Tag: recipe blog

Charlie’s Crackin’ Curry

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I love going out for a curry just as much as the next person, but when you’re trying to watch your portions and eat healthily, cooking them at home can be just as quick and easy to do – and saves on the pennies too!

It’s so quick and simple in fact, that I thought I’d share with you all my go-to homemade curry that you can chuck in the pan and job’s a good’un. It’s got great natural protein and can be tailored to your own individual preference by adding potato chunks, butternut squash and any vegetables you like.

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, finely choppedFile_000 (53)
  • 1 large tin chickpeas
  • 2 packets king prawns/1 packet shrimp
  • red lentils, as many as you like
  • desiccated coconut (as much as you like)
  • 1 tin coconut milk*
  • 2-3tsp mild or medium curry powder
  • coriander (can be fresh or dried)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic (to taste)
  • grated or ground ginger, to taste
  • 2 sliced peppers
  • olive oil
  • chilli flakes (optional)

Method:

  1. Chop/prepare all the ingredients. Then fry the onions & peppers in a pan with some olive oil until the onions start to brown
  2. Add the garlic and the curry powder, mix with the oil (adding a bit more if necessary) to form a sort of paste, let it all fry for another few mins
  3. Add the coconut milk*, chickpeas, lentils and any additional spices and stir in, reducing the heat and simmering – should be a light to medium brown colour
  4. Keep stirring and add in the coconut, coriander (a chopped handful if fresh, a large sprinkle if dried) and any salt and pepper and keep seasoning to taste
  5. In the last few minutes, add in the prawns (and the chilli flakes if you fancy) and mix altogether
  6. Serve with basmati or brown rice and enjoy!

*coconut milk can also be substituted with normal milk and some curry paste, just omit the curry powder if doing so [some may prefer this to avoid the xantham gum found in tinned coconut milk]

This is one of my favourite go-to recipes when cooking for friends as it’s so easily adaptable, however it’s also perfect if you fancy a treat meal without having to compromise your diet or break the bank! If you give this a try or make some variations for yourself I’d love for you to let me know by tagging the @charlieschapter instagram in your post or dropping me a message! Hope you enjoy 🙂

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx

Voluptuous Veggie Risotto

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Adapted from one of my favourite feasts during university, this is a delightful dish that warms your soul as well as your body; truly comfort food at its finest.  It lends itself well to any time of year but can be particularly good as we’re heading towards the colder Welsh weather right now!  Best served if you’re cooking for many, the more really is the merrier with this dish – you can just keep on adding more to suit your party.  Add some prawns or chicken in if you really can’t live without, but I personally think half the beauty of this risotto is the absolute mountain of veggies!

Ingredients*:file_000-22

  • ¼ medium size pumpkin/~300g, cut into chunks
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • ~100g babycorn
  • Halloumi ~225g (low fat if possible)
  • 1 red pepper
  • 300g Arborio rice
  • 1 or 2 vegetable stock cubes
  • 150g asparagus
  • ~50g broccoli

The type and amount of veg you put in this recipe is completely up to you, this is just an example I made this week.  Butternut squash is also a great alternative to pumpkin and often easier to get hold of in supermarkets.

Method:

  1. Cut the pumpkin into chunks and place on a roasting tray with a little oil spray into the oven at 1800 for around 20 mins – *optional: sprinkle with some herbs and feta*
  2. Fry the onions until golden, then adding the peppers
  3. Let those brown a bit more, then add the Arborio rice and boil a full kettle – reduce the heat to low/medium
  4. Add 1 stock cube to a large jug of boiling water and mix together with a fork – you can keep topping this up throughout, it’s important not to underestimate the amount of stock needed!
  5. At this point, you can put the other veg on to steam for a few minutes or just add them in as and when, it’s up to you (I prefer to pre-steam to get the texture right)
  6. Pour in some of the stock and keep stirring in until absorbed, simmering on a medium to low heat; continue to add more and more letting it absorb each time until rice gets to a nice fluffy texture
  7. When done, add in the roasted pumpkin chunks and stir in the halloumi chunks
  8. Keep stirring and simmering for a further 10 mins or so, enough for the halloumi to melt a little – sprinkle with some extra seasoning if you like
  9. Once all the stock is absorbed, the rice is nice & fluffy and the halloumi has gone a little gooey: you’re good to go!

And there you have it!  Easy, tasty and (fairly) healthy comfort food.  It’s open to experimentation and your own tastes on what kind of things you add in or take out, but that’s the beauty.

If you’re going to save the extra portions rather than cook it for company then just be careful to cool it as quickly as possible as rice can form harmful bacteria at room temperature, whilst also being mindful that placing hot or warm things in the fridge can lower its temperature and cause other things to go off.  Also, be careful when reheating rice making sure to absolutely zap it in the microwave just to be on the safe side – check that it’s steaming hot all the way through and don’t leave for more than a day if possible.

Hope you enjoy; if you make your own creations do let me know by tagging @charlieschapter Instagram or twitter!

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx