Say yellow, wave goodbye...

Apologies for the title!  I've had Say Hello, Wave Goodbye by Soft Cell in my head for days so when I was thinking of a title for a post about a yellow curry... Yep, that's how my mind works! Although, the wave goodbye bit is apt since the yellow curry in question was devoured to leave very clean plates by not only the boy child but my very fussy 'wife' (i.e. the other person in my life that I cook for. Not an actual wife!).

Now, if you know me it is quite likely that at some point I've asked you, "Have you heard of Chilli Papas?", to which you've then answered, "Yes, Jill. You harp on about it all the time". Some things are worth harping on about!!

This is their website---> http://www.chillipapas.com/  Here's a link to their Facebook page --->  https://www.facebook.com/redhotchillipapas .  It's updated all the time with their latest news, products, where they will be direct selling, asking for customer feedback and opinions, recipe ideas - loads going on. I like companies that interact with their customers like this. And they do listen and take on board what people tell them.  And to put an extra smile on my face, they are based right here beside me in Dunfermline. Yes, my Fife foodie mission continues...

I've been using their products for a while now and my favourite mix changes all the time, but at the moment I am really into the yellow curry.  I love a curry, but if you've ever made your own from scratch you probably know the problems with it:

1. you buy a dozen jars of spices which take up a lot of room in the cupboard and go out of date before you're even halfway through them
2. it takes time to measure out all the quantities of all the different spices
3. if you're trying to watch calories and fat content then curry is a no-no

I do love making a curry from scratch but I have to have the time to spare, and as a very busy working mum that doesn't happen very often.  Chilli Papas provide 2 of their mixes in each pack and each sachet contains all the spices you need for each curry.  The 2 in 1 Tikka has beetroot powder in it too which gives it a fabulous colour without any artificial additives that you might find in shop bought curries.  I'll do a blog post on the tikka mix separately as I adore it!  The Chilli Papas tagline is "Authentic curry the oil free way", and it is!  I suppose if you really wanted to you could fry the onion and spices in oil first, but having tried all of their mixes using the age old 'bung it all in a pot and let it cook' method, I can vouch for the fact that oil really isn't needed.

So on Mothers Day this year, as nobody was likely to cook dinner for me (boo hoo...), I wanted something I love, something easy that I could leave to cook without having to keep an eye on it and something both the child and the wife would like too. I decided on yellow curry with roasted butternut squash, baby corn and green beans. Phwoar!  Along with the spice mix and my veg I needed an onion, a stock cube, a tin of coconut milk and some easy garlic and ginger (or you can use fresh but I was going for superfast, superlazy cooking, I even used microwave basmati rice!). And here it all is:

The butternut squash was chopped into chunks and roasted in the oven with a bit of salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil until it was tender. 

This is what is in one of the Chilli Papas sachets of yellow curry mix, spices plus kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass:

As I say, you get 2 of these in a packet so enough for 2 curries and all for the bargain price of £2. You can buy them as single units on their Facebook page, or they also offer bundles of 3 or 6 packets for £5 and £10 respectively. And even more good news, free postage!  The inlay card gives you cooking instructions and a list of ingredients you will need, along with directions on how to cook rice.

So, my butternut squash was roasted and into the pot it went with a bundle of green beans, a packet of baby corn, a chopped onion, a teaspoon of easy garlic, a teaspoon of easy ginger, the spice mix, a tin of coconut milk and half a stock cube. The pack says a whole stock cube but as I had put salt on the squash to roast it and don't like things too salty, I cut back.  You could leave it out altogether if you're keeping an eye on your salt intake, or use a low salt one.  Give it all a stir, leave it to cook for 20 mins or until the raw veg or meat is cooked, and serve with whatever you like!  I chucked an Asda garlic and coriander naan in the oven and a packet of microwaveable basmati rice in and we had a splendid dinner:

It's so easy to make a nice authentic curry using the mixes that I even had a cheeky nana nap on the sofa whilst it was cooking! (Well, it was Mothers Day!) As for the flavour, well the young one and the picky one both scoffed the lot in record time.  There was talk of licking the plate... Again, if you are watching calories etc you can swap the full cream coconut milk for a reduced fat version and it still tastes great. To be honest, the curries are very versatile so go ahead and add what you like!  A squeeze of lime juice would be lovely in the yellow curry, add a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes if you like it with a bit more bite or chuck a handful of chopped coriander leaves and stalks in at the end to give it some more freshness - it's completely up to you.

The Chilli Papas range at the moment includes a 2 in 1 Tikka (you can mix it with yogurt etc and use it as a marinade, or you can make it into a tikka masala sauce), yellow curry, Mandalay and a mild, medium and hot version of vindaloo.  They also put together brilliant hampers for any occasion and can include chilli chutneys, chilli chocolate, chilli seeds, pamper products, cakes, chillipapa or chillimama aprons ( I have one, I heart it!), anything you fancy really to suit your budget. Keep your eyes open later in the year too as they are looking to launch new mixes in the summer, including a fajita mix which I am probably more excited about than would be considered normal.  I can't help it, I LOVE fajitas!!!  But for now, if you want a fast, authentic tasting range of curries to have as a store cupboard essential, head over to Chilli Papas and get stocked up!