Onion bhaji & juicy juicy mangoes.

On Monday night, I went to Bollywood.

Roasted Chicken Breast with Lemony Bombay Potatoes
Indian-Style Broccoli with Spiced Yoghurt

OK, so of course I didn’t really go to Bollywood, but my apartment smelt very like an Indian restaurant.

I’ve cooked curries before, but not from scratch. Not using the spices to make the paste. Just using the paste from a jar. And don’t get me wrong, they’re easy and tasty, but this Indian feast was a flavour sensation.

The Bombay potatoes had lemon zest (hey, come on now, don’t be harsh. They really do use lemon a lot in India & Jamie isn’t just infiltrating in any way possible…), turmeric, cumin and chilli. Mixed with some garlic and olive oil, tossed with slices of red capsicum and the par-boiled cubes of potato, then the chicken breast, this bright yellow concoction went into the oven for 30 minutes and the wafting smells were mouth-watering.

Meanwhile, I quickly tossed some fennel seeds, cumin and cardamom seeds scraped fresh from the pod, in a hot frying pan. While warm, I used the pestle and mortar to grind them up and then stirred them through natural yoghurt with a squeeze of lemon.




The whole thing was delicious and now that I have all these spices in my cupboard, I have no excuse not to attempt some more Indian home cooking. Plus I kind of liked eating fluro yellow food – bizarre but fun!

Xx

PS – I love onion bhajis and I love saying onion bhajis, so that’s why they’re in the title.

PPS – One of my favourite lines from a movie is from Bend It Like Beckham, when they’re fitting her for a sari and the grandma says she’ll make a dress that will turn her “mosquito bites into juicy juicy mangoes”. Hilarious.