Cooking made easy

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Ingredients
Nenju elumbu -200gms (If not available lamb bones can be replaced)
Small onion-10 or big onion (medium size-1 )
Small tomato -1
Rice washed water-2 cups (optional) For grinding
Pepper corns-1 teaspoon
Small jeera -1 teaspoon
Dhania or dry Malli -1 ½ teaspoon
Red chili -1
Procedure
Before cooking the rice for the day, wash it and soak for 5 minutes. Drain the water and keep ready. Put the nenjelumbu, onion ,tomato and very little salt along with a teaspoon of turmeric powder in the cooker. Add the rice washed water also and cook for 10 minutes . Grind the items to be grinded in the small jar. Once the pressure goes open the cooker and add the grinded powder and allow the soup to boil for 5 minutes. There should be 4 cups of soup for this quantity ofnenjuelumbu. Dont add too much or too little water. If soup is less, water can be added and check for the correct hotness and salt. While cooking this checking is very important. If you want the soup to be little more hot, add little more milagu jeeraga powder. I hope all will have this pepper jeera powder stock at home to be used for omelet or rasam. Salt also can be added according to taste. After 5 to 6 minutes switch off the stove. Serve the soup hot. Garnish with coriander leaves while serving.

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Timing is everything!  As I arrived home from work, a delivery van drew up with a package full of Barts Blends, lovely little tins full of spice blends.  The timing was perfect because I was planning to make a stir fry with some left over duck, there wasnt a lot of duck and it was a case of rummaging around the fridge and freezer to make up the stir fry.  As soon as I saw the tin of Indonesian Goreng Spice Blend, I knew that I would make Nasi Goreng.

Brian and his Nasi Goreng packed lunch

Nasi Goreng means fried rice in Indonesian and the first time we ate it was in Malaysia in 1983.  We were visiting my sister-in-law who was teaching English there, and spent a few days at Taman Negara, a jungle National Park in the centre of the country.  Our packed lunch was provided by the place we were staying in Taman Negara and consisted of cold Nasi Goreng wrapped up in greaseproof paper and newspaper - just like old fashioned fish and chips!

Me on the same log where we ate our packed lunches

Im not going to give you a recipe for Nasi Goreng, I simply cooked some rice and stir fried it with a few bits of cooked duck, a couple of green peppers, a chilli and some peas and I added a teaspoon of Bart Blends Indonesian Goreng spice mix.  It was delicious and the spices really added great flavours to a simple fried rice dish.  Bart Blends Indonesian Goreng can be added during any stage of cooking for a curry flavour with a spicy twist, blending 12 ingredients including paprika, coriander, ginger and galangal.

As well as the Indonesian Goreng I received another four new Bart Blends to try: 

• A dry mix inspired by a traditional Tunisian recipe with a fiery kick, softened by mint and caraway. 

• Blended to create fresh and fragrant soups and curries, this seasoning blends purple basil with ginger, coriander leaf and chilli.

Pilau

• A mix of herbs and spices to create an authentic pilau rice in a quick and simple way, combining the fragrance of cardamom and clove with the vivid colour of turmeric. 

Piri Piri

• Unusually with no added salt, this Portuguese inspired chilli seasoning combines two types of chilli with paprika, lemon, peppers and other ingredients to add excitement to meat dishes.

Another dish I made with the Barts Blends was a Piri Piri Lamb with Orzo pasta and tomatoes.  This time I made a marinade with a teaspoon of the Piri Piri Blend two tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.  I left the Scotch lamb steaks to marinate for about 3-4 hours, then seared them in a frying pan on a high heat. 

I then cooked an onion and some garlic in a little oil and added a tin of tomatoes, a cup of orzo and a cup of lamb stock, seasoned and left to cook for about 5 minutes, I then added the sliced up lamb and left to cook very gently for a further 15 minutes until the stock had been absorbed.   The lamb was very tender with a nice hint of spice, a little of which also transferred to the orzo.

Finally I made a Barts Aromatic Thai Fish Curry with the Aromatic Thai Blend.  I used some frozen fish fillets I had in the freezer, one hake, one saithe and a couple of trout fillets, but you could use any combination of fish fillets.

Barts Aromatic Thai Fish Curry

4 fish fillets
2 tbsp oil
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 red chilli
3 tsp Barts Aromatic Thai Blend
A handful of frozen green beans
1/2 a head of broccoli
1 can Coconut Milk
1 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)




1. Cut the fish into bite-sized pieces and covered with 1 tsp of Aromatic Thai blend and leave for 30 minutes while you prepare the sauce.

2. Grind a thumb sized piece of ginger, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 red chilli in a blender or spice grinder with a tbsp of oil.

3. Heat a pan and add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste with 2 tsp of Aromatic Thai blend, cook for a few minutes then add 1 can of coconut milk, a handful of frozen green beans and half a head of broccoli cut into small florets.  Cook gently for about 10 minutes.

4. Add the fish and 1 tbsp of fish sauce (nam pla), cook for about 5 minutes until the fish is opaque. Just before serving, add the chopped coriander.

5. Serve with rice.

If you wanted to make this dish quicker and simpler, you could omit the fresh spices and use only the Aromatic Thai Blend.  You could have it on your table in a matter of minutes.

I have yet to use the Pilau Blend or the Harissa Blend, but I am sure they will be just a flavoursome as the other blends which all  have a really authentic spice flavour and make it really for you to explore authentic regional flavours and easily add character to everyday ingredients.

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