Prawn Curry

Ingredients
1 Onion (sliced)
2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)
500g Frozen Prawns
2 Teaspoons Ground Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Ginger
1 Teaspoon Turmeric
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
2 Tablespoons Vinegar
200ml Water
250g Rice
A Good Splash of Oil
Fresh Coriander to Garnish

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Pan (2/3rds full with boiling salted water)
1 Frying Pan
1 Spatula
1 Garlic Press
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Spoon

The Good Bit

1. Get the rice on first, cook as described on the home page (10-15 minutes in boiling salted water) whilst that is cooking, heat the oil in the frying pan and cook the onion and garlic until just beginning to colour
2. In the mixing bowl, mix the spices together and add the vinegar until you have a smooth paste, then tip that into the onion and garlic and stir for 3 minutes, tip in the prawns and stir well so they are evenly coated.
3. Finally pour in the water and bring to the boil, simmer gently for 4-5 minutes (check the prawns are heated through, then serve with the rice.

Serves 4

Cod and Prawn Coconut Curry

Ingredients
675g Cod Fillets (skinned)
6 Tablespoons Masala Curry Paste (green if you can find it)
200ml Coconut Milk
175g Frozen Prawns
250g Rice (cooked to serve)
Handful Fresh Coriander (roughly chopped to garnish)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan

The Good Bit

1. Heat the curry paste and coconut milk in the frying pan, leaving it to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, in the mean time cut your cod into 4 cm chunks.
2. Put all the fish in the pan and and cook gently for 5 minutes, until the fish is tender and the prawns are warm throughout, serve with the rice and garnish with the coriander. Follow my guide on the front page for perfect rice every time, you should start your rice just before you warm up the coconut milk, that way it should be ready about the same time.
   

Serves 4

Lamb Biryani

Ingredients
250g Lamb (cubed straight from the supermarket)
Oil
Butter
1 Onion (finely chopped)
250g Long Grain Rice
600ml Veg or Chicken Stock
350g Cauliflower
100g Frozen Peas
1 Teaspoon Each Turmeric and Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Each Coriander and Chilli
Salt and Pepper to Taste.
Toasted Almond flakes (optional) to serve

Equipment
1 Sharp Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan/Wok
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Spatula
1 Plastic Spoon

The Good Bit

1. Mix together a splash of oil in your bowl with the turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilli, then whack in your lamb and give it a good stir.
2. Heat a splash of oil in the frying pan along with a good knob of butter (slightly more than you would butter a slice of toast with) and cook the onion until it begins to soften (4-5mins), then chuck in the lamb and its juices and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Pour in the stock and add the rice then bring to the boil and cook for 10 minutes before adding the cauliflower, then stir in the frozen peas and cook until all the stock has gone (about 4 minutes) Season and serve! (you could top with a sprinkle of toasted almond flakes if you wanted to be fancy)

Serves 4

Pork Balcho

Ingredients
4 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Tablespoon Grated Fresh Ginger
1 Tablespoon Crushed Garlic
1in Cinnamon Stick (broken up)
3 Dried Red Chillies (chopped)
4 Cloves
2 Teaspoons Cumin Seeds
10 Black Pepper Corns
675g Pork (cubed)
1 Teaspoon Ground Turmeric
200ml Warm Water
25ml Tomato Purée
1/2 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
1 Large Onion (finely chopped)
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan/Wok
1 Pestle and Mortar
1 Spatula

The Good Bit

1. Heat the oil in the frying pan and add the ginger and garlic and fry for 30 seconds, grind together the cinnamon, chillies, cloves, cumin seeds and peppercorns in to a fine powder then add to the frying pan for a further 30 seconds.
2. Add in the pork and turmeric and turn the heat up a little, cook for 5 minutes until the juices start to come out from the pork, add in the water, tomato purée and chilli powder, cover and heat for 30 minutes.
3. In another pan with a splash of oil in, fry off the onion until it is well browned then add that to the pork along with the salt, sugar and vinegar, stir well and cook for another 30 minutes.
4. Serve
   

Serves 4

Pork and Spinach

Ingredients
675g Pork (cubed)
400g Fresh Spinach
2 Onions (thinly sliced)
1 Pepper (de seeded and chopped)
3 Green Chillies (thinly chopped, take out the seeds if you want this cooler)
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Ginger
1 Clove Garlic (crushed or thinly chopped)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Chilli powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
750ml Water
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Coriander
6 Tablespoons of Oil (don't use your best olive here)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
2 Large Pans
1 Mixing Bowl

The Good Bit

1. Mix the ginger, garlic, salt, chilli powder and garam masala in the bowl and set to one side, then fry the onion off in the large pan in a little oil until it turns golden brown.
2. Add the pork to the onions and stir fry until the colour has changed evenly all over the pork then tip in the spice mix and stir well making sure to coat all the meat.
3. Pour in the water and bring rapidly to a boil, then lower the heat and cover, simmer for 30 minutes, after the 30 minutes, check the meat, if it is tender great, if not cook a little longer, if the pan is really liquid, take the lid off and boil the excess liquid off rapidly
4. Whilst this is doing, half fill the other pan with water and bring it the boil, drop in the spinach and boil for about a minute, tip out the boiling water and pour cold water over it to keep it from cooking, drain well.
5. When there is little water left in your pork pan, drop in the spinach, stir and cook for 7-10 minutes, keep stirring whilst you do this.
6. Finally, drop in the pepper, green chillies and the coriander and heat for 2 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and serve.
   

Serves 4

Mixed Balti Vegetables

Ingredients
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 Inch Piece Ginger Root (grated or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder
2 Teaspoons coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
500g Mixed Vegetables (diced, supermarkets usually sell bags of this frozen that are perfect)
Either Juice of 1 Lemon or 3 Skinned and Chopped Tomatoes.
A Splash of Oil

Equipment
1 Grater
1 Wok
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Spatula

The Good Bit

1. Heat a splash of oil in your wok and fry the onion until soft and golden, then add the ginger. chilli powder, coriander and turmeric and stir fry for 2-3 minutes (be careful here, frying chilli powder in such a dry pan causes it to burn slightly and the fumes this gives off WILL make you cough)
2. Add the diced vegetables (maybe a little meat if your not a vegetarian) and cook for 3 minutes (or until your meat browns) then add either the lemon juice OR the skinned tomatoes along with a splash of water to stop things burning to the wok, add a pinch of salt and cover and cook for 10 minutes (I cover my wok with a frying pan because it didn't come with a lid and it is also easy to take off to check how things are doing)
3. Serve onto 4 plates, you may want rice (see what you think when it's all in the wok)

Serves 4

White Chicken Curry

Ingredients
2 Onions (thinly sliced)
8 Long Green Chillies (thinly sliced)
1 Inch Fresh Ginger (grated)
1 400g Can Coconut Milk
4 Chicken Breasts (cut into chunks)
1 Lime (juiced)
A Splash of Oil
A Pinch of Salt
What About Nan Bread or Rice to Serve? (250g of rice in a large pan, 2/3rds full of boiling salted water for 10-15 minutes and follow the packet instructions for warming up nan bread)

Equipment
1 Large Frying Pan/Wok
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Spatula
1 Juicer

The Good Bit

1. Heat the oil in the pan then add the onions and cook until they begin to go soft (3 minutes) do not let them colour!!!
2. Add in the chillies, ginger, a pinch of salt and the coconut milk and stir well before adding the chicken and bringing to the boil.
3. Gently simmer the dish for 30minutes stirring occasionally (after this time cut a piece of chicken in half with your spatula and look to make sure there are no pink bits left, it should be perfectly white) don't be afraid to add a little water to the sauce if it begins to burn to the sides of the pan.
4. Once cooked, remove from the heat, stir in the lime juice and serve.
   

Serves 4

Spicy Chicken Masala

Ingredients
4 Chicken Breasts
2 Lemons (juiced)
1 Inch Ginger (grated)
1 Teaspoon Dried chilli (flakes will do)
1 Teaspoon Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Clear Honey
A Good Handfulls Chopped Coriander
1 Fresh Green Chilli (finely chopped)
A Pinch of Salt

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Oven Proof Dish
1 Mixing Bowl
Paper Towel
1 Large Frying Pan (if you have no grill)

The Good Bit

1. Score the chicken breasts several times 1-2mm deep then wash and dry them with a little bit of paper towel and set them aside.
2. Mix the lemon juice, ginger (1 teaspoon of crushed garlic if you are aloud) dried chilli, sugar, honey and a pinch of salt and then place the chicken in this mixture for an hour.
3. Transfer the chicken to an oven proof dish, pour over the remaining sauce and add the coriander and the chopped green chilli, then place under a preheated grill (medium) for 15-20minutes or until the chicken is cooked through, or fry for 10 minutes on each side or until the chicken has browned off. For each method flip the chicken over a couple of times and try to recover it with whatever marinade you have left.
4. Serve COLD, this is wonderful with (cant believe I'm saying this) salad, or you could go with the old favourite, rice.

Serves 4

Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients
A Knob Of Butter
A Splash of Oil
4 Chicken Breasts
1 Onion (thinly chopped)
1 Teaspoon Crushed Black Peppercorns
2 Teaspoons Paprika
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 inch Cinnamon
1 Tablespoon Fresh Coriander (roughly chopped)
1 Lemon (juiced)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Frying Pan
1 Sieve

The Good Bit

1. Heat the oil in the frying pan and drop in the butter, when the butter begins to bubble add in the chicken and fry until evenly browned all over, then remove.
2. Next fry off the onion until it goes clear and soft then add in the spices and the chicken pieces, top the pan up with water until you just cover the chicken, cover the pan and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove the chicken and keep warm then boil the juices hard until reduced by half, strain through the sieve then stir in the coriander and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper and pour over the chicken to serve.
   

Serves 4

Chicken Satay

Ingredients
4 Chicken Breasts
1 400g Can Coconut Milk
2 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
8 Tablespoons Crunchy Peanut Butter
2 Lemons
2 Carrots (cut into ribbons using a potato peeler)
1/2 Cucumber (cut into ribbons using a potato peeler)
50g Dry Roasted Peanuts
4 Warm Nan Breads
Tabasco Sauce (optional)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Potato Peeler
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Wooden Spoon
1 Rolling Pin (or something heavy)
1 Plastic Food Bag
1 Shallow Dish
8 Bamboo Skewers

The Good Bit

1. Pre heat your grill to high. Place each of the breasts in the food bag and bat them out as thin as possible with the rolling pin, take out and cut in half lengthways.
2. In the mixing bowl, mix together the coconut, peanut butter and Worcestershire sauce (Tabasco as well if using) then pour into the shallow dish. Toss in the chicken strips, coating well them thread each one onto a skewer and cook under the grill until well browned all over.
3. Heat the remaining satay sauce with a dash of water and squeeze in the juice from 1 of the lemons. Warm your nans to the packet instructions.
4. To serve, on each nan pile some of the carrot and cucumber ribbons with a splash of lemon juice from the other lemon, place on top 2 chicken skewers and drizzle over some of the peanut sauce.
   

Serves 4

Beef Madras

Ingredients
450g Beef (cubed)
250g Rice (any rice is fine just don't use pudding rice)
1 Large Onion (finely sliced)
4 Cloves
4 Green Cardamoms
2 Whole Star Anise
4 Green Chillies (chopped)
2 Red Chillies (chopped)
3 Tablespoons Madras Masala Paste
1 Teaspoon Dried Turmeric
4 Tablespoons White wine Vinegar
Sugar to Taste
A Splash of Oil
Coriander and Lemon Wedges to serve (optional)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan/Wok
1 Spatula
1 Large Pan (2/3rds full of boiling salted water)
1 Colander

The Good Bit

1. Start by putting the rice on, cook to packet instructions, usually 10-15 mins whilst that is cooking heat a splash of oil in the frying pan and cook the onion until it turns golden brown, then add all the spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the meat, the white wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar (keep tasting the sauce until you are happy that the sugar has taken the tang from the vinegar) cook over a medium heat until the beef is cooked through and soft (your rice should be about ready too at this time)
3. Once the rice is done (taste test) wash your rice (place it in a colander and then rinse with boiling water) whilst you are doing this turn the heat up on the frying pan to reduce any remaining sauce. Then serve in a ring of rice. Top with shredded coriander leaves and lemon wedges if you want to be fancy!
   

Serves 4

Beef Vindaloo

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Cumin
4 Dried Red Chillies
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper Corns
The Seeds From 5 Green Cardamom Pods
1 Teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds
1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds (or mustard if you cant get hold of the seeds)
1 Inch Piece of Ginger (grated)
2 Teaspoons Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric
1 Garlic Clove
A Pinch of Sugar and Salt
4 Tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
900g Beef (cubed)
1 Large onion (as finely chopped as you can manage)
A Splash of Oil or Two
375g Rice (again anything but pudding)

Equipment
Pestle and Mortar (or instead of seeds use powder)
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
1 Large Frying Pan
1 Mixing bowl

The Good Bit

1. Grind up the cumin seeds, peppercorns, fenugreek, cardamom and mustard seeds (leave out the mustard if you are not using seeds) and chillies until you have a fine powder, or just mix them all together if you are using dried powders and mustard from a jar and keep in the mixing bowl.
2. Heat your oil in the frying pan and cook the onion until it is golden brown, then mix this in the mixing bowl with your powder the white wine vinegar a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar.
3. Now fry of the beef in a little oil until it begins to brown on all sides, then remove from the pan and leave to settle whilst you add another splash of oil to the pan and cook the garlic and ginger for 2mins then add the coriander and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add your onion and spice mix to the frying pan now and cook for a further 5 minutes, really get those flavours mixing before adding the meat along with a good glass of water (not a pint but imagine a glass of something cold when you've just come in from a hot day outside and that is the size you want.
5. Cover and cook for 1-1 1/2 until the meat is really tender (at this stage if you need more liquid just add a little more water, if the sauce is too liquid then turn up the heat and uncover for 5 minutes. Serve with rice

Serves 6

Pork and Spinach

Ingredients
675g Pork (cubed)
400g Fresh Spinach
2 Onions (thinly sliced)
1 Pepper (de seeded and chopped)
3 Green Chillies (thinly chopped, take out the seeds if you want this cooler)
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Ginger
1 Clove Garlic (crushed or thinly chopped)
1 1/2 Teaspoons Dried Chilli powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Garam Masala
750ml Water
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Coriander
6 Tablespoons of Oil (don't use your best olive here)

Equipment
1 SHARP Knife
1 Chopping Board
2 Large Pans
1 Mixing Bowl

The Good Bit

1. Mix the ginger, garlic, salt, chilli powder and garam masala in the bowl and set to one side, then fry the onion off in the large pan in a little oil until it turns golden brown.
2. Add the pork to the onions and stir fry until the colour has changed evenly all over the pork then tip in the spice mix and stir well making sure to coat all the meat.
3. Pour in the water and bring rapidly to a boil, then lower the heat and cover, simmer for 30 minutes, after the 30 minutes, check the meat, if it is tender great, if not cook a little longer, if the pan is really liquid, take the lid off and boil the excess liquid off rapidly
4. Whilst this is doing, half fill the other pan with water and bring it the boil, drop in the spinach and boil for about a minute, tip out the boiling water and pour cold water over it to keep it from cooking, drain well.
5. When there is little water left in your pork pan, drop in the spinach, stir and cook for 7-10 minutes, keep stiring whilst you do this.
6. Finally, drop in the pepper, green chillies and the coriander and heat for 2 minutes, then stir in the lemon juice and serve.
   

Serves 4