Homemade Raw Chocolate Treats

I often go through phases of checking the fridge at the end of the day looking for chocolate. I go through these craving days (or more accurately - weeks!) frequently enough that we usually have a block of fair trade dark chocolate sitting there so that I can have a few pieces to satisfy my craving.

Since I recently used all of our fair trade chocolate up making delicious chocolate peanut butter brownies this has not been the case.. I then forgot to get more at the shops. I was starting to get desperate and then it hit me. I could make raw chocolate!

A good friend gave me this recipe as part of a homemade raw chocolate gift box. It had the basic ingredients (coconut oil, coconut sugar and cacao) to make the chocolate base, along with a variety of extras (nuts, desiccated coconut, amaranth puffs, etc.) to add for texture and flavour. It was such a lovely gift (and I know she is subscribed so will read this - kisses to you! x)

It is so quick and easy to make I don't know why I forget to do it at times. It takes no longer than 10-15 minutes to get them into the fridge and then around half an hour for them to set.

Raw chocolate has high levels of antioxidants and magnesium from the superfood cacao powder. If you are wondering, yes cocoa is different from cacao. Cacao also has high amounts of calcium and iron, which are both important for good health. Since the cacao is not roasted or cooked all of these important ingredients are available for your body to use.

Are you getting the picture? Raw chocolate is a guilt-free food that will help to supply you with important nutrients and make you feel good by giving you your chocolate hit!

Raw Chocolate Recipe

Preparation time: 10-15 mins; Setting time: 30 mins. Total time = 40 minutes
Materials: Mini baking cups or a chocolate mould

Ingredients

1/2 cup (125ml) coconut oil, just melted*
4 tbsp raw cacao powder
1/4 cup coconut sugar

Plus your choice of extras to taste: e.g. slivered nuts, desiccated coconut, dried fruit, amaranth puffs.

Method

1. Mix ingredients together.
2. Add your choice of extra ingredients to taste.
3. Pour into mini baking cups (small cupcake liners) and place in the fridge for 30 minutes until set**.

*Note: Coconut oil is liquid at room temperature in summer but at cooler temperatures solidifies. To melt place required amount in a bowl and sit it over a pot with warming water. Do not let the bowl touch the water. It will quickly melt. Take of heat as soon as it has melted and mix in the rest of the ingredients.

**Note: Remember these will melt out of the fridge if the weather is warm.


My bestie is trying to cut dairy out of her diet at the moment too so I shared this recipe with her at the same time I wrote this post. She was struggling to cut out chocolate, as I'm sure many of us would. She loves the raw chocolate and is set to start making some herself.

For our latest batches, at Mr Fix It's suggestion, I added dried goji berries and crushed almonds. When I made it with my bestie we also added some puffed amaranth for texture. They were all delicious. The goji berries gave a delicious chewy texture and the almonds are always a favourite of mine for their crunch.

Spice it up and mix it up however you like - enjoy! 

Linking up with Essentially Jess for #IBOT

Tips to make a delicious curry - every time!

One of the main things I love about cooking is creating a unique dish. Making curry is a favourite since I use different vegetables, or a different ratio of spices, which makes it a bit of an adventure each time.

There was a time when I would never have considered making a curry from scratch. I would have picked a pre-made sauce off a shelf in the supermarket, thrown it in with some meat and vegetables and that would have been the end of it. The reason I make my own now is that it is easy, cheap and delicious. After you stock up on spices then you are set for many (even hundreds) of curries whenever it takes your fancy. As I have already said, I actually quite enjoy the cooking part too.

Please keep in mind that I am by no means an expert on cooking curries. I started cooking curry by randomly throwing spices into the pot and letting them work their magic as they simmered away. This would result in either a delicious meal or an average tasting dish. I rarely found the meal to be terrible, despite my lack of knowledge, so I can attest to cooking curry as being quite a simple thing to do. I encourage you to give it a go!

We often make vegetarian curry but the tips below apply to making meat curry too. I recommend the vegetables and the flavour being the main stars of the dish and to treat meat as an add on if you do use it. This is how we often use meat when we do eat it. As a protein source as part of a dish, rather than the key element. Since meat is resource intensive, and expensive, this results in a diet that has less impact on the environment and it saves money too.

Over time I have learnt to do a few things to make sure my curry turns out well, sometimes even spectacularly, every time. On a recent trip to Adelaide I made curry for the family and my mum wanted to find out how I had done it. This was what gave me the idea for this post. I have decided to share these tips with you too - please use them well.

Lizzing Lightly's Curry Tips

1. Use enough oil

In these weight obsessive times we often don't receive good advice like this - use enough oil, butter, ghee or whatever it is that you are using to fry up your ingredients. I tend to use olive oil since that is what we have on hand. Ghee is the traditional choice for Indians so if you're going for the authentic flavour then use that. I find that having enough oil means that the spices don't stick and burn in the pan. This improves the curry flavour by releasing the spices on the heat in a moist paste. I probably use around 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil. If it starts to dry out after I add the spices then I throw another couple of tablespoons in.

2. Use lots of spice - don't be scared!

I tend to use some or all of the following spices in my curries: coriander, cumin, garam marsala, indian curry powder, turmeric, ginger powder and fennel seeds. It is important to use lots of these spices to get enough flavour in the dish. Forget about using a few teaspoons. A few tablespoons is what you should be using. I tend to choose a couple of tablespoons of the dominant spices (for example cumin, coriander and garam marsala) and then less of the others. The spice mix needs to be fried up in the cooking oil or fat after onions, garlic and chilli have been sautéed. Remember number 1: use enough oil to keep the mixture moist.

3. Use the right vegetables to give it some texture

Some vegetables stew down to give a brilliant texture for curries. I recommend using pumpkin, eggplant, sweet potato and/or potato. This thickens the sauce and holds the spices throughout the dish beautifully.

4. Balance sweet and salt to bring out the spices

My mother (coincidentally!) was the first person to give me this advice and it was seconded by a chef at a pub that I worked at - use sweet and salt to balance curry spices. Sweet can come from anything - honey, jam or chutney. I often add a bit of sour too by adding a squeeze of lime or lemon. Then salt to taste. Keep tasting and adding sweet, spices and salt to find a balance that you like.

5. Give it enough time to simmer

This can take as little as 30 minutes with a vegetarian curry on a high simmer or a couple of hours if you are stewing meat. Look for the right texture with a thickened sauce and make sure all of the elements are soft and tender.

6. Use plain yoghurt or raiita and cook some pappadums

As a final touch I recommend that you buy some pappadums and plain yoghurt to make your curry a real treat. One of the funnest parts of eating curry is dipping pappadums. If you have gone a little overboard with the chilli then the yoghurt will cool the dish down. For an added treat consider making a raiita with cucumber or buying some chutney to go with the dish. My tip for pappadums is to buy the cumin ones. They are delicious.

So there you have it - they are my tips to creating your own delicious curry. I hope they motivate you to make one for yourself.

Are you a big curry fan? Do you tend to order it as take away, buy pre-made or create your own? Do you have any tips of your own to share?