Chicken and Mushroom pie

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 

With Autumn fast approaching, nothing beats a hearty midweek supper. Chicken and mushroom pie is a classic dish. There really is no one set recipe for this, everyone has their own version and preference with ingredients. This version of mine is made with Shittake mushrooms which give this pie a really meaty flavour. So give this a try and see for yourself, add or omit as please, you can add carrots and spinach also, great way of getting vegetables into your meals.

Ingredients

3 lbs boneless chicken ( I used Chicken Thigh as it is more tender and flavourful )

1 bunch of spring onion

3 x 125g tub Shittake Mushrooms

2 cups of frozen peas

50g of butter 

1 tbsn of sunflower oil

5 tbsn of cornflour

1 tub of mascarpone cheese

Knor vegetable stock pots 

2 packets of Just Roll puff pastry

1 egg

1 egg white

2 tbsn garam masala 

Salt to taste (Be careful as stock cubes already have salt so add little to begin with)

2 tspn black pepper

Ceramic blind baking beans or you can use lentils or rice.

Method

1. Heat pan and melt butter and oil together. Add chicken and brown well. Add 1 tspn salt and garam masala. When it has browned add 2 tbsns of cornflour and cook well together this chicken is well coated. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. In same pan add your chopped spring onions and cook till soft, then add the sliced mushrooms and cook well till they soften also ( If need be add a touch more oil ) next add the chicken back into pan and mix well. Followed by the peas. Cook together for about 3-4 mins.

3. Now add the remaining cornflour and combine, followed by the vegetable stock pots or stock cubes.

4. When mixed well add your mascarpone cheese, black pepper and mix.

5. Now add two cups of hot water mix together and cook till it reaches a loose creamy consistency. Check seasoning especailly salt and add if needed. Then set aside and allow to cool.

5. Next take you puff pastry and roll out to size of dish. Then place parchment paper over it and add in your ceramic blind baking beans or if you don't have them add lentils or rice, this is to weight the pastry and make sure sure it does not shrink during cooking process. This is called blind baking. Please note the rice or lentils being used will not be ok to cook, but you can store and put away for blind baking next time.

6. Bake at gas mark 4 for about 20-25 mins, then take out and coat with egg white, this will seal the bottom pastry, put back in oven and cook for another five minutes.

7. When pastry is done, pour the chicken and mushroom mixture over pastry.

8. Now roll out other puff pastry and place on top of the pie. Push or crimp sides and coat with egg wash. Place into oven at same temperature and cook till golden brown.

9. Remove from oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before serving.

Bil-hana wa ash shif'a!

Enjoy!

Chicken Palak (Chicken & Spinach)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Chicken Palak

Chicken Palak (chicken spinach) has always been a favourite dish in my mothers household and now also in my own. The combination of greens such as spinach, dill and dried fenugreek give this curry a strong earthy flavour. The aromas waft all through the house leaving hungry mouth salivating!

Be sure to give this yummy recipe a try.

Ingredients

3lbs of boneless chicken
5-6 cloves of garlic
2 inch piece of ginger
3-4 medium onions
Half can of chopped tomatoes
3 cans of spinach leaves (You can use fresh if you prefer, cans just save time)
1 whole cup of chopped dill
Half cup of dried fenugreek leaves ( You can use fresh if you prefer)
3-4 green chilies
2-3 tspn salt
2 tspn chili powder
2 tspn of garam masala
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn turmeric powder
5 tbspn Oil or ghee 

Method

 1. Grind the onions to a paste (to make easier add a few tablespoons of water to help it grind better)
when water dries up add the garlic and ginger and continue cooking until all water has evaporated.

2. Add the chicken and cook till browning, then add the chopped tomatoes, spices and salt.

3. Stir till well mixed, cover and leave till chicken releases its own juices.

Chicken releases its own water when cooking

4. Now turn heat up and cook on high till water evaporates. When water has dried up add your spinach and combine well.

5. Cook for a about 5 minutes then add your dill mix together well. When adding the dried fenugreek leaves make sure you remove any stalks as they do not cook through.

Dried fenugreek leaves, remove stalks as can be seen in this picture above.

Fresh Dill added to the chicken give a delightful flavour and aroma!

6. Now cook for a good ten minutes for about 10 minutes until all water has evaporated. Then chop up green chilies and mix in.

7. If you wish the curry to be more saucy add about 2 cups of warm water and cook till it reaches you desired consistency.

Serve with freshly made chapatis or plain Basmati rice. Enjoy!!

Bil-hana wa al shifa'a!

Green Masala Chicken with Feta Cheese

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Ever had one of those days when you don't know what your doing with a recipe and just try your luck and hope for the best? Well this was one such recipe, I decided I wanted to make a green masala curry but add a twist, a different flavour, couldn't quite figure out what until I opened my fridge to find some feta cheese and thought AHA! A ligthbulb moment! Wasn't quite sure where and when I would add this so I just played along and added when I thought....."Oh this will be a good time!" :)

May I say how delightful it turned out too! The feta added a subtle tangy flavour which complimented the mint, fenugreek and coriander, giving this dish an overall creamy rich texture. 

I love it when a plan comes together! :)

My cousin happened to pop in for tea as I was cooking so she ended up being my guinea pig food taster! Much to her delight she liked it so much she decided she would try it out at weekend for her family. So my lovelies, why not give this a try and see what you think!

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients

4lbs of boneless chicken

1 bunch of fresh Coriander

1 bunch of fresh Fenugreek leaves

5 sprigs of fresh mint leaves

4 cloves of garlic

2 inch piece of ginger

Juice of 1 Lemon

200g of Feta cheese

3-4 onions

11-12 green chilies (you may use more or less depending on how spicy you want it)

5 Tablespoons of Olive oil

4 tablespoons of Ghee

3 teaspoons of salt or to taste

3 teaspoons of Garam masala

2 teaspoons of cumin seeds (One to add in beginning and one to use for tempering)

 Method

1. Wash chicken thoroughly and leave to dry.

2. To make the marinade, in a blender add the mint, fenugreek and coriander leaves along with the garlic, ginger, and lemon juice, one teaspoon of salt and 2 tbsn of olive oil. Add half of the block of feta cheese. Blend to a smooth paste. 

3. Mix the marinade with chicken and leave to marinate at room temperature for minimum of Half an hour.

4. In the meantime take the onions and chop roughly, blender to make into a paste. Heat 3 tbsns of olive oil, add 1 tspn of cumin seeds and then add the onion paste. If you wish you may add 2-3 green chilies here, but this is optional. Cook till all water in onion paste has cooked out. See pics below.

5. Now add the marinaded chicken to onion paste and mix well. Cook on high heat, the chicken will release water, cover and let it cook on low heat for about 15 minutes. 

6. Now turn up heat to high and cook to dry out the water, as water is drying add the rest of the feta cheese, and mix well.

7. Keep stirring on high heat till water evaporates and the masala is sticking to the chicken. When this has been achieved turn off heat and set aside.

See how masala sticks to the chicken

8. Now for tempering, heat the ghee in a small frying pan, then add to it quarter of an onion thinly sliced, 4-5 dried red chillies, 1 tspn of cumin seeds heat until sizzling and onions are going a golden brown colour, then pour over the chicken. 

9. Garnish with mint leaves and serve with fresh warm chapatis. :)

Enjoy!
Bil hana wa ash-shifa

Ginger Chicken

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Ginger Chicken

This delicious Chicken recipe really packs a zingy punch, the intense flavour of ginger and green chillies compliment each other to give it a real kick! This recipe is my mothers and I know I say this all the time but this really is a simply recipe requiring minimal ingredients. You can make it either as a curry with sauce or even as a dry roast, either way it is one of those culinary delights that will have you oooooohhh'ing and aaaaaahhh'ing and mmmmmmm'ing right till the end! Give it a try and see for yourself :)

Ingredients

6 chicken legs (I asked butcher to cut mine to separate thigh from leg giving me 12 pieces)
12 inches of ginger
10-12 green chillies
Half a cup of yogurt
2 tspn of cumin powder
2 tspn of coriander powder
1 tspn of ginger powder
1 tspn of garam masala
half a tspn of cardamom powder
Salt to taste
4 tbsn of ghee
1 tspn cumin seeds

Method

1. Blend together 10 inches of ginger (leaving rest of it for later) green chillies and yogurt to a paste and set aside.
2. Heat ghee in pan and add chicken, brown so that it seals.
3. Once brown pour in ginger paste.

 

4. Mix well and then add all the spices and salt, mix on high heat.

5. Cook on medium high heat for about 5 minutes, then cover and leave to simmer for another five minutes.

6. Remove lid and cook on high heat till all the liquid evaporates. Grate 1 inch of ginger into the pan and mix Add 1 cup of water and cover and simmer for another 5 minutes. When chicken is cooked and sauce has thickened turn off heat and set aside.

8.

7. In a sauce pan heat 2 tbsn ghee or oil and add cumin seeds. With remaining ginger slice into thin strips to make juliennes. Add this to saucepan and cook till cumin seeds release an aroma and ginger is beginning to crisp on edges. 

8. Pour over the chicken and gently mix.

Delicious succulent and packed full of flavour, Ginger Chicken.

Serve with Zeera aloo (Cumin Potatoes) and Roti.
For Zeera Aloo recipe click the link below

http://roosfoodfusion.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/zeera-aloo.html

Bil-hana wa ash shifa'a!

Mediterranean Roast Chicken

 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

There is something about that golden rustic colour of roast chicken and its hearty aroma that warms the soul. Roast chicken or roast anything is so versatile, you can mix together any ingredient and roast away! For this recipe I decided to go for some Mediterranean flavours, lemons, olives, garlic and rosemary. Giving this roast a tangy yet earthy flavour. Everything about this roast is perfect from the taste to its tenderness and crispy skin.
Give it a go and see for yourself!

Ingredients

1 whole chicken ( I used 2 as they were small in size )
1kg King Edward potatoes cut into a size that will roast well.
500g bag of mini sweet peppers
2 garlic bulbs
5 unwaxed lemon
4-5 sprigs of rosemary
Half cup chopped green olives
150g butter
Half cup extra Virgin Olive oil.
Salt and pepper

 Method

1. Wash chicken thoroughly and leave to dry.
2. Zest 4 lemons, and juice 2 of them.
3. Chop up rosemary finely, and crush 4-5 garlic cloves.
Place butter, Olive oil, lemon zest, chopped green olives, crushed garlic cloves, salt to taste and pepper and mix well.

4. Pay dry the chicken and gently begin removing skin from underneath with finger just separating it from the flesh, be careful not to rip the skin. When done take butter mixture and stuff under the skin and spread over the chicken. Take remainder and rub all over chicken on too of skin this time. Ensure all the chicken is covered. Leave to marinade for half hour.

5. Put half garlic bulb half a lemon and sprig of rosemary into the cavity of the chicken.
6. Drizzle extra virgin Olive oil over the potatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
7. Place chicken on roasting tray. Add potatoes around the sides of chicken. ( I used my halogen oven which I set at 250 degrees Celsius ) for oven pre heat to about 425 degrees which is about gas mark 7. If you wish you may roast potatoes separately.
 

8. After about half hour add the peppers and cook for another 15 mins or until juices run clear from chicken and vegetable are cooked.

9. Turn off and leave chicken to rest for about 15-20 mins so that juices remain within the chicken.
10. Take the remaining juices at bottom of pan and cook down, to use as gravy, no extra seasoning is needed as it is already so flavourful.

Perfect roast chicken with roast potatoes and peppers :) 

 

 

 

Serve and enjoy!

White Qorma

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

White Qorma is one of those dishes you wont be making on a regular basis due to how calorific it is! However when you do it will have both yourself and your guests salivating! It has no red chili powder so the only spiciness comes from the green chilies, garam masala and black pepper. Having said that this recipe is not about how hot it is on the tongue but rather how exquisitely different it is from the everyday red coloured curries. This very rich qorma consists of luxurious ingredients that are so flavourful yet subtly soothing on the palate. Give it try and see for yourself. :)

White Qorma

Ingredients

3lbs boneless chicken
2 cups of double cream
2 cups of Greek yoghurt
2 tbsn white poppy seeds
1/2 cup of almond blanched or already in slithers
1 cup of pine nuts
12 green cardamoms
8 cloves
7-8 greeen chilies or as desired
2 tspn salt
1 tbsn coarse black pepper
2 tspn garam masala
15 curry leaves
2 inch pice of ginger
one whole garlic bulb
2-3 medium onions
3-4 cups of milk
10 whole round dried red chilies
8 tbsn olive oil

Method

We need to first make the paste.

1. Grind the poppy seeds and cloves until almost powder, set aside.
2. Add the nuts to a blender with 1/2 cup of milk and grind to a paste and transfer to plate, add the poppy seed and clove mixture to this paste and mix well.

3. Add the onions and one cup of milk to blender and blend to a paste. ( If need be cut onions into smaller pieces)
4. Mix this to the nut and poppy seed mixture and combine well.

5. Now blend the garlic, ginger and green chilies to blender with 1/2 cup of milk and blend to paste.
6. Now add this to rest of mixture and ix well. Set aside.

7. In pan heat about 10 tbsn of oil, add curry leave and fry for a few seconds on high heat, then add green cardamoms and fry for about a minute.
8. Add chicken and cook on high till chicken releases its own water, cook till all water dries and chicken is slightly golden.

9. Now add the onions and poppy seed paste and cook well until all the water has evaporated and paste is sticking to chicken.

10. Add the Greek yoghurt and cook again till water cooks out, keep hear medium high, keep stirring to avoid burning.
11. Now add cream and cook well for a 3-4 minutes. Turn off heat.
12. In a small frying pan add about 7 tbsn of olive oil, when it had heated through add the round red chilies and about 2 tbsn of pine nuts, fry until they are golden brown and oil is sizzling hot.

 13. Pour over the chicken and stir through.

14. If you wish to have the sauce more runny add some hot water and cook until it reaches desired consistency.

Serve with nan, roti or Basmati rice.

Enjoy!