Stay at home takeaway

There are many TV shows broadcast and articles published on just how easy it is to make take away food at home. Often they focus on how much better they are for you and how much money you can save by throwing together a few simple ingredients. For me they are often missing the very indulgent and full fat point of the take away, but then I am not one of those people that relies on the menu drawer to decide what to have for tea tonight.
All that being said, I do enjoy cooking a quick curry every now and then. It doesn't have the same expectant thrill of the door bell ringing to a helmeted man with a white carrier bag of steaming rice but it is a quick and tasty meal that delivers rich flavours, creamy textures and delicious sauces.
This time I decided to cook a few chicken breasts on my griddle pan to add some flavour to the meat rather than fry it up with the sauce. It added a depth of flavour that I am not sure I have achieved with a home made curry before.
I wanted to keep it quick so used a few table spoons of Tikka paste fried into some softened onions and then added about half a tin of coconut milk and let it cook together for about 20minutes before adding the griddled chicken.
This time though I tried a new recipe that I had from Riverfood Organics riverfood for that all to tasty treat of an onion Bhaji.

The recipe is designed to serve 4 and needs the following ingredients:

100g chickpea (gram) flour or plain flour (I used plain and it was fine)
1/2 tsp baking powder
¼-1/2 tsp cayenne/chili powder, to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp garam masala or curry powder
½ tsp salt or to taste
1 large onion or 3 small onions, halved and thinly sliced
handful chopped coriander leaves
cold water to mix
vegetable oil for deep frying

They are so easy to make too.

Combine the flour, baking powder, spices and salt in a large bowl. Add the onion and coriander and mix well. Add just enough cold water to bring the mix into a thick batter. Heat the oil to 190C or until a piece of bread sizzles when dropped in. Take spoonfuls of the batter and very carefully drop into the oil. Cook for 6-10 minutes or until golden brown. The bhaji can also be shallow fried but may need longer cooking and will have to be turned halfway. In either case, drain the cooked bhaji on kitchen paper.

I was so impressed with the result, and without sounding like one of the aforementioned TV shows, they really did taste exactly like they were from the takeaway.

Treat yourself to a curry for tea tonight.