butter chicken
I remember vividly when and how I fell in love with Butter Chicken. The month was May, the year 2011 the place a small, ramshackle restaurant in New Delhi, India. I had been in Delhi studying since early March of that year and had months to go before heading back home to Cape Town to finish off my degree. Most of the food I had been exposed to in the city until then had not been to my liking, mainly because I did not at the time have much of a palette for hot and spicy food. One day when my friend and I went out as we often did to get out of the campus, I decided to try out Butter Chicken, which I was assured was the dish with the least heat on the menu. I was immediately hooked. For me it was the creamy texture and how the spices were tempered with yoghurt and tomatoes that made this meal a winner. Fast-forward to 2021, I’ve been enjoying this meal for a decade. The recipe below is my take on this delicious meal and I hope you can use it to switch up your chicken meals once in a while.
Scones, Scones, Scones
This is my recipe for yumminess produced in under an hour. These scones are perfect for a weekend or weekday morning. All you need to do is set your alarm an hour early to make sure that you stay in your family’s good books for an entire week! My scones are light, fluffy and golden. The sugar content ensures that they are sweet enough to enjoy on their own and not too sweet that you can’t add jam and cream. I really like adding ½ a teaspoon of cinnamon for that added bit flavour. You can also add a teaspoon of nutmeg for that additional flavour pop. Go on, give this recipe a try and let me know how popular you become in your home.
Chilli Tomato Pasta sauce
I’ve always bought my pasta sauce in a jar already made. It worked just fine until I started being a bit more discerning with my food and feeling like store-bought sauce just doesn’t have the character and depth of flavour that I need for my dishes. So I’ve been toying with various sauces for my pasta dishes which are a staple in my home.
My love for pasta dates back many moons. My mum would always make us Spaghetti Bolognaise when we were growing up. It was a quick and easy meal for her to prepare when she got back from work in the early evening. Another staple was Macaroni, which we enjoyed as a warm meal with Pilchards or in a side salad on Sundays as part of the “seven colours” spread. As I grew up and started cooking for myself I started experimenting with different types of pasta. It took a trip to Bologna to expose me to so many more pasta variants outside of the tried and tested Spaghetti Bolognaise – ironically! Fast-forward to 2021, I even have a pasta maker to demonstrate my love for this Italian dish – but more about my pasta making skills later. For now, I hope you enjoy my Chilli Tomato Pasta Sauce recipe.
