Post by tigerlily on Dec 11, 2009 19:15:46 GMT
In an attempt to lower my blood pressure somewhat (alongside taking extra medication), I been following the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet.
This basically entails drastically reducing the amount of sodium consumed each day down to about 1500 mg (one tin of soup can contain almost 1000 mg!), eating whole grains, low-fat dairy produce, veggies till they are coming out your ears and four to five servings of fruit each day. It is hard going eating all that fruit veg at times (6-8 portions of veg is a heck of a lot), so I have been cooking a lot of soups and stews with plenty of veggies and brown rice or split peas.
Tonight I fancied a curry, and as we had some chicken drumsticks in the freezer I decided on a chicken korma (AH is not used to curries or curry spices, although he has been known to eat jalapeno peppers dipped in tabasco sauce and once won the battalion chilli cook-off with his Iraqi Death Chilli).
I used:
4 chicken drumsticks;
one large onion;
one orange pepper (use any colour you like);
quarter of a cup (about a couple of ounces) split peas;
two sachets of sodium-free chicken stock;
one tin of no added sodium tomato sauce;
two teaspoons Canola oil;
teaspoon minced garlic;
teaspoon minced ginger;
two teaspoons mild curry powder;
3 ounces flaked almonds (no ground almonds but whole ones added a lovely crunchiness to the sauce;
about a tablespoon of fat-free fromage frais.
Fry off the onion in the oil, adding the chicken to brown it. Add the curry powder and the minced garlic/ginger (you can use dried ginger and garlic but the little jars of prepared fresh stuff are really handy). Stir well and let the spices cook into the chicken and onions for a couple of minutes, adding in the chopped pepper.
Pour in the tin of tomato sauce, and add the split peas. Add a pint and a half of water and the sachets of chicken stock. Bring to the boil in a lidded pan then reduce to a simmer and keep covered. Cook for about forty minutes, checking every five minutes after about 25 minutes to make sure it hasn't boiled dry.
When the sauce has reduced down to perhaps three or four tablespoons, stir in the fromage frais and turn off the heat. Keep the pan covered while you prepare the rice.
For the pilau rice:
1 cup brown basmati rice;
1 onion, finely chopped;
1 teaspoon oil;
turmeric;
cumin;
fennel seed;
cinnamon;
nutmeg
(a dash of each, not even a quarter teaspoon);
two sachets sodium free chicken stock;
pint and a half or so of water;
knob of butter or reduced-fat spread;
squeeze of lime juice;
good shake of salt-free lemon pepper.
Sweat onion in oil till tender. Add rice and spices, stir well to combine and let cook for a minute. Add the water and the stock. Squeeze in the lime juice. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down to a simmer. Leave the lid on the pan and ignore it for twenty minutes. Check rice, stir in butter and leave, off the heat and covered, for five more minutes.
Check chicken is at the desired temperature. Serve with the rice.
It sounds a lot more complicated than it really was to prepare. I don't tend to use exact quantities for things like spices, I just throw them in till it tastes about right. The more important things like the rice, the chicken and the oil I do measure.
All in all, a very low sodium, fairly low-fat dish with sneaky fibre in the split peas and the brown rice - AH loved it and it tastes no different to the full-fat, saltier version. (I could give you exact sodium levels but now that I'm used to keeping an eye on how much I consume I don't always write them down. I estimate this as coming in at 300 mg of sodium or less).
This basically entails drastically reducing the amount of sodium consumed each day down to about 1500 mg (one tin of soup can contain almost 1000 mg!), eating whole grains, low-fat dairy produce, veggies till they are coming out your ears and four to five servings of fruit each day. It is hard going eating all that fruit veg at times (6-8 portions of veg is a heck of a lot), so I have been cooking a lot of soups and stews with plenty of veggies and brown rice or split peas.
Tonight I fancied a curry, and as we had some chicken drumsticks in the freezer I decided on a chicken korma (AH is not used to curries or curry spices, although he has been known to eat jalapeno peppers dipped in tabasco sauce and once won the battalion chilli cook-off with his Iraqi Death Chilli).
I used:
4 chicken drumsticks;
one large onion;
one orange pepper (use any colour you like);
quarter of a cup (about a couple of ounces) split peas;
two sachets of sodium-free chicken stock;
one tin of no added sodium tomato sauce;
two teaspoons Canola oil;
teaspoon minced garlic;
teaspoon minced ginger;
two teaspoons mild curry powder;
3 ounces flaked almonds (no ground almonds but whole ones added a lovely crunchiness to the sauce;
about a tablespoon of fat-free fromage frais.
Fry off the onion in the oil, adding the chicken to brown it. Add the curry powder and the minced garlic/ginger (you can use dried ginger and garlic but the little jars of prepared fresh stuff are really handy). Stir well and let the spices cook into the chicken and onions for a couple of minutes, adding in the chopped pepper.
Pour in the tin of tomato sauce, and add the split peas. Add a pint and a half of water and the sachets of chicken stock. Bring to the boil in a lidded pan then reduce to a simmer and keep covered. Cook for about forty minutes, checking every five minutes after about 25 minutes to make sure it hasn't boiled dry.
When the sauce has reduced down to perhaps three or four tablespoons, stir in the fromage frais and turn off the heat. Keep the pan covered while you prepare the rice.
For the pilau rice:
1 cup brown basmati rice;
1 onion, finely chopped;
1 teaspoon oil;
turmeric;
cumin;
fennel seed;
cinnamon;
nutmeg
(a dash of each, not even a quarter teaspoon);
two sachets sodium free chicken stock;
pint and a half or so of water;
knob of butter or reduced-fat spread;
squeeze of lime juice;
good shake of salt-free lemon pepper.
Sweat onion in oil till tender. Add rice and spices, stir well to combine and let cook for a minute. Add the water and the stock. Squeeze in the lime juice. Bring to the boil, cover and turn down to a simmer. Leave the lid on the pan and ignore it for twenty minutes. Check rice, stir in butter and leave, off the heat and covered, for five more minutes.
Check chicken is at the desired temperature. Serve with the rice.
It sounds a lot more complicated than it really was to prepare. I don't tend to use exact quantities for things like spices, I just throw them in till it tastes about right. The more important things like the rice, the chicken and the oil I do measure.
All in all, a very low sodium, fairly low-fat dish with sneaky fibre in the split peas and the brown rice - AH loved it and it tastes no different to the full-fat, saltier version. (I could give you exact sodium levels but now that I'm used to keeping an eye on how much I consume I don't always write them down. I estimate this as coming in at 300 mg of sodium or less).