Les Petits Chefs make Jamie Oliver’s rogan josh curry

See that, up there ^^^ ? Those are little boys’ hands, dipping into the baby spinach. Not to cook with but to snack on. I KNOW! It’s a wonder I managed to even get this on camera, I was so shocked!!

This week, Les Petits Chefs tackled Jamie Oliver’s Rogan Josh curry from Meals in Minutes.  It’s a simple curry with chick peas, cauliflower, squash, spinach, onions and garlic made with a store-bought Rogan Josh curry sauce.  Perfect for a 60 minute “30 minute meal” with 11 little boys, right? 😉  I am sure some of their parents think I am insane choosing to make such a dish with little boys but the idea went over pretty well. I only spotted a couple of scrunched up noses but once we all got chopping, everything was fine…  My point is to show them a technique, a type of dish they can easily adapt at home according to what they prefer or what they have on hand. This is a perfect dish for that.  There was a lot of mise en place to do which is perfect for the boys cos it keeps them busy.

And as they finished their ingredient, they brought them over to the cooking station.

And then we got cooking.  Whilst the curry was cooking away, we had a quick lesson on how to properly load the dishwasher since a couple of times this term I have turned around to see the dishwasher stuffed with dishes and bowls and knives all topsy-turvy like and in such a fashion that they will never in a million years get clean. We talked about what went where and why. I am sure it was everyone’s least favourite part of the lesson but for me, it’s part and parcel of the club.  Cooking involves cleaning and they might as well learn how to do it properly.  I hope their future wives will thank me 😉

One of our Petits Chefs is unable to eat chick peas so we got a separate pan on for him with his own selection of veggies.  We also discovered the curry sauce “may contain peanuts” (this was my bad for not seeing it on the label even though I looked a million times before I bought it) and since he has a severe peanut allergy we had to kind of make his “curry” up as we went along. We added some cumin, coriander and black pepper along with a tiny bit of ginger and finished it off with some Greek yogurt to thicken it into a sauce. Ethan, you’re a great sport 🙂  I was pleased he could see the value of the lesson even without two of the key ingredients – as I told him, he can totally take this idea and adapt it to his own tastes.  Had I had the time, I would have made the curry sauce/ paste myself (one year, with way less boys in the club, we managed to make Jamie Oliver’s chicken tikka masala from scratch including the paste) thus ensuring that there would be no peanuts involved.  I am confident many of the boys in this term’s club would be able to make a curry paste from scratch, no problem so I hope Ethan tries this again at home 🙂

Result?

A flavourful dish (the carrots could have been cooked slightly longer but that’s ok!) that’s pretty healthy.  Get the recipe for Jamie Oliver’s Rogan Josh Curry here.

This was my final cooking club for this term – but never fear, Les Petits Chefs will be back next term with bigger, better adventures (and maybe a guest chef and a filed trip here and there!). I’ve been pleased this term that we have tried out “real food” recipes, written for adults with pretty great results. Ok, the boys might not have liked EVERY dish but they’ve made curry, lasagne, risotto, sausage rolls, spinach and feta filo pies, tomato soup from scratch and sticky sponge puddings. That’s a pretty impressive repertoire, don’t you think?

 

Look for Meals in Minutes on Amazon, Amazon Canada or, for free worldwide shipping, on The Book Depository.

*** Congrats to Jen who won my Paris my Sweet giveaway – I’ll be in touch by email soon 🙂

22 thoughts on “Les Petits Chefs make Jamie Oliver’s rogan josh curry”

  1. Mardi, what a great series you’ve had and bravo for that first photo. Amazing! Did you starve them or something? LOL. Couldn’t agree with you more about the kiddy cookbooks – my kids have so many as presents and they never use them but want to copy Mum. That rogan josh looks so colourful and delicious.

    Reply
  2. Thanks again, LPC, for coming to my rescue! I had a long day, an evening meeting, and arrived home slightly exhausted and peckish…and lo and behold, this was waiting for me. Deelish. 🙂

    I must admit, this is sort of a staple in our house. Mardi and I both love curries; in fact I think she fell “more in love” with them simply as an adaptive strategy as I made them so often. 😉 As such, some of those jar sauces (wow, what an imprivement from a decade ago!) are great bases…we always have one or two hiding in the pantry. And as the boys learned, you can adapt based on what you like – or, for me, empty the vegetable crisper.

    I’m not a cooked carrot fan, so would usually use leeks…but I must admit, I found these cooked PERFECTLY. Maybe it was the slight extra reheat time in the microwave…but they were nicely al dente, not the usual English carrot mush.

    Looking forward to another season, boys…don’t forget your off-site Old Boy. 😉

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  3. Can you come teach my girls how to load a dishwasher? Thus far all my attempts have failed. I fear that when I send them out in the world they still won’t be able to figure it out… Sigh.
    This is lovely – I enjoy these posts & think it’s absolutely fabulous what you are doing here.

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  4. I am over the moon for winning this book, Mardi! Oh, merci, merci beaucoup!! Just in time for spring and more day dreams for a return trip to Paris! Too bad I won’t be able to join your Paris foodie trip this year! Perhaps, next year??

    Reply
  5. It was a wonderful repertoire and term and this curry dish was a great way to cap it all off! Eating spinach without prompting and learning how to load a dishwasher (two little feathers in your cap Mardi).

    Looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Les Petits Chefs next term…with much anticipation.

    Reply
  6. Mardi, I dare not look at your site hungry, there are always a lot of great recipes and photos. I will have to try this one. I love Indian food and this is one of the dishes I always enjoy.

    Reply

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