Rugger Bugger Food - Spicy Chicken Drumsticks

My eldest attended the first, of what I assume, will be many end of season rugby celebrations. Hyped, hormonal, fit boys getting together to celebrate a pretty good club rugby season. What they did, was best not imagined.

I was told I had to make his contribution of food for the party. And no, Asda's frozen saussage rolls would not do. Could I please make devilled eggs and roasted spicy drumsticks?

So I sent him with drumsticks made with Deema's Spice and 6 devilled eggs as I am a good ma.

I was told the eggs were eaten on the way. He did cycle to the club but again best not to ask. But I was told the drumsticks were a hit with the 'dudes'.

I forgot to measure everything but this is the recipe for 16 spicy drumsticks:
Breadcrumbs, 25g butter, 2 tablespoons of Deema's Spice, a dash of seasame oil, pepper, salt, 2 tablespoons of soya sauce and left over champagne usually white wine but it was our anniversary!

Mix it all together. Pierce the chicken and spread the crumbly mixture and bake. Pour more wine (or champagne!) once you turn over the chicken.

Voila Rugger Bugger food.

Nuts, tradition and Brasso.

Sunday 14th April was Sinhala New Year.

In Sri Lanka, people would have been preparing for weeks - cleaning the house, buying gifts and ingredients for food and planning. All to celebrate with loved ones, eating loads of delicious food, exchanging gifts and generally having a good time. 
Everyone follows the auspicious times and traditions liking light lamps, cooking milk rice, wearing the right colours - all great fun even at 3.02am.

In Edinburgh, I too had Sinhala New Year.

I was going to ensure the front of our house looked welcoming and clean. So I was going to paint our front windows and get new window boxes with loads of plants. 
Front windows are rotten and had to be replaced. So this is currently the welcome people get.





Never mind. I polished and cleaned the inside of the house just like my ma did. Brasso was bought as you have to make the brass shine. And I associate Brasso with New Year.

Next - time to make the goodies. Now I can't make all the fancy Sinhala new year delicacies - that needs patience and time. So I cheated and made my favourites. 
Iced Coffee with lots of brandy. Devilled eggs (not traditional but we love them), hoppers (sort of pancakes ususally eaten for breakfast), prawn curry (as I couldn't find crabs) with Deema's Spice, kiribath (coconut rice), pol sambol (coconut sambol) and love cake.

I have never made love cake before but my brother sent me a recipe and it didn't seem too difficult. It tastes bloody good but would have been better if I had used cashew nuts and not peanuts. Should have gone to spec savers said my eldest.

Hoppers

Hoppers need a special pan. I dont have one. They became pancakes. Ho hum. 
Kiribath is meant to be flattened and cut into diamond shapes. Mine was mush.

Kiribath

Pol sambol is made with fresh coconut. Desiccated coconut substitute was just lame.

But I was ready for the New Year: I had food, the brass was polished and the house was clean.

Not sure my ma would have quite approved but I know she would have laughed a lot.

Karipop! Karipop!

Karipop or Kalipop is curry puff. It is the Singlish way of saying it. Singlish being Singaporean English.

Curry puff is a snack made of dough deep fried with a curry filling. It was sold when I was a child by men on bicycles shouting out as they cycled down your lane  or by old ladies laden with baskets of these yummy delights at the beach. They are not spicy or chillie hot at all. There were chicken curry, potato curry or sardine curry puffs.


They are still sold today in Singapore but in shops and they can be eaten at anytime of the day. Truly scrumptious and awfully bad for you!

I made mine with potato curry with Deemaspice.

I made 12 with 1 sheet of puff pastry. Ok, I cheated but if I was to make the dough I would never bother!

400g chopped potatoes - quite small and par boiled.
1 onion and 2 garlic cloves chopped.
Handful of curry leaves.
2 tsps of Deemaspice.
Chilli - dry or fresh (chopped)

Fry the onion, garlic, and curry leaves.
Put in the half cooked potatoes.
Then Deemaspice and fry till fragrant.
You will need to add salt and then add the chillie to your taste.

I made 12 circles from the puff pastry (you can make more or less whatever you wish).

Put some of the curry into the middle and fold over to form a half moon. Squash the ends with a fork and glaze with egg.

Then deep fry till golden brown. You can also bake them - not sure for how long though.

Lai lai! (come come in Chinese) Karipop! Karipop!

Scallop Curry

I wanted to eat something tasty. Something different - something seafoody but not prawns.
So I made scallop curry.

I proccessed: 1 onion, 3 cloves of garlic, handful of curry leaves, 2 birds eye chillies (quite fiery with 2) and 2 teaspoons of deemaspice.

Then I put in 1 tablespoon of oil into my fave wok and added the paste, turn down the heat and added 400g of scallops mixed it all up for about 2 minutes then added 1 tin of coconut milk. Brought to boil and simmered for about 4 minutes. Added a squeeze of lime juice. (about 2 tablespoons or so)

Chopped up 200g of pak choi and added that in at the very end - takes a minute or so for pak choi to cook.

Here's what it looked like cooking in my wok.

Now only have to wait till suppertime. Boo!
(I have been sneaking my little teaspoon into the wok and it is deeeelicious!)

Coronation Chicken a la DeemaSpice

I have never had coronation chicken. 

Not sure why. 

So I really am not sure if my little experiment today is better than others. But it tastes bloody good!

I based it on Heston Blumenthal's recipe from Waitrose.
 ww.waitrose.com/content/waitrose/en/home/recipes.html

200g chicken chopped and griddled. Flavoured with a dash of worcestershire sauce.
Mixed in a teaspoon of Deemaspice into the last dregs of mayo that we had - about 2 dollops worth I think.
Crushed a small bag of roasted cashewnuts.
Mixed in the spiced mayo, cashewnuts and chicken.
(Didn't use anchovies as I dislike them.)

Will be serving it tonight with salad, rye bread and chillie jam from Harvey Nicks.

Meanwhile... back at Tattie Shaws

Tattie Shaws ran out of stock! Woop Woop!

But, oh wonderfully attractive people who shop there, we got some more in today.

By the way, you can also get DeemaSpice at Relish, an equally fine Leith establishment.

To all those who forgot (like me)

It's the gift that goes on giving

Okay this is late, but it may reach some of you who should have  been having gift-choosing thoughts about your significant others earlier.  Here's what you do:

1.   Buy Deema's Spice. We can't post it to you in time! Go to Tattie Shaws.

2.  Give it with a flourish.

2.  This is the important bit (drum roll...) Then offer to cook it! Make sure you have the other ingredients as well when you turn up. That's a tin of coconut mik, an onion, garlic, your main meat or vegetable etc.

3.  Tell your amour where you got it, so he, she or it can order more.

Just so you know, Deema's Spice has been used before to soften up a significant person in one of our customers' lives. Apparently it when well. But we're much too shy/prudish/embarrassed to ask for further details.

By the way, Ella Macpherson has been telling people in a magazine that spices are the way forward for fab health. So if you want a bod like her's, you know where to get it:)

Curry spice fans

Returning customers demand large packs!

So made new large 75g packs for our curry spice fans.

Spice experiments - Wild Boar Curry & Prawn Laksa

I have been experimenting. Mainly, because I have been missing my mum's cooking and wanted to eat really tasty food.

Jungle Curry aka Wild Boar Curry

Wild Boar Curry

Got wild boar from the Alternative Meat Company. Love that place.

Made the curry just like a normal curry using Deema's Spices but had to cook it for much longer as thought it need too. Not sure why!

It was ok. Not great. I think it needed to be more fatty as that is how I remember having it. In the good old days people were not concerned about bad fats!

Next time will use the great wild boar for a caserole I think.

 http://alternativemeats.co.uk/

Prawn Laksa

Prawn Laksa

Now, I have made Laksa before but never made it using Deema's Spices before. Wow. It was good. Even if I say so myself.

Just follow any normal Laksa recipe. I am a big fan of Ottlenghi so I used his but cheated and was lazy so didn't grind stuff. The men in my life complain about eating branches and leaves but roughage is good for you!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/13/curry-laksa-recipe-yotam-ottolenghihttp://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/mar/13/curry-laksa-recipe-yotam-ottolenghi

Tattie Shaws for great Sri Lankan curry powder

Top of Leith Walk. Can't miss it. Get off the bus at Elm Row

 

Deema Spice goes retail!

What a great day Saturday spent in Tattie Shaws, Edinburgh’s finest, cool-as-the-Clash, old-school grocer. Thank you to all those forward-thinking foodies who tried a taste and bought a packet. And thanks too to that guy who refused a try, but bought a few packets anyway.

If it wasn’t for you intrepid tasters and try-outers, the rest of the world would be stuck with very plain fare indeed. Here’s hoping the rest will follow.

You can find Deema's Spice right by the till, or just ask.

Fry Curry Leaves - to smile!

I gave my friend Anne a pack of Deema's Spices recently. She hasn't made any curry she confided. But she keeps it next to her computer and sniffs it from time to time as it cheers her up!

It made me think of home, my mum and smells. 

When mum used to make curries - one of the best smells I remember was when she used to fried curry leaves before other stuff was added. It was so simple and aromatic. Or perhaps it was because it promised yummy food but it always made me smile and feel good.

I think I will do that tomorrow. Toast some fresh curry leaves with a wee bit of oil and fill my house with a delicious aroma. And big smiles.

 

Rick Stein roots for Sri Lankan curry on telly!

As officially broadcast by the BBC: Sri Lankan curry and spices wins! Of course, our Deema's Spice is even better than his. He missed things.

But now you know what to do with your left over turkey - order our spices quick.

The great thing is, all the food looked tummy grumblingly good.  But Sri Lanka still won. Watch on the BBC iplayer link.