Food for Thought for Friday -- BLOGHOPPING

I was invited to a BLOGHOP by Amos Grieg from A New Ulster and I thunk to meself -- why nat? So in true BLOGHOP spirit, today's recipe comes from my BLOGHOP guest, Marion Clarke, answering questions about her work HERE.
I know Marion from Every Day Poets where she is a regular contributor. She is also a very talented artist. Marion lives in Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland, a very beautiful spot that I only visited once in my life even though I was also born in Northern Ireland. We also know each other through A New Ulster too and on Facebook. We have never met.




Well tasty I'd say -- wouldn't you? ;)


Marion's Chicken Tikka Balti 

 There is a lot of preparation involved with this dish, but boy is it worth it!

Marinade four chicken breasts cut into cubes in the following:

Chicken Tikka

Small tub of natural yoghurt

1sp fresh ginger, grated

2 crushed cloves of garlic

1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

salt to taste (if you use it - I don't)

1 tablespoon fresh coriander, finely chopped

Heat a grill and either skewer the pieces of chicken or lay them out on a baking tray and grill, turning regularly until they are slightly charred. Make sure they are thoroughly cooked through. Leave to one side.

Balti Sauce

I usually make the sauce according to the recipe below, but only use half of it and freeze the rest for another day, so I have it ready next time I want Chicken Tikka Masala. Sometimes, if I'm stuck for time, I substitute the ground spices with a couple of tablespoons of ready made balti paste. If I don't have all the ingredients I simply use what I have at the time. You can't really go wrong with this recipe, and I don't think I've ever used bay leaves or cinnamon sticks, but I guess if you have them it will taste even better! 

Heat 3 tablespoons vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add the following and stir together for one minute: 5 cloves, 4 cardamons, 10 black peppercorns, 4 bay leaves and 3 cinnamon sticks. Add 5 medium onions finely sliced, a 2 inch piece of ginger, crushed, a large garlic clove, crushed and stir fry until they soften. Add a 14 oz tin of tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of tomato puree and 2 tablepoons of fresh, chopped coriander and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the following spices: 1 desertspoon ground coriander, 1 desertspoon ground cumin, 1 desertspoon paprika, 2 teaspoons ground turmeric, 1-2 teaspoons chilli powder, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon salt (if you use it) and fry for another 2-3 minutes, continually stirring so the spices don't catch. Add water, cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the sauce cool and liquidise or blend in a food processor. Your Balti sauce is now ready for use and/or freezing.

To combine the chicken tikka with the Masala Sauce...

Heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a pan and add a chopped onion, an inch of grated ginger, 2 cloves of crushed garlic and stir until soft. Add as much of your Balti sauce as much as you want along with the chicken tikka piece and gently heat everything through until the food is piping hot.

Serve with basmati rice and nan bread, roti or chapatis - delicious!

For a quick raita, mix a small tub of natural yoghurt with a quarter of grated cucumber, a grated small onion, a teaspoon of mint sauce, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar. This is lovely and cooling if you find the Tikki Masala a little spicy. 

I hope to have another BLOGHOPPER on my alterante blog, Parallel Oonahverse next Tuesday -- look out for that :) Now follow all the bloghops back and see where they lead.