Since lockdown began, most of us have had extra time in which to hone our cooking skills – and our favourite celebrities are no different, swapping the red carpet, TV studios and nights on the town for whipping up savoury meals, sweet treats and everything in between in their kitchens. In the new issue of HELLO! magazine out on Monday, some of our favourite stars share their go-to recipes. Scroll through for a taster and happy cooking…
Saira Khan's curry sauce
"This curry sauce has been passed down through the generations in my family, and the key to it is getting the best garam masala (a mixture of fresh spices all ground together). Once you have made this sauce then you can add in anything you like, like I have done – cauliflower, potato and peas, or cans of chickpeas – but you can also add in fish or vegetables. This sauce is highly anti-inflammatory and full of antioxidants."
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
Cooking oil – enough to cover the base of a pan and a little bit more
4 onions, red or white
Chunk of ginger, squashed in a pestle and mortar
4 cloves of garlic, squashed in a pestle and mortar
1 heaped tsp of garam masala
1 level tsp of turmeric Crushed chillies (depends on how hot you like your curry)
1 tin of canned tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Saira Khan showing off her curry sauce
1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions. This is the most important part of making the sauce. You have to get these onions to a golden brown colour, to give your sauce a rich flavour and colour.
2. Add the ginger and garlic. Reduce the heat and cook until the garlic turns golden.
3. Add the spices and cook for a good 5 minutes. Keep stirring everything so that the spices get well roasted. Add a bit more oil at this stage if you need to.
4. Once everything is nicely roasted, add the can of tomatoes and stir well. Let the mixture simmer on a low heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
This is your curry sauce. To make a cauliflower, potato and pea curry, just add to the sauce 1 whole cauliflower separated into florets, and 5 potatoes, quartered. Cover and cook for 15 mins. Halfway through cooking, add frozen peas. Serve with white fluffy rice. For a chickpea curry, add 2 cans of chickpeas to the sauce and warm through for about 5 minutes. Serve with rice and add coriander as a garnish.
Nadia Sawalha's banoffee pie
Banoffee pie is our cheer-up dish when it all feels a bit too much. It's my husband Mark's and our girls' all-time favourite pudding. Mind you, sticky toffee pudding is right up there, too. The best thing is that our youngest daughter Kiki makes it even better than I do now, so is always happy to whip one up. I make mine in a heart-shaped tin, but if you don't have one, that's no problem. Use a 20cm round springform tin. Line the tin with clingfilm.
Nadia Sawalha is a foodie and regularly shares her kitchen creations on her Instagram
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS
200g digestive biscuits
100g butter
For the caramel filling
75g butter
70g light muscovado sugar
1 x 397g tin of full-fat condensed milk
For the topping
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 bananas (I don't like too much banana, but others do)
Half a chocolate Flake, crumbled (scoff the other half)
1. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until they're crumbs.
2. Melt the butter in a pan, add the biscuit crumbs and stir well. Press into your prepared tin with the back of a spoon until compact. Put in the fridge or freezer while you make the filling.
3. Melt the butter and sugar together in a pan, stirring until dissolved. Add the condensed milk. Bring to the boil and stir continuously until dark brown (a couple of mins). Be mindful not to boil for too long as it will spoil.
4. Allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then pour onto the biscuit base. Put in the fridge until set.
5. When ready to eat, remove the pie from the tin. For the topping, whisk the cream with the vanilla extract until thickened. Top the pie with cream and slices of banana. Finally, add the crumbled Flake. Voila! Let the stuffing begin…
For more tips and to watch Nadia's family reality show, visit her YouTube channel, The Sawalha-Adderleys: Family, Films & Fun.
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Alex Jones' prawn and courgette fettucine
Meanwhile BBC favourite Alex Jones has teamed up with a host of celebrity friends to launch a new online cooking platform supporting charities in need of funds as the coronavirus crisis bites. Through an online raffle, you have the chance to win a virtual cooking lesson hosted by The One Show presenter Alex or other famous faces including Jodie Kidd. Cookalongs will take place on a private video chat, with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. Visit cookalong.tv. Here, we share Alex's recipe for prawn and courgette fettuccine…
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS
Fettuccine pasta for 2 (or spaghetti)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed (add more if you like)
Pinch of chilli flakes (add more if you like it spicier)
6 baby courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways
2 tbsp capers
Juice of half a lemon (add more for a more lemon-y taste)
Pinch of mixed herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
1 packet of tiger prawns
Parmesan cheese
1. Cook the pasta following the instructions on the packet.
2. In the meantime, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan at a low/medium heat.
3. When the oil is hot, turn the heat down a little and add the garlic and chilli flakes and fry for a couple of minutes – don't let the garlic burn.
4. Add the sliced courgettes, capers, lemon juice, salt and pepper and mixed herbs and cook for around 10 minutes, until the courgettes are nicely softened and coloured.
5. Add the prawns and stir in with the courgette mix and continue cooking for a few minutes until the prawns are cooked. Be careful not to overcook them.
6. Now add the pasta to the frying pan with the prawn and courgettes and toss everything together. If it's a little dry, add a little more extra virgin olive oil and/or lemon juice
7. Plate in pasta dishes and grate parmesan over the top.
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See the new issue of HELLO! for all the celebrity recipes.