This dish is great served with chapattis or naan bread. The veg yogurt goes perfectly with the spices in the keema.

Tip: Taste your food as you go along as recipes are simply a guide (excluding baking). Ensure the seasoning and spices suite your taste buds. 

Serves approx 3-4


Ingredients

1lb Lamb Mince
1 Large onion
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1/2 tsp Tumeric
1 Stick of cinnamon
2 Bay leaves
1 tsp Crushed garlic
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1/2 Lemon (juiced)
1 Cup of frozen peas
2 Tomatoes ( chopped)
1 Handful chopped coriander
Salt
Sunflower/veg oil

Mint & Veg Yogurt

Few tbs of greek yogurt
1 tsp Mint sauce
Salt
1 Tomato (chopped)
8 Cubes of cucumber
1/2 Red onion (chopped)


Method

Chop the onions into small cubes and add to a pan with a little sunflower/veg oil. Cook until slightly brown and then add the minced lamb. Cook this on a high heat stirring as you go along until the water has evaporated. Add garlic and cumin seeds and stir. Now add all the other spices as well as the salt and stir through. Reduce the heat slightly then add the tomatoes, peas and fresh coriander and stir. At this point cover and cook on low heat until the peas are cooked. Finish off with a squeeze of lemon.

For the Mint & Veg Yogurt, simply mix all the ingredients together and serve.

Peri Peri Chicken

This chicken dish is spicy but very yummy. It tastes great served with fries, corn on the cob and coleslaw. The cooking times vary depending on the size of your chicken, the one I used was a medium sized chicken with the skin on.

Serves approx 2-4
Ensure the oven is pre heated at 180oc

Ingredients 

1 Whole spatchcock chicken
2 tbs Nandos garlic peri peri sauce
Salt & Pepper
1 Whole bulb of garlic ( halved)
1 Lemon ( halved and squeezed)
10 Sprigs of tyme
1 tbs Garlic paste
1 tsp Chilli Powder
2 tsp Schwartz piri piri seasoning
2 tbs Olive oil

Method

Marinate the chicken in all of the above ingredients including the lemons and refrigerate over night. This step is important as the flavours really get into the chicken and make it tasty. Also try and get the garlic halves under the chicken skin if possible.

Once the chicken is ready to be cooked, place onto a wire rack under an oven tray and cook at 180oc for 40 min and then at 210oc for a further 20 mins or until the chicken is cooked though and the skin is crispy.

Crispy Pakoras

Pakoras or Bajyas are a very popular Indian tea time snack and I love them too. I however use self raising flour in the mix to make them more crispy.

Makes approx 30

Ingredients

2 Large onions
2 White potatoes
Handful of fresh coriander (chopped)
3 Heaped tbs self raising flour
1 tbs Gram flour ( chick pea flour)
1 tsp Crushed garlic
Salt
Pinch of fennel seeds
1 tsp Chilli powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Green chilli paste
Squeeze of lemon
Oil for frying


Method 

Chop the onions in half moon slices and the potatoes into small pieces, not too thick to ensure it cooks through when frying. Add into a bowl with all of the above ingredients and mix well. Now slowly add cold water whilst mixing as you go along until you reach a light coating consistency like the picture below. If you need to add more flour then do so at this point, ensure the mixture is not gloopy as this will make the pakora heavy which we do not want.

Once the oil is ready for deep frying  use a table spoon or your hands to drop the mixture. I always make one or two at first to check the mixture for salt and spicing and if I am happy I fry the rest. Cook on a high heat until golden brown. As you will be making this in a couple of batches, make sure you allow the oil to cool slightly before frying the second batch.

Ginger & Soy Chicken Wings

These wings taste great on its own, with some egg fried rice or even chips.


Ingredients

10 Chicken wings
1 1/2 tsp Chilli flakes
2 tbs Fresh coriander
Juice of half lemon
1 tsp Grated ginger
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tsp Green chilli paste
1 1/2 tbs Soy sauce
1/2 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Salt
2 cloves Garlic ( crushed)
1 tbs Sunflower oil

Method 

Marinate the wings with all of the above ingredients and  refrigerate over night or at least 1 hour.

Place on a lined baking tray and cook at 180oc for 15 min then turn and cook for another 10 min at 240oc.

Nazar BBQ House Review

Nazar BBQ House is a cute little Turkish restaurant in Leicester. It is situated in Evington Village amongst a few other small business's and shops.

Turkish restaurants are all the rage in Leicester at the moment with new ones opening all the time. Nazar is small, local and clean with a cosy atmosphere and the decor adds to this feel.

We ordered one meal to share between us and this was plenty for a light lunch. We had the chicken beyti meal which included salad, rice, 1 meze and a canned drink. We chose the hummus for our meze which was included in the meal and also ordered acili ezme on top.

The food arrived within 10 minutes, I should add it was very quiet as it was only gone noon. The hummus and ezme was served with warm bread which they topped upon request. Both dishes were on point, the hummus was creamy and full of flavor, the ezme was fresh and zingy.

The Chicken Beyti was served with the salad and rice, all of which complemented each other well. The Beyti was tasty but not spicy and I could taste the flavors as detailed on the menu (garlic and parsley). For those of you who prefer the spicier foods, they do provide some coarse dried chilli on the table which I did sprinkle over my salad.

The service was good as the server assisted us with all our requests. The only down side was that they do not accept card payment, however, they are near by to an ATM machine.

Overall, I would give Nazar BBQ House a thumbs up and will definitely be visiting again.

Falafel

I have finally made this after my friend Charley from charlotteelizabethblog.com and my mum have been asking for a recipe for some time now.

This is really cheap to make and tastes great on its own or in a wrap with lots of salad and pickled vegetables.

This recipe will make approx 25 and requires a 24 hour soak of the chick peas.

Ingredients

2 Cups chick peas (raw) soaked in cold water for 24 hours
2 Cloves of garlic
Handful of fresh coriander
Handful of fresh parsley
2tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1tsp Baking soda
2tsp Chilli flakes
2 tsp Cumin powder
1/2 Lemon (squeezed)
Oil for frying

 Method 

Rinse the soaked chick peas which would have doubled in size. Add to a food processor with all the other ingredients except the oil.

 Process the ingredients and use a spatula to help it along. I did this around 4-5 times to ensure the mixture is fully incorporated and to check if the mixture is able to form into balls without falling apart. Once you get to that stage it will look like the picture below, a fine mixture but not a paste.

Now you can form it into balls and slightly flatten, deep fry until golden brown.