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Tomato and Lentil Soup

March 8, 2014 by manjirichitnis 61 Comments

Sometimes the guilt of eating too many wrong things just gets to me and I need to balance the scales internally. This calls for a comforting and filling soupy treat with a pinch of something yum thrown in. Also, all those gorgeous cherry tomatoes and vine tomatoes sitting in my fridge were begging to used -asap or risk being dumped into my green food recycle bag. Thrifty that I am, I will not allow that to happen in my kitchen! And I always turn to my stored lentils for something comforting and homely.

This recipe is perfect for making ahead in a larger batch and freeze some for later.

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Manjiri Chitnis

Tomato and Lentil Soup

5 from 7 votes
Wholesome and delicious, this vegetarian and vegan friendly recipe is as easy on the tummy as it is on the pocket
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Servings: 2 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Fusion Indian
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 3/4 cup Red Lentils/Masoor split without skin
  • 1/4 cup Yellow Lentil/Moong – split without skin
  • 4 – 5 medium-sized Tomatoes
  • 1 pinch Asafoetida
  • 2 Red Onions
  • 5 – 6 Garlic cloves
  • 2 tsp Coriander Powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin Powder
  • ½ Thum-sized Fresh Ginger – peeled
  • 2-3 Cloves
  • 1 tsp Pepper powder
  • Red chilli flakes – optional
  • 3 large tbsp Oil for frying
  • 1 tbsp oil for the tadka
  • Salt to taste

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker / Heavy-bottomed pan
  • Knife and chopping board
  • Kadhai or any pan
  • Potato masher or a large ladle
  • Blender / Mixer

Method
 

  1. Wash the lentil through a sieve and pressure cook – 3 whistles
  2. Let the steam escape and then loosen cooker lid
  3. Remove cooked lentils and allow to cool completely
  4. If you are not a pressure cooker lover then cook the lentils in a big saucepan with exactly two times the water than the quantity of the lentils
  5. Lentils cook quickly in a pan, cover and cook and keep an eye as water may boil over
  6. Finely chop red onions chopped into long slivers
  7. Chop the tomatoes into 4 pieces – just for ease of blending
  8. In a kadhai or wok heat the 3 tbsp oil and deep fry the garlic chopped into fine strips
  9. Add the red onions and sauté are absolutely crisp, the aroma is delicious
  10. Puree the washed tomatoes with the deep-fried red onion and garlic (leave some for garnishing)
  11. Use a potato masher ( or the back of a large ladle) and roughly squash the cooked and cooled lentils and mix them with the tomatoes puree
  12. In the same kadhai/wok or pan used to fry the onions and garlic – heat about 1 to 1.5 tsp oil
  13. Add asafoetida, whole cumin, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, cloves
  14. Sauté the spices in the oil for under a minute
  15. Add the cooked lentils and tomato puree
  16. Add water if the mixture is too thick
  17. Cover and cook on a low flame for 5 -8 minutes
  18. Season with salt as per taste
  19. Garnished with the remaining crispy fried onion and garlic bits
  20. Sprinkle some freshly cracked pepper
  21. Serve hot
  22. Best accompanied by hot buttered toast

Wholemeal bread, a crusty baguette, or a soft cheesy loaf – all make for great accompaniments with this soup. Indulge yourself by adding a blob of butter on top of the soup before serving.

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Tomato and Lentil soupy broth

Filed Under: Food, Healthy, Recipe Index, Soups Tagged With: A pinch of, asafoetida, cloves, coriander powder, cumin powder, deep fried garlic, deep fried onion, freshly crushed ginger, Masoor split and without skin, moong, original recipe from sliceoffme, pepper powder, recipe development, red chilli powder, Red Lentils, split and without skin, Tomato & Lentil Soupy broth

Mushroom Omelette with French Cheese

February 5, 2014 by manjirichitnis 34 Comments

Egg Omelettes are my ultimate delicious start for the day and on weekends if we wake early to have breakfast I like to do a huge omelette with salad ,toast and steaming hot cuppas of Masala Chai. Heaven !

My current favourite addition into a lot of salads,soups and omelettes are chestnut mushrooms so when I was sent the French Cheese Chaource produced by family-owned French dairy Fromagerie Lincet, I decided to make my own recipe for a fluffy, stuffed and thick cheesy egg omelette.

Family-owned French dairy Fromagerie Lincet has been producing cheeses typical of the Champagne and Burgundy regions for five generations. Rich,soft and creamy, the dairy’s Chaource AOP is great in omelettes ,risottos and tarts.Similar in texture to Brie and Camembert, Chaource AOP is creamier, richer and slightly acidic. With no artificial colours or flavours and 100% natural ingredients, it also benefits from PDO status.

Lincet is committed to its founding principles ‘flavour, natural ingredients and tradition, brought together to make good food’; using all-natural ingredients, traditional cheese-making methods  and milk from local farms.Lincet has upheld the tradition of ladle-moulding since its opening and the dairy’s cheese curdling technique is the oldest known for making cheese.Longer than usual (12 hours +), this is what gives Lincet cheeses a melting texture and distinctive slightly acidic, flavour

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Serves :2 Prep Time:5 minutes Cooking Time :5 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 4 medium sized eggs
  • 1 small red onion finely chopped
  • 3-4 cherry tomatoes halved
  • 2-3 chestnut mushrooms chopped into bite size bits
  • Sea Salt
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes – if you don’t want heat avoid completely
  • Freshly CRacked Black Pepper
  • A generous portion of Chaource Cheese
  • Some fresh coriander chopped fine to garnish
  • a blog of butter for the pan(2 tsp)

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Method:

  • In a large bowl crack the eggs and add the chopped red onion,mushrooms,cherry tomatoes and chopped coriander and whisk well with a fork.
  • Then season with salt ,red chilli flakes (if you don’t want heat avoid completely) and pepper and whisk again with a fork.
  • Now add the cheese and mix thoroughly and whisk again to get the air circulating and make this omelette really fluffy and thick.
  • On a pan on medium heat melt about 2 tsp of butter and pour the egg and cheese mixture.
  • Cook for about 2-3 on one side and loosen edges with a spatula.
  • To watch the cheese bubble while it cooks is such a delight!

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  • Then with a light hand loosen the omlette with the spatula ensuring it isn’t stuck to the pan or it will break while tossing over.
  • Flip over and cook on the other side for under 2 minutes to get a beautiful light brown golden delicious colour.

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  • Serve hot with fresh cherry tomatoes or iceberg lettuce and warm toast and lots of Earl Grey,English Breakfast or my new fav Chamomile tea 🙂

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What I like about the Fromagerie Lincent Chaource is the goeey soft ,rich taste with woody undertones, it definitely gave a depth of flavour to my omelette and am now going to use the remaining in a risotto for a weeknight dinner.

It is available at:

  • Waitrose, Top Tier Chaource AOP Hugerot 250g, £4.49 Waitrose
  •  Tesco Finest Chaource 250g, £3.00 Tesco
  •  TTD Chaource AOP 250g, £3.30 Sainsbury’s

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Disclaimer: I was sent a sample of  Fromagerie Lincent Chaource to test in my kitchen and was not required to write a positive review and was not compensated monetarily for this post.Like all my previous posts about events and reviews, ALL opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

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2nd Feb'14 Omlette with Cheese Sample

Filed Under: Food, Product Reviews, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: 100% natural ingredients, AOP, blob of butter, bowl, Brie, Camembert, cherry tomatoes, chestnut mushrooms, coriander, delicious, finely chopped, fluffy and stuffed and thick cheesy egg omelette, French Cheese, Fromagerie Lincent Chaource, Mushroom Omelette, no artificial colours or flavours, original recipe, pan, PDA status, recipe development, Red chilli flakes, red onion, risottos, Sainsbury’s, sea salt, sliceoffme creative kitchen, slightly acidic, smoky, soft cheese, tarts, tasty, Tesco Finest Chaource, Tesco’s Finest Range, Top Tier Chaource Hugerot, TTD Chaource AOP, Waitrose, woody, woody notes, yummy

Chicken and Red Lentil Stew – a complete ONE POT meal (Suran & Red Lentil Stew)

February 3, 2014 by manjirichitnis 33 Comments

There are times when I really want a hearty meal but don’t have the energy to stand and cook an elaborate meal. It is at times like that I turn to One pot meals, served with a warm baguette it is a filling, healthy and easy and quick to meal option which NO compromise on taste whatsoever! Moreover, its homemade, has flavour and is a satisfying experience to make .

I had been meaning to try and cook a stew using red lentils (masoor – Marathi for red lentil )for some time , they are my most favourite lentils and I am ALWAYS stocked up on a large 2 kilo pack of dried red lentils split and without skin , from my local Indian grocery shop at Tooting called Dadu’s. Also since all the other fresh ingredients were procured from my local LIDL this dish is GREAT value for money too! Am totally in love with the FRESH fruits and vegetable selection at LIDL right now.I bought some bright red long crunchy sweet peppers, a pack of medium hot chillies, fresh chicken breast fillets, a very cute packet of garlic, mixed pack of cauliflower and broccoli florets and a packet of gorgeous looking Shallots.( I have always wondered why the lentils are called RED when clearly they are a  lovely light orange colour !)

I love inventing a recipe as I go along and when I got my vegetable tray out on Sunday morning I had all these lovely vegetables staring at me and I just threw in what I thought would taste good together and VOILA ! A Steaming hot , thick, wholesome and tasty chicken and red lentil broth was born.

I love having some baby potatoes in stock and they are always handy in a stew , besides being quite the self-proclaimed ”queen of curries” I always am well stocked on Indian spices so bay leaves and cinnamon sticks aplenty in my kitchen larder – oh yes

Please don’t feel put off by the ingredient list , trust me they marry well together in the taste department and the end result is well worth your time and effort!

The biggest bonus of this stew recipe is that you can create your OWN vegetarian version by replacing the chicken with Quorn or if you don’t for some reason like or have never tried or have no access to Quorn then try replacing the chicken fillets with  Suran/Elephant Foot Yam, it can be chopped into big chunks and it takes up flavours very easily. But with the yam the cooking time drastically will reduce as it can go from just right and chewy to soft, goeey or totally disappear into the stew ! My aai (mum) always used suran as a meat replacement and marinated it well in the spices we would use for chicken or lamb and made a thick gravy dish with it, when I was younger she has managed to fool me many times over thinking it was mutton 🙂 – Aai I miss you and all the food you cook – sigh…. no India trip in sight anytime soon 🙁

(Dangerous though it looks the elephant foot yam is very very tasty! )

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Serves:4  Preparation Time: 10 minutes  Cooking time:35 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Red Lentils / Massor Dal -3/4th cup
  • Chicken breast mini fillets – 750gm / Comparable Quorn fillets
  • 5-6 baby potatoes
  • 6 shallots approx 200gm
  • 2 large sweet and crunchy pointed Red Peppers – approx 200gm
  • 2 short medium hot chillies
  • 2-3 bay leaves dry
  • red chilli flakes as per taste
  • sea salt as per taste
  • 1 veg stock pot
  • 3 dried red Kashmiri chillies
  • 1 large roll of cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil
  • a handful of Broccoli and Cauliflower florets
  • 2 large tbsp of tomato puree or half of a large tomato finely chopped
  • Red chilli powder
  • Sugar 2 tsp

Method:

  • Wash and soak the red lentil in water to soften them so they cook more quickly then get on with all the other chopping and cutting prep’s.
  • Chop the shallots lengthwise.
  • In a large stew pot or huge saucepan heat the oil and add the bay leaves,cinnamon stick and dry red kashmiri chillies which I have a very big packet of and am trying to finish , they only add colour and no heat so if you don’t have these you can totally leave them out – no harm done here.
  • Now add red chilli powder and sugar and just when the sugar starts to caramelise add the shallots and shallow fry them till they reduce and begin to turn a lovely brown colour.
  • Now add the 2 large tbsp’s  of tomato puree or half of a large tomato finely chopped and stir till it mixes well with the shallots.
  • Add the roughly chopped long red peppers and baby potatoes and saute’ for 2 minutes.
  • Add the washed chicken fillets/suran (elephant yam), soaked red lentils with the water it was soaked in.
  • Add the washed and roughly chopped Broccoli and Cauliflower florets and now add enough water.
  • I did not measure the water I added but add enough to get a nice thick stew , while the ingredients are cooking together on a low flame ,feel free to top up with more water as the lentils easily soak up as much water as you feed it with. Having said that you don’t want to end up with a watery stew so don’t add more than 3/4th cup at one go.
  • Season with sea salt , I love MALDON SEA SALT which I use and I have a few packets ALWAYS stashed away, great n salads it is!
  • Then sprinkle red chilli flakes and gently place a veg stock cube on top on this lovely pot of goodness bubbling away. I prefer the KNORR veg stock cubes , they have a great bouquet of flavour and are very handy at times when am exhausted and need to quickly cook up something tasty!
  • Stir well, cover with a lid and cook on a medium flame.
  • The red lentil will froth as they cook not to worry simply stir now and then and mix well, don’t allow the stew to get too thick we want enough lovely gravy to slurp this stew and dip the baguette into!

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I was so hungry that I didn’t click any photos of my lovely fresh ingredients but it was a brilliantly sunny day yesterday and after this wholesome stew for lunch we had to really force ourselves to go and get some much needed fresh air at Morden Hall Park – I happily left my smartphone behind so photos to share but suffice to say that it was a gorgeous walk through the huge grounds and we saw many happy families ,happy couples and cute old folks and even happier kids and dogs romping around in the muddy park  fun! And because we were so good we treated ourselves to hot tea and a sandwich at a local Turkish Cafe 😉 hehehe

Am very happy and proud of this new original recipe creation from my experimental kitchen. Next time I make this stew I will smoke the sweet and crunchy long red peppers and peel off the skin , to add a deep smoky flavour to the stew and not have the skin floating around – double whammy I say 🙂

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Chicken and Red Lentil Stew – a complete ONE POT meal (Suran & Red Lentil Stew)

Filed Under: Food, Meat, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: baby potatoes, baguette, bay leaves, Broccoli and Cauliflower florets, Chicken & Red Lentil Stew, Chicken breast mini fillets, chop, cinnamon, combine, cut, delicious, dried red kashmir chillies, dry lentils, finely chopped, full bodied flavour, hob, Indian Spices, kitchen larder, Knorr, large tomato, low flame, Maldon Sea Salt, Massor Dal, medium hot chillies, ONE POT meal, original recipe, recipe development, Red chilli flakes, red chilli powder, Red Lentils, saucepan, saute, sea salt, sliceoffme creative kitchen, smoky, spicy, stir, stock, stockpot, store, sugar, sunflower oil, Suran and Red Lentil Stew, tablespoon, tasty, teaspoon, tomato puree, veg stock pot, yummy

Achari Mutton Recipe

November 13, 2013 by manjirichitnis 5 Comments

Achari Mutton Recipe – a must-have in every home cook’s repertoire

Mutton is my favourite form of consuming red meat and though I LOVE pork with equal fervour, it can never quite compare to the deeply satisfying rich taste of a proper Maharashtrian Mutton Curry. This Achari Mutton curry is something I have cooked several times over the past years and tweaked the recipe to get it to this current one. Though I do still love experimenting with the curry by using various pickles, the basic achari mutton recipe remains the same.

How I came about to love this particular recipe is particularly interesting as it is from a phase of my life when I was working a very hectic full-time job back in India. My colleagues and I were all at a party and that’s when I tasted this Achari Chicken which totally blew my socks off! We were all at my boss’s house in Pune and one of my colleagues who also happens to be a trained chef, made Achari chicken and roti’s for us in a flash! It tasted so divine!

Achari Ghost

Fast foward a few years, to when we have moved to London. I remember,I had to make an urgent trip to India due to some unforseen circumstances. My husband was not able to get leave at short notice and was feeling pretty misreable for not being able to fly with me. I had to do something to lift his spirits and comfort food topped the list. After all, nothing beats the feeling of waking up after a good afternoon nap on a weekend, better till if that nap is brought by the supreme satisfaction one feels after consuming a comforting homecooked meal that reminds you of the taste of life back in India. Exactly for such occasions a good mutton curry and rice meal, is just the thing.

Mutton in a rich pickle flavoured curry

Fresh Mutton was procured but I didn’t have any puree’s to marinate them in and then a brainwave happened ! I got out my most treasured bottle of mango pickle made by my sister’s mum-in-law (who is an expert with pickles and makes a minimum of 10 varieties every summer, yes you heard that right, TEN, these are then packed and parceled all over the world !!)

I really didn’t want to use up all the pickle but for a kilo of mutton, I just had to, ah well small scarifies for the larger good I say 🙂

I silently thank Asha Ma as we lovingly call her, for the fabulous pickles she makes so expertly for her family. And more so for her immense patience with packing them neatly in air-tight, spill-proof containers.

Achari Mutton Curry Recipe

Manjiri Chitnis

Achari Mutton Recipe

5 from 3 votes
Achari Mutton Recipe, Succulent mutton cooked in a richly flavoured, thick gravy sauce, flavoured with pickle or achar, this is also called Achari Ghost
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo mutton curry pieces
  • 250 gm 1/2 bottle of mango pickle
  • 2 tbsp heaped of freshly ground ginger garlic paste
  • 200 gm 1/2 tub of yogurt /Dahi
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 3 small Red Onions
  • 4 tsp heaped Red Chilli Powder /Laal Tikhat
  • 3 tsp heaped Turmeric Powder / Halad
  • Pinch Asafoetida / Hing
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 small Stick of cinnamon
  • 4 tsp heaped coriander and cumin mix powder
  • 3 1/2 tbsp Oil
  • 4 boiled eggs peeled and sliced into halves
For the Chilli Marinade
  • 3 Green Chillies
  • 1 Lime juiced
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder

Method
 

  1. Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly and then pour the pickle over them and add the ginger garlic paste and mix well such that each piece coats well in the pickle.
  2. Ideally I would marinate this mutton overnight to really let these flavours seep deep into the fibers of the meat. Also, as mutton curry takes longer to cook than lamb it is necessary to ensure that for the flavours to full develop and mature, marination must be done for over 5 hours at least.
  3. Cover the meat with a plastic cling film and leave in the refrigerator overnight, do not freeze unless the temperature outside is over 35 deg Celsius as at that temperature if the cooling in the fridge is not good the meat may go bad. If freezing the mutton allow at least 4 hours to totally defrost by first moving from freezer to fridge and then keeping it outside.
  4. Pour the yogurt over the marinated meat and mix well,leave aside for 20 minutes
  5. Just when you are ready to cook the mutton peel and roughly chop red onions into chunks and also made big pieces of the tomatoes and puree them in the food processor.
  6. In a large vessel heat the oil and add a pinch of asafoetida, sauté the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick for about 30 seconds on a medium flame.
  7. Then add the red onion and tomato puree , sauté in the oil ,stirring well and let it simmer on a low flame with 1 cup of water.
  8. Add red chilli powder,turmeric powder, coriander and cumin mix powder.
  9. Let this cook for about 10 -12 minutes.
  10. Now add the marinated mutton and add enough water to make a good amount of gravy , if you are going to use the pressure cooker then add a little extra.
  11. Cook on a medium flame for about 1 and a half hour , in a pressure cook give it 8 whistles.
  12. Mutton pieces have a lot of fat attached on the sides which also adds to the oil used for cooking hence I have used less oil.I am unable to eat the overtly oily curry which leave a huge layer of oil on the top if allowed to stand.
  13. Now for the spicy dip, slit the green or red chillies lengthwise and dip into the oil and red chilli powder mix and add the juice of one lime.
  14. When the curry is cooked serve hot on a bed of steaming hot rice with half a boiled egg.

For extra flavour bite into the fiery red chilli with the lime-chilli mix. It’s not for the faint-hearted though, but if you really do manage to relish the aftertaste of hot chilli you can safely say that you can now eat any fiery dish without breaking a sweat or getting the runs, a sort of baptism by fire food ritual!! One only for the brave souls! This powerful blast of heat on the tongue will see your forehead dotted with beads of sweat. Truly a labour of love.

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The resulting mutton curry is rich in flavour and served hot with fluffy Jeera rice it is such a satisfying and comforting meal. But the best bit is when you leave the balance of this curry overnight , the next day the taste is so much better I’d almost choose left over curry over the fresh 😉

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Achari Mutton Recipe

Highly recommend serving this curry with a cooling curd side dish – half a cup of yogurt mixed with  with sliced red  onions and cucumbers ,seasoned with a pinch of salt , half a spoon of sugar and 1 heaped teaspoon of toasted cumin powder ,garnished with some freshly chopped coriander leaves.I’d wash down the meal  with butter milk or a good glass or two of a full bodied red wine.

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Achari Mutton Recipe

LEARN HOW TO MAKE INDIAN FOOD FROM SCRATCH WITH MY EASY TO FOLLOW RECIPES

  • Super easy, super – quick Maharashtrian Red Lentil curry
  • Fresh dill and yellow moong daal recipe
  • Goda sheera/ sooji ka halwa/ Indian dessert
  • CKP Surmai curry
  • Pompfret fry
  • Konbichi khichadi – Prawn khichadi
  • Vaangayche Bharit/ Smoked stuffed Aubergine ( Eggplant/Brinjal) in a thick gravy/ Baingan ka bharta
  • Valache Birdhe – (वालाचे बिरडे) – MADE IN A TYPICAL C.K.P WAY
  • Kairi Panhe/ Aam ka panha – Raw mango summer drink
  • Cauliflower- vatana bhaji – cauliflower and green peas vegetarian side dish
  • Podhnichi khichadi
  • Akkha masoor aamti CKP style / Whole red lentils with skin curry recipe
  • Spicy Chicken curry
  • Egg curry
  • Kadhi – fusion of Punjabi and Gujrati kadhi recipes with vadi’s
  • Upma
  • Gujrati Kadhi
  • Shahi Khichadi
  • Sweetcorn and paneer bhaji/sabzi (vegetable side dish)
  • Tomato and coconut chutney
  • Steamed Idli batter
  • Ragi (Finger Millet) and blueberry pancakes
  • Masala egg omlette
  • Chicken tikka masala
  • Tikka masala curry paste
  • Tawa chicken Frankie roll
  • Chai concentrate
  • Grated carrot salad
  • Strawberry flavoured shrikhand

Filed Under: Curry - Meat, Seafood, Food, Indian, Meat, Recipe Index Tagged With: achari mutton recipe, chop, coriander, cumin, curry recipe, food blog, grind, juice, lime, marinate, mix, mutton curry recipe, non veg curry recipe, original recipe idea, paste, puree, recipe development, red chilli, rice, sautee, sliceoffme, stir, turmer, yogurt

Caribbean themed Summer Fruit Smoothie

July 18, 2013 by manjirichitnis 11 Comments

There’s no better way to get your summer party guests to cool down and settle in than by offering them a chilled fruity delight that takes away the torture of travelling in summer with the sun not feeling unapologetic as it beats down upon us!

I wanted to create a more complex flavour but settled for a sweet tangy combo with a few ingredients. It’s quick,easy and absolutely exploding with summer fruity goodness.

Makes 1.5 l and the plastic posh glass I served in holds 100 ml.

Ingredients:

  • 2 large organic mangoes
  • 5 juicy strawberries
  • 400 gm Pineapple chunks  with juice – I bought the long life jars since I have a shockingly tiny refrigerator.
  • Juice of 1/4th  lime
  • 225 gm Mango Pulp – I used half of a 450 gm tin of Kesar Mango Pulp

Method:

  • I bought the Mediterranean Mangoes,the ones from a supermarket shelf where the skin appears green but when you gently press down onto the skin and pulp moves easily inside that means, they are ready for consumption, if you buy them a day in advance ensure you refrigerate them minus the plastic packaging to prevent over ripening and also ”sweating” of the fruit inside the plastic packaging.
  • Scoop out the pulp from the ”cheeks” of the 2 mangoes and leave the rest for Caribbean Sweet Mini Pepper salad. Chop into big chunks for the blender.
  • Wash the strawberries, halve them after removing the stalk
  • Blitz the mango pieces, the pineapple pieces and the juice, the strawberries, mango pulp and juice of half a lime ensuring there are no seeds in it.
  • Pour into a jug and leave to cool in the refrigerator.
  • Serve with ice cubes in a fancy glass, I bought these plastic ones on a steal deal from the party section of a discount store. 🙂

This simple but delicious smoothie is perfect as a summer cooler and will not fail to impress your guests and besides its a great way to kick off a summer party!I hope you enjoy making and sharing this smoothie as much as I loved creating and writing about it, each glass refilled made me smile – a lot.

Carribean Themed Summer Smoothie

Why not also have a look at this easy and yum Strawberry Mojito Recipe by Helen who writes the blog Actually Mummy.

Filed Under: Food, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: Caribbean themed Summer Fruit Smoothie, food bloggers lunch party, fruit punch, Good Food, lime, mangoes, original recipe, pineapples, recipe, recipe development, summer party, sweet mango pulp, tin, tinned

Easy and healthy one-pot chicken noodles

June 17, 2013 by manjirichitnis 4 Comments

It was one of those days when I wished the dinner made itself ,but hey you know what I am saying right?Like it’s ONLY Monday and am wishing it was the weekend again , ya, ya that kind of a horrible feeling- gaaahhh! Happens to the best of us , yes even me , ok ok I will get on with the recipe.I  had this vegetable stock packet in my kitchen cupboard that had to be used or else! And I had some tomatoes, bright red  chillies, half a red onion sliced , some unused tiny onions, a juicy lime and a spanking new bottle of Kafir Lime leaves .

Since I had spent the better part of the day, well on facebook 😉 I got my lazy,fat a** out of my house and walked to the supermarket.Some chocken thighs ,a mixed bag with chopped carrot and brocolli on reduced price , just what I was looking for!

Ok so here’s a list of all the ingredients I threw in and managed to make something that made hubby go from ”hummm ummm” to ”interesting” to ” u came up with this recipe like now?” the best compliment, ok am showing off and that sickening right?

Serves:2 , Cook time including serving time :25 miutes

Ingredients:

  1. 500ml vegetable stock
  2. 100ml water
  3. 1/2 of a medium sized red onion sliced lengthwise
  4. 2 -3 shallots chopped lengthwise
  5. 2 cloves of garlic with the skin on
  6. 1 tiny pinch of cumin seeds
  7. 2 Kaffir lime leaves – no more ,they are POTENT!
  8. 2 bright red chillies slit lenghthwise
  9. 1 small tomato chopped into tiny pieces
  10. 3 pieces of chicken with the skin taken off
  11. Red chilli powder as per taste
  12. Salt as per taste
  13. 1 portion of thin egg noodles  – 100 gm approx
  14. 1 small palmfull of diced carrot  – 100 gm approx
  15. 2 -3 bits of broccoli cut into smaller bite sized portions – 100 gm approx
  16. 1/4th of piece of lime to squeeze onto the chicken
  17. 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  18. A smile on your face because you are going to make a new yum dish super quick and you n yours are gonna love-uh it!

The Ingredients

Preparation:

  • Wash the chicken pieces and remove the skin
  • Pan on hob and add one tbsp oil ,saute the thinly length-wise sliced red onion saving a few bits to go into the stock pot.
  • place the chicken pieces and lower the flame, turn the pieces in a few minutes after they start to fry, do not cook them fully as this pan fry bit is to ensure flavour on double impact and get the chicken to release it’s juices
  • at this stage add the tomato bits into the pan and flatten with a spatula after they have sizzled for a bit, this will make the sauted onion flavour marry with the tomato and lock in the chicken juices,squeeze the lime onto this
  • add about 2 tbsp of the vegetable stock to the chicken in the pan and simmer on  as low a flame as possible,keep checking to ensure it does not dry up!
  • Now add 1 tbsp in a saucepan and when it’s hot throw in the 2 big red chillies which have been split lengthwise,followed by the cumin,crushed garlic cloves with skin, some of the red onion chopped leftover from what went in the pan and the shallots chopped lengthwise.Keep the saucepan on a low flame to prevent burning of these ingredients.

IMG_2931 (Copy)

  • When the garlic is done and the pungent chilli and garlic gives off its trademark punch of aroma throw in the Kaffir lime leaves ,when the onion is totally pink n garlic crisp , throw in some of the vegetable stock and some water , add the noodles carrot and broccoli ,cover and bring to a boil, at this stage the carrot is almost cooked and the noodles too, scoop in the chicken and the thick onion-tomato gravy it was in, ensure you get every last bit of the thick sauce from the pan to not loose any of that wholesome goodness!

IMG_2935 (Copy)

  • Now throw in all the remaining vegetable stock and water and add salt and red chilli powder as per taste.
  • cook on a low flame with lid till done, the chicken should just fall of the bone easy and the carrot should be well cooked but not squidgy.
  • Serve hot with soft boiled potatoes in butter and herbs or a crisp baguette.

At 2 small spoons of oil and how it fills you, this one dish stock pot is filling, wholesome,relatively easy and a good for a weekday dinner when you are feeling  well BLAH 😉

please leave comments to let me know if this recipe rocked your boat or totally sucked !

Love,peace and good night bloggy world ,I love ya !

One stock pot chicken and noodle dinner

Filed Under: Food, Meat, Quick and Easy, Recipe Index Tagged With: chicken, chilli, cumin, delicious, easy dinner recipe, eat well, garlic, healthy low calorie dinner recipe, hob, kaffir lime leaves, low flame, noodles, one stock pot, pan, ready in 20 minutes, recipe development, red chilli, red onion, salt, saucepan, shallots, slimming food, sunflower oil, tasty, vegetable stock, water, wholesome goodness, yumyum

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