Author: monicasawhney

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Spiced Methi (Fenugreek) Parathas

Methi ie. fresh fenugreek is one of my favourite greens! It is incredibly fragrant and flavourful and works well in so many different South Asian dishes.

In today’s recipe I have used fresh fenugreek to create a spicy paratha which is delicious as a side or even on it’s own as a snack. The gram flour adds nuttiness and the cooked potato is my secret weapon for ensuring that the parathas stay soft…even at room temperature.

They are also great for freezing! If you make a batch, you can layer the parathas between sheets of greaseproof paper. Feeling a little peckish? Heat up your pan and pop one on! Smear over some melted butter/ghee and pair it with a generous dollop of yoghurt. Mango pickle on the side? Don’t mind if I do!

Give them methi parathas a go and let me know what you think on Insta, Twitter or Facebook. love to see a pics of your recreations!

Oh and don’t forget to join me next Friday on 12th June for my next live cook-along class. Keep posted to my social media over the next few days to see what we will be making.

Happy cooking x

Spiced Methi (Fenugreek) Parathas

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Servings 5 rotis

Equipment

  • Rolling Pin
  • Chapati tava/non stick crepe pan/non stick frying pan

Ingredients
  

To make the dough:

  • 1 cup/130g chapati/wholewheat flour I like to use "chakki" chapati flour which is stoneground
  • 1/4 cup/30g gram/chickpea flour
  • 1 small potato (100g) cooked, peeled & mashed
  • 1/4 red onion very finely diced
  • 2-3 chillies very finely chopped
  • 15 stems fresh fenugreek de-stemmed & chopped (equates to 1cup/30g leaves). If you can't source, use fresh spinach.
  • 1 small garlic clove grated, optional
  • 1 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tso coriander powder
  • 1 tsp dried fenugreek/kasuri methi optional

You will also need:

  • Warm water
  • Oil
  • Extra chapati flour in a wide shallow bowl for dusting
  • Ghee/Butter

Instructions
 

  • Place all of the dough ingredients together in a bowl and mix well.
  • Very gradually add 1/2 cup (115ml) warm water gradually to the bowl, constantly mixing and combining the dough together with your other hand.
  • You should see the dry flour and vegetables begin to clump together
  • At this point, you may need to add an extra 1-2 tbsp of water to form the dough. Only add a tiny little bit at a time and gauge how you much extra water you need to by feel – the dough should be soft and slightly tacky but not too sticky. (If you do feel like it has become too wet, you can rescue by adding some dry chapati flour and a pinch of salt).
  • Very lightly grease your fingers and hand and knead the dough lightly for a minute to create a smooth dough. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
  • After 10 minutes, place a little oil on your hand and re-knead the dough until smooth. Divide the dough into 4-5 smooth balls.
  • Now, place your pan on medium heat. Whilst the pan is heating up, take 1 dough ball and press it into the dry chapati flour on both sides. Shake off any excess.
  • Place on your work surface and roll out gently until it is 4-5″ in diameter and even in thickness all the way around (about the thickness of £1 piece). Increase the heat of your pan to the maximum setting. Carefully pick up the paratha, web your fingers and flip the paratha from hand to hand to get rid of any excess flour.
  • Place it on the hot pan for 10-12 seconds. When it changes colour and small bubbles begin to appear, turn it over and cook the other side. Brush oil on this side and flip it over and brush the other side. Cook on each side until you see golden spots all over and it is crispy.
  • Finish by smearing a teaspoon of ghee or butter. Make the rest of the parathas using the same process.

Notes

Tip: If you can’t source fenugreek, use spinach instead!
Tip: Try to cut you vegetable very finely so when you roll them out, they do not create cracks. If you find the paratha is cracking as you try and roll it out, add a little more chapati flour (and a pinch of salt) to the dough and re-knead.
Tip: If you are not serving the parathas straight away, place on a grill tray. This is better than placing directly on a plate or foil. Otherwise condensation will form and will make your paratha soggy. You can re-heat on the pan later or just eat them at room temperature – they are delicious either way!
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Tandoori Chicken & Mango Lassi Shake

Though we are still in lockdown in the UK, the glorious sunshine has been our only saving grace. It’s this heatwave that inspired the menu for this week’s LIVE cookery class. A spicy, grilled Tandoori Chicken with a tropical, ice cold sweet Mango Lassi shake to wash it down! Sound good? Scroll down for the recipe.

This is my home-style Tandoori recipe – no red food colouring here! I like to do a double marination that results in chicken that is incredibly flavourful at every bite. Oh and the longer you can leave the marination on, the better! I served it with a sprouted moon bean, lime & tomato salad and it went down a treat.

To wash it down, I shared my delicious and easy to make Mango Lassi shake. I personally find this recipe a lot lighter and more refreshing than regular lassi. If you can source fresh South Asian mangoes – lucky you – use them! If not, it’s quite easy to find mango pulp in the “world” section of most of the big supermarkets these days and that works very well too.

I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you want to watch the live class again, you can do so by clicking here. Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts and share pictures of your recreations on Insta, Twitter or Facebook.

Oh and mark your calendars and join me for my next live cook-along class on 12th June. Keep posted to my social media to see what we will be making.

Happy cooking y’all x

Tandoori Chicken & Mango Lassi Shake

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Equipment

  • Food Processor
  • Blender

Ingredients
  

For the Tandoori Chicken:

  • 575 g skinless chicken thigh, with 3-4 slits cut into each one I like to use bone in for extra flavour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt or according to taste
  • juice of 1/2 lime
  • 3 tbsp crispy fried onions optional (usually found in the salad topper section of supermarkets)
  • 2-3 fresh green chillies as per your taste
  • 4 ” ginger cut into small chunks
  • 2 large cloves garlic peeled
  • small handful fresh coriander
  • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder or chilli flakes
  • 2 tbsp oil

To serve:

  • chaat masala optional
  • lime

To make the Mango Lassi Shake

  • 400 ml mango pulp Kesar/Alphonso mango pulp is best
  • 250 ml milk
  • 25-30 ice cubes
  • 2-3 tsp sugar/honey optional, as per your taste

Instructions
 

  • Place chicken in a bowl and add the lime juice and salt. Mix well. If you have time, allow to marinate for 30mins – 1hour.
  • Pre heat grill at the maximum temperature setting and place a wire tray on a foil lined baking sheet and keep aside. Then place the fried onions, chillies, ginger, garlic and fresh coriander in a food processor and blitz until a coarse paste forms (it does not have to be very smooth).
  • Tip this paste onto the chicken. Then add the yoghurt and all of the spices as well as the oil. Mix well and work the marination into the slits of the chicken. Tip – if you can, allow the chicken to marinate for 2-3 hours / overnight as it will allow the flavours to really absorb into the chicken.
  • When you are ready to cook, place the chicken pieces on the wire tray and cook in your grill for 8-10 minutes. It should have a slight char and should be about 70% cooked of the way. Now, turn the chicken pieces over and continue to grill for a further 3-5 minutes. The meat should be white all the way through. You can cook for a little longer if you like it to be slightly more charred all over but be careful not to overcook. (You can also cook this on the BBQ! )
  • Remove from grill. Drizzle over any extra marination that has dropped onto the foil along with a good sprinkle of chaat masala and lime juice.
  • To make the mango lassi, add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a glass an garnish with lime zest, pomegranate seeds or fresh mint. Enjoy immediately!

Notes

You marinade should not be too wet – it should be like a thick paste. If you find it is more on the wet side, you can add 1-2tsp of gram flour (chickpea flour) along with a pinch of salt. This will help the marinade stick to your chicken as it grills. 
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Keralan Fried Chicken (or Cauliflower) #KFC

They say you shouldn’t mess with a classic and don’t get me wrong, the colonel’s recipe is good – I regularly crave it. But, in my very humble opinion..injecting the classic with some spice and heat takes it to another level! My Mum introduced me to the idea of an “Indian-ified” KFC. When my brother and I were kids, she used to make it for us on birthdays or special occasions.

I originally created my own version for a web series I did with Tastemade a little while back (video below!) a couple of years ago. It has wonderful Keralan/South Indian flavours which add depth, aroma & heat. The chicken is first marinated in coconut milk, curry leaves, ginger, chilli n garlic. Then coated in coconut & plain flour and deep fried until golden and crisp. It also works incredibly well with cauliflower if you want to make a veggy/vegan version!

I hope you like this recipe! Let me know your thoughts on on Insta, Twitter or Facebook.

Oh and don’t forget to join me next Friday on 29th May for my next live cook-along class. Keep posted to my social media over the next few days to see what we will be making.

Happy cooking y’all x

Keralan Fried Chicken (KFC)

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Ingredients
  

  • 4 chicken thighs skinless. Use cauliflower florets for a veggy/vegan version.
  • 200 ml coconut milk
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 2 ” fresh ginger root
  • 2 birds eye green chillies
  • 4 stems fresh coriander washed
  • 2 stems curry leaves, de-stemmed & washed optional
  • 1 ½ – 2tsp salt according to taste
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • sunflower/vegetable oil for deep frying
  • 100 g plain flour
  • 100 g coconut flour If you don’t have this, just use 200g plain flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • ½ tsp onion powder optional
  • 6 stems curry leaves washed, dried and de-stemmed for garnishing (optional)

Instructions
 

  • In a blender, blitz coconut milk, garlic, ginger, chillies, coriander and curry leaves and empty into a bowl. Add the chicken along with salt, garam masala, coriander powder, paprika and turmeric. Cover & refrigerate for as long as possible (24 hours is best) but at least a couple of hours.
  • Place the plain flour, coconut flour, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and onion powder in a shallow bowl and combine.
  • Allow the chicken to come to room temperature before cooking. Place enough oil in a pan so it is about 4-5" deep and place on a low/medium heat. I like to use a small-medium sized wok.
  • Now shake off any excess coconut milk marinade from the chicken and dredge each piece in the flour and evenly coat Then place the chicken piece back in the marinade, shake off any excess and dredge in the flour once again. (I like to use one hand for placing the chicken in the marinade and the other hand for placing the chicken in the flour as it is less messy this way!).
  • Very carefully place into a medium pan of oil at 180ºC. Repeat with the next piece. Cook 2 pieces at a time to keep the temperature from falling.
  • Cook for 8-9 minutes. Then use a pair of tongues to carefully turn each chicken piece once golden. Cook until golden brown on the other side. The chicken should be cooked and white in colour internally. You can also use a thermometer probe to check the internal temperature is 75 ºC.
  • Remove chicken pieces from oil using a slotted spoon and then place on a wire tray/rack to drain.
  • Now, place the curry leaves into the same hot oil. They may splatter slightly so be careful. Deep fry for 5-10 seconds. Remove and drain using a slotted spoon and then place on kitchen paper. Allow them to cool slightly until crisp, then crush the curry leaves with your hands and sprinkle over fried chicken.
  • Serve with your KFC with your favourite dipping sauce/Indian chutney!