Cashew Nut Butter Chicken

I came across this recipe and it is similar to mine but with some interesting little twists. I love using chicken thigh fillets for curries like this as they keep their moisture and you can give them that tasty char without drying them out too much. The cashew nuts also adds an awesome element, similar to a korma.

250ml (1 cup) plain yoghurt

45ml (3 tbsp) ready-made butter chicken spice paste

750g chicken thigh fillets, skin and bones removed, roughly chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 onion, chopped

3cm fresh ginger, grated

1 green chilli, seeded and chopped

30g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter

3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed

5ml (1tsp) paprika

15ml (1 tbsp) garam masala

1 x 410g tin chopped tomatoes

250ml (1 cup) chicken stock

250ml (1 cup) water

125ml (1/2 cup) fresh cream

100g unsalted cashew nuts

– Preheat your oven to 180C

– Combine the yoghurt, spice paste, chicken, and seasoning in a large bowl. Coat well, refrigerate for 2 hours (or overnight which will be best)

– Place the onion, ginger and chilli in a food processor and blend to form a paste.

– Melt half the butter in a frying pan over medium heat and add the cardamom pods, paprika and garam masala. Cook for 1 minute then add the onion mixture and cook, stirring for 5 minutes.

– Add the tomatoes, stock and water. Cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly and transfer to a food processor. Blend until smooth and return sauce to the pan.

– Place the chicken on a baking tray, season well and grill until the chicken is cooked and slightly charred, turning half way, 12 – 15 minutes.

– Add the chicken to the tomato sauce together with any juices. Add the cream and remaining butter and heat through.

– Grind the cashew nuts with 15 – 30 ml (1 – 2 tbsp) water in a food processor to form a paste. Stir into the curry and simmer gently for a further 15 minutes.

– Serve the curry with fresh coriander, chopped red onion, poppadoms, steamed basmati rice, sliced red chilli and naan bread.

Serves 4 – 6

Recipe from Food and Home Entertaining Magazine

Tandoori Chicken Curry

I am by no means a curry expert, but it is a cuisine that intrigues me greatly and I am on a bit of a mission to understand it more! But this recipe is one that I have kind of tweaked and changed along the way and it has become somewhat of a hit in my home and with my friends. It has great flavour and the creamy decadent sauce is delicious with gorgeous fresh naan bread!

12  large chicken breast fillets or 12 chicken thighs on the bone with the skin

For the Marinade: 

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp tandoori masala (or garam masala, or tandoori spice mix)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp chilli powder

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

500ml buttermilk (or natural plain yoghurt – but I find buttermilk is best)

1 tsp red food colouring

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 3cm piece of ginger, grated

For the sauce: 

1 large onion, diced and mixed with 1.5 tsp brown sugar

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tbsp tandoori masala (or garam masala)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp tumeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp chilli powder (you can leave this out if you want a mild curry, or add extra if you want it very hot)

1 tin chopped tomatoes

4 fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp salt

Remaining marinade

250 mls fresh cream

3 tbsp butter

– Score the chicken fillets (or the thighs)

– Mix all the marinade ingredients together, place the chicken into the marinade – making sure all the pieces are submerged.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

– Heat the oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with some tin foil.

– Take the chicken out of the marinade and shake it a bit to get rid of excess marinade (not too much because you want it to cook with some marinade)

– Place the chicken fillets (or thighs) onto the baking tray and bake until done. The fillets only take about 15 – 20 minutes, please watch it carefully and don’t over cook them! The thighs will take about 35 – 40 minutes.

– Take the chicken out and set aside

– When you have put the chicken in the oven, start the sauce – the longer it simmers the better.

– Fry the chopped onions and sugar in about 2 tbsp of butter. then add the dry spices and stir until fragrant.

– Add the remaining marinade and stir well.

– Add the tinned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, sugar and salt and stir well. Bring it to the boil and then reduce the heat and let the curry simmer slowly for about 45 minutes.

– Blitz the sauce in either a food processor or with a hand held blender until smooth.

– Add 1 – 2 tbsp pf butter and the cream and then taste and adjust the seasoning.

– If you have used fillets, chop them up into bite sizes pieces and then add them to the sauce and let the chicken heat through. Or if you have used thighs, just pop them in the sauce and heat through.

– Serve with white basmati rice and naan bread or popadoms.

Serves 4

Recipe & Photo by Lindsay Dunne

Aromatic Pork and Apple Curry

This Curry is so quick and does not take ages to cook! My family love it and its a recipe that I know by heart because I have made it so often. The apples really add a freshness to it and cut through the spice.

500g – 750g lean pork fillet– cubed

45ml (3T) cake flour

45ml (3T) garam masala

10 ml olive oil

1 onion – chopped

1 leek – finely chopped

3 garlic cloves  – finely chopped (I use fresh crushed garlic)

1 Tbs crushed ginger

2 cinnamon sticks

2 small apples

Salt and black pepper

250ml vegetable stock

Fresh coriander to serve

1. Mix the cake flour and masala in a large bowl and season with salt. Toss the pork through the spice mixture until the pork is thoroughly covered
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan until very hot and brown the meat very quickly on all sides and remove from the pan
3. Use the same pan and sauté the onions, leeks, garlic, ginger and cinnamon until the onions and leeks are soft
4. Quarter the apples after peeling them and add to the onion mixture, cook slowly until it they soften slightly
5. Add the meat to the onion and apple mixture and add the stock. Allow to cook for 10 minutes. Season to taste
6. Remove from the heat and serve with brown basmati rice and fresh coriander.

Fish Curry with Lime and Coconut Rice

Not only is this curry packed with delicious flavour, its also a great way to stretch fish! I have used frozen fish and frozen mussels, which works perfectly well, but its obviously better with fresh fish and mussels if you can. Its a spicy one! So you can reduce the amount of chilli if you want to. Great to serve with friends as it looks gorgeous in little separate pots. Keep the rice separate until you serve as it looks and tastes gorgeous on its own, so let people serve it separately and mix as they wish!  You can serve any firm white fish that wont break up. I’ve only ever used hake and it works perfectly 🙂

For the fish curry:

400g hake fillets cut into bite size pieces.

400ml coconut milk, mixed with 400ml water

500g mussels in their shells

1 tbsp palm sugar

2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

150g sugar snap peas

3 – 4 spring onions, finely chopped

1 handful of basil or coriander leaves to garnish

2 tbsp groundnut oil (or sunflower oil)

For the Curry Paste 

3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 large shallots, roughly chopped

6 – 7 mild red chillies, desseded and chopped. (if you have hot chillies you only need 2 or 3)

5cm piece of ginger, roughly chopped

A small handful of coriander stems, chopped

1 lemongrass stalk , finely chopped

2 Kaffir lime leaves finely chopped (or finely grated zest of 2 limes)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

3 – 4 tbsp water

For the Lime and Coconut rice 

300g Thai fragrant rice (Jasmine or Basmati Rice) washed and drained

200ml coconut milk, mixed with 200ml water

Juice of 1 lime

2 kaffir lime leaves

Pinch of sea salt

Toasted coconut shavings, to garnish

– Pit the fish pieces into a large bowl with a little sea salt and pepper and spoon over a few tablespoons of coconut milk. Cover with cling film and chill until ready to cook. If your fish is frozen you can just leave it out on the counter to thaw a bit.

– Wash the mussels and set aside

– To make the lime and coconut rice, put all the ingredients – except for the coconut shavings into a medium saucepan. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer fir 8 – 10 minutes until the rice has absorbed most of the liquid. Without removing the lid, turn off the heat and leave the rice to steam for 10 – 15 minutes.

– While the rice is cooking, put all the ingredients for the curry paste into a food processor and whiz to a smooth paste, stopping the machine once or twice to scrape down the sides. As necessary, add a little more water to get a finely ground paste.

– Heat the oil in a deep pan or a wok. Add the curry paste and stir-fry for about 2 – 3 minutes over a low heat, just until the paste smells fragrant. Pour in the coconut milk and water, then stir in the palm sugar and fish sauce. Bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

– Tip in the sugarsnap peas and cook for 2 minutes. Add the mussels and fish to the pan, cover and summer for a few more minutes until the mussels have opened and the fish is opaque and just cooked through.

– Scatter over the spring onions and basil or coriander leaves. Serve immediately with the lime and coconut rice, garnished with a sprinkling of toasted coconut shavings.

Recipe by Gordon Ramsay

Fern’s Chicken Curry with Peaches

This is my step mom’s recipe. Its delicious, bursting with flavour and has a sweetness to it that kids will also love. This one is nice to make over a weekend and then to let it sit in the fridge for a monday night dinner and just warm up and serve as it really is better if it sits for a day 🙂

250g dried peaches

500mls fresh orange juice (with segments if possible)

35 ml olive oil

8 – 10 chicken thighs (skin on)

2 onions, diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 carrots, sliced

1 leek, (or 2 baby leeks) sliced

2 sticks cinnamon

3 whole cloves

2.5 mls (half a teaspoon) ground ginger

15mls (1 tbsp) curry powder

20 mls vinegar

40 mls brown sugar

5 mls (1 tsp) salt

8 baby potatoes

300 mls chicken stock

– Soak the peaches overnight in the orange juice.

– Pre heat your oven to 160 C

– Heat oil in a large pan and brown the chicken thighs well on both sides. Set aside.

– Add onion and garlic to the pan and saute till soft. Add carrot and leek slices and saute for 3 minutes.

– Take off the heat and add cinnamon, cloves, ginger and curry powder. Stir. Place a lid on and let the mixture ‘sweat’ for 4 minutes.

– Place back on the heat, add the vinegar, brown sugar and salt. Add the potatoes to the mixture and add the chicken thighs.

– Add peaches and the orange juice and mix well and then pour the chicken stock over the top.

– Bake for 1 and a half to 2 hours.

The flavours in this curry will develop if allowed to stand for 24 hours (refrigerated).

Serve with yellow rice

Serves 4

Litchi and Duck Breast Thai Red Curry

So when I made this, I honestly thought my husband was going to lick the plate. Its a super easy dish and just the most divine taste! You just HAVE to try it! This one is from the PNP Fresh Living Mag.  These flavours are outstanding together! This is such an easy recipe and so simple, yet you could get away with this at a dinner party as you could really make the presentation look amazing. And Duck is always quite ooo-la-la!

4 duck breasts

Salt and milled pepper

2 garlic cloves, chopped

4cm knob fresh ginger, chopped

1 sachet (about 45ml) thai red curry paste

Juice of 1 lime (2tbsp)

2 Tbsp fish sauce

1 can (400g) coconut milk

1 packet sugar snap peas

1 packet baby corn

1 packet baby pak choi

12 litchis, peeled, de-pipped and diced

coriander for topping

Steamed basmati rice for serving.

– Score duck breast skin with a sharp knife, be careful not to cut through to the flesh below and season

– Place duck breasts in a cold, deep pan and bring pan to a medium heat and cook duck fat-side down until most of the fat has been rendered and the skin is golden and crispy (about 10 minutes)

– Flip and cook on the flesh side until done to your liking. Remove from the pan and cook garlic and ginger for a few seconds in all the pan juices

– Add the paste, lime juice, fish sauce and coconut milk and mix well. Gently simmer for 5 minutes.

– Toss in vegetables and litchis and cook for 5 – 8 minutes or until just tender.

– Ladle into bowls and top with sliced duck and coriander.

– I served this in a Tagine dish with white basmati rice in separate bowls which made everything look so stunning and I just let the tagine on the table and we just tucked in at our leisure.

Serves 4

Tandoori Chicken Pittas with a yoghurt and mint dressing recipe

Tandoori Chicken Pittas with a yoghurt and mint dressing recipe

I love tandoori flavour! This is a great one for DVD nights or chilled family nights. Easy and tasty! Just plan ahead because the longer it marinates the better!

•  6 chicken breasts, skinned and cut into chunks
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp tandoori or Tikka Masala curry paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste or chopped fresh garlic
• 1 tsp ginger paste or chipped fresh ginger
• Small bunch of fresh mint, freshly chopped
• 5 tbsp plain low-fat bio yoghurt
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cucumber, peeled and grated
• 12 large pitta breads
• 150g mixed lettuce leaves

Method

1. In a bowl, combine the chicken pieces and lemon juice and mix well. Add the curry paste, garlic, ginger, half the chopped mint, 2 tablespoons of the yoghurt and season well. Leave for at least 3–4 hours, but overnight is even better.
2. In another bowl, add the remaining yoghurt and mint and the grated cucumber, season well, and mix together thoroughly.
3. Grill the chicken in the oven or wrapped in foil on the braai for about 15 minutes, or until the meat is cooked.
4. Open up the pitta breads like pockets,(tip – if you pop then in the microwave for a minute they are much easier to open)  then fill the bottoms with the mixed leaves and a few cubes of the chicken and top with a good dollop of the yoghurt dressing. Serve.Makes 24 Pitta halves