Tasty but simple Korma/Tikka, chow mein sauce and satay sauce please?

[Lillylay]

Hi, I wondered if anyone had a simple recipe for a few staples that all my family love please? I have been relying on jars alot recently and need to get back to cooking from scratch a bit more but I lack time and motivation so need some really easy recipes if possible. I was thinking Korma/fruity apricot chicken for my younger ones (I used to do a nice annabel karmel one years ago) tikka sauce, and also a chow mein and satay sauce to add to stir fry as I can't seem to get that right.

I make satay sauce from crunchy peanut butter, sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce with a bit of lime juice. I just guess the quantities until it taste right. Add a bit of sesame oil if it is too sticky. Still pretty processed I suppose, I guess you could use honey and finely chopped fresh chilli instead of the sweet chilli sauce. I do use 100% peanut butter.

This korma recipe is delicious and quite simple though more effort than a jar of sauce. The recipe calls for cauliflower, though if your children wouldn't have that, you could add paneer or chicken or something else they'd eat. I never bother with the raisins.

Chicken Tikka -

www.hellofresh.co.uk/recipes/ultimate-chicken-tikka-and-cumin-rice-625d11ff067ca44fdb0b8de0

Healthy chicken tikka is really easy. Tip most of a tub of fat free yoghurt into a glass/ceramic bowl, add curry powder (1tbs), Garam masala (1tsp) ground cumin (1tbs) and ground coriander (1tsp). Add lemon juice, 1tbs of mint sauce and a dollop of mango chutney if you have it. Also can add more or less spice to taste obviously.

Add chopped chicken and marinate for a few hours.

To cook, grill basting with the left over marinade until cooked and charred a bit in places.

The left over fat free yoghurt can be mixed with a bit of mint sauce and a sprinkle of garam masala to make a sauce for the chicken.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spelt-battered_pollock_74956
The sauce from this recipe is amazing, if you want to do it quickly can use chilli, garlic, ginger and lemongrass paste instead. Its quite thick so for stir fry maybe add a bit more coconut milk. Its lovely as is as a dipping sauce too!

For satay, I mix crunchy peanut butter with low fat coconut milk, fresh lime juice and sweet chilli sauce.

For korma, you can do the authentic toasting of whole spices, pounding them in a pestle, grating fresh ginger etc. But an easier way is just mix a couple of heaped tablespoons of mild curry powder with natural yoghurt. Add a drizzle of honey and some garlic granules or powder, a few crushed cardamom pods, bay leaves and a chunk of cinnamon stick. Fry onions and chopped tomatoes, whatever meat you are having then reduce heat and stir in the yoghurt blend slowly.

www.recipetineats.com/chicken-chow-mein/

The chow mien sauce in this recipe is pretty good. You need to scroll down. You could make a batch and keep it in the fridge in a sterilised jar.

For satay to add to a stir fry I crumble a veg oxo cube in 150ml water, add 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tbsp of peanut butter and either some ground Szechuan peppercorns or some dried chilli flakes. It looks curdled when you mix it in a jug but when you add it to the stir fry it heats up into a smooth sauce.

This is my favourite chow mein recipe. It's from Kwoklyn Wan's veggie Chinese takeaway book. I use mushroom stir fry sauce by Lee Kum Kee but if you're not veggie it also works with oyster sauce.