Reduced fat and calorie chicken korma

 We've been vey good over lockdown and eaten very little takeaway food, but last week we caved and decided to order a takeaway curry.  We went on the website to order and couldn't find an option to get it delivered and so we were gutted :-(  I did a quick web search and came across this recipe for a "restaurant style chicken korma" and decided to give it a try.  I was a bit concerned though that it uses quite a bit f cream to make the curry, so it was very high in fat and calories.  As we're both trying to lose weight I thought I'd try and reduce he calorie intake while keeping to the spirit of it.  I was really pleased with th results, it really does taste like a good takeaway, so we'll be having this again :-)

PS all orders will be for collection only and you'll need to order two weeks in advance!!!!!

Follow the recipe here: Indian Takeaway Chicken Korma - BBC Good Food but for the base curry sauce use a third of the ingredients for one dish - which is plenty for two people.  

Use fry light instead of oil and if it gets too dry add a dash of water instead of oil.

I left out the sugar, it wasn't needed, and instead of cream I used about 20ml of soya single cream and two to three tablespoons of quark.

Sweet and sour prawns

 We bought some lovely raw king prawns from the fishmonger so I thought I'd make some sweet and sour prawns.  I used the Andrew Wong recipe for the sauce at Sweet and Sour Prawns Recipe - Great British Chefs but shelled the prawns, used tinned pineapple and made a reduced broth to add to the sauce.  It turned out really well so here's the recipe.

Ingredients

12 Raw king prawns, shells on
1 teaspoon corn flour
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon jaggery
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 banana shallots, peeled and chopped finely
4 rings tinned pineapple cut into 8 pieces per ring
a small bunch coriander roughly chopped

Method

First, preheat the oven to it's hottest setting, then peel the prawns and de-vein them keeping the heads and shells.  Rinse everything thoroughly, then put the shells and heads in a medium pan, crush them down as much as possible, just cover with water and boil rapidly, lid on, for 10-15 minutes.  

Prepare the prawns by seasoning, then sprinkle over the cornflour and mix well to coat the prawns.  At this stage the cornflour will become like a thin paste, that's fine.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with sunflower fry light, then place the prawns on this making sure they are well separated.

Next, take the shells off the heat and strain them, add the broth back to the pan and reduce over a high heat to about 20ml, then set aside to cool.

Make the sauce mix by mixing the soy sauces, ketchup, jaggery and rice vinegar and taste to get the right level of salt, sweet and sour.  Add the cooled shell broth to this.

Put the prawns in the oven towards the top and cook for 10 minutes, turning them over half way through.

To make the sauce, spay some fry light in a wok and over the shallot, heat the wok over a high heat and add the shallot, stir fry for about a minute, then add the sauce mixture from above and stir.  Now add the prawns, pineapple pieces and chopped coriander.  Serve with vegetable fried rice.

Smoked haddock with mustard sauce, spinach and oven roasted new potatoes

 Steve at the fishmongers gave me this idea, and what a cracker it is too, thanks Steve :-)

Ingredients

7 or 8 new potatoes

Butter fry light

2 shallots, skinned and chopped finely

300g undyed, smoked haddock

300ml skimmed milk

1 or 2 teaspoons cornflour mixed with a small amount of water to make a smooth paste

3 good handfuls baby spinach, washed and stalks picked off

Fresh herbs of choice - chives or dill go well, but parsley is fine too

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

First start the potatoes.  Preheat the oven to 180C. Make sure they're clean but leave the skins on.  Cut them in half lengthways and par boil them for 4 minutes, then drain.  Line a baking sheet with baking parchment and spray a little fry light on the parchment, then add the potatoes, arrange them cut side down, add a little salt and black pepper then spray them lightly over the surface.  Bake them for around 30 mins until crisp and golden.

While doing this prepare the fish.  Rinse under cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel.  Don't use too much water as you want to keep the smoky flavour!  

Heat a non-stick sauté pan over a medium heat, then spray with butter fry light.  Add the chopped shallots and cook until they are transparent but not browned.

Add the fish skin side down and sauté until the skin is browned.  Turn the fish over and add the milk.  Stir well to deglaze the pan and when the milk starts to boil turn the heat down to low.  Cook for a further 4 or 5 minutes until the fish is starting to flake.  Remove the fish and keep it warm while you make the sauce.

Add half a teaspoon of mustard of choice, I used half and half Dijon mustard and whole grain and stir well.  Add the cornflour to the sauce a little at a time until the sauce is the thickness you like.  Season with sale and pepper to taste.

To cook the spinach you can either add it washed to the pan and wilt for a minute or so, or you can put it in a bowl, pour over boiling water then drain and dry on kitchen towel.

To serve, pile some spinach in the middle of the plate, place the fish on top and pour over a little sauce.  arrange the potatoes around the side and serve.