Know your onions!

 

Onions! To say I'm a slow learner is an understatement, so when I first started cooking curry about 30 years ago, I thought, heat some oil cook a few chopped onions for a few minutes then chuck in your spices tomatoes and meat, cook for a while… Hey presto! Curry is served…… Wrong!! 

One of the most important ingredients in a curry is the humble onion, treat it with respect! Depending on the recipe you are using, onions should be cooked longer for red meat and slightly shorter, for say, chicken, typically 15-20 minutes of browning on a medium heat, adding water if the onions start to catch on the pan. Browning the onions well adds a rich depth of flavour to the curry. I recently did a biryani dish and the onions were cooked in unsalted butter for over 30mins and they caramelised giving a really fantastic flavour to the finished dish. So, for the perfect curry, have a little patience with those onions, seriously, it'll be worth it. 

Keema Mattar

 One of my favourite go-to curries is Keema Mattar, I use either lamb or beef mince depending on what's in the freezer. 

It's a simple, easy to follow recipe and tastes so good! Serve it with plain boiled rice or chapatis. 

KEEMA MATTAR  (Lamb or Beef Mince with Garden Peas).

Ingredients:

1 tsp Coriander Seeds

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

2 Cardamoms

4 Cloves

1 Kashmiri dried red chilis

1 tsp ground turmeric

Salt to taste

Tsp of sugar

3 Large Tomatoes

5 Cloves Garlic

15g Ginger peeled weight

8 Curry Leaves

50cm Cinnamon stick

1 Green chili whole but pierced

1 Onion

500g Lamb Mince

Half tsp Garam masala

Mug of Frozen garden peas

To Cook:

In a spice grinder, grind the red chillis, cloves, cardamoms, cumin seeds and coriander seeds.

Set aside.

In a blender, Blend the garlic, Ginger and tomatoes with a splash of water.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan until hot, then add the curry leaves, cinnamon and green chilli, sizzle for 10 seconds and add the onion. Cook until well browned.

Add the blended paste and cook with the onions for about five minutes on a moderate heat.

Now add the mince and all the ground spices and sugar along with the turmeric and salt.

Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook for twenty minutes, adding a little water if the mixture becomes too dry.

Add the frozen peas and cook on low until the peas are cooked. Stir in the Garam Masala and serve. Tip: If you want to make it a little richer in taste, add a little double cream with the peas. 

Good with rice or Chapatis.

PERFECT RICE

 

Perfect Rice Everytime! 

For a long time, I'd struggled with my rice, it usually ended up too wet or stodgy! Now, I have a formula which I think is full proof! 

Serves two. 

1. As a rule I use 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water. 

2. Wash your rice under cold water until the water runs clear. Drain well. 

3. In a small pan, heat a dsrt spoonful of oil and add the rice 

4. Cook for a minute stirring constantly. 

5. Add the water, a little salt to taste and bring to a boil

6. Put a lid on the pan and turn heat to its lowest setting. 

7. Cook like this for exactly ten minutes, then take pan off the heat, leave to stand for a further ten minutes. 

8. Fluff up gently with a fork and serve.  

Add flavour. 

At step 3, add 2 black cardamom, 3 green cardamom, 4 cloves, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1"piece cinnamon stick to the oil and fry until the aroma is released, then follow the rest of the instructions. 

Bukka Chicken Curry

Bukka Chicken

Inspired by recipes I've followed, I concocted this recipe about 6 months ago and I have to say, its pretty damn tasty. I used a little mango chutney to add some sweetness. 

It's a very simple to follow recipe, so please give it a go. 

BUKKA CHICKEN Ingredients

10 curry leaves

3 cloves

3 cardomoms

Teaspoon cumin seeds

4 peppercorns

1 dried Kashmiri chilli

1" cinnamon stick

500gr chicken thighs (skinless)

4 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoon ground coriander

Half teaspoon chilli powder

Half teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 chopped green chillis

1 teaspoon Sainsbury's spicy mango chutney

2 medium onions chopped

3 garlic cloves crushed

1" piece ginger finely sliced and julienned.

1 teaspoon Garam masala

BUKKA CHICKEN Method

Fry dried spices in oil until fragrant

Add onion garlic and chopped ginger, cook until soft and golden, about ten minutes. Add ground spices and salt and chopped green chilli, stir. Turn the heat down to stop the spices burning. 

Stir in tomatoes a spoonful at a time and cook down, until you end up with a nice dense base. 

Add chicken, cook on medium high stirring frequently.

Add some water and cook for ten minutes. Add the mango chutney, julienne ginger and a splash of water. Put lid on and cook on low for a further ten minutes.

Stir in Garam masala. Leave to rest for a few minutes, then serve.

Using your Loaf!

 

Fresh Bread

I've recently been trying my hand at bread making. During the first COVID lockdown in 2020, I found I had time on my hands and thought, why not give it a go? Apart from making a bit of a mess in the kitchen, I find kneading the dough quite therapeutic. Whilst the results have been mixed,(see picture) generally the bread tastes good and makes fantastic toast! 

If you fancy having a go yourself, I use a simple recipe from www.Bakingmad.com

CURRY LOVERS!

 

Southampton has got some of the best curry houses around.

Here are some of my favourites

The Kohinoor of Kerala

A small curry house, but superb. Located in Portswood, Southampton. The food here is amazing, full of flavour and every dish is different. You need to book most nights here, but it's well worth it. 

The Coriander Lounge. 

Below Bar in the city centre, this is a superb curry house, set on two floors, the food is delicious and the atmosphere is lively, it's certainly not the place for a quiet meal and it's always busy so you need to book!

Jewels Indian Restaurant.

Located on Townhill Park Way, Southampton, Jewels is one of the most popular local curry houses in the city. Jewel and his staff will make sure your visit is a memorable one, they even cater for people trying to lose a little weight.

The Restaurant is modern, fully air-conditioned and the food is superb!

Kuti's Brasserie,

located in the former entrance to the Royal Pier in Southampton has been well established for many years and serves fine cuisine. Mr Kuti prides himself on locally sourced produce. 

The restaurant is very popular. So check you can get a table before you leave home.

Delicious Chicken Biryani

 

Now, I love my curry, in fact I think I could eat a curry every night. So I thought I'd join in with Hari Ghotra's Friday night curry club. She was cooking a Chicken Biryani. 

Prep time took me nearly an hour and the actual on-line cook-a-long took nearly two hours due to a lot of questions from online followers, but, let me tell you, it was well worth it! Infused with whole spices, fresh coriander and mint, the depth of flavour was amazing. Who needs takeaways? 

If you want authentic curry, download the Hari Ghotra app onto your phone or tablet and get cooking!