Lotus Biscoff Brownies

These rich and fudgy Lotus Biscoff Brownies are made using melted Biscoff spread and crunchy Biscoff biscuits!

Are you a fan of Biscoff? If so, this is the recipe for you! I cannot exactly pinpoint what makes Biscoff so tasty, it is like a combination of cookie dough, caramel and cinnamon. Combine the flavour of Biscoff with fudgy chocolate brownies topped off with a luscious drizzle of Biscoff spread, and you have a dream dessert. Adapted this recipe from Cupcakesavvykitchen.com

Ingredients:

• 300g dark chocolate
• 200g butter
• 200g plain flour
• 50g cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 300g brown sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 16 Biscoff cookies
• ¼ cup Biscoff spread

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 170ºC. Grease and line a 9" square tin with baking paper.

In a pan over a low heat, melt the butter and chocolate together, stirring continuously until smooth. Remove from heat and let cool until warm.

In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla with a hand mixer on medium speed until the mixture is light in colour and has increased in volume.

Gently pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the whipped eggs and sugar. Mix with a hand mixer until fully combined.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder over the wet ingredients. Use a silicone spatula to fold until the batter is smooth and glossy.

Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Break 8 Biscoff cookies in half and arrange them on top of the batter. Cover with the remaining batter.

Break the rest of the Biscoff cookies into pieces and scatter them on top of the batter.

Bake for 50 minutes, or until set. Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. then remove and cool completely.

Warm the Biscoff spread in the microwave for 20 seconds to make it more fluid for drizzling.

Drizzle the warm Biscoff spread over the cooled brownies. Slice into 16 pieces and serve.

Kerala Style Chicken Curry

Kerala Style Chicken Curry aka Nadan Kozhi, is a fragrant South Indian creamy coconut curry. Generous pieces of chicken in a rich aromatic Kerala curry sauce bursting with South Indian flavours of curry leaves, black pepper, fennel and coconut. 

This Kerala chicken curry goes well with plain rice, ghee rice, appam or any breads like roti, paratha or chapathi.

Ingredients:

• 600g-650g of chicken, with bone or boneless
• 1 medium size onions, thinly sliced
• 1 medium size tomato, finely chopped
• 500g potato, cubed
• 2-3 green chillies, slit lengthy
• 2 tbsp ginger & garlic paste, pounded finely
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1½ tbsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2-3 sprigs curry leaves
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1½ tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cooking oil or coconut oil
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Tempering 1:

• 4-5 cloves
• cinnamon, about 2 inch
• 1 bay leaf
• 2-3 petals star anise
• ½ tsp fennel seeds

Tempering 2:

• 2 tsp oil
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 sprig curry leaves

For marination:

• ¼ tsp red chilli powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper powder
• a pinch of turmeric
• ½ tsp salt

Method:

Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Add the marination ingredients to the chicken and mix well. Keep it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

In a cooking pan, heat the oil on medium high heat and and do the tempering 1 with the given ingredients. Add the sliced onion, green chillies and curry leaves. Sauté it with a pinch of salt until transparent. Add in the pounded ginger & garlic paste, fry until the raw smell disappears, takes about3-4 minutes. Add in all the powdered spices and fry for another minutes.

Add the marinated chicken, chopped tomato and sauté for 4-5 minutes or until the chicken is half cooked. Now add in the cubed potatoes and give it a mix. Add 1 cup of water and cook it covered, until the chicken and potatoes are cook. 

Once cooked, add in the coconut milk and let it cook to a boil. Meanwhile, heat another pan and do the tempering 2 with 2 tsp of oil. Once the oil becomes hot, add in the chopped onion, garlic and curry leaves. Fry until the onion becomes golden. Add to the chicken curry and also add in the chopped coriander and lemon juice. Mix well & serve immediately.

Indian Chicken Stew with Potatoes

I have a urge to have a saucy Indian dish for this cold winter night to pair it with some nan bread or even rice. Looking for something creamy, tomato-based and comes with potatoes. Eventually I found a recipe that tick my boxes. This recipe is adapted from Seasons & Suppers.

Don't let the long list of ingredients put you off. Once you build up your spice collection, you will realized that many of the recipes are within reach. This stew is packed with flavour and heat, depending on how much  cayenne pepper you add. Searing and then simmering the chicken in the sauce keeps the white meat tender and moist. And, like most stews, it tastes better the second day-if it lasts that long.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large skin-on/bone-in chicken breasts or boneless
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp finely grated ginger
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2½ tsp garam masala
• 2½ tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• ½-¾ tsp cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you prefer
• 3 cups of chicken stock
• ¾ cup chopped tin tomatoes
• ½ cup double cream
• 500g potatoes, cut into ¼" thickness ( you can use white, Yukon Golds, Maris Piper)

Method:

Heat vegetable oil in a large pan over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place skin side down in to the pan. Cook until golden brown without turning, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.

To the same pot, add onion, garlic and ginger to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is very soft and golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Add tomato paste, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, coriander, cayenne and cook, stirring often until tomato paste is beginning to darken, about 4 minutes.

Add chicken pieces, chicken stock, chopped tin tomatoes and cream to pot. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is almost falling off the bone and liquid is slightly thickened, about 1 hours. If using bone-in chicken, remove chicken to a plate and carefully remove chicken from the bone and discard skin and bones. Cut or pull chicken into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken pieces to the pot.

Add potatoes to the pot and cook partially covered, until potatoes are fork-tender and sauce is thickened, 30-45 minutes. Stir every so often to ensure the sauce hasn't thickened too much and potatoes aren't sticking to the bottom of the pot. If sauce is too thick, thin with a bit more chicken stock.

To serve, spoon the stew into a shallow bowl and place a large dollop of yogurt on one side. Sprinkle with some fresh coriander or parsley and serve with nan bread on the side. Alternately, spoon stew over some warm white rice.

Chicken Dopiaza

Dopiaza curry is an ancient Indian dish that is become a favourite worldwide. And it is not surprising, big, bold tastes of spice and lots of onions make this one seriously tasty curry.

Dopiaza means two onions in Persian. But is is not really two onions. It's onion two ways. It refers to a delicious curry recipe using a base of onion puree as well as additional onions for a delicious sauce that can be used with a variety of different meats or proteins.

It is a popular choice at Indian takeaways or restaurants across the UK and other parts of the world.

I like to serve this with simple pilau rice.

Ingredients:

• 550-650g boneless chicken breast or thighs, cut into bite pieces
• 1½ cup of chicken stock
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, pureed
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1½ tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp chilli powder, depending on your spice level
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 450g onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 80ml natural yoghurt
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 3 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

Bring a small saucepan of ½ cup of water to boil and add 250g of the chopped onion. Boil until soft, drain and puree with a hand blender or in a food processor. Set aside.

Heat a deep frying pan over a medium-high heat, add the oil. Add in the remaining onion and carrots and fry for a few minutes to soften.

Add the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala and tomato paste. Stir until paste-like. Add a little drop of water to prevent sticking if needed.

Add the chicken meat and add the cardamom pods. Add in the onion puree and bring to a boil, then reduce heat slightly and simmer for 15-20 minutes. The liquid should have reduced down into a thick gravy that coats the chicken. If it is still liquidly, turn up the heat a little to allow it to bubble gently.

Spoon some of the gravy into the yoghurt, to bring the yoghurt to room temperature and then remove dopiaza from the heat and stir in the yoghurt.

Decorate with some chopped coriander & serve with plain rice