AnnHelen's Corner

I admit, I tend to prefer chicken to any other protein in almost all the cooking I do, but a pescetarian friend was coming over for dinner the other night so decided to give this one a go.

This is a basic korma recipe but with a bit more of a bite of chilli and with lime which gives a nod to the south east Asian cuisine as well. I replaced the chicken with some firm white fish. I used river cobbler, but any white fish would do.Prawns could work as well. This one serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

400g white fish, cut into cubes.
1 onion finely sliced
1 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon (or use a cinnamon stick)
Curry leaves  or a bay leaf (optional)
1 can coconut milk
Salt
Juice of 1/2 lime (or lemon)
A pinch of sugar (if needed)
Fresh coriander

Marinade:

150g natural yogurt
1 inch ginger, peeled and grated

Puree:
1 shallot
1 red chilli
2 garlic cloves

Method:

1. Marinade the cubed fish in the yogurt and the grated ginger for a couple of hours.
2. Make a puree of one peeled shallot, 1 deseeded red chilli and 2 garlic cloves in a blender/food mixer.
3. Gently sautee the sliced onions in a sautee or frying pan with high edges.
4. Add the puree mix to the pan with the coconut milk and all the spices. Let it simmer for about half an hour on low heat to allow the spices to blend and mature.
5. Add the fish mixture (including the marinade) into the pan for the last five minutes of the cooking time.
6. Taste and adjust flavour by adding lime and sugar. Should you wish to have more heat, just add some more chilli
7. Add some fresh coriander into the mix just before serving.
8. Serve with rice and naan bread.

One of my favorite Indian dishes in any curry house as I’m a die hard fan of lentils. This particular one is extremely low fat and very tasty!

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 60g yellow split peas
• 250g butternut squash (peeled and roughly chopped)
• 1 large carrot
• 3 cauliflower florets
• 3 table spoon of oil
• 4 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 4cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 1 large onion
• 500g of skinless chicken breast fillets (cubed)
• 1 large tomato finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh coriander
• 2 red or green chillies (chopped)

Spice mix:

Whole spices:

• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 2 cloves (ground)
• 4 cm cinnamon stick
• 2 bay leaves
• 3-4 fresh or dried curry leaves

Ground spices:

• 1/2 teaspoon of fennel
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce and boil in some water until all the vegetables are soft. Puree it all into a paste like sauce. Add more water if needed.

2. Fry off the whole spices for 30 seconds

3. Fry the chicken until lightly brown all over.

4. Add puree and add all the spices and the vegetable paste and let cook for 2-25 minutes. Add more water if needed.

5. Serve with rice or home made chapati flatbread.