Spicy Golden Rice and Chicken

Quick and tasty. Serves 4 (probably with leftovers)

This mildly spicy rice can make a small amount of chicken go a long way - one or two breasts or two or three thighs will seem like loads


Chop the chicken into small pieces and gently cook in small amount of oil or butter/spread in a pan for a few minutes until all white on the outside. (As it will continue cooking, you don't need worry about whether it is still pink in the middle.)

Add one or two finely chopped onions, some crushed garlic (up to about half a bulb according to how garlicy you like things) and some chopped peppers (I usually add a red and a green one to contrast the colours a bit) and cook gently until they are softened.

Then add the spices:

3 tsps ground coriander

2.5 tsps ground cumin

1.5 tsp turmeric

1 tsp paprika 

1tsp cayenne pepper 


(you can vary the amount of paprika and cayenne if you prefer it milder or spicier, eg 1.5 paprika and just half cayenne will be milder) 

Stir the spices through on a gentle heat for a couple of minutes and then add 8 oz of rice (I usually use basmati), stir to coat the rice and then add 15 fl oz of boiling water and one or two tablespoons of lemon juice. (You can also add half or a whole chicken stock cube if you like, especially if you are using less chicken).

(If I want to make sure of leftovers for lunch the next day I usually add 10 oz of rice and just under a pint of boiling water)

Bring to the boil, then turn the heat right down and leave with a lid on for 5 minutes. Stir well and put the lid back on for another 2-3 mins, and check and stir again and repeat. When the rice is soft and the liquid all absorbed it is ready (Usually about 10-15 mins total cooking time for the rice)

It tastes great as is, but serving with some yoghurt (plain or greek) really enhances it.

1tsp = 5ml

1tbsp = 15ml

15 fl oz is about 425 mls

You might also like

Rice with chorizo, prawns/chicken

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Chicken and Bacon Casserole

Salsa Salad

Spicy Prawn Salad

Chilli Prawn Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms
For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Chilli Prawn Curry

Curry quicker than a takeaway 

Chilli Prawn Curry

Serves four. Lovely with rice or naan bread and natural yoghurt

Chop an onion, a bunch of spring onions, crush three or four cloves of garlic and finely chop one or two green chillies (I usually stick my hand in a sandwich bag, cut the stalk off, cut in half lengthways, scrape the seeds out and then use a rocker-chopper (mezzaluna) to chop without getting covered).

Gently soften for about three minutes in a tiny amount of oil in a big pan, stirring (I use a wok for this).

Add 1tsp turmeric, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp ground coriander and 1.5 tsps of curry powder (I usually use Schawartz 'mild') and cook gently, stirring for a minute then add a tin of (chopped) tomatoes and 1/4 pint of water. Bring to the boil then simmer for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced down to thicker than before you added the water (I wouldn't recommend trying to save time by leaving the water out and missing out the simmering, as the spices will taste gritty and the flavour won't be quite right either).

Add about 1lb of prawns (I usually use half and half big and small prawns, frozen defrosted) and a handful of chopped fresh coriander and gently heat through for three or four minutes. (Try not to have the prawns too wet or the sauce will go too sloppy and the prawns will boil tough if you try to reduce it back down. Also bear in mind frozen prawns can be a bit salty, so you probably won't need to add any salt to the sauce)

Serve with some natural yoghurt for people to stir in to taste.

(If you want to use cream, rather than serve with yoghurt, add about 1/4 pint after you have reduced it and before you add the prawns and fresh coriander, simmering for about five minutes first.)




You might also like:

Things to have with poppadoms

Chicken Kebabs

Spicy Prawn Salad


1tsp = 5ml
1/4 pint = 150mls

1lb = about 450g




For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Potato and/or cauliflower curry

Somewhere along the lines of bombay aloo or cauliflower bhaji...this is a lovely side-dish for a curry (or makes a good snack or lunch)

Potato/Cauliflower Curry


You can use raw potatoes or cauliflower, or it's a great way of using up leftover boiled new potatoes and steamed/boiled cauli.

You can use all potatoes, all cauli or a mix. This will do about a pound of potatoes or a medium cauliflower (or a proportionate combination)

It's best made the day before to let the flavours develop.


Put a small amount of oil in a pan, and soften one or two chopped onions and two or three cloves of garlic.

Stir in a teaspoon of coriander, a teaspoon of cumin, half to one teaspoons of cayenne (or use paprika or chilli powder if you want it milder or hotter. I usually don't add quite enough cayenne and end up adding some tabasco), and about a quarter teaspoon of turmeric.

Add a tin of tomatoes (if they are whole, bash them up in the pan) and about half the tin of water (if you are using a bit more potatoes or cauli, and especially if raw you may need a full tin of water so there is enough liquid for them to cook in and then the sauce to reduce a bit).

Add in some ground black pepper, a pinch of salt, a bay leaf, three cardamoms and about a tablespoon of lemon juice, then bring gently to boiling.

(If you don't have them, you could leave out the turmeric, cardamoms and bay leaf without any great loss.)

Add your chopped potato and/or cauliflower and let it all simmer until softened, about ten to twenty minutes. (Chop potatoes into bite-sized chunks, break the cauli into small florets and chop the stalks finely)

You might need to add a little bit of tomato puree if you either have a bit too much potato and cauli in it to make the sauce stretch, or if you added too much water and need to thicken it a bit.


You might also like:

Things to have with Poppadoms

Mushroom Rice

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Leftover roast meat curry

Finely chop an onion and soften in a tiny amount of oil/spread. Add some curry powder (I use about three heaped teaspoons of 'mild') and stir. Stir in leftover gravy made from homemade vegetable stock (no thickening is needed, as the gravy already is) and gently bring to boil.

If it is for leftover roast chicken, I usually stir in some tomato purée (about two or three teaspoons). I tend not to if it is for leftover roast beef (There is no good reason for this, either tastes fine!)

Serve with slices of leftover roast chicken or beef and either boiled rice or toasted naan bread.

(If you add the meat to the curry sauce, make sure you heat it through thoroughly before serving.)

Sometimes if we have eaten all of the meat or have used it with a cold meat salad, I make the same curry sauce from the gravy, but make meatballs to go in - see Kofta Curry


You might also like:

Kofta Curry

Things to have with Poppadoms

Potato and/or Cauliflower Curry



For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Kofta Curry

Serves four

Not authentic, but a great curry-in-a-hurry

The Sauce

Finely chop an onion and soften it in a small amount of butter/spread.

Stir in just under an ounce of plain flour (I don't measure it out, either a flattened tablespoon or rounded dessertspoon is about right) and curry powder to taste (I use about three heaped teaspoons of 'mild'), then slowly add while stirring about 3/4 pint of liquid (water is fine, but if you have any apple juice to hand it is richer using up to about half juice), bring gently to the boil and while simmering add a big dessertspoon of chutney (whatever you have or fancy, mango, branston pickle, homemade...). It is nice to peel and grate an apple in to the sauce too. Simmer for about five minutes. I sometimes add half a beef stock-cube, depending on what else I have added.  If it's too thick for your preference, it goes without saying to just add a bit more liquid.

Either add the meatballs while it's simmering, or let the sauce cool to reheat while you quickly make meatballs the next day. I think the flavour improves for leaving it.

I usually serve it with either rice or naan bread

Meatballs

As they are going into a tasty sauce, I make really lazy unseasoned meatballs in the microwave. This takes most of the fat out and you get meatballs which hold their shape in the sauce.

Divide a pound of minced beef into however many meatballs you want to make (I usually chop a slab of mince into quarters, half each quarter, and then split each piece into two to make 16 fair sized meatballs)

Place evenly on a microwaveable dish and microwave for two minutes (this will release a fair amount of fat from the mince, so don't use a shallow plate).

Turn them over (if some of the ones at the centre aren't as cooked, you might also want to swap them with ones at the edges) and cook for probably about another 30-60 seconds.

They should look brown and still be a bit springy. Don't over cook them in the microwave; they are going into a hot sauce and so will continue to cook.

When they are cooked, add to the sauce while you are waiting for the rice or naan bread.

(You can also pour the fat off and add any meat juices to the sauce if you like.)


Things to have with poppadoms

Potato and/or Cauliflower Curry

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Chilli Prawn Curry

Spicy Prawn Salad

Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

Stuffed Peppers

For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )

Things to have with poppadoms

It's so nice to have a few little bowls of things to load onto poppadoms.

Here are a few quick-to-make ideas to go alongside plain yoghurt and jars of mango chutney and lime pickle.


Finely slice an onion, mix with a spoonful of mint sauce out of the jar diluted with a little bit of lemon juice (best made and left to soften for at least half an hour)


Cut a piece of cucumber in half longways and scrape a spoon along to take out the wet seedy centre. Chop it into matchstick pieces (cut along each piece once or twice, then cut across), stir into some plain yoghurt and add a sprinkle of garam masala.


Spring onion finely sliced into plain yoghurt


Red or green chilli chopped into plain yoghurt (some fresh coriander in too is nice)


Please feel free to share your own favourites in comments!


You might also like

Potato and/or Cauliflower Curry

Chilli Prawn Curry


For more ideas, follow me on twitter @Tyne_Teas

Please visit my Intro post for more about my blog and me - I hope you enjoy my recipes : )