Cooking a Curry for the first time.....

 Cooking a curry can be daunting for first timers, “Where do I start” or “What spices do I need to use and how much?” are some of the questions I hear you might ask!

Well its questions Iike above, that i get asked in my shop alot of the times and through the years I always recommend first time daunting Curry Cooks to start off with either a ready made spice mix or paste and go from there. Before investing in various spices and maybe a spice tray, which they may not use as frequent.

A selection of brands available in specialist south Asian grocer. 

The good thing about the ready made spice mixes & paste's, which you will find various brands in the market, is that all the right quantities of spices are mixed together, in order for you to concentrate on the other ingredients and cooking it. You will also find a helpful recipe guide and ingredients on all packaging, which can also help towards cooking it from scratch and using your own spices and quantities, next time round.

Spicy Chickpea's using Mangal Chana Masala and my own added ingredients.

Ingredients

                                                                                                         

800gm Boiled Chickpeas (Dry or Tinned)

600gm Fresh Tomatoes (blended) or Tinned Peeled Plum Tomatoes (sieved)

4 medium onions finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree

1½ tbsp crushed garlic

1½ tbsp crushed ginger

2-3 fresh green chillies finely chopped

8tbsp sunflower oil

1tbsp cumin seeds

¼ tsp asafoetida (optional)

4 tbsp Mangal Chana Masala

2 tsp chilli powder

2 tsp salt

Finely chopped coriander to garnish.
Serves 4-6

Preparation

First of all decide whether or not you will be using dry or tinned chickpeas. Dry chickpeas will need to be soaked overnight and boiled rapidly for around about an hour. On the other hand tinned chickpeas can be used straightaway, though I still tend to boil them for around 30 minutes or longer, to make them even softer.

In a fairly large pan heat up the oil on a medium heat, once hot add in the cumin seeds and allow to sizzle for 30-45 seconds. Add a pinch of asafoetida if using and straight away, throw in the onions, crushed garlic, ginger and finely chopped chillies, saute until brown.

Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and sprinkle in the Mangal Chana Masala, stir, bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Sprinkle in the chilli powder, salt and tomato puree, stir and simmer for a further 5 minutes with the lid off.

Remove to a serving dish, garnish with coriander and serve.

Great with Naan Breads!

If you feel your upto the next stage, why not try My Quick Chickpea Curry using your own spices. 

Chicken Mince Masala

Chicken mince cooked in herbs, spices, tomatoes and yogurt

The noodles with a kick

Tom Yom Noodles

With hardly any time some days to think about lunch, one still wants something hot & healthy, with the cold still about in March. I have revisited quick and simple Noodles, not the Golden Wonder stuff, if you are thinking; I left that in my teens.

The KOKA ones, well one of them, the TOM YOM flavour and boy does it have a kick and if you know me, it needs to be tweaked for my liking. A recipe for two.

Ingredients                                       

2 packs Koka Tom Yom Noodles
1tbsp sunflower oil
1tbsp sesame oil
3 stalks spring onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, grated
1 small piece ginger, finely grated
3 fresh red hot chillies finely chopped
½ tsp ground black pepper
700ml boiling water 

In a small pan heat up the oils in a medium heat, once hot throw in the spring onions, carrots, ginger, chillies and stir fry for 3 minutes.

Add in the noodles and then the boiling water, with a fork, gently break up the noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add in the contents of the sachets which have come inside the noodle pack, one side will be a blend of spices and the other will a be a chilli sauce and our extra bit of ground black pepper.

Cook for a further 3 minutes and serve hot.

Now that's what i call INSTANT!

My Peri Peri Chicken Fillets

Chicken Fillets marinated in my very own peri peri marinade, seared on a griddle before being placed covered in the oven for 40 minutes. 

Paneer Chaat

Indian Cottage Cheese, marinated in spices & herbs, pan fried gently, sprinkled with Chaat Masala and served HOT!

Indian Flat Bread

Wholemeal Chapatti – A round, thin unleavened bread, made from just wheat flour and water, rolled out into a perfect round shape and cooked on a flat cast iron pan or skillet.

Shana's Frozen Wholemeal Chapatti is ready in minutes, for those constantly on the move, remove from packaging onto a medium heated frying pan and cook for a few minutes on either side. It's thin, soft texture will have you hooked, as well as as being good for you, can be served with various savoury dishes.

Shana Wholemeal Chapattis Served With A Spicy Bottlegoured Mash

The Super Gram

Black Gram, also known as Urid Beans. Apart of the mung bean family a small oval shaped black gram, very creamy in taste and texture and mainly used to make Urad Dall, a favourite lentil dall made by the Punjabis. The pulse is high in protein, more than you would get from a similar serving of chicken breast.

Available dried, best left to soak for 24hrs before boiling for a good half an hour, alternatively soak for 30 minutes before placing in a pressure cooker and allow three to four whistles.

You may not know this though Black Gram Flour is used to make Indian style savoury pancakes, called Dosai.

Dal Makhni, black gram cooked in butter, cream, tomatoes and spices, served with Chilli Naan

My Special Chicken Tikka's

My Special Chicken Tikka's using the finest ingredients, marinated for 24 hours and carefully prepared.

French Fries Spiced Up

                                                                                         

Shazans frozen Masala Fries are remarkably very good and tasty. Forget kids, adults love them to, french fries coated with spices and herbs to compliment any occasion. 

                                                     

In Stock Now

Ladies Fingers Cooked with Tomatoes & Spices

Bhindi & Tomato Masala

The Mixed pickle - Have you forgotton how good it was?

We all know that Patak's made pickles famous in the west, though when was the last time you tried some. Opened a jar of the Mixed Pickle a few days ago and boy, I'd forgotten how good they are, mangoes, lime, carrots, chilli and karamda (sour green berry), in a spicy, sour sauce.

Next time you get a takeaway insist on Patak's

Stuffed Roasted Aubergines

Aubergines stuffed with a paste made from gram flour, herbs, tomatoes, spice's and oil, roasted in the oven.

Egg Bhurji - Spicy Scrambled Eggs

Egg Mince Masala (Egg Bhurji)

                                                             Ingredients                                        Serves 4-6

16 large eggs, slightly whipped

2 med onions, finely sliced

1tbsp garlic crushed

1tbsp ginger crushed

3-4 green chillies, finely chopped

1tbsp tomato puree

½ juice of a fresh lemon

1tsp chilli powder

1tsp turmeric powder

1tsp garam masala

1tsp ground coriander

1tsp ground black pepper

8tbsp sunflower oil

1 ½ tsp salt

Preparation

Heat up the oil in a large non-stick pot, on a medium heat. Once hot add the onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and stir fry until caramelised and slightly brown.

Pour in the eggs and keep stirring, using a wooden spoon. You don’t want the eggs to stick to the bottom of the pot, so make sure, you stir every part of the bottom and the sides. Keep breaking the cooked eggs, until they become a fine scrabble and all the egg has cooked.

Add the tomato puree, all the dried spices and lemon juice, stir well, reduce heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes before serving hot, ideally with Naan bread.

Sprinkle more lemon if required.

The first crisps that actually look & taste like chips.....

Cofresh's Chilli & Lemon Chips

In stock now

The Aromatic Leaf

Curry Leaves (Curry Patta), these aromatic, lemony smelling leaves give off a wonderful aroma to a variety of Indian dishes. Widely used in South Indian cooking, they are often added to hot oil at the beginning of cooking to bring out their true flavour. Available fresh or dried, they can be purchased in any good south Asian grocer. I recommend freezing the fresh ones as they don’t last for very long.