Spices

Staying at the spa reinforced my belief that we should all be looking to nature for help in our never ending battle to stay healthy and slim. I want to banish from my life artificial processed foods and only eat real food, herbs and spices, fruit and vegetables. I want to enhance the food I eat with powerful health promoting herbs and spices for both flavor and wellness. So many spices have been proven to be beneficial to our health yet we continue to cook food high in salt and sugar and lacking in flavor.

I could write a book on the health benefits of herbs and spices but if you add just a few spices to your diet every week instead of paying hundreds of dollars on herbal medicines it will have a positive impact on your body. I have been cooking Indian food for years and I would like to share with you my very own No Hurry Curry Sauce. It’s packed with wonderful spices and is an incredible sauce for any protein including Tofu or vegetables. You can do with it what you like and you can add any fluid of your choice, coconut milk, almond milk, cream, stock, tomato sauce, to make your final sauce. Try it and I promise you will customize it to your own preferences and have it at least once a week. Your body will thank you, and it’s sure to put you in a good mood. Those of us lucky to live in homes where we can entertain inside and out will enjoy adding this dish to your repertoire Even though there is a wealth of restaurants around us, evenings spent with friends over delicious meals that make you want to linger until the last of the flames have faded is what life is all about. Enjoy.

Let yourself enjoy this wonderful explosion of spices by lighting my Indian Spice candle for some inhalation therapy.

Manor Road Candles

NO HURRY CURRY

This lovely mild fragrant curry sauce will complement any meat fish or vegetable and is easy to customize to your own preferences.

serves 6

1/2 tsp Ginger
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon Powder
1/8 tsp ground Cloves
1 tsp Turmeric
2 tsp ground Cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground Coriander
1/8 – 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 Bay Leaf
1 large Onion finely chopped
1/2  Pint of single cream or any liquid of your choice ( coconut milk, almond milk, tomato sauce, full fat greek yogurt )
5 tablespoons of Olive oil

METHOD

1. Mix in a small bowl all dry spices. This spice mixture can be used to sprinkle a dry rub over chicken fish or meat. Just drizzle with olive oil then sprinkle dry rub. Gives a big punch of flavor.
2. For the sauce. Heat olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Fry onion for about five minutes until starting to turn a pale brown.
3. Sprinkle dry spices over onion and stir well. Allow to cook for another three minutes stirring all the time. This allows the spices to bloom and increase in flavor. Be sure not to burn.
4. Slowly add 1/2 pint of cream and stir to ensure all the spices have been incorporated into the cream.
5. Add bay leaf reduce heat to simmer and cook for twenty minutes giving it a stir a couple of times.
6. Adjust amount of liquid if sauce is too thick. This sauce can be used for any number of dishes, just customize to your own preference.