Tandoori Chicken

Originating from India & Pakistan, Tandoori chicken is one of our favourite Indian recipes. So tasty and delicious!! Unfortunately a proper Tandoor oven in our kitchen is nowhere in sight but when we cook these lovely marinated red pieces of chicken in a hot oven, the result is very close. We served them some home-made pilau rice and some raita (yoghurt dip)...so goood!! You can also cook these on a hot BBQ. The secret is long marination as this will also tenderise the meat. Give them a go and we are quite sure your friends and family will love them and also ask for more. To marinade around a kilo of chicken pieces you will need...

• 1 kg chicken drumsticks and thighs, skin removed

For the marinade

• 350ml (1 ½ cups) plain whole milk yoghurt 
• 3 tablespoons Tandoori masala (Tandoori spice mix)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or grated
• 1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• Salt & pepper

For the Raita

• 150ml (¾ cup) plain whole milk yoghurt 
• 1 tablespoon dried mint
• Salt & pepper

How to...

1. Start by mixing all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Mix well until you get a bright red homogenous mixture.
2. Slash the chicken pieces with a sharp knife in a couple of places. Add the marinade to the chicken pieces and mix well. Transfer the whole lot to a ziplock bag or a covered bowl. Leave to marinade in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
3. When ready to cook, take the chicken out of the fridge, line a large rectangular oven dish with foil, lay a rack over the pan and pre-heat your oven to 220°C.
4. Place the chicken pieces on the rack. Pour all the marinade on top of the chicken pieces.
5. Once the oven is hot, put the chicken pieces in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes turn over the chicken pieces and cook for a further 15 minutes until slightly charred on the other side.
6. In the meantime prepare the raita by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl.
7. Take the chicken out of the oven and serve hot accompanied by some raita on the side and also some pilau rice or even Naan bread if you like.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Middle Eastern Pancakes with Dates

These pancakes are a bit different than usual as I decided to give them a Middle Eastern/Arabic touch by adding ingredients such as rose water, orange blossom water and also sweet spices such as aniseed and cardamom. I made these for breakfast, they were very filling and very very tasty and as an accompaniment I stewed some dates which added a lot of sweetness. Give them a go, they are a different delicious take on the classic pancakes. For 4-6 pancakes you will need...

• 1 cup (about 125 g) plain flour
• 1 cup (about 235 ml) whole milk
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp orange blossom water
• ½ tsp rose water
• ¼ tsp ground aniseed
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 100g chopped dates
• 2 tbsp water
• Small knob of butter

How to...

1. In a large bowl put all ingredients apart from the dates & 2 tbsp water and mix well until you get a smooth batter.
2. Grease a non stick pan with a knob of butter and spread across the pan with a piece of kitchen towel.
3. Heat up the pan on a medium heat until well hot, drain any excess butter.
4. Always on a medium heat, ladle the batter into the pan and leave to cook until the pancake starts producing bubbles on top. When the surface is bubbly and pancake looks set, flip the pancake and cook for a couple of seconds. Repeat until all batter is used.
5. Keep pancakes warm and in the meantime, prepare the dates by adding the dates and 2 tablespoons of water to the same pancake pan and warm enough until dates are soft and mushy.
6. Spoon the date mixture on the piled pancakes and serve warm!!

Enjoy!!

R&A

Lebkuchen - German Gingerbread

Lebkuchen translates as gingerbread. Lebkuchen are usually made during Christmas in Germany but hey I felt like doing these this morning and nothing goes better with a good mug of coffee :) Oh the house smells so good this morning. They are very quick and easy to prepare and bake...and eat!!! You can decorate these with almond slivers, cover them with melted dark chocolate or even drizzle with an icing glaze but we like ours plain. Give them a go and I am sure you will bake them again!!! You will need...

• 250g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 85g butter
• 200ml clear honey

How to...

1. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spices in a bowl and combine.
2. Put the honey and butter in a medium pot and heat slowly until all butter is melted. Add the dry ingredients to the butter/honey mixture and stir well until you get a smooth stiff dough.
3. Put into a small bowl and set aside until cool.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
5. After the dough has cooled down a bit, make 3cm across balls (about 45g each) and flatten them with your hand. Place the Lebkuchen on a greaseproof paper lined tray and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until risen and brown.
6. Put them on a wire rack to cool down completely. This process will magically turn them into wonderful and delicious delights which crispy on the outside but with a very soft cake-like centre.
7. Serve with coffee or tea.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Couscous & Aubergine Stuffed Peppers

Arabic/Middle Eastern cuisine is one of the best on the planet. It is so full of aromatic flavours and most all it smells so wonderful when you are cooking it. These peppers are stuffed with lots of flavours from very hot [harissa] to sweet [raisins]. We served them with some seasoned natural yoghurt. One of my tricks is to put all the spices in a small jar or small container with a lid and give them a good shake so as when you use them the spices are distributed evenly into the dish. You can call the spice mix Ras El Hanout [which literally means shopkeeper]. This term is used in North Africa [mostly Morocco] to define spice mixes sold in shops/market, every shop/seller has his own spice blend...hence the name! This dish is 100% vegetarian and will  make our vegetarian friends very happy...so please do give it a go. For 4/5 peppers you will need...

For the stuffing

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 medium sized aubergine, diced into 1cm cubes
• 50g raisins
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon harissa
• Ras el Hanout spice mix *
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Extra water
• 200g couscous
• 200ml boiling water
• 4/5 Bell peppers, top taken off and deseeded

Ras el Hanout spice mix

* ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, pinch ground ginger, pinch ground cloves, sea salt (to taste).

Laban dip

• 250ml natural yoghurt
• Freshly chopped mint [or 1 tablespoon dried mint]
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Fry the onion in some oil until soft and transparent. Add the diced aubergine & garlic and cook covered for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally adding a little water if necessary. Now add tomato paste, harissa, raisins, Ras el Hanout spice mix and some more olive oil. Cook for a further 10 minutes on low heat.
2. Prepare the couscous by pouring 200ml boiling water on the couscous. Stir with a fork and cover for about 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, separate the grains with a fork and add some olive oil and stir well.
3. Add the couscous to the onion/aubergine mixture and mix well.
4. Put the peppers (with the pepper top) in the microwave for 5-6 minutes on high. Take peppers out and carefully stuff the peppers tightly. Put the stuffed peppers in the microwave again and cook for a further 10 minutes on high. 
5. Alternatively, put the peppers in an oven dish and add some water or tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish. Bake in a 200°C preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes.
6. Mix the laban ingredients together.
7. Serve with the yoghurt and pita bread.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Chicken in a Sweet & Spicy Peanut Sauce

Satay chicken is a common favourite amongst oriental food lovers. This recipe is very similar to Satay. In our opinion it tastes better :) So if you are a fan of Satay, you would love this!! There may be lots of ingredients but this sauce is very easy and quick to prepare. We roast the chicken in the oven and then throw it in the pan with the sauce so the meat can suck up the sauce...yum yum...finger licking good!!! We serve this with Peshwari Naan [Indian Naan bread with coconut and sultanas], but you can serve it with boiled Basmati rice, mashed potatoes or even noodles. So here is what you will need...

• 4 large chicken legs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil or vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
• 5 tbsp runny honey
• 2 level tsp Dijon  or wholegrain mustard 
• 2 cardamom pods, crushed with a knife
• A dash of chilli sauce
• 1 tsp medium curry powder
• 200ml chicken stock
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 190°C.
2. Cut the chicken legs in half so as you have 4 drumsticks and 4 thigh pieces. Put in an oven dish, baste them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put in the preheated oven and cook for about 45 minutes.
3. When the chicken is nearly ready, about 15 minutes from the end of cooking time, start preparing the sauce by melting the butter and frying the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Add the honey, crushed cardamom pods, curry powder, mustard, chilli sauce and chicken stock. Stir well and cook until the mixture starts bubbling.
4. Now turn down the heat and add the peanut butter and stir well to incorporate the peanut butter into the mixture. 
5. The chicken pieces should be done by now. Take them out of the oven and carefully put them into the pan with the sauce. Cover and simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, turning once. 
6. Turn off the heat and serve.

Enjoy!!

R&A