Easy Low Calorie Turkey Breast Curry

Extra special with your favourite chutney's and a dollop of yogurt!

Today I’m sharing a really quick midweek meal. Something I try to do is regulate my portions and calorie intake during the week very rigidly. Sometimes I am really brilliant with it and sometimes not so much! The easiest way for me to get control of calories for the last meal of the day is a half cup of rice topped with something that has been stewed, like a sauce. You can do that using a completely vegetarian palate or a low fat protein such as chicken breast, turkey breast or I even find great success with lean beef in smaller quantities. My secret to keeping the calories low is taking away any fat that I can. My biggest enemy with calories is anything with fat in it. If you have something that has a high fat content or even just a few tablespoons of olive oil, you’re automatically going to be dealing with high calories since fat has a lot of calories. I know that before I started looking at calories and what they translated to in my every day routine, I was shocked at how much oil I was actually using! People say that olive oil is healthy, and while it is; everything in moderation! If you’re not measuring the oil going into your food you can quite easily go overboard. In 1 tablespoon of olive oil there are over 100 calories! If you’re making a one person dish, that’s a lot of calories to part with on your total daily intake; or it is for me anyways!

So with that said, the way I get around it is to boil boil boil! I use a non-stick pan, and I literally toss everything in, bring it to a boil and boil the crap out of it until it’s a thick sauce! No precooking, no heating oil to fry the onions and meat first, none of that! Just toss it in and boil boil boil, keep adding water if it’s not cooked through. Even if you don’t have a great non-stick pan, any large saucepan will work. I’ve found great success in this because you’re also left with a lot of flavour to dive into. I realize that for some things it just takes a bit of time. But if you get home from work and you toss it all in the second you get home bring it to a boil while you’re prepping for a shower, turn it down to medium and cook the crap out of it. My other tip is to stretch everything out with vegetables! Frozen vegetables are particularly the best because they’re completely hassle free and you can have them in ready when you need them. I tend to watch frozen items like peas, and sweetcorn because they tend to generate more calories, but mushrooms, red peppers, onions, green beans are fantastic for this. This recipe makes three portions, and can easily be stretched out for 4-6 with everything doubled. A secret of mine is also LARGE batches! Get those old takeaway containers out because they’re going to be your best friend at making portions correctly. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:
500g (1lb) diced turkey breast
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper
150g button mushrooms
100g frozen peas
30g dried red split lentils
2 tbsp. mango chutney
Handful of coriander (cilantro)
Handfull curry leaves (optional)
2 green cardamom pods
3 whole cloves
1 inch piece cinnamon
2-4 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
Salt to taste

To Start (This will take appx. 1hr)
Prep all of the veg – cut the peppers, slice the mushrooms, dice the onion.
Take out the peas and weight them.
Weigh out the red lentils.
Gather all spices.

To cook:
Heat a pan really hot. (While you don’t have to add oil, you want to throw everything into a very hot pan.)
Start by throwing in the meat first, then the veggies.
Add in the tinned tomatoes and two cans of water.
Next add the spices, and lentils and peas while it’s coming up to a boil.
Salt lightly because it will develop more salt while cooking.
When it’s up to a rolling boil add in two cloves of garlic and turn to a medium boil and cover.
After about 30 minutes of boiling take off the cover, taste to check seasoning, if it needs more salt, salt it.
At this point add half the mango chutney (1 tbsp.), stir in and continue to cook.
If it’s too watery, turn that flame up high and evaporate the water, if it’s running out of water, add a bit more. Cook until the sauce has reached a consistency you like.
If it’s still too bitter add the remaining 1tbsp. of chutney.
At the final 5 minutes of cooking throw in the last clove of garlic, crushed or diced up.
Serve it up when hot on a bed of rice with some fat free yogurt.

*Note: If you can’t find mango chutney, a few tablespoons of coconut milk would be perfect.

Coronation Style Roasted Chicken with Yogurt Marinade

I love nothing more in this world than a roasted chicken! Any way I can take it, I love to experiment and try new things. This time I really wanted to emulate a tandoori chicken but with more of a coronation chicken salad flavour. This was very simple; the only difficult part was doing cutting the back out of the chicken because I decided to do a spatchcock method. I also removed the skin and slashed it a bit so the marinade would seep in. I marinated mine for about 5 hours but you can do 1-2 in a pinch. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 medium chicken (1.4kg)
300g non-fat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp. madras paste
2 tbsp. Mango chutney
5 garlic cloves

To Start:
Spatchcock your chicken, please only do this if you are skilled with a knife, and have a sharp one!
Cut out the backbone on both sides of the spine, flip the chicken over and press it down and break the breastbone.
Remove all the skin and slash the breast and thighs.

To Marinade:
In a bowl, mix up all of the ingredients thoroughly.
Put your chicken in a pan, that can go in the fridge, and rub the marinade in, don’t be afraid to get personal with it. It needs a massage!
Pop that in the fridge for a few hours and you’ll be ready to cook!

To Cook:
Take the chicken out and try to wipe down a bit of the yogurt, but not much.
Place on a wire rack pan and bake at 200C for about an hour or until it’s nice and brown but not burnt.

Easy Dal Curry with Veggies

I’ve made this several times, and each time I add something different, and change it up. It’s so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. I enjoy this as a simple bowl of goodness with a piece of naan bread and a dollop of yogurt and chutney. This also makes amazing leftovers so keep them to eat them! The recipe itself serves about 4. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1 c. Dal – red split lentils
1 eggplant
1 large onion
1 chili
1 green pepper
3 large tomatoes (can use tinned)
2 medium potatoes
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. fenugreek seeds
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tbsp. curry paste (I use madras)
3 cups water
1-2 tbsp. butter
Mango chutney
Yogurt

To start:
Chop up the potatoes and add to a large saucepan with the lentils, cumin, half the ginger, coriander, turmeric and water. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to a gentle simmer and cover.

Next:
While that’s cooking, chop/dice the eggplant, onion, green pepper, chilli.
In a pan big enough to hold all the veggies, heat the butter until melted and add the chopped vegetables, and crush in the garlic.
Stir around until veggies become fragrant and then add the curry paste, fenugreek seeds, and remaining ginger, continuously stirring.

To finish:
Once the veggies have softened, add them to the lentils and potatoes and stir around. You may need to add a bit of water if it’s too thick.
Dice the tomatoes and toss in.
Salt to taste and leave to simmer for about 10 more minutes.
Serve hot with naan bread, or rice, and a dollop of chutney and yogurt.

Fish Curry

This is a delicious alternative to the standard take away. It takes a few extra steps and some extra lovn', and the results will be worth it. It's a delicious delicate fish curry unlike some of the standard sauces you get at local takeaways. I adapted this recipe from a 'do it yourself' curry box, and I think it came out even better. By the way I think chicken or turkey would work perfect with the flavors as well as fish. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
300g firm fish (Salmon, cod, etc..)
1 400g can chopped tomatoes
2 chillies –or as hot as you’d like it
1 onion
50g creamed coconut (3 tbsp.)
1 cinnamon stick
½ tsp peppercorns
½ tsp. cumin seeds
1 thumb size nob fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves
4 cardamom pods
2 whole cloves
1 tbsp. coriander dried
1 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. garam masala
½ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. chili powder
10 curry leaves
2 tbsp. olive oil

To start:
Toast the spices, cinnamon, peppercorns, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, chili powder on a low heat until they become fragrant.
Immediately take off heat and place in a bowl.
Next in a food processor puree the onion, ginger, and garlic. Set Aside.
Grate the creamed coconut and set aside

To cook:
Add oil back into the pan that you toasted the spices, when hot add the puree and cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
Next add the toasted spices, stirring and cooking for a further couple minutes.
Next goes in the creamed coconut shavings, until melted.
Then add the tomatoes and curry leaves bring up to a boil until everything is combined.
Simmer the sauce for about 30-45minutes, stirring occasionally.

To finish:
Make sure there is no skin on your fish.
Cut in chunks about 1-2 inches.
Gently lay the fish in the sauce and move around until covered by the sauce.
Turn the sauce down to low, and simmer for 5 more minutes or until the fish is firm and cooked.
Once finished serve over rice, or for low-carb alternative cauliflower rice, enjoy!

Onion Bhaji

If you’ve had Indian takeaway then you’ve probably tried this tasty accompaniment to many dishes, as an appetizer or a side. This is one of our favorite starters but I’m always off put by the amount of grease that’s usually dripping off them! Sometimes it’s a fun to have the good takeaway kind, but I wanted to make my own that weren’t swimming in oil, and just lightly pan fried. These onion fritters will make an exceptional homemade touch to your Indian cook up, not to mention impress your guests. Makes about 6 fritters.

Ingredients:
1 medium egg
½ c flour
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. water
3 tbsp. vegetable, or rapeseed oil

To start:
Slice the onion, length wise, then cut in half again (Basically doesn’t matter as long as it’s not too small and it’s big enough to hold on to batter)

To Combine:
In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the egg, water, and spices. (You want a thick pancake consistency, if too lose add more flour).
Add the onion and use your hand to combine and coat all the onions.

To cook:
Heat the oil in a pan.
When hot pick up a small ball about a half a handful and lay in the hot oil, and continue until the onion mixture is finished.
Brown on each side, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve with mango chutney, lime pickle, or your favorite raita.

Lamb Curry

So curry can be a difficult thing to make, and time consuming. But if you love it enough you will do what it takes to get an authentic homemade taste. This recipe is versatile, although it has a lot of ingredients; I have yet to find a good recipe that has a small amount. The more the ingredients the more depth of flavour is added to your dish. This can easily be made vegetarian substituting the lamb with anything such as aubergines (eggplant), courgettes, okra, etc… I hope that I can break down the steps simply enough to get you started, to 1) Blend your own spices, and 2) Adapt this to anything you like to eat with your curry. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
400-500g Lamb cubes (lean)
2 onions
Half red pepper
Half yellow pepper
Two tomatoes
1-2 chillies
200g puree of lentils (mash half a can)
Juice 200g pineapple can (in own juice)
2 tbsp. mango chutney
¼ c yogurt (I use non-fat Greek)
2 tbsp. tomato puree
1 tbsp. ginger puree (buy pre-made or chop a thumb size nob to a fine dice/mince.)
1 tbsp. garlic puree (see ginger puree)
½ c lamb stock (made from a cube, or use water)
1 tbsp. chilli powder
½ tbsp. turmeric powder
1-2 tbsp. curry powder (recipe follows)
5-10 cardamom pods
1 tbsp. garam masala (buy it at most stores or omit if you can’t find it)
1-2 tbsp. vegetable oil


To Start:
If you don’t have curry powder you’ll need to make your own, recipe follows. Mix in a paste the ginger puree, garlic puree, curry powder, turmeric, chilli powder, and a little water. Set aside.

Next:
Slice peppers, onions, tomatoes and chilli(s), set aside.

To Continue:
Mix together yogurt, tomato puree, lentils, lamb stock (or water).

To assemble the curry:
Fry in oil, onions and peppers on high heat for about 5 minutes in a large sauté pan.
Add the paste and fry for about 5 minutes coating the onions and peppers and becoming fragrant.
Next add the lamb, chillies, tomatoes and sauté for a further 5 minutes until the meat is browned.
Next add the pineapple juice, mango chutney and cardamom pods.
To finish add the yogurt, tomato lentil mixture.
If a little thick add a little water to get the texture you like.
Bring to a low simmer for about 20 minutes.
Finally add the garam masala and coriander at the end.
Serve over Basmati rice and enjoy…


Curry Powder:
2 tbsp. cumin
2 tbsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. cayenne
½ tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. mustard powder (English)
½ tsp. ground ginger
Mix together and keep in an airtight container.