Mushroom and Green Bean Bhaji

This a lovely side dish that goes with any curry, especially my Chittinad Chicken Curry or grilled chicken or fish, even a nice steak.
Perfect for vegetarians as a main dish too. Syn free on extra easy and full of super free, Great for an SP day too.

Ingredients

1 onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

salt to taste

1 tbsp tomato puree

8oz mushrooms quartered

8oz green beans chopped into 3

Method

Blitz the onion and garlic until smooth, mix together all the spices.

In a large pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onion mixture for 2 minutes over a low heat so as not to burn, then mix in the spices, salt and tomato puree. Have a cup of water ready. Add a tbsp of water to the mixture and keep stirring so the spices don't stick to the pan, keep doing this for about 5 minutes, you should end up with a sauce. Add the mushrooms and green beans, simmer until they are cooked through about 10 minutes, keep adding water if needed and stirring occasionally.

Chettinad Chicken Curry

I love this curry!! It has fast become my favourite one to make and of course eat....
You can make it as spicy as you like, by adding more chillies. It has desiccated coconut in it, but that is optional if you don't want the syns.

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves peeled
2 inches ginger peeled
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs with all fat removed quartered
1 tsp turmeric
1 onion chopped
2 red chillies sliced
1 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp desiccated coconut toasted optional 9 syns
2 cinnamon sticks
400ml vegetable stock

Spice Mix

fennel seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds 2 tsp of each.
1 long dried chilli
1 star anise

Method

Blitz the garlic and ginger with a tsp water until smooth, then mix with the turmeric and massage into the chicken, leave to marinade for at least an hour, if possible over night.
Toast all the whole spices in a pan until aromatic, then grind.
In a pan sprayed with frylight, fry the onion and red chilli seasoned with salt until soft, add the chicken, tomato purée, cinnamon sticks, coconut if using and spices, fry for 2 minutes, pour in the stock and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

I served it with rice and Mushroom and Green Bean Bhaji.

Potato, Mushroom and Aubergine Curry

I found this recipe on the Good Food website and as it looked so tasty decided to adapt it for Slimming World.

You don't have to use the vegetables i've used, you can add about anything. I think next time i make it i will add cauliflower, butternut squash and mangetout.

It was very tasty and spicy, but you can adjust the spice by the amount of paste you put in. I used 4 tbps, and i would say it was about as spicy as a madras from a take away.

It made a huge pot about 6 serving, depending how hungry you are. The whole pot was only 1.5 syns on extra easy, but you could make it syn free by using different yogurts.

Curry Paste Ingredients

3 tbsp coriander seeds

2 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp mustard seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

1 inch ginger 

4 garlic cloves

1 tbsp tomato puree

4 tbsp white wine vinegar

Method

Dry fry the whole spices till they are fragrant for about 2-3 minutes.

Blitz the whole spices in a coffee or spice grinder, then put everything into a blender and blend until its smooth. This makes more than you need for this recipe, so divide the mixture into tbsp spoon portions and put into an ice cube tray and freeze what you don't use for another time.

Curry Ingredients

2 onions roughly chopped

1 large potato cubed

1 aubergine cubed

1 red or yellow pepper diced

800g button mushrooms

2-4 tbsps curry paste

300 ml vegetable stock

3 tubs muller light greek style coconut yogurt, 0.5 syns each

handful coriander leaves roughly chopped 

Method

Fry the onions and potatoes in a large pot sprayed with frylight for 2 minutes, then cover and cook for 3-4 minutes, keep checking that they aren't sticking to the pot.

Add the mushrooms, pepper and aubergine and fry uncovered until golden. Stir in the curry paste and cook out for 5 minutes, season and add the stock, bring to a boil them simmer till potatoes are cooked.

Take the pot of the heat and stir in the yogurts and coriander, if needed, gentle heat the curry through, careful not to let it split.

Serve with rice.