chicken Tikka Masala

INGREDIENTS

1kg of boneless skinless chicken cut into chunks

Marinade for Chicken:

• 200g non-fat greek yogurt
• Juice from ½ lemon
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 
• ¼ tsp black peppe
• a pinch of salt

Ingredients for the sauce 

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 3 cardamom pods, smashed lightly
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch stick of cinnamon
• 1 large onion, blended into paste
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1 tbs grated ginger
• 1 tbs crushed garlic
• 1 tbs ground cumin
• ½ tbs ground coriander
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 plum tomatoes, puréed
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 2-4 tbs heavy cream
• small handful of coriander, chopped for garnish

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METHOD

1. Combine ingredients for marinade in a large glass bowl, add chicken and allow to marinate while you get on with the sauce.
2. In a large pot, heat oil and butter over medium heat and add the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Cook for 20-30 seconds or until lightly fragrant.
3. Add the onion and salt. Cook over medium heat and stir frequently. Cook until the onions are a light to medium brown color.
4. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute over medium heat, or until lightly fragrant.
5. Add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook until the fat starts to leave the spice paste (you will see little pools of liquid on the top or on the sides). Some of the liquid from the tomatoes should have evaporated leaving a thick mixture.
6. Add the chicken to the same pot and cook until the outside is no longer opaque. Add brown sugar and enough water to cover the chicken. Cook covered on medium low for 20-25 minutes, until the chicken is meltingly tender. The sauce should be the consistency of a pasta sauce. Add water or turn up the heat to reduce the sauce as necessary before going to the next step.
7. Turn heat to low and add cream. Check the seasoning. If it is flat, add more salt, brown sugar or cayenne.
8. Remove cardamom, cinnamon stick and cloves.
9. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with Basmati rice. 

Almond Cookies

Chinese Almond Cookies
3 cups (375 g) flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (60 g) ground almond
12 oz. butter, softened
1 cup (210 g) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
1 oz. water
Slices of almonds,
blanched1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and ground almonds together in a bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add the egg, water, and almond extract and beat until incorporated. Beat in the dry ingredients until just combined.
Form 1-inch balls of cookie dough, placed a few inches apart (for spreading) on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
Top each dough ball with a slice almond and brush the top of the cookie with egg wash.
Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes. Baked for about 20 to 25 mins.

Making Pasta Dough

1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 tsp salt in a bowl.
1 tsp olive oil
2 eggs
Preparing your pasta dough:

You can make a well in the center and prepare the dough in the bowl, or dump it out on a floured cutting board and prepare your dough there.
Add 1 tsp olive oil and one whole egg into the well. Holding a fork at an angle parallel to the table, stir the egg mixture quickly and let the flour fall into it from the sides. Keep stirring this way until you have formed a sticky dough ball. You will probably have leftover flour, so only use what you need.
Dump the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating more flour into the dough as needed, until the dough is smooth, elastic, even in color and no longer sticky.
To knead the dough, push down on the ball with the heel of your hand, then give the dough a quarter turn, fold it over onto itself and push away from you again with the heel of your hand. Keep turning and pushing until you achieve the desired consistency - this usually takes approximately 10 minutes.
Once you have finished kneading, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for 30-60 minutes.

Cheesecake

150 grams crushed digestive biscuits

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

60 grams melted butter

Filling:

250 grams of full fat cream cheese, room temperature

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup (120 ml) sour cream, room temperature

1/4 cup of lemon juice

Blueberry Sauce Recipe:

200g blueberry

1/2 cup granulated white sugar

2 stars anise

a pinch of cinnamon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon of butter

Method
For cheesecakes:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees C.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper or foil liners.

For Crust:
In a small bowl combine crushed digestive biscuits, sugar and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling: In the bowl of your electric mixer beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg, vanilla extract and sour cream until incorporated. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Blueberry sauce:
Cook the blueberry with butter and sweet, stirring constantly (to prevent burn) until the mixture becomes thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Let cool until it of pouring consistency.