Aloo Gobi

Recently whilst scouring through recipes i kept coming across a few aloo gobi ones and as i had the ingredients in my fridge, i thought i would give it a go.

Ingredients:

10 baby potatoes, skin on, cut into bitesized pieces
1 cauliflower, cut into florets the same size as potatoes
Pinch of turmeric
1 tbsp. Sunflower oil for frying potatoes and cauliflower
3 tbsp. Sunflower oil for cooking
Pinch of cumin seeds
1 black cardamom
1 tbsp. Minced ginger and garlic
1 medium onion, finely chopped
8 - 9 curry leaves (optional)
1 chopped tomato
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. Kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp. Cumin powder
1 tsp. Coriander powder
6 green chillies
1/2 tsp. Garam masala
Pinch of amchoor powder (dried mango powder)
Chopped coriander to garnish

I cut the baby potatoes into bite sized pieces and put in a microwaveable bowl and covered with water. I put it in the microwave for a quick blast of 5 minutes to parboil the potatoes.

Then i got a cauliflower and cut into florets the same size as potato pieces.

In a frying pan, pour a little oil and fry the cauliflower and potatoes until golden brown. You can do this together or seperately depending in size of your frying pan. I added a pinch of turmeric to the cauliflower for some colour. Once done, put to one side.

In another pan/wok, put in the oil and heat up the cumin seeds and add the black cardamom. Then i added the minced ginger and garlic and fried until brown. Add finely chopped onions and brown those for about 10 minutes until golden and soft. Put in salt to taste, curry leaves and the chopped tomato, stir, cover and cook until tomatoes turn mushy and oil seperates at the sides.

Add the turmeric powder, kashmiri red chilli powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and mix well. Add a little water so spices don't burn and cook for 2 minutes. Add your green chillies and stir well.

Then add your potatoes and cauliflower, stir, cover and cook for 5 minutes before adding a cup of water. Cook this for 15 minutes until the water has evaporated and you are left with a dry curry and your potatoes and cauliflower are completely cooked.

Sprinkle the garam masala and amchoor powder on top and garnish with chopped coriander.

As this is a dry curry, i served with a thin daal and ate it with roti.

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz ♡

Chicken wings with cabbage (Saucy recipe)

So this was the 1st curry i cooked in my brand new kitchen. I love chicken wings with skin still on and i love biting the bones and sucking the juices lol. This is a very quick and simple recipe, and slightly saucier than your bog standard cabbage curry should be, but if drier cabbage bhuna is your preference, by all means adjust the amount of water you put in!

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. Sunflower oil
Pinch of cumin seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
4 green cardamoms
3 bay leaves
3 peppercorns
3 cloves
2 inch ginger, minced
7 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, finely sliced
1/4 capsicum, chopped(optional)
1 chopped tomato
Salt to taste
1 and 1/2 tsp. Turmeric powder
2 tsp. Chilli powder
2 tsp. Kashmiri red chilli powder
2 tsp. Bolsts hot curry powder
2 tsp. Cumin powder
2 tsp. Coriander powder
1.2 kg chicken wings, washed and drained
Half cabbage, finely sliced
1 chopped tomato
Coriander to garnish

In a pan, put in the oil and add a pinch of cumin seeds. Then add 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 green cardamoms, 3 bay leaves, 3 peppercorns and 3 cloves. Let that infuse the oil for 30 secs then add 2 inch piece of minced ginger and about 7 cloves of minced garlic. Allow to brown.

Once browned, add in 1 large onion, finely sliced, 1/4 capsicum (optional) and 1 chopped tomato. Stir well then add salt to taste. Let this cook on a medium heat for approx 10 minutes until golden and soft.

Then add your spices: 1 and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder, 2 tsp chilli powder (to taste), 2 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder, 2 tsp Bolsts curry powder (any curry powder will do, i just have this one), 2 tsp cumin powder and 2 tsp coriander powder.

Cook on a medium heat for 2 minutes, adding a little water only if required (if spices are sticking to the pan!) Then add your washed chicken wings (i left the wing and niblet intact and took the extra little bit off. You can seperate them to be more economical) and stir well on a high heat for 2 minutes, then turn down heat to low/medium, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Check the chicken and stir if required. You shouldn't need any water at this point as chicken will release water. After about 10 minutes, take half a cabbage, cut into half again and slice finely. Wash this, drain and add to the chicken. Add a little water at this point too (this depends on you.)

Mix well, cover and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes until cabbage almost cooked. I added 1 more chopped tomato and a little water to make it slightly saucier and after a quick boil for 5 minutes, i turned heat off and garnished with coriander.

That's it. Serve with basmati rice and a slice of lemon. Alhamdulillah!

Hope you enjoy!

Yaz ♡

I'm back! With a brand New KITCHEN!!

So i have been AWOL for about 3 weeks or so, due to having my kitchen refitted. Everybody say yay!

I have been nagging my husband for 7 years to change our kitchen and finally we welcomed 2015 with a messy house, a frustrated child, an excited woman and a penniless man!

Hopefully this is a start to bigger and better things in sha Allah because i love to cook as i'm sure you all know, but felt limited to what i could do. My oven temperature gauge was faulty, which meant no baking, the grill didn't work, i could only use 2 burners of the 4 i had. But now, ma sha Allah, i feel like i can conquer the world! (OK, slight exaggeration!)

I know some people will find my kitchen too bright, or may not like the colour. The thing is, we settled on that colour because my kitchen gets no sunlight - at all. This way i feel it has a light feeling to it, without the paranoia of having white and constantly feeling that it has discoloured etc.

The tiles also tie in with the walls, and i know 4 colours for many may seem too much, but i couldn't settle on 2! I feel it looks fantastic though!

Obviously the star of the kitchen is my brand spanking new 6 burner, double oven, stainless steel beauty by Smeg! Thank you to my husband, truly, because i don't think he realises how much i love him for getting me my dream cooker. I'm not a materialistic person really, and don't buy shoes or handbags, but this was one thing my hubby knew he had to splurge for me on! And for that, he gets a lifetime of home cooked food by me! (As if he didn't anyway!)

The kitchen still has a few finishing touches left to complete and obviously all my things are not out yet, but i thought i would upload a few pics of the progress.

Hope you guys like 😊