Spicy Hot Prawn & Apple Curry - friskier than a spring lamb!

I have had this recipe sitting waiting to be published since for ever, it seems.  The trouble is, you see, Christmas and new year got right in the way and I lost touch with reality.  *chuckle*  No, reality has always been right here - I just got distracted for a while.

So here you are all those people who were so keen to have the recipe.  I do apologise for the time it has taken.

The curry is a touch different from the norm in its use of apple, but it gives such a lovely fruity tang that goes so well with the tomato, tamarind, red onion and coconut. Some of those ingredients also give off a sweetness which somehow boosts the flavour of the prawns. Lots of savoury flavours as well, of course, from garlic, coriander, ginger, turmeric and the curry powder - which included a small amount of Tikka curry powder, prevent it from becoming too sweet and naturally the hot spiciness from the red chillis combined with the ginger and spicy curry to make this lovely light textured prawn curry super frisky! Not so frisky that it melts anything, but enough to clear the sinuses. Can't be bad!

SPICY HOT PRAWN & APPLE CURRY   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp plus a half tbsp salted butter 
1-2 red onions, depending on size, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
sea salt
ground black pepper
a quarter tsp of ground cinnamon
4 cherry tomatoes, diced
1 sharp eating apple (I used Braeburn), peeled, cored & diced small
3 tsp medium curry powder
1 tsp tikka curry powder
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
a pinch of dried red chilli flakes (to taste)
500ml hot water plus more as required
1 tbsp tamarind sauce
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaf plus a little for garnish
half tsp honey (to taste)
325g cooked, peeled, cold water large prawns, defrosted and drained if pre-frozen
hot white Basmati rice to serve.

Method :


Melt the coconut oil and butter in a large frying pan and add the onions & garlic.  Fry on a medium heat until the onions are transparent and just beginning to caramelise and the garlic is fragrant.  This shouldn't take too long if the onions have been chopped finely enough.  Part way through the cooking, add the sea salt, black pepper and cinnamon and stir through.

Once the onions and garlic are cooked to your satisfaction, add the cherry tomatoes and apple and cook on until the tomatoes are beginning to soften and break up.

Add the curry powder, turmeric, ginger and red chilli flakes and stir through.  Cook on for about 5 more minutes, to allow the spices to amalgamate and lose their uncooked flavour.  Add the water, tamarind sauce and fresh coriander and stir through.

Cook at a simmer, stirring regularly, until the ingredients have all amalgamated into a sauce and the sauce has reduced to a good thick consistency.  This can take around 20 mins, perhaps a bit longer depending on how much juice the tomatoes had and how much water you added.

Taste the sauce for seasoning and add more salt, or black pepper, or chilli flakes as necessary.  Taste again and add the honey if required.  Stir everything through once more.

When you are happy with the flavour and consistency of the sauce, add the prawns and increase the temperature under the pan, to heat the prawns through.  You aren't looking to cook them as they've already been cooked - just heat them through to piping hot.

Serve the curry with the white basmati rice and sprinkle the remainder of the coriander over the top as garnish.

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Pork And Apple Pie - think a lighter textured pork pie!

The moment I saw this recipe in the Take a Break - My Favourite Recipes magazine, I knew I had to give it a go.  I've done a couple of variations on a pork and apple pie already - Kentish Pie and Ham & Apple Pie - both of which are really popular with the family, so I reckoned this would also be a hit.  Little did I know just how much of a hit it would prove to be!  It's hard to say which way I like it best - room temperature, or direct from the fridge.  All I know is that it is delicious and especially good with mustard or piccalilli!

Of course, apart from the delicious flavour of this pie and the lightness of the gorgeous pastry, one of the very best things about it is just how simple it is to make.  I suppose it all hinges on your using a tasty sausagemeat for it as you won't get good things back if you don't put good things in to begin with!  I picked a 72% pork sausagemeat, which was seasoned with sage, nutmeg, mace and black pepper.  Inevitably, I tinkered about with the quantities, plus I used smoked back bacon, which inevitably has more flavour than unsmoked and more meat than fat, I swapped the leek for a small red onion because hubby hates leek and also added more sage until my nose told me there was enough.

Contrary to the original recipe, I pan fried the bacon before adding it to the filling mix as I was a bit nervous about it discharging too much water in the cooking.  I also baked the pie in a loose bottomed sandwich tin (the recipe states to bake it free form on a baking tray) basically because my crimping is rubbish and I would have hated for it to have come apart during the baking or got washed away by all the water from the bacon.

All of my tinkering about with the recipe worked perfectly, resulting in a nicely shaped, full of filling, golden baked pie that will grace our Boxing Day buffet table very nicely thank you.  It will be lovely with the pickles and salad that accompanies the cold meats and cheeses and make a fabulous centre piece for the table.

Many thanks to Laurie Burley of Cornwall for sending in her delicious pie recipe to the magazine - I know it has instantly become a family favourite!

PORK AND APPLE PIE   (serves 6)

Ingredients :

For the pastry :

225g plain flour
140g cold diced butter
a pinch of sea salt
a quarter tsp of black pepper
1 tsp English mustard powder
2 egg yolks kept separate - one for the pastry and another for glazing
2 tbsp or thereabouts, of cold water (I used carbonated mineral water).

For the filling :

400g of your favourite pork sausagemeat
100g smoked back bacon, finely diced
1 sharp eating apple (I used a Braeburn), peeled, cored and finely diced
1 small red onion, finely diced
2 heaped tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp dried sage
half a tsp ground black pepper.

Method :

Using a food processor (you can opt to rub in the butter, if you prefer), put the flour, diced butter, sea salt, black pepper and mustard powder in to the bowl and whizz for as long as it takes to get to tiny breadcrumb stage.  Add the one egg yolk and half the water and blitz again.  You are aiming for the crumbs to clump together and form a mass.  You may need to add the remainder of the water and continue blitzing until the clumps form.  Don't add too much water too soon, or you will potentially end up with a too wet mixture.  Some loose mixture is acceptable as it will all come together in the cling film.

Spread a large piece of cling film out across the worktop and tip the contents of the processor on top.  Fold the cling film over the top and gently press and pat the pastry together so that it forms a cohesive whole.  Then fold each end up to seal and place into the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 190degC/375degF/Gas 5.

Heat a frying pan and add the diced bacon.  Dry fry until all the moisture has evaporated and the pieces are beginning to turn golden.  Set aside.

Taking a large bowl, add the sausagemeat, cooked bacon, diced apple, diced onion, chopped parsley, dried sage and pepper.  Using your hand, squish and mix the ingredients together until everything is evenly distributed.  Try not to massage the mixture into a lump, but keep the texture light and broken up.

Reclaim your pastry from the fridge and roll out half of it to line an 8" sandwich tin - a loose bottomed one helps to get the pie out at the end of baking.  Trim the pastry off neatly and level with the top edge of the tin.

Place the sausagemeat mixture gently into the pastry case and distribute it evenly, making sure to not press down too hard.  Remember, you want to keep the texture light.  Level off with the top of the tin.

Taking your egg intended for glazing, brush a little egg around the inside edge of the small amount of pastry above the level of the meat.

Roll out the second piece of pastry and place over the top of the tin to create the pie's lid.  Ease the pastry down onto the top of the meat filling and press lightly to create a seal around the edge where the egg wash is.  Trim off neatly and crimp the edges in a pretty pattern.

Cut a cross into the centre of the pastry and turn back each quarter of the cross, to allow the steam to escape whilst baking.  You can decorate the surface with pastry leaves or whatever you want, at this stage.

Finally, egg wash the surface of the pastry and place into the oven for 30 minutes.  When the time is up, reduce the oven temperature down to 170degC/325degF/gas 3 and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre of the meat sends back some resistance, indicating that the meat is cooked, and the pie is lovely and golden in colour.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire rack.  While the pie is still quite warm, remove from the tin (this is where the loose bottomed tin comes in SO handy) and gently place back onto the wire rack to cool.

Serve at room temperature with pickles and salad, or chips and baked beans.  The pie is just as good served directly from the fridge, to have with pickles and salad or to take on a picnic.

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Pork, apple & mustard sausage rolls - an aide memoire!

I was so sure there was one, I just came to find the link for my pork, apple & mustard sausage rolls - and was absolutely astounded to find that I haven't blogged them!

Yes, I have several sausage roll recipes on the blog here but none of them are with my family's favourite pastry - a mix of flour, vegetable suet and butter.  This pastry is hugely calorific but so delicious with savoury recipes.  It's also not as much of a mouthful as puff pastry can be and not as claggy in the mouth as a light shortcrust can be, all of which is a very good thing.  Once baked, it also has a strength to it - particularly when judiciously coated in an egg yolk wash - which can be really useful when out on picnics or just plain old eating in the car.  Nobody wants a collapsible sausage roll in those circumstances.

As such, here now follows an aide memoire of this sausage roll recipe, including the correct quantities for the pastry - which will save me from having to work it all out for the umpteenth time!

PORK, APPLE & MUSTARD SAUSAGE ROLLS   (makes 6)

Ingredients :

For the pastry

225g plain flour
75g vegetable suet
75g salted butter
a pinch of sea salt
a good pinch of black pepper
60-80g of carbonated mineral water.

For the filling 

6 quality pork sausages, skins removed
half a Braeburn apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
6 tsp wholegrain mustard (or thereabouts)
an egg yolk, for glazing.

Method :

At least an hour before you require it, make your pastry.  Add the flour, suet, butter, sea salt & black pepper to a large bowl and rubbing between your fingers, rub the butter into the mix.  You should wind up with a mixture somewhere between cornflakes and breadcrumbs.

Stir in approximately half the water, adding a little more and a little more, until the mix is damp enough to come together when pressed.  Erring a little on the dry side is infinitely better than having it too wet, so add cautiously!

Lay out a large piece of cling wrap and dump the pastry into the middle.  By patting and pushing, make a rough log shape and close the cling film over it, tightening up either end to compress it.  Place the pastry into the fridge for a minimum of 30 mins before using.

When ready to make the sausage rolls, set your oven to pre-heat to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.  Take the pastry from the fridge and cut into two halves and set aside.

Skin the sausages, disposing of the skins, and set the sausage meat aside still in its sausage shape.

Peel and core the apple and chop one half into fine dice.  Eat the other half.  Well, someone has to!

Roll out one half of the pastry on a floured board, to make a rectangle long enough to take three sausages, laid end to end, and with enough pastry on either side so that you can roll them up and have the sides meet.

Spread half the mustard onto the middle of the pastry, creating a "bed" for the sausages to lay on.  Add half the apple pieces to the mustard and lay the sausages on top, pressing down lightly onto the apple.

Brush a little water onto the side of pastry that is furthest away from you.  Lay the dry side of the pastry over the sausage mix and continue to roll onto the dampened side.  You may need to trim any excess pastry, rather than have too thick a layer around the sausage mix.

With a sharp, wet, knife cut the roll into three (or smaller, if you want picnic versions).  Lay each sausage roll onto a baking tray, join side down, and repeat the whole process with the second half of pastry, remaining mustard, apple and last three sausages.

Brush each sausage roll liberally with the egg yolk and pierce the top with a fork or make a knife cut, to let the steam out as the sausage cooks.

Place into the oven for 35-40 minutes, after which you should place the sausage rolls onto a wire rack to cool.  Beat off all comers until ready to serve.

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Chicken Mulligatawny soup - with thanks to Jo Cooks

I was recently introduced to the terrific recipe blog "Jo Cooks" by another cooking friend.  He certainly is absolutely right about the wealth of interesting recipes on there - and lots that fit within my favourite type of "sit and put things in the pot in order" one pot dinners.

As a first foray, I immediately decided upon giving a go to Jo's recipe for Chicken Mulligatawny soup.  Mainly because it looked so good, but also because I've been looking for a great Mulligatawny recipe for the longest time.  So many Mulligatawny recipes are thin, brothy type of soups and to my mind, a good Mulligatawny needs some body.  I'm sure that back in the days of the British Raj - when the soup first found favour - it wasn't light and brothy, but rich and hearty.  Oh and speaking of the British Raj, the origins of the name are interesting (thanks, Wikipedia!), as the name apparently originates from the Tamil words "millagai"/"milagu" and "thanni" and can be translated as "pepper-water".  Ha!  Cute.  

Everything about Jo's recipe said "yum!" to me.  The fact that it was made with chicken appealed very much as I now have to be careful over my red meat consumption owing to a marked tendency towards gout.  So chicken ticked that box.  The use of the apple cubes appealed, too.  I like a fruity, milder, coconut flavoured curry and one turned into a soup could only be good in these colder early autumnal days.  I loved the simplicity of the cooking method, as well.  None of this "cook this, take it out, cook that, take it out and bring it all together at the end" malarky.  Nope.  Just chuck it into the pan in the right order and cook as described.  Lovely.

I made a few changes to Jo's original recipe - the first being that as I was making just half the original quantity, yet had to buy a 400ml can of coconut milk, was that I used the whole can and reduced the quantity of the chicken stock (broth).  I countered that by using an extra amount of chicken stock powder, so that the chickeny flavour was right up there and not compromised at all.

Secondly, I added a half a large potato, diced.  I just love potato in curry and as I was after a good, thick, hearty Mulligatawny I figured if some dissolved and added to the thick texture of the soup that could also only be good.  It certainly was - good, that is!

Aside from that, I made just small changes such as using 50:50 butter and coconut oil to start with, I used a red onion for its antioxidant properties, I used the full amount of turmeric for the health benefits and the full amount of curry powder because if it's supposed to be curried, let's taste it!  I  also backed off from some of the seasoning as my chicken stock is low salt, but it's worthwhile being cautious and adjusting the salt at the end.  You can't take it away once it's been added!

So I have detailed my version of Jo's recipe below - but my advice to you is to take a look at Jo's original recipe - here - and decide for yourself which recipe to follow.  Oh and for people who don't use cup measurements, mine is expressed in metric.  I know some of you have problems with cup measures!

Personally, I can't wait until tomorrow lunchtime because the leftovers of that soup are MINE, all MINE!  *chuckle*

CHICKEN MULLIGATAWNY SOUP   (serves 2-3)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp butter 

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 large red onion, chopped finely
1 medium carrot, diced finely

1 stalk of celery, diced finely
1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

1 medium potato, peeled and diced finely

sea salt and black pepper to taste
4 boneless and skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chunks
half a tsp dried oregano
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
500ml chicken stock, made with 1.5 tsp chicken stock powder
150g dry basmati rice
400ml unsweetened coconut milk (1 can)
1 medium Braeburn apple peeled, cored and diced small
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped.

Method :

Using a large saucepan, soup pot, or as I did - a wok -  melt the butter and coconut oil over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and potato to the pot, season with a pinch of salt and pepper, stir and cook for about 5-10 minutes or until the onion and carrot softens and the garlic becomes aromatic.

Add the chicken thigh pieces to the pot and cook for around 10 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink. Don't worry if it's not cooked through - it will finish cooking once the liquid is added.

Add the oregano, turmeric, curry powder and stir well to combine.  Sprinkle with the flour and stir again.

Add the chicken stock, rice and coconut milk, lower the heat to a medium-low and stir through well.  Let the soup simmer for about 10-20 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and you can be sure the chicken is fully cooked.

You may find that you need to add a little hot water every so often to maintain the soupy texture.  It is worthwhile having a little on hand in a jug so that you aren't tempted to swamp the soup!  Just add a small amount and stir through until the texture returns back to being soupy.

Add the apples and simmer for a couple more minutes, to heat them through and bring everything up to a piping hot temperature.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve in warm bowls with crusty bread for dipping.

Printable version

Turkey and apple curry - a variation upon a theme

If, perhaps, you have come here via the Recipe Index page of this blog, you may well have noticed that I have two recipes for turkey curry.  This is owing to the fact that today I decided to make the already existing, part Marco Pierre White, part my own, authored curry - but it turned into something else.  Oh it is still very much a curry - but a very different tasting one to the original.

This one is sharper, more zesty, with a smoother coconut flavour and without the butter or cream.  So, potentially, better for you I suppose!

I also started off differently, using raw turkey breast (which is enticingly priced in the shops, at the moment) instead of Christmas roast turkey leftovers.  I think I sort of freestyled thereafter!

I thoroughly enjoyed the lighter nature of this curry and the menfolk all cleared their plates, so they obviously agreed.

All I can suggest, when trying to decide between the two curries, is to look at each recipe's ingredients list and decide which one you like the look of the most.  Or alternatively, which one you already have the most ingredients for!

TURKEY AND APPLE CURRY   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

2 tbsp sunflower, peanut or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 sweet white onion, cut into large chunks
2 big fat cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 red chilli, chopped finely and de-seeded if you prefer your curry milder
half a tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of sea salt (use smoked if you've got it)
500g raw turkey breast, cut into bite sized chunks
1 Braeburn (or similarly tart) apple, peeled, cored and diced
1 large tomato, diced
3 tbsp Patak's Korma curry paste
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 Knorr chicken stock pot (a chicken stock cube will do, but the more chickeny the better)
2-300ml water
1 good tbsp of lemon juice
1 tsp ground turmeric
30g creamed coconut
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander.

Method :

In a large, deep frying pan, heat the oil until a piece of onion will sizzle.  Add the onions, garlic and chilli and fry for 10-15 minutes over a moderate heat until the onions are beginning to turn golden.  Keep the contents of the pan moving, so as to prevent the garlic from burning.

Add the cinnamon and sea salt part way through the frying.

Push the onion mixture to the side of the pan, add a little more oil and increase the heat.  Add the turkey breast pieces to the empty side of the pan and fry until golden on at least three sides.  Mix the onions in with the turkey.

Reduce the heat back to moderate and add the apple and tomato and cook on for a few moments.

Add the curry paste and tomato puree and stir through.  Continue to fry and stir until you can see the oil beginning to separate.

Add the chicken stock pot (minus its pot, obviously), water, lemon juice and ground turmeric and stir gently through.  Allow the mixture to simmer - stirring regularly to prevent the curry catching on the bottom of the pan - for a good 15-20 minutes.  Keep your eye on the fluid levels, you should be aiming for a slightly wetter mix than you would want to serve.

Finally, add the creamed coconut and chopped coriander and stir through.  The sauce will thicken as the coconut cooks, you can add more water if it becomes too stiff.  Once the sauce is at your preferred texture, your curry is ready to serve.

Serve with hot white basmati rice and a sprinkle of chopped coriander as garnish.

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Pork, Leek & Apple Sausage Rolls of much deliciousness

I had been wanting to make sausage rolls for a very long time.  However, because my last few batches of sausage rolls had received something of a lacklustre review from the assembled throng, I was nervous.

Then, whilst pondering on what to do with a little bag of pulled pork that was left over when I portioned out the 2kg joint, I had what appeared to be a Very Good Idea.

The pulled pork wasn't enough to make anything except a sandwich on its own, but bolstered by something else (like sausage meat), it would make a grand ingredient.

So what is the obvious thing to make, when contemplating sausage meat?  Well, yes, I admit - Scotch Eggs was right up there.  However, because of hubby's sensitivity to eggs that wasn't too clever an option.  No, but in the savoury baking line, sausage rolls were a definite possibility!

I pondered on what type of sausage meat to use.  There are so many different types out there in the marketplace, the world is your oyster where making sausage rolls is concerned.  However, I wanted to keep the pork theme going - and I remembered that our local butcher had some lovely fat Pork & Leek sausages.  Now there's a bit of a problem with our butcher's sausages in that they can be dreadfully salty.  However, I reckoned that with the pulled pork in the mix, it might very well help to alleviate some of the saltiness - as would the pastry.

However, thinking about how the combination would taste - after all, the pulled pork was cooked in a vegetable stock so wouldn't really be bringing much in the way of flavour (other than its porkiness) but loads in the way of texture to the table - I felt it needed something else.  All the flavours, so far, were very savoury - what about a sweet note?  I considered the onion marmalade we'd bought at the Dorset Smokery, but felt that would dominate over the leek.  What would let all the other flavours sing, whilst providing a sweet note?  AHA!  Apple.  Something sharp but sweet, like a Braeburn or Cox's.  Not a cooker like a Bramley, as that would cook down to mush, but something that would hold its shape.  Plus, it just so happened that I had a homeless Braeburn in the fridge.

There, the sausage rolls were sorted.  It was a simple matter of chopping the pulled pork a couple of times to reduce the length of each strand, dicing the apple very finely and mushing the whole lot together with some skinned pork & leek sausages.

Wrap the whole lot up in some puff pastry (I really must learn how to make that stuff), egg wash and bake.

Happiness!  I served mine for a main course along with baked beans and hash browns.

Whatever you might require sausage rolls for - and let's face it, there's a million reasons to have a sausage roll - these will do the job.  Cut them big for taking to firework parties, cut them small for buffets and picnics.  The flavours are just brilliant - the apple worked so well - and the whole filling is just big, rewarding and flavoursome.  These aren't your mean, all-pastry-and-no-sausage supermarket sausage rolls - and they definitely aren't those nasty bright pink pap-filled things that you get from your local baker's chain.  These are real sausage rolls - and an excellent reason to hold onto a little bag of leftovers from the next pulled pork!


PORK, LEEK & APPLE SAUSAGE ROLLS   (makes 12)

Ingredients :

150g shredded pulled pork, any large pieces chopped smaller
6 large pork & leek sausages, skins removed
1 Braeburn apple, cored, peeled and chopped finely
2 sheets of pre-made puff pastry (around 650g)
1 egg yolk, beaten lightly.

Method :

1.  Into a large bowl, add the shredded pulled pork, the sausage meat and apple pieces.

2.  Squish and mix with your fingers until the ingredients are all evenly distributed.  You shouldn't need to season, as the sausage meat should be able to do the seasoning for you.

3.  Unroll the first pastry sheet and run a rolling pin over it lightly, just to flatten it.

4.  Cut in half (across the shorter side) with a sharp knife.

5.  Take a quarter of the sausage meat mixture and form into a sausage shape slightly in from one side of the pastry.  Take the meat right up to the edge of the pastry.

6.  Brush a little egg yolk onto the other side of the pastry and starting with the sausage meat side, roll over onto the egg yolk side.

7.  Give the roll a little press to make sure it forms a good round shape and press along the edge of the cut side of the pastry, to secure it to the roll.

8.  With a very sharp knife, cut into three smaller sausage rolls and place onto a baking tray.

9.  Repeat for the remains of the pastry.  You should, therefore, have made four large sausage rolls, that are cut into 12 smaller ones.

10.  Slash the top of the pastry lightly on each sausage roll, then brush with egg yolk.

11.  Put into a pre-heated oven at 200degC/400degF/Gas6, for 35-45 minutes or until the pastry is crispy and golden.

12.  Cool slightly before serving.

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Curried Pasta Salad

Once upon a time, we used to eat quite a bit of pasta salad.  I do think, though, that we overdid it, as the very thought of a pasta salad has everyone groaning in that "oh gawd, not again!" kind of way - me included.

However, just recently, my tastebuds have been tickled by the idea of some pasta salads - mostly the type that have some twist or edge to them and aren't made with just mayonnaise.  My tolerance for high fat dishes has significantly reduced in the last few years, in direct correlation to how my waistline has disappeared, it would seem.

I remember last summer (remember summer?  You know, sunshine, barbecues, long tall glasses of cool citrus drinks?  I agree - it's difficult to recall when the rain is coming horizontally across the garden) when we had a barbecue and I made a pasta salad to go with the barbecued meats.  I ate some and we wound up throwing the rest away after two days of it sitting in the fridge.

As such, you might understand my nervousness at serving up this pasta salad.

However, it was a resounding success.  The big difference lies in the greek yoghurt that cuts through the richness of the mayonnaise, along with the curry flavours, sharpness of the apple and sweetness of the mango chutney.

As son & heir commented - it's a bit like a pasta salad version of Coronation Chicken, which is one of his favourite things to do to some leftover roast chicken.  In fact, if you were looking to make a more main course of this salad, just add in some cold roast chicken!

We had ours with some roasted pork chops and halved Tomkin tomatoes and it went down very nicely indeed.  Incidentally, if you ever come across the Tomkin tomatoes do give them a go, as they were deliciously sweet and juicy.

The recipe (from BBC Good Food Magazine) called for celery, but I didn't have any celery on hand at the time and the shops didn't have any either.  Apparently the dire "summer" we're having of torrential rain is causing havoc amongst the vegetable growers and loads of celery is just dying in the fields.  I did have a Braeburn apple, however, and cut that into matchsticks to use instead.  Next time, I'd definitely include the apple along with the celery as it gave a lovely piquancy and welcome juiciness to the mix.


We had a little left over that I didn't get to until a day and a half later, but it was just as good.  As such, it'd be a great salad to make in advance of a barbecue or pot luck buffet.  The apple didn't leak juice and the whole thing was, if anything, better for having sat for a while allowing the flavours to marry up nicely.


I won't push my luck and have this again too soon - but I will do it again and if you're going through a pasta salad liking phase, I would recommend it!


CURRIED PASTA SALAD   (feeds 4)


Ingredients :


200g pasta (penne or spirali are good)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp rogan josh curry paste
100g unflavoured greek yoghurt
juice of one quarter of a lemon
1 tbsp mango chutney
25g sultanas (or a large handful)
a large handful of fresh coriander, chopped finely
quarter of a large cucumber, deseeded and diced finely
1 Braeburn apple, cored, peeled and cut into matchsticks or fine dice
1 celery stick, de-stringed and cut into fine dice
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.


Method :


1.  Boil the pasta in salted water to manufacturer's instructions.  (Usually around 8-9 minutes).  Drain, then spread out in a flat layer on a plate, to cool.


2.  Mix the mayonnaise, curry paste, yoghurt, lemon juice, chutney and sultanas with plenty of seasoning.


3.  Add the pasta, coriander, cucumber, apple and celery and gently stir together until coated in the mayonnaise mixture.


4.  Serve.


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