Happy Singles’ Day! Doesn’t quite apply to me as I’m married 
but it’s equally significant to me as 11.11 is also the world’s biggest e-commerce day. That’s right. SHOPPING!!! 😆 I have been busy Taobao-ing today – buying a bunch of needs and wants. If you haven’t heard of Taobao, you’re really a froggie in the well. Check out my How to Shop on Taobao: A Step-by-Step Tutorial post to find out more. Doesn’t matter if you can’t read Chinese on the Taobao site – there’s always Google translator. 😉 Plus, my tutorial is pretty much a dummy’s guide. 😆
Checking Out Mustafa Centre at Little India
Ok. In one of my earlier posts, I’ve mentioned about buying spices at Little India as I’m recently into making Indian dishes. Well, if you’re like me and want to try out some Indian cooking, you should really check out the spices selection at Mustafa Centre. Simply spoilt for choices. I like getting these prepacked spice mix because it saves you the hassle of getting individual spices. Spices lose their fragrance over time when kept for too long and if you don’t intend to cook with these spices all the time, then likely many of these spices will be sitting in your pantry cupboard untouched.
Convenient, Hassle-Free with No MSG or Preservatives
I would like to recommend this Tooba brand of spice mix that is made in Pakistan. Each box like this contains 2 packs of spices which you can use for 2 separate meals. Their spice packs do not contain MSG or preservatives. Also, there is a good range of spice mix for different dishes so you can easily whip up something different every week. Recipe directions are provided on the back of the box. I don’t follow the recipes 100% but I’m sure they come in handy if you need guidance.
I tried their Biryani Masala but I didn’t take pictures so I will share it when I make it again next time. It was pretty easy to make and tasted better than expected. Could definitely make out the strong aroma and fragrance of the spices but not in an overwhelming manner.
Ta-daa! Here’s my Tandoori Chicken – served atop a bed of pickled carrots and cucumber that I had made. You don’t need a tandoor oven to make Tandoori Chicken though that will definitely add more smokiness to the meat and further enhance its flavour.
I consider this recipe to be pretty healthy as I had used olive oil instead of ghee and reduced fat Greek yogurt with no added sugar. Also, I had the skin on the chicken removed and all visible fats trimmed away too.
Making The Pickled Vegetables
For the pickled vegetables that I served the chicken with, first slice one carrot and one cucumber (interior seeds removed) into thick strips and put them into a big glass jar. Pour in 1/2 cup rice vinegar and add 1 tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt. Close the jar lid and give it a good shake. Leave the jar in the fridge overnight and you’ll have delicious, crunchy pickled vegetables the next day. 🙂
If you want to try making Tandoori Chicken from scratch minus all that red colouring, check out my Tandoori Chicken Recipe which is just as delicious. 😉
- 1kg chicken pieces, skin removed
- 1 cup reduced fat Greek yogurt
- juice from 1/2 lemon
- 1″ knob ginger, peeled & minced
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled & minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 packet Tooba Chicken Tandoori spice mix (50g)
- pickled carrots & cucumber as sides
I went to mustafa and little to find this tooba tandoori but failed to get one? May I knowwhere did you bought it?
From the spices section at Mustafa Centre. They have two stretches of packaged spices so you gotta check both out as they may not be always stocked at same place 🙂