Passage Foods Review

I was lucky enough to be invited to the Kids Business Bloggers BBQ in Melbourne yesterday. It was a great chance to catch up with other bloggers and meet those who I have been reading for ages. I was also able to meet some brands who are interested in promoting their products further through reviews.

One of the brands that I was very excited to try was Passage Foods. This company make Indian and Asian simmer sauces and meal kits using quality ingredients. They also use authentic recipes, so you are assured an easy meal that tastes great. Readily available at Coles, Woolworths and IGA stores around Australia, it's easy to pick up a pack for a simple mid-week dinner.

On tasting at the Bloggers BBQ were the butter chicken and master stock cooked pork belly, served with Kekap Manis. They were both delicious. Mr eat quaff laugh can't wait for me to make the pork belly!

Each blogger was lucky enough to be given a goodie bag containing packets of the Asian Master Stock, Butter Chicken and the Street Kitchen North Indian Butter Chicken. Tonight we trialled the Street Kitchen Butter Chicken.

This meal kit included a marinade for the meat, a spice mix and the simmering sauce. Each component gave a different flavour to the dish, so that the end result was beautiful and rich. Even though there were the three sachets, it still only took 20 minutes to prepare. Just enough time to cook some rice and papadums to go with it!

The instructions on the kit were very easy to follow. All you needed to add was 600g of diced chicken.

First I marinated the chicken in the garlic and ginger paste.

Then I fried the spice mix until fragrant and added the chicken to brown.

Finally I added the sauce and simmered until the chicken was cooked.

A delicious meal prepared in no time! We served ours with a spiced potato and pea side dish, to make it a complete meal. the flavours of the Butter Chicken were amazing and everyone in the family gobbled it down.

The very generous people at Passage Foods have a competition running for my readers at the moment, where you too can win a hamper of goodies, valued up to $100.

Do you fancy cooking up your own range of Indian, Asian and Street Kitchen dishes with a handy Prepara iPrep tablet stand? Of course you do!

Just visit their competition page at www.passagefoods.com/competition to enter. Also visit them on Facebook to check out new products and recipes using their range.

Now that I've tried the butter chicken, I can't wait to get creative with the Master Stock and whip up something delicious!

Minced Lamb With Coriander (Dhaniya Keema)

I love eating Indian food and we often get Indian takeaway when the cooking fairies are taking a break. Luckily for me, my husband also loves to cook Indian food. When he says that he's going to prepare a meal for the week, there's a big chance its going to come out of our well worn Indian cookbook! With splatters all over it, the pages almost open to this dish by themselves!

This recipe for minced lamb with coriander is one of our absolute favourites. It's quite easy to make and doesn't require too many different spices. Being a dry curry, it doesn't have a gravy, so we just serve it with papadums, roti or naan to scoop it up with. I like to have mine with a dollop of natural yoghurt or Dahi on top as well.

If you love the flavour of fresh coriander and have a lot to use up, then this recipe is for you. It's also great to make a day or two ahead for the flavours to infuse. Just make sure you only add the coriander when you are about to serve it, to keep that lovely fresh taste and beautiful green colour.

The recipe suggests 2 green chillies, but this time we used one red and one green to add a little bit more heat. If you prefer a more mild flavour, only use the green chilli which isn't quite so hot.

This is one meal I can never have too much of. I'd love to try an authentic version to see how it compares, but you rarely see this on the menu of your local Indian. Hint hint to any of my Indian friends :-)

I hope that you enjoy this as much as we do. It might become a regular in your household too!

Minced Lamb With Coriander

700g lamb mince

3 garlic cloves

2 bay leaves

1/3 cup oil

300g onion, finely diced

1 cinnamon stick

3 cloves

3 green cardamom

2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground turmeric 

3/4 tsp ground cumin 

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

2 tomatoes, finely diced

Salt to taste

1 cup of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Boil the mince in 2 cups of water with 1 whole garlic clove and bay leaves for 10 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Finely chop the remaining garlic.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Fry the onion over low heat for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Add the cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, ginger, garlic and chilli. Cook for 2 minutes then add the mince and sauté for another 5 minutes. 

Add the turmeric, cumin and garam masala and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir every minute or so to stop the mixture sticking.

Add the tomatoes and salt to taste and cook for another few minutes.

Add 2 cups of water and cook, uncovered, until the liquid has almost evaporated.

Stir through the fresh coriander and remove from the heat.

Serve the mince in bowls with papadums, roti or naan and a dollop of natural yoghurt or Dahi, if you like.

Enjoy!