Yahnilia Makarna

I was happily reading 'Bubblegarm's' blog, when I cam across her favourite turkish meal,  made of fresh tomatoes, chicken, lemon juice, halloumi cheese and served with a pasta of your choice.

She described the dish as tangy, spicy, enriched with the juices of the chicken and tomatoes.  Being a lemon lover I just had to give it a try.  I am a newbie when it comes to halloumi cheese, but that didn't put me off.  

I adapted the recipe according to my taste buds and whose saying you can't either.  So here goes...

Ingredients for halloumi


*  50-60 gms of grated halloumi cheese
*  2tsp dry mint
*  Black pepper (according to taste)


Mix all the ingredients together.  Set aside as this will be used when ready to serve.

Ingredients for Yahnili

*  2 chicken brests cubed

*  1 medium sized onion chopped

*  2tsp of tomato puree (I opted for one with added garlic)

*  2 tomatoes chopped

*   Half a tin of plum tomatoes

*  Juices of 2 lemons (or according to taste)

*  Pepper (according to taste)

*  2tsp of chilli powder(optional)

*  2 tbsp of olive oil

1)  Add oil to a deep pan with a lid.  Fry onions until golden

2)  Add chicken.  Cook until throughly cooked.

3)  Next add tomato puree.  Fry for a while.

4)  Add the fresh tomatoes and tinned tomatoes.  Cook until it all starts to come together.

5)  Add enough water to cover everything.

6)  Add lemon juice, salt, pepper and chilli powder.  Simmer.

7)  Check for seasoning after half hour.  Adjust now.

8)  Simmer for another half hour.

Ingredients for Makarna

* 250gms pasta boiled in salted water and drained.  (I used fusili).

Plate up

1)  Layer the halloumi mix in a deep plate.  Add some pasta, some of the sauce with the chicken pieces and top it off with another layer of halloumi.

*  Eat whilst hot, to enjoy the mouthwatering flavours.  BTW the halloumi cheese is so creamy and delicious.

Have you tried a new recipe?

Lamb Chop Curry


Tender lamb, enveloped in a thick flavoursome sauce, accompanied with chunks of new baby potatoes, was one of many childhood favourites.

Walking back from school, getting nearer to home and the aroma of curry wafts through the quite street.  My mother didn't need to tell us what she had been cooking, as the bouquet of spices did all the talking.

Rushing inside, quickly removing my shoes and dropping my bag on the oak floor in the hallway, I would then settle in front of the television in our living room, with my younger sister.  My mother would fill a small round bowl with the hot lamb curry and of course make fresh chapatis to eat with.

Me and my sister were always arguing over the last piece of chapati, to scoop up the last lick of sauce, from the bottom of the bowl.

Ingredients

*  7 lamb chops

*  2 onions chopped

*  2 tomatoes chopped

*  2 cloves of garlic

*  Cube of ginger

*  1 tsp of ground garam masala

*  1 tsp of chilli powder (or according to taste)

*  Salt (according to taste)

*  6 new baby potatoes halved

*  3 tbsp of olive oil

*  Handful of chopped coriander to garnish

1)  Add oil in a deep pan.  Fry the onions until they are golden brown.  Add the ginger and garlic.  Fry for 2 mins.

2)  Add the tomatoes, along with the garam masala, chilli powder and salt.  Cook until some of the oil starts to appear on top.  Stirring frequently.

3)  Add the lamb and fill the pan with enough water just so it is all covered.  Simmer for 40/50 mins.

4)  The water will have reduced adjust the salt and chilli now.  Add another cup of water and  add the potatoes.  Cook until the sauce is thick and the potatoes are cooked.

5)  Garnish with the fresh coriander.

*  Serve with fresh chapatis, or  jasmine rice.

Balti Mini Lamb Kebabs

Highly spiced kebabs, baby new potatoes, sweet red onions and juicy cherry tomatoes make this a delectable meal.

Grabbing a handful of fresh coriander and green chillies, my grandma chopped them as finely as possible.  'To use for garnishing at the end' she would say in her own loving way, over and over.  

Stretching  naan bread with her soft hands into the famous teardrop shape, was a traditional method for my grandma.  I would watch her concentrating as she grilled the naan for a few minutes and when once done, brushed with lashings of ghee (clarified butter). 


Heaping spoonfuls of  the subtle sweet and spicy balti on the hot naan, we would then sit on her vintage cream garden furniture, detailed with intricate brocade designs and eat until there was room for no more.

Apologies, if the method seems so long, but I have wrote it in small bitesize instructions.  Easy and delicious.

Ingredients

Kebabs

*  600gms lean minced lamb

*  1 medium onion finely chopped

*  2 cloves of  garlic
*  2 tbsp of fresh coriander
*  1 green chilli
*  Salt (according to taste)
*  2tsp of chilli powder (or according to taste)
*  1 tbsp of gram flour
*  1 tbsp of olive oil


Vegetables


*  10 baby new potatoes (cut in halves and boiled in salted water until cooked)
*  8 cherry tomatoes cut in halves
*  1 baby aubergine thickly sliced
*  1 medium red onion finely sliced
*  1 green chilli finely cut to garnish
*  Coriander to garnish


Sauce


*  2 ripe tomatoes chopped
*  2 tbsp of olive oil
*  1 clove of garlic crushed
*  Small cube of ginger crushed
*  1 tsp of garam masala (whole and crushed)
*  1 tsp of chilli powder (or according to taste)
*  Salt according to taste


Kebabs


1)  Apart from the minced lamb and gram flour, blitz the rest of the ingredients with a electric hand whisk, to form a green paste.


2)  Add to the minced lamb and gram flour.  


3)  Form the kebabs on metal skewers, making sure they are in bitesize chunks.  (If this proves difficult, mould into small sausage shapes and insert skewer through middle).  Remove from skewer and place in a plate.


4)  Add oil to a griddle pan and brown each kebab evenly, until thoroughly cooked.  Remove and place on a plate.


Sauce


1)  Add oil to a wok, add the tomatoes, cook until they turn soft and start losing their shape.


2)  Add the garlic, ginger and garam masala, cook for a 1-2 mins.


3)  Now add the chilli powder and salt according to your taste.  Cook for 5-7 mins until the tomatoes have all softened and everything is combined.


Vegetables


1)  Add the potatoes to the sauce and cook for a further 3-4 mins


2)  Add the baby aubergine and onions and cook for a further 5-8 mins


3)  Put in the cherry tomatoes and stir until slightly soft, to release its sweetness


5)  Add the kebabs and stir for 2-4 mins


4)  Garnish with coriander, green chilli and a dash of lemon juice.  Stir carefully.


*  Buy ready made naan breads, heat and brush with butter.  Top off with the balti and serve with plain greek yogurt. 

Lamb Mince Curry


Yesterday was hot and sunny in Manchester.  I didn't want to stand in the kitchen boiling over a hot cooker, so I decided to make something that would require minimal stirring and of course effort. 

Delicately spiced minced lamb, along with tender potatoes and fresh peas, was called for.  

Known as Keema- Aloo in Urdu, it is a typical Pakistani dish, which evokes such wonderful memories of my mother.  Stood in the kitchen on a small red chair, I would watch her as she gently filled home made pastry with leftover Keema-Aloo and then seal the edges with a brush of milk, creating perfectly sized samosas each time.  These were then deep fried until they turned  a golden brown colour.  


Once slightly cooled but the filling still piping hot, me and my sisters would then dip each puffed triangle into a medley of mint, coriander chutneys and sip hot chai, in the shade of our cherry tree.

Ingredients

*  500gms of minced lamb

*  2tbsp of olive oil

*  2 small onions finely chopped

*  1/2 of a chopped tomato tin

*  2 cloves of garlic

*  Cube of ginger

*  1tsp of garam masala (whole not ground)

*  2tsp of chilli powder (or according to taste)

*  Salt (according to taste)

*  2 medium sized potatoes (cut in small cubes)

*  Handful of frozen peas (defrosted)

*  Coriander to garnish

1)  Using a pestle and mortar grind together the ginger, garlic and garam masala, until it turns to a powder like form.  This does not need to be too fine.

2)  Except the potatoes and peas, add all the ingredients into a medium sized pan (similar to a hotpot) and add enough water so that it covers everything.

3)  Place the lid on.  Bring it to a boil and cook on a medium heat and stir every 10 mins, until there is slightly less than half of the water remaining.  This should take around 30/35 mins.

4)  Adjust the chilli and salt according to your taste.  Add the potatoes, place the lid back on and cook until they are half done. 

5)  Next add the peas and simmer until the potatoes and peas are thoroughly cooked, stirring as you go along, so that the water evaporates.

6)  Finally turn off the heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy.

*  This can be accompanied with boiled white rice, pasta, or fresh naan smothered with garlic butter.