This recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible and also know as Dhania Chicken.
 
It is an exquisite curry and one of our all-time favourites—so easy to make, rich in flavour, and perfect for any occasion. Whether you're cooking for a cosy dinner or a big gathering, simply double, triple, or adjust the amounts as needed. It’s a guaranteed crowd-pleaser!
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INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

• 7½-cm/3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 5 good-sized cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
• salt
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 4 chicken legs, skinned and separated into drumsticks and thighs (I just 4 chicken filets)
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 90 g fresh coriander leaves and small stems
• 2 fresh, hot green chillies, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato purée
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 250 ml natural yoghurt, lightly beaten with a fork

 
METHOD
Put the ginger, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt and the lemon juice into a blender. Add about 2 tablespoons water and blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula if necessary, until smooth. Place the chicken pieces in a stainless steel or non-metallic bowl. Pour the ginger mixture over the top and rub it in. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
 
Without bothering to clean out the blender goblet, put the tomato, coriander, chillies, tomato purée, ¾ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons water into it. Blend until smooth. - Pour the oil into a large, non-stick, lidded pan and set over a high heat: When very hot, put in the chicken pieces, together with the marinade. Fry, stirring for about 10 minutes. Add the tomato mixture from the blender. Continue to cook, stirring, until the sauce is thick and clings to the chicken and the oil separates from it, another 10 minutes. Add the yoghurt. Stir and cook until the yoghurt disappears and leaves a thick sauce edged with oil, 4-5 minutes.
 
Cover, reduce the heat as low as possible, and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is tender. If you think that the pan is drying out too much, stir in a tablespoon or two of water.
 
Geraldine Fitzpatrick

Being able to recycle a Christmas tree may be still on your agenda if you are like me and snow prevented you from getting stuff done. But I came across a neat idea to immerse the branches in vinegar for a few weeks to create a household cleaner and disinfectant. So here it is! There are some jars in the kitchen here to check out. I used the strong bulk vinegar assuming we can dilute sufficiently for use later. Looking forward to the result!

Anne Maher

Change Your Diet Change Your Mind by Dr Georgia Ede

I listened to a recent podcast with Dr Ede on Diary Of A CEO and have recommended a listen!
 
I have heard her speak at a conference too and she is certainly someone that I admire for her work in brain health regarding the role of food… it’s a relatively new concept that our mental health is affected by food.. scratch that, it’s not new but there is increasing recognition that good food is vital for good health. What a coincidence….! Regardless! I like her approach and her messaging. Perhaps we need constant reassurance that this is possible so am looking forward to adding this book to the must reads…

Anne Maher

It was quite surreal to be cut off with snow and watch the unfolding catastrophic wildfires in LA happen in real-time. To lose everything in an instant. In a crisis what do you do? What do you grab at the last minute to escape with your life? For many, they acknowledged that possessions were not important and that people and pets were. The stories that emerge afterwards though take my interest. Managing to feed people in crisis situations is a business. With war zones and famine zones, disaster relief is not uncommon. Tailored though to each culture is the challenge. What will this event bring forward as lessons to learn regarding how we live our lives? Will LA be rebuilt with a completely different food culture? Are the previous homeowners queuing for handouts getting what they need to nourish them through the difficult time that is ahead? For now, with the TV cameras on the celebrity culture, it is early days. We can never take our food culture for granted. When disaster strikes we need access to the basics. Food and shelter. Deliveroo and Just Eat may not cut it. It will be interesting to see how the new systems develop.
 
For what it's worth I am struck by those houses that withstood the blaze. Or rather the insights of the owners who set up systems to protect their houses. Unlike many who relied on the insurance only or waited for the government to solve the problem. Setting up generators to pump water from the pool to the roof to prevent ignition. These were relatively cost-effective ways to withstand the ferocity of the inferno. The lesson from this? Take charge. Don’t rely on the system to protect you. Find ways to protect your house. What a metaphor for our health! 

Anne Maher

There is no doubt you cannot put an old head on young shoulders. How do you teach younger folk about the importance of a sustainable food system and protecting our farming culture?
 
It has taken me years to understand it, despite being in the food game of teaching home economics and public health nutrition.
 
Gaming teenagers with only interest in phones and play are hard to square with the reality of life sometimes. What life skills do they have that are useful?
 
But I do remind myself often that there was a time when my priorities were different too. A major life change for me happened in 1992 when I made the decision to teach in Botswana. Now with no internet, this did mean finding information in libraries etc. (Remember those times?) Training courses with APSO in Dublin were kind of exotic and adventurous. I know I would not have access to the “comforts” of home and would have to adapt. To be honest I was very naïve at 25 and to put that in context I was slightly obsessed with how I would cope not knowing how I would manage without my weekly fix of Coronation Street. Deirdre was about to go to jail…
 
Suffice to say I survived. The addiction was severed and I saw the world differently. Thank goodness. It’s amazing what you see and learn when you are not distracted.
 
The virtual world is many people's reality now. Rather than a dedicated timeslot for our addictive screen, they are with us 24/7. It is concerning. Are we losing the ability to make common sense of reality? Wellbeing is centred around grounding ourselves in reality. Touch the soil, connect with people, turn your face to the sun. You never know what answers you will find!

Anne Maher

I love trying new products, so when Eva introduced her Tallow Body Butter, I couldn’t resist giving it a go. The first thing that struck me was the gorgeous jasmine and geranium scent — it’s divine! It feels amazing on my skin, leaving it soft and hydrated without any greasiness. I even use it on my face and lips, and it works like a charm.

It quickly became a favorite, and I added it to my Christmas wish list along with the Orange Moisturiser Bar. The Moisturiser Bar is super convenient and melts effortlessly into my skin, leaving it just as soft and hydrated. I love how easy it is to use, whether at home or even when I’m stuck in traffic. It’s perfect for daily use and travels so well. Plus, it’s gentle enough for my face and lips too.

Both products have become essentials in my skincare routine — I can’t recommend them enough! Thank you Eva from ForEvaPure. Review by Geraldine
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Let us know which of our products are your favourites and why
Email Geraldine [email protected]

This month, we don’t have any new books to review, but we’d love for you to explore our fantastic book swap section! It’s a great way to enjoy some well-loved and intriguing reads without spending a penny.
Drop in and take a book that sparks your interest, and if you feel like sharing the joy, you can leave a book for someone else to enjoy. Let’s keep the love for stories and sustainability alive!

Anne Maher

This one has captured the angst of the awakening real foodies.. we have noted the rising numbers coming in looking for real milk with “none of that new fangled feed” that apparently keeps the bovine flatulence in control. The climate friendly milk etc. Sigh…..
 
Some thoughts on this one.. as a feed additive this isn’t a new concept. We will find it very difficult to avoid Bovaer throughout the food chain already..you may have avoided it in your choice of milk but probably consumed in plenty of chocolate over Christmas! Food processing involves so many interventions along the way that to actually consume the original food is difficult enough. If you rely on a label to give the “trusted” information then it is easy enough to change that and mislead you into consuming again… Feed additives are not new and our digestive systems and metabolic health are suffering for decades. All the additives along the food chain to extend shelf life and effectively act as the proverbial botox and filler to enhance the visual appeal certainly have their side effects on our health. Emulsifier, colourings, flavourings etc can cause havoc with our health and I cannot see Bovaer being different despite the assurances. I’d suggest they don’t use the term “safe and effective” in their marketing taglines.
 
 Bovaer though may be slightly different as a feed additive in that it presents a “moral” defense for its use. Who would have thought that we would be encouraged to buy a product from fart free cows to save the climate… Funny how the climate can be saved with lots of companies making money..? Where does this money come from? The farmers who have to pay to feed it to their animals? The consumers who have a premium added on to their shopping? There is a lot to be said for going direct to your local farmer and saving the climate all those wasted air miles. The infamous middlemen won’t be amused. 

Anne Maher