Tandoori Chicken

This is one of the most popular Indian dishes around the world, and originates in the Punjab region of northern India. The vibrant red colour of the chicken pieces is what makes this dish stand out, while the succulent chicken that has been marinated for hours in yoghurt has influenced many other Indian and "Indian-style" dishes, like Chicken Tikka and the ubiquitous curry house favourite Chicken Tikka Massala.

In authentic Tandoori chicken recipes, the red colour comes from cayenne pepper and red chili powder (Kashmiri chili powder) but due to milder Western tastes, these are often replaced with paprika powder, or even red food colouring. However you choose to flavour (and colour) your chicken, the trick is to let it marinade in the tandoori sauce for several hours or even overnight. You can use a ready mixed Tandoori masala spice mix, or add the different spices individually. I prefer the ready mixed spice mix as you don't have to worry that you are missing out on some of the flavours because you don't happen to have a particular spice to hand.

If you want to make really authentic Tandoori chicken then you will need to cook it in a Tandoor, which is a large cylindrical clay oven fired with charcoal or wood that can reach temperatures of nearly 500 °C!!! As most of us do not have one of these at home, you can replace the Tandoor with a barbecue or an oven on high heat (225 °C).

Ingredients

4 chicken legs, skin removed

2 Tb Tandoori masala spice mix*

150ml plain yoghurt

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp black pepper

1 Tb lemon juice

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

* includes the following spices: coriander, fenugreek, cumin, cinnamon, chilies, garlic powder, onion powder, ginger, nutmeg, bay leaves, allspice, cardamon

Method

Clean the chicken legs well and cut each leg into 2 or 3 pieces depending on the size. Using a sharp kitchen knife, cut slits into the chicken of 1-2 cm. This allows the marinade to penetrate into the chicken, giving a fuller taste all the way through. Place the chicken in a large plastic bowl.

Peel the garlic cloves and chop finely. Peel the onion and cut into thin strips. Add the spices to the chicken together with the lemon juice and yoghurt. Mix everything well and then cover with clingfilm. Place the bowl in the fridge and leave for several hours. Depending on how far ahead you want to prepare your food this can be anything from 4 hours to overnight. You want to make sure that the marinade gets the chance to envelop the chicken completely, so don't cut corners with the marinading time!

Preheat your oven or barbecue.

Transfer the chicken pieces to a lightly oiled baking tray if cooking in the oven. Roast the chicken in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, turning the pieces from time to time, and basting the chicken with the marinade every 10 or so minutes.

If you are going to barbecue the chicken, cook it over medium coals using the direct cooking method (so directly over the hot coals) for at least 30-40 minutes, basting the chicken with the marinade as you go.

Whichever method you use to cook your chicken, it is very important to make sure it is cooked all the way through, with no pink meat. Pierce the chicken at its thickest part with skewer or knife and check that the juices are clear. If they are not, keep cooking for additional time until they are.

If you have any left over marinade this can be heated on a gentle heat for about 20 minutes, so that it thickens slightly and removes any traces of uncooked chicken. This can then be used as a sauce to accompany the chicken.  

When the chicken is cooked, serve hot with a simple salad or white rice, papadums, and green beans.

Maujan karo! Enjoy!

DID YOU KNOW?

Many rural villages in the Punjab region would have a communal tandoor for the people to cook their food. These would be kept burning throughout the day.

DID YOU KNOW? 

The favourite curry house dish, Chicken Tikka Massala, is heavily influenced by Tandoori chicken. Popular belief is that tikka massala is actually a British dish rather than an authentic Indian dish, with several restaurant chefs claiming responsibility for inventing it!

Pollo alla Cacciatore (Hunters' Chicken)

This is a hearty and filling chicken casserole classic from Italy. Cacciatore means "Hunters' Style", so this dish would likely have been what the hunter would eat after a long day out in the forest. It is more usual to cook it with some of the produce of the hunt, perhaps a small hare, pheasant or even wild boar, but perhaps the chicken variety rose in popularity with the hunters who weren't quite so good, and didn't catch anything!

As with most Italian peasant fare, there are probably as many recipes claiming authenticity as there are villages in Italy. Each one will have its individual characteristics and the ingredients may vary in different regions, but the basic recipe is for chicken thighs/drumsticks in a thick tomato sauce enriched with white wine. The rest of the ingredients you can add according to your own taste.

This is a one-pot casserole and is perfect for a cold and wet Autumn afternoon.

Moroccan Grilled Chicken & Couscous with Roasted Peppers Salad

For today's recipe we move outside of our comfort zone of Italian/Mexican/Chinese/Surinamese to something a bit different!!!

This delicious salad is great as a main course but can also be eaten as part of a picnic or as a starter. The North African flavours of cinnamon, coriander, paprika and cumin are prominent in this dish, and the addition of fresh mint gives it a really aromatic powerful flavour. An important spice mix in North Africa is Ras-el-hanout, which will typically comprise all the traditional spices such as cumin, paprika, coriander, chili powder, cinnamon and fenugreek. There are many local variations of ras-el-hanout, but the base ingredients as listed above should all be present. 

Pollo alla Parmigiana (Chicken Parmesan)

This is not so much a classic Italian dish, more like an American take on a classic Italian dish. Chicken Parmesan is known more in the United States and outside of Italy, whereas the traditional dish, Melanzane alla Parmigiana, uses aubergine/eggplant. The rest of the ingredients remain the same and the methods of preparation are fairly similar, with the exception that the aubergine parmigiana is made up of layers of vegetable and sauce, similar to a lasagne, whereas the chicken version is only one layer.

The name of this dish itself is a little misleading. Parmigiana means in the "Parma style", but this dish is not native to Parma in Northern Italy. Instead, it is a Southern Italian dish, with both Campania and Sicily claiming versions of the dish. The most likely explanation is that the dish is named after Parmigiana-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, which is called for in the recipe as the cheese topping. Funnily enough though, there are plenty of chicken Parmigiana dishes out there that do not feature Parmesan cheese at all, using mozzarella in its place. So not only do they not come from Parma they also do not feature the most famous of Parma's delicacies, its' cheese!

Another theory on the Parmigiana name is that Parmigiana is an Italianisation of the Sicilian parmiciana, which refers to shutter slats, which closely resemble the layers of overlapping aubergine in the original dish. So for the versions using chicken instead of aubergine, and mozzarella instead of Parmesan, the name is a bit confusing to say the least. Maybe they should call this version "chicken"!

Anyway, names notwithstanding, both the chicken and aubergine versions are delicious, and not so difficult to make. You should give yourself at least a couple of hours though, as there are several steps involved, which are time consuming.

Ingredients

For the chicken:

4 skinless chicken breasts

300g plain flour

3 eggs

50ml milk

300g breadcrumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp oregano

olive oil to fry

For the tomato sauce:

2 tins plum tomatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp oregano

2 cloves garlic

For the assembly:

2 balls fresh mozzarella

75g grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp oregano

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Slice the chicken breasts horizontally to give you 2-3 slices per breast, 8-12 slices in total. To give them all an even thickness, they can be placed between two large pieces of clingfilm and beat with a meat tenderiser or mallet.  Each "escalope" should be about 1/2 cm thick. Season these lightly with salt and black pepper.

In 3 separate shallow dishes or bowls, assemble the flour in the first bowl, the eggs and milk in the second bowl, and the breadcrumbs in the third bowl. Beat the eggs and milk together to give an even egg wash. Distribute the paprika, oregano and salt and pepper evenly between the first (flour) and third (breadcrumbs) bowls and mix these in well.

In an assembly line fashion, dip each chicken escalope first in the flour, then in the egg wash and finally in the breadcrumbs, each time ensuring that the escalope is covered thoroughly and allowing any excess to drip back into the bowl. Repeat the process for all the chicken escalopes.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. You should have enough oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan but not enough to submerge the escalopes. When hot enough, shallow fry the escalopes a few at a time on both sides until golden brown. When done, drain these on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves. Fry these in a little olive oil in a high sided pan or pot on a gentle heat, making sure they do not burn. Add the plum tomatoes and chop/mash these in the pan until they are much smaller. Add the oregano, salt and black pepper and simmer this for about 20 minutes, until it is a smooth sauce.

Slice the 2 mozzarella balls into thin slices.

In a baking tray, place the breaded chicken escalopes along the bottom of the tray, overlapping slightly if they do not all fit. Pour the sauce evenly over the chicken pieces and spread it out until it covers everything. 

Add the sliced mozzarella over the sauce and then the grated Parmesan.

Put in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown.

This dish can be served with a  number of things, on spaghetti with Neapolitan sauce, or with chips, or even with a nice seasonal salad.

Buon appetito! Enjoy!

Italian Three Bean Pasta Salad

This is a ridiculously easy and delicious salad that can be eaten as a side dish, starter or even as a main course. It should be served cold and is therefore perfect for picnics. The combination of lovely fresh ingredients and bright colours is a feast for the eye as well as the stomach. This salad is suitable for vegetarians.

You can use any beans that you want to make this salad. Whichever beans are easy to come by. Beans are part of the legumes family, and are a great source of fibre. They also help to reduce cholestorol and blood sugar levels, so all in all they are a pretty great food!!!

A Traditional Italian Meal Structure

Picture the scene:

A beautiful Tuscan landscape, a long wooden table laden with huge jugs of red wine, smaller jugs of olive oil and dishes of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano is surrounded by several generations of one Italian family, all laughing and talking and eating together! It sounds a bit of a cliché I know, but the traditional Italian meal is not so far from this slightly idealistic picture. Traditional formal Italian meals, usually reserved for Sundays and special occasions these days, are long and elaborate affairs, with several courses and lots of wine and good conversation. Meals can often last for several hours! Contrast this to the UK style of "eat and run"; it is often difficult enough to try to get everybody to sit together at the same time to eat, let alone at a dinner table. The TV and sofa have replaced the dinner table and quality family time. OK, maybe that is also a bit of a cliché;  the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but it remains the case that a family meal lasting several hours in the UK would be a rare thing indeed!

The first experience I had with a traditional Italian meal structure with multiple courses was on a family holiday back when I was 16 or 17. We were in Verona and decided to eat at this road side restaurant that seemed to be full of only locals, with us being the only tourists! My Dad ordered the set meal for all of us, including my 2 sisters who were I think 5 and 8 at the time. We were first given a large plate of salad brimming with fresh vegetables. When we had finished that we had plenty of time before the next course, and there was quite a bit of strong red wine being drunk!

The next course was a large plate of pasta with a tomato sauce. By this time I had drunk maybe a bit too much wine, due to the long pauses between the first and second courses, so I was having trouble finishing this plate off! My sisters did not even get half way through their pasta before they were full and feeling tired! I was dozing off myself waiting for what I presumed would be the dessert. After what seemed like hours (probably due to the wine!) the waitress brought our next course... a huge portion of steak with vegetables on a side dish, and more salad!!! By this time we could hardly even move we were so full, and I don't think any of us ate much more than a mouthful of the steak. The locals must have been looking at us as if we were crazy! Why had these pesky tourists ordered the set meal if they were going to leave half way through!!!

Anyway, safe to say, the traditional Italian meal is a leisurely affair, with course after course being served over the space of several hours. The conversation and interaction are as important as the edible ingredients, and make the whole affair a bringing together of several generations of families for quality time spent together.

If you ever have the privilege of partaking in a traditional Italian family meal, make sure you bring your appetite, remember to pace yourself, and above all, enjoy yourself and the company!

 The formal Italian meal structure

Aperitivo

This is a drink served before the meal to act as an appetiser for the coming meal. Usually an alcoholic drink will be served such as Vermouth, Martini, Campari, dry sherry or a dry white wine. 

Antipasto

Literally meaning "before the courses", this is generally dishes of cold starters, cured meats, salads, and breads. Occasionally hot starters such as Fritto Misto (fried mixed seafood) may be served. Examples of antipasti are bruschetta, Tonno e Fagioli, prosciutto ham with melon and Insalata Caprese.

Primo

This is the "first" course (not counting the other 2!) and is usually a hot dish of pasta, risotto (especially Northern Italy) or soup. The majority of primos are served without meat, but a tomato-based meat sauce may also be served over pasta. Some examples of primos are Risotto con Funghi, Minestrone soup, Penne all'Arrabbiata and Lasagne al Forno.

Intermezzo

When a meal is comprised of several hot courses, sometimes an intermezzo or palate cleanser will be served between the Primo and Secondo (first and second hot courses) to cleanse the palate, ready for the next dish. This will often take the form of a sorbet or granita, and may or may not be alcoholic. Lemon and apple sorbet are popular examples, often spiked with Prosecco or Limocello (Italian liqueur).

Secondo

This is the main dish of the meal and will usually comprise meat, poultry or fish. This will sometimes be served in a large platter with everyone able to help themselves to the portion size they wish. Examples of a secondo are Pollo alla Cacciatore (Hunter's Chicken), Osso Buco (Braised Veal Shanks) or Cotoletta alla Milanese (similar to Wiener Schnitzel).

Contorno

This is a side dish served together with the Secondo or directly after. It is usually comprised of local seasonal vegetables, either raw or cooked, or a green salad. The contorno is always served as a side dish to the meat course, never on the same plate.

Formaggio e Fruta

This is the first of the dessert courses (!), and comprises cheese and fruit. Both the fresh fruit and the cheese will be traditionally local produce of the region.

Dolce

This is the sweet dessert course, and examples would be Tiramisu, Zuppa Inglese (literally translated as English Soup, but is really a type of trifle), Gelato (ice-cream) or Cannoli (Sicilian pastries).

Caffè

No Italian meal would be complete without coffee served after the meal. This will nearly always be in the form of espresso, served strong and hot, and drunken quickly. Cappuccinos and other milk based coffees are generally served at breakfast time with a brioche or croissant, and would be frowned upon at the end of a meal as being too filling (!)

Digestivo

This is the concluding act of the meal, and is in the form of an alcoholic drink such as Grappa, Limoncello or Amaro. While the role of the aperitivo is to stimulate the appetite, the digestivo is drunk to aid the digestion. Whereas the aperitivo will be dry, the digestivo will usually be sweet or bitter.

Italian meals may contain only a few of these courses, or all of them. Needless to say there will be wine served all the way through the meal!

Buon Appetito! Enjoy! 

Chicken Chow Mein - Takeaway Style

A staple of Chinese restaurants and takeaways, chow mein is very simply fried noodles together with meat and vegetables. It doesn't have to be chicken either, you can easily replace it with beef, or pork, or shrimps, or do a combination of all of them - this is usually known the "house special" chow mein! The thing about take away chow mein though is that often you find that at the bottom of the metal tray is a large pool of oil and grease. Or maybe you don't notice as you have bought the takeaway after a night on the town, and are a little worse for wear! But it is possible to have chicken chow mein without the grease overload.

Spaghetti alla Carbonara

The Italian take on bacon and eggs! This simple pasta dish originates in the Rome region, and is, along with spaghetti bolognese, perhaps the most well known of pasta dishes. The key to this dish is putting the eggs in at the right moment and mixing quickly enough so that you are have a sauce and are not left with scrambled eggs!

Lasagne al Forno

Along with pizza and spaghetti Bolognese, lasagne is probably one of the most famous of all Italian dishes, and has won admirers all over the world. It is a firm favourite in pub lunches up and down the UK. It is a surprisingly simple dish to make and is absolutely worth the time it takes to prepare, as the taste is amazing!

Lasagne al forno (simply lasagne in the oven) comes from the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, where the world renowned Bolognese sauce was also created in... (shock horror) Bologna!!! Lasagne al forno borrows this ragù alla bolognese as one of it's three alternating layers, with the others being bechamel sauce, a white sauce made from milk and flour, and sheets of dried pasta or lasagne!

Cottage Pie

Like its cousin, shepherd's pie, this is a simple, hearty dish combining meat and mashed potatoes. The 2 names are interchangeable, but for traditionalists, shepherd's pie uses lamb meat while cottage pie uses beef. This dish was originally a peasant dish from the UK, and would use left over meat and potatoes from the Sunday roast. These days minced beef is more commonly used.

The beauty of this dish is its simplicity. There are just a few ingredients and the cooking method is very simple.

Jerk Chicken

What springs to mind when you think of Jamaica ? Sun? Beaches? Reggae? Bob Marley?!?!?

Maybe its just my foody mind at work, but I think of Jerk chicken, possibly the ultimate summer barbecue recipe! Jerk marinade can be used for any type of meat or fish but is particularly tasty with chicken legs and pork ribs.

The key ingredients to jerk chicken are allspice or pimento berries, thyme and scotch bonnet peppers. Everything else is supplementary but these 3 ingredients are unmissable. If you don't use them you may still have some delicious barbecued chicken but it won't be jerk chicken!

Saoto Soup (Indonesian Chicken Soup)

This delicious and filling soup originates in Indonesia, and was popularised in Suriname through the contracted workers from Java who came to work the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery in Suriname in 1863. It is a firm favourite with my kids, who ask for it almost every week!

The secret of this soup is as much in the garnishes that accompany it as in the soup itself. Rice noodles, shredded cabbage, potato sticks, fried onions, boiled egg, chopped celery leaves, bean sprouts, boiled rice - the list of possible additions to the relatively simple soup are what give it such a flavour explosion and "moreishness".

Bruine Bonen met Rijst (beans with rice)

One of the most popular Surinamese dishes; a favourite at parties and feasts, but also great as a Sunday lunch or a midweek dinner. The possibilities are endless!

Beans with rice is a Caribbean staple, and although Suriname is not strictly in the Caribbean, the ethnic diversity and laid back attitude of Suriname is much more in tune with the Island life than with it's South American neighbours.

Chili con Carne

Is it Mexican? Or Tex-Mex? Should it include beans? What about tomatoes? Minced beef, or pieces of chuck steak? Fresh chilies, dried chilies or chili powder? And that's before we even discuss what to serve it with! Rice? Tacos? Tortillas? Jacket Potato?

There are many claims as to what makes authentic chili con carne (simply translated meaning "chili with meat"), and all the recipes differ in one way or another. People get very heated over chili (pun intended!), and you can find endless arguments across the internet on what ingredients should be included and what should be left out.

Bami Kip

Despite the exotic name, this is a simple dish of chicken and fried noodles, of Javanese origin, and made popular in Suriname by migrant workers who came from Java island to Suriname in the 19th century as contract labourers.

It is extremely popular in Suriname and also in Holland, and is often eaten at birthday parties.

Ingredients
(serves 6-8 people)

For the chicken:
4 chicken legs (each cut into 3 pieces)
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tomato
2 Maggi bouillon blocks