A couple of weekends ago I had some friends round for a bit of a curry feast. Apart from loving curries so any excuse really to make them, they’re perfect for cooking up ahead of time which means you’re not stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is having fun in another room without you. So while choosing which curries to cook was a doddle, trying to find starters that didn’t need a lot of attention on the night was much tougher than I thought it would be. And I wanted to do a spread of Indian finger food rather than a sit down starter which narrowed down my options even more. Suffice it to say, there were tantrums…
But! I eventually found four fantastic Indian inspired nibblies, of which this was probably my favourite (and judging by the empty plates I’m guessing they went down quite well with my friends too!). They’re easy peasy, look pretty as a picture, taste even better than they look and are fiendishly moreish. Thank you Delicious Magazine, for coming to the rescue! Again! 🙂
Don’t be tempted to buy large prawns, like tiger prawns, because you’ll have a mare trying to balance them on the poppadoms. And be prepared to sift through your bag of poppadoms to find ones that are whole and flat or at least opened enough to sit the prawn easily on/in (silver lining = you can snack on all the broken or curled up ones while you’re sifting!). The longer you can leave the prawns in the curry mixture the better the flavours will develop, overnight is perfect but even a couple of hours will make a difference. If you’re making these well ahead of time then refrigerate, but remember to take out them back out about 45 minutes before you want to serve them up so that they can get back up to room temperature.
Spiced Prawn Poppadoms
2014-08-16 22:03:51
Yields 30
Easy peasy Indian nibbles that are fiendishly tasty.
2 limes, 1 for zesting and 1 to cut into wedges for garnish
Small handful of chopped fresh coriander, plus extra leaves to garnish
100g bag mini poppadoms (Walkers Sensations Lime & Coriander Chutney if you can)
Mango chutney to serve (smooth if you can)
Prep!
Drain the prawns of any liquid and pat dry with kitchen paper. And if you have an aversion to prawn tails, like Hubby who calls them flippers (!) then nip those off.
In a bowl, mix together the curry paste, yogurt, lime zest and coriander, then season to taste. Tip the prawns in and stir until they’re evenly coated in the curry mixture and set aside for at least 15 minutes.
Make!
You want to do the assembling about 20 minutes before you want to put these out.
Take about 30 whole poppadoms from the bag and put them onto your serving plates. Place a spiced prawn on each (or if the prawns are quite small then place two on each).
Top each with a small blob of mango chutney (I found a small squeezy bottle perfect for doing this quickly) and don’t be tempted to overdo the mango chutney or it will overpower all the other flavours. Top with a wee bit of coriander leaf, and you’re good to serve.
And finally, pop a couple of small lime wedges onto each plate for people to squeeze over.
Wow. Where did Summer go?? Not that it was much of a Summer all things considered, but I swear I blinked and missed it. So here we are, looking Autumn in the face, and I’m ready for it to be honest. More than that I’m looking forward to it! And here’s why… Autumn is for the return of guilty pleasure TV (Dallas and Downtown Abbey, I’m looking at you!), Hubby snuggles (preferably while indulging in aforementioned guilty pleasure TV), my wardrobe being in season again, and comfort food. Hello comfort food! You’re far more fun to blog about than salad!
So I’m back, and I’m going to start off the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness with a curry, even if Hubby is arguing that it should kick off with a Shepherd’s Pie 😉 It’s a lighter curry than my usuals, but I love it for that very reason. That and I keep calling it “Harakiri Chicken” by accident, which cracks Hubby up no end…
This is adapted from another gem of a recipe found in Delicious magazine with a few liberties taken on the ingredients and prepping, but I really didn’t notice a big enough difference in the tasty to warrant the harder work. That said, there’s still an awful lot of chopping to do, but its worth it because the freshness of the ingredients really shines through.
The key to this recipe is keeping the chicken pieces quite big, NO slicing into bite sized pieces because the smaller they are the quicker they’ll dry out and as we’re leaving this all to cook for half an hour then I wouldn’t cut each thigh into more than 2 pieces, 3 pieces max. The same holds true if you’re using chicken breasts instead, they’re even more prone to drying out so keep the pieces big.
Zanzibar Chicken
2014-08-17 10:46:55
Serves 2
A light and fresh curry that is perfect for when the weather is between season.
Put the oil and the butter in your pan, or wok, over a medium-high heat and fry the chicken until its browned all over but not cooked through – if you have chicken powder then sprinkle a little over the pieces while they’re browning to really bring out their savoury flavour – and then transfer to a bowl.
In the same pan, add the onion and lower the heat. Soften the onion for 10 minutes, stirring until they are coloured.
Next add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for another 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and give them a minute or two to cook down.
Add all of the spices to the onion mix and cook for about a minute.
Next, pour over the coconut milk and add the browned chicken pieces back in. Season well, stir well and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finally, stir the lime juice through just before you’re ready to serve, then dish up on a steamy bed of white rice.
