Loving the lockdown life
I am loving the lockdown life. All of the fam is here. Life is the same as when our daughters were toddlers. We are all at home, they do a lot of painting and baking and I eat cake.
What’s not to love? I’ve been doing more cooking than usual and wondered if you would like my fave curry recipe? I have adapted it from BBC Food. Recipe websites and the Co-op Free Magazine provide inspiration – I have sweet potato bites in the oven at the mo – baked discs soon to be topped with avocado, chilli flakes and lime, served with salmon and poached eggs. If only I could find some asparagus. You can see pics of my stay home life, my cooking triumphs along with some not so triumphant moments on my Instagram stories. If you try the chana dhal recipe below, please send me your pics and I will share, or, add the pic to your story and tag me. If that last sentence was way too tech – let me know and I will add a using Instagram tutorial to my list of online courses (the very idea will make my kids cringe and the office team laugh).
Ingredients • 1.2 litres/2 pints water • 250g/9oz chana dal, rinsed • ½ tsp ground turmeric • 1 heaped tsp ground coriander • 1 tsp garam masala • salt, to taste • 2-3 tsp sugar • 2 tbsp oil or unsalted butter • 5 cardamom pods, lightly crushed • 1 tsp cumin seeds • 5 cloves • 1 small cinnamon stick • ½ tsp brown mustard seeds • 1-2 dried red chillies • 2 dried bay leaves • 3 heaped tbsp flaked or desiccated coconut or ¼ small fresh coconut, flesh chopped into small cubes • 2 onions • Chopped fresh coriander • 6 cherry tomatoes, halved Method 1. Heat the water, lentils and turmeric in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for about an hour, the lentils should be soft. 2. Stir in the dried coriander, garam masala, salt and sugar, to taste. Cook until the lentils begin to break up. 3. Heat the oil or butter in a small pan. Fry the cardamom pods, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, mustard seeds, chillies and bay leaves for 30 seconds. (Add the coconut and stir until it turns golden-brown. 4. Stir the spice mix into the lentils and warm gently, add the cherry tomatoes 5. Use the oil in the small pan to fry the sliced onions until brown 6. Add the onions to the chana mix 7. Add boiled water if your chana is too dry 8. Add chopped coriander, reserving some for garnish 9. Serve with boiled rice, adding the remaining chopped coriander Sending sustenance Jennifer All planned courses will be delivered online with full face to face refresher as soon as we are able to welcome you to a training centre
. Oncology Massage: LONDON – 20th April 2020 MANCHESTER – 19th May 2020 Face and Body Treatments: LONDON – 11th + 12th May 2020 Rejuvenating and Lifting Facial: MANCHESTER – 29th April 2020
