8th October 2013
We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop
playing. George Bernard Shaw
I cooked this - little bit pleased with myself ;-)
I had the best day yesterday, went to Nottingham to do an Indian
vegetarian cooking full day master class and it was brilliant. I went
to www.courses-for-cooks.co.uk
which is run by a lady named Sarah and I came away feeling confident that I can
now cook a decent Indian meal. I chose
to have a one-to-one day as it was short notice and something I’ve wanted to do
for so long, she does however do small groups too. So what did I learn, well so much I hope I can
remember it all, I learnt the use of common Indian ingredients, use of spicing,
tasting, balancing and flavour control. How
to use chillies, dry frying seeds, making pastes/masalas and their use in
dishes, oh there was so much it was fabulous.
Almost forgot the best bit, there’s no washing up to be done either,
getting to spend a day in a kitchen and not having to clear up afterwards –
bliss!
My fridge is now full of the food I cooked, which was;
·
Sweet Potato & Spinach Curry
·
Spiced Paneer salad
·
Mango chutney
·
Vegetable Subji (mixed vegetable curry)
·
Spicy Potatoes with cucumber Raita (oh my word
these are devine!)
·
Tempered Dhal with Spinach & Tomatoes
·
Sambhar (restaurant style lentils)
·
Keralan Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry.
·
Chapati
So obviously all this food is delicious, I won’t lie I impressed myself
- so why did I choose vegetarian when I’m not one? Because I think that Indian food can actually
make rather boring ingredients like lentils, chick peas and vegetables taste
amazing and I was proved right yesterday.
I was also thrilled by how all this food could be enjoyed on the Weight
Watchers plan without breaking the ProPoints bank! Lots of the foods used were filling and
healthy and yes we used oil but it was healthy oil and not used excessively at
all.
The food we cooked in the morning we sampled for lunch, we served it in
little Thali dishes on a tray and I was full so quickly, it just shows you don’t
need large portions to enjoy food, little bits of lots of things, I’m also not
a fan of hot, spicy food so it had all been cooked with lots of flavour and not
so much of the heat, just enough.
I made Mango chutney which if shop bought is 1pp per tablespoon, the 2
mangoes I used made 650g of chutney which again if shop bought would be 43pp,
mine works out as 5pp! The recipe called
for 5 tablespoons of sugar (8pp) however I only used 3 tablespoons to get the
flavour I enjoyed. If put in a sterilized
jar unopened it will keep for up to 3months, in the fridge it will keep a few
weeks, to be fair I don’t think it will last much longer.
So here’s the recipe for you to try, so simple to make;
Sweet Mango Chutney
2 mangoes (peeled, diced)
5 tbsp brown sugar (I used less because the mangos were really ripe and
sweet)
3 tbsp white vinegar
2 tsp ginger
1 red chilli (finely chopped) (or less if you’re a chilli wuss like me, I
used very little!)
1/4tsp garam masala
Salt
Place everything except the garam masala in a saucepan and simmer for
up to an hour before blending as needed and adjusting the sugar/vinegar to your
own taste.
Just a simple recipe that saves so many ProPoints!
We’re talking everything that is spicy in meetings this week, so don’t
miss it, I plan to tell you more then…
If you like to cook, wish you could cook better, then seriously consider
treating yourself, the group classes work out cheaper. I love to cook but have never been able to do
Indian cooking, I now feel so much more confident that I will be able to in
future and it isn’t anywhere near as complicated and difficult as I imagined it
to be. Sarah was such a good teacher,
very patient and extremely switched on to what I wanted to get from the day to
say I’d been quite vague in my short notice request! I can’t wait to go find me a little shop
selling all the ingredients and to get my own curry plant growing too, so I can
use the leaves.
I better get a wriggle on now though, busy day - four meetings and an
hospital appointment.
Have a great day, Eat Gorgeous & BeYOUtiful. Xx
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