Thai Spiced Tuna Cakes

I had some mashed potato left overs a few days ago and was going to use it to make crab croquettes. But then I used the crab meat to make a rather lush Vietnamese Noodle Salad - and my plan for crab croquettes was transformed into these Thai-influenced tuna cakes.

Super quick, super easy and very tasty!

Thai Spiced Tuna Cakes

Made about 12 cakes

• Left over mashed potato (about 1.5 cups I think!)
• 1 tin of tuna, drained
  
• 1 spring onion, shredded
  
• 1" piece ginger, grated
  
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 2 Thai red chillies, finely chopped
• The zest of 1 lime
  
• 3 tbsps white flour, plus extra for dredging
  
• Handful cilantro, roughly chopped
• Oil for shallow frying

How easy is this...?
Mix together all the ingredients, except the tuna (and the dredging flour and oil!) and mix until well combined. Flake the tuna into the mix, and gently combine - try to leave some decent sized bits!

Pinch off a ball of the mixture, flatten with your hands, and dredge in flour - shaking off the excess. Fry in an oiled medium heat pan for 3/4 minutes each side, or until nicely browned.

Serve with the dipping sauce of choice - I used sambal brandal, but sweet chilli sauce,, or even just a squeeze of lime juice would work just as well - it all depends on what you fancy!!

Thai Green Curry with Chicken and Peppers!

Well, here we go - that ubiquitous favourite, popular in restaurants, gastropubs and even my local Chinese takeaway...

Ladies and Gentlemen, won't you please pick up your cutlery for...

Thai. Green. Chicken. Cuuuurrrrrrrrry!!!!!!!!!

But seriously - this is one of those dishes where there is a reason why it is so popular. It is gorgeous, a perfect fit for the four fundamentals of Thai cuisine: hot, salty, sweet and sour.

And ever so easy to make (especially with the help of my old friend Mae Ploy!) With a food processor, making curry paste is one of the easiest and quickest things in the world. However, it can also get expensive if you have to buy all the ingredients from scratch, and many pre-made Thai curry pastes are excellent, quick and cheap! (I'm starting to feel like Delia now... must shut up!) Anyway, enough of the self-justification for buying something that isn't completely 'from scratch' ;)

Thai Green Curry with Chicken and Peppers!

Serves 4-6 depending on portion size!

• 4 chicken breasts, diced
• 1 red pepper
• 1/2 courgette, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
• 1/2 aubergine, cut into chunks and fried over a very hot heat for a few minutes
• 3 lime leaves, shredded
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1" piece ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp curry paste
• 1 400ml tin coconut milk, or two small ones
• Oil to fry

Heat oil in a hot wok, add 2 tablespoons of curry paste and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and fry until opaque. At this point add the ginger, garlic, lime leaves, any solids from the coconut milk and the remaining paste. Fry for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the remaining coconut milk and the red peppers, then turn to a simmer. Allow to simmer uncovered for about 6 minutes - until the peppers are slightly softened, but still have a good 'bite'.

Add the aubergine and courgette, simmer for another couple of minutes and serve over steamed rice.

How easy was that!

Store Cupboard Cooking Day 11

Spinach Chana Dhal

Dhal, Dal, Daal, Dahl... They're all the same thing you know!

And that's tasty, cheap and healthy - no wonder they gave it so many names :)

I asked a friend to get me some dried chickpeas the other day - I've had an urge for home-made hummus since I had some at another friend's recently. But instead of chickpeas, I got a pack of chana dal (dhal, daal, dahl...)! There was a rationale - but I can't remember what it is now.

So I decided to make a dhal. As in the thick, spicy lentil stew - rather than the pulse itself...

And some naan bread to go with!

Spinach Chana Dhal

• 1.5 cups chana dal
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp black mustard seeds
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 slices fresh ginger (skin on)
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 100g spinach, washed
• 1 tsp garam masala

Place the chana dal in a pot with twice as much boiling water and simmer for 30 minutes. (Alternatively you could pre-soak them for 2/3 hours... if you remember!)

Melt the ghee in a saucepan, and fry the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, garlic and ginger for 2/3 minutes until the mustard seeds start to pop.

Add the chana dal, the rest of the spices (except the garam masala!) and the tomatoes. Top up with boiling water and simmer, covered for 45 minutes to an hour - or until the chana dal is tender. Top up water as required, and stir every so often to prevent sticking.

When the chana dal is tender, remove the ginger slices and use a fork to mash some of the dal against the side of the saucepan. This gives a more interesting texture and consistency - don't skip it!

Add the spinach and garam masala and cook for another 3/4 minutes until the spinach is wilted.

Serve with rice - either plain or pilaf, or with naan bread!

Excuse the lurid photo - it looked better in real life!

No Croutons Required: Chillies, Spice and All Things Nice

Hmmm...

So yesterday I realised that the deadline for No Croutons Required is fast approaching. Spicy vegetarian soup. I can do that. In fact, I make spicy soup pretty much every week - at least once. I had already made spicy Thai soup in the last week for Presto Pasta Night. Yay - an excuse to make more soup!

I considered various options. Asian soup was out - I made some pretty recently and I had it for lunch yesterday! Hmmm... spicy lentil soup, tomato soup? Nah, wasn't feeling the lentil/tomato love...

I realised that what I actually wanted was curry. A thick, smooth, spicy, rich curry soup...

So I have adapted one of my favourite curry recipes, and turned it into a soup. It is still pretty much a whole-meal soup - the potatoes and chickpeas add some real bulk. Serve with some nan bread, and you're sorted!

It wasn't until I took the pictures that I realised that my soup looks very similar to last month's NCR entry... So now I feel like I'm being dull and unoriginal... Am I a one-soup pony?? Tune in next month to see if I can escape the spinach!

Curried Chickpea & Spinach Soup with a Cilantro and Chilli Drizzle

Makes a lot of soup! Probably 4 big bowls - or 6 normal ones...

• 400g tin tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 medium/large onions
• 3 tbsp ghee
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 piece fresh ginger (about 2 inch long)
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp tumeric
• 500 ml vegetable bouillion
  
• Large bag spinach, washed
• 3 green chillies
• small handful of chopped cilantro
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium potatoes, diced
• 400g tin chickpeas
• 1 tsp garam masala

Heat the ghee, chop both the onions, and fry over a medium for about 15 minutes, until soft.

Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the ginger and garlic. In a liquidiser or blender, blitz the ginger and garlic with the tomatoes and about a quarter of the stock. Once the onions are ready, add them to the tomato mix and blitz it all to a smooth puree.

Return the puree to the pan, add the salt and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, ground cumin and ground coriander and mix thoroughly. Simmer for another 15 minutes.

Add the diced potatoes and chickpeas, then gradually stir in the stock until you get the consistency you want. (I kept it pretty thick - it was going to be my dinner!) Continue to cook until the potatoes are soft.

Meanwhile, wilt the spinach and blend to a puree. Add to the soup, taste and adjust seasoning if required. Add the garam masala.

To make the cilantro chilli drizzle, blend the cilantro with the chillies and olive oil.

Serve the soup with a drizzle of ... erm... drizzle (!) and garnish with a few cilantro leaves and a sprinkle of cumin!

Drunken tortilla de patatas!

I called Boyfriend yesterday afternoon and told him not to buy anything for dinner, that I wasn't in the mood for after-work drinks, and would be home early... Famous last words!

I was fairly shocked to find myself scurrying around my nearest shops trying to pick up the ingredients for dinner at 8pm, after 3 hours in the pub... I fixed on making a Spanish Omelette - mostly because I had loads of eggs to finish up... However, the drinks I had consumed made me throw a lot of chilli in there. It was a beaten egg away from a a kebab by the time I was finished!

Spicy Chorizo and Mushroom Tortilla

I'm usually rubbish at remembering quantities - and this time more than ever!

• 6 eggs
• 100ml milk
• 150g chorizo, cubed
• 500g new potatoes - sliced
• 1 large banana shallot, finely chopped
  
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  
• 2 thai chillies, finely chopped
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• Salt and pepper
  
• olive oil for frying
  

In a saucepan, place the sliced potatoes in cold, salted water, bring to the boil, then cook for 5/6 minutes until just soft. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat a glug of olive oil over a medium heat, then saute the shallot and chorizo for 3/4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry until the water starts to come out of them.

Throw in the garlic, chilli, some salt and pepper and fry until all the liquid has reabsorbed and the mushrooms are starting to brown at the edges.


Remove the mushroom mixture to a pan and turn up the heat. Heat another glug of olive oil for a minute, then put in the cooked potatoes. I just remembered I threw in some ground red chilli flakes at this point too!

Fry over a high heat, tossing regularly, until the potatoes are browned and crispy at the edges, then add the mushroom mix back into the pan, and turn the heat as low as it will go.

Beat the eggs, with some salt and pepper, and the milk. Pour the eggs into the pan, and allow to cook, uncovered for about 10 minutes. The top will still be raw, but the edges will be cooking up. The picture below is after about 5 minutes.


Meanwhile, preheat the grill to a high to medium heat. Once the tortilla is cooked about 2/3 of the way through, put it under the grill for another 5 minutes until cooked through. (I think this is called broiling in the US??)

Turn upside down on a plate, cut into slices, and enjoy. With another Magners!

Sri Lankan Workshop: Paripoo

At the Sri Lankan Cookery workshop I recently attended I fell madly in love with this simple, easy and gorgeous curry! It was sooo good - creamy, spicy, comforting, and above all, packed with flavour.

My pictures just don't do justice to the vibrant colour of this dish (although thanks to some great feedback from Jill over at Simple Daily Recipes, I will hopefully be getting more real light to them soon! Thanks Jill!)

Paripoo - Sri Lankan Dhal!

• 90g red lentils
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 dried red chilies, left whole.
  
• 8 curry leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
  
• 100 ml water
• 1/2 tin coconut milk

Ok, so how simple is this???

Are you ready?

Put all the ingredients into a pan, except the coconut milk.
Simmer for 15 minutes (stirring frequently to prevent the lentils sticking)
Add the coconut milk
Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes.

There you go - a gorgeous curry, made from scratch in half an hour!

Sri Lankan Workshop: Tomato Sambal

This was the first dish we made in the Sri Lankan workshop I attended recently. I got to use an ingredient I hadn't seen before - coconut oil. Apparently coconut is widely used in Sri Lanka and neighbouring counties - it isn't until you go further north that the use of coconut oil begins to be replaced with ghee.

It is lovely stuff - and not too difficult to find! I managed to buy a bottle of it from the first wholefood store I went to. Check out the link above to read about other uses it has!

Tomato Sambal

• 3 large ripe tomatoes (approx 225g)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chili powder - adjust according to taste and strength
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 5cm cinnamon stick
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 onion
• juice and zest of one lime
• 1 tsp sugar

Slice the tomatoes and arrange them on a plate. Sprinkle with the chili powder and salt and leave to marinate while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Slice the garlic and finely chop the onions.

Heat the coconut oil in a saucepan to medium. Once hot add the sliced garlic and fry until starting to change colour. Add the cinnamon and continue to fry until the garlic has turned golden brown. Don't let it burn though, or it will turn bitter!

Add the onions and continue to fry until soft.

Now add the marinaded tomatoes and gently simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool slightly then add the lime juice, zest and sugar. Boiling the lime juice will lose a lot of its punch, so only add after cooking.

Serve as part of a Sri Lankan meal - usually alongside curry.

11-a-Day Roast Veggie Stew!

I've no idea if this is in fact a stew, or a thick soup, or a chunky sauce.

What I can tell you is it is healthy, filling, versatile and tasty!

Every couple of weeks I get an urge to eat a huge portion of vegetables. Usually on a Monday, and usually after a particularly unhealthy weekend! This generally takes one of two routes - go to local greengrocers and buy lots of gorgeous veg and make a mammoth stirfry... or go to local greengrocers and buy lots of gorgeous veg and roast them all into a sloppy, tasty mess! Admittedly the first option is healthier - but the second is much more comforting! I use olive oil spray to cut down the amount of oil I use.

So I wandered home from work on Monday night fully intending to make a spanish fish stew (which will just have wait!) but got sidetracked by the idea of veg and instead ended up with...

... My 11 a Day Roast Veggie Stew

You can use any veg you want in whatever quantities you want - just pick what you enjoy/have available. There are lots of additions - I often fry up some chorizo (at the same step I fry the mushrooms here), or add some type of legumes to pad it out.

Veg I roasted:

• 2 large tomatoes
• 3 parsnips
• 2 red onions
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 3 red turkish chilis
• 1 mild green turkish chili
• 2 carrots
• 2 courgettes (zuccinis!)
• 1 head of garlic

Veg I pan cooked:

• 2 large tomatoes, roughtly diced
• 150g chestnut mushrooms, halved
• 1 scotch bonnet chili, finely chopped

Other:

• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• salt/pepper,dried chili flakes
• 150 ml vegetable stock

Lightly spray two oven trays with olive oil. (Or you could do three if you have three shelves in your oven!)

Decide what veg you want to roast - then cut it into pieces such that it will all become ready at the same time. As the greengrocers had another good deal on garlic, I also used this opportunity to roast up 6 heads of garlic. Alternatively, chuck a crushed clove or two in with the mushrooms!



Lay the veg out on the greased trays, the mist in olive oil again. Season and spice as required! This time I used white pepper, salt and red chili flakes, either singularly or all, depending on the veg (i.e. I don't salt carrots or peppers, but other veg can take a lot of seasoning.)


Put in the oven at about 200c for about 40 minute. Turn or shake the veg as appropriate during cooking!

Meanwhile, spray a little oil into a medium hot pan, and toss in the halved mushrooms. Fry for a few minutes until cooked through. Add the other pan veg and tomato paste and allow to cook for a few minutes.

Add the balsamic vinegar and sugar and allow to reduce slightly, then add the stock. allow to simmer for a further 5 minutes. Take off the heat until the other veg are roasted.

Once the oven veg is ready, tip it all into the pan and stir to mix. Heat through, and adjust seasoning if required (remember the roast veg were well seasoned, so don't season sauce until this stage!)

You can serve this as it is - with lots of crusty bread.

You could also blend it up and add more stock to make a nourishing soup.

Or split in half, blend one half, and mix back together to make a lovely roast veg sauce!

Whatever you do with it - enjoy!