I thought I had posted my recipe for "suit everybody" dip but I hadn't - will do that later. Here is my truly excellent recipe for Butter Chicken - it tastes much better than the meal I was served in Sydney a week or 2 ago.
Ingredients (serves 4)
• 125ml (1/2 cup) natural yoghurt
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1kg chicken breast or thigh fillets, chopped
• 125g cashews, roasted
• 60g unsalted butter
• 1 tbs sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tsp paprika
• 425g tomato puree
• 150ml chicken stock
• 250ml (1 cup) cream (can use less)
• Steamed basmati rice, to serve
Method
1. Combine yoghurt, lemon juice, turmeric, garam masala, chilli, cumin, ginger and garlic in a bowl. Add chicken and stir well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Reserve half the cashews and place remaining cashews in a food processor. Process until finely ground.
3. Heat the butter and oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and cook for 2 minutes until the onion starts to soften. Reduce heat to low, then add chicken and marinade, paprika, tomato puree, cashew powder and stock. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cream and cook for a further 10 minutes.
4. Garnish with cashews, chopped coriander and serve with rice.
I have lots of family and friends with all kinds of food issues so I set out to find a party recipe for a dip that would suit everybody - this one is free from gluten, salt, lactose and is vegetarian. It is also low GI and low fat! What a tremendous recipe. It really tastes good and is quite a good starter with lots of vegies and other dippers. It makes a really good bowl full and it keeps well. I am now calling this one the "suit everybody dip". Visual amenity of this one is ranked high by me - bright green and very cheerful. I will put the leftovers in a nice dish and take a photo tomorrow!
Leak and pea dip.
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small leek, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
300 g frozen peas (2 cups)
80 ml chicken (or vegetable stock if vegetarian) stock (1/3 cup)
125 g can chick peas
¼ cup finely shredded mint
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Fresh pepper
Heat oil, cook garlic and leak.
Add peas and stock then cook.
Cool.
Blend leek mixture, lemon juice and chick peas until almost smooth. (you may need a little more liquid)
Add mint.
Season with pepper
Top with mint and serve accompanied by vegetable sticks of your choice.
