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King prawns, potatoes and carrots in a delicious spiced lentil and tomato curry sauce.
A easy to make curry dish guaranteed to impress your friends and family – they won’t believe you didn’t pick it up from your local Indian restaurant.
Serve with choice of rice or Indian bread.
Serves two
Preparation and cooking time around 1 hour
200-250g raw king prawns – devein, butterfly
100g peeled new potatoes – cut into small pieces to cook quickly
5-6 round vine tomatoes – cut into quarters
75g red spilt lentils – rinse thoroughly until water runs clear
1 medium/large carrot – peel and thinly slice into discs
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 medium size white onions – peel and dice
2 medium size red onions – peel and dice
1 small bulb of garlic – peel, crush
15-20g ginger – peel, thinly slice
1 heaped dessert spoon sliced Almond
2 bay leaves
5 cardamom pods
5 cloves
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
80g red split lentils – rinse thoroughly
1 tsp salt – plus extra to taste
water – see method
20-25g butter – cut into cubes
2-3 tbsp. chopped coriander leaf
Note: You require a stick blender (or glass blender) for this recipe
Method: Start by boiling the potatoes for 7-8 minutes , then drain them and set aside ready to add to the curry.
In a deep pan heat 2 tbsp. vegetable oil over a medium high heat and add a teaspoon of mustard seeds. Let the oil heat until the mustard seeds start popping like popcorn. Add the onions and fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions start to colour. Add the garlic, ginger, bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, tomatoes and sliced almonds and stir through the fried onions. Next add half a teaspoon of cumin seeds, ground turmeric, ground coriander and a quarter of ground fenugreek. Stir well and fry the mixture for 4-5 minutes.
Next add the washed lentils and stir well, then add enough water to completely submerge the mixture (I added 2 and a half mugs of water) and a teaspoon of salt. Stir well, bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. After this remove the bay leaves, cardamom pods and cloves from the sauce and blend into a smooth sauce.
Add the cooked potatoes and the thinly sliced carrot (these are both cut into small pieces so they cook quickly) and gently simmer in the sauce for 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently as lentils can stick to pans and burn. Taste test the sauce – you may want to add more salt or add more water, depending upon how thick you like your sauce. If your sauce is too runny simply continue to simmer until it reduces to your preference.
When the sauce add the cubes of butter and stir them into the sauce, this will add flavour and the classic gleam to the curry sauce. Complete the dish by adding 1 tbsp. of chopped coriander and the raw king prawns – let them gently poach in the sauce and serve as soon as they turn from grey to pink.
Ladle into bowls and garnish with the rest of the chopped coriander, enjoy!
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Rope grown Scottish mussels, cooked in a sauce made from roasted tomato, red pepper, onion, garlic, chilli, fish stock, white wine and coriander.
One of my favourite ways to cook mussels, guaranteed to bring flavour to your diner table. The secret of the flavour comes from the roasted sauce, which brings a rich deeply satisfying flavour to the dish. Serve with some nice sour dough or crusty bread.
Many people are put off cooking mussels at home because they think it is either hard or too time consuming. In reality it is very easy, to prepare the mussels simply rinse them in water, then soak them in water for 10-15 minutes, discarding any that stay open. To clean them scrape any barnacles off the shells and remove the beards by pulling them gently then cut them off with kitchen scissors. Rinse them well under running water, then they are ready to cook – which takes a matter of minutes, and is easy to tell because they open when they are cooked.
Note: to cook this recipe you require a wide, deep pan with a tight fitting lid.
Serves two people
Preparation 45 minutes, cooking time less than 10 minutes.
2 small red onions – roast whole
1 medium white onion – roast whole
1 Romano pepper – remove stalk and seeds
2 red chillies – remove stalk and seeds
4 plum tomatoes
2 round tomatoes
6 cloves garlic
Method: Pre heat your oven to 220°c. Place the tomatoes, onions, chilli, garlic and pepper on the tray and roast for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Remove the skins from the tomatoes, chilli, peppers, garlic and onion. Place all in a mini blender or food processor and blitz until a smooth sauce is made.
1 kg rope grown mussels – see opening notes for cleaning instructions
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 glass dry white wine
500ml fish stock
1 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper – to taste
3 tbsp. roughly chopped coriander
Method: Heat 1-2 tbsp. of olive oil in the pan over a medium heat. Add the roasted sauce along with the white wine, fish stock, sugar, black pepper and a little salt – take care not to add too much as there is salt in the stock. Bring to the boil then simmer for 5-10 minutes.
Add the chopped coriander, stir well, then add the cleaned mussels. Increase the heat until sauce starts to bubble then place the lid on the pan, reduce heat slightly and leave to cook for 3 minutes. Carefully remove lid and look at the mussels, they are ready when they open (see picture for example) if necessary replace lid and cook for further minute. It is important not to over cook the mussels as they will turn rubbery.
Ladle into pre warmed bowls and serve straight away with some nice sourdough or crusty bread to soak up the wonderous sauce.
A delicious healthy soup. Easy to make and a pleasure to eat.
White cabbage soups are far creamier and less bitter than green cabbage soups. White cabbage along with carrots, leek, onion, peas, celery, bay leaf, parsnips and garden peas make a flavourful filling soup that is perfect for cold winter nights.
4-6 generous portions
Preparation 20 minutes, cooking 60 minutes
1 white cabbage – outer leafs and stalk removed, roughly chopped then washed
2 large white onions – diced
3 sticks celery – sliced
1 leek – split, washed then sliced
4-6 medium sized carrots – peeled, sliced
3 medium sized parsnips – peeled, sliced
60g garden peas – defrost if using frozen
Small handful flat leaf parsley
1.5L chicken or vegetable stock
1-2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 bay leafs
Salt and pepper to taste
Stick blender required for this recipe
Method: start by heating 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a deep soup pot. Add the leek, carrot, parsnips, celery and onion then fry for 4-5 minutes over a medium heat until softened. Add the peas and cabbage and fry for a further 3-4 minutes then add the stock. Add the parsley and bay leaf along with a generous amount of seasoning, bring to the boil, cover then simmer for around 45 minutes. Next remove from the heat, remove lid and take out the bay leafs. Use a stick blender to blend into a smooth soup. Taste for seasoning and add extra if required, if too strong add a little water to balance. Before serving heat through, then serve with some nice crusty bread – enjoy!
My version of the comfort food classic.
Potatoes are par boiled, then fried until they are nice and crispy. A flavour base is made from sauteed carrots, red onion, celery along with some garlic powder and smoked paprika. a sauce is made by adding tomato ketchup, Worcester sauce and a few chilli flakes for some warmth. The pre-cooked potatoes and cubes of corn beef and very gently folded into the dish and heat through. The dish is finished with the essential fried egg on top.
Fine dining it is not, but it does taste very fine indeed.
Serves two people
30 mins cooking and preparation time
200g corned beef – cut into 2-3cm cubes
250g potatoes – peeled cut into 3-4cm cubes
2 small carrots – peeled, thinly sliced into rounds
2 red onions – peeled, diced
1 stick celery – finely diced
1 tablespoon oil – for dish
Half teaspoon garlic powder
Half teaspoon smoked paprika
3-4 dessert spoons tomato ketchup
Worcester sauce (a really good dash)
Chilli flakes (just a sprinkle)
Oil to shallow fry the potatoes
2 eggs
Knob of butter (to fry eggs)
Ferret chef 