The Ultimate Chili Paneer

"Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze"


The Ultimate Chilli Paneer

We (my fiance and myself) do like trying various restaurants at the weekends, mainly Indian ones. Our son does prefers Mexican, Italian or other International food.

I do like to try eating and cooking all different kinds of food. Especially as my partner is English and most of my close friends are from different cultures this gives us the opportunity to try different cuisines. One of which is the Chilli Paneer or Chilly Paneer. I have tried so many different versions, but as a non-veg person would know where to get his best Chicken curry at, in the same way us Veggies know where to get the best Chili Paneer.


This particular one at this restaurant has different textures, the celery and peppers provide a crunchy texture, the soya and tomato sauces make it juicy and the onion mixture mixed with the sauces make it divine. The flavours are spicy, yet so satisfying!

We would look forward to Friday evenings when we could go to our favourite restaurant to eat our favourite dish, this Chili Paneer. Amazingly enough, I have now managed to make this recipe it is so delicious that once you start eating you will not be able to stop.

Inspired by Aayi’s recipe, I have amended it to suit the dish we have in this restaurant and I am pleased to say I have made it, it is spot on! This recipe is dedicated to Shilpa, thank you for the wonderful recipe.



The recipe is below with detailed pictures to guide you or you can soon even watch the video (which will be available soon on utube) on how I made this mouth watering dish. You have to try it to believe it, once you have tried it please share your thoughts with me by completing the comment box below the recipe. Enjoy!!


Here it is – The Ultimate Chili Paneer Recipe:


Ingredients - see pictures below for visual information:



225gms or 1 cup Paneer (chopped into half inch cubes)
1 medium sized onion (sliced)
3 spring onions (chopped into 1 inch pieces)
1 teaspoon ginger and 1 teaspoon garlic (finely chopped or grated)
3 Celery Sticks (chopped)
3 Green Chillies (sliced)
2 Capsicum or Peppers (sliced or cubed) – using different colours make it look nicer
1 tablespoon Sunflower oil
1 tablespoon Soya Sauce
1 tablespoon Tomato Ketchup Bowl of warm water (big enough bowl to hold all the paneer)
Salt to taste
Garnish - Handful of Coriander leaves, 1 chopped spring onion and 1 chopped chili


Recipe:


1. Deep fry the paneer pieces until golden brown, remove and drain on kitchen paper – as in picture

2. Add paneer to the bowl of warm water so it remains soft

3. Then place a large pan on the heat and add the oil

4. Once oil is warm, add onions until the start to turn transparent (translucent), then add garlic and ginger and stir for a couple of mins

5. Add all vegetables and chillies, not the coriander (shown in picture). Stir for a couple of minutes.

6. Add the soya sauce and tomato ketchup. Stir, removing all the stickiness at the bottom of the pan. Add salt and stir for 5 mins.

7. Add the items under 'garnish', mix and serve lovely and hot!


We enjoy eating this on it’s own, the men like it with their drinks (yes, their beers). We sometimes place this in the middle of a roti or paratha and roll the sides, to make a paneer roll. This is superb too. This is a must try dish! Enjoy!!

Tips:

• Do not be too worried with how to chop the vegetables or be too concerned with getting the measurements perfect, the above is a guide if you add a little more or less it will still be a stunning dish to really enjoy.


• The paneer can be bought and frozen for convenience but will need to be defrosted before use for this recipe or if you have time you could use home made paneer.


• When frying the ginger and garlic, do not panic if they are sticking to the bottom of pan (it is meant to), keep stirring and lower the heat.


• If you do not have the celery or spring onions you can still make this recipe and it will still be wonderful, just give it a try!

Easy/Hard to make: Easy to medium (medium as the paneer splutters when being fried, so be careful, otherwise it is easy)


Preparation time: 20 mins


Cooking time: 15 mins

Simple and best Aloo Sabji or Bateta Shak

Simple and best Aloo Puri or Bateta and Puris

I first made this recipe when my I was at my mum’s and we had a call from my dad’s sister saying they were in the area with their friends and were going to pop by in the next few minutes. Suddenly, there was excitement in the house as everyone rushed to tidy up and then a sudden panic attack as mum said, “What about dinner?”.

Well, that was it we rushed to the kitchen and my mum started making the dessert, as for some reason in our family we always think of the sweet dishes first! Never mind the main as long as there is dessert? I was joking with my mum and she said that if I found t funny I could make the dinner! Well, that was it, I love a challenge and so checked out the fridge and pulled out the paneer to make my famous Chilli Paneer (recipe in my blog) and for main, I thought I would make mu jhat phat (quick and snappy) Aloo Puri with Chana and ghiya dhal (recipe in blog).

They arrived with a lovely box of Indian sweets, we had some drinks and snacks. Everyone seemed to chat non-stop and then came the dinner. We had the Chilli Paneer as our starter and the compliments started, with the Chilli Paneer I have to say I was not surprised but with the Aloo Puri dish as I made it in a rush, I was not so sure how it would turn out. We all ate, sharing recipes as we dug into the yummy Aloo dish and my aunty said they had never had Chana and Ghiya dhal before and would definitely try making these dishes. Then we all sat back and enjoyed the delicious strawberry triffle and for the ones that preferred an Indian dessert, they enjoyed my mum’s lovely Suji halwa, flavoured with saffron, it smelled and tasted divine.

My only regret is that I did not take pictures of the food before it was gone. At least we got some pictures of all of us together :).

Hope you also enjoy the Aloo Sabji recipe:

Ingredients:

6 – 8 Potatoes (boiled or I simply cook them in the microwave to save time – see tips)
3 fresh large juicy tomatoes – chopped
8 Curry leaves
1 tablespoon Tomato puree
6 green chillies – sliced (adjust to suit own taste)
2 teaspoons jeera (cumin seeds)
2 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 or 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
2 dried red chillies
Juice of one fresh lemon
Spices - 1 teaspoon of each – turmeric, cumin & coriander powder
2 teaspoons garam masala
Sprigs of Coriander leaves

Recipe:

1. Cook the potatoes until they are just done, in the microwave for about 10 minutes or by boiling for about 15 mins. Peel potatoes and chop.


2. In a large pan, heat oil and add – jeera and mustard seeds, curry leaves, dried red chillies and half of green chillies.


3. Once the jeera turns brown (takes a minute or so), add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Stir until tomatoes start to break ( about 5 mins).


4. Add all spices and stir well. Add water and mix well. Add potatoes and ensure there is enough water to cover potatoes.


5. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 10 mins.


6. Check the potatoes are well cooked and now add the remaining green chillies, lemon juice and use a fork to mash 2 or 3 pieces of the potatoes to thicken the sauce.


7. After about 5 minutes remove from heat, garnish with coriander and serve hot with fluffy puris.
   

My aunty rang me the next day, to check the recipes again as she wanted to make these for her family. I also confirmed the recipe she gave me for Saag Paneer with her. We both promised to try each others recipes and share our experiences.

Tips:

• To save time it is easier to cook the potatoes by simply washing the potatoes, prick them with a fork and cook in the microwave for about 10 mins. If potatoes are large, halve them and cook. Cool and peel. I find that not only does it save time when microwaving them as you don’t have to bother with boiling water and the potatoes have a better taste as they do not take in too much water, as they do when boiled.
  
• I always use fresh tomatoes for my cooking but these could be substituted with a tin of tomatoes, tins always come in handy! Same goes for the lemon juice, you could use the bottled but the flavour will not be the same though.
• I have used chopped green chillies at different stages of this recipe as I found that as the chillies cook, the flavour changes and as with the Chilli Paneer, it makes such a difference to bite into the chillies that are nearly raw and others that are cooked in oil and have a milder flavour. Of course you could alter the amount as you see fit.
  

Easy/Hard to make: Very Easy and a must try!

Preperation time – 5 mins

Cooking time – about 15 mins (as the potatoes cook, chop the tomatoes, chillies, squeeze the lemon for juice and get the spices ready)

Pictures to follow...

Scrumptious and Quick Pizzas

Scrumptious and Quick Pizzas

"Pizza is a lot like sex. When it's good, it's really good. When it's bad, it's still pretty good"

One of my friend’s (Mandy) was struggling to find what to do with her daughter’s birthday party. She knew she wanted it at home but how could she feed the children and ensure they were all happy, some are vegetarian, others don’t eat pork, some can’t have beef….

She rang me and asked if I had any ideas and I said I would call her back, needed some thinking time J. Later that evening my son said can we please have your Pizza again mum. That was it, I knew this would be the best solution!

Well, the dough can be made in advance and the toppings can be chopped and placed ready in bowls for the children to build their own Pizzas. They can choose the toppings they want on their individual Pizza and once all are decided they simply go in the oven.

They have a few minutes to wait while the Pizzas cook but while they are busy in games or opening presents, before they know it the best ever Pizzas are ready. The children loved it and with these I recommended my ‘Chocolate Cookies’, have a look at the recipe as these are irresistible.

I have tried and tested many recipes for Pizzas. This one is the ultimate Pizza. It is simple, delicious and oh the best part if that it is so easy to make. I have included a cheat’s version for making the Pizza dough and a longer version, both are fab!

Ingredients:

1 quantity Pizza dough – see my recipe on making a cheat's version and a basic Pizza Dough
2 teaspoons Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 tin Tomato Puree or Tomato Paste

1 cup grated Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese

Filling ideas: (these are limited by your imagination, below are some ideas)

Mushrooms – sliced
Green, Red or YellowPeppers (various colours make it more appealing)
Onions – Red or White
Sweetcorn
Olives
Pine Nuts
Tomato slices – remove access liquid
Pineapple chunks
Meaty ones – Cooked chicken (tandoori or barbeque chicken chunks go well) , ham, cooked sausage is lovely too
Other ideas (more adult flavours) – steamed spinach, basil leaves, sun dried tomatoes. Seafood Pizza – ½ cup each of crab meat and tiny shrimp work well

Recipe:

1. Switch the oven on to 180 degrees C

2. Roll the dough out and place onto baking tray. For deep pan Pizza roll and place into a cake tin. Leave the dough to rise, this could take about half an hour. The longer you leave it the better. I make the dough roll it and place in baking trays in the morning for children to enjoy straight after school. Leave in a warm area for best results, about 4 – 5 hours works very well anyway.

3. Spread generously the tomato puree/paste onto the dough.

4. Spread the cheddar cheese loosely on the dough.

5. Place the toppings of your choice

6. Add some mozzarella cheese over the filling

7. Sprinkle with Salt, Pepper and drizzle Olive oil over the fillings

8. Place in the oven for about 15 – 20 mins until the cheese melts and the top is golden brown.

Enjoy hot or cold with some coleslaw, potato sald or simply with some green salad, as in picture!

As soon as my son gets in through the door after school he says, Yes PIZZA! Once you make it you will know what I mean, when the dough is resting you get the lovely aroma of the yeast (after a couple of hours) and when you take it out of the oven you get the irresistible aroma of freshly baked bread.

Once the toppings are ready this only takes about 10 mins to prepare. If you follow the cheats method for the dough, well you can have hot yummy Pizzas in no time.

I better let you go so I can enjoy these before they are gone!

Easy – Hard to make: Easy to Medium

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins plus cooking time

Basic Pizza Dough

Basic Pizza Dough (For 1 large Pizza) – If you have less time, choose my Cheat’s Pizza Dough recipe.

Ingredients:

175g Strong Plain Flour
¼ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon fast action dried yeast
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Recipe:

1. Mix the dry ingredients – flour, salt and yeast. Make a well in the centre of these ingredients and add ¼ pint warm water and Olive Oil.

2. Use a wooden spoon and stir the ingredients until it forms a wet dough. Keep mixing for another couple of minutes.

3. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth, for about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and leave to rise for about an hour.

4. After it has risen, knead the dough for a couple of minutes again.

5. Place a lightly oiled flat baking tray in a hot oven at 220 degrees C or gas mark 7 to heat.

6. Roll the dough to fit the baking tray and place into the tray, pressing up the edges.

Now follow my recipe for Pizza.

Preparation and Cooking time: 1 hour plus rising time
Easy/Hard to make: Medium

Cheat’s Pizza Dough

Cheat’s Pizza Dough

Cheat’s Pizza Dough (For 1 large Pizza) – If you have more time, choose my Basic Pizza Dough recipe.

Ingredients:

200g Plain Flour
Pinch Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
40g Butter or Margarine
15ml or 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Egg
75ml Milk

Recipe:

1. Mix together the dry ingredients- flour, salt and baking powder. Rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.

2. Whisk together the olive oil, egg and milk in a separate bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid.

3. Stir the mixture by hand quickly to form a soft dough. Place the dough on a well floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds only.

4. Roll the dough to fit the baking tray.

5. Lightly oil the baking tray and place the rolled dough into the tray. Press up the edges. Leave the dough to rise for about an hour (or more if you have time) until it rises to twice it’s size.

Now follow my recipe for Pizza.

Tip:

• You could add foil onto the baking tray prior to adding the rolled dough into it. This helps with making the washing up easier.

Preparation and cooking time: 20 mins plus rising time
Easy/Hard to make: Easy

Beautiful French Beans and Potato Curry (Green Beans and Potato Shak)

Delicious French Beans and Potato Curry


“Peace of mind and a comfortable income are predicted by a dream of eating potatoes in any form.” Ned Ballantyne & Stella Coeli Your Horoscope and Your Dreams (1940)

Delicious French Beans and Potato Curry

This recipe is so delicious eaten with dal and especially delicious eaten with Corn Kadhi. This is how I enjoyed this yesterday, watching one of my favourite old film's (Bobby), listening to the tapping rain on the windows. It was a relaxing and comforting experience, to read more see my Kadhi with Corn recipe.

Here is the delicious recipe:

Beautiful Green Beans and Potato Curry Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 - 3 cups (200gms) French Beans (any green beans can be used here) – for French beans, top and tail and chop in half (for frozen – 3 cups)
1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
3 tomatoes (roughly chopped)
2 teaspoons tomato puree
1 large potato (chopped into half inch pieces)
1 and a ½ tablespoon Vegetable oil, like sunflower
Salt to taste
½ tsp Red Chilly powder
½ tsp Cumin powder (jeera
1 tsp Turmeric (haldi)
Couple of chopped coriander leaves to garnish
Seasoning - Crush the following in a pastel and mortar or see my tip below
4 cloves of garlic
2 or 3 green chilles (depending on how hot you like it)
1 tsp Cumin seeds (jeera)

Recipe:

1. Pour oil into large pan and add jeera seeds

2. When the jeera starts to pop, add onions and stir for a couple of minutes then when the onions start to turn translucent, add turmeric. Stir for 5 minutes

3. Add red chilly powder and stir for a couple of minutes

4. Add the seasoning from pastel and mortar

5. Add the 2 chopped tomatoes, tomato puree and stir well for a couple of minutes

6. Add the green beans, jeera and salt, stir for 5 mins

7. Add half a cup of water and stir

8. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes

9. After 15 mins, check if potato is cooked, if not leave a little longer and add the final chopped tomato and mix well. Add a small amount of water, if required.

10. Once the potatoes are cooked, garnish with coriander and serve

This dish is simply delicious! It is worth a try, as once the preparation is done it is simple to cook. I cook it when we have friends over and it is enjoyed by the veggies and non veg’s, which I think is really saying something. It goes really well with and corn kadhi, rice and soft rotis, as per picture. Enjoy alone, watching a film or with friends!

Tips:

• I do not have a pastel and mortar so I cheat by using a tea mug and the end of my rolling pin (luckily it has a straight end)
• This masala is very different from the traditional methods we use but each time I have made this dish, it has been a hit.

Hard - Easy to make: Medium
Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins

Superb Kadhi with corn (Chali)

Superb Kadhi with corn

“....pray what more can a reasonable man desire, in peaceful times, in ordinary noons, than a sufficient number of ears of green sweet-corn boiled, with the addition of salt?”
Henry David Thoreau, 'Walden' (1854)

Superb Kadhi with corn

On a cold rainy day, I crave for some warm comfort food. Watching an old Indian film (Bobby), I want to sit back, relax watching the film and sipping on the lovely sweet and sour kadhi, while munching on the spicy corn.

I enjoy days when my fiance is at work, son is at school and I am home alone :) I cook in my own time and then relax with a good film before picking my son from school. On one of these days I fancied something spicy and came across Anita's blog on Kadhi and liked the thought of this with some changes. I thought this would go well with Green beans and Potato curry , hot Rotis and Rice, it all sounded so delicious!

So to the kitchen I dashed, got the ingredients ready and started the experimenting with the kadhi and cooking the curry. Then put the rice to boil and cooked the rotis in minutes. While the rotis were still puffy, I relaxed on the rug in the lounge and was fortunate they were playing one of my favourite old films (Bobby).

The experience was amazing! I dedicate this experience to Anita. If you too fancy this experience, here is the recipe for the best Kadhi with Corn (Chali):

Ingredients:

2-3 tsp oil
2 cups low-fat or fat-free yogurt, slightly sour
2 tbsp besan or gram flour
4-5 cups water
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
pinch asafetida
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp amchoor powder (optional)
1-2 hot green chilli peppers, sliced into two vertically
8-10 fresh curry leaves
6 cloves
½ to 1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tbsp sugar (use about 1tbsp Indian sugar, since it is sweeter)
6-7 sprigs of cilantro, chopped fine
2 fresh cobs of corn on cob or use frozen or tinned (see tips)
salt to taste

Recipe:

1. Whisk the yogurt with besan until there are no lumps. If you see any lumps, break them with your fingers and whisk some more.

2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and toss in mustard seeds.

3. When they crackle and pop, add asafetida, followed by cumin seeds, green chillies, curry leaves, ginger, amchoor and cloves. Ensure that the spices do not burn.

4. Add turmeric powder and then add the yogurt and besan mixture.

5. Turn the heat to medium and stir the mixture briskly for a couple of minutes until it thickens ever so slightly. You will feel the change in consistency as you continue to stir.

6. Only then add water slowly to the mixture, while stirring and mixing continuously.

7. Add grated ginger and sugar. Once the Kadhi boils, add the corn.

8. Bring to a boil again a couple of times. Each time the kadhi threatens to boil over, reduce the heat and simmer for a few minutes and boil again. If you have the time, allow it to simmer for as long as possible instead of bringing it to a brisk boil each time. If you do simmer it for a long time, be sure to adjust the amount of water (and salt) to bring it to a pouring consistency that is not too thick.

9. Continue to simmer until you are ready to take it to the table, then sprinkle with coriander and serve lovely and hot.

I served this with green beans and potato sabzi/shak/curry and hot fresh rotis – as per picture.
The recipe for Green beans Curry is also included on this site, Enjoy!

Tips:

• The corn – if using fresh, microwave the full cobs for 3-5 mins and once cool cut into 1 inch slices. If using frozen it is best to use corn pieces, these are normally 2 inch pieces but that is fine and can be used as per this recipe without any problems. Same with tinned corn, use as per recipe.


• The amchoor powder really helps give that sour flavour, this is particularly good when you are using yogurt that is not very sour

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins plus boiling kadhi time

Easy/Hard to make: Medium

Quick and gorgeous Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce

“The strands of spaghetti were vital, almost alive in my mouth, and the olive oil was singing with flavor. It was hard to imagine that four simple ingredients [olive oil, pasta, garlic and cheese] could marry so perfectly.” Ruth Reichl, Tender at the Bone (1998)

Quick and gorgeous Spaghetti and Tomato Sauce with Vegetarian (soya) meatballs

This is a recipe I make at least once a week and when I do, I always have to make extra as my son’s friends (neighbours) come over too.

They always ask me Sonia aunty when will you make that yummy tomato sauce and Spaghetti?

Feel free to amend this recipe to suit your personal taste. I make this sauce with and without meatballs and sometimes even without mushrooms.

Serving this dish with garlic bread makes it purrrfect!


Ingredients:

8oz/220g Spaghetti
3tsp Olive oil
6 cloves of garlic (crushed or finely chopped)
2 - 400g tins of plum tomatoes or chopped
Handful of fresh basil (roughly chopped)
Pinch of paprika
½tsp Worcester sauce or dark soya sauce
6 small or 4 large Mushrooms (chopped)
Soya Meatballs or Soya mince (found in freezer department at Asda) - optional
Salt & freshly ground pepper
½ cup water
Handful Cheddar or parmesan Cheese for garnish (grated)

Recipe:

1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and add the garlic. As it starts to brown, add the 2 tins of tomatoes

3. Whilst the tomatoes cook, add basil, paprika, Worcester/soya sauce, salt, pepper, mushrooms and soya meatballs or mince.

4. Bring to boil and simmer on low heat for about 15 mins, taste to see if it meets with your taste. In the meantime, the pasta should be done too.

5. Garnish with cheese and serve immediately

Tips:

• The sauce can be made and frozen to use another day, when you really just do not feel like cooking.
• I have added mince instead of veggie soya meatballs and it has still been a real hit with adults and children. If you do want to add this, do it at stage 3, add with other ingredients.
• You can add other vegetables too; sliced green peppers, chopped carrots are some suggestions or even a glass of wine at stage 3.

Then sit back and enjoy!

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Easy/Hard to make: Very Easy

Basil Flavoured Indian Tea or Tulsi Chai

"Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth"

Basil Flavoured Indian Tea or Tulsi Chai

There are times when you need to just unwind, put everything behind you and just relax. Who is your best friend in need at this time, who/what better than a simple, yet delicious cup of tea.

This one does the trick for me, if you have not tried it, see if it works for you. It is ready in 10 mins so no hard work here :)

• Basil Flavoured Indian Tea or Tulsi Chai:
  
  Ingredients:
  
  2 tea bags of your favourite tea or 2 teaspoons of loose tea (I use decaf PG teabags)
  1 cup water
  1 cup milk (I use semi-skimmed but any will work)
  5 leaves of basil
  3 teaspoons of sugar (this should make 2 to 3 cups so this can be altered to suit your taste)
  
  

Recipe:

1. Bring the water and milk to the boil. Add the tea/teabags and sugar.

2. Rip the basil with your fingers and add to the tea, while it comes to the boil.

3. Stir well. Once boiled, lower the heat to simmer for 5 mins.

4. Take off the heat, when it is a nice dark color, strain into a cup.

Enjoy!

Tips:

• I find that if you add the same amount of water and milk produces a lovely creamy tea. You could alter this to suit your taste. Some friends I have use condensed milk instead.

• Indian tea (unlike western tea) is boiled and simmered. You could simply boil and strain but most Indians do like the traditional stronger flavour and simmer it for a few mins. How do you like yours?

Hard/Easy to make: Very easy
Preparation time: 0 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins

I served this tea recently at a ‘Get Together’, where we had 4 families that are close friends coming over. The tea went so well with some ‘Spicy Filo Parcels’ and hot ‘Best ever Chocolate Chip Cookies’. Check out my recipes for these and impress your friends too!

The best chocolate cookies ever!

The best chocolate cookies ever

"In the cookies of life, friends are the chocolate chips"

Fancy some chocolate chip cookies, that are crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside? How about the best chocolate chip cookies in the world? This chocolate cookie recipe is so easy to make and yet so yummy! There are easy step by step instructions to guide you, with pictures too. You just have to try it for yourself!!

Our son (11 years old) had just returned to school after his holidays. Just before the holidays he was told by the school he would need to do a talk (presentation in school) on one of his favourite authors. He chose Roald Dahl and had all slides ready. On his first day back at school he was told his talk will be on Monday (a week from today) and oh,yeh he would be the first child presenting!

He had completed most of his slides in the holidays so after school each day, he added the last few ouches. It had to be 7 minutes long or you have to do it again. He practiced for a whole day on Sunday! Yes, a whole day and was nervous as he was going to be the first child presenting in his class so the pressure was on!

His talk I have to say was sounding pretty good, it had humour in it and a lot of interesting facts about how Roald Dahl had a hard childhood and that was the reason why some of his books reflect the adults as being unkind to the young ones (like Matilda). He wanted to follow the rules set by the school, one of which was for the audience to have something that can be passed around to leave a lasting impression.

As his topic was Roald Dahl, he was going to include ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ and to make it memorable for the audience he wanted to take in some chocolate cookies. So he spent some time searching for the recipe and then came into the kitchen shouting, Mum, I have found ‘the best chocolate cookies recipe ever’. This was from Angela's site, which did sound perfect, with some slight changes. I dedicate this amended version of the recipe to you, Angela!

In case you wondering how did it go at school you will have to read on…. In the meantime, here is my version of the recipe:

The best chocolate cookies ever:

Ingredients - see pictures below for visual information:

300g plain (all-purpose) flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 teaspoon fine salt
170g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
215g light brown sugar (I used damerera, dark brown sugar can be used too)
120g granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
150g milk chocolate chips (plain chocolate chips can be used too)

Note: I used half unsalted butter and half salted, as this is what I had available. I also reduced the salt to ½ teaspoon which worked perfectly. The original recipe states to use 300g chocolate chips, this is your choice, I found 150gms to work well as otherwise it could to be too sweet.

Recipe:

1. Sift together flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.

2. Stir together melted butter, brown sugar, sugar and vanilla. Add egg, then the yolk. Beat well to ensure that egg is evenly distributed.

3. Stir in dry ingredients, then fold in chocolate chips until incorporated. If using 300gms chocolate chips, it will look as if there are too many chocolate chips but the dough will be able to hold them all.

4. Cover with cling film and chill dough until firm. At least 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5.

6. Drop 1/4 cup sized "hockey puck shaped" mounds of dough onto a greased baking sheet. You can use a baking sheet instead of greasing which works very well. You could use a 1/4 measuring cup to both measure and shape the dough which works perfectly. I guessed about ¼ cup size and rolled into a golf ball size and shape, then slightly flattened them. This amount of dough should make over 15, I made 19, as per the cookies tower picture J

7. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 10-12 minutes or only until the edges begin to turn golden. (They'll look and feel underdone but they're ready.)

8. Cool on the sheet for 1 minute and remove with a wide spatula to a cooling rack. Cool thoroughly and enjoy!

Tips:

• At stage 3 of this recipe; the dough may look a little too sloppy for a proper cookies’ dough, it is meant to be this way. Refrigerating it makes it lovely and firm.


• If you do not want all the cookies in one go, the dough can be refrigerated or frozen until required. Although, it would be best to defrost the dough before using. This way you could have yummy hot cookies when you want! Very impressive too when you have unexpected guests to suddenly have a batch of hot cookies with their tea.
  

The cookies were perfect, as you can see in the pictures. They were a real hit at the presentation and the presentation itself, well the teacher left a note in his homework diary that read (copied from his diary):

Your son’s talk was FABULOUS!
He talked clearly, with expression and left the whole class entertained.
He should feel very proud of himself! :)
Signed by the teacher

The school was happy, our son was happy and oh yes the children in his class were very happy, with the cookies. I had the parent’s ringing me for the recipe so I was happy too :)

I made these again at home for friends who were coming over for tea, all 4 families! I served Spicy Fillo Parcels and some hot Chocolate Cookies, with some Indian basil tea, which was the perfect accompaniment for the cookies. They went down a treat!

Create and Enjoy with us too!!! The recipe for the Spicy Fillo Parcels and Indian basil tea, are available on my site too.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 30 mins

Easy/Hard to make: Easy to Medium

Spicy Fillo Parcels

"You may feel that you have eaten too much...But this pastry is like feathers - it is like snow. It is in fact good for you, a digestive!"

Spicy Fillo Parcels

I was so looking forward to my weekend as we had some close friends coming over for tea. We see each other often and our children have a good time playing together, especially now that the summer is here!

However, this time I wanted to make something different to the samosas and rasgulas (Indian sweets). I thought about what to make that had not been made by either of our friends Get togethers. Then I remembered one of my family members once made these outstanding Filo parcels with vegetables, which were absolutely gorgeous. I thought a spicy version of these would be perfect for the get together.

Here is the recipe I made:

Spicy Filo Parcels:

Ingredients - see pictures below for visual information:

75g or 3oz butter or margarine
1 inch piece of ginger (chopped)
4oz or 1 cup bean sprouts
The following 3 vegetables - sliced into thin shreds – as shown in pictures
2 celery sticks
2 carrots
4 spring onions
½ lemon juiced
1 or 2 chillies – optional - (chopped finely)
Fillo Pastry – cut into pieces of about 15cm X 15 cm (roughly do not have to be precise). I used Just-roll Filo Pastry
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Thinly slice the celery, carrots and spring onions, as in picture.

2. Heat half the butter/margarine in a large frying pan. Add ginger and chillies and cook for a couple of minutes.

3. Add vegetables (carrots, celery, spring onions and bean sprouts). Add salt to taste.

4. Stir fry. You will get the lovely chilly aroma and remove from heat when the vegetables look done. This should take about 5 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and let the vegetables cool, and put the oven on to 1800 C.

6. In the meantime, ensure the Filo pastry is cut to roughly 15 cm square pieces. Do not panic if you have cut yours into rectangles instead. Keep the Filo pastry wrapped in cling film or a damp tea towel while using.

7. Melt the butter. Lay one piece of Filo pastry sheet, brush with butter. Layer the second piece in a criss-cross shape (as in picture) and butter this too. Carry on until you have 4 layers. Butter the last layer.

8. Spoon some of the vegetable mixture on the middle of the last layer of pastry and then gather all the edges upwards. Pinching the middle to seal the filling. This will create a lovely little parcel.
9. Carry on with the remaining pastry and any broken pastry pieces I used at the end to create a final parcel. Just open them as far as they will go and keep layering, with butter in between.

10. Brush the completed parcels with butter and place on a baking tray. Bake for about 15 – 20 mins until golden brown. Keep checking, in case the tops are browning too fast, reduce heat to 1500 and cook for 10 mins.


Tips:

· You have various options with the fillings, you can be creative and make meaty ones or others that work very well are having a samosa filling in them (potato and peas). All fillings need to be pre-cooked before using in this recipe.

· Filo pastry can be bought in advance and frozen until required. These parcels can also be made the day before and refrigerated. Then simply heat in the oven at 1800 C for 10 mins.

Hard/Easy to make: Medium
Preparation time: 20 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins

I served these the first time at a ‘Get Together’, where we had 4 families that are close friends coming over. They were simply superb! I served them with Indian tea, infused with basil and the yummiest chocolate cookies. Check out my recipes and impress your friends too!

Tortilla Pizza

"You better cut the Pizza in four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six"

Tortilla Pizza

When you are tired or when you get unexpected guests, what would be your ideal recipe? Well, here is a recipe that takes no more than 10 to 15 minutes to get straight to the serving table.
It is loved by children and adults alike and is healthy too, does that sound too good to be true?
Well, here it is:

Tortilla Pizza:

Ingredients:
1 packet Flour Tortillas (about 10 tortillas in one pack)
1 large mushroom or a handful of the small ones (sliced)
1 medium sized onion (sliced)
1 large pepper – can be any colour (sliced)
2 chillies or 1 jalapeño – optional (sliced)
4 slices of cheese (or use a cupful of grated cheddar)
Hot and Sweet sauce, I used this but you can use any you have handy

Recipe:

1. As you can see in the picture above, first ensure all the vegetables, including chillies are sliced

2. Heat a non stick frying pan on medium heat (do not add any oil)

3. Add one single tortilla onto this pan

4. While the tortilla is in the pan, add a slice of cheese on the tortilla, then some slices of pepper, mushroom, onion and chillies – spread them as you would for a pizza. Then sprinkle some sauce (as shown in picture below)

5. Now place one more tortilla on top of this, straight in the pan

6. Now flick (turn over) the tortilla in the pan to cook the new tortilla you have just added. (I take this out in a plate and place another plate on top and then just turn it over and place back in the pan.)

7. Add another layer of cheese, vegetables, chillies and sauce once more

8. Finally place one more tortilla on top of this. Flick the tortilla again to heat the new tortilla you have just added.

9. You should now have a layer of 3 tortillas with filling in the middle

10. Remove from heat and slice, enjoy with sauce/chutney of your choice


When our family and friends try these, all you can hear is mmmm and ohhhh, as they realised how hot and yummy the bite was! They quickly sip on their beers and reach out for more…

Tips:

• Tortilla packets can be bought and frozen, so they are waiting for you when you need them.
• This recipe is meant to be a quick snack, starter, appetiser or a light main meal. If you do not have the vegetables mentioned here, be creative and use the ones you have that you feel would also work. Same with the sauce and chutney, use what you have and like.
  
  Then sit back and enjoy!

Hard/Easy to make: Easy
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins