Browse Tag by Nutrients
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!
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 🙂

Dinner, Lunch, Soup

Spicy Winter Soup

Spicy Winter Soup

During the winter months, we are particularly prone to picking up colds and chest infections. For me, winter is THE season to ensure my diet is nutrient rich to help stave off those nasty bacteria and viruses! To do this, keeping warm is absolutely essential, and there is nothing better at raising the body temperature than a hot’n’spicy winter soup!

Soups are a great way of getting vitamins and minerals quickly into your body. The nutrients from the plethora of ingredients seep into the water which packs a powerful nutritional punch!

So, onto my Spicy Winter Soup for up to 4 people!

I have some favourite ingredients which you will see over and over again in my main dishes and those are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! Give me those ingredients, and depending on the order in which I use them, I can cook you an Indian, Italian or Turkish dish!

INGREDIENTS

1 onion

1 red onion

3 spring onions

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

1 cm of ginger

1 large tomato or 6 cherry tomatoes

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1 long red pepper

1 long green pepper

1 Parsnip

1 Leek

1 Sweet Potato

1 Carrot

1 Chicken Breast

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1 litre of filtered and boiled water

 INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil in a kettle);
  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. Chop in the tomato(es) and cook until they soften;
  4. Cut the chicken breast into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook (and stir!) until all raw bits disappear;
  5. Chop in the parsnip, leek, sweet potato and carrot and add them to the boiling water for 5 minutes;
  6. Chop in the chillies and peppers (if you want your soup spicier, add the chillies with the boiling water);
  7. Taste the soup and add salt and pepper according to your preference;
  8. Cover with the lid and leave the soup to simmer on a medium heat for around 10 minutes;
  9. Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
  10. Feel free to add any coriander to garnish and you are ready to !
Spicy Winter Soup Ingredients
Spicy Winter Soup Ingredients
Onions, garlic, ginger, chillies
Onions, garlic, ginger, chillies
Chopped Chicken!
Cooking Mix
Chopped Peppers and Chillies
Add in the tomatoes
Soup with Vegetables
Add boiling water and chopped vegetables
Simmer for 10 minutes
The last bit before we can finally eat!
Spring Onion Green Leaves

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Eating time: 5-10 minutes

Serves up to 4 people

Do let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide me with your feedback!

In the meantime, enjoy your Spicy Winter Soup!

Slurp up your spicy soup!
Slurp up your spicy soup!