How to prepare chicken for recipes by Kris Dhillon

a Kris Dhillon recipe

Cooking the chicken in advance, ready for tasty a curry:-
Skinless chicken breasts.
6 tbsp veg oil
1 tsp turmeric
4 tbsp reserved basic curry sauce, prepared to end of stage 2 (see separate recipe) here (also see tip below)

Remove fat & membranes from the breasts and cut each into 8 equal-sized pieces. Wash & drain.
Place oil, turmeric and curry sauce into a large saucepan and mix well.

Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously until the sauce starts to darken in colour (approx 4-5 mins)

Turn down the heat and continue cooking with the lid on for 15-20 mins, or until chicken is tender, stirring frequently.

Remove chicken pieces (leaving behind the sediment) and place in a clean container.

The cooked chicken can now be used immediately or cooled and refrigerated for up to 4 days.

TIP If you don't have any reserved curry sauce, use 2 tablespoons of very finely chopped onion.

Kris Dhillon's chicken dishes I've tried
Chicken Dopiaza here
Chicken Madras here

Spicy yorkshire puddings

These alternative yorkies are delicious served as part of an indian roast dinner. But why not try them with a traditional roast too. Or just serve them with an onion gravy as a starter. I am addicted to yorkshire puddings and always make an extra batch for the freezer (they only take 10 mins to heat through in a low oven from frozen). Of course, that's only if they get that far and I don't eat them all first. My husband and I have been known to just stand at the kitchen worksurface and just eat the lot.

The easiest and most successful way to make yorkies:-

You'll need 3 ramekin dishes
2 eggs
plain flour
milk
salt & papper
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp dried coriander (or 1 tbs fresh, chopped)

1. Crack open 2 eggs into 1 ramekin dish and lightly beat.
2. In the 2nd ramekin pour in milk up to the same level as the eggs.
3. In the 3rd ramekin add flour, up to same level as the eggs and milk.
4. Put the flour into a medium bowl, make a well in centre and add the beaten eggs, then pour in a little of the milk and whisk together.
5. Now add remainder of milk and whisk into a smooth batter.
6. Season with salt & pepper and add the curry powder and coriander.
7. Leave to rest whilst oven heats up to 220.
8. Once oven ready, pour a little oil into each of the 12 holes of your muffin tray and place in oven for approximately 7 minutes until smoking.
9. Remove the tray and very quickly divide the batter mixture between the 12 holes, get straight back into the oven.
10. Get a stool and sit and watch them rise and brown (I'm sad I know).
11. Remove from oven when nicely golden and well risen and serve immediately.

Indian spiced roast chicken

I have cooked this many times now and initially, I pushed the paste under the skin of the chicken before roasting. However, I have discovered it's actually much nicer to spread it all over the top. Try it both ways and see which you prefer. Unfortunately, this is not the best photo, I'll take a better one to post next time I do this dish.

2tbs oil
2tsp garlic, chrushed
2tsp ginger, grated
2tsp tomato puree
1 medium tomato, peeled and chopped
2tsp coriander powder
1/4tsp turmeric powder
1/2tsp chilli powder
1tsp garam masala2tsp salt (or to taste)
1 whole chicken

1. Heat oil in a saute pan and stir fry ginger and garlic for 2 minutes.

2. Add the tomato puree and cook another 2 minutes.

3. Add tomatoes and spices and salt and cook for approx 7 minutes, squashing down the tomatoes until a paste is formed.

4. Leave to cool completely.

5. Prepare chicken for roasting. Cut deep slashes all over chicken and spread the cooled mixture all over, pushing into slashes too.

6. Cover loosely with foil (to stop the paste burning) and roast in a preheated oven at 180. Remove foil for last 10-15 minutes to brown off. Do not let the past burn.

7. Let is rest for 20 minutes before carving and serving.

Onion Bhajis (makes approx 24)

I could eat these little gems all day, yum.

Bhaji mixture ready for cooking

150g gram flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp self raising flour
1 tbsp hot curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
2 long green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 medium size onion, cut in half and finely sliced
200ml water
Oil for deep frying


Sift both flours into large bowl, add other dry ingredients and mix in well. Gradually add the water until you have a smooth, thick batter.


Add the onion slices and mix well to coat in the batter.


Heat oil to approx 170c. Take rounded tablespoons of mixture and drop into hot oil. Cook in batches and turn halfway through. Cook for approximately 7 mins each batch or until golden brown.


Delicious served with raita or just a squeeze of lemon juice.

An Indian Roast Dinner

Indian Spiced Roast Chicken

Spicy Yorkshire Puds

Aloo Gobi

Dhal

OK, so who says a roast dinner has to be traditional, spiced up a little makes it more interesting and different. I've done this several times now because it appears to be so popular. The first time was an experiment for just myself and my husband and we enjoyed it so much we decided to cook this meal for our friends Jayne & Mike the next time they came over. It was a hit. Jayne raved about it to anyone she could (she's a star that girl). A short time later, we invited some other friends over to dinner and they requested the indian roast dinner Jayne told them about, of course I obliged. As this is so poplar, so I decided it was time to add it to the blog. When I originally had the idea, I put it to my foodie friends on the BBC Food Forum, conversation shown here and the idea was well received, so a new style roast was born.

The Menu:-

Starter:-
Onion Bhajis, recipe shown here

Mains:-
Indian Spiced Roast Chicken, recipe shown here
Aloo Gobi, recipe shown here
Dhal, recipe here
Spicey Yorkshire Puddings, recipe shown here

All served with spicy gravy. I confess to cheating on the gravy and made it up using beef gravy granules with 1 teaspoon of curry powder added. We're all allowed to cheat occasionally, are we not?

I urge you to try this out, I served it again last week for our friends, Lynne & Mick and I promised Lynn I would post the whole menu for her to keep forever. So, this one's for you Lynn, enjoy.

Chicken & Seafood Paella - Good food, good wine, good friends

Summer's finally here and the BBQ has been dusted off. After inviting friends over for a meal the typical debate about what to cook started. Luckily for me my husband said he would cook for a change. The only unlucky part of that being we now have a limited menu. Anyway, he decided he wanted to try his hand at a dish he'd never cooked before and said he thought it would be nice to do my paella recipe on the BBQ. I had to write down a long list of instructions and help out a bit, but it worked out fine. Just for a change, with the BBQ king cooking, it meant I could sit with our friends instead of being stuck in the kitchen

Chicken & Seafood Paella (serves 6)

1 red & 1 green pepper, thinly sliced
2 onions, finely chopped
525g rice
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 pints chicken or vegetable stock
260g frozen peas
1 lemon, cut into wedges
3 tbs chopped fresh parsley
3 chicken breasts, cubed
18 pre cooked frozen mussels (remove half from shells)
24 pre cooked frozen prawns (remove shells from half)
1 small squid (body only) sliced into rings

Spice Mix:-
3 tsp paprika
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp saffron strands

Quickly stir fry peppers in hot oil until softened, remove and set aside. Quickly stir fry chicken until just cooked, remove and set aside.

Fry onion, garlic and spices for approx 10 mins. Add the rice and stir to coat in spices then immediately at the hot stock, bring to a boil and simmer 15 mins.

Add peppers, chicken and peas, cook for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. Now add all the seafood and stir fry for approx 5 mins unti seafood heated through.

Season and garnish with fresh parsley and lemon wedges.

Pork medallions with creamy mushroom and green peppercorn sauce (serves 2)

Each time I opened the fridge, the lovely piece of pork tenderloin sitting on the shelf was winking at me. I was saving it for Friday night, but just could not resist, especially as I had just bought some fresh mushrooms and green beans. I also had some new potatoes and all I could think about was all those ingredients together. I've always been a fan of green peppercorn sauce and decided it was time to have a go at making this. Afterall, I had a jar of peppercorns sitting in the fridge awaiting the day for this to happen. What better opportunity.

1 Small tenderloin
10 white button mushrooms
2 tbs olive oil
knob of butter
180ml Double cream
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Beef gravy granules
Boiling water
250ml white wine
2 tsp lightly chrushed green peppercorns

Remove any sinews from the tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 inch slices. Place the slices, cut side down, onto a large piece of clingfilm. Cover with a second piece of clingfilm and flatten a little with a rolling pin or flat side of meat tenderiser. Keep covered, or put in fridge until required.

Clean and thinly slice the mushrooms. Heat oil and butter in a saute pan. Add the pork medallions and cook through gently. Remove, leaving behind all the juices, and keep warm. Now add mushrooms and stir fry. Once cooked, remove and keep warm. Turn heat down to low and add the cream to heat through gently. In the meantime, mix the gravy granules with a little boiling water until dissolved and thick. Add this along with the wine, mustard and peppercorns to the cream, turn up heat a little. Stir well to combine then put back in the mushrooms and pork to warm though.

Pasta bake with vodka & chilli sauce

This has to be one of the most simple of dishes and is always a firm favourite with guests too. I think we must have this at least once a week.

180g penne pasta

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes

200g tomato frito (passata)

3 tbs vodka

2 tbs olive oil

pinch of sugar

large handful of chopped fresh basil

1 ball mozarella

Put pasta into boiling water and cook until al dente, then drain.

In the meantime, heat oil in pan then cook onion, garlic and chilli. Once onion has softened add the tin of tomatoes and the tomato frito (passata), add a pinch of sugar and bring to a boil. Stir in the chopped basil and season to taste.

Mix the pasta into the sauce, then put the whole mixture into a shallow oven proof dish. Slice the mozarella and place on top.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 until the cheese has melted and gone golden brown.

Eat on it's own or with salad and/or crusty bread.

Aubergine - Berenjenas con Miel de Cana

This is a delightful way to eat aubergines. It is a dish served in all the local restaurants and the thick syrupy molasses (miel de cana) is sweet and delicious. I have had this many times when eating out and decided it was time to try it at home. The slices of aubergine are deep fried in a light batter. I decided to try it with tempura style batter and it worked brilliantly.

1 Jar of miel de cana

1 Aubergine

For the tempura batter:-

25g cornflour

100 self raising flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

small bottle of sparkling water

Thinly slice the aubergine and place in a colander. Sprinkle with sea salt and leave for up to an hour to draw out the juices. Wash under running tap and dry thoroughly with kitchen towels.

Make up the batter when ready to use. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Add sparking water a little at a time and whisk. Keep adding water until a slightly runny and a little lumpy batter is achieved. You won't need all of the water

Put the pieces of aubergine into the bowl and cover with batter. Drop a few into the hot oil, they will float. Deep fry in batches, for approx 2 mins each side. Put onto a baking try and keep warm in a low oven whilst you cook the remainder.

Put onto a serving plate and drizzle over the syrup.

Must eat more fish, must eat more fish, must eat more fish!

We all know the importance of eating fish, but I'm not really a fish lover. I am however partial to a piece of salmon fillet and do try to eat it at least once a week. My preferred way is simply pan fried and served with chips. Obviously not the healthiest of meals. In my quest to try new salmon dishes, I was inspired when I came across this dish from hollow legs and decided to give it a try.

It was absolutely delicious and suits me well as I am a big fan of oriental foods.

Lime & Ginger Salmon, serves 1

1 piece salmon fillet

3 sprig's mint, chopped

small bunch of coriander, chopped, reserve some to garnish
1 lime, juice of half only

1 bird's eye chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2" piece ginger, grated

Place all the ingredients, except salmon, in a bowl and mix together well.

Place fish in a shallow dish and pour marinade over, leave for at least 1 hour in fridge.

Preheat oven to 200.

Place fish on a sheet of foil and make into a lose bag, adding marinade to fish before sealing the top.

Put onto a baking try and bake for 10-15 minutes