#Crunchy #Thai #Pork Belly Bites

Very naughty but nice! A crunchy, spicy typical Thai street food snack which makes a good side dish addition for a Thai feast.

Thai fried pork belly

We had it alongside our now traditional Boxing Day Turkey Pad Thai and a Salmon and Zucchini Green Curry to create a Thai feast.

Boxing Day 2020 Thai Feast

Prep time: 4 hours Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 400g boneless pork belly cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 cloves crushed garlic
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 1 red chilli crushed
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 4 tablespoons potato flour or plain flour
  • Vegetable oil for shallow frying

Method

1. Put pork into a bowl, add all ingredients except flour and oil

2. Mix thoroughly and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

3. Place flour on a plate.

4. Heat oil for shallow frying in a small deep frying pan or wok.

5. Cover pieces of pork in flour and then fry on medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and pork is fully cooked.

6. Drain on paper towel.

7. Garnish with red onion, coriander and wedges of lime and serve.

#Amazing #Lamb

The family has dubbed this dish Amazing Lamb as it follows similar principles to Amazing Maryland Chicken but with Indian spices. You can add potatoes or skip them and adjust chilli to suit your taste. The goodness is in the rendering of the fat and juices and slow cooking of the lamb!

It’s another one pan dish that benefits from long cooking and bread or rice to sop up the divine juices.

Preparation time: 30 mins Cooking time: 70 minutes

Ingredients

  • 8 lamb chump or forequarter chops – fat trimmed if desired
  • 4 cloves garlic and equal amount ginger
  • 1.5 teaspoons Sea salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon chilli powder (or to your taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon cummin powder
  • 1/2 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil
  • 3 red chillies slit open but not cut (optional)
  • 2 potatoes cut into medium size cubes (optional)
  • 2 tomatoes cut into quarters
  • 1 large onion sliced (not too thick, not too thin)
  • Chopped coriander to garnish
  • 1/2 cup of water

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

2. Pound ginger and garlic together with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Prepare onions, potatoes and tomatoes.

3. Put lamb into a large bowl, add ginger garlic paste, all spices except red chillies, oil ….mix well and let marinate for at least 25 minutes or overnight.

4. Place lamb flat in a flat roasting tin lined with baking paper, add water and cook in oven for 20 minutes.

5. Remove from oven, turn lamb chops over, add onions and potatoes if using, rest of the salt and mix so coated in salt and juices. Put back in oven for 20 minutes

6. Remove from oven, turn lamb chops over, add tomatoes and red chillies if using and mix through.

7. Turn oven up to 220 degrees Celsius. Put lamb mixture back in oven for another 15- 20 minutes. Check to see potatoes are done, if so remove, garnish with coriander.

8. Serve with bread or rice and a crisp lettuce salad.

#Seekh #Kebabs from Sinfullyspicy.com

This looks like a delicious recipe with excellent instructions from sinfully spicy.com…thank you! Yet to try but will be putting on my list.

The description of Old Delhi also brings back evocative memories of the spice laden air, colourful ancient streets and crowded markets.

Seekh Kabab

Seekh kabab could easily be one the most popular street foods across South Asia.A street food that instantly transports me to colorful streets of Old…

Seekh Kabab

Onion #Pakora #Bhujia

A simple recipe that can be whipped up as a snack with just a few ingredients. Lovely with a cup of tea. A family favourite during my childhood.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large onion sliced thickly
  • 1-2red or green chillies chopped finely
  • 2 tablespoons coriander finely chopped
  • 3/4 cup chickpea flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2-3 tablespoons of oil

1. Put all ingredients except onions in bowl and mix until a thick batter forms

2. Put onions into bowl and mix to cover in batter

3. Heat oil in non-stick pan and put dollops of onion and batter frying until golden on both sides and cooked through. Best to cook on medium heat so they don’t burn and this allows more time for onions to cook through. Drain on kitchen paper.

4. Serve hot with a cup of tea.

Onion Pakora

Butter Chicken & Pea Pies #tastypies

This recipe combines 3 delicious things, my version of lite butter chicken curry, peas and puff pastry. My theory goes that skipping cream in the chicken filling recipe makes up for the butter in the puff pastry!

Lovely with just salad on the side and also great picnic food.

Prep time: 40 minutes Cooling: 20 minutes Baking: 20 minutes

Ingredients for 4 pies

  • 400g chicken thigh fillets cut into small pieces
  • 1 onion finely diced
  • 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
  • 1 teaspoon crushed ginger
  • 1 teaspoon cummin seeds
  • 1/2 piece of cinammon bark or quill
  • 1 teaspooon nigella seeds
  • Handful of curry leaves (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon cummin powder
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder
  • I cup of water
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 1/4 cup of plain yoghurt
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup of frozen peas
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped coriander
  • 3 sheets store-bought puff pastry
  • 1 egg beaten for brushing pastry

Method:

A. Begin by turning on oven to preheat to 220 degrees Celsius and take out 3 sheets of puff pastry to allow to thaw.

B Make filling and pies

1. Heat vegetable oil in a heavy based pot over medium heat.

2. Add cummin, seeds, cinnamon stick and curry leaves if using and stir until fragrant. Ensure cummin seeds don’t burn.

3. Add onions and cook gently until transparent and soft. Add ginger and garlic paste and mix through the onions.

4. Add cummin powder, turmeric and chilli powder and stir though onion mixture until just heated through. Take care not to burn the spices.

5. Add chicken, salt, nigella seeds. Stir fry until chicken is sealed, then add water and simmer for 15 minutes.

Nigella seeds add an earthy sweetness.

6. While chicken is cooking line pie tins with baking paper, then cut out circles of puff pastry to fit into bottom of pie tins, prick bottom of pastry with a fork. Line with another layer of baking paper, add pie weights or dried beans and blind bake in oven for 10 minutes until pastry is cooked and just turning golden. remove from oven and set aside.

Blind bake bottom layer of puff pastry to form cases for pies.

6. Add yoghurt and butter to the chicken curry mixture and bring back to a simmer, then add peas and cook for further 5 minutes until peas are just tender. The chicken should be cooked by now and the sauce reduced to create a moist filling without too much extra sauce left.

7. Sprinkle generously with chopped coriander and set aside to cool for 15-20 minutes.

8. When chicken mixture has cooled to lukewarm, remove pie weights/beans and top layer of baking paper from pastry cases but leave them in the pie tins.

9. Heap chicken mixture into pie cases to form small mounds, don’t forget to remove the cinammon stick.

10. Cover tops of pies with a larger circle of puff pastry crimping edge of uncooked pastry onto the pastry cases, prick top or make a small cut in top to allow steam to escape, use the back of a fork to Mark the edges, then brush with egg yolk and place in oven for 10-15 minutes or until tops are golden and puffed. Don’t worry if they are a bit untidy, they look nice and rustic when done.

11. Allow to cool/rest for 5 minutes or so and serve with salad. If packing for a picnic best to allow to cool for at least half an hour before packing.

Fish in Indian Crazy Water #fishbroth #crazywater

This an old recipe of mine which I haven’t made in ages but planning for dinner tonight. I have nice tomatoes and lots of fresh herbs so will wing the flavours to create a delicious broth for the fish to poach in, and I might throw in some potato to bulk it up for a Sydney winter’s evening.

Here’s the link to the original recipe https://atomic-temporary-94611410.wpcomstaging.com/2015/11/08/snapper-in-indian-crazy-water-broth/

I’ll post photos of tonight’s version later.