The CookingBites recipe challenge: nuts or seeds

[murphyscreek]

Posting in this thread a big congratulations to The Late Night Gourmet (the previous challenge thread is shut). Well done mate!! Nuts has certainly now got the thinking cap on.

 

[Morning Glory]

Not an entry (it's not nut-forward enough)

Hey - if that is the case I now have to strike off all the recipe ideas off that I'm currently working on! As far as I'm concerned the rules don't require the chosen ingredient to be dominant. We have had herbs in the past as the ingredient and unless one simply submitted a herb dressing or herb sauce as an entry then it would be difficult to find any recipes in which a particular herb was dominant.

The way I see it, is that a good recipe is all about balancing the flavours and textures of different ingredients - it doesn't need to have a dominant ingredient. In the case of this challenge its about how to use nuts and/or seeds to work with and complement the other ingredients in a dish.

 

[Morning Glory]

Easy Butter Chicken Recipe By The Curry Guy

I know no better recipes than this guys curries, and for butter chicken he always uses cashews or almonds. I've always learned that is the original Indian way to make Murgh makhani (the real name of butter chicken).
Any book on Indian cooking I know considers that authentic. But maybe I've got the wrong books. Either way, this is how I know it.

I don't use nuts in butter chicken. Neither does Yorky or The Hairy Bikers. I'm not sure there is an 'authentic' way. Indian Michelin starred chef Alfred Prasad uses one tbsp of cashew nuts in the sauce.

 

[Windigo]

I don't use nuts in butter chicken. Neither does Yorky or The Hairy Bikers. I'm not sure there is an 'authentic' way. Indian Michelin starred chef Alfred Prasad uses one tbsp of cashew nuts in the sauce.

Well, this is how I learned it. As it's not really authentic Indian to begin with, I suppose it comes down to personal interpretation.

 

[Yorky]

I don't use nuts in butter chicken. Neither does Yorky or The Hairy Bikers. I'm not sure there is an 'authentic' way. Indian Michelin starred chef Alfred Prasad uses one tbsp of cashew nuts in the sauce.

I cannot remember using nuts in any dish other than snacks which contain only nuts. However, some recipes that I use do sometimes have ground nuts in the ingredients but I don't bother. Except nutmeg which I do use in garam masala.

I do use seeds in around 75% of my cooked dishes, e.g. coriander, fenugreek, sesame, poppy, cumin, nigella, mustard, anise, black cumin, caraway, fennel, cardamom, chilli seeds.

 

[TastyReuben]

As far as I'm concerned the rules don't require the chosen ingredient to be dominant.

I agree, I think it's just a personal requirement (and that's too strong a word, really...desire?) - otherwise, I'll get lazy, make something easy, then throw some nuts on it and call it a day!

 

[Morning Glory]

I agree, I think it's just a personal requirement (and that's too strong a word, really...desire?) - otherwise, I'll get lazy, make something easy, then throw some nuts on it and call it a day!

Fair enough! The salad looks lovely, BTW.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I went nuts in the almond challenge. If I do anything, it would more likely be seedy instead of nutty.

Not an entry.
Recipe - Almond Milk-Chocolate Pudding Pie with Faux Graham Cracker Crust

 

[Hemulen]

Tart with Reindeer, Walnuts and Cranberries

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I do use seeds in around 75% of my cooked dishes, e.g. coriander, fenugreek, sesame, poppy, cumin, nigella, mustard, anise, black cumin, caraway, fennel, cardamom, chilli seeds.

I don't think that is the definition of seeds we're going with. it's the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds definition rather than spices definition... but I could be wrong

 

[rascal]

Easy Butter Chicken Recipe By The Curry Guy

I know no better recipes than this guys curries, and for butter chicken he always uses cashews or almonds. I've always learned that is the original Indian way to make Murgh makhani (the real name of butter chicken).
Any book on Indian cooking I know considers that authentic. But maybe I've got the wrong books. Either way, this is how I know it.

I learned something new. Cheers

Russ

 

[caseydog]

I went nuts in the almond challenge. If I do anything, it would more likely be seedy instead of nutty.

Not an entry.
Recipe - Almond Milk-Chocolate Pudding Pie with Faux Graham Cracker Crust

I'd more expect something "seedy" out of TR.

CD

 

[caseydog]

The original challenge ingredient was nuts, and since I have no health or availability issues preventing me from using nuts, I am going to use nuts.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

The original challenge ingredient was nuts, and since I have no health or availability issues preventing me from using nuts, I am going to use nuts.

CD

It's true, but then you have to consider which nuts are true nuts and which are not...so you couldn't use peanuts, pine nuts, and several others (see post by SatNavSaysStraightOn).

I have no health or availability issues but it's been cleared we can use seeds.

 

[caseydog]

It's true, but then you have to consider which nuts are true nuts and which are not...so you couldn't use peanuts, pine nuts, and several others (see post by SatNavSaysStraightOn).

I have no health or availability issues but it's been cleared we can use seeds.

I am fine with only using true nuts. I can imagine dozens of recipes using only true nuts.

CD