Following on from the theme of curries, I thought I would tell you about my recent affair with a food ‘cheat’ product I received for Christmas. As one of my presents, I was eager to be given 6 Indian spice blends from Spice Mountain’s borough market stall, made from all natural ingredients which are personally selected and hand ground. Indian classics include Madras, Vindaloo, Korma and Tandoori as well as other traditional curries such as Sri Lankan curry and Goan Curry. Now, I’m not a cheat but I found this particular gift so appealing as I’ve never quite been able to successfully tackle Indian cooking. After burning some garam masala paste and nearly coughing to death over some to-hot-to-handle hot chillies, I gave up trying.
Fortunately, Spice Mountain make cooking curries easy and foolproof. Adding just 3 teaspoons of the blend to a tomato base created a mind blowing flavour; with spices already taken care of, there’s enough time to get creative with the base of the curry!
I’ve never been a huge fan of the regular old basmati rice so to make up for the lack of carbohydrates; I opted for chickpeas and sweet potatoes as an alternative. The two make a great pair- sweet, soft and appealing to the eye!
Sweet potato and chickpea curry
I served this as a side to some tandoori king prawns (recipe below), but this curry is substantial enough for a vegetarian main course with perhaps a bit of rice or some extra veggies.
· 1 tin of plum tomatoes (roughly chopped)
· 3 teaspoons of vinadaloo mix from Spice Mountain
· 1 small red onion, finely chopped
· 1 large sweet potato
· 1 can of chickpeas (drained)
· A handful of chopped parsley
· Vegetable Oil
Start off by chopping the sweet potato into medium cubes before boiling in lightly salted water for 10 minutes or until soft. It is better to peel the skin after boiling as it comes off quickly and easily. In a large frying pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of oil and add the chopped onions. Reduce heat to medium and sweat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet. Add the spice mix to the onion and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in the drained chickpeas and cook for a further 3 minutes before adding the tinned tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding the sweet potato and fresh parsley. Cover and simmer for 10 more minutes so all the flavours have combined and potato and chickpeas tenderized.
Tandoori king prawns
· De-shelled king prawns (cooked or uncooked) enough for 2 people.
· 2 teaspoons of tandoori marinade from Spice Mountain
· 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
· A drizzle of olive/vegetable oil
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and leave to marinate for about 1 hour. Meanwhile, soak some wooden skewers in cold water (this stops them from burning in the oven). Once marinated, put on the skewers and under the grill for 5 minutes, turning twice.
6 spice blends cost just £12.50 from www.spicemountain.co.uk/ or visit their stall at the Jubilee market side of Borough Market where you will find a range of whole or ground spices from all over the world as well as other spice blends from the likes of North Africa and South East Asia.
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