Indian style spicy chicken with rice noodles

Indian style spicy chicken with rice noodles

• 4 chicken breasts

For the marinade

• 1 tsp hot chilli powder (or 2 of mild)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tbsp vinegar

For the sauce

• 2cm stick of cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 4 cloves
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 3 tbsp water

For the noodles

• 100g dried rice noodles
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 10 fresh curry leaves
• 2 green chillies, cut lengthways 
• 1/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced

Mix together the marinade ingredients and rub over the chicken breasts then set aside for 30 minutes.

For the sauce, mix together the spices and roast them in a dry frying pan until they begin to colour.  Using a pestle and mortar, grind the spices to a fine powder.  Heat the oil in the pan and fry the garlic until it starts to turn golden.  Add the onion and cook until softened, then add the spices, make sure you stir briskly to stop them from burning.  Add the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes, stir in the water and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees, place the chicken onto a baking try and cover each breast with the sauce, cook in the oven for around 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Cook the rice noodles according to the packet instructions.  In a large pan heat the oil then add the curry leaves and mustard seeds.  Once they start to crackle add the chillies and turmeric, stir and cook for a couple of minutes.  Drain the rice noodles, add to the pan along with the sliced pepper, stir through for a couple of minutes and then serve with the chicken.

On the face of it you may think there are a lot of ingredients but most of these will probably be in your store cupboard, the fresh curry leaves are widely available in a number of leading supermarkets.
This is a spicy dish but you can always use a milder chilli powder if you prefer.  There should be plenty of sauce on the chicken to incorporate into the noodles so it isn't a dry dish.  Who needs to go out for an Indian or even get a takeaway when you can make this quick and easy dish in the comfort of your own home?  I hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Chicken and vegetable satay noodles

Chicken and vegetable satay noodles

• 200g mini chicken fillets
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 100ml coconut milk
• 100ml boiling hot chicken stock
• 100g sugar snap peas, trimmed
• 50g frozen peas
• 50g frozen sweetcorn
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt and pepper
• 200g fresh egg noodles
• 1 tbsp cashew nuts, chopped
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander

Put the chicken in a bowl, add the soy sauce and cornflour and mix well to coat.  Cover and set aside for a few moments.

Melt the oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok, add the spring onions and stir-fry for a I ute or until softened.  Add the peanut butter, chilli sauce, coconut milk and stock and stir until combined.  Bring to a simmer n add the marinated chicken and poach for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through.

Add the sugar snap peas and simmer for another 2 minutes or until nearly tender, then add the frozen peas and sweetcorn.  Return to the boil, stirring the lime juice and season well.

Stir in the noodles and heat for 1-2 minutes or until hot through.  Serve in a bowl topped with the cashews and coriander.

This recipe serves one and is taken from The Fat Loss Plan by Joe Wicks, naturally you can adjust the ingredients depending on how many you are cooking for.

This is definitely as good as take out food and so quick and simple to make.  This is one of those recipes you can add so many other ingredients to, bok choy, fresh chillies, broccoli, the list goes on, basically anything you have in the fridge!

Posh Pot Noodles

Posh Pot Noodles

• Pyrex pot with a lid
• Handful of dried noodles
• Handful of bean sprouts
• Handful of shredded greens
• 1 spring onion finely sliced
• Handful of cooked chicken
• 1 tsp chopped coriander
• 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
• 1 tsp of curry paste

Method:

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, once cooked, drain and place in the bottom of the jar and leave to cool.

Whilst the noodles are cooling, mix together the stock powder and curry paste.  When the noodles are cool spoon the paste over the top of them and then top with the cooked chicken, bean sprouts, shredded greens, spring onion and coriander.  

Close the lid and store in the fridge. To serve, boil a kettle and then fill the jar until the contents are covered, seal the lid and leave for 2 minutes.  Once ready, open the jar and give the contents a good mix and enjoy.

This is a great alternative for lunches to take to work.  You can make several of these up at a time as they will keep for a few days in the fridge.  There are so many possibilities to try, basically use your favourite paste and other cooked meat or cooked prawns - remember, it must be cooked!!!  I used curry for this one as that's what I had in the fridge.  You can try soy sauce, hot sauce, miso paste, umami paste, the list is endless, there are so many varieties that come in handy sachets that you can choose from.  Mix it up and add your favourite veggies, I added a handful of chopped chilli to this as I do like a kick.

Be warned, this can get messy to eat so have a napkin to hand and watch the dribbles! 

Chicken Yakitori with Crispy Red Onions & Sweet and Sour Noodles

Chicken Yakitori with Crispy Red Onions & Sweet and Sour Noodles

• 2 Chicken breasts
• 2 Nests of egg noodles
• 2/3 Cup green beans
• 2 tbsp so sweet chilli sauce
• 2/3 Cup red onion sliced
• 1 Lime
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Clove garlic
• 2 Spring onions
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 4 wooden skewers

Slice the spring onions, keep the white and green discs separate.  Top and tail the green beans.  Peel the red onion, slice length ways through the root and thinly slice.  Mince the garlic and cut the chicken into bite size chunks.  Mix the garlic, chicken, rice vinegar & soy sauce in a bowl, pop into the fridge.  Soak your skewers in water.  Put a pan of water onto the hob with a pinch of salt, whilst bringing to the boil juice the lime into a bowl, mix in the chilli sauce and fish sauce.  Mix the red onion with the flour and season with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tbsp of oil on a high heat, fry off the onion until crispy and brown, once done keep to one side.  Cook the noodles in the pan of boiling water for around 4 minutes, drain the noodles, reserving 2 tbsp so of the water.  Put the noodles back into the pot and cover with cold water until later.  Pre-heat the grill to high, thread the chicken onto the skewers and pop under the grill for around 10 minutes (turning occasionally until browned on all sides).  Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan, cook the whites of the spring onion for 30 seconds, add the green beans and cook for 3 minutes, drain the noodles and add to the pan.  Add the sweet and sour lime juice mixture to the pan along with the reserved noodle water, toss together and cook for several minutes.  Serve the noodles and top with the chicken, sprinkle the green parts of the spring onion on top along with the crispy onion.

Recipe courtesy of Hello Fresh