homemade gluten free hoisin sauce

My sister had the cook book by Gwyneth Paltrow 'My Father's Daughter' over the holidays which we both really enjoyed.  Her type of food is really up my alley so I requested it out of the library, but I got a book that was called 'Notes from my Kitchen Table .
 It is exactly the same book, though it does have a different photo on the front cover.
Anyway this recipe has been adapted from her recipe only because I didn't have exactly what she had at hand.  I also halved the amount just in case I didn't like it.

Combine the following ingredients use a whisk

2 teaspoons of grapeseed oil
1 small clove of garlic mashed
1/4 teaspoon of 5 spice
3 tablespoons of miso (I used white, her recipe asks for red)
70 mls of real maple syrup
1 tablespoon of rice vinegar (her recipe asks for brown rice vinegar)

It is nice and makes a change from my usual sweet soy recipe

I used it for  the beef noodles recipe

homemade curry powder

Curry powder is much more vibrant if you make it yourself.  I adapted the recipe from here

To make it, put together

• 4 tablespoons of cumin powder
• 3 1/2 tablespoons of coriander powder ( I dry fried whole seeds and smashed them in the mortar and pestle)
• 2 tablespoon of turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon of ginger powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder

Spices have so many health benefits especially tumeric see here for all the wonders it does

Round red chiles

I bought theses round chiles a while back from 'Shahji spices'.  They look so devine.  What am I going to do with them?
Got any suggestions?  Maybe a sambal of some sort.

Garam masala

I got this recipe from the book 'Spice Market' by Jane Lawson.

The recipe is as follows

Seeds from 10 green cardamon pods

1 cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons cloves

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Dry fry the spices for 1-2 minutes.  Set aside and cool.

Put in spice grinder with the nutmeg and blend until finely ground.  I sieved it as to remove the coarse bits.

5 spice- spice blend

This recipe came from the book 'Spice Market' by Jane Lawson.

The recipe is as follows

1 1/2 tablespoons ground star anise
3 teaspoons ground fennel
3 teaspoons ground cassia ( I used cinnamon as I did't have any cassia)
1 teaspoon ground sichuan pepper corns
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

I used whole seeds and then ground them in a spice grinder and mixed together.

Tamarind

Turning a block of taramind pods into a puree ready for use is as simply adding water.

I use 1/2 a block at a time

Put the half block of tamarind in bowl and cover with boiling water from the jug.  Probably a cup.  Let it soften for a few minutes and then break and mix up with a fork.

Once it becomes loose strain it through a sieve, push it through with a back of a spoon.

After the first straining I put the pod mixture back into the original bowl and add just a little bit more boiling water to get the last of the puree through.  Now it is ready for use.

Sri Lankan curry blend

I got the recipe for this spice blend from the book 'Spice Market' essential information on spices, spice mixes and spice pastes by Jane Lawson.  It is a beautiful book.  I intend to use this blend for chicken.

You will need

3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
2 cm cinnamon stick
6 cloves
1/4 teaspoon cardamon seeds from green pods.  Crack open the pods
2 dried chillies
2 teaspoons dried curry leaves  ( I didn't have these so I didn't put them in)

Gently dry-fry them on low heat in a heavy based bottom pan until fragrant about 3 mins.  Don't let them brown too much or it will become bitter and awful and a waste of time.

I started to pound in a mortar and pestle but it was going to take too long, so I used the electric spice grinder instead which only took seconds.

Indian spices

Now that it is winter I really feel like Indian food.  I went off to Shahji Indian wholesale spices in Marua Rd in Ellerslie today.  The man who owns the store is great and really knowledgeable on all his wares and is ready to share all he knows.

I bought this spice container and the main spices you need to make your basic curries.
I'm trying out a basic chicken curry tonight.  Don't know how it will turn out.

I also bought some gluten-free flours.  I have never made gluten-free bread for Finn but now I will have to give it a go.  Apparently you need about 5 flours to get good texture and flavour.