Tikka Massala

 

serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 600g chicken (thigh) filet
• 0,5 cup Greek yoghurt
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 Thumbsize ginger
• Juice from half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 0,5 teaspoon turmeric
• 0,5 teaspoons cuminpowder
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 0,5 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 0,5 teaspoon salt
• 0,5 teaspoon black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large onion
• 5 garlic cloves
• 2 thumbsized ginger pieces
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder
• 2 teaspoons paprika powder
• 1 teaspoon cuminpowder
• 1 small can tomato puree (40g)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 can of tomatocubes
• 120 ml water
• 3/4 cup cream
• 3 tablespoons almond slices
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• Rice/Naan bread

Preparation:

Start by preparing the chicken for marinade first. This is best done overnight, but 2-3 hours will suffice.
Finely cut the garlic and the ginger. Make a marinade of all the ingredients minus the chicken and stir well. Now add the chicken to the marinade bowl, and stir so every piece of chicken is covered. Leave to marinade.

I made the chicken in the airfryer, but originally, the chicken is grilled, or barbecued. If you do the latter, brush some oil on the chicken first.

If you are ready to start the sauce, about 30 to 45 min before the chicken is done, finely cut the garlic and ginger, slice the bell pepper, and finely chop the onion.

Add the oil and butter to a sauté pan or wok and wait for the butter to melt. Now add the onion and cook until the onions has softened. 
Now add the garlic, ginger, garam massala, coriander, paprika, cumin, cinnamon and tomatopuree. Stir well and cook on medium heat until you can smell the spices.

Add the bell pepper, tomato cubes and the water, stir well and bring to boil. When it is boiling, turn the heat to low and simmer until the sauce has thickend to your liking. If you serve this dish with rice, you can start the rice now.

Take the marinated chicken and start baking/grilling/barbecueing/airfrying/frying them. Whatever option you pick, be sure the chicken is thoroughly cooked, but not burned.

When the chicken is ready, add the cream, almonds, sugar and chicken to the sauce and cook for 5 minutes more, before it is ready to serve.

Serve with rice and/or naan bread, and garnish with cilantro, if you like.

Enjoy your meal!

Mike & Leda

Pollo Saltado

 

serves 4

Ingredients:

• 700 g chicken (thigh) filet
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 red onion
• 4 plum tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon aji amarillo paste (Peruvian chili paste) or 1 aji amarillo, sliced.
• Fries
• Optional: rice
• Optional: cilantro to garnish

Preparation:

This is a recipe of my friend Lucky who didn't want to leave until we've tried to cook Peruvian. He was right though, this is delicious!

The original recipe contains both fries and rice, but personally I thought it to be too much carbs, so I left the rice out and added a bit more fries. Feel free to add the rice though!

Cut the chicken in slices and cover with salt and pepper. Mix the chicken stock with the soy sauce and vinegar in a bowl with a whisk. Finely cut the garlic, or use a garlic press. Cut the tomatoes and onions in wedges.

Start cooking your fries. Personally I used the airfryer and frozen fries for convinience.

Heat up a sauté pan or wok on high heat and add the oil. Wait until the oil is hot and add the chicken. Stir fry until the chicken is golden brown on all edges, then add the garlic and onion, stir fry for one minute more. Now add the sauce..

Wait until the onion gets soft and add the tomatoes and aji amarillo (paste). Add salt and/or pepper if necessary. 

Add the fries to the plate and on top of that add the chicken, garnish with cilantro if you like and serve immediately.

Enjoy your meal!

Mike & Leda

Sushi

 

serves a party or about 3-4 for dinner

Ingredients:

For the rice:

• 2 cups sushi rice (or any shortgrain rice)
• 3 cups water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 1,5 teaspoon salt

For the sushi:

• Bamboo mat to roll the sushi
• A glass of water
• Nori (seaweed) sheets
• Whatever ingredients you like. We used:
  cucumber, avocado, creamcheese, smoked salmon, Japanese omelette and surimi

Preparation:

Wash the rice until the water is clear. This is to get the starch off and is very important for the preparations for sushi. Let it rinse until the rice is completely dry.
Put the rice in a pot, along with the water and bring to the boil. Immediately turn the heat low and place the lid on the pot. Boil until the water is dissolved, even though it is adviced against, sometimes I take a stir so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom.

When it is done, let the rice cool a bit.

Add the rest of the rice ingredients in a cup/mug and stir to blend.
Warm the vinegarmix in the microwave for about 30 - 45 seconds and stir to see if the sugar has dissolved. If it isn't repeat the progress until it is. If you don't own a microwave, you can also do this step with a pot and a stove.

Add the vinegar mix to the rice and immediately stir to cover everything. In my personal experience it works best with a rice paddle, but a spoon works too.

This guide is mainly for maki style sushi, but I've given a few tips below for other styles. 
Now get your bamboo mat and place a nori sheet on top. Cover with rice, leaving a bit space open to close the nori after rolling. On top of the rice, add your topping, in the middle.
Now fold the nori over the middle, and keep rolling towards the end. Now put the tip of your finger in the glass of water and wet the edge of the nori sheet, then roll over with the sushi to close the roll.
Now this takes a lot of practice to get it perfect. Personally I didn't care for perfection, as you can see in the photo, but there are many videos online that shows how to roll different types of sushi.

Now, use a sharp knife and dip it whole in the glass of water. Cut the sushi in parts, keep in mind the first and the last piece usually doesn't look nice.

Tips:

• Use a sheet of plastic kitchen wrap so the bamboo mat doesn't get dirty, or use a silicon mat.
   
• If you want to make a california (style) roll. simply turn around the seaweed/rice combination on your bamboo mat.
  
  
• If you want to make nigiri type of sushi, wet your hands, but not too much, and take some rice with your hands. Form this into a rounded rectangle. Now take your topping and add a bit of wasabi paste to the bottom so it sticks to the rice. I didn't have wasabi, so I used creamcheese, works as good, but doesn't have that distinguished taste wasabi has.
  
  
• Look online for more tips and inspiration!

Fill a plate with your sushi and serve.

Enjoy!

Mike & Leda