Without a doubt the best curry I've ever made.

Completely stolen from BBC Good Food.

I normally gravitate away from home-cooked curry and towards the take-away variety, for the well known reason that it's just not the same. While creation in a saucepan from a spoonful of paste, chopped vegetables and diced chicken is time-efficient, flavours are generally disappointing. On noticing my purchase of a box of Taste the Difference chicken thighs & drumsticks (£1.19 from £4.75 in the reduced section), my housemate shared this recipe with me for which, due to our impressive spice rack, I only needed a few extra items. 

Action shot

 Marinade:

• 2 chicken thighs cut into two (or 4 and omit drumsticks)
• 2 chicken drumsticks
• 120g yoghurt
• 2 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 lemon, juice only
• 3 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp garam masala
• drizzle of oil

Oven 200ºC. Make cuts in the chicken pieces with a corrugated knife to help the marinade absorb. Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl then pour over the chicken in a dish lined with foil, making sure each piece is coated. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes. Roast the chicken for around 15 minutes, turning halfway to ensure even browning. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked as it will be added to the sauce later. Set aside and keep the juices. 

 

Sauce:

• 2 tins plum tomatoes
• 5cm/2in piece fresh root ginger, peeled, half crushed and half finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp red chilli powder
• 80g butter, diced
• 2 green chillies, slit lengthways (I used a smallish one and a large green birdseye)
• 3 tbsp coconut cream/single cream (optional)
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp fenugreek
• ½ tsp garam masala
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander, to garnish
• 
  

Place the tomatoes in a pan with 125ml/4fl oz water, the crushed ginger, garlic, cardamom and bay leaf. Simmer until just before the boil and blend with a hand blender in the pan. Add the chilli powder and simmer for 12-15 minutes. It should slowly begin to thicken. When the sauce turns glossy, add the chicken pieces and the cooking juices. Pour in a cup of water and simmer for about 3-5 minutes, or until the water is absorbed and the sauce returns to its original glossy consistency. Slowly whisk in the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, and simmer for 6-8 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is beginning to acquire a glaze. Add the chopped ginger, green chillies and cream and simmer for a minute or two longer, taking care that the sauce doesn't split. Stir in the salt, fenugreek leaves and garam masala, then check the seasoning. 

Serve on a bed of basmati rice (100g per person) and garnish with fresh coriander. Excitedly run  around the kitchen exclaiming 'it looks like a REAL curry!'

• 
  

I made something up and it was a success.

Down to my last 3 sweet potatoes and having the idea of a chilli in my head as influenced by this, I foraged through the fridge, freezer and cupboards to come up with a vegetarian variation on a Mexican classic. What I created was not Mexican, more an amalgamation of Middle Eastern, Greek and something you'd find at a vegetarian hippy food tent at Glastonbury. (For which I have tickets, YES!!!!)

The white speck on the left is annoying me, too.

 It might look like there are a lot of ingredients, but as per they are interchangeable/omit-able and all reasonably inexpensive.

Sweet potato and spinach chilli with bulgur wheat and various Greek toppings.

Makes 3 servings (I know 3 is weird but this is just what I used)

Main dish:

- 1 tablespoon coconut oil/normal oil/butter

- 1 onion, finely chopped

- 3 medium sweet potatoes, diced with skins on

- 1 stick celery, chopped

- 1 heaped teaspoon minced garlic

- 1/2 chopped green chilli, seeds included

- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper/chilli powder

- 1 tsp ground cumin

- 1/4 of grated nutmeg

- few drops balsamic vinegar

- few drops Worcestershire sauce

- 2 drops Tabasco

- 4 blocks frozen baby leaf spinach

- 1/2 can Foul Medames (some bean things I had in, probably best to use red kidney beans, borlotti beans or chickpeas)

- 1 tin chopped/peeled plum tomatoes

To serve:

- bulgur wheat

- olives

- feta

- pumpkin seeds

Heat the oil in saucepan and add sweet potatoes, celery, onion and garlic, cooking for around 5 minutes on a medium heat until the veg has started to soften. Add the chopped chilli and spices and let these infuse for another 5 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and let simmer for around 45 minutes, until the sweet potato is soft. Stir occasionally and add frequent splashes of water to make sure it doesn't stick.

While this is cooking, you can make the bulgur wheat. I know this is not a staple household item but it's really delicious and very cheap, it's also a great healthier alternative to rice. However, if you want to just use rice that would also work well with this dish. Cook your wheat according to instructions - I put about 4 heaped tablespoonfuls per person in a saucepan, cover with hot water then boil for about 15 mins. Sieve to get rid of any excess water.

When both above components are done, arrange your bowl: bulgur wheat on the bottom, 3-4 big spoonfuls of chilli on top, and a bit of crumbled feta. I grilled mine in the bowl for about 10 mins, then sprinkled a small handful of pumpkin seeds and chopped olives over the top. These are perhaps not customary ingredient combinations, but in my opinion they work. Hopefully they will for you too!

Gourmet Pizzas

Making pizzas at home is one of my favourite things to do as a group. If there are a few of you, you can club together to afford decent ingredients and at a fraction of the cost of a takeaway or restaurant pizza. It's also a lot healthier than eating out as you know exactly what's going into every component of the dish.

The most rewarding part is making the dough. Don't skip this, it's fun and will really add that authentic Italian touch to the pizza! This recipe comes from an Italian cookbook, so it's pretty legit:

Pizza Dough
- 15g packet dry active yeast
- 250ml lukewarm water
- pinch of sugar
- tsp salt
- 350-400g strong white bread flour

Place the yeast and lukewarm water in a mixing bowl, stir in the sugar with a fork and let stand for about 7 mins, til the yeast has dispersed and started to foam. Spoon in the salt and 1/3 of the flour until it becomes dough-like and starts to peal away from the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle some of the flour onto a clean work surface and knead for around 10 mins, working in the remaining flour bit by bit. This dough cannot be overworked, so it's a good idea to let everyone have a go at the kneading part. It can be quite fun to relieve any underlying anger by violently punching the dough, picking it up and throwing it at the counter.

When the dough is elastic and smooth, form into a ball and place into a lightly oiled mixing bowl, drape a moist cloth over the top and leave to rise for about an hour in a warm place. I sometimes heat the oven then turn it off and leave it in there, or quickly turn all the hobs on high for a minute then turn off and leave on there. You don't want the dough to start cooking to careful that the place is not too hot. To test if the dough is proved, poke fingers into it and if the indentations remain, it's ready. Stretch the dough as thinly as possible into 4 pizza shapes, and ease into a clean roasting tin. The bases are now ready to be topped.

Every pizza should be topped with a simple passata base, this can be shop bought but just as easily home made with a few pantry staples - you might as well make everything from scratch!

Passata
- tin of tomatoes
- tbsp tomato puree
- garlic
- 1 onion
- drop of tabasco
- drop of balsamic vinegar
- spoonful of sugar
- salt & black pepper

Finely chop the onion and fry with the garlic, add everything to a blender and zizz, bring to the boil in a large saucepan and simmer for 10-15 mins til you have a delicious passata.

Now you have the base, let your imagination run wild! Experiment with weird and wonderful topping combinations, you may come across a taste sensation. Or, if your creative juices aren't yet flowing, have a gander at the tantalizing flavours my house devised and devoured.

In reverse order, saving best for last.

4. The Stuff We Had Left Over
A mish-mash pizza consisting of a few sliced peppers, onion, olives and fresh mozzerella topped with basil leaves.

3.Everything Is Better With An Egg On Top
Vine tomatoes, spinach & ricotta pesto blobs, fresh mozzerella, and a cracked egg.

2.Funghi Fish
Anchovy base with sliced & fried garlic mushrooms, fresh mozzerella and basil leaves.

1.Heaven On A Plate
Caramelised onions, goats' cheese and fresh mozzerella.

Extra tips:

- fry mushrooms in a little butter and garlic before they go on the pizza.

- to caramelise onions, cook slowly in butter for around 5 mins, add sugar and a small shot glass of brewed coffee, then reduce for around 7 mins til dark and sticky. It's almost like a chutney which is why the coffee works, but make sure there is enough sugar to balance the bitter flavour.

- It's worth spending a few extra pennies on good quality mozzerella, I find basics stuff a bit rubbery and tasteless.

- If in the oven (on about 200) the toppings are done but not the bottom, you can slide the whole pizza base-down into a frying pan to crisp it up.

Serve with fresh & vibrant salad to keep it healthy

Please let me know what interesting topping combinations you come up with!