I scream for ICE-CREAM

Sorry this post has been a little while in coming. 'I'was two Wednesdays ago and we have since had 'J'. Rose is waiting patiently for me to put this up. 'I' was a very hard letter to cook for as 'I' ingredients are limited; Ice, Iceberg Lettuce and Ice-cream. Countries were a little easier to gain inspiration: Italy, India, Iceland. I decided to tackle some Indian food. For entree, I went with some Red Onion and Chilli Bhaji, main was a chicken korma and for dessert I made up some Lemon and cardamon Ice-cream.

Red Onion and Chilli Bhaji with Mint and Garlic Raita

2 red onions
100g chickpea flour (gram flour)
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp curry paste or powder
1 red or green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
vegetable oil, for frying

Finely chop one onion and thinly slice the other. Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Add the curry paste or powder, chopped chilli and a good sprinkling of salt. Add about 150ml of cold water to make a thick batter. Stir in the chopped and sliced onions until they are well coated.

Heat about 5cm of oil in a wok or deep pan. Add a tiny speck of batter, if it rises to the surface surrounded by bubbles and starts to brown, then the oil is hot enough.

Add heaped tablespoons of onion mix to the pan, a few at a time, and cook for a few minutes, turning once, until they are evenly browned and crisp, about 3-4 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper, sprinkle with a little salt and keep warm while you cook the remaining bhajis. Serve with the raita.

Garlic Raita
150g tub natural yogurt
2 tbsp chopped mint
1 small garlic clove, crushed

Mix together the raita ingredients with a little salt and pepper, then spoon into a small bowl.



Chicken Korma

small knob fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1 garlic clove
1 onion, sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp garam masala
100ml chicken stock
3 tbsp low-fat natural yoghurt or creme fraiche
2 tbsp ground almonds
handful toasted, sliced almonds, to serve
coriander leaves, plain rice, naan bread or chapatis, to serve


Cook the ginger, garlic and onion in a large pan with the oil until softened. Tip in the chicken and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes, then add in garam masala and cook for 1 minute further.
Pour over the stock and simmer for 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Mix together the yoghurt/creme fraiche and ground almonds. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the yoghurt/creme fraiche mixture. Sprinkle over sliced almonds, garnish with coriander and serve with boiled rice, chapatis or plain naan bread.

Lemon and Cardamon Ice-cream

5 lemons
1 tablespoon cardamom pods, crushed
1 cup light thickened cream (12% fat)
1 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
3 cups whipping cream

Peel 1 lemon with a vegetable peeler, taking care not to cut into the bitter white pith. Place the peel in a nonreactive medium saucepan with the crushed cardamom, light thickened cream and sugar. Scrape the vanilla pod seeds into the pan and drop in the pod. Heat over high heat to just under a boil. Remove from the heat, and allow to steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and then pour in some of the hot cream mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.

Pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl. Finely grate the zest of 2 lemons and add it to the mixture. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

Add the cream to the mixture. Juice all 5 lemons and add the juice (you should have about three-quarters of a cup) to the cream mixture. Chill thoroughly.

Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I served with a squeeze of lemon syrup and a few crushed pistachio nuts.