Masala Masala’s Recipe Blog

Spiced Pumpkin Soup - Thanksgiving Recipe

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:45:19 +0000

Ingredients

- a knob of butter or 1 tbsp of sunflower oil
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, sliced or crushed
- A pot of Masala Masala Shahi
- 1 litre of vegetable stock if using fresh pumpkin OR 1 pint of stock if using canned pumpkin puree
(we used 3 vegetable OXO cubes per pint of boiling water)
- 2 kg pumpkin, deseeded and skinned OR 425g canned pumpkin puree
- 100ml double cream
- 2 tsp of ground black pepper
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced (optional)
- fresh French bread - we used Waitrose rustic brown rolls

Method

- Heat the butter or 1 tbsp of oil in a large pan. Add the onion and cook for a few minutes to soften. Slice and add garlic or use a garlic crusher.
- Add the pumpkin and a pot of Masala Masala Shahi to the pan and simmer for a few minutes.
- Add the stock and cover. Leave to gently simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.
- Add the cream and bring to the boil.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Take the pan off the heat and blend the soup until completely smooth. Blending isn't necessary if you used a can of pumpkin puree.
- Serve with fresh French bread or rolls and scatter with ground black pepper and sliced chilli if you want to spice up the dish further.

Elizabeth’s Tasty Daal with Okra and Chickpeas

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:32:00 +0000

Dear Masala Masala

Your sauces have really helped me at busy times and I have had lots of compliments.
When using them I don’t add any more seasoning.
I served this last night when I had a vegetarian guest for supper.

Elizabeth’s Daal Recipe

For 3-4 people

My ingredients were:

2 Masala Daal tubs
1 Can of Waitrose (or similar) chick peas
Chopped fresh coriander -handful
1 pack of fresh Okra (waitrose)
One large pepper (suggest red or yellow)
A handful of peas.

Fry the okra in a frying pan in a knob of butter. Fry the finely chopped pepper in olive oil in the small casserole dish that you plan to use, until soft and a little brown.
Boil the chick peas for a few minutes and then drain thoroughly.
Put the two tubs of sauces into the casserole dish and tip in the okra and chickpeas to join the pepper. Put in the peas as they are. Mix the ingredients gently.
Cook in the oven for 20 mins at 175 deg. When gently cooked through stir in the chopped fresh coriander.

This makes hearty tasty vegetarian dish.

All the best,

Elizabeth

Diwali Dinner

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:11:06 +0100

What’s On the Menu at Priya’s Diwali Dinner?

James’ Marinated Chicken Karahi
Butter Chicken
Blackeye Bean Curry (Gujrati Chora)
Cauliflower Curry
Shahi Paneer
Steamed Rice
Naan

Dessert: Rice Pudding - Kheer

Hi All!
We wish you a Happy Diwali!
To make a simple Diwali banquet, follow our simple recipes.

Shahi Paneer and James’ Karahi Chicken are in previous posts in the blog.

Diwali is the festival of lights, so light some candles in your home on Saturday!

Best wishes,

The Masala Masala Team

Aromatic Blackeye Bean Curry
Serves 6

Masala Masala Daal
2 x 410g/14oz tins of black-eye beans  2 tbsp groundnut oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 4 sprigs of coriander  

Method
-     Drain and rinse the beans, and mash a few lightly with fork.
-     Heat a little oil, add the onion and cook until lightly golden. Add the beans and 5 tbsp of Masala Masala Daal, stir until mixed in and bring to the boil.
-     Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- “Taste As You Go” - Taste some of the curry. If you require more strength, add some more Masala Masala Daal. Keep going until the curry is to your taste.
- Add salt to taste.
-     Top with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Butter Chicken Curry
Serves 6

Masala Masala Karahi
125g natural yoghurt
500g skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets, cubed
125g butter
2 red peppers, sliced
1 onions, thinly sliced
4 tablespoons double cream
A good handful chopped fresh coriander

Method
-     Mix the Masala Masala Karahi and yoghurt together in a large bowl. Add the chicken pieces to the sauce and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 to 60 minutes.
-     Melt the butter in a large frying pan on medium heat and cook the red pepper slices and onion until the onion begins to turn translucent and soft, for about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
-     Add the chicken and yogurt marinade to the frying pan. Cook, stirring constantly, 5 to 10 minutes until the chicken firms and is no longer pink in the centre.
-     Increase heat to medium high and mix in the cream and coriander. Cook until mixture just begins to boil, stirring continuously. Serve immediately with rice or naan bread.

(Adding an almond paste to Butter Chicken is optional)

Spiced Cauliflower Curry

Serves 6
Masala Masala Karahi
200g baby new potatoes, halved
350g small cauliflower florets
1 tbsp olive oil
1 green chilli, deseeded and diced (optional)
Chopped fresh coriander
Warm naan breads, to serve

Method
-     Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 8 minutes and the cauliflower florets for 4 minutes.
- Drain the cauliflower and potatoes and put back into the pan. Add the Masala Masala Karahi and green chilli and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and serve with warm naan bread or rice.

Indian Rice Pudding (Kheer)
Serves 6
2 pints whole milk  one handful of long-grain washed rice, such as basmati
4 tbsp sugar
5 whole green cardamom pods, lightly crushed  10 de-shelled pistachios (chopped - not ground) pistachio halves to decorate

Method

-           Pour the milk into a heavy-based pan and heat gently. -           Once warm, add the cardamom pods and rice to the milk. -           Slowly bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer rapidly, stirring from time to time to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Simmer on low-medium heat until the milk is reduced by about half (this can take an hour) - Remove and discard the cardamom pods. -           Add the sugar and taste, adding more sugar to your own taste -           Stir in the chopped pistachios and leave to cool. -           Cover the bowl with cling film and cool in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight. -           When ready to serve, spoon into individual serving bowls and sprinkle some pistachio halves on top.

MariJane’s Karahi Venison Curry

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:08:49 +0100

Finely chop one garlic clove and an onion.

Sauté them in in a little olive oil.

Add the diced venison and seal the meat.

Add a pot of Masala Masala Karahi sauce and cover the pan.

Slow cook, on a low heat for 30 minutes.

Season to taste and serve with brown and wild rice.

Customer recipe - James’ Marinated Chicken Karahi

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:30:47 +0100

We received this email from James in London. We’ll be making this recipe next week and posting a picture of the curry on the blog - Thanks James!
p.s. We are also fans of Tayabs. Can I also recommend Lahori Kebab House on Umberston Street (off Commercial Road). Arrive early or else you’ll find yourself in a queue... Priya

Priya,

I was in Waitrose at the weekend and came across your sauce. An avid curry enthusiast, I picked up one of your Karahi sauces. I thought I'd write you an e-mail by way of feedback and also mention the recipe I myself used.

I've had several karahis before, most often from Tayyabs on Fieldgate Street, and Mirch Masala on Commercial Road. I've been trying to recreate my own rendition in the kitchen but they've never quite tasted the same. I have to say that your karahi sauce was very very tasty and flavoursome. I shy away from buying pre-made curry sauces as they always taste artificial,
but I will definitely be buying yours again in the future and look forward to trying the rest of the range as well as future releases. Keep it up!

As for my recipe, I used:

1 pot of karahi sauce
2 diced free-range chicken breasts
1 green pepper
1/2 tbsp cumin powder
1/2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
Handful of finger chillis, chopped lengthways
half a lime

Add the cumin, coriander and turmeric to the chicken breasts and stir in well, thoroughly coating the chicken and leave in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the chicken, cooking for 3 minutes. Add the diced green pepper and a dash of water to help the pepper soften. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the karahi sauce and simmer for a couple of minutes, before adding the chillis. Cook for a further 5 minutes, add a dash of lime juice and serve with basmati rice.

Lovely!

Best of luck for the future,

James

3 Karahi Recipes: Karahi Chicken, Baingan Bharta, Masala Masala Fish

Fri, 5 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Karahi Chicken

Wash and dice 4 breasts of chicken into small cubes. Saute the chicken in 2 tbsp vegetable oil until white on all sides. Add one pot of Masala Masala Karahi and simmer for 10 minutes.

Squeeze 1/4 lemon into the pan and add salt to taste.

For even tastier chicken, marinate the chicken in Masala Masala Karahi an hour before and slow cook the chicken until tender.

BAINGAN BHARTA -An authentic and simple aubergine curry

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Cut 2 aubergines lengthways in half and make two slits in each half. Place the aubergine slices skin-side down on a baking tray and in the oven for 30 minutes until tender. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

The aubergine should now be very soft. Once cool, chop the aubergine halves into small chunks.

Heat 3 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add the aubergine and sauté for 2 minutes on a high heat. Add one pot of Masala Masala Karahi and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

Add salt to taste. Squeeze 1/4 lemon into the pan and serve the Baingan Bharta with naan, chapatti or on a bed of rice with a serving of yogurt.

To make curried aubergine puree, once the baked aubergine has cooled, instead of chopping the halves into chunks, scoop the pulp from the skins, discard the skins and cook the pulp in the saucepan with Masala
Masala Karahi as described above.

MASALA MASALA FISH (South Indian Style)

Thoroughly clean approximately 800g of skinned white fish fillets (we like to use cod or haddock) under running cold water and chop into large chunks.

Pour the juice of half a lemon/lime and 250ml of coconut milk on to the chunks of fish.

Separately mix one pot of Masala Masala Karahi and 250g of natural yogurt.

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 4 tablespoons of coconut oil. Add the Masala Masala Karahi and yogurt mix to the hot oil. Simmer for 3 minutes on medium heat.

Add the fish and coconut milk to the pan. Cover the saucepan and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes. Turn the fish over once, being careful not to break the pieces, while cooking.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve on a bed of steaming basmati rice.

2 Daal Recipes: Okra and Yellow Lentils and Chickpeas with Masala Masala Daal

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Bhinda (Okra)

Wash 400g fresh okra and cut into small pieces or alternatively use frozen okra. Once washed, pat dry with a paper towel.

Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan and sauté the okra for approximately 8 minutes.

If using frozen okra, sauté until tender. Add half a pot of Masala Masala Daal and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and lemon to taste.

DAAL (Yellow Daal)

Boil 2 cups of yellow split lentils (Moong Daal) and one cup of chana daal until soft.

Do not drain the excess water in the saucepan once boiled.

Add half a pot of Masala Masala Daal to the saucepan and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more depending on personal taste.

You can continue to boil the daal until it reaches your desired consistency.
Add salt to taste.

We prefer the daal served on a bed of basmati rice, but it is commonly served on its own as a side dish to a main meal

CHICKPEAS WITH MASALA MASALA DAAL

Heat one can of chickpeas in a saucepan.

Add a tablespoon of Masala Masala daal and keep adding - but taste as you go.

Simmer for 5 minutes.

Add a tablespoon of yogurt (optional) and squeeze in some lemon.

Serve with rice.

Shahi Vegetable Soup

Fri, 29 May 2009 20:53:30 +0100

My friend Rupert (Marita’s husband), an amazing restaurant chef, joined us for our first Texas Hold’em poker night and we decided to jointly prepare a meal for the group.
Rupert is one of Masala Masala’s biggest fans - he made a vegetable soup and threw in a pot of Shahi which tasted wholesome with the perfect amount of zing.

Recipe:

Stir fry 1 red onion in a little sunflower oil in a large pan. Add diced vegetables (we used lots of carrots, courgettes and yellow and red peppers).

Once the vegetables are soft, add a pint of water. You can dissolve some vegetable stock cubes (e.g. Oxo) to add more flavour. About 3 stock cubes per pint of boiling water is enough.

We poured the mixture into my blender attachment to my Kenwood Chef and allowed the mixture to turn to a thick soup. You can instead take the pan off the heat and use a hand-held blender.

Put the mixture back into the pan and add a pot of Masala Masala Shahi. Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Voila! Serve with some fresh french bread.

Rupert thinks Masala Masala is the perfect addition to Ice Cream... Watch this space and I’ll let you know how it goes...

Grilled BBQ Skewers

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Marita, our Brand Manager, and I visited Michael Kay, a talented food photographer, today. We wanted Michael to take some pictures of our delicious Masala Masala marinated BBQ skewers.
As you can see from the photograoh, we put together a skewer of Indonesian tiger prawns, a skewer of diced chicken and one with mixed peppers, red onions and courgettes. We dipped the tiger prawns and veggie skewers in Shahi and the chicken in Karahi - you can see how delicious the results are just from the photograph above!

3 Shahi Recipes - Biryani, Tiger Prawns and Paneer

Thu, 14 May 2009 20:57:22 +0100

Shahi Tiger Prawns

Butterfly (slice the back without cutting through) approximately 20 uncooked tiger prawns.

Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium sized saucepan.

Add the tiger prawns to the pan and sauté until the prawns curl up and turn pink.

Add a jar of Masala Masala Shahi and bring to a steady simmer on a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and lemon to taste. Serve with pitta bread or on a bed of steaming basmati rice.

Shahi Paneer

Saute 400g of diced paneer (Indian cheese) in 2 tbsp of vegetable oil until light brown.
Add one pot of Masala Masala Shahi and simmer for 6 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve with pitta bread or naan.

Vegetable Biryani

On high heat, sauté your choice of diced mixed vegetables (for 3-4 servings) in 3 tbsp of vegetable oil.

We like to use carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, aubergines and peas.

After three minutes, add a pot of Masala Masala Shahi to the vegetables. Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 5 minutes.

Wash enough rice for 3-4 servings (one handful of raw rice serves one person). Add the washed rice to the pan of vegetables and stir. The rice will begin to glisten after 3 minutes.

Add 1 pint of boiling water to the pan. Cover the pan and allow the rice to cook until it becomes fluffy (8-10 minutes).

Add salt to taste and serve with a spoonful of greek yogurt.