Chicken biryani

I’ll be honest, this recipe didn’t really grab me straight away, but I decided to try it as my dad picked it out as one he would like to try, so I thought I would give it a go.

Serves 4 – Ready in 40 minutes including prep

Ingredients

·         300g basmati rice

·         25g butter

·         1 large onion, finely sliced

·         1 bay leaf

·         3 cardamom pods

·         Small cinnamon stick

·         1 tsp turmeric

·         4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks

·         4 tbsp curry paste

·         85g raisins

·         850ml chicken stock

·         Chopped coriander

·         Toasted flaked almonds to serve

Now for the How To:

·         Soak the rice in warm water, and then wash in cold until the water runs clear.

·         Heat the butter in a saucepan and cook the onions with the bay leaf and the other whole spices for 10 minutes.

·         Sprinkle in the turmeric.

·         Add the chicken and curry paste and cook until aromatic.

·         Stir the rice into the pan with the raisins.

·         Pour over the stock.

·         Place a tight fitting lid on the pan and bring to a hard boil.

·         Lower the heat to a minimum and cook the rice for another 5 minutes.

·         Turn off the heat and leave for 10 minutes.

·         Stir well, mixing through half the coriander.

·         To serve scatter over the rest of the coriander and the almonds. 

Again a recipe with coriander, but this time I left it out, I feel if I am going adding a little bit to the dish and the rest is for garnish then it’s not going to add a huge difference to the dish, and so I omitted that, I also left out the raisins, this is simply because I hate them possibly even more than coriander! I have to pick out the raisins from a muesli mix and I just can’t stand them, no idea why, when I was younger, I used to eat them by the little small box full’s, but as I got older, I just can’t stand them, maybe it’s because when I was little I only ate them on their own and not part of a dish? I don’t know I'm weird, I know this.

Other than that, I thought the dish was average, nothing really stood out to me, it was nice, and it was full of flavour, but I'm not sure what exactly I didn’t enjoy with it, but to me it lacked something, and I wasn’t wowed, as I have been previously with some of the other recipes.

So you know a lot of my weird food habits, what are some of yours?

My dad also picked the next recipe, Chicken chow mein.

Bye for Now! x

Lamb Steaks with a spiced tomato sauce

The main reason why I wanted to try this recipe is because I’ve never really cooked much lamb before doing my recipes, and whenever I did have lamb, it was pretty much just roasted, so I wanted the chance to make something different with the lamb.

This may not have been the recipe I was looking for thought...

Serves 2 – Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients:

·         2 tsp Cumin Seeds

·         1 tsp Coriander Seeds

·         1 Garlic Clove, Finely Chopped,

·         Olive oil

·         4 lamb leg steaks

·         400g tin chopped tomatoes

·         A small handful coriander, chopped

·         Brown basmati rice, cooked to serve.

Now for the How To:

·         Gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar.

·         Fry the crushed spices and garlic in 1 tbsp oil for a minute or two, and then add the lamb and brown on both sides.

·         Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 8 – 10 minutes.

·         Stir the coriander through the tomato sauce and serve with brown basmati rice. 

Even though the dish calls for coriander, it really isn’t for me, but I heard that most people that don’t like the herb, they can at least stand the seeds etc. Turns out not me, I didn’t have a pestle and mortar and so I used a rolling pin and a cup to crush the seeds, but with every mouthful all I could taste was the coriander and it completely ruined the dish for me.

The lamb by itself was very tasty as long as it didn’t have any sauce on it, I'm sure everyone else would like it, my dad thought it was very tasty, but for me, it was just a step too far with the coriander!

I must stay away from recipes involving coriander, at least then I may actually enjoy them!

What is the one type of food, or drink that you have to stay away from? Something you can’t stand regardless of the form it comes in?

Next recipe is Chorizo, New Potato & Haddock!

Bye for Now! x

Lamb Steaks with a spiced tomato sauce

The main reason why I wanted to try this recipe is because I’ve never really cooked much lamb before doing my recipes, and whenever I did have lamb, it was pretty much just roasted, so I wanted the chance to make something different with the lamb.

This may not have been the recipe I was looking for thought...

Serves 2 – Ready in 20 minutes

Ingredients:

·         2 tsp Cumin Seeds

·         1 tsp Coriander Seeds

·         1 Garlic Clove, Finely Chopped,

·         Olive oil

·         4 lamb leg steaks

·         400g tin chopped tomatoes

·         A small handful coriander, chopped

·         Brown basmati rice, cooked to serve.

Now for the How To:

·         Gently crush the cumin and coriander seeds in a pestle and mortar.

·         Fry the crushed spices and garlic in 1 tbsp oil for a minute or two, and then add the lamb and brown on both sides.

·         Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for 8 – 10 minutes.

·         Stir the coriander through the tomato sauce and serve with brown basmati rice.

Even though the dish calls for coriander, it really isn’t for me, but I heard that most people that don’t like the herb, they can at least stand the seeds etc. Turns out not me, I didn’t have a pestle and mortar and so I used a rolling pin and a cup to crush the seeds, but with every mouthful all I could taste was the coriander and it completely ruined the dish for me.

The lamb by itself was very tasty as long as it didn’t have any sauce on it, I'm sure everyone else would like it, my dad thought it was very tasty, but for me, it was just a step too far with the coriander!

I must stay away from recipes involving coriander, at least then I may actually enjoy them!

What is the one type of food, or drink that you have to stay away from? Something you can’t stand regardless of the form it comes in?

Next recipe is Chorizo, New Potato & Haddock!

Bye for Now! x