Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is something that I have always wanted to make at home, but thought it was in the too hard basket. One thing about eating clean as best as we could, is that it makes me more comfortable in using more natural or back to basics ingredients.

I love the aroma of different spices used in tikka masala. While tikka masala is often associated as a high fat, this version is leaner but definitely not short of flavour. The other thing I like about this recipe... it was pretty much a one pan dish! Everything in the oven and ta-dah..tasty dinner ready.

Given hubby's part indian heritage, he was a little sceptical about the authentic of the recipe. I'm not sure of it myself, but hubby assured me that even he was surprised that it tasted like the real stuff. mm.. maybe it is the real stuff! LOL

Both of us agreed that it tasted even better the next day. I made enough for 4 meals and will be keeping this recipe for sure.

Chicken Tikka Masala (serves 8)
1 kg chicken thighs fillets
2 tablespoon of oil
50 ml of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
4 tablespoon of grated ginger
4 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of chill powder
1 tablespoon of turmeric
ground pepper
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
50 ml coconut milk
1 tinned of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
3 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon of paprika
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 chili padi chopped
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of garam masala
1 tablespoon of turmeric


Pre heat oven 200C.

Marinate chicken in all ingredients in an oven proof dish. Bake chicken till cooked through for around 1 hour.

Meanwhile, sauté onion and garlic. Then combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for around 10-15 mins. When the chicken is cooked, pour sauce over it. Bake for another 20 mins or so. Serve with veges or if you like, with rice. 

Indian Style Chicken Quinoa Salad

You have probably caught on the news that quinoa is a wonder food. Well, all ingredients are pretty wonderful to me, but quinoa has a special quality to it. It is a high protein seed.

The nutritious factor of this ingredients make its very appealing. Not to mention the nutty taste to it as well. Tigerfish from Tecacape use it regularly and so does a few other bloggers.

Now that I have got used to having complex carbs around 3 days a week, hubby and I love how good it feels in our bodies. It's amazing how much our digestive system adapts and I feel likes bloated and sluggish. This doesn't mean we don't enjoy food- which is what some of our friends seem to have misunderstood. It means I have to be more creative than ever without sacrificing taste. We still love our food and sweets!

I paired our chicken salad up with some indian spiced quinoa- I love the aroma of mustard seeds popping in oil with some cumin and garam masala spice. With some grilled chicken and spinach, it means a very tasty and fulfilling meal.

Indian Style Chicken Quinoa Salad 

2 chicken breasts- quartered

1 tablespoon of oil
1 tablespoon of mustard seed
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tsp of chili powder
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp of garlic 
1 cup of quinoa
2 cups of stock of water

4-5 cups of spinach or mixed salad leaves
chopped chili for garnish

Grilled chicken till done. Sliced
In a pot, heat oil and add mustard seeds. Once it starts to brown, add all other spices and fry it for around 2 mins. Add garlic and quinoa. Add water or stock. Simmer for 5-10 mins till quinoa is done. Toss it with chicken and mixed salad leaves. Garnish with chili if desired.

Indian Fish Curry

Whenever I think of having fish, it's either steamed, pan fried or in a curry form. Looking back, I always feel more comfortable having curry fish (or steamed fish) than other versions. Attempting it at home however, is another story.

I spotted this recipe by Betty Saw some time ago from her "Rasa Malaysia" Cookbook. Woah, that cookbook is filled of goodies.

Again, I chose a recipe that I know ingredients can be source here at our markets. I didn't use as much coconut as stated in the recipe. On hindset, I should have ground the ingredients but chopped them finely instead.

I love the tangy, rich taste of this. I used barramundi fillet but am thinking of using snapper next time-a fish which is firmer.

This year, it's my aim to master the art of making curries. While I am not quite there yet, this recipe makes me feel proud that I have stepped out of my comfort zone-and resisted using package sauces! woohoO!

Indian Fish Curry (serves 4)
400 grams Barramundi fillet sliced
100 grams of squid sliced
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp of curry powder mixed with 100 ml water
1 tsp mustard seeds
a few slices of tamarind soaked in few tsp of water. strain pulp
250 ml coconut milk
3 brinjals sliced diagnonally
1/2 can of tomatoes or 3 tomatoes quarted

Ingredients to be grounded (or chopped finely)
4-5 chili padi or 25 dried chillies soaked
around 6 shallots chopped
4 stalks of lemongrass


Rub fish with 1 tsp of salt. Set aside.

Heat some oil in wok or pan. Fry grounded or finely chopped ingredients. Then add curry powder paste and mustard seeds. Fry till fragrant. If mixture appears dry, add some tamarind liquid.

Add curry leaves. Fry for 3-5 more minutes before adding the rest of the tamarind liquid and coconut milk.

When it starts to boil, add the brinjals. Simmer for around 10 minutes. Then add fish, salt and tomatoes. Cook till fish is done. Serve with rice.

Apom- Indian Coconut Pancakes

A traditional Sunday for hubby, his brother and parents, would be a trip down to the local Indian shop for a hearty breakfast of Thosai and Apoms. If I have to choose, I would say Thosai is my favourite. I love the thin pancakes and the condiments that come with it (dahl, coconut and usually a spicy curry gravy). My mother in law's favourite item would be Apom. My hubby would usually order both.

My mother in law gave me this cute little wok the last time we went back to KL., She said she bought this with the intentional of making apom at home, but given the availability of it in KL, she changed her mind and store it away. Since hubby likes it, would I try making it in Aus? I accepted the challenge.

And challenge it was! Obviously, I couldn't do the diet and make this at the same time, so I started the diet after making this (Always the next day right?). I made the mixture the night before, and made my first apom the next morning. It was certainly an adventure as I wasn't sure if what I was doing was right. I do know that a good apom is thin on the edges with a slight crisp and soft in the centre.After reading up on a few recipes, I experimenting with the batter, this appears to be it.

(First attempt)

I learned that a hot work is the way to go. I didn't need to add any oil as the wok that I have is non stick. One has to swirl the wok very quickly though to make sure the batter coats the sides of the wok. I wasn't sure how much batter should I have and ended up with 20 apoms. Obviously, that lasted us for both lunch and dinner with leftovers to boot!!

You can choose to make a sweet coconut syrup to go with it. Or you can choose to have it with dahl. I made a spiced potato (aka my version of masala potatoes) as hubby wanted something more substantial.

The funny thing was, half way through lunch, he said "dear, this is vegetarian!!!!!!!"

(finally getting the little bubbles right)

I replied: "yes dear. It is!!! and this time round, it was YOUR request to have this."

Apom (Plain hoppers Coconut Pancakes) -makes 20
3 tablespoons of cooked rice
1/2 cup of warm water
1 tsp of yeast

500 grams of rice flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of salt
800 grams of coconut milk

Blend cooked rice, warm water and yeast together. Put dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour blended mixture followed by the coconut milk. Mix well. Glad wrap it and leave it overnight.

Next day, heat your wok till hot! Ladle mixture (2x) into the wok. Swirl it quickly. Cover and cook for around 3-4 minutes. Remove lid and let it cook for another min. Slide on plate. Keep it warm in an oven.

Make coconut condiment by heating up 100 ml of coconut milk with 2-3 tsp of sugar.

Food from the Heart- Dhal

Time flies and this is the 3rd time I am participating in Babe in KL's yearly Merdeka event. Even though I am Singaporean, hubby is Malaysian-and so was my dad. So in our families, both National Day in Singapore and Merdeka Day in Malaysia are highlighted in our calender.

Babe in KL's theme this year is Food From the Heart. I thought that since Hubby is Malaysia, perhaps he could share with us a dish from his childhood days prepared by his mother or grandmother, and then I could cook it.

Before he gave his answer, I was expecting dishes like "Mum's Curry" or "Sweet and sour pork", "Indian curry"..etc. To my surprise, his answer was a simple "Dhal".

He explained to me that in many ways, his family come together to have dhal. Every Sunday morning, his family will travel to his dad's favourite thosai places and have thosai with dhal. His mother would also make dhal on weeknights for dinner. Given the mixed heritage that he is from, it seems to be a dish that the whole family would tuck in happily. He recall his mum making this dish and often it would be more flavorsome with more ingredients than what was served out in the shops. Looking back, he said it was probably a good dish to have as money was tight (not that his family ever let him know that), and that he was satisfied with a good bowl of dhal with rice.


It never fail to amaze me that the simplest food can be the most heart warming ones. If someone were to ask me what food did I recall as most memorable as a child, I would say "Sweet and sour pork" that my grandmother would make from scratch (From marinating to deep frying to braising!) to a simple dish of fried egg, soya sauce and rice.


I asked our friend (who happened to be my colleague and AR's  high schoolmate!!!) her recipe for dhal that she attempted a few months ago when we went over to their place for dinner. She gladly shared it with me. Thanks J! AR said that this resembles what he used to have-except I added in fresh mushrooms that was not available back in those days in Malaysia.

Dhal 
1 1/2 cups red lentils
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup of baby spinach, rinsed
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
1 carrot diced
1 fresh tomato diced
2 tablespoons spread
1 red onion, chopped
2 birds eye chili chopped
2 pieces of curry leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon garam masala


Rinse lentils and soak for 20 minutes. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute onions with cumin and mustard seeds, stirring often. Cook until onions are transparent.
Add water, stock, salt, lentils, turmeric and chili powder. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the spinach and other veges and cook 5 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Add more water if necessary.
Stir in garam masala.

Indian Spiced Rice with Toasted Cashews

Reading ABC Delicious Magazine and this caught my eye! It resembles a briyani or pilaf and certainly fits into the one pot dinner idea.

What I enjoyed about this dish is biting into juicy tender chicken. I bought these cutlets on the bone as they were cheaper, but the flavour that the provided to the rice was totally worth it.

Indian Spiced Rice with Toasted Cashews

1 kg of chicken thigns (I used bone in)
200 grams of  Tandoori paste
marinate overnight.


2 cups of basmati rice
1 carrot peeled and chopped
1 cauliflower chopped

Garlic
1-2 tsp of cumin 
4-5 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp of garam masala powder

Cashew nuts to serve with.

Pre heat oven to 200 C. Quickly Pan fry chicken till it turns brown. In a deep pan, heat up some oil and saute garlic, cumin, curry powder and garam masala powder till it smells soooo good. Then add rice. Add around 2-3 cups of water till it absorbs partially. Toss in the veges. Spoon rice onto over proof dish, top it up with chicken and bake it for around 25 mins.


Serve with toasted cashew nuts. 

The adventures of the Thosai Part 2

Many readers will recall reading my flipping woes. If that is one kitchen skill that I would like to master better, is FLIPPING!

So nearly 1.5 years later, I plucked up my courage and decided to try flipping thosai again. Our vegetarian guest who is Malaysian will probably appreciate a dish similar to street food in Malaysia I thought.

First take- Batter was too thick!

Second take- Batter was in good consistency but I turned it too soon and it broke.

After 20 tries later...


I have ONE decent looking one

that have a few cracks in it.. but at least it resembles a soft version of thosai (Although I was aiming for a crips one :( )

Of course..I served it with vegetable curry!

At least the curry was good! (thanks to A1 curry paste.. ;p)

Chicken Tika Masala

You read about my rave on Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food cook book here. It sounds weird, taking curry advice from a Brit-but seems that it is what one orders when one is in Britain (is it true?).

Armed with the recipe from Jamie Oliver, I made Chicken Tika and it was delicious! Never thought it can be that easy to make Indian curries at home. No more expensive and oily take aways!

I adapted his recipe by adding more veges and reduced the amount of chicken to make it a one pot dish. Add some microwave papadums and the crunch factor is the bonus.

Chicken Tika Masala (serves 4) 

2 chicken breasts  diced
1 onion sliced
1 red chili diced
some minced ginger
1 pataks tika masala sauce
1 tin of chopped tomatoes

Added:
1 carrot diced
2 cups of beans sliced
2 fresh tomato diced
2 cups of mushrooms sliced. 

omitted- tin of coconut milk and natural yogurt

Cumin spiced papadums microwaved for 20 seconds.

Heat a deep pan with oil. Sizzle garlic, chili and ginger and onion. Add curry paste and cook till it smells oh so good! Brown chicken in the same pan. Add all veges and tin of tomato. Add a little water if needed (as i didnt use coconut milk). Bring it to boil. Simmer for around 15-20 mins. Do a taste test and adjust accordingly. I do not usually add salt as the paste contains some.

If you have some sliced almonds, toast and serve curry with almonds and yogurt and papadums.

Salmon Tandoori Stir Fry

I used to think that Tandoori paste is used for marinating chicken in. Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food  changed my thinking forever. It has so many quick and do-able recipes that even the hubby could use (hint!). I was also happy to know that one of my favourite brand of curry paste- Pataks is also recommended as a short cut (And apparently it was not an advert for them, Jamie did try it and thought it was as good as it can get for a store bought jar version).

So happily I used the jar-I welcome short cuts in the kitchen. This made an awesome quick stir fry dish with both fish and vegetables- how healthy can it get right? (oh no wait... sorry, tandoori paste has oil...). Still, it was a good change from my normal stir fry dishes.

 Salmon Tandoori Stir Fry 

1 piece of salmon diced
1 tsp of chopped garlic
1 fresh chili chopped
1 knob of ginger mince 
1-2 tablespoon of Pataks Tandoori curry paste
1/2 can of coconut milk (obmited)
handful of bean sprouts
big handful of snow peas
 peanuts to serve

lemon or lime wedges 

Cook garlic, chili and ginger and curry paste. Add salmon and toss it through. Add some water if too dry (or coconut milk). add the veges.

Dish it out on hot rice. Serve with lemon or lime wedges. 

Indian Spiced Baked Prawn Pilaf

Woah! What wild weather we are experiencing in Perth at the moment. Driving home with nearly zero visibility last night plus very scary sounding wind and hail! The wild winter weather is perfect for warm hearty food though..and I recalled making this very easy dish inspired by ABC delicious again.

The only thing is that I estimated the amount of spices I used, so judge it at your own peril! =)

Indian Spiced Baked Prawn Pilaf (Serves 4)
2 cups of basmatic rice
1.5 cups of hot/warm stock

2 cinnamon sticks
5-6 cardamon pods
3 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of chili powder
2-3 tsp of tumeric powder
2 tsp of garam masala

1 red onion chopped
garlic

1 cup of peas
200 grams of shelled prawns.

Preheat Oven to 200C. If you have a casserole dish, fry spices with onion and garlic with oil till fragrant. Add rice and stir till well coated with spices. Add hot stock and season accordingly. When the stock boil, put the dish into the oven covered with aluminum foil. (If you dont have a dish, I used a deep pan, coat rice with spices and scooped in into an oven proof dish, pouring hot stock over it). Bake for around15 minutes. Rice should be nearly done. Stir in peas and place pawns on top of it. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or so.

Serve hot with mango chutney and veges.

Spiced Meat Patties with Dhal and Savory Rice

I finally figured out that if I do grocery shopping after 5 pm on a weekday, there is a huge discount on mince. Turns out that grocery stores are not allowed to keep mince for next day sale and they would have to chunk out what they couldn't sell that night!!! How wasteful! Therefore, they try to put a 50% discount on what is left in the fridge.

Since budgeting is "in" right now (hehehe, given that we have been surviving on student wages + first job wage for some time means we are soo used to budgeting anyway!), there are heaps of mince recipes in newspapers and magazines. I can't quite remember where I recieved inspiration for this recipe for exactly.. Think it was ABC delicious mag.


The result was tender lightly spiced meat patties that has a slight crisp to the outside. Dahl was cooked in the magic cooker that mum bought me for Christmas.



Spiced Meat Patties with Dhal and Savory Rice (Serves 4)

Spiced Meat Patties
300 grams lean beef mince
1 tsp of garlic
1 tsp of olive oil
1 heap tsp of corn flour
1 egg
2 tsp fo tumeric
1 tsp of chilli
2 tsp of cumin
2 tsp of mixed spiced
1 chopped chilli

Dhal
150 grams of mixed lentils (soaked overnight)
2 carrots
1 red onion chopped
3 tsp of tumeric
1 cinnamon stick
2 tsp of chilli powder
4 cups of stock

Savory Rice
2 cups of rice
1 red onion chopped
1 tablespoons of garlic
1 tablespoon of spread


1) Heat oil in magic cooker around 6 hours before dinner time. Cook onion and garlic. Add all spices and cook till you can smell it. Place lentils and stock in. Bring it to boil. Place the whole pot in magic cooker. (If u r using slow cooker, just put everything in there and boil for 4-5 hrs, if using pot, allocate around 2 hrs).

2) Spiced Meat patties- Marinate all ingredients together for around 30 minutes. Shaped and fridge for another 15-20 minutes. Heat Grill till very hot and grill patties both sides for around 5-6 minutes.

3) Mean while, rinse rice and place it rice cooker. Melt spread and saute onions and garlic till done. Just before the rice cooks, place mixture into cooker.

4) Serve Spiced Meat patties with mango chutney!

Wedding thoughts

Nearly 1 month to the wedding now and all excitment is on board. RSVPS hv nearly all come through for the Perth side of the celebrations and I'm going to be doing sitting arrangements very soon! Not to mention, after saving $ for sooo long, we have started purchasing gifts, finalizing items, booking stuff, making sure ppl have accomodation and activities..etc It's all in the details right?

The best thing I have learned so far is to trust the people who you have allocate the jobs to. I remembered feeling a little flustered-needing to arrange make up/hair for the other girls when one of my best friends just took over and said she will handle it. Then we have an issue with the invites printing, which another best friend then raised her hands and managed to take the initiative to solve the problem and got all invites on time as well. It's those little moments that count more than the whole event-because u feel really loved. really really loved.

32 days to the wedding

Slow Roasted Saffron Briyani with Butter Cashews and Mango Spiced Chicken

When Dee from Choos and Chews featured Slow Roasted Saffron Briyani with Butter Cashews on her blog a few months ago, I couldn't help but bookmarked her recipe. The last time I made Briyani was for Babe_KL Merdeka event, which was 1 year ago!

At the supermarket, my eyes spotted a packet of "mango spiced seasoning" by Pattaks and I instantly thought that it would go well with Briyani. True enough, it did.



I absolutely adore this Briyani recipe. This was also the first time I experimented with saffron-the most expensive spice on earth. It was worth every cent as the rice was fragrant and full of flavour. The butter cashews were a lovely added touch too.

Yum! I think briyani photograph well. Don't you think?

I hope Dee don't mind but I have adapted her recipe a little. Do remember to hop over her blog to have a look at her recipe as well.



Dee's Slow Roasted Saffron Briyani with Butter Cashews (Serves 4)
1 tablespoon of butter
2 cinnamon bark
1 tsp saffron infused with water
1 tsp of tumeric powder
3-4 cardamons (bruised)
1 red onion finely chopped
3-4 tsp of raisins pumped by with hot water

2 cups of basmatic rice
2 cups of chicken stock

1 tsp of butter
cashew nuts

1) Melt butter. Saute cinnamon, tumeric powder, cardamons and red onions. Add rice and toss though. Take in the smell! Add raisns and saffron infusion. Mix well with stock. Cover and cook for around 15-20 minutes or so. Open the lid and cook for additional 5 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, melt butter in a small pan. Saute cashew nuts.

Serve with love.

Adventures of the Thosai and Chicken Curry

(the 8th attempt)

"flip"

and

"flip"

and

aRghhhh.....

I tested out my flipping skills recently by indulging in the art of thosai making. Rather than grinding the thosai mixture myself, I decided to take a stepwise approach and use a packet of thosai mix.

Flipping thosai is like flipping pancakes right? Easy peasy stuff. but nooo.. flipping thosai isn't as easy as it seems (for me anyway).

(see the broken pieces)

After the 8th attempt, my thosai finally resembles one. Almost anyway.

Now, I have a greater admiration to thosai makers and their flat, round pans!

(6th attempt, looking slightly decent)

What's that in the pink bowl? Surely I haven't gone out of my mind and serve ice-cream with thosai? Rest assured I didn't. It was easy chicken curry that I have there. Ar and I are blessed with helpful and great parents/grandma and our fridge has like a year supply of curry pastes. This one was made by AR's mum.



I would have made some dhal but I was craving for some spicy hot stuff hence the chicken curry.


Easy Chicken Curry (serves 4)
4-6 generous tablespoons of AR's mum curry paste (obviously it will be your choice of curry paste =) )
1/2 of lite coconut milk
1 cabbage sliced
500 grams of chicken cutlet/breasts diced
1 onion.

1) Saute curry paste till fragrant. Add onions.

2) Cook chicken till through. Add cabbage. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.

3) Add coconut milk. Taste. Season if required.

4) Serve with broken up thosai.

Memories and tastebuds- Thosai

If you ask me what was my favourite meal during the recent trip to Malaysia, it would have to be Thosai.

Perhaps it was the fond memory of having breakfast with AR's family the first time a few years ago; or perhaps it was just the lovely taste of savory thosai that enticed me. Either way, I enjoyed this breakfast heartedly.

They (Ar's parents) laughed when they learned that I enjoyed thosai. They understood, however, that it was the simplicity of the meal and the welcoming gesture that I was silently after. Afterall, a breakfast with the family is just as important as the dinner.

Or maybe, they assumed that as a Singaporean girl, I would be expecting better dining options. Not at all.

How can I resist Thosai? The pancake with spicy condiments.

A warm cup of teh tarik to warm the tummy up. Ah, so much better than the AUS$3 cup that I paid in Australia (Malaysian readers will probably say I was cheated by the vendor).

Sinful crisp on the outside but soft on the inside- Vadai. Oh how I missed this.


Masala thosai- lovely curry potatoes encased in the thin pancake. Notice the sauces served. cooling yogurt/spiced mixture, dahl and curry sauce.


Rawa Thosai-the sinful one among all the thosai(s). The addition of vegetables did not make it healthier. Hot oil and ghee was poured on to the side of the thosai as it cooked. The crisp texture made the calories worthwhile.

Telur Bawang Thosai- how i miss this. Egg and onion thosai. The sweetness of the red onion went so well with the thin pancake.
Apum or hoppers were bowl shaped pancakes. The server generously placed a small bucket of coconut milk on the table as AR ladle scoops onto the apum. Creamy and tasty. It was not complete without the coconut.

An extremely satisfying meal. Any visitors to Malaysia must not miss this.

Sri Devi
SS15/4D
Subang Jaya
(near row of shops, along with Maybank)

Going Indian- Vindaloo, savory rice and papdums!

Most of you know that my H2B (forum lingo for hubby to be) is from a Indian/Chinese heritage. His ancestors (i.e. grand father and above) were from North India. Besides pratas (or roti canai or flat breads) and Indian rojak (a kind of salad), I'm still quite ignorant about Indian cuisine. Doesn't help when AR isn't exactly clue in about it either!

In his defense, his mum raised him up with a healthy diet of Chinese meals but introduced dahl and other sorts of curries when he was a child. His father supplement that diet by bringing both brothers to Indian coffee shops for great roti canai and Thosai for breakfast every weekend. I still look forward to those big hearty breakfasts with them on our yearly trip back. Not to mention, those trips got me hooked on THOSAI! Thank goodness for our ex-neighbor who recognize our love for thosai and regularly invite us over to their house for a decent Indian meal. Despite her best effort to teach me how to make thosai... I still don't get it! Apparently we need a grinder or blender to make the paste. Oh well, more reasons to pop over to their new place I guess. :P

One of our most memorable dates was at D'Tandoor. I guess AR decided to introduce me to proper Indian cuisine then (so that I know Indian food isn't all about thosai and dahl). Besides Tandoori, we had a go at Vindaloo-and I remembered leaving with tears in my eyes. Not tears of joy mind you.. more like tears of spiciness.

*Now that everyone knows our wedding dates are 25th of April 2009 (Perth), 1st of May 2009 (Singapore) and 3rd of May 2009 (Subang, Malaysia)-we can't afford to go D'Tandoor anymore....

Hence the need to improvise and make something similar at home.

Given that I'm such a newbie in experimenting and cooking Indian food PLUS I'm still in my lazy mode, I took a short cut and used ready-made paste instead (*embarrassed*) .

At least it tasted like the real deal!

Vindaloo (serves 4)
Benjamin's brand of HOT vindaloo paste (about 3-4 tablespoons-anything more is lethal)
300grams of cube chicken (or pork or beef)
chopped onions (half)
plain yogurt

Marinate meat with vindaloo paste and yogurt for about 20 minutes.

When ready, fry onions till soft. Cook meat till just done, adding water or stock till suitable consistency. Serve with savory rice and vegetables

Savory rice
2 cups of rice
water

chopped onion (Half)
1 tablespoon of garlic
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
cumin
2-3 tablespoons of oil

Heat pan with oil. Add mustard seeds and fry till you can smell it! At that point, add in other spices. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon till it becomes a paste. Fry onions and garlic using the paste. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, wash rice. Parboil it. (whether on the stove or rice cooker).

Add paste with onions and garlic in. Fluff up rice as much as you can. Leave it to steam for about 5-10 more minutes. Garnish with fried shallots.


Papadums
Brush each papadum with some oil (u can also obmit this step)
microwave each papdum for about 15 seconds.

Serve with vindaloo! It's a myth that you need to deep fry the papdums!!


*PS- It sounded so wrong saying "wedding dates"- I'm only marrying ONE man!! Not three....