ome made

Hotel Indian Curry Gravy

Hotel Indian Curry Gravy, I first came across this Hotel style gravy from Romaine Saha of Glebe Kitchen.

I have never made Glebe Kitchens hotel style gravy. However reading his recipe inspired me to look in to the technique.

It wouldn’t be fair to write this post without giving Romaine some credit for starting me off on this journey.

If you have never seen the Glebe Kitchen blog you should! Click the link above to take you there.

The Technique

One of the main differences between my Hotel Style Curry Gravy and other recipes is the whole spices used. Mine are not blended up with the gravy at the end of cooking. I just don’t have a blender that can cope with that. Although I have read some recipes that blend and grind the sauce and then pass it through a sieve.

The addition of tej patta leaves and cinnamon, for me, gives me a good flavoured gravy which you can easily fish out before you blitz the gravy.

To make up for the lack of whole spices used I use a little Garam Masala. I find it an acceptable substitute.

The key to this gravy though is the browning of the onions. This takes time and a little patience. You have to watch them to make sure they don’t burn. After all you want sweet, caramelised onions in your Hotel Style Curry Sauce not bitter burnt ones!

The other key ingredient, which as far as I found was in every other hotel gravy, is the green chilli. This along with the Kashmiri Chilli powder gives a little spiciness to the finished result. I like it. If you don’t like the idea, leave it out.

How To Use

So once you have made this gravy you can use it in most B.I.R style curries in place of base sauce, unless it’s a mild dish such as Korma. This gravy is just a bit to gutsy for that!

As a starting point I would suggest using it in my Lamb Madras. If you like you could replace the lamb with chicken.

To be honest though you can be use this gravy in any of your favourite chefs recipes where you would normally use a base sauce. Because the onions in your gravy are already caramelised, your sauce doesn’t have to reduced on a high heat, so you can avoid decorating your kitchen with splatters of curry sauce! That has to be a bonus surely!

Watch out for my Christmas Turkey Curry, which uses this gravy, soon!

Turkey Curry using Hotel Indian Curry Gravy

Hotel Style Curry Sauce

Similar to a base gravy, this sauce can be made in advance and added to fried ingredients to create a tasty curry. This Hotel Style Curry Sauce has a bit more depth of flavour, is thicker and caramelises the onions first so no high heat reduction is necessary.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 30

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

750 g sliced onion About 4 medium onions
110 ml oil Any neutral oil such as vegetable, sunflower or rapeseed (not cold pressed)
4 Tej Patta leaf (also known as Indian Bay or Malabar leaf) Bay leaf can be substituted but won't give the same flavour.
2 sticks cinnamon or cassia
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder substitute with 1 tsp sweet paprika and 1 tsp chilli powder if not available
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp Mild Curry Masala
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1.2 litre water 3 x empty tomato tins worth!
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh coriander stalks can be used if wished
2 green chillies deseeded and chopped

Instructions

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan
Add the onions, tej patta leaves and cinnamon to the pan and fry on a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until just starting to turn brown.
turn the heat to the lowest you can and fry for another 30 minutes, stirring quite often until the onions have turned a deep brown colour.
Add the garlic and ginger and gently fry for another 20 seconds
Add the Kashmiri Chilli and stir in. Add the turmeric and stir in again before adding the curry masala. Fry for 20 seconds.
Add the tinned tomatoes and water and bring to a simmer.
Add the salt and cook for 20 minutes.
Add the fresh coriander, chillies and Garam Masala
continue to cook for another 10 – 20 minutes
Take the pan off the heat and let cool a little before fishing out the cassia and tej patta leaves
Now blend with an immersion blender, food processor or blender. If using the latter I would recommend to let it cool slightly first as hot steam tends to blow the lid off!
Use in any recipe that requires a Hotel Style Curry Gravy or try using as a replacement to Base Gravy in any highly flavoured B.I.R curries that require a base sauce.

Keyword Base Curry Sauce, Curry Gravy, Indian Hotel Curry Sauce, Indian Style

Chicken Jalfrezi

Chicken Jalfrezi is a favourite curry. It’s my go to curry when I have some leftover Tandoori Chicken. In fact it’s worth making some Tandoori Chicken Just to make a Jalfrezi!

What Makes A Chicken Jalfrezi?

Jalfrezi has it’s origins in Bengal. It was a way of using leftover meat or fish that was stir fried with onions, chillies and often peppers.

The B.I.R (British Indian Restaurant) version has more of a tomato sauce but it still has the onions, peppers, chillies and sometimes tomatoes.

I also like plenty of ginger in a jalfrezi, it gives it a lovely fresh ‘zing’

I used little Thai chillies in this version that pack some serious heat. It’s entirely up to you what sort of chillies you want to use and how you present them. Some people prefer their chilli to be chopped more, which is fine.

I prefer to use normal sized salad tomatoes for a Jalfrezi, cut in to quarters or sixths. On this occasion I had run out so I threw some cherry tomatoes in, you might prefer this option though.

Base Sauce

I’ve included a recipe for base sauce for this Chicken jalfrezi. It’s a very simple one but I love it!

If you have your own tried and trusted base sauce you can use that instead of the one in the recipe. If it’s not heavy on the tomatoes though you might want to add a little extra tomato puree or some tinned chopped tomatoes.

If you don’t use all the base sauce. Just pop it in a container for the freezer for another time.

Curry Masala & Spices

I obviously use ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala & Tandoori Masala when I was making this which are available to buy at www.omemade.co.uk

You can substitute your favourite brand or your own if you have your own favourite mix.

And if you’re stuck for a Tandoori recipe follow this link British Indian Restaurant Curry

Happy cooking!

Chicken Jalfrezi

This is my go to dish when I have leftover Tandoori Chicken to use in a curry. Hot & Spicy with plenty of fresh peppers, onions and tomato.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Base Sauce 1 30

Total Time 2 20

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Curry Base Sauce

4 tbsp oil (vegetable, sunflower, rapeseed)
3 large onions sliced
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic chopped
1 inch piece fresh ginger chopped
3 tsp mild curry masala (you could use 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp turmeric instead)
1.2 litres water
1 handful coriander stalks (if you have them)
1 400ml tin of tomatoes

Chicken Jalfrezi

500 g Tandoori/Tikka Chicken cut in to chunks
1 medium onion cut in half and then quarter each half
2 whole peppers (whatever colour you have) deseeded and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic grated or finely chopped
1 inch cubed fresh ginger grated or finely chopped
4 tbsp oil or ghee
1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli powder (optional)
4 tsp curry masala
1 tsp Tandoori masala
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
2 tbsp tomato puree diluted in 300ml water
1 portion base sauce mix
1 tbsp Kasoori Methi (dried fenugreek) leaves
4 large tomatoes cut in to 4 – 6 (or around 250g of cherry tomatoes, left whole)
6-8 finger type chillies cut in half and half again if large (or leave whole if small)
1 handful chopped fresh coriander
1 tsp salt to taste
1 tsp Garam Masala If you don't have any a grind of black pepper

Instructions

To make the base sauce

Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot add the onions and salt. Gently fry for 10 minutes until the onions are starting to soften.
Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes.
Add the curry masala or spices along with a splash of water. Give a quick stir around and then add the water.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
Add the tinned tomato and coriander stalks/
Bring back to the simmer and cook for another 30 minutes
Take the pan off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender until you have a very smooth sauce.
Put back on a low heat ready for adding to your curry. If it looks a little thick add some water. It should be the be slightly thicker than full fat milk.

To make the curry

heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan or karahi.
Once the oil is hot add the onion and peppers. Fry until they are just blistering and colouring. remove the peppers and onions from the pan with a slotted spoon and put in a bowl.
turn the heat down on the pan and add the garlic and ginger. Fry for a few seconds
Add the Kashmiri chilli and stir through. Add the curry masala, tandoori masala and other spices. mix in and fry for 20 seconds or so. If they start to catch add a splash of the water/tomato puree.
Turn the heat up to medium and add the Tomato paste and water. let this simmer and reduce down almost to a paste.
now add a couple ladles of base sauce, stir in a and let reduce. Now add 3 ladles of base sauce and let reduce. Now you can add most of the base gravy (leave around 200ml for adjusting your finished sauce) and simmer until you have a thick sauce and see little craters appearing. Don't stir to often as the sauce reduces. You want the sauce to caramelise around the edges of the pan and then the caramelised edges can be stirred in to the sauce. That's where all the flavour is.
Now you can add your chicken, Kasoori Methi, garam masala, tomatoes, chillies, peppers and onions. Heat through for around 15 minutes, if the sauce is too thick add more base sauce 'till you have your preferred consistency and then add your chopped coriander. Heat gently for another 5 minutes. Taste and add extra salt to taste.
Serve your curry with some pilau rice and Indian bread such as naans or chapatis.

Keyword Base Curry Sauce, British, curry, Indian, Jalfrezi, Ome Made, Restaurant

Chicken Tikka Masala With Paneer & Chilli

Chicken Paneer Tikka Chilli Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is a favourite in the ‘Ome Made house. Only thing is, we have to have it a little hotter. Madras hot is about right for us. Paneer is also a great addition. If you’re not a fan or you’re struggling to get hold of some, it can always be left out.

Chicken Tikka & Paneer

For this recipe I use chicken breast which I coat with a basic Tandoori Marinade and bake in the oven. I also coat the paneer in the marinade as well and bake that alongside the chicken.

For this recipe I use 1kg of chicken and 400g of paneer. This will feed the six of us with a little left over for 2 more light meals. If you want less just halve the ingredients.

For the marinade I take 4 teaspoons of ‘Ome Made Tandoori Masala (you can use your own mix or another brand) and mix that with about 4 tablespoons of plain yoghurt. I also added about half a teaspoon of red food colouring powder, this is optional as it’s purely cosmetic.

I leave the chicken breasts whole, just scoring the tops of them slightly to help the marinade stick. I also leave the paneer whole in a block. It’s a lot easier and less fiddly to cut the paneer in to blocks and slice the chicken after they’re cooked. I also like the contrast of the red marinade on the outside against the white interior of the chicken and paneer.

The chicken and paneer want cooking in a pre-heated oven at 200℃ for around 25 minutes.

Onion Paste

Quite often when I’m cooking curries I will purée the onions, garlic and ginger before frying. However for this recipe I fry sliced onions with a little salt until they are starting to caramelise. I then add sliced garlic, ginger and fry some more before adding some chopped coriander stalks, some diced red pepper and sliced chilli. The mixture is then cooked to soften the peppers before being left to cool so it can be blended in a food processor.

This paste is the fried again before adding the spices and everything else.

This method gives a lovely deep and sweet, from the natural caramelisation of the onion, base to build the curry on.

Spices

For this curry I use my ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala which is a Madras style masala with a few added extras to give that authentic Indian restaurant flavour. Of course you could make up your own masala, or use one of the recipes from the many curry chefs out there such as Mistys, Dans or Als! And of course you could use any shop bought curry masala/powder.

I also use Kashmiri Chilli powder. This is mainly to give a deep rich red colour. If you haven’t got any either leave it out or use a little sweet paprika instead. Also I add some chilli powder for some heat. If you don’t want extra heat and prefer a more ‘traditional’ Tikka Masala, then leave the chilli out.

Tomatoes

For the tomatoes in this curry I use a little tomato purée and tinned tomatoes. The tinned tomatoes get blitzed in the food processor for that smooth texture that you get in an Indian restaurant or takeaway.

If you haven’t got a food processor you could get a way with cooking the onion etc and instead of pureeing them as described above you could carry on adding the spices, tomato purée and then use a stick blender to blitz the whole lot in the pan.

I think that about covers everything.

If you want to read some more about curries have a look at my other post British Indian Restaurant Curry.

So here is the recipe… enjoy!

Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow roasted lamb Moroccan style is such an easy recipe. You can even prepare it the day before so that you can just put it in the oven the following day. Cooked Low & Slow it means you can get on with other things during the day.

For more details on this recipe click here.

For an easy to follow Mediterranean Flatbread recipe see the ‘Ome Made Group. This bread is ideal for serving with Moroccan flavoured lamb.

Roasted Lamb Moroccan Style

Slow Roasted Moroccan Lamb is such a tasty dish and it is really easy. Not only that, but while it's in the oven working it's magic you can get on with other things. Ideal if you're wanting some quality time with the family.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 6

Total Time 6 30

Course Main Dish

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings 8 people

Ingredients

1 whole lamb shoulder Or 1/2 shoulder (just halve ingredients)
2 tablespoons 'Ome Made Moroccan Rub-a-Dub-Rub Or your own spices or other shop bought
2 whole garlic cloves crushed or grated
2 teaspoons salt

British Indian Restaurant Curry

British Indian Restaurant Curry And how to Make It!

Scroll down for a basic recipe for Curry Base Gravy and how to use it!

Just like any other food curry has it’s trends and opinions on how to make it. In this article we will find out what British Indian Restaurant Curry is and how to reproduce it in your own home.

I have been following the trend for British Indian Restaurant (BIR) style curries for many years, starting in the 90’s when Pat Chapman started his series of books. Recently Dan Toombs, Misty Ricardo and a handful of other curry aficionados have taken over the mantle.

The British Indian Restaurant style of cooking curry relies on the use of a basic curry powder and a special ‘mix powder’ as well as the use of a ‘base curry sauce’.

Base Curry Sauce

The base curry sauce is basically a thin type of stock/soup. Onions, garlic and ginger are sautéed in a pan before a little spice is added. Carrot and peppers are often added along with fresh coriander stalks and I’ve even seen cabbage added, in fact I’ve used it myself!

The problem I have with the British Indian Restaurant Curry method is that;

1, it usually relies on cooking base sauces and ingredients in bulk and then freezing in portions.

2, it’s best cooking one or two main dishes at a time as it relies on high heat to reduce the base sauce quickly and caramelise in the pan. this is difficult to achieve if like me you are cooking for a family of six (even more if I’m cooking extra for another day!). Also do you want to spend the rest of the night cleaning your cooker top after curry has spat everywhere? I mean it’s bad enough when I just normally cook!

If you’re cooking for just yourself or two people and you haven’t got Kids to look after, the second point may not bother you too much, in fact, I remember those days! If that’s the case you can find some great recipes online. Here’s a couple places to get started:

Curry Personalities

Romain at Glebe Kitchen has some amazing recipes. Easy to follow and explains every stage in detail but without the process sounding like you need a science degree to put some food on the table!

Misty Ricardo has some great recipes on his You Tube channel, or check out his books on Amazon.

Dan Toombs also has some great recipes on his website and again he has a few great books out.

Julian Voigt is somebody else that is worth having a look at. Again he posts lots of ‘how to’ videos on You Tube.

You could also check out The Curry Secret on Facebook.

However If you are like me, sometimes you just can’t be bothered to follow a recipe, and personally I don’t think it’s necessary, if you remember the basics.

And I think the most important thing is that there is no right or wrong way of doing things providing you are getting great end results!

‘Ome Made Curry Masalas

I have just started selling a group of spice blends that are perfect for Indian cuisine, whether you are making traditional dishes or going down the British Indian Restaurant curry route. They are Madras Curry Masala, BIR Curry Masala, Garam Masala and Tandoori Masala.

The BIR Curry Masala is a cheeky little thing. I’ve combined the ingredients you would normally find in a standard curry powder (minus the copious amounts of salt, flour and all the other fillers it would have) and added extra spices that would make up the Indian Restaurants ‘special mix’. Obviously they would add more or less of the curry powder and mix depending on the dish but I have found this is a pretty happy medium and we’ve had fantastic results with it when I was trialling it at ‘ome.

Obviously there are plenty of standard curry powders out there for you to try and it’s really easy to find out what the basics are of a BIR ‘special mix’ powder are if you want to make your own. Or you could just use a standard curry powder without the extra spice mix.

Back To Base!

Now on to the Base Curry Sauce.

If I have the time I do, nowadays, make one.

Do I follow a recipe? No. I don’t always have everything that ‘should’ go in to it so sometimes you just have to go with what you have.

Oh, and here’s a tip. If you really can’t be bothered with making a base sauce try using one of those fresh, chilled Carrot & Coriander soups you find at the supermarket. Never done it myself but I’ve read it gives great results! I have also just developed a Curry Bouillon which is a dried blend of onions & vegetables. This is simply fried for a few seconds before adding water and simmering for 10 minutes. You then have a curry stock which you can add to your curry or use as a substitute for base gravy if you haven’t had the time to make one or you’ve emptied your freezer supply!

So, even though I don’t use a recipe myself, here’s two recipes for a base sauce! If you haven’t got some of the ingredients leave them out or replace with something else. See this recipe as a starting point, adapt and customise it how you will and to your taste. It’s the best way!

The first recipe is a bit more complex. The second is about as basic as it comes and you should be able to memorise it after a few goes. If I was honest I use the second one more than the first!

Base curry sauce No. 1

Makes enough for approximately 12 portions of curry. It will keep in the fridge for 3 days or can be frozen. if you don’t want to make so much just halve the ingredients.

Ingredients;

3 tablespoons oil (sunflower, rapeseed, vegetable)
4 medium onions, sliced
8 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
1″ cube of ginger, chopped
2 heaped teaspoons mild/medium curry powder/masala
1 red pepper (or any other coloured pepper!)
1 medium sized carrot
coriander stalks (if you have them, basically if you are using fresh coriander to finish your curry off cut off the stalks now to add to your base!)
big dollop of tomato paste (you could use a squirt of tomato sauce if you don’t have any)
2 litre of water, ideally hot from the kettle.
1 heaped teaspoon of sugar/jaggery/palm sugar
optional extras; few fresh tomatoes, white cabbage, extra peppers, a little coconut powder (or coconut milk or creamed coconut)

Method.

Heat the oil in a pan and add your onion. fry gently for 10 minutes before adding your garlic and ginger, fry for a couple minutes more. Add the curry masala/powder and fry for a minute or so. If it’s sticking add a splash of water. Now add your carrot and peppers and give a stir around. Add the tomato paste and cook for 20 seconds or so. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Now add the coriander stalks and cook gently for at least an hour (and up to 2 hours). If it’s starting to look a bit thick or the liquid is disappearing just add some more water.

Once all the veg is soft you need to puree the sauce. The best way to do that is with am immersion/stick blender. It can be done in a blender but let it cool a little and don’t overfill!

Once your sauce is blended it needs to cook for 30 – 60 minutes more. it should be the consistency of a thin soup.

Base Curry Sauce N0. 2

This is a handy one for us as it does enough for 6, exactly the number of people in our household! It can be doubled up and again it will keep in the fridge for three days or you can freeze it.

Ingredients

4tbsp of oil
3 large onions, sliced
1 tsp salt
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch cubed piece of fresh ginger
3 tsp ‘Ome Made B.I.R Curry Masala (or another curry masala or 1 tsp each of ground cumin, coriander & turmeric)
1.2 ltr water
a handful of coriander stalks (if you have them)
1 x 400ml tin of tomatoes (chopped or whole as they get blitzed)

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan. Once hot add the onions and salt and gently fry for 10 minutes or until
the onions are starting to soften.
2. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a couple more minutes
3. Add the curry Masala or spices, along with a splash of water. Give a quick stir and mix and then
pour in the water
4. Bring to the simmer and cook for 45 minutes, lid off
5. Add the tinned tomatoes and coriander stalks
6. Bring back to the simmer and cook for another 30 minutes
7. Take the pan off the heat and blitz with an immersion blender until you have a smooth sauce
8. Put back on a low heat ready for adding to your curry. If it looks a little thick add some water. It
should be slightly thicker than full fat milk.
9. Use in a curry recipe as directed.

Notes

I have made this sauce in less time than it says, giving it 30 minutes before adding the tomatoes and
coriander and then cooking for only another 20 minutes. It was still good!
Of course you could fry your ingredients off and then add to a pressure cooker or soup maker along with all
the other ingredients and it will still be just as good. Just follow the cooking times for a soup.
This base works really well in a curry when you use the method of adding diluted tomato paste to you
cooked out spices. For 4 people use 2 tbsp of tomato puree diluted in 300ml of boiling water. Add this to
your curry when you have fried your onion, garlic, ginger and spices and let it reduce down so you’re left
with a thick paste. Then you can start adding your base sauce as normal.

Basic Medium Curry British Indian Restaurant Style.

serves approximately 4

Ingredients.

2 tablespoon of oil (not olive) or ghee
1 1/2 medium onions, roughly chopped
4 fat cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
small piece of ginger (to taste) roughly chopped
4 heaped teaspoons curry masala/powder
a half portion of Base sauce No. 1 or all or nearly all of base sauce No. 2
600g of your main ingredient (uncooked chicken, lamb, vegetable, prawns etc)
fresh coriander, chopped
a pinch of garam masala or grind of black pepper
salt to taste

Method

Blitz your chopped onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor, grinder or blender (you may have to add a little water to help) to make a paste. If you haven’t got a food processor you could use a pestle and mortar or just chop finely.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion paste, careful as it may spit a little. Fry the paste gently for 10 minutes or so, don’t worry it will probably turn green!

Add the curry masala/powder and cook gently, if it is sticking add a splash of water, a little at a time. You want the spices to ‘cook out’ the oil will start to split from the paste when this happens and the mixture will spit in little eruptions.

Now add your main ingredient and give it a good stir. Add just enough base sauce to just cover the main ingredients and simmer gently until cooked, if it’s looking a little dry add more sauce. once your chicken, lamb or whatever is just cooked turn the heat up and add more of the base sauce a little at a time until you have your desired consistency. If it’s to thick add a little water. Add the chopped coriander and season to taste with garam masala or pepper and salt.

And that’s it! not exactly BIR style but good enough to give your favourite Indian restaurant a run for their money!

Once you have the basics it’s easy to tweak a recipe to make a lot of different dishes.

There’s some variations you can follow further down the page. Keep Checking Back as I will keep updating and adding recipes and ideas.

Tandoori

The ‘Ome Made Tandoori Masala can be used to make your favourite Tandoori and Tikka dishes.

If you just wanted something quick you can literally rub a little of the Masala in to some chicken, prawns or whatever you fancy before grilling, frying or barbecuing.

For a simple tandoori or tikka marinade just add some of the masala to plain yoghurt to coat your main ingredient.

If you want to go the whole hog, fry roughly 1 heaped teaspoon of Tandoori Masala per 200g of main ingredient (chicken, king prawn, lamb, paneer etc.) in a little oil. This then needs adding to some plain natural yoghurt (Greek yoghurt is fine).

For four people you want roughly 800g of main ingredient and 250g of yoghurt.

If you want a truly authentic flavour add a splash of lemon or lime juice, a teaspoon of grated garlic and ginger, some chopped chilli and coriander. You may want to season with salt and pepper or Garam Masala.

‘Ome Made Tandoori Masala has some beetroot powder in it to give it a slightly more reddish colour but it won’t be the vibrant, garish red that you get in an Indian restaurant. If you want that you need to add a small amount of red food colouring.

To cook I use the oven on a relatively high temperature. Once your chicken, lamb or whatever is cooked, you may want to just give it a blast under the grill to get those nice charred edges. I actually use a blowtorch. Of course if the weather is good Tandoori and Tikka is great cooked over charcoal on the BBQ!

Madras Curry British Indian Restaurant Style

This is as simple as it gets for a British Indian restaurant style Madras curry!

Follow the Basic Medium Curry above to frying the onion, garlic, ginger and spices. Once you have done this add the following;

400g chopped tinned tomatoes (blitz smooth in a blender or food processor if you want a restaurant style curry)

2 Tablespoons Tomato Puree

Cook this for a couple minutes then add your main ingredient. Add a little water or base sauce to thin the sauce a little then leave to cook.

Once your main ingredient is nearly cooked you need to add the coriander, garam masala, salt and the following;

1 tablespoon ground almonds

2 tablespoons of lemon juice, fresh is best but bottled will be fine

3 teaspoons of sugar

2 – 3 teaspoon of chilli powder.

Cook for another 15 – 20 minutes before serving. Simple!

Ceylon Curry British Indian Restaurant Style

Again follow the above Basic Medium Curry recipe. go easy on the base sauce as you are adding more liquid later.

once your main ingredient is nearly cooked add the following;

1/3 of a block of creamed coconut (i usually grate it straight in t the pan) or 3 tablespoons of coconut milk powder

150ml of milk

1 tablespoon of lemon juice, ideally fresh but bottled will work as well.

1 – 4 fresh green chillies chopped (or more or less to suit your taste)

cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garam masala, salt and fresh coriander and cooking for another 15 minutes or so before serving.

Again once you have mastered the basic recipe for a curry you should be seeing now how easy it is to tweak it and make lots of variations.

Chicken Karahi

Ok, this is another easy adaptation to a basic medium curry.

To me Karahi is about the lovely fresh taste of ginger along with some nice fresh peppers and tomatoes. I usually add fresh chillies as well. To be fair when you add fresh chillies this dish is virtually indistinguishable from a Jalfrezi so this is almost a two in one curry!

So follow the recipe for medium chicken curry above EXCEPT add more fresh ginger. You want a piece roughly as big as your thumb. Also add a teaspoon of turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon of chilli powder (more if you like it hotter) when you add your curry masala.

about 15 minutes before you’re ready to dish up add some chopped peppers (1 red, 1 green or whatever you have), 4 tomatoes cut in to quarters and some optional fresh chillies, and of course the chopped fresh coriander.

I’d love to see and hear about your own variations. Remember to post your creations on my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/omemade or Twitter account @Omemade

Remember to keep checking back here as I will add more recipes!

Get Fuggled… Ketchup! Made With Real Ale!

Real Ale in ‘Ome Made products from Fuggle Bunny Brew House of Sheffield.

As a Christmas special in 2015 I made a Fruity Chocolate Stout Chutney. It was going to be a one off but proved so popular that I thought I would do something similar as a mainstay. After all Real Ale is very popular at the moment!

And then I started thinking… “what else can I make with beer?” So I decided to do a Ketchup and a Brown Sauce as well as a Chutney.

So I started looking for a local brewery. A brewery that had the right credentials to suit the ‘Ome Made brand and of course, made really good beer!

I came across a brewery based in Sheffield, Fuggle Bunny Brew House, who seemed to fit the bill. I approached them with my ideas and they were interested in what I had to offer. So off I went to see them and, of course, sample some beer.

I have to say I was welcomed by two of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet… Fuggle bunny Brew House owners Wendy and Dave. They let me sample the beers they had on and I have to say it was some of the finest real ale I have ever tasted!

So that decided it. I had found my brewery!

For the Fruity Fuggle Chutney I used the Jammy Dodger Ale a ruby red ale with fruity undertones.

The Stout Brown Sauce uses Russian Rare-Bit Stout. A lovely quaffable stout with flavours of chocolate and coffee… Good stuff!

For the Summer Haze Ketchup I found the perfect beer, Lazy Hazy Summer Daze. A light and refreshing ale with subtle fruit flavours… Fantastic! One of those beers that on a hot summer day you can just ‘neck!’. It gives the tomato ketchup a lovely fruity flavour with just a hint of hoppiness.

The new products are available to buy from the brewery themselves… follow the link here: www.fugglebunnybrewhouse.co.uk to find out more about the brewery and their selection of fine real ales.

You can read about the ‘Ome Made products on Fuggle Bunnys Blog here

They will also be available from the ‘Ome Made Store.

Watch out for ‘Ome Made at a market near you. You will then be able to sample the Fuggle Bunny range along with the rest of the ‘Ome Made range.

You can catch ‘Ome Made at Norton Farmers Market on April 23rd 2016 and Fuggle Bunny Brew House will be at Barlborough Country Fair on April 30th 2016.

‘Ome Made… Online Store!

At long last it’s here.

You’ve been asking for it… I promised it and finally it’s here!

You can now buy fantastic ‘Ome Made products at The ‘Ome Made… Online Store!

www.omemade.co.uk.

Online orders can be made, paid through the PayPal gateway and delivered to your door by ACP courier or Royal Mail. If your local you can even opt to pick your goods up and pay no delivery fee!

There has been some changes to this website too. You may have noticed that the layout has changed and some photos disappeared! Well the photos are slowly been put back and some nifty new features are going to be making an appearance such as new and improved recipe posts.

So please go and have a gander at the store and remember to like and share on Facebook and Twitter and spread the word!

Keep an eye out for some promotional codes too for some special discounts!

Portuguese One Pot Chicken.

It was a Saturday. Something strange had happened. I fancied something other than curry for tea! Not sure Kit was so impressed with this idea!

However not all was lost…

I still wanted that hit of spice!

We were going to be having curry. We had bought 3 chickens especially. To be honest I think the thought of taking the meat off 3 birds was not appealing to me on this particular day. I think a bout of ‘Can’t be arsed’ had come over me!

As well as three chickens I had also put a load of chickpeas into soak the night before so I had to incorporate those in some way.

I had been making some seasonings a couple days previously and knew that I had some surplus ‘Ome Made Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub. And that was all the inspiration I needed! “One Pot Portuguese Chicken”.

One Pot Portuguese Chicken

This really is a simple recipe and whilst it’s cooking you can go about and enjoy your day rather than slaving over a hot stove.

You don’t have to use three chickens! The recipe below is for one. You can also use whatever vegetables you fancy.

You will need;

One Large Chicken
165g dried chick peas (soaked overnight, boiled for 10 minutes and drained)
4 large potatoes quartered
4 large carrots cut into chunks
1 large onion sliced
2 bulbs garlic chopped
roughly 120g mushrooms sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons ‘Ome Made Portuguese Rub-a-Dub-Rub (or Piri-Piri seasoning or mix up a little paprika, cumin and chilli) mixed with a little oil to make a paste.
Roughly 1 1/2 litres chicken Stock (you could use a little less and add a glass of red wine or as we did a splash of Port!)
4 tomatoes chopped
Big handful of fresh coriander chopped
Seasoning to taste

Method

Take a large roasting pan or anything oven proof that all your ingredients will fit in. Put all the ingredients except the chicken, spice mix, stock, tomatoes and coriander in your roasting pan. pour over the stock so that it almost but not quite covers your vegetables.

Rub the spice mixture all over your chicken and place it on top of your vegetables. Cover the whole pan with a couple layers of tin foil and place in a preheated oven at 170°C/150°C fan/gas mark 3 for 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Take out of the oven. Turn the oven up to 220°C/200°C Fan/ Gas Mark 7. Remove the tin foil and stir in the tomato and fresh coriander. Check for seasoning. Place the pan back in the oven for approximately 30 minutes for the chicken skin to crisp and colour a little.

Remove from the oven and let sit for twenty minutes. The chicken will just fall off the bone. Try serving with some steamed rice and some good crusty bread.

Bao saúde

Burger It!

We love a good burger in our house.

We don’t have them very often so when we do it’s a real treat.

Our children have never been to a McDonalds, Burger King or any other junk food purveyor.

I can imagine that when they do (although I’d like to think they never will…) it will be a real eye opener for them. I can just see them going back to the counter with the sad little burger in hand… “What’s this? You call this a burger?”

I don’t know why more people don’t make their own? You can buy a kilo of mince meat for a lot less than it costs for a kilo of burgers. All you need to do is add a bit of seasoning, mix and form into a rough Pattie and throw on a grill, BBQ or frying pan.

However you can let your imagination run wild and flavour your meat with a vast array of ingredients.

And then you have your toppings, now this is where the fun starts!

You have to have cheese of some sort. I love a slice of Monterey Jack on a beef burger, but a medium cheddar is just as nice. If you want to ‘Posh’ it up I would go with some crumbly Stilton. One of my favourite burgers is a Mediterranean influenced lamb burger topped with a piece of grilled Halloumi and some ‘Ome made Tzatziki.

I like a nice mustardy mayonnaise on my beef burgers along with a little salad leaf, slice of tomato and I’m sorry but gherkins are good too. I also think a beef burger needs a good squirt of tomato ketchup.

Lately we have been making veal burgers. I know that some people are a little put off by veal but the place that we get it from uses the male animals from the place that they get their milk supplies from. If the animals are not sold for meat then they would be slaughtered at birth anyway. So personally I haven’t got a problem with eating veal that’s a by-product of the dairy industry, and from some where that has high standards for animal welfare.

Mince veal has quite a delicate flavour and it makes a really nice burger that compliments other ‘add ons’.

Heres a recipe you might want to try but feel free to add your own ‘add ons’ as everyone has different tastes. The burgers could be made with any sort of meat though.

Ingredients

1.2Kg veal mince (or beef or lamb), Waitrose often have a deal on veal mince, hence the amount which would cost £10

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

A really good grind of black pepper

A couple teaspoons of mustard. Dijon or wholegrain works best

And that’s it, although you could add other things if you fancy. Get your hands in the bowl and give it a really good ‘squish’ to thoroughly mix the ingredients into the meat.

I then line a tray with greaseproof paper, form the meat into burgers, place on the tray and chill which lets the burgers firm up a little. If you’re finding you have more meat on your hands than tray a tip is to shape the burgers using slightly wet hands. You may notice on the photos that we made some little meat balls from the same mixture, these were used in the Kids’ pack-up for their school lunch (I never got pack-up as good as theirs!), they would be equally as good in a tomato sauce with some pasta for a quick lunch or supper.

And that’s it your burgers are ready to go and be cooked using your preferred method.

So we had these little beauties topped with Chorizo, Monterey Jack cheese, an ‘Ome made tomato and habenero chilli salsa and some rocket and baby spinach leaves all sandwiched in a mini Ciabatta bun with a squirt of American style mustard spread on for good measure.

The salsa is really easy too if you want to have a go. Just dice some tomatoes, onions and chillies (which can be left out if you don’t want the heat). Add enough sugar to lightly coat the mixture, a little splash of vinegar and a good squirt or squeeze of lime juice. It now needs a good pinch of salt (I personally like a nice salty salsa)and a good grind of pepper. Again a salsa can easily be customized to your own liking.

We had these with some nice chunky baked chips and a little more salad leaf on the side.

Be prepared for juice dribbling down chins and arms, but then that’s all part of the enjoyment!

And don’t forget to tell you’re kids how much nicer and healthier Home-made burgers are compared to the high street, mass produced crap of fast food vendors!

Crispy Cornflake Tart… For An Old Fart!

Most people I know seem to remember this from their schooldays… I don’t! What a deprived childhood I must have had!

It’s one of Kits favourites. I remember her telling me about it and I was just looking at her with a vacant “what are you on about?” look on my face.

Then Kit turns up with a slice from a little buttie shop up the road “see! Cornflake Tart!”.

OK, I have to admit, looks like I was missing out.

Kits’ workplace has a thing about colleagues bringing something in on their Birthday so when Kits came round I suggested a Cornflake Tart… (Hence the title of the Blog… not that I’m saying Kits old, or a tart… can someone pass me a shovel please!)

This really is the easiest thing in the world to make. If you have Kids they’ll love it! However I don’t see why kids should have all the fun! Everybody loves a bit of retro these days, and when it tastes this good!

Recipe

Shortcrust Pastry

225g plain flour

100g cold diced butter

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp icing sugar

Mix the dry ingredients and then rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add 2 – 3 tbsp iced cold water to bring the mixture together. Leave to rest in a cool (not a fridge) place for 30 minutes.

Roll the pastry out to about 3mm thickness and use to line a greased flan/quiche tin or shallow baking dish. Prick (snigger!) the base all over with a fork.

Place some baking paper in the tin followed by some tin foil and then fill with some baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes take out of the oven and remove the baking beans, foil and paper. Put back in the oven for 5 minutes or so until the pastry is cooked and beginning to colour then take out of the oven.

Warm 150g – 200g of jam (Strawberry is traditional but I used raspberry for that nice hint of tartness against the sweetness of the topping) once the jam has loosened up pour into the pastry case and carefully spread out to cover the bottom evenly.

Cornflake Topping

120g golden syrup

75g butter

30g caster sugar

120g cornflakes

Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a pan. Once melted and bubbling take off the heat and add the cornflakes. Gently but thoroughly mix so all the cornflakes are coated then spoon onto the jam filled tart case. Gently spread the topping out so it is even then pop back into the oven for 5 minutes or so to set and firm up. Remove from the oven.

The tart is best eaten warm with a good dollop of custard but is equally as nice cold on it’s own. Just don’t try and sneak some when nobody’s looking as you may find yourself in detention!