Celebrating 'A Taste of Harmony'

HenderCare team member Carolina's Columbian recipe:

Arepas

What are Arepas?

Arepas are corn flour cakes that originated hundreds of years ago in a region that now makes up Colombia, Venezuela, and Panama. Traditionally, they were cooked in a pan called a budare. But they can also be grilled, baked or fried.

This is the traditional and perfect breakfast for millions of families in Colombia and the best thing is that you can put whatever you want on your arepa.

You can put just butter and salt on top, or cheese, avocado, meat, eggs, tuna, etc, whatever you want.

How to make Arepas?

This recipe requires 30 minutes, 1 bowl, and just 3 ingredients: salt, water (which we don’t count as an ingredient), oil for cooking, and areparina or masarepa, which is a special pre-cooked corn flour specifically for making arepas (you can find it in Latin shops)

Spread the oil in a large skillet and place it on the stove over medium-high heat.

Place the water and a pinch of salt in a bowl; Gradually add the flour and stir with a spoon. Wait about three minutes until the dough takes a bit of consistency. Then knead it vigorously until it doesn’t stick to the edges of the container. There should be no lumps.

Form spheres the size of an orange and then flatten them with the palms of your hands until you get circular arepas about four inches in diameter.

Place them in the pan and cook with a lid for about 5 minutes; uncover and return to the arepas.

If you want very crispy arepas, you can put them in the oven for about 10 minutes over medium heat at 180 °C.

The arepas will puff out slightly and if tapped gently they will make a hollow sound.

HenderCare team member Neha's butter chicken recipe:
Butter chicken

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients to marinate chicken:

Boneless Chicken – 200 gms
Pound Ginger & Garlic – 1 tsp
Hung Curd – 2 tsp
Juice Of 1/2 Lemon
Red Chili Powder ( Kashmiri Chilli) – 1 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp
Salt – 1/2 tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp

Ingredients for the gravy:

Butter – 1 tbsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Onion – 2. (chopped)
Pound Ginger & Garlic – 1 tsp
Tomato – 3. (chopped)
Full Red Kashmiri Chili – 3 nos. ( This will make it spicy- you can reduce the number of chillies as required)
Salt – 1 tsp
Cumin Powder – 1 tsp
Coriander Powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Water – 2 tbsp
Cashew Nuts – 10 nos.
Water – ½ cup

Ingredients for final touch:

Butter 2 tbsp
Kashmiri Chili Powder1 tsp
Water
Fresh Cream 1/4 cup
Dried Fenugreek leaves
Fresh Coriander Leaves to garnish. Method:

1. In a bowl, add the boneless chicken pieces, pound ginger garlic, hung curd, lemon juice, red chilli powder, garam masala and salt.
2. Mix everything well, and marinate the chicken for about 30 minutes
3. Heat a pan and add oil.
4. Fry the marinated chicken pieces mixture till they are cooked and keep it aside
5. In a pan heat oil and butter, add onions and saute till they are transparent
6. Add the pound of ginger garlic and mix it well. Then add tomatoes and saute.

Add full Kashmiri red chillies and saute.
8. Add salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder. Add some water ( not too much 15-20 ml) and cook till the tomatoes are mushy.
9. Then add cashew nuts and saute for 5 mins.Cool down the cooked masala and grind it to a fine paste by adding water.10. Heat the same pan, add butter, red chilli powder and keep the flame on low.
Add the ground puree to the pan. Saute and add water.
11. Add the fried chicken pieces and mix it well. Add fresh cream mix it and simmer the gravy. Cover the pan and cook for 10 min.
12. Finally, add crushed dried fenugreek leaves and fresh coriander leaves and mix well
13. Serve the Butter Chicken hot with naan or rice.

HenderCare team member Stiffany's Sri Lankan curry recipe:
Jaffna Prawn Curry

Jaffna is in the northern peninsula of Sri Lanka and has a rich culture. I like to share one of my favourite recipes that I make for my family often. I replace prawns with many other types of meat or fish for the same recipe. I prefer to prepare curry powder at home to secure its medicinal value.

To make the curry powder. We will need;

Ingredients:

15 dried red chillies

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

2 tsp black pepper

Ten cardamom

Five cloves

2-3 bay leaves

20 – 30 curry leaves

To make this Jaffna curry powder, place all spices in a heavy-based frypan over low heat and toast them until fragrant and aromatic and golden brown colour. Curry leaves must be dried and almost crispy. Swirl pan occasionally to ensure even toasting. Grind until powder.

Ingredients for the prawn curry.

500g prawns

Three tbs coconut oil

One large onion diced

Two tomatoes diced

Five garlic cloves crushed

One spring of curry leaves

2’ pc pandan leaf

2’pc lemongrass

3 – 4 tsp Jaffna curry

½ tsp turmeric powder

¼ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp sweet paprika

3 – 4 cardamom pods crushed

Two cloves

½ cup of water

1 cup coconut milk

Salt to taste

1/2 lime

Wash, remove head and tail, clean the prawns leaving the hard outer cover. Mix the prawns with ¼ tsp of turmeric powder and salt in a large bowl stir well to coat. Set aside for 15 minutes to marinate.

In a large wok or deep fry pan with a lid, place over medium heat and add the coconut oil; then, when hot, add the onion and cook until softened for a few minutes. Add garlic and tomatoes and cook until oil separates.

Add the prawns to the pan stir well. Add the rest of the ingredients except for water and coconut milk. Stir well to coat and fry in oil for ½ minute.

Add water and cook covered for 3 – 4 mins.

Add coconut milk and cook for a further five minutes until the prawns cook through and thicken the curry. Squees over the fresh lime juice and salt to balance and remove from the stove.

Serve with steamed rice.

We hope you can celebrate today with a ‘Taste of Harmony’ in your office or kitchen and maybe one of the dishes above has inspired some of you to try one yourself at home!

Celebrating ‘A Taste of Harmony’