Kerala Chicken Curry using Double Horse Curry Mix, "tweaked"

This is not a food hack but more of a food “tweak”. From time to time, I try pack mixes for curries but have never found one that really works all that well.  I found a new one for Kerala Chicken Curry (it was actually made in Kerala) and decided I’d try it with some modifications. On opening the envelope, it was easy to see that this mixture was quite different to any other that I had used. You could smell the spices and actually see the curry leaves and other ingredients almost as though they were freshly ground. The mixture was dark and rich looking. My “tweaks” involved, using a small amount of Jamaican chicken seasoning and marinating overnight in the refrigerator, dry frying, toasting or “burning” the spices before I added liquid, and as liquid,  I used chicken stock instead of water. The other departure from the recommended recipe was that I used a slow cooker, and decreased the amount of liquid called for in the original recipe. The result is a very satisfying curry, with a rich, dark and thick sauce, perfect to spoon over rice or “sop up” with fresh Naan bread.

Ingredients

1 pack "Double Horse" Kerala Chicken Curry Mix

 2 1/2  lbs chicken meat

3/4 tsp Grace Caribbean Traditions Chicken Seasoning

1 1/4 cup chicken stock (Equivalent of a small tin of Swanson Chicken broth in the US)

5 tbsp cooking oil

Method

1. Season the chicken meat with the chicken seasoning and marinate overnight in refrigerator

2. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and fry the chicken meat until browned in areas. Put in a 2-3 quart size slow cooker

3. Discard the oil, and use a paper towel to wipe the wok clean 

3. Empty the contents of the Kerala Chicken Curry Mix in the wok and "toast" until fragrant. Add the chicken stock and continue cooking for another minute until a paste forms.

4. Pour this mixture over the chicken meat in the slow cooker and cook on high for about 3 hours. Stir occasionally (about twice in the 3 hour period) so that the sauce thickens and coats the meat. Plate and enjoy.

Fish with Ready Mix Paneer Tikka Masala Sauce

This is another “food hack” where I have used an envelope of Paneer Tikka Masala sauce to make a fish Tikka Masala. Readers may ask, “Why not just buy an envelope mix for fish Tikka Masala?” The reason is that those pack mixes for Fish Tikka Masala require you to use 1-1.5 kilograms of fish, and if you are cooking for just one person that’s not an option. This mix only needed 250 grams of cottage cheese (for which I substituted an equivalent weight of fish), and added just three additional ingredients not called for in the original directions on the mix envelope. I also did not follow the directions exactly the way suggested on the envelope, as the sauce would have been to thin for my liking. The result is a meal that’s ready in less than 30 minutes, and is a lot better than a slice of pizza or a hamburger. 

Ingredients

1 envelope of Rasoi Magic Paneer Tikka Masala

250 grams fish filet

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tomato (approx 150 grams)

½ cup milk or half and half

½ inch piece of ginger root, peeled

2 tbsp Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chili Sauce

2 Thai chili peppers

 Method

1.      Cut the fish filet into medium sized cubes and set aside

2.      Mix the contents of the Paneer Tikka Masala mix with ½ cup of milk or half and half to form a paste. Add the 2 tablespoons of Maggi sauce to this.

3.      Slice the tomato into quarters and put in a small chopper along with the ginger root. Blitz to a puree

4.      Heat the oil in a wok over high heat and quickly sauté the fish cubes until opaque.

5.      Add the tomato puree and cook for 1-2 minutes

6.      Add the Tikka Masala paste and stir in with the fish and tomato puree. Do NOT add water as suggested on the mix envelope. Reduce heat to medium and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes more. Serve with rice of Naan bread. Sweet lime pickle goes well with it too.

 

Mahi Mahi cooked with Mutter Paneer Ready Mix Sauce

 After a hard day at work, we all just want to be able to prepare a tasty meal in 15 minutes or less. Because of this, I’ve been experimenting with what I call “Food Hacks”, using inexpensive prepared sauce mixes meant for use with a particular product but using them with something else. The reason for sharing these “Hacks” is to help people realize that because the sauce envelope says “for Beef”, “for Chicken” or whatever, does not mean that it can’t be used for something else. Some may need to be “tweaked” a little by the addition of other ingredients like onions, garlic etc but for the most part, they can be used “as is”.  In this “Hack” I used a prepared Indian sauce mix for Mutter Paneer, a type of dairy based cheese. The brand of sauce mix is Parampara, and directions indicated it could also be used for Tofu, so I thought I’d try to see if I could extend its use to fish, since that has an equally bland and neutral a taste as does Paneer or Tofu. I elected to use an equivalent weight of Mahi Mahi filet and follow the directions as indicated on the envelope.The only changes I made was to add two green Thai chilis, and increase the quantity of green peas. 

These prepared sauce mixes are readily available in most Indian or Pakistani grocery stores here in the US. I would imagine the same applies to their availability in other countries as well. While someone who cooks Indian food in the traditional manner may cringe at the thought of using a sauce mix meant for cooking Paneer, to cook fish. Others may just welcome the idea of a quick, good tasting substitute that can be prepared with minimum fuss, and tastes close enough to the real thing! The result tastes like it’s supposed to, a mild Punjabi type fish curry, more along the lines of a creamy Korma as opposed to a more spicy Goan or Sri Lankan Fish Curry. I will be trying a variety of brands of Paneer sauce mixes to see how they perform as substitutes. 

Ingredients

1 envelope of Parampara Mutter Paneer ready to cook sauce mix

1 7oz fish filet, cut in cubes

5 ½ oz can green peas

300 mls water

3 ½ oz yogurt

2 ½ tbsp fresh cream or “Half and Half”

2 whole Thai green Chili (optional)

Method

1. Whisk the contents of the sauce mix envelope with the water and yogurt. Cook the mixture for 7 minutes
2. Add the drained green peas, chili peppers (if used) along with the cubes of fish
3. Cook until the curry becomes thick (5-7 minutes)
4. Add the fresh cream and bring to a boil
5. It goes well with both Mango and Sweet Lime Pickles
   

 

Jerk Chicken with Spicy Guava Sauce

I wanted to try a jerk chicken recipe combined with Sambal Oelek. Both flavors are among my list of favorites. Sambal Oelek is an Indonesian Chili Pepper sauce. The primary ingredients are Chili, Salt, and Distilled Vinegar. Jerk seasoning has a whole other set of seasonings and spices, and is quite different to the Sambal Oelek. I knew therefore that I would need a bridging pepper sauce to link those two diverse tastes so that the result would be a pleasing blend and taste. I opted to use Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang) which, by itself, I really do not like but when combined with other, more spicy pepper pastes, the sweet smoky taste tends to tame them and blend the flavors well. In fact, the resulting flavor is quite different to the individual sauces/pastes used to make it. In addition, because Gochujang contains sweeteners, it helps to thicken the final sauce. This Jerk Chicken with Spicy Guava Sauce is the result. It pairs well with Indian Sweet Lime Pickle.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken thighs, skin on, bone in

Marinade

1 tbsp wet jerk seasoning

1 tbsp Grace Caribbean Chicken seasoning

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

½ tbsp Jamaican Pickapeppa sauce

Sauce

2 tbsp cooking oil

2 tbsp Sambal Oelek

1 tbsp Gochujang

1’ piece of ginger root

1 medium yellow onion

3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp guava jam or jelly

Method

Sauce ingredients in chopper

1. Make 2 cuts in the chicken thighs down to the bone. Do this on both sides. Season the chicken thighs with salt, pepper, Jamaican Chicken Seasoning, Worcester Sauce and Pickapeppa sauce. Put seasoned chicken in a plastic Ziploc bag and marinate in refrigerator overnight.

2. When ready to cook, prepare the sauce. Put sauce ingredients in a small chopper and blitz to a puree.

Puree

3. Heat 2 tablespoons cooking oil in a frying pan. When hot, quickly sauté the pureed sauce ingredients until it starts to bubble. Simmer for about 3 minutes and put aside.

4. Put seasoned, marinated chicken thighs in a small baking dish so that the pieces are close together.

Uncooked chicken in baking dish

Place just under the broiler and broil, turning once, to get a light char on both sides of the thighs.

Chicken just under the broiler

The chicken is NOT cooked at this stage so handle as you would any raw meat.

Chicken after first broil (uncooked)

5. Make sure that the thighs are placed skin up in the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake in oven set to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour.The oven rack should be set to the center.

6. Remove the dish from the oven and take the foil off the dish. At this stage the chicken will be cooked but the sauce may appear a bit watery.

7. Turn the oven off, and start the broil element. Leave the oven rack in the center of the oven. Do not put it close to the broiler. Broil for 3 minutes until the skin chars and the sauce starts to bubble. Remove the baking dish from under the broiler, turn the chicken pieces over and broil again for another 3 minutes. Repeat again so that the skin is now facing up and broil for 3 minutes more until the skin is charred in areas and the sauce has thickened.

 

 

Mahi Mahi Stir Fry with Sauce for Black Pepper Chicken

Mahi Mahi Stir Fry with Sauce for Black Pepper Chicken

We are all busy people who are always looking for time saving ideas to come up with a great tasting but quick to prepare meal, especially one that does not have to involve calling for "take-out". Enter the “food hack” concept. This is pretty much like any other hack where an item is not used for its original purpose but instead is used for some other purpose. For this recipe I used Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Black Pepper Chicken but paired it instead with fish! The result is a great tasting Chinese meal that’s ready in minutes. I changed the suggested veggies as well as I thought this combination would be better with fish. The suggested combo on the pack is celery and carrot. I used young corn and carrot instead. 

Ingredients

1 envelope of Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Black Pepper Chicken

1 8oz Mahi Mahi Filet, defrosted and cut in cubes

1 medium carrot and 6 spears of young corn, sliced as shown

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (optional)

2 tbsp cooking oil

 Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok until smoking then add the fish cubes. Quickly stir fry the fish then add the sliced carrots and young corn when the fish is almost cooked.
2. Add the Chinese cooking wine if desired. If not pour the contents of the Lee Kum Kee Sauce over the fish and vegetables and continue stir frying until fish is cooked (about 3-5 minutes).

   

   Mahi Mahi Stir Fry paired with Blanched Chinese Broccolli

Tamarind Date Bread

This is a recipe for people who enjoy a good challenge in the kitchen, and who like serving their guests something that leaves them scratching their heads and asking, “What flavors are in this? How did you make it?” Although it has a long list of ingredients, it really is not that difficult to prepare (once you have everything ready). You will see that the recipe has a lot of spices but all are in small quantities, almost like you might see when following a recipe for Indian Curry. I guess all that measuring of ingredients will not be appealing to some people but for those who are looking for something different, this is what you will find here. However the preparation time, and the long list may put some folks off even trying. The result is, however, really worth the effort!

I looked at other date bread recipes on the net, even remembered one from my childhood called 3 Minute Date Cake. Date breads are usually very heavy and moist, or dry, and without much flavor! It was difficult to find any recipe that seemed to offer anything in between those two extremes. None of what I saw or remembered matched the concept I had in mind. What I wanted was bread that had an interesting taste, and a new taste sensation with every bite.....and low in fat!

This bread combines the sweetness of the dates with the tartness of tamarind, and those two flavors balanced with dried apricots. The main spices are cardamom and dried orange peel. This combination is what I would consider complimentary to both the date and tamarind flavors. I did not use the cardamom seeds like in other recipes as I wanted a more subtle flavor. I have used the other spices as background notes that work together with the two main spices. These spices are also said to aid digestion. The bread is very filling, especially when thickly spread with sweet cream butter or accompanied by a slice of Manchego Cheese.

Ingredients

1 cup chopped dates

6 dried apricots, chopped into small cubes

1 1/4 cup boiling water

1 tbsp tamarind paste

Juice and zest of one lime

1 rounded teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons coconut oil (this is usually solid at room temperature so it is easily measured)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

¼ cup finely chopped walnuts, almost ground to a meal

1 tbsp molasses

1 egg, beaten

1 1/2 cups plain baking flour

1/2 cup flax meal

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 rounded teaspoon baking powder

½ tsp salt

1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

1/8 tsp ground coriander

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp green cardamom pods

2 pieces of dried orange peel

Method

1.      Grease and line the bottom of a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

2.      Soak dried orange peel for about 4 hours or until soft. Scrape away white pith, and discard. Chop the peel finely and put in a small bowl.

3.      Smash the cardamom pods with the back of a cleaver or mortar. Place the seeds and husks in bowl with orange peel.

4.      Measure the flours, flax meal, spices, and chopped walnut and put in a large mixing bowl.

5.      Mix the chopped dates, apricots, coconut oil, tamarind paste and molasses in a medium sized bowl.

6.      Boil the 1 ¼ cups water and pour over the smashed cardamom pods and orange peel. Let that steep like you would when making tea for 3-5 minutes. Pour through a strainer and discard the pods and peel.

7.      Bring the “tea” again to a boil and pour over dates, apricots, coconut oil, tamarind paste and molasses. Stir until coconut oil is melted.  Set aside for one hour. Add zest and lime juice when the mixture has cooled to room temperature.

8.      Beat sugar, and egg with a hand mixer until it becomes a bit pale in color. Add cooled date mixture to this.

9.      Mix together wet and dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, making sure to incorporate any flour that sticks to the bottom of the bowl.

10.  Pour mixture into a greased 9” loaf tin and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until inserted skewer/cake tester comes out clean.

11.   Leave in tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto cooling rack. Wait until it has completely cooled before slicing.

Mahi Mahi with Spicy Tamarind Apricot Sauce

Mahi Mahi with Spicy Tamarind Apricot Sauce

Mahi Mahi with Spicy Tamarind Apricot Sauce, Rice, Baked Plantain, Pickled Green Mango Vietnamese Style

This is not a recipe for people who do not enjoy cooking. The sauce is a complex one with very diverse flavors, and requires patience to prepare. It uses a mixture of Asian, Indian and Jamaican ingredients. The cooking style is similar to that of a Chinese stir-fry, or Balti style Indian cooking. For someone like me who thinks that fish is the most boring thing to eat, this certainly goes a far way in waking up the taste. Mahi Mahi is a dense, firm fish so it works well for this.

Ingredients

8 oz Mahi Mahi filet

1 tbsp tamarind chutney

½ tbsp Japanese vinegar

½ tbsp Pickapeppa sauce

½ tbsp Sriracha sauce

3 dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 shallot, chopped

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 inch piece of ginger, peeled, sliced

1 inch piece of Lemongrass, tender inner portions only

½ tbsp garam masala

½ tsp curry powder

2-3 tbsp water or coconut milk (preferred)

Method

1. Cut the Mahi Mahi Filet into cubes (photo)
   
   Season with the Garam Masala and curry powder. Let marinate in the refrigerator until ready to cook.
2. Mix the next 6 ingredients for the sauce and store in refrigerator until ready to prepare.
3. In a wok or frying pan, sauté the chopped shallot, sliced garlic, ginger root and lemon grass in oil until it starts to release their fragrances. Remove from oil and put in a small chopper along with the sauce mixture from the refrigerator, and the water or coconut milk. Puree until it forms a smooth paste.
4. Over high heat, sear the fish cubes in the oil until the Masala starts to smell. Add the pureed sauce. Cover and simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until cooked to your taste.