Have fun learning in the kitchen with Parveen The Spice Queen

Well, I have to confess, my rose-tinted glasses seemed to have turned into a murky grey and the world is not a happy world at the moment. Having said that, I am determined to find the silver lining...Let me ask you a question. What is the difference between a optimist, a pessimist and an opportunist? Answer; an optimist will see the glass half full, a pessimist will see the glass half empty and an opportunist will just drink the water!

So, I am going to take a little sabbatical from my modus operandi of being optimistic and give the opportunistic mindset a go. I know, we are living in unprecedented times and words such as “social distancing, self-isolation, working from home and home schooling” have become the norm. But what are the silver linings and what opportunities have been given to us?

I believe that we as a culture have lost the art of cooking. Yes, I know we are saturated with cooking shows (well, apart from mine ) and baking shows but how much do we actually cook as a family and how much do we know about cooking dishes from scratch and using fresh ingredients?

Since we cannot eat out now and takeaways are limited, maybe this is the perfect opportunity to cook at home, get the children involved, in fact, get the whole family involved.

It’s Bank Holiday this weekend and even those of you who are working from home, will have time off. So try this simple recipe of mine and remember please stay home.

LET THE LESSON BEGIN

Before teaching cooking for a living, I used to teach children...So it makes sense to put my passion for teaching together with my passion for food this week. I have made a list of some questions you can ask the children whilst making this recipe, this is in addition to the maths they will learn whilst measuring and weighing etc.

Remember to ask open-ended question and you will be surprised the amount of learning that will take place and all whist you are taking part in a fun activity. Yes, I said fun - remember to enjoy it too. The best thing about this activity is eating the food at the end. Once you have all got full happy tummies, perhaps you can even ask the children to write a food review as if they were a judge of Masterchef or Bake Off, perfect for children who have a flair for the dramatic.

CHICKEN

1. How much does one whole chicken cost? MATHS

2. What part of the chicken is a fillet or breast? BIOLOGY

3. What is a male chicken called? BIOLOGY

LEMONS

1. Where do lemons grow, what countries? - GEOGRAPHY

2. How much does one lemon cost? - MATHS

3. Cut lemon in halves, quarters, slices etc - MATHS

YOGhURT

1. What is Yoghurt made from? - COOKING & NUTRITION

2. Does yoghurt contain bacteria? - SCIENCE

3. How can we make yoghurt at home? SCIENCE

Pan Fried Tandoori Chicken

This recipe can also be cooked on the BBQ, weather permitting. To barbeque, cut the chicken fillets into approximately 2cm cubes and cook on skewers as you would normally do. If you need extra tips, just watch Parveen’s YouTube video Tutorial.

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 10 mins

Makes 20 to 25 pieces

PREPARE AND WEIGH OUT THE INGREDIENTS

2 medium chicken fillets

1 tbsp plain yoghurt

1 tsp of chilli powder*

1 tsp of tandoori powder*

½ tsp of coriander seed powder* or ADD SPICE BAG

2 tsp lemon juice, fresh or bottled

1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil

1 tsp salt

METHOD

1. Cut chicken into medallions (1cm thick) the pieces should be roughly the same size but if they are not, don’t worry you can just cook the smaller pieces for less time.

2. In a large bowl, add the yoghurt, salt, lemon juice, ADD SPICE BAG or chilli powder, coriander powder and tandoori powder and mix together - this is the marinade. Now add chicken pieces and coat thoroughly. Leave to marinade at room temperature for 10 minutes (allowing flavours to fuse together).

3. Add 1 or 2 tbsp of oil into a frying pan and heat till oil is hot.

4. Carefully place chicken pieces in the pan. Make sure you leave space between each piece, so you should be able to pan fry 6 or 7 depending on the size of your pan.

5. Cook on high heat for about 1 min on each side to seal the chicken, then a further 2 minutes on each side to make sure the chicken is cooked through.

6. Clean the frying pan with kitchen paper between each batch of chicken and continue to cook all the chicken. Either serve straight away or store in a Tupperware with a lid to keep in all the moisture.

MINT DIP

Using a small bowl, add 6 tbsp of yoghurt, add pinch of salt and 1 tsp of jar mint sauce. Mix till smooth.

(watch my 5 min video on how to make this)

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

1. Go Authentic - In a pitta bread with a mint dip & red onion

2. East Meets West - In a brioche burger bun with mayo and shredded lettuce

3. Go Carb-Free - add to a salad of lettuce, rocket, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion with mayo

For a free spice bag contact Parveen on her website.

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