Sunday 11 May 2014

Tandoori Chicken + Hummus Platters + Meringue Cakes: 3 May - 9 May 2014

Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Alhamdulillah, this past week has flown by.




 Throughout this post I have included little snippets of advice that I have found useful from my Instagram feed.
In life, sometimes we may not always have made the best decisions. Things will not have turned out as we had planned and envisioned.
Yes, we should be content with our lot in life and whatever Allah has decreed for us. Trust in Him that His plan is for the best, and pretty soon you will see it unfold before your very eyes. 
And when it does, you will look back and say, "Yes, my Lord knew what was best for me and He has provided me with it now".

Saturday: I was woken up by the blazing, hot sun.
One of my favourite Hadith. I think it just encapsulates the belief about true trust and faith in Allah so concisely.
Saturday was the day when I realised that I had never ever tried making choux pastry. This is the pastry used when making eclairs, profiteroles and the like. I tried my hand at chocolate eclairs, and suffice to say, they didn't come out the best, so I shall definitely be trying again, inshallah. 
Today's calendar advice was about the most beloved and most hated speech to Allah.
Saturday was also spent making a Chocolate Pavlova which would actually turn out to be the chewy, almost brownie like centre to this.
Dinner was one of my favourites - my Mums spicy roast dinners. 
Recipe for the Chicken Tikka: 4 tbsp yoghurt, 1 tsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp red food colour, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp curry powder, 2 tsp dried fenugreek, 1 pound boneless chicken. Mix all together and leave to marinade. Roast in the oven at Gas Mark 7 or 200C for 30 minutes on one side, and then 20 minutes on the other side. Cover and steam for 10 minutes.
Recipe for the Roast Potatoes: Peel and cut potatoes into chunks, boil them until just cooked. Drain and shake them. Drizzle on a little oil, and place into oven at Gas Mark 7 or 200C for 30 minutes. Take out and in a plate, put salt, pepper and red chilli powder, all to taste. Sprinkle onto the potatoes to make sure they are coated. Roast again for 30 minutes until crispy.
Recipe for the vegetables: Steam a variety of vegetables in a steamer.
Sunday: Another busy day filled with lots of family and food began with jelly being made for the trifle.
The white meringues were put into bake for this.
Two of the biggest guavas I've ever seen made an appearance in our house. Any guava related recipes would be much appreciated?
More polony - this is the chicken and the lamb. I find that these are really useful especially when you're making a recipe that originally uses bacon - you can just substitute with slices of these.
My dad picked up this Gujrati Pickle. I think the difference is the extra whole spice that had been put in.
Oh my days! Seabrook crisps, for me, are such a blast from the past. Hadn't had these in years!
One of my new favourite nut mixes - the Chipotle Chilli Nut and Corn - so good!
And, apricots, which were put to good use later in the week.
Sunday was also the day when my mother unearthed her recipe for her now-famous, Butter Chicken.
The secret ingredient? Butter! And, lots of it!
Update: Here is the recipe.
Sunday was a busy day in the kitchen - Meringue Layer Cakes were being assembled.
Along with Strawberry Trifle.
My mother got a bit excited with the custard.
And, got a bit fancy with the decoration.
And, finally, the family favourite Custard Slices were put together.
Then, it was off to dinner at my cousins house where the food included a Spicy Chaat made with potatoes, chickpeas, kidney beans, pomegranate seeds and imli chutney.
A salad made with cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, spicy marinaded olives and mixed salad leaves.
A chutney made with green coriander chutney, imli chutney and sliced red onion.
And, of course, the obligatory Green Yoghurt Chutney.
The Chicken Pulao was steaming.

And, the table was ready.
And, then it was time to eat. We ate my mother's Butter Chicken.
A Gosht Shorba made by my aunt. A shorba is a thin, aromatic and spicy curry and here it was made with lamb.
My aunt's famous Tandoori Chicken was delicious as usual. Smoky, spicy and full of tandoori flavour.
There were Lamb Kebabs which were really juicy and spicy - perfect with the Green Yoghurt Chutney.
And, of course, the Chicken Pulao.
The savoury food was all so good ..
.. but some of us just couldn't wait to get to the dessert.

The dessert station was full of goodies all waiting to be dug into.
The first of which was a beautiful cake made by cousin - a vanilla sponge with custard and strawberry jam running through the middle.
It was covered with fresh whipped cream, cherries, sliced strawberries, kiwi and grated chocolate.
Then, there was My Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake.
And, after a few last minute sprinkles, there was Strawberry Trifle.
And, Custard Slices.

To end the wonderful meal, Indian Tea was poured.

And, served!

After all that food, some of us wanted to escape ..

.. and play with the big boys outside!
Monday: After all that indulging at the weekend, it was time for a detox, starting with a Roasted Red Pepper and Paprika Hummus made using this recipe.
Along with Banana Smoothies made by blending bananas, milk and honey.
The hummus was really tasty and was made with chickpeas, red bell pepper, jalapeno chillies, olive oil, water, tahini paste, paprika, ground cumin, lemon juice and salt.

I served it on a sharing platter with leftover tandoori chicken, leftover lamb kebabs, carrots and cucumber.
A lovely card from my cousin - which reminds me, I need to try macaroons again soon!
Tuesday: Stepped into another kitchen today. I loved these toy kitchens when I was a kid!
This little madam made me a lovely little pulao along with some tea, of course.
The sun was shining bright and the cherry blossoms were out.
Time for one of these!
I made more ice lollies as well. These were Banana Cinnamon flavour and made by blending together bananas, coconut milk, water and ground cinnamon.
You can find the full recipe here.
I also baked an Apricot Galette using the little apricots from Sunday.

Dinner was another sharing platter with roasted red pepper and paprika hummus, cucumber, yellow pepper, tomato, carrot and Lebanese grilled chicken.
To make the Lebanese grilled chicken, mix 1 pound boneless chicken with the juice of 1 lemon, 7 crushed garlic cloves, 3 tbsp plain yoghurt, 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tsp white pepper, pinch ground ginger, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp tomato puree and salt, to taste.
Mix and marinade for as long as you have. Grill or cook in a pan, and serve!
Wednesday: The little madam was joined by her younger brother in the kitchen.
But in the end, he took full control!
I could have used his help later in the day when a Cinnamon Ice Cream I was making went horribly wrong. Oh well, I'll try again next time!
Thursday: After a very busy morning, lunch was my version of a Ploughman's Sandwich - wholemeal bread, mayonnaise, Branston's pickle, cucumber and matured Cheddar. For a traditional version, add in tomatoes and lettuce.
These pretzels had been lying around for a while so I decided to bake Chocolate Chip Pretzel Cookie Bars.

The cookie bars were ready and packaged off! 
Dinner was a Roast Chicken and Potato Bake. Mix together 1 pound chicken drumsticks, 1 pound chicken thighs, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tbsp fresh rosemary, 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp dried thyme, 2 tsp dried sage, 1 tbsp mustard, handful potatoes, 1/3 cup olive oil, 10 unpeeled garlic cloves, salt, black pepper and red chilli powder. 
Roast in a hot oven at 220C or Gas Mark 7 for about 1 and 1/2 hour until fully coooked.
It was delicious but I should have added more red chilli powder - we love our spice!
Friday: Lunch was at my cousins house - a salad made from cucumber, cherry tomato, mixed salad leaves, radish, marinated olives and carrots.
With oven chips - I actually prefer oven baked over deep fried now.
And, Stir Fried Spicy Chicken. This was made with boneless chicken pieces fried in ginger, garlic and oil until half cooked. Then, tomatoes, black pepper, salt, red chilli powder and fresh green chillies were added. It was then stir fried until cooked through.
Someone was running away from the cat!
Staring out at the evening clouds.
And, determined to put on her own shoes!

Recipes posted at This Muslim Girl Bakes this week include:


Thai Noodle Soup

Chimichurri Fish Tacos

My Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake

Hope you've all had an equally beautiful week, and an even better one to come, inshallah!

Wasalaam!


Spice Enthusiast
© copyrights This Muslim Girl Bakes, All Rights Reserved. Branding & Blog Design by Sadaf F K.