I recently went on a 1 day Indian Cookery Course and found it awesome.

The day started with an introduction to all the herbs and spices that are used in Indian cookery, including the chilli family, from mild bell peppers at one end of the scale right through to the Birds eye chilli and scotch bonnets at the other end. Did you know that it is not the seeds of the chilli that give you heat? Its the waxy flesh just under the skin that gives the heat to the chilli. The seeds which are dry merely soak up some of the waxy liquid of the chilli that then leads people to think its the seeds themselves.

Also, chilli's have more vitamin C in them than oranges...

So, when using chilli's you could use birds eye or green finger chilli's for heat, but then also use paprika for depth too.

Chilli's open the blood vessels which is good for circulation too.

We went through the medicinal purposes of the spices too, like ginger. Most people peel ginger with a knife. Wrong!! Ginger is just like a potato, it has all the goodness just under the skin, so when preparing ginger, just scrape the skin off with a spoon .

Garlic and Turmeric have good anti-bacterial properties.

So in India, where perhaps the meat or fish is not always as fresh as they would like, and refrigeration is a problem, they use the herbs and spices to treat maybe parasites which are found in shallow water fish etc.....

Mustard breaks down Amnio Acid protein, so all you body builders who pump iron down the gym should include a lot of mustard in you're diet too....

I could go on and on......

We then went onto marinades and made several different ones, for meat, fish and cheese, we were shown how to make Garam Masala and having looked at several recipes on here, we're not walking in a different direction. It is a matter of personal taste....

So we made our marinades, then added, fish, chicken and paneer and let them fester for an hour or so while we went onto making a yoghurt and cucumber raita and some original bombay potatoes.

We then cooked our food and had it for lunch along with as much wine as you want to drink

After a short break, we went onto making samosa's, vegetable bhajia's and pakoras.

The course is held in someones house and is limited to 5 people at a time, which is just right. In fact we all made a marinade and tried each others, all using the same ingredients, it's amazing how maybe less than an 1/8th of a teaspoon of a spice can change the taste of the marinade.

They do a follow up course for main dishes, which I will definitely be booking.

I believe they also do courses in Thai cooking and Sushi too.

The place I went to was in Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire, but I believe they have many venus.

The company is called the Saffron House cooking acadamy.

www.thesaffronhouse.co.uk

or you can e-mail them on

info@thesaffronhouse.co.uk

Give them a visit, I would highly recommend it! 

I was in Sao Joao just outside Albufeira back in the early 80's and became friends with some Portuguese people there. They showed me this recipe. It's one of my all time favourites. You can make it hotter or milder by adjusting the amount of chillis.

I use mainly TRS, they give good results

Here you go....

FRANGO PIRI-PIRI
(Piri-Piri Chicken)
This dish originates from Africa but was adopted by the Portuguese and is now one of their main dishes served in restaurants, caf?s, and bars. It is a simple but tasty dish, and is a fond memory for me. The dish is usually served with crisp hot french fries, but you could serve boiled new potatoes if you prefer. Note: This recipe requires advance preparation.

1 medium sized chicken, washed
1 cup Molho de Piri-Piri (see recipe)
Pinch of ground piri-piri chillis (or substitute piquin or Thai)
Pinch of oregano (fresh or dried)
Romaine lettuce
1 medium red onion, sliced and separated into rings
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup Molho de Piri-Piri (see recipe)
1 lemon, sliced for garnish

Place the chicken on a cutting board and split it lengthways at the breastbone (but not in two halves) so that it will lie flat. Then flatten it as much as possible with a mallet. Place the chicken in a shallow glass pan and pour the Molho over it. Marinate, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
Remove the chicken and sprinkle over it some of the ground piri-piri and oregano. Grill the chicken over coals or gas until done. (It can also be baked in the glass pan with the marinade.)
Chop the chicken coarsely.
Arrange the lettuce on four plates, add the onion rings and tomatoes, and top with the chicken. Serve garnished with lemon slices and a small bowl of the Molho as a dressing.
Yield: 4 servings
Heat Scale: Medium

Molho de Piri Piri Recipe
1/4 cup dried piri-piri chillis or substitute piquin or Thai
1 cup olive oil
1 lemon, slice, cut into quarters
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brandy or whiskey
2 cloves garlic, minced
Combine the chillis, olive oil, lemon, bay leaf, salt, brandy or whiskey, and garlic in a medium saucepan and heat for 15 minutes. Let cool and pour into a glass container. Refrigerate overnight.

For the health conscious among us, try using Lo Salt rather than normal salt. It contains 66% less sodium than regular salts but still gives the same flavour, so you can still add the same amount as in the recipes, but without the effects that regular salt gives