion of Chilli Paneer. But actually it’s quite easy to make at home. Sticky, spicy and colourful, this dish has it all. For those of you who do not know what paneer is, it is a fresh, white, unsalted cheese. When shallow fried you can get a gorgeous golden colour on it. The real flavour comes from the garlic and chilli.

 

I didn’t use a recipe for this but I’ve used this one before and it was great.

 

http://indianhealthyrecipes.com/chilli-paneer-recipe/

 

Tandoori Cauliflower

Sometimes I need a break from meat and tandoori cauliflower is a lovely substitute. On cookery programmes I’ve seen cauliflower crisps, puréed cauliflower and even cauliflower mousses. It seems cauliflower is the in thing and vegetarians love it. The flavours in this recipe were tasty and a welcome star to my dish. Simply marinate and bake. Easy!

Why not try creating cauliflower steaks on the BBQ this summer?!

Check out this easy to follow recipe:

 

http://www.cookwithkushi.com/tandoori-cauliflower/

 

 

Lamb shanks in a spicy garam masala sauce

Dan Toombs has some fantastic recipes, so I would definitely recommend checking him out. This little treasure was a first for me. Never have I made lamb shank, actually never have I even been into a butchers! But yesterday I did. For just £10 I got two quality shanks! Totally worth it. This recipe contains a rich, flavourful red wine and garam masala sauce, which was reduced to be thick and sticky! Served with masala mash (which I used a mixture of sweet potato and potato) and minted green veg, this was a delicious weekday treat!

 

http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2013/09/09/lamb-shanks-with-a-spicy-garam-masala-sauce/

Nothing beats a chicken curry!

So us Brits adore a curry, but this one is a little different to my usual. This is a Sri Lankan style chicken curry, with lots of delicious coconut. Thank you to The Curry Guy for this fantastic recipe.

Why not give it a try:

https://www.cooked.com/uk/Dan-Toombs/Quadrille-Publishing/The-Curry-Guy/The-classic-British-curries/Chicken-ceylon-recipe

In the beginning we master the basics!

As a British Indian, what is the first food you should be able to cook? Roti or rotli. Simple enough, right? Wrong! Perfecting the skill of producing soft, circular delicious rotlis is on par with running 100m. We can all do it, but not many of us can do it as fast as Usain Bolt. So for my first challenge I thought I had better start running! The first one I made was surprisingly round, so filled with confidence I produced a second. Success- my rotli began to turn just like the millions I’ve watched being made in the past. However, with confidence and success filling every roll I did, came arrogance. Suddenly, I noticed my third attempt starting to square off. Quick, stop! Start again? No need, my wise mum was on side to guide me through the near disaster. All I had to do was put more weight on one side. These tricks of the trade really will help me become a rotli master!

And more importantly, at weddings when the old masi asks if I can make rotli, I will be able to proudly say, “Yes!”