Low fat – Green Thai Curry Chicken

Anyone suffering from Alektrophobia?

I nearly passed out laughing about this very unusual phobia.  Alektrophobia is the fear of  Chickens.

I Remember my dad never ate Chicken, he couldn’t stomach the though of having Chicken for Supper as he witnessed a Chicken being  slaughtered as a child.

If you enjoy low-fat, healthy Chicken with a good dose of spice and the strong flavour of curry than this recipe is a keeper!

Recipe 

500 g Chicken strips

1 onion sliced

1 punnet of button Mushrooms

1 Cup of Green, yellow and rep peppers (half of each color pepper cut into Julienne slices)

15 ml olive oil

2 tsp Green Thai Curry paste (See tips below)

1 small tin of low-fat coconut milk +- 100 ml

Salt and pepper to taste

5 ml Vegetable spices (optional)

Fry your sliced onions, mushrooms, peppers and Vegetable spices in the olive oil  for +- 5 minutes.

Add Chicken Strips, and fry until the Chicken are cooked through.

Add the green Thai curry paste and mix through, pour the coconut milk over and simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve with Basmati rice.

A healthy low-fat meal that is cooked in 30 minutes, the left overs makes for a great lunch the next day.

Enjoy!

Tips 

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Remember the more Green Thai Curry paste you use the stronger and hotter the taste will be. If you don’t like too spicy food add less curry paste to the dish.

The coconut milk balance the strong flavours of the curry and also forms a lovely sauce for the dish.

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Curry Chicken fillets with Chutney and Coconut

This is not your typical “Kerk bazaar” (Church fete’) Curry and rice recipe, but I’ve tried to adopt a much healthier version for an old classic.

Traditional Curry and Rice, as our  South African folks would tell you consists of Curry Mince / lamb with added vegetables such as carrots, potatoes or peas over a bowl of white long grain rice.  Don’t confuse this curry with your traditional Indian curries, they are two completely different meals.

At any good Church Fete’ you would have the additional trimmings to enrich your (plastic) bowl of curry.

First you have your bowl of sliced bananas mixed with mayonnaise and a tad bit of condensed milk that you would spoon over your curry, more than 2 tablespoons is considered rude as you need to keep in mind that everyone else in line behind you also want some.  If you are brave enough and don’t mind the church aunties giving you a dirty look than go ahead, have another table-spoon!

Secondly comes the Tomato Sambal that normally consists of diced Tomato and onions with a dash of salt and pepper.

Then comes the ever popular Mrs. Balls chutney, one tablespoon is efficient and lastly,  a healthy heaped teaspoon of desiccated coconut is added on top.

My husband and son loves mixing everything together before they eat it, I prefer eating it as is,  in layers.

For the recipe below I’ve used Chicken breast which I’ve  marinated in a Curry yogurt marinade. The white rice is replaced with brown rice for a healthier option and low-fat mayonnaise and low-fat chutney was used.

A great mock recipe that fools the taste buds but still pleases the senses.

Enjoy!

Curry Chicken Fillets

400 g – 500 g Chicken Breasts (sliced in half-length ways)

175 ml plain yogurt

2 tsp curry powder

or alternatively mix your own curry powder

(1 tsp Dahnia and Jeera powder mix, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp ginger powder)

salt and pepper to taste

Cut chicken fillets length ways in half and pound the chicken fillets gently between two sheets of cling film.

Mix the curry, salt and pepper and the yogurt together. Rub the yogurt mix over the chicken breast and pour the rest of the mixture over the chicken in a container and marinate over night or at least 3 hours before cooking.

Grill chicken fillets in a pan with a little olive oil until done. Serve with the following side dishes

Cooked brown rice 

Tomato and Onion Sambal 

Chop 3 firm tomatoes and 1/2 onion , season with salt and black pepper

Banana and mayonnaise 

Slice 2 bananas and mix with 4 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise

Serve Chicken breast with a dollop of Chutney and a teaspoon of desiccated coconut on top besides the side dished on your plate.

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Low fat – Spicy Chicken Kebabs with Savoury herb rice

I think the idea of going on holiday have finally hit home with me, only 56 days to go!

With that happy thought also comes a bit of beach body anxiety, I’m still have 6 kg to lose before my reaching my goal weight and with all the work stress and other nonsense I tend to lose focus a bit.

I have been going strong with the exercise but I still have days where my training session needs to take the back seat over deadlines and family responsibilities….so dissapointing at times, but such is life.

As they say, a flat stomach happens in the kitchen and I have finally made peace with the idea of having Chicken and Fish 5 times a week instead of red meat, in fact not having Chicken daily makes me a bit nervous.

Off course eating Chicken fillets day in and day out soon becomes boring and then you have to put your thinking hat on to zoosh up something out of the ordinary to keep the family happy.

I’ve made these Spicy Chicken kebab’s last week. Marinating the Chicken overnight really made the meat moist and succulent and full of flavour.

Ingredients For Spicy Chicken Kebabs

500 g Chicken fillets

1 onion

1 red / Yellow pepper

1 green pepper

175 ml plain yogurt

1/2 tsp Masala powder

1/2 tsp Chilli powder

1/2 tsp Jeera & Dhania mix powder

1/2 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp Salt

1 Green Chilli seeded and chopped finely (optional)

Bamboo Skewers

Cut the Chicken fillets in bite size pieces and set aside. Cut the onion and Peppers in blocks and tread the meat alternatively with a piece of Onion and Peppers onto the Skewers. Place kebabs in an airtight container.

 Mix all the spices and the Chilli with the plain Yogurt and pour over the chicken Kebabs making sure every one is covered with the marinate by rubbing it onto each kebab with your hands.

Marinate Chicken Kebabs overnight (or at least 3 hours) and fry in a pan with a little olive oil until the chicken is done and browned on all sides.

Ingredients for the Savoury rice 

1 Cup of Basmati rice

Salt to taste

1 tsp Veggie Spices (I’ve used Ina Parmaan’s veggie spice)

2 sprigs of fresh Thyme

1/2 onion sliced

1 punnet of mushrooms

15 ml Garlic and Parsley butter

Cook the Basmati rice with Veggie spices as you would normally cook your rice, set aside.

Fry the onions, mushrooms and Thyme with the Garlic and Parsley butter.

Mix the mushroom mix with the rice and serve with the Kebabs.

Tips 

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If you don’t have the above spices available you can use 15 ml curry powder instead. 

Use 5 ml dried Thyme if you can’t get any fresh Thyme for the savoury rice 

Soaking the bamboo skewers in water before hand will prevent them from burning when roasting Kebabs on the grill or in the oven. 

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Chicken Curry with Butternut, Sweet potato and baby potatoes.

I cook this meal at least once a week, this is now my all time favorite winter “diet” curry.  Curry is such a wonderful thing, it fills you up and warms your heart. I’m always amazed at how all the spicy flavors come together to form something so magic and spectacular in your mouth.

Instead of having this with rice I rather choose healthier form of  starch such as starchy vegtables in the form of baby potatoes (lower GI than your ordinary potato) and Sweet potato that goes fantastic with the curry. The butternut gives body to the sauce without adding much of anything else to thicken it with.

You will simply not believe what a quick and filling meal this is. Please do yourself a favor and invest in spice tin. I can simply not make a decient curry without it.

I use Chicken breast and drumsticks but remove the skin and all visible fat before cooking, also important to stick to the portion sizes. Nowadays I only cook the portion we are suppose to have unless I cook double for lunch the next day. Beside the obvious benefits of not over indulging you also save a lot more money because there is no food going to waste.

Yip, because we don’t really ”give it to the dogs” we rather have second portions “because we are hungry and work was horrible today and it’s cold and blah blah blah lipstick”. Sometimes it’s too much effort to give that 1/2 cup of rice that’s left over to the dog anyway so you rather chuck it in the bin…been there done that! No more!

here is a simple quide to cooking the correct portion sizes.

Serves 4

200 g Baby pototoes,  with skin halved

200 g butternut, peeled, chucky cubes

200 g sweet potato, peeled, chuncky cubes

4 Chicken drumsticks

4 Chicken Breasts

5 ml Jeera seeds ( Cumin seeds )

1 Onion, finely chopped

5 ml grated ginger

1 Garlic glove finely chopped

1 Green Chilli, finely chopped

1 red Chilli, finely chopped

5 ml dhania Powder ( Coriander powder)

5 ml Turmeric spice

5 ml Chilli powder (optional and adjust to taste, I like it hot!)

5 ml Garam masala

3 tomatoes

5 ml brown sugar

1 piece of cinnamon bark / stick

Salt to taste

Olive oil

Whiz up the 3 tomatoes in a your food processor or finely chop and set aside.

Saute’ your chopped onions with the Jeera (cumin seeds)  in a little olive oil  in your pot until the onions are transculent and soft.

Add your chillies, garlic and ginger and fry for another minute.

Add all your spices to the onions and fry for 30 seconds while stirring. Add Chicken pieces and veggies to the pot with the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon and brown sugar. Keep stiring until the tomatoes has disolved, add just enough water to cover the veggies and chicken and simmer for +- 25 - 40 minutes on moderate heat with the lid on until the veggies are soft and the chicken are cooked through. Stir in between cooking time and adjust the quantity of the liquid accordingly. Don’t worry if the butternut becomes a bit mushy, this will ultimately form a lovely sweet sauce.

Remove cinnamon stick / bark and add salt to taste, serve hot.

Tips

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 If you want to thicken your sauce a bit use 2 tbs gram flour (chickpea flower) mixed with a little water and add during the last few minutes of cooking.

If you don’t have any of the above spices at hand use the following spice mix ( 15 ml curry powder, 2, 5 ml cinnamon powder, 2;5 ml ginger powder and 2,5 ml turmeric powder. You can also use dried chillies instead of fresh chillies.

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Lamb Curry with butternut puree and Maize rice

So when last did you eat maize rice?

After realizing that I haven’t actually ever cooked maize rice I thought I should google it. Ha! surprise there were no instructions to be found. So I went with my gut feeling and cooked it like I would cook rice, just a little longer.

To spice it up I made a lamb curry dressed over butternut pure’. Now that is just a fancy way of  having your meat on top of your butternut. Would have been the same thing if you plate it next to the meat but I like to play with my food.

Serves 4

Ingredients 

600 g stewing lamb cuts

1 garlic glove finely chopped

1 onion chopped

5 ml Garam masala

5 ml Turmeric

5 ml chilli powder

5 ml salt

5 ml Jeera (cumin seeds)

1 x Cinnamon stick / 2.5 ml cinnamon powder

1 x star anise

2 red chillies (whole)

 3 x tomatoes diced

2 potatoes cubed

2 carrots peeled and cut into slices

60 g tomato pure’

Olive oil for frying

Rub the lamb with the spices (masala, turmeric, chilli powder, salt). Fry your onions and garlic  with the cumin seeds in a little olive oil until soft. Add the lamb and braise until the lamb is browned. Add the carrots, Cinnamon stick, star anise and the whole chillies to the pot and fry for another minute. Add the tomatoes and enough water to cover the meat, cook for +- 30 – 45 minutes on a low heat until the meat is soft. Make sure to check on your curry regularly and add more water if needed. Add the tomato paste and potatoes to your curry and cook until the potatoes are soft and the liquid has reduced to a sauce. Season to taste.

For the butternut puree’

preferably steam your butternut until soft. Whiz in a food processor seasoning with a few teaspoons of sugar and salt to taste.

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Chicken Biriyani

Have you ever made Biriyani before? If not I dare you to try this recipe. Biriyani seems complicated and the list of ingredients could be overwhelming but boy oh boy the taste you will experience is worth the all the effort!

My mother never made Biriyani and I was not at all familiar with the dish. If not for my Tastic rice recipe book and the lip smacking picture in it I probably wouldn’t have tried it either. I just love the creamy spicy sauce and I even when all the Chicken have been eaten, that last tiny bit of rice and potatoes that’s  left in the pot is still my favorite lunchbox treat for the next day.

As you can see I love my spices

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

1.5 kg Chicken

3 ml Turmeric

5 ml Ginger powder / fresh ginger

5 ml ginger (minced)

250 ml plain yogurt

2 tomatoes (grated or processed to a pulp)

2 cinnamon sticks

4 Cardamom seeds

20 ml Masala

10 ml Cumin

10 ml Coriander powder

15 ml chopped mint

45 ml Lemon juice

125 ml black lentils

500 ml raw white rice / Basmati

10 ml salt

oil for frying

2 onions in rings

6 small potatoes peeled and halved

50 g butter

pinch of saffron

125 ml cold water

1. Place the Chicken in a bowl and rub with the Turmeric, ginger and garlic.

2. Add the yogurt, tomatoes, 1 Cinnamon stick, 2 cardamom seeds, Masala, Coriander powder, mint and lemon juice. Marinate for an hour.

3. Cook the lentils in salt water, strain and put aside.

4. Place the rice, water, salt, 2 x cardamom seeds and 1 x Cinnamon stick in a pot and parboil the rice, strain and set aside.

5. Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the onions with the cumin seeds until soft. Add the potatoes and fry for another 2 minutes stirring if necessary.

6. Add the butter to the pot add the Chicken without the marinade to the pot and fry for a few minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add some of the lentils on top of the Chicken and the potatoes.

7. Layer the parboiled rice and the rest of the lentils on top and add the rest of the marinade and a pinch of saffron. Lastly add the cold water over the mixture in the pot and cook for 10 minutes on a high heat.

8. Place lid on the pot, reduce the heat and simmer for 45 -60 minutes. The potatoes should be soft and most of the liquid should have reduced.

 Tips

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Make sure you have at least 2 hours to spend before attempting the recipe.

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Bobotie Bites

Bobotie is a South African Dish consisting of spiced mince meat and dried fruit baked with an egg-based topping. It is also made with curry powder leaving it with destinct taste.

This is a healthier version and baked indivudiually, great for a late afternoon protein snack, kids luncboxes or as a party bite.

I’v made it specially for supper served with a fresh tomato and onion sambal, rice and beet salad. All left overs was used as protein snacks later in the week.

Makes 24 Bobotie bites

Each bobotie bite equals 1 protein

Ingredients

1 Medium onion finely chopped

10 ml dried mixed herbs

15 ml Curry powder

5 ml Turmeric

2.5 ml Salt

30 ml Oat bran

15 ml Worcestersauce

30 ml Chutney

50 g Dried Sultanas

3 Large eggs

500g Beef mince meat

310 ml Fat free or low fat milk

Extra pince of Turmeric

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and spray or grease two muffin pans lightly with a non-stick spray or oil.

Mix the Onions, all spices, Oatbran, Worcestersauce, Chutneay, Sultanas  and 2 x eggs in a mixing bowl.

Mix the Mince meat in and add  +- a Tablespoon of the meat mixture in the muffin pans. 

Mix the milk and the remaining egg with a pinc of Turmeric and spoon the milk mixture over the mince mixture.

Optional - Add a bay leave on each of the bobotie bites.

Bake for +- 30 minutes until done. Remove from oven and let the bobotie bites set before removing from the pan.

Tips

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If you don’t like Sultanas replace it  with one peeled and finely grated apple.

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Spicy Chicken with Jumbo Cilantro Pasta shells.

Is Coriander and Cilantro the same thing? – technically YES! I didn’t know that I googled it!

Cilantro is the spanish word for coriander leaves also sometimes called chinese or Mexican parsley (now whose idea that was I wouldn’t know!).

Cilantro refers to the leaves of the plant, as soon as the Coriander plant developes flowers and seeds we refer to the seeds as Coriander. In South Africa we commonly refered to Cilantro as Dhania (Asian). And you ask me why I’m confused?

I’ve tried a bit of the a Asian flavour with pasta since I’ve had these beautiful giant pasta shells and I didn’t have any mince meat in the fridge. It turned out beautifully and my husband had severe heartburn….sorry honey!

Ingredients

500 g Chicken fillets, cubed

1 medium onion finely diced

1 glove of garlic (press with my new garlic press!)

5 ml fresh ginger

2.5 ml Garam masala

2.5 ml chilli powder

2.5 ml turmeric

2.5 ml ground dhania and jeera mix

50 g tomato paste

1 green chilli – deseeded

2 fresh tomatoes

10 ml olive oil

50 ml coconut milk

5 ml brown sugar

10 ml Cilantro pesto / or chopped fresh Cilantro with 5 ml Olive oil.

Cook pasta shells. Strain and add 10 ml cilantro pesto or fresh cilantro to the pasta. In the meantime prepare the Chicken.

Fry onions in olive oil until succulent, add chicken and fry until done. add garlic, ginger and all the spices, fry for a minute.  

Chop the tomatoes finely in a food processor also adding the chillies. Add tomatoes to the chicken and add enough water to form a little sauce. Continue stirring until all tomatoes have broken down. Add sugar, tomato paste and coconut milk, simmer for 5 minutes.

 Mix and serve on top of Spicy Chicken.

 Tips 

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Coconut milk should be refrigerated once the can is opened. It keeps for a couple of days to a week. They do not recommend freezing coconut milk as this increases the likelihood of curdling when it is next used in cooking – unless you are just warming it through without boiling, which I normally use it for anyway. I have successfully frozen left over coconut milk and found the easiest way by using an ice cube tray.

If you don’t have any coconut milk but coconut at hand try this: To make coconut milk, finely grated coconut meat is steeped in hot water until it is cool enough to handle. It is then squeezed until dry; the white fluid is strained to remove all the pulp voila! coconut milk!

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Butter Chicken

Finally I’ve done it! This is the first time I’ve made Butter Chicken and the harsh food critics at home loved it!

Well like all recipes there were about a million variations on the internet and for a second I have consirderd the healthier versions with the yogurt and sour milk but at the end the full cream just sounded so much better!

 I suppose I will have to add an extra 20 minutes to the excercise routine tomorrow……

Ingredients

500 g Skinless Chicken diced

For the marinade

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp Red chilli powder

1 tsp Salt

Rub the Chicken meat with the marinade and set aside.

4 tbs Butter

 1 Medium onion finely chopped

1 tsp Garlic paste

1/2 tsp Ground Cummin seeds

200 g tomatoes

2 Green Chillies ( deseeded)

40 g Cashew nuts

1 tsp Coriander powder

2, 5 ml Turmeric powder

200 ml Cream

pinch of Saffron

a dash of tomato sauce

In a pot heat the butter and fry the Chicken for a few minutes. Remove the meat from the pot and braise the onions, coriander powder, Turmeric powder, Ground Cummin seeds and Garlic paste. Set aside.

In a food processor chop the cashew nuts, add the tomatoes and chillies and process. Add Onion mixture to the tomatoes and process once more until a smooth liquid is achieved. Add the liquid mixture to the pot and slowly simmer stirring continuously. Add the chicken, Saffron, tomato sauce and the cream and cook on a low heat for a few minutes.

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Curry made with inkomazi

This is the first time I’ve used Inkomzi in any dish and I probably wouldn’t ever tried it  if it wasn’t for my Friend who have brought me left over’s of this dish she makes regularly.

So I had to try it for myself. Let’s just get a few things clear, first of all this Indian dish do have a proper name (one I cannot pronounce or spell). This dish is my version (because I can not remember if the mustard seeds is supposed to be in the rice or int he sauce..lol).

 I will have to sit down with a pencil and a paper and get the recipe from my friend again, but untill then here it is.

Ingredients

500g Inkomazi

1 -3 green chillies - deseeded

1 onion – finely sliced

5 ml black mustard seeds

3 ml Turmeric powder

3 ml Mixed Dhania  Jeera powder

5ml olive oil

3 curry leaves

2.5 ml salt

2 potatoes peeled and cut into thick slices

Braise the onions in the olive oil, add the mustard seeds and spices, set aside. In a food processor chop the chillies adding a little  Inkomzi at a time in order for the chillies to be chopped finely. Add the rest of the Inkomazi to the chilli mix and set aside. In a separate pot boil the potato slices until soft and strain.

Add the Inkomasi with the onions and spices add the curry leaves and summer for +- 10 minutes constantly stirring. Add potatoes and simmer for another few minutes.

Serve with Spicy Basmati rice and any meat of your choice.

Spicy Basmati Rice

1 cup of basmati rice

2 cardamom pods

1 Cinnamon stick

3ml turmeric

Salt to taste

Add Spices to rice and full pot up with enough water to cover the rice, cook as usual. Remove spices when straining the rice.

Tips

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Add 10 ml flour mixed with a little milk to the sauce mixture if you want to thicken the sauce a bit more.

Green chillies give this meal it distinct fresh taste don’t use red chillies.

Loose the meat and enjoy this meal on it’s own.

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