Tuesday 17 August 2010

Featured in Hertfordshire Life!

Have a look at the feature on Absolute Indian cookery classes in Hertfordshire Life! (September 2010 Issue)

Monday 9 August 2010

Chicken Biriyani Cookery class coming soon!

There will be a Chicken Biriyani class running during the autumn!

http://www.absoluteindiancookeryclasses.com/New-classes%282008865%29.htm

I have decided to share my mum's wonderful recipe during a 2 hour class! To register your interest, please leave your details as comment or email me at icookeryclass@yahoo.com

Look forward to seeing you!

Saturday 7 August 2010

Prawn & Coconut curry
















Even if you are not a curry lover, I can almost guarantee that you would love this dish! And all it needs to compliment it is a plain rice dish (you can of course have a much more elaborate meal if you wish so!)

Plain chapatis and the Bhindi stir fry would also make good accompaniments for this dish. The combination of the sweetness from the coconut and the kick from the chilli is fantastic. Of course, the chilli is to your preference depending on how much of a kick you want! If you are not a prawn fan though, you can replace it with a white fish - preferably skinless so that the flavours can penetrate through.

Why not try it? If you would like the recipe, please leave me a message via the comments below and I'll send it over!

Sheba
www.absoluteindiancookeryclasses.com
Authentic Indian cookery classes in Hertfordshire

Bhindi - an old favourite of mine! (Okra/Ladies fingers)

Bhindi Stir Fry














This used to be one of my favourite vegetables when I was younger (not that there were many). Admittedly they do have a rather slimy texture however in comparison to way I loved them as a child, it's nothing. Growing up in Nigeria, I obviously ended up enjoying a lot of Nigerian food - one being okra stew which was cooked a liquidised form and eaten on the side of pounded yams with hot meat curry! Delicious!

This is obviously an Indian Bhindi dish - also known as Okra or Ladies' Fingers. It's a fairly straightforward dish and they key spices are cumin and coriander. When cooking with okra, you need to be careful not to overcook it as this increases the 'slime' factor. One way I have found that can help to slightly reduce this is to make sure you wash them in cold rather than warm/hot water. This is one that I have often ordered in a restaurant and always regretted when it turns up on the table in a pool of coloured oil! Mine of course is a lot healthier yet still delicious!

Bhindi features on two of the current Indian cookery classes - Weekday winners and the Vegetarian option. You can't fail to enjoy it!
Sheba
Authentic Indian cookery classes

Dal Palak (Lentils with Spinach)

Dal Palak

















A warming and comforting dish which tastes delicious on its with rice or chapatis or as a side dish to a varied Indian menu. I have to admit, I love just spoonfuls of it on its own!
I must say that dal is not something that I have always cooked, mainly because it is not something  that  my mum cooked at home   Our variation to this in South India would be Sambar which is also prepared with lentils and can have a number of vegetables added.
However, having tasted various dal recipes at friends' homes (and may I add, one or two restaurants!) my love of dal and quest for creating a delicious recipe began! Many tried and tested versions later, I arrived at this one which I love. This uses toor dal and I suppose if you dont like spinach, you can always omit it and make 'Dal' on its own! There are endless delicious variations of dal recipes which there's lots of time for. This is a great one to start with though! This recipe is within one of my Indian cookery classes - the Vegetarian menu to be precise. Why not try it?!

Sheba
Authentic Indian cookery classes

Absolute Indian cookery class 25.07.10








Well, my first Absolute Indian cookery class was yesterday and I must say I loved it! Here's hoping that my participants felt the same about this! I am tempted to call them 'students' but prefer not to as this reminds me of being at school which I am hoping to forget about for the next 6 weeks!
My class from yesterday consisted of myself and two lovely others - a nice way to start off with my first lesson. A lovely large kitchen and a delicious menu of Lamb Rogan Josh, Tandoori chicken, Bringal bhaji, Chapati and my mum's fried rice ahead of us!
After cooking for 3 or so hours, hopefully Charlotte and Toby were please with the goods they'd prepared! Both were off to share with friends and family so hopefully a lovely Indian feast was enjoyed!
Anyway, I'm off to make a delicious Dal palak which I'll add onto here sometime!