Tag: #foodie

Meat free Mondays Recipe
Alliyah Dawud
August 19, 2019

Masala fried Daal (Gram Lentils)

Now we know I advocate pre-cooking lentils that take a while to cook before hand and freezing them. Primarily because when its a weeknight and you want to cook something in a hurry you haven’t got time to bring out the big guns (pressure cooker) and work quicker.

This is one of my favourite lentil recipes that packs a full punch of awesome flavour. I have used pre-cooked and frozen gram lentils here. If you wish to substitute them with non-pre cooked lentils you need to factor in cooking and pre-soaking time. For convience I do the whole cook once and freeze business.

Gram lentils are basically black chick peas that have had the outer shell removed, and the inner ‘pea’ has been split to create this rich, earthy lentil. I love chickpeas and love gram flour (basan) too. After all who doesn’t like a crispy, onion and spinach Pakora right?

Masala fried daal is one of those daals you find on restaurant menus around the world and find no two (in my opinion) taste the same. Some cooks use more hotness, some use more ginger. Some opt for sourness, some add shredded mint. It really is a recipe with room for personalisation to cater for your own needs.

I do serve my daal with plain boiled rice or naans. You can select what works for you.

To serve four you will need:

225 grams pre-cooked gram lentils (or raw lentils, washed and soaked in BOILING water for 1 hour prior to cooking).

1 heaped TBSP garlic paste (or 4 cloves of fresh garlic; crushed)

4 TBSP pre-fried onions soaked in water and drained (or 1 medium onion; peeled and finely sliced)

3 TBSP oil

150 ML of passata (or half a tin of tomatoes; chopped)

750 ML (0.75 litre) water

1 small piece of ginger-sliced (you could use half a TSP of ginger powder if you wish. I generally fish out the ginger before serving)

4 TBSP fresh coriander (including stalks) finely chopped

Cooking salt-to your taste

1 heap TSP turmeric

1 heap TSP chili powder

4 green chilies (prickled all over with a fork)

Optional extras to serve:

Rice
Naans
Pickles
Fresh onions (sliced)
Lemon wedge
Fried onions
Shredded mint
Fresh sliced green chili
Fresh coriander leaves
Yogurt-for children in particular is the daal is on the spicier side.

Please note: the measurements given are in line with what I like. Please feel free to adjust according to your own needs. I avoid telling people how much salt to add as it really is down to your own daily consumption and needs.

1) Pre-heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Add the onions and fry for 30 seconds. If the onions stick stir and add a little water if needed (I TBSP at a time). If you are using fresh onions fry until lightly golden.

2) Add the garlic and ginger. Fry for 1 minutes stirring well.

3) Now add the salt, turmeric and chili powder. Stir well. Fry for around 1 minute to cook the spices through. Add a TBSP of water is the mixture sticks.

4) Add the green chilies and stir in. Fry for 1 minute.

5) Add the passata. Stir well for around 5 minutes. This step creates the masala for the daal.

6) Add the lentils and coriander and stir to cover the lentils in the sauce. It will look dry but don’t worry. Now add the water and bring to the boil.

7) Reduce the heat and simmer until the lentils are tender. Now if you used pre-cooked lentils it takes around 25 minutes for this to happen. But it can take longer or less time depending on your lentils and how much you cooked them in the first place.
If you are using non-pre cooked lentils I find it takes over 2 hours to become tender and I don’t have the patience for this! What you can do is if you have a Slow Cooker you could transfer the daal at this point to the cooker and let it simmer away. I’ve done this a few times and find it works well. But ask me to keep an eye on lentils for hours on a stove and I will literally cry.

Remove the ginger pieces (if you used slices).

8) Garnish as you wish or serve as is. You Masala Daal is ready to eat.

Old Skool Lemon Cupcakes
Alliyah Dawud
August 3, 2019

There are two extremes in my home; there’s the die hard chocolate cake addicts and the zesty lemon party. There is no in between. Well maybe when it comes to a plain sponge covered in lashings of buttercream or layers of fondant.

So when I make cupcakes for Birthdays I know instantly that one of the two fierce women in the house (that would be my daughters for new readers) is going to be disappointed and scream life isn’t fair.

I’m a huge fan of citrus. From lemon cakes to lemon dressings to sitting eating half a dozen satsumas. I love it.

Nothing in my opinion beats an old fashioned lemon drizzle however I went for a lemon cupcake with a lemon icing for these beauties.

To make 18 cupcakes (I used muffin sized) you will need:

300 grams castor sugar
300 grams butter (softened-I zap it in the microwave)
300 grams self raising flour (sifted)
6 eggs; beaten (I used medium sized)
1 TBSP (level) baking powder
Zest and juice of 4 large-ish lemons.
I note bloggers say use unwaxed lemons. If those are a bit pricey you buy cheaper ones that maybe waxed, placed them in hot water and carefully give the lemons are a rub. The wax should come off.

For the icing you will need:

500 grams icing sugar
200-250 grams butter. I use 200 grams as I like a stiffer icing.
Lemon flavouring (I don’t use lemon juice because the icing becomes runny. I also so not use the lemon zest as it clogs up my nozzles).

As my cupcakes were 80s themed I dyed the icing. I used neon yellow and neon pink.
I dyed half the icing pink and the other half yellow. I then added scoops to the icing bag and it created a lovely swirly affect icing.

Nozzle of your choice & icing bag.
Pre-heat your oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3.
Place 18 muffin cases in your muffin tins. I have a few baking tins so I manage to do this in one go. If you have bake in batches just remember the oven will be warm when you place the second lot in so keep an eye on them so they don’t burn.

1) Beat the sugar and butter together. You can do this by hand or in a mixer. I find both work well. Stop beating when you have a creamy consistency.
2) Add a bit of the egg mixture in and beat it. Keep adding and beating until you run out of eggs. Don’t worry if it looks a bit runny. It will work out after you add the flour.
3) Add scoops of the flour and stir in. Add the baking powder and stir through.
4) Now add the lemon juice and zest. Give it a good stir.
5) Now distribute your mixture into the cupcake/muffin cases in the tin. I generally leave a ‘gap’ at the top of the case as these babies rise. I then trim them to make them even. Yes it’s true; my cakes are not perfect.
6) Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. When they are ‘done’ they should be springy to touch. I do the classic ‘toothpick check’. If you insert it into the centre and it comes out clean congratulations your cupcakes are done!
7) Now allow the cupcakes to cool completely before you ice them. If you can leave them in the tin to cool down that’s good. But if you can’t tranfer them to a wire cooling rack. Don’t apply the icing whilst they are still warm. It just doesn’t work.
8) Once the cupcakes are cool give them a quick trim to even them out. This really is key to getting uniform-ish iced cupcakes (sorry not sorry).

To make the buttercream:
You can use the mixer for this or do it by hand.

1) sift the icing sugar into a LARGE bowl. Trust me the BIGGER the better. Size matters.
2) Add the butter. Now beat the ingredients together.
3) Once you have what looks like a creamy mixture (it maybe a bit rough or stiff don’t worry it’s normal) add the lemon flavouring. Stir in.
4) If the mixture is too stiff or isn’t coming together like icing add 1 tablespoon of milk and beat in. Repeat if needed. Just do it in stages as too much milk may make the mixture runny.
5) Once you are happy with the texture you can add dye if you wish to. I use gel again it helps with the texture. I find the liquid dyes make things runny and the colour isn’t as strong either (I use ClassicKool-Link here).
6) Put the icing in the bag and ice away. Get creative if you wish. Add sprinkles, glitter whatever you wish. We added themed toppers.
7) Your cupcakes are done. Don’t they look awesome? Like 80s awesome…cos everything in the 80s was awesome….

Enjoy!

Notes: You can make the cupcakes and freeze them up to a month in advance if it helps with your party prep.

You can buy ready made icing which does an amazing job too.

Leftover Kebab Biryani
Stylemesisteradmin
July 26, 2019

Eid-ul-Adha leftovers Biryani

Now before you turn away from this recipe HEAR ME OUT.
For some of us Eid-ul-Adha is very meat heavy due to the nature of it (Qurbani Meat overload). There’s only so many Kebab recipes you can plough through.
Over time I must have tried lots of Kebab recipes with various chutneys. However I’ll be honest; I get fed up of food and so do the girls. In the end is sits around in the fridge drying out.

So last year (or maybe the year before) I decided that I wanted to create a recipe to use up leftover kebabs from the platters I create. A Pulaw in my humble opinion wouldn’t have worked so I considered it’s cousin; Biryani.

The way I would explain the different between a Biryani and Pulaw is this: A Pulaw is a one pot rice dish where you create the base and cook the rice in the stock created. A Biryani is where the rice is steamed between layers of the meat/vegetable base. A lot of Biryanis are tomato sauce based and can be tangy and very fiery.

This is a medium heat tangy Biryani which I serve with a range of Raitas and Chutneys.

The kebabs I’ve used this Biryani include: Tikkas (chicken and meat), Seekh kebabs and even liver kebabs (just shows how versatile this recipe really is).

So to make enough to serve 5/6 you will need:
450-500 grams (Cooked) leftover kebabs
300 grams rice
250 ml passata
150 ml low fat plain yogurt
5 TBSP oil
6 heaped TBSP fried onions pre-soaked and drained
1 TBSP garlic and ginger paste or just garlic paste.
3 TBSP fresh coriander leaves-chopped finely
Cooking salt-to your own requirements
2 heaped TBSP mint leaves-chopped finely
5 dried plums (available in most South-Asian food stores).
2 heaped TBSP ground coriander seeds
2 heaped TBSP ground cumin seeds
2 heaped TBSP chaat masala
Juice of 2 limes
.4 green chilies sliced (lengthways)-I prefer bullet chilies as they keep their shape well.
3 heaped TBSP fried onions (Do not pre-soak)
4 TBSP Screw pine water (Kewra water)
Powdered food dye (available in Asian food stores; I use a little bit of red and orange to compliment the original colours. You can leave out the dye is you wish to).

1) Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2) Add the onions and fry for one minute.
3) Add the garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds.
4) Add the salt and spices and fry for 1 minute.
5) Now add the passata and stir well. Add the dried plums.
6) Now add the yogurt and stir well. Cook the mixture for 5 minutes. You’ll notice it gets thicker and you may see a bit of oil separation. Don’t worry that’s normal .
7) Add the kebabs, half the coriander leaves and chilies. Stir well to cover the kebabs.
8) Add the water and bring to the water. Then reduce the heat to simmer.
8) Reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minutes.

Meat Free Monday Curry….
Stylemesisteradmin
July 22, 2019

Meat free Monday

My Fast Spinach Curry

Growing up with Popeye it took me a while to acknowledge that large doses of leafy greens did not automatically equate to biceps that would make Dwayne Johnson jealous. Lucky for me though I’m a patient type of chick and I’m steadily changing my body to look the way I want (muscles and all).

This is a super quick curry that I really love. I’ll be honest. The portion sizes here are 250 grams each and feel it’s worth having a larger portion as spinach wilts down a lot.

Like I said it’s quick and actually easy to get onto the table. I use pre-fried onions and frozen spinach….and well the lack of fresh stuff means the food is quick to get on the table. Result!

Of course you can use fresh onions and spinach and adjust amounts and cooking time to reflect this. But like I always say my Meat free Monday recipes are designed for speedy Monday meals.

To make two portions of this amazing curry you will need:

500 grams frozen spinach defrosted and drained
2 TBSP oil
4 TBSP pre-fried onions soaked and drained
1 heaped TBSP garlic paste
1 heaped TBSP ground coriander seeds
1 heaped TBSP ground cumin seeds
1 TSP chili powder
Cooking salt-to your own taste
150 ml (and a bit more just in case) water
Juice of one lemon

1) Heat the oil in a large pan on a medium heat.
2) Add the onions and fry for about one minute stirring well to ensure it doesn’t catch/stick or burn. If you find the mixture is sticking too much just add 2 TBSP of water.
3) Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
4) Now add the salt and spices. Fry for about one minute to cook out the spices. Keep stirring though. No one likes a curry tinted with burnt spices.
5) Add the spinach. Stir well to coat the spinach in the spicy mixture. Fry the spinach for 5-6 minutes.
6) Turn the heat off; your curry is done.
7) Before you serve the curry add the lemon juice.

Enjoy

My easy, tasty and good Baked Chicken Meatballs
Alliyah Dawud
June 14, 2019

Baked Chicken Meatballs…like are they a thing?

Quick, easy, healthier than a lot out there…ladies and the odd gent I present to you Chicken ‘Meatballs’.

Give me a Kofta Curry and I’m happy. Give me some Kefta Kebabs and Naans and I’m also happy. Give me a meatball sub with some extra hot sauce and I’m happy….I love a good meatball.

As you know we are constantly being encouraged to focus on healthier recipes. Focus on reducing fats, salts and sugars in our diets. We are also encouraged (and quite rightly so) to get our children eating healthier from a young age so it’s a habit and lifestyle rather than a chore.

Recently I got playing in the kitchen and with Chicken mince being around £2.69 per KG at my local Butchers I decided I would make some ‘meatballs’.

Cheaper meat, leaner too. And if I play my cards right I can bake them off in the oven and reduce the fat too.

And believe it or not I’ve created a meatball the girls actually adore. And I’m happy because a simple bit of prep work means I can create, bake and freeze a few meals in next to no time…

To make these awesome meatballs (enough for 3-4 or more depending on the age of those you are feeding) servings you will need:

  • 500 grams chicken mince
  • About 16 olives chopped
  • Zest of 1 lemon finely chopped
  • 1 tsp salt (or to your taste)
  • 1/2 TSP dried thyme (leveled spoon not heaped)
  • 1/2 TSP dried oregano (leveled spoon not heaped)
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 2 heaped TBSP breadcrumbs
  • OPTIONAL flavourings:
  • 2 sun dried tomatoes finely chopped
  • 1 heaped tablespoon of crumbled feta (if you do decide to add feta reduce the salt intake).
  • Chili Flakes-if you want some need.
  • To bake:
  • Spray oil ( 1 Cal spray works, as do other varieties)
  • Baking trays (1 large pan will be enough or two smaller ones)
  • Kitchen Tongues
  • Greaseproof paper

1) Line the baking trays to keep cleaning to a minimum. Preheat to oven to 170 (160 on a fan assisted oven).
2) Place all the ingredients in a large bowl and with your hands mulch it all together. Yes it’s a messy job but dammit it will create awesomeness in the form of springy healthy meatballs!
3) Once you’ve mixed all the ingredients together take a tablespoon amount of meat mixture and form into a meatball using wet hands. Place on the greaseproof sheet. Leave a gap between the meatballs.
4) Repeat the process until you’ve used all the mixture.
5) Spray each meatball once with the oil.
6) Now bake for 10 minutes.
7) Remove from the oven and carefully turn the meatballs over using the tongues. Spray the other side of the meatballs with oil. Place back in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven off.
8) Allow to meatballs to ‘rest’ for 2/4 minutes and then serve. I add my meatballs to a simple sauce which I have featured before here:

To make this recipe extra healthy you can serve the meatballs with wholemeal spaghetti.

NOTES: If your meatballs release any liquids do not panic. This is a normal part of the cooking process. The amount you find really does depend on many factors so don’t worry yourself too much on the science. Think of the flavour.

Mini meatballs make great canapes.

Making meatballs can be fun and messy for younger children.

Meatballs can be cooked, cooled and frozen successfully for up to 3 months without losing texture etc.