Quick mushroom and pepper stroganoff

 

Quick, tasty and economical.  It can be made vegan by using Elmlea plant based (or other plant based cream), but I used elmlea double cream, which cuts down on the dairy, rather than cutting it out altogether.

Olive oil

Chopped shallots (onion or leeks)

Crushed garlic

Red pepper

Mushrooms

Basmati rice

Paprika

Spinach

Frozen peas

Elmlea (cream/ plant based cream)

1.  Sautee chopped shallots, add chopped red pepper and mushrooms, and crushed garlic - soften for about 5 minutes.

2.  In a saucepan/heavy pot cover basmati rice with water, to about an inch over the rice, add salt - heat until it starts to boil.  Slam on the lid and turn the heat right down - let it a cook gently and absorb the water for 12-15 minutes - turn heat off, and let it just sit there.

3.  Meanwhile, when veg are softened chuck on a couple of handfuls of spinach, a cup of frozen peas and stir in.

4.  Add a cup of water and bring up to simmer.  

5.  When the spinach is wiled the peas will be nearly done.  Now add the cream, stir in to make a sauce and sprinkle on paprika.  Stir gently.

6.  Serve, scoff ... finish seconds.

Mushroom and vegetable curry with basmati rice

An easy quick veggie curry for day 2 of national curry week.  It was tasty and fresh.  We had seconds.

Basmati rice

Ghee
Urad dahl
Ground spices (cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne)
Onion
Garlic
Courgette
Red pepper
Mushrooms
Garam Masala
Natural yogurt

1.  Cook the rice - I put it in a heavy pot, cover with water - bring to the boil, slap the lid an and leave in a warm oven to absorb - but you could easily microwave it.
2.  Fry chopped onion, urid dhal and spices in ghee, add crushed garlic.
3.  When onion is soft, add the other vegetables, and a little water, simmer until the vegetables are a bit soft - the urid dhal should help thicken the sauce.  Taste and add garam masala.  Simmer for 5 more minutes.  Turn off the heat.
4. Allow to cool for a minute or so, then stir in a couple of spoons of natural yogurt.
5.  Serve, scoff.

New Year's Day Curry 2014

Homemade chicken korma, malaysian spiced fish, vegetable curry, tarka dhal, rice and naan ... blimey we were full.  But everybody enjoyed it.   The chicken was lovely, really moist but falling off the bone.

Chicken Korma

Oil
8 chicken thighs
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 thumb sized piece of ginger
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tin coconut milk
1/4 cup ground almonds
1 tsp garam masala
Splash of double cream (optional)

1.  Brown chicken thighs all over in hot oil.  When browned transfer to oven dish.
2.  Sweat onion in the chicken pan until soft. Add cumin and coriander seeds, crushed garlic and crushed ginger.  Cook through for a couple of minutes.
3.  Add tin of coconut milk and ground almonds and simmer until the gravy thickens slightly.
4.  Add garam masala, and whisk through - taste and adjust seasoning.  Add cream for extra luxury if there is some in the fridge.
5.  Pour over chicken and keep in medium oven for half an hour, or until required.


Rice 

Basmati rice
Water
Salt

1.  Put the basmati rice into cast iron pot with water an inch over the surface.
2.  Bring to the boil, transfer to medium oven.  Will be ready in 30 minutes - or when you are.

Tarka Dhal

Lentils (red split in this case)
Oil
Assorted spice seeds and leaves (cumin, coriander, fennel, chili flakes)

1.  Boil lentils until soft, adding more water if it looks like it's going dry.
2.  At the last minutes, fry the spices gently until they start releasing their fragrance, then chuck onto the dhal - sizzle - and serve.

Spicy fish

White fish (pollock, in this case)
Natural yogurt
Spice mix - (Malaysian fish head curry mix, in this case)
Gram flour

1.  Whisk together yogurt and spices, add enough gram flour to give an almost batter like texture.
2.  Coat fish fillets with the spice mixture - sit for 30 minutes (ish) in the fridge.
3.  Fry the fish to serve - takes about 6-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

Curried vegetables

Whatever is available - in this case onion, parsnip, carrots, potato, aubergine and mushrooms, fresh tomatoes.  Spice mix/ dry spices, chili, crushed garlic and crushed ginger.

In a large frying pan, in a little oil, start the veg off frying.  Add a little water as they cook to keep them gently simmering.  You can start with the harder veg, and then add softer closer to serving time.

Also served with re-heated naan - but they were the huge ones, from an Asian supermarket.

Price per portion?  I'm not sure - but this is something I will focus on more in 2014.  Basically £2.50 for the chicken (special offer), £1.50 for the fish (frozen from Lidl), £1 for coconut milk, probably £4 worth of veg and £2 for assorted extras (if you have them in already - much more to source them at the time), naan was £2.  Comfortably served 6.  So, I think about £2.15 per portion, for big portions.