Tag Archives: paleo

Sweet Potato Curry with Coconut Milk from Karnataka

Dinner, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When we lived in India I needed to go to Cochin in Kerala for work. The market research session I was attending didn’t start until the afternoon, so I had the morning to explore Fort Cochin. There amoungst the alleyways I found a tiny little bookshop piled high with books. A wonderful little treasure trove. From that store I bought a South Indian Vegetarian cookbook which I love exploring. This recipe is based on that for Urulaikizhangu Saagu which is a Potato Curry from Karnataka. Using sweet potatoes to make a Sweet Potato Curry gives it a slightly richer flavor (and a few more vitamins), and I skipped the process of making homemade coconut milk, and stuck to a store bought can for convenience. It is truly delicious!

Ingredients

  • 3 large sweet potatoes
  • 1 270ml can coconut milk
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 2 green chilies, de-seeded and finely chopped
  • 2cm piece of ginger, peeled, grated
  • 2 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Spice paste

  • 1 tsp poppy seeds
  • 3 dried chillies
  • 1 Tbsp Bengal gram or Moong dal
  • 1 Tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 cinnamon stick

Tempering

  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp urad dal
  • 1 tsp Bengal gram or Moong dal
  • 1 dried chilli
  • 1 sprig curry leaves

Directions

  1. Peel the sweet potatoes. Cut into 1-2cm cubes. Cook in salted, boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside
  2. Grind ingredients for spice paste in a mill accessory on a blender or food processor. Gradually add 2-3 Tbsp to make a paste
  3. Heat some oil in a large frying pan. Add all the Tempeeing ingredients and fry until the mustard seeds start to splutter
  4. Add the onions to the Tempered spices and fry until golden, around 3 minutes
  5. Add green chilies, ginger, tomatoes, turmeric, and salt. Fry for about 2 minutes
  6. Add 1 cup of water and turn up the heat (from 6 to 7 on an induction cooktop). Simmer for 4-5 minutes stirring occasionally
  7. Turn down the heat (to 6 on an Induction cooktop). Mix in the spice paste and sweet potatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently to ensure all ingredient should are well mixed together and the mixture does not catch on the pan
  8. Pour in the can of Coconut Milk and stir to combine thoroughly. Simmer for a few minutes over a low heat.
  9. Serve with rice, idli, dosa, or roti

Gluten Free Pikelets

Breakfast, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Liam decided he wanted to cook this morning and had a whole bunch of ingredients out on the bench. Including, cheese, chocolate, eggs, flour, maple syrup and almond milk. “I want to make a cheesey, chocolatey, little pancake” he said. “I’m not sure about the feta and chocolate together, but we could make little pikelets with melted chocolate” I replied, “oh, but there is loads of sugar in pikelets” I muttered. “No problem, we can use maple syrup instead of sugar” he said. And so this recipe was born. A slightly sweeter, thicker pancake mix, with baking powder so that it would rise, and it worked really well.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250ml) gluten free flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 egg
  • 180ml almond milk
  • pinch of salt
  • a little water

Directions

  1. Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix well
  2. Add a little water to get a thick batter, but one that can be spooned into the pan (about 50ml depending on your flour).
  3. Heat a frying pan on a moderate heat (induction 6).
  4. Place a desert size scoop of batter into the pan. Spread it a little to have the batter an even thickness of approx 1/2cm thick.
  5. Cook all the batter in batches and serve warm with melted chocolate, honey, jam and coconut yoghurt, or other toppings of your choice

Asian bean sprout and Chervil salad

Lunch and Light Meals, , , , ,

The delivery of Chervil In this weeks Organic food basket delivery has led to us experimenting with what to do with it. Dinner tonight was a simple pan fried salmon with this delicious, but very easy to make salad. The Chervil has a lovely aniseed flavor that really adds to the freshness of the dish.

Ingredients

Dressing

  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp coconut aminos (or light soya sauce)
  • 1 Tbsp orange juice
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 Tbsp (not too hot) chili sauce

Salad

  • 150-200g bean sprouts (tauge)
  • 1/2 red capsicum (pepper), julienned
  • 1 orange, peeled and cut into segments, cut segments in half
  • large handful of fresh chervil, roughly chopped
  • Handful of chopped cashews, pan fried

Directions

  1. Finely slice (julienne) the capsicum
  2. Peel the orange and cut it into segment. Cut the segments in half to get chunks of orange approximately 1cm cubed
  3. Chop the fresh chervil roughly
  4. Chop a handful of cashews roughly and dry pan fry (without oil) them until they are golden brown.
  5. Place all the salad ingredients together in a salad bowl
  6. Combine all of the dressing ingredients together in a cup and stir well to combine
  7. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients and toss to combine
  8. Allow the salad to come up to nearly room temperature by leaving it on the bench top for around 30 minutes. This also give the dressing ingredients time to  intensify in flavour
  9. Serve almost room temperature

 

Lamb shanks with kumara garlic mash

Dinner, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lamb shanks with red onion reduction and kumara garlic mash

We have had a great time finding butchers since our move to Auckland and while we are lucky to have a really nice one just around the corner from our house, a trip to Hamilton gave us a reason to stop off at the Pokeno Bacon shop and explore the butchery there. These lamb shanks were one of the delicious cuts of meat that we bought there. Looking forward to the next trip south, and the next excuse to stop off there!

This is a hearty dish that really fits with colder weather. The lamb falls off the bone of the lamb shanks, and the red onion reduction gives a nice hearty sauce that goes well with the lamb shanks, but also the kumara (sweet potato) mash. 

Ingredients

  • 2 lamb shanks
  • 2 Tbsp rice flour
  • Sea salt and pepper
  • 1 tomato (ripe)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
  • 2 Tbsp of olive oil
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 stalks of rosemary
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 large kumara (sweet potato) (500g)
  • 1 whole garlic bulb, cut in half across the bulbs
  • 3 Tbsp of coconut or other milk of your choice

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius
  2. Heat a pot of water. Cut an X in the top of the tomato. Dip the tomato into the boiling water until the skin starts to peel off. Remove from the water and peel the tomato. Cut the tomato into small pieces.
  3. Heat a pan to a medium heat. Add the olive oil and 2 cloves of the sliced garlic. Cook until the garlic is golden. Add the tomato pieces and stir. Break the tomato up using a wooden spoon as it slowly cooks. Turn the heat down and allow the tomato to reduce to 1/3 of the starting amount (about 2 Tbsp). Remove from the heat and set aside.
  4. Put the rice flour into a plastic bag and season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the lamb shanks to the bag and shake the bag to coat the lamb shanks with the flour.
  5. Heat a frying pan with some olive oil in it to a medium heat. Add the lamb shanks to the pan and brown the lamb shanks on all sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
  6. In the same pan, add the onion. Cook for around 5 minutes until the onion is cooked through and lightly browned. Add the other 2 cloves of chopped garlic and stir for 1 minute more. Add the balsamic vinegar and rosemary stalks and turn up the heat. Allow the balsamic vinegar to reduce for 2 minutes.
  7. Add the reduced tomato paste, and 1 cup of water to the pan. Allow to boil on a moderate heat for 3 minutes until the sauce has reduced and thickened.
  8. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lamb shanks to the pan. Cover the pan and place it in the oven. Cook covered at 180 degrees celsius for 90 minutes.
  9. Remove the pan from the oven and baste the lamb shanks by spooning the sauce over them. Cover the pan again and return it to the oven. Cook for another 45-60 minutes until the lamb is tender and falling off the bone.
  10. Cut the clove of garlic in half through the middle so that all of the garlic cloves have been cut in half. Add them to a roasting dish and place in the same oven as the lamb shanks are cooking in. Cook for around 30 minutes until they are roasted golden. Remove from the oven and set aside
  11. Meanwhile, cut the kumara into large pieces (do not peel it). Boil a pot of water and add the kumara with a little salt to the pot. Boil until the kumara is softened through.
  12. Remove the kumara from the pot and carefully peel the pieces. Add the peeled kumara to a foodprocessor. Remove the garlic from the garlic peel and add it to the foodprocessor. Add around 3 Tbsp of coconut milk and puree the kumara and garlic to a smooth paste. Add a little more coconut milk if required to get it to the desired consistency.
  13. Place the garlic kumara mash in the middle of the plate. Top with the lamb shank and some of the onion sauce.
  14. Serve with greens (we served it with pan fried asparagus with sesame seeds, but green beans or a salad would also be nice).

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Blur – The Magic Whip

Coriander Tahini Dip

Condiments and Dips, , , , , , , , , ,

Coriander Tahini Dip

Tahini is a wonderful base ingredient for dips. We have been enjoying making many different combinations including this Coriander Tahini Dip. It is great as a dip with sweet potato chips (which we cook in the Air Fryer for a low fat snack) or with raw vegetables.

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic, chopped roughly
  • small handful of pinenuts
  • 2 spring onions
  • little pinch of chilli flakes
  • large bunch of fresh coriander
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp tahini
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/2 tsp cumin powder
  • olive oil
  • handful of pomegranate seeds for garnish (optional)

Directions

  1. Add the garlic, pinenuts, spring onions, chilli flakes, coriander, salt, pepper, tahini, lemon juice, and cumin powder to a blender.
  2. Add 4 Tbsp of olive oil.
  3. Blend to a smooth paste. Add a little more olive oil if it is too thick or not blending well.
  4. Serve garnished with pomegranate seeds.
  5. Delicious as a dip with sweet potato chips or fresh vegetable sticks (eg cucumber or carrot).

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: The Decemberists – Five Songs EP

Apricot, Almond, Date Snack Bars

Snacks, , , , , , , , ,

Apricot, Almond and Date snack bars

Snack bars are great for filling a little gap between meals, or when you know that lunch is going to end up being a little late. However, Healthy Snack Bars are generally quite expensive, so we have been experimenting with different recipes to make our own. This is a classic combination inspired by the fruits of Kashmir – Almonds and Apricots. The dates give a natural sweetness, so no honey or sugar needs to be added to the mix.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup almonds
  • 1 cup dried apricots
  • 1 cup dried dates
  • Little coconut or olive oil

Directions

  1. Place the almonds into a food processor using the metal knife blade. Chop the almonds until they are in small pieces
  2. Add the dates and apricots to the food processor. Mix until the mixture starts to form into a ball
  3. Grease a metal tray with a little coconut or olive oil
  4. Spread the mixture out onto the tray and press down with your hands to form a square or rectangle of an even thickness
  5. Place into the fridge for about an hour
  6. Cut into bars, and store in an air tight container in the fridge. We wrap the bars in baking paper to avoid using plastic wrap.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: The Kite Strings Tangle – Vessel

Black and White Sesame Seed Salmon

Dinner, , , , , , , , ,

Salmon with black and white sesame seeds

This is a very easy, but visually interesting meal. You could pair it with a baby spinach or rocket salad, with fennel and grapefruit (to use up the grapefruit in the recipe) and Sweet Potato Fries with Garlic Aioli out of the Air Fryer.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp black sesame seeds
  • 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds
  • 1 Tbsp grapefruit juice
  • 1 tsp honey
  • pinch of sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 salmon fillets
  • Coconut oil

Directions

  1. Season the salmon fillets with sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  2. Mix the black and white sesame seeds, grapefruit juice and honey together in a small bowl
  3. Spoon the sesame seed mix onto the top of the salmon fillets (skin side down, do not put the sesame seeds on top of the skin). Spread the sesame seeds out to form a crust on top of the salmon fillets
  4. Fry in a little coconut oil over a moderate to low heat until the salmon fillets are cooked half way through – skin side down first. Turn over and cook until cooked through. About 2 minutes on each side.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Marisa Nadler – July

Healthy Veggie Omelette

Breakfast, Lunch and Light Meals, , , , , , , ,

Healthy Veggie OmeletteI normally think of an Omelette as something for  breakfast, but with the addition of more vegetables it can also be a great light meal or lunch. While this variation uses zucchini and spinach, you can pretty much use any vegetables you like to use up what you have left over in your fridge.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 100ml coconut milk
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • handful of mushrooms, chopped
  • handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 Tbsp dried Italian herbs (thyme, oregano, mix)
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • large pinch of ground paprika
  • 150gr baby spinach
  • handful of cashew nuts, roasted and chopped
  • large pinch of dried chilli flakes
  • coconut oil to cook
  • Pan that can be placed in the oven (no plastic handle)

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit)
  2. Beat the eggs and coconut milk together in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Add all of the chopped vegetables (mushrooms, tomatoes and carrot) to the pan, and fry on a medium heat for a couple of minutes until softened.
  4. Add salt and pepper, Italian herbs, oregano and paprika and stir well.
  5. Add the spinach and toss until slightly wilted.
  6. Sprinkle over the cashew nuts
  7. Add the egg mixture and sprinkle the chilli powder over the top. Fry until it starts to set.
  8. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes until the egg is set through. You can check by inserting a fork into the Omelette, it should come out clean when it is cooked through.
  9. Serve with a simple lettuce salad.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Hozier – Take me to Church

Korean Carrot Salad

Dinner, , , , , , , , ,

Korean carrot salad

Living in Asia gives us the opportunity to explore its many flavours. The Korean kitchen is one we have been exploring more of recently. This is a very fresh tasting salad using all raw ingredients. It is easy to make, and fits into a vegan, vegetarian, or paleo lifestyle.

Ingredients

  • 1 large carrot, sliced into thin sticks
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 spring onions, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced and chopped
  • handful of fresh coriander, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
  • 2 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp hot sesame oil (or 1 tsp sesame oil and 1 tsp chili flakes)
  • pinch of salt

Directions

  1. Place the carrot, onion, spring onions, garlic and coriander into a bowl.
  2. Mix together the coconut aminos, sesame seeds and sesame oil in a small bowl to create the dressing.
  3. Stir the dressing through the salad.

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Mahoney Harris – We Didn’t Feel Alone

Coconut Yoghurt

Condiments and Dips, , , , , , , , , ,

Coconut Yoghurt with Mango and Honey

Since going dairy free I haven’t had any yoghurt, or yoghurt substitutes. I wanted to change my breakfast habit (muesli and yoghurt) before trying any. Recently a friend gave me some culture grains that she uses to make her daily drink of kefir. I decided to use it to make a coconut yoghurt. After some experimentation, I found that you can vary the creaminess of the yoghurt by using coconut milk, coconut cream, or a mix of the two. This is a 50/50 mix, but you can make it more Greek Yoghurt like by adding more coconut cream

Ingredients

  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 200ml coconut cream
  • milk kefir grains (available on Amazon.com)
  • 1 mango
  • 1 tsp honey

Directions

  • Place the coconut milk and coconut cream in a jar. Stir to combine
  • Add the milk kefir grains to the coconut milk
  • Let the coconut milk mixture stand for 12-24 hours for the culture to do its magic
  • Strain the yoghurt through a mesh (I use a sifter) to sift out the kefir grains. Add the grains to a new batch of coconut milk.
  • Place the coconut yoghurt in a bowl in the fridge for 1 hour to cool down. It will also thicken in the fridge.
  • Serve the yoghurt topped with mango and a teaspoon of honey, or use it in a curry (such as a Palak Chicken Curry) to make the dish more creamy

Music to go with it…
Listen on Spotify: Oscar and the Wolf – Entity