The Recipe Room

I don’t think I can be enthusiastic enough about just how much I love this sublimely delicious curried apple soup!  Who ever would have imagined that apples and curry would go so well together!?  It was certainly a surprise for me the first time that I tried it.

Red apples are really the ideal type for this recipe. But as with any dish, you can play around and change things to suit your own personal preferences.

You can use either chicken or vegetable broth – it won’t matter much to the final taste. And if you want to make a slightly lighter (low calorie) version,  you can replace the double cream with single cream or milk and use oil rather than butter.  But be warned: this will take away from the taste, at least a little.  After all, Indian food is meant to be a bit decadent!

And for dessert, munch on this hot apple tart with cream. Delicious!

 

Lately I’ve been trying to eat more whole-grain foods, but at first I had a hard time getting down plain, whole-grain brown rice.  It’s just so heavy and seemed to always get stuck in a ball at the back of my throat.  I’ve always loved Indian pilau rice, so I decided to try and make something similar with organic brown rice.  This Indian-style brown rice recipe is the result.

As with most Indian dishes, you need a lot of ingredients that you might not have in your kitchen, so a trip to the shops might be in order before you can start making it.  In any case, I’ve tried to keep the ingredients list as short as possible and only use the most common Indian herbs and spices.  I also added frozen peas to the mix to try and make it into a full meal in itself, although the best thing to do is to top it off with your favourite curry.  It also goes quite nicely with my baked tofu in peanut butter sauce recipe.

You Need:

• 500g organic brown rice
• 1.5L water
• 100g frozen peas
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsps unsalted butter
• Seeds from 8 green cardamoms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 cloves
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
•  2 tbsps fresh chopped coriander

Steps:

1. Melt the butter in a 3 litre pot over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic slices, cardamom seeds, fresh ginger, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon sticks and sauté for about 2 minutes or until the garlic starts to brown.
3. Add the rice and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly and making sure all the rice gets coated and toasted with the butter and spices.
4. Add the water, salt and turmeric and bring to the boil.
5. Add the frozen peas.
6. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender.  The exact time varies greatly depending on the brand of rice used.
7. Drain off any excess water.
8. Mix the fresh coriander into the rice and serve with your favourite curry.

Ready In:  30-45 minutes

Serves:  6

Difficulty:  2 out of 5

Note: Now that I enjoy brown rice, I also eat this brown rice salad with pecans and sultanas. Simply scrumptious!

I’ve always loved getting onion bhajis from my local Indian takeaway, but I imagined they would be quite difficult to make, so I never seemed to get around to making them myself.  Then, by pure chance, I happened to see them being made while I was waiting for my order and quickly asked the cook if he would mind telling me the basic recipe.  I didn’t have a pen or anything to write with, but luckily I’ve got a pretty good memory.  This easy onion bhaji recipe is what I made the next day by memory from those instructions.

The only real change I made (as far as I can remember) was in the frying method.  Onion bhajis, sometimes known as vegetable or cheese fritters served in soups, are usually deep fried, but I wanted to try and make them a little bit healthier and lighter, so I decided to just fry them in a frying pan with a little bit of oil.  They turned out perfectly and were much lighter and less greasy than the typical takeaway fare, while still retaining all of the flavour.

Once you get the hang of making them, you can try substituting the onion with courgette or whatever other vegetable tickles your fancy.  I personally recommend eating them with tamarind sauce, but feel free to use whatever sauce you prefer, or even just eat them plain.

You Need:

• 500 g Gram flour
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 150 ml water
• 1.5 tbsps fresh chopped coriander

Steps:

1. Mix the Gram flour, cumin seeds, chilli powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the onions and fresh coriander and mix well.
3. Add the water and mix to form a thick batter, making sure the onions are evenly distributed throughout.
4. Set aside for 5 minutes.
5. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan.
6. Drop a tablespoon at a time of the batter into the hot oil and fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.  You will need to add more oil for each new set of bhajis.
7. Remove the finished Bhajis from the oil and let them drain on a wire rack or kitchen paper.
8. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce or chutney.

Ready In:  30 minutes

Serves:  6

Difficulty:   3 out of 5