Cooking with what you have at home - with Parveen The Spice Queen

Notice I said “used to” because now as a young adult he just takes it for granted that I can rustle something up from store cupboard ingredients as if by magic - now he almost expects it...

In a way, I have set a precedent for myself and subsequently, there is often minimal appreciation of my culinary achievements.

For example, a few days ago, I took a humble frozen pizza, added some caramelised onions (which I made myself), left-over tandoori chicken, some fresh basil and dry oregano. I then took some plain french fries, sprinkled with cumin and chilli before oven baking them. I served this with a tomato salad drizzled in olive oil and balsamic glaze.

My husband and son were suitably impressed with the flavour and the creativity of this pseudo Italian meal.

After the dinner, I asked if they had enjoyed the meal, for the third time, obviously fishing for compliments. Both my son and husband turned to me unison and said, “what do you want, praise?” I swiftly retorted “yes, I need praise!”

Well, we all need a bit of praise every now and again, even if we are doing something we are good at and find easy. Who doesn’t love a compliment?

Anyway, you get the point. It’s not always easy to make family meals these days and many of us are running out of ideas and even if we have the right idea about what to cook for dinner, we cannot seem to find the ingredients we need even after queuing for a hours, 2 metres apart! That’s exactly what happened to me last week. I wanted to make something tasty, spicy and not too fattening and decided to make my chickpea salad Chaat. The recipes calls for potatoes and fresh coriander, neither of which I could find, so I had to substitute potatoes for sweet potatoes and coriander for rocket. I have to say, I think it tasted even better than my original recipe. The sweetness, obviously from the sweet potatoes works perfectly in juxtaposition to the peppery bite of the fresh rocket. So, here is the recipe, have a go for yourselves.

CHICKPEA CHAAT RECIPE

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Serves 4 – 5

INGREDIENTS

2 tins of chick peas (400g) washed & drained

2 or 3 medium sized white potatoes or sweet potatoes

½ tsp chilli powder

2 tsp of cumin powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves or rocket

3 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice

METHOD (see photos)

Step 1. Peel and dice the potatoes into 1.5cm cubes

Step 2. Boil the potatoes in slightly salted water (add ¼ tsp salt) for 8 to 10 mins or until they are cooked. Do not over boil, as they need to be intact and hold their shape. Remember they will continue to cook in the residual heat.

Step 3. Empty the drained chickpeas into a large bowl. Add the salt, chilli powder, cumin, lemon juice and fresh coriander leaves or rocket. Mix the ingredients together until the chickpeas are thoroughly and evenly coated in the spice mixture.

Step 4. Now add the cooked potatoes and gently mix together.

Step 5. Serve with cumin yoghurt on top and drizzle with some tamarind sauce (Use brown sauce as a substitute for tamarind)

For extra tips watch my video tutorial on my YouTube channel for chickpea chaat

Now here are some of my top tips to spice up your meals.

SWEET POTATO JACKETS

1. Scrub the skin, and pierce several times with the tip of a knife

2. Cook for 10 mins in the microwave on high

3. Rub olive, a little salt and pepper on the skin

4. Cook for a further 20mins in a hot oven, till cooked all the way through

5. Serve with coleslaw and a little cheese and big salad

HEALTHY DESSERT - LOW FAT

With this recipe, you will notice that when the berries and yogurt are slightly warmer, they taste even sweeter, The added maple syrup works so well with the yoghurt and if you close your eyes, it almost taste like a creamy cheesecake 

1. In a bowl, add 4 to 5 heap tbsp of full-fat Greek yoghurt (it ok, it still less than 10% fat)

2. Take 2 heap tbsp of any berries you like, strawberry, raspberry, blueberries (cut them into quarters)

3. Drizzle 1 to 2 tsp of maple syrup on top

4. Heat in microwave for 10 seconds (this just takes it all to just above room temperature)

5. Top in flaked almonds, crushed pecan/walnuts or a little bit of granola

MASALA FRIES

Add flavour to ready-made frozen fries. The fries crisp up beautifully due to the added dry spices.

1. Take about 200g ordinary frozen fries; curly, crinkle, French, chunky or any you have

2. Add a sprinkling of salt & pepper

3. Add 1 tsp cumin, ¼ tsp of chilli powder or chilli flakes

4. Add 1 tsp vegetable or sunflower oil

5. Mix thoroughly in a baking tray, get your hands in and make sure you coat all the fries evenly

6. Cook as normal in a hot oven.