Uncle Wilbur's Curries: A Review

So you're making a curry. For eight people (lucky you). But there are two kids and two adults that don't like their food spicy, while the others do. What do you do? Just make a mild curry for everyone? Or make two curries - a Korma and a Madras and try and please everyone? As a chilli lover, it's a situation I'm in all the time with my family, who won't touch spicy food. 

And one company, Uncle Wilbur's, thinks they've cracked it. 

Uncle Wilbur's Goan Curry

What they've done is blend ground spices together to create a pretty much instant curry sauce. And then they've added in these 'hotshots' (heat capsules), which you add depending on your tolerance (and need) for chillies. The idea is that you cook the curry and then dish up the children's meals, keeping them warm. Chuck a heat capsule or two into your still simmering curry and then you've got a hotter version for the chilli lovers. There's also a spice guide included, which will guide you on how many chilli capsules to add into your curry. The capsules dissolve into the sauce and you're just left with ground chillies in there, but if you want to you can open the capsules out and just tip in the chillies (although Uncle Wilbur's assures us on the pack that the hotshots are suitable for vegetarians). 

Uncle Wilbur's Thai Massaman curry, made with beef

They sent me a few of their 'Hot or Not' curry blends to try. To be honest, my experience with ground spice curry blends up until now hasn't been brilliant. I've generally found them to be quite grainy, a bit watery and the flavours too intense - not rich and mellow as it is when you've been simmering a freshly-made curry for a while. 

But once I made these I was actually pleasantly surprised. They weren't grainy and watery but thick and dark. The Goan curry (which was awarded a Bronze 'Taste of the West' Award in 2012) had a slightly sour flavour to it, which was fresh-tasting and quite addictive. And if you serve the curry as it is, without capsules, there is absolutely no chilli heat in there at all. Just fragrant spices. The children loved it. 

Having had success on the stove, the Massaman curry was put through its paces in the slow cooker, with some diced beef. I just browned the meat in the pan and tipped it into the slow cooker. I prepared the sauce by stirring the spices into the meat juices still in the pan and then adding water to make a silky sauce. This was poured over the beef in the crockpot, and stirred together. After a few hours of gentle simmering it was, again, a success and my husband, who is usually very fussy when it comes to curries, really enjoyed it. 

The 'hotshots' - capsules of chilli heat that you add to your curry

There are a few different curry blends made by Uncle Wilbur - which include Thai Green curry, Jalfrezi and Rogan Josh. I'd like to give the Thai Green curry a try, just to see if it's as creamy as I would expect. Are these curries exactly the same as a home-made curry using fresh spices, herbs and veggies? I don't think they are. But they're a great solution for families and cater for different spice tolerances and my girls really did love them. And it was the first time they'd eaten a Massaman or Goan curry without fear of it being spicy, but still got to taste the differences between the flavours. 

Have you tried any of Uncle Wilbur's 'Hot or Not' curries? What did you think?

Argentinian Salsa Criolla

You hear a lot about chimichurri these days. That green, pungent salsa that gets spooned onto steaks and beef burgers. But another Argentinian salsa that you might not hear so much about is salsa criolla - and over there, it's as popular as chimichurri. 

It's a mixture of finely chopped sweet red peppers, garlic, parsley, onion and tomato, all bound together with olive oil and vinegar. It's less pungent than chimichurri and isn't at all spicy. The crunchy red peppers really lift the flavours of whatever you're serving it with and freshen up the whole dish. 

Salsa Criolla (which basically means 'Argentinian salsa') works brilliantly with any grilled meats but also fish and vegetarian meals. Salads, too. Our favourite? A generous spoonful on top of a home-made pork burger, in a bun with a little mayonnaise and salad. 

How to Make Salsa Criolla
Makes enough to feed four, with leftovers

Finely chop 1 small white onion, 1 large clove of garlic and 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley. Lay out 2 tomatoes on a board and de-seed them and then chop finely into tiny pieces. Trim and de-seed 1 sweet red pepper (Romano peppers are good) and then finely chop this too. Put all the veggies and herbs into a small bowl and trickle in 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil and 2 tbsp white wine vinegar. Add a pinch of salt and mix it together. This salsa actually improves the next day, so make it a day before, cover with cling film and store in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before serving though, otherwise you won't benefit from the full flavours in the salsa. 

What are your favourite salsas? 

Mini Banana and Dulce de Leche Loaf Cakes

Oh, have I got a thing for dulce de leche. 

It's a milk-based caramel that's popular in Latin American countries and if you get the good stuff, it's thick, dark and glossy and is perfect eaten in so many ways - spread on toast, used as a sandwich filling, spooned straight from the jar... 

The thick sweet - almost buttery - caramel works so well with banana and so I whipped up these mini loaf cakes for a school cake sale. There's dulce de leche in the cake itself and then a bit more is spread onto the top to finish it off. I hope you like them.

Mini Banana and Dulce de Leche Loaf Cakes
Makes 12.
Ingredients
80g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
200g peeled bananas 
220g plain flour
4 tsp baking powder
good pinch of sea salt flakes
1 heaped 15ml tablespoon dulce de leche, plus an extra 2 tbsp for the topping

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Lay out 12 disposable mini loaf cases on a baking tray. 
To start, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Crack in the eggs, and beat these into the mixture. Add the bananas, mashing them so you get a smooth(ish) mixture. Sift in the flour and the baking powder and crumble in a pinch of the sea salt flakes. Stir to combine everything and then fold in the tablespoon of dulce de leche, mixing just until it's more or less combined but still streaky in the cake mixture. 

Divide the mixture between the 12 mini loaf cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cakes are firm, risen and just starting to turn golden on top. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. 

To finish off the cakes, spread a little dulce de leche onto the tops of the loaf cakes just before serving. 

Hubba hubba...

What do you think? Do you like dulce de leche? What are your favourite ways to use it?