Browse Author by BilalBham
Spicing Up Healthy!
Dinner, Lunch, Vegan, Vegetarian

Spicy Spinach

As part of my little experiment to go meat free, I decided to get mum in to help me out when I decided to cook! She suggested I cook her dish Spicy Spinach, which I have enjoyed for many years. The only thing we have changed recently is using coconut oil instead of other oils.

Traditionally, we ate this with every other Saturday with yellow rice, (mum uses turmeric for the colour!), and kurhi, a heated watered down yogurt, not great for my digestive system! Mum also enjoys this with chapati, naan or pitta bread, however, with my gluten intolerances, I guess I could handle wholemeal or jasmine rice, but I went with my tried and trust quinoa, made Indian style!

This dish is perfect for a light lunch or dinner, contains potatoes for some carbs (mum said sweet potato or butternut squash would make the dish too sweet, so I went with starchy potatoes!), iron and zinc from spinach and other spices to up antioxidants. You will also receive a decent amount of protein from 40 g of quinoa!

Spicy Spinach and Quinoa Ingredients
Spicy Spinach and Quinoa Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

Spicy Spinach

200 g spinach (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

50 g peas (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

¼ tin chopped tomatoes

4 charlotte potatoes

4 cloves garlic (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 cm ginger (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

2 green chillies (we used a bag we’d frozen before)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon dried coriander

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 teaspoon

2 teaspoon coconut oil

Pillau Quinoa

40 g quinoa

¼ onion

2 cinnamon sticks

200 mL of filtered water, boiled.

¼ teaspoon Salt

1 teaspoon Coconut oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Spicy Spinach

  1. In a large saucepan, add in ¾ chopped onion, 2 teaspoon coconut oil peas, garlic, ginger, chilli, ¼ tin tomatoes, chopped potatoes, spices and seasoning, place on ½ heat and cover for 5 minutes whether ingredient are frozen or not due to moisture from the spinach;
  2. Simmer on ¼ heat for 20 minutes and stir occasionally to mix;
  3. Spicy Spinach is served! Yes really!

Pillau Quinoa

  1. You can begin cooking this simultaneously with the Spicy Spinach;
  2. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
  3. Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
  4. Add in the cinnamon sticks;
  5. Add in the boiling water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt;
  6. Add the quinoa and stir gently;
  7. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  8. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  9. Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
  10. You are now ready to eat!
Spicy Spinach and Quinoa
Spicy Spinach and Quinoa

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 2 people

I made enough just for mum and I!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

About Me

Going Meat Free in 3 Months!

Hi everyone, sorry for being away for so long and not posting anything, I upgraded my hosting and they lost everything… but then I managed to rescue my blog, so here I am!

First up, I have some news for you, which will affect what I post on here over the next 3+ months! As you will have seen from the title, I am going meat free in 3 months! I have gone red meat free for October (Stoptober!), will go chicken free in November, and fish free in December, i.e. full vegetarian! I am not sure about vegan, I love my eggs too much but let’s see how I get on!

Considering that I am lactose (and to an extent gluten) intolerant, I want to see how going without animal products affects my body and mood. This is as much an experiment for me as it is to share my life with my vegetarian and vegan friends! I currently only drink lactose-free milk and have gone dairy free before but never totally animal product free! If I feel good on a vegetarian diet and find good alternatives to egg then I will most certainly go vegan for a month!

Stay tuned for some funky recipes, as usual, a mix of mums cooking blended with healthier alternatives from modern cuisine, spiced up by me!! I am pretty excited about sharing my journey with you!

Dinner, Lunch

ChiQuin Biryani

Biryani, be with any type of meat and/or vegetables is very popular during special occasions across the India subcontinent, and of course amongst immigrant Indian families across the world.

Traditionally, we have always enjoyed chicken biryani at home, such as the Eid (feast) after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (Eid-ul-Fitr or Feast of Fast breaking) or 60 days later for Eid-ul-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice). Mum’s also made it for birthdays, family gatherings and so forth, and I have enjoyed it at weddings, engagements and other events.

As much as I love this speciality dish, I wanted to modernise it for my health and fitness needs. Therefore, I used only fresh ingredients (mum likes using frozen garlic and ginger), swapped the olive oil for coconut oil and used quinoa instead of rice! (I know what you’re thinking, I should rename this blog Spiced Up With Quinoa!).

You will need 3 saucepans for this, 2 medium sized ones and one large one, which you can line with aluminium foil like we do at home for easy washing.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Mix

2 chicken breasts

100g lentils

100g soya yoghurt (you can add any type of yogurt; I am lactose intolerant!)

1 onion

1 red onion

1 tomato

4 cloves of garlic

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (turmeric)

1 long red pepper (didn’t have this available at the time!)

1 long green pepper

1 long red chilli

1 long green chilli (didn’t have this available at the time!)

1 spoon dried coriander

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

1 pinch of saffron

Coconut oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)

 

Quinoa

200 g quinoa

Coconut oil

400 mL of filtered water, boiled

Salt

ChiQuin Ingredients
ChiQuin Ingredients

INSTRUCTIONS

Chicken (saucepan 1)

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
  2. Slice and dice in the onions, and stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
  3. Add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger to the saucepan and stir;
  4. To the mix, add one freshly chopped tomato, 100g soya yogurt, dried coriander, turmeric and a half a teaspoon of salt (feel free to add gharam masala);
  5. Chop in the chillies and peppers (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
  6. Cook this mix while stirring gently until the water evaporates (points 1-6 should take 5 minutes cooking time);
  7. Begin preparing the quinoa;
  8. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook until all raw bits disappear, stir gently;
  9. Turn the heat down to a quarter, add salt to taste, cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
  10. You are now ready to mix with the quinoa!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

 

Quinoa (saucepan 2)

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (boil 500 mL filtered water);
  2. Add in the quinoa and mix with the coconut oil (helps to keep the quinoa grains separated);
  3. Add in 200mL boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
  4. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  5. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  6. Allow the quinoa to simmer until the quinoa is cooked (add more water if needed) and all the water has evaporated;
  7. You are now ready to mix with the chicken!

Preparation time: 1 minute

Cooking time: 15 minutes

 

ChiQuin Biryani (saucepan 3)

  1. Spread 1/3 quinoa at the bottom;
  2. Spread 1/2 lentils over the quinoa;
  3. Spread 1/2 of the chicken mix over the lentils;
  4. Spread remaining 1/2 lentils over the chicken;
  5. Spread remaining 1/2 chicken mix over the lentils;
  6. Spread remaining 2/3 quinoa over the chicken;
  7. Cook on half heat for 15 minutes, and check the chicken with a knife to see if it has almost cooked through;
  8. Transfer onto an elevated gauze or saucepan (to stop the bottom quinoa layer from burning) for 15 minutes on 1/4 heat;
  9. Check to see if chicken has cooked and the mix is to your liking;
  10. You are now ready to eat!

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 2-4 people –I made enough biryani to last us another day!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback!

 

Chiquin Biryani
ChiQuin Biryani
Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Spicy Lamb Seekh Kebabs

Spicy Lamb Seekh Kebabs

Who loves kebabs? I love them! Pure meat with some spices! But how many of you have paid the price the next morning after one from the takeaway? Or, got a frozen which just didn’t quite live up to what you were expecting? So mum and I began experimenting a while ago at home and it turned out that mine were better than what mum came up with! I ended up developing my own way of making kebabs, stealing bits here and there and coming up with something that makes my mouth water just writing about it!

One of the major obvious benefits of kebabs is the high protein content. If you are looking to lean up and bulk up in the gym, meat will be an essential part of your diet. I usually make enough to last me a couple of weeks if not longer, so that I can snack on them too! Yup, spicy lamb mince seekh kebabs are my light late night snack everyone! No carbs, good fats, plenty of protein, deliciously fiery (which boosts metabolism and burn fat!) and so quick to make, grill them or bake them they don’t take long. Served with some fresh salad or grilled vegetables, I can’t think of a more filling and nutritious meal any time of the day!

Contents are important
Contents are important

INGREDIENTS

500g lean lamb mince

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 spoon dried coriander

A bunch of fresh coriander

Salt

Pepper

1 large free range egg

½ lemon

Wooden skewers

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Slice and dice the onions, crush the garlic, and chop up the ginger, corriander, haldi and chillies into tiny pieces;
  2. Add the vegetable mix to the lamb mince and mix thoroughly;
  3. Whisk up the egg separately and add the juice from half a fresh lemon and add to the mincemeat and mix thoroughly;
  4. Kneed the mix as you would dough, creating striations with your knuckle which shows that the meat is completely broken down and mixing with the vegetables;
  5. Roll up the mix in a bowl, cover it and leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight;
  6. Soak the wooden skewers in lukewarm water for 30 minutes to stop them from burning or catching fire;
  7. Bring out the mix from the fridge and knead again to fresh it up;
  8. With moist hands, pick off a handful of the kebab mix and mould it onto the skewers, leave some out to eat now and some to place straight into the freezer for another time;
  9. Place on grill for 15-20 minutes/oven bake in a tray at gas mark 5, 190°C/375°F for 20-30 minutes, depending on how well done you like your meat – do check every 10 minutes and turn them to ensure thorough cooking.
  10. Serve with a salad or grilled vegetables such as courgette/zucchini, aubergine, sweet potato or butternut squash, or my favourite long peppers!

 

500g of lamb mince
500g of lamb mince

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Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

We always make more so we can enjoy the food another time!

Lamb Seekh Kebabs
Lamb Seekh Kebabs
Ready to eat!
Ready to eat!

Please do let me know how you get on and feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch

Dhudi Dal and Pillau Quinoa

Dhodi Dal and Pillau Quinoa

I have always loved dal and pillau rice! It is a staple food in the Indian state of Gujarat and our staple Saturday lunchtime dish! I remember as a kid (and even now as a big kid!), being intoxicated by the mix of spices emanating from mum cooking the rice, the aroma filling the house, and reaching my bedroom or my office now where I work! This always made my stomach growl and I would end up eating at least half a plate of the rice before adding in the dal!

Nowadays, it’s a different type of smell due to my health and fitness issues and goals with my no-refined-carbs policy! So, quinoa is how I roll!

My mum’s dal is something I have grown up loving, however, since de-carbing my diet, I know I have to increase the nutritional value of all of my foods, and that means increasing the greens! So I thought about adding European vegetables to the dal but decided to stay true with okra and then mum suggested dhudi, or the calabash/lauki/Asian melon, which is high in vitamin C, perfect for the immune system as well as the joints!

Again, I have included all of my favourite ingredients which are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! This mix, any meal can be Spiced Up By Bilal’s methods 🙂

 

 

Dal and Qjuinoa
Dal and Qjuinoa

 

INGREDIENTS

Dhudi Dal

100 g toor dal/pigeon pea

6 lamb chops

½ onion

½ red onion

2 spring onions

4 cloves garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm haldi

1 cm of ginger

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

6 okra aka lady’s fingers

½ dhud/calabash/lauki

1 spoon dried coriander

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

½ tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)

2 litres of filtered water, boiled.

 

Pillau Quinoa

100 g quinoa

25 g chana dal/split chick peas

1 onion

4 cardamom seeds

8 cloves

8 black pepper seeds

200 mL of filtered water, boiled.

Salt

Olive oil

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Dhudi Dal

  1. In a large saucepan, add 500mL filtered boiling water and add in the 100 g toor dal. Stir, cover with lid and allow to boil on ¾ heat for at least 30 minutes until all the toor dal have split;
  2. Continue to check on the large saucepan every 10 minutes or so for water and stir (add more water if you need, and trust me, you will need to! With the rest of the boiled water in the kettle, prepare a cup of tea!);
  3. In a small saucepan slice and dice in the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan), chopped ginger and haldi, and allow the onions to brown whilst continuing to stir;
  4. Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
  5. Once the onions brown, and the half tin tomatoes and continue to stir gently until the tomato cooks through, evaporating off the water;
  6. Check on the toor dal (should be done around the 30-minute mark), and if the toor dal have popped, add in the contents of the small saucepan, chop in the red and green chillies (add them later at point 8 if you want your mung less spicy) add ½ teaspoon of salt and stir;
  7. Add in the okra and slice in the dhudi (be sure to remove the skin!), stir and cover with the lid and to cook for about 15 minutes;
  8. Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the toor dal and add salt and black pepper to taste;
  9. Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
  10. Feel free to add fresh coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough for mum and I to eat again!

 

Pillau Quiona

  1. Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 1 of cooking the dal by soaking the chana dal in boiling water and covering it so it is partially cooked by the time you cook the quinoa;
  2. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
  3. Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
  4. Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
  5. Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
  6. Add the quinoa and chana dal and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa several times in lukewarm water until all the dust disappears, and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
  7. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  8. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  9. Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
  10. You are now ready to eat!

 

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 2 people –I made enough dal to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

 

Dhodi Dal and Pillau Quinoa!
Dhodi Dal and Pillau Quinoa!
Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch, Snack, Teatime

Super Soya Yoghurt

Super Soya Yoghurt

When one is on the type of restricted diet that I am because of my acid reflux, IBS, and lactose intolerance, and leads a very active lifestyle encompassing my quest for a 6-pack where I attend the gym 5 times a week and dance salsa several evenings a week, one has the absolute need for highly nutritious food for needs to replace the forbidden food! I can’t have dairy so milk and Greek Yoghurt are out! I can’t have refined carbs so cereals, bread, rice and pasta are also out!

But I am a man! I need fibre! I need sugar! I need roughage! And I don’t want to have to reduce myself to raw carrot and sugar snap peas all the time (I do enjoy them but come on, every single day?!) for a snack when I want and need something filling!

Enter my Super Soya Yoghurt! I created this initially with porridge but after speaking to my PT who suggested removing the oats and dairy, I decided to switch to simply using soya (which he disagrees with!). This dish takes about 10 minutes to put together because I have all of the ingredients in separate tubs (yes, I am THAT particular!) and packs a serious nutritional punch encompassing all of what we need! We have a plethora of vitamins, minerals, healthy carbohydrates/sugars, fibre and protein, that’s what makes this yoghurt super!

I tend to have this has a small meal when I don’t want to have cooked food, usually late afternoon or evening, and with a cup of Spicy Masala Chai, it definitely hits the spot!

My collection of Dried Fruit, Nuts, Seeds, Spices!
My collection of Dried Fruit, Nuts, Seeds, Spices!

INGREDIENTS

250 mL Soya Yoghurt

Natural Forever Bee Honey

Dried Fruits

1 teaspoon Dried Cranberries

1 teaspoon Pitted Dates

1 teaspoon Banana Chips

1 teaspoon Apricots Whole Pitted

1 teaspoon California Seedless Raisins

1 teaspoon Sultanas

1 teaspoon Currants

1 teaspoon Dried Blueberries

4 Prunes Whole Pitted

4 Sun Dried Mango

4 Dried Apple Rings

4 Diced Pineapple pieces

8 Diced Papaya pieces

Nuts

4 Whole Cashew Nuts

4 Brazil Nuts

4 Walnut Halves

4 Pecan Halves

8 Macadamias

8 Hazelnut Kernels

4 Almonds

Seeds

1 teaspoon Pine Kernels

1 teaspoon Pumpkin Seeds

1 teaspoon Sunflower Kernels Hulled

1 teaspoon Brown Linseed

Spices

Sprinkle of ground Cinnamon

Sprinkle of ground Nutmeg

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Add all the dried fruit, nuts and seeds in a bowl.
  2. Pour in the soya yogurt.
  3. Squeeze on the natural bee honey.
  4. Sprinkle the ground cinnamon and nutmeg on top.
  5. Mix it up and dig in!
My Super Soya Yoghurt
My Super Soya Yoghurt

Preparation time 10 minutes

Eating time 10-15 minutes

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner, Lunch

Mighty Mung

Mighty Mung

Mung, or moong, is a green bean that’s popular over the Asian subcontinent, and very popular in our household! Mung is a good mix of proteins, carbs and fibre and is a staple food in India, where my family come from. It is popular among those who are vegetarian and vegan, so if you want a nutritional punch without the meat and dairy, this is the dish for you!

Growing up here in England, we had mung at least once a week! Traditionally, we had it with my mum’s delicious chappati, and my dad and I used to lap it up, by breaking the chappati up into little pieces and mixing it in the mung and digging in! My mum would also add yoghurt to the mung for thickness and taste, so I have continued with that but changed from dairy to soya yoghurt because of my lactose intolerance, acid reflux and IBS – believe me, the payback is definitely not worth it, not even a little bit… Think the film Bridesmaids…!

Nowadays, I am off the refined carbs due to my digestive issues with carbs and also my health and fitness reasons – there is a reason this is fitness food blog – which is my quest for a 6-pack! I am not that far off currently but I am going to motor on with this no refined carb and no dairy diet, it’s working for me both in terms of my health and fitness 🙂

One of the things I am trying to do is increase the nutritional value of all of our traditional dishes whilst removing the refined carbs. In this case I decided to add coloured vegetables in the form of chilli and peppers to increase the complex carbs and upped the protein by adding some tofu! The result is a delicious mix that has surprised me over and over again by how tasty it turned out, and it impressed my dear mother too! With my modifications, you get your protein, carbs and fibre, spice and taste all in one dish, what more could you ask for? 🙂

Prepped and ready to cook!
Prepped and ready to cook!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 onion

1/2 red onion

2 spring onions

3 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (not tamarind as I say in the video, my apologies!)

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1/2 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

1 fresh tomato

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

200g tofu

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon dried coriander

100ml soya yoghurt

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

First full fresh coriander

2 saucepans, 1 medium, 1 small

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In the large saucepan, add 500mL filtered boiling water and add in the 100 g mung. Stir, cover with lid and allow to boil on ¾ heat for at least 30 minutes, or until all the mung have split;
  2. Continue to check on the large saucepan every 10 minutes or so for water and stir (add more water if you need, and trust me, you will need to! With the rest of the boiled water in the kettle, prepare a cup of tea!);
  3. In the small saucepan slice and dice in the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), add 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds and allow the onions to turn brown whilst stirring;
  4. Once the onions brown, add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan), chopped ginger, haldi and tomatoes, curry leaves and dried coriander;
  5. Continue to stir gently until the tomato cooks through;
  6. Check on the mung (should be done around the 30-minute mark), and if the mung beans have popped, add in the contents of the small saucepan, chop in the red and green chillies (add them later at point 8 if you want your mung less spicy) add ½ teaspoon of salt and stir;
  7. Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the mung and add salt and black pepper to taste;
  8. Chop in the red and green peppers, stir and cover with the lid and to cook for about 5 minutes;
  9. Add the chopped tofu and spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
  10. Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!
Mung is served!
Mung is served!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough for the next day as we had a busy weekend ahead!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback J

Dinner, Lunch

Spicy Green Prawns

Spicy Green Prawn Curry With Quinoa

My mum’s prawn curry has to be one of my all-time favourite dishes that I look forward to every month! We tend to limit the amount of prawns we eat because of the high level of LDL cholesterol in prawns but once or twice a month we can’t go wrong!

I looooove the delicious sauce my mother makes, it is absolutely divine, and back when I was eating chappati, I could have 1 or 2 easily by dipping then piece by piece into the sauce and devouring, without even having touched the prawns! Mum usually adds potatoes but I felt that wasn’t enough for what I wanted to achieve.

I believe in serving you up the tastiest, healthiest, most nutrient-rich and of course spicy, food as possible to help you continue to make fitness gains without compromising on taste! Who said Indian food was unhealthy?! As you may already know, I am off the chappati and my mission is to create spicy, tasty, healthy, complex-carb rich food without the need for refined carbs, which block my plumbing and, well, I really am not going back to that painful place! Therefore, protein-rich pillau quinoa, with the method we use to cook pillau rice, is the way forward for me and for you if you want!

Now my mother uses fresh unpeeled and uncooked king prawns which I love because their shell adds to the gorgeous sauce, however, being someone who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty whilst eating (call me lazy and particular if you wish!), I decided to go for the easier option of shelled and cooked prawns!

 

 

The delicious vegetables!
The delicious vegetables!

 

INGREDIENTS

Spicy Green Prawns

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food!)

1 cm of ginger

1 cm haldi (not tamarind as I say in the video, my apologies!)

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

1 medium cauliflower

2 heads broccoli

1 carrot

150g cooked king prawns/300g fresh king prawns

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 tablespoon dried coriander

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

200ml of filtered water, boiled

 

INGREDIENTS

Pillau Quinoa

100g quinoa

1 onion

4 cardamom seeds

8 cloves

8 black pepper seeds

200ml of filtered water, boiled.

Salt

Olive oil

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Spicy Green Prawns

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil for the quinoa);
  2. Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger and add to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
  3. To the onions, add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, tamarind and a half a teaspoon of salt and chop in the chillies (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
  4. Allow to simmer and continue to stir gently until the water evaporates;
  5. Slice the carrots, and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into manageable chunks;
  6. Add the boiling water to the saucepan and then add in the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (and stir gently for a couple of minutes);
  7. Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste;
  8. Cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
  9. Add the prawns and chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
  10. Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

 

Pillau Quinoa

  1. Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 6 of cooking the spicy green prawns;
  2. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
  3. Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
  4. Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
  5. Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
  6. Add the quinoa and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa first in lukewarm water and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
  7. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  8. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  9. Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
  10. You are now ready to eat!

 

Spicy Green Prawn Curry With Quinoa
Spicy Green Prawn Curry With Quinoa

 

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Eating time: 15 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

I made enough curry to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Breakfast, Snack, Teatime

Spicy Masala Chai

Spicy Masala Chai

If you go to an Indian (or any Asian subcontinent) household you won’t simply be offered tea, but a choice of “English or Indian/Desi tea”!

What is the difference you may ask? Well, English tea is what we are accustomed to here in the UK: boil water, add to the kettle/mug with teabag, add milk, sweeten to taste, and voila!

Indian tea on the other hand requires a bit more than just hot water! First of all we use spices to help create that familiar scentsational aroma and up the antioxidants…. and then, depending how milky you like it, you can have 100% milk, 50-50 milk and water or 100% water and add some milk at the end. As you may know, I am lactose intolerant so use alternative non-dairy milk, and use sweetener from the stevia plant instead of sugar because it’s healthier!

You can purchase a quick and cheap version of this on the high street in coffee chains. On of them calls their version of it “Chai Tea Latte”, Chai means tea and latte is Italian for milk, so they are advertising “Tea Tea Milk”! Urgh! One of my pedantic gripes!

Here is how we make Indian tea in our home which serves 2 people.

All Chai Spices
All Chai Spices

 

INGREDIENTS

3 mugs of soya milk/almond/hazelnut/coconut milk

Stevia according to desired sweetness

4 small cinnamon sticks

4 cardamom seeds

8 whole black pepper

8 clove seeds

Small shaving of nutmeg seed

2 tea bags/4 spoons of loose tea (tea bags are easier to clean up!)

 

INSTRUCTIONS

Simmering the Chai
Simmering the Chai

1) On 3/4 heat, add all ingredients into a saucepan.

2) Stir until your tea to ensure good mixing – the darker your the, the stronger it will be!

3) Let the tea cook for about 5 mins.

4) Bring your tea to the boil a couple of times by increasing and then decreasing the heat, all the time ensuring you continue to stir – make sure you don’t let your tea overflow!

5) Breakfast or teatime, your Spicy Masala Chai is served!

Spicy Masala Chai
Spicy Masala Chai

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Dinner

Lady’s Chicken Tikka Masala and Pillau Quinoa

Ladys' Chicken Tikka Masala with Pillau Quinoa

I love chicken curry! It is in my top 5 for meals I love to enjoy! However, I am not a big fan of having to prepare an entire chicken when the only part I enjoy is the breast! My mum noticed that I only enjoyed chicken breast when I was a teenager, so around the late 1990’s, my mum, my late father and I began experimenting in the kitchen with chicken tikka masala. My dad had friends who ran Indian restaurants and after some advice, we decided to have some fun in the kitchen!

Coming from a family and culture based on a daily staple of spicy and tasty Indian food, I knew I had to learn from the best, my parents, and so chicken tikka masala was the first dish I ever created with them!

For me, chicken tikka masala is probably the easiest dish to prepare. Having lived away from home in both the UK and Germany, I could rustle it up with pillau rice in about 45 minutes. Living on my own, I also developed my own way of cooking it with some tweaks here and there to help give it a sweeter base for taste through using a mix of onions to adding in vegetables to increase the nutritional value.

Since it was International Ladies Day on Sunday 8th March 2015 and today is Sunday 15th March 2015, i.e. Mother’s Day here in the UK, I decided to add some greens in the form of okra aka lady’s fingers, hence the name, Lady’s’ Chicken Tikka Masala!

Traditionally, all Indian dishes are served with rice or chappati. Since I am off both due to health reasons, I decided to spice up the quinoa just like we spice up our pillau rice!

You will be seeing my favourite ingredients today which are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! Give me those ingredients, and depend on the order they are used, I can cook you Indian, Italian and Turkish dish!

Here is my first ever cooking video! It’s very long at 23 minutes but my aim is to create videos of about 5 to 10 minutes in length to keep you informed and entertained!

Ingredients Board!
Ingredients Board!

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Tikka Masala

2 chicken breasts

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)

1 cm of ginger

1 red chilli

1 green chilli (I didn’t have any to hand but do use one for colour and extra spice!)

1 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

6 okra aka lady’s fingers

1 tablespoon dried coriander

¼ teaspoon powdered tamarind

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)

200ml of filtered water, boiled.

Pillau Quinoa

100g quinoa

1 onion

4 cardamom seeds

8 cloves

8 black pepper seeds

200ml of filtered water, boiled.

Salt

Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Chicken Tikka Masala

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
  2. Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
  3. To the onions, add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, tamarind and a half a teaspoon of salt and chop in the chillies (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
  4. Allow to simmer and continue to stir gently until the water evaporates;
  5. Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook until all raw bits disappear, keep stirring gently;
  6. Add the boiling water and then add in the okra and chopped peppers and stir gently for a couple of minutes;
  7. Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste;
  8. Cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
  9. Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes
  10. Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

Pillau Quiona

  1. Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 6 of cooking the chicken tikka masala;
  2. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
  3. Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
  4. Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
  5. Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
  6. Add the quinoa and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa first in lukewarm water and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
  7. Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
  8. Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
  9. Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
  10. You are now ready to eat!
 Ladys' Chicken Tikka Masala with Pillau Quinoa!
Ladys’ Chicken Tikka Masala with Pillau Quinoa!

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves up to 2 people –I made enough chicken to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!

Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂

Happy Mothers Day!
Happy Mothers Day!