halal

Jamaya (Solihull) Review

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My Rating: 4.6/5

Family Friendly: Yes

Address: 45b Mill Lane Arcade, Touchwood Shopping Centre, Solihull, B91 3QW

Parking: Yes, Touchwood Car Park (parking fee applies)

Payment: Cash and Cards accepted

Jamya interior

Jamya interior

My friend suggested going to this relatively new restaurant the other day and I’m so glad she did. It’s located in Touchwood in Solihull town centre, where they serve authentic Jamaican food and everything is halal. As soon as we walked in the door we were welcomed by Hassan who was a friendly host and reassured me that the food was halal.

Jerk Pit Feast Out

Jerk Pit Feast Out

We decided to choose from the ‘Sharing is Caring’ section of the menu and opted for the Jerk Pit Feast Out, which consists of a whole jerk chicken, festivals, gravy and 2 bottomless soft drinks.

What is a ‘Festival’ – a fried dumpling, despite its slightly sweet taste it is often served as a side dish with jerk chicken and it goes so well. I was apprehensive at first but I loved them! They went so well with the chicken and the gravy.

There are 3 spice levels to choose from – Mild Jerk, BBQ Jerk and Proper Jerk. We opted for the proper jerk hot chicken and it was just right for my friend’s palette who is not used to spicy food. We also ordered a side of cassava chips. The chicken was cooked to perfection and was finger licking good. The best chicken I’ve had in a long time! It was succulent and juicy, and the skin was crispy just like I love. I have to admit this was far superior to Nando’s peri peri chicken.

The ordering system is pretty much like Nando’s, you order at the till with your table number and the waiters bring the food out to you.

My only criticism of the place were the drinks – they were a bit flat but it was quickly rectified once we let the staff know of the problem. The staff ensured we were enjoying the meal.

As well as chicken, you can order buffalo wings as well as fried wings, burgers, wraps, and vegan options. There were limited dessert options and a kids menu. Drinks wise they serve soft drinks, Jamaican juices, frozen cocktails and alcoholic drinks.

Jerk Pit Feast Out

Jerk Pit Feast Out

Cassava Chips

Cassava Chips

My Rating

My 4.5 rating for Jamaya is based mainly on 3 criteria, but I factor in additional observances such as cleanliness, location etc.

Food: 4.8/5

Service: 4.6/5

Atmosphere: 4.0/5

 

 

Banana & Date Smoothie

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I know a lot of people usually struggle to eat Suhoor (pre dawn meal during Ramadan) so here is a recipe that although is quite high in syns. it is still within the recommended daily syns allowance. I like to use unsweetened almond milk for this recipe for a nutty flavour but you can use any other milk of your choice. Just remember to check what the health extra allowance is for the milk you’re using. Top tip: try to use the ripest banana you have as this will make the smoothie even sweeter without having to add any extra syns for sweetening the smoothie.

Banana & Date Smoothie

Banana & Date Smoothie

 

Serves: 1

Syns: 13 syns plus part of healthy extra A choice

Time Taken: 5 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 ripe banana, chopped
  • 3 Medjool dates
  • 200ml unsweetened almond milk
  • Sprinkle of cinnamon

Method

Remove the pit from the dates and mix all the ingredients together. Serve immediately.

Hummus

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A super easy and syn free hummus recipe without all the oil and tahini paste. You can adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. Enjoy the hummus with some crudités or flatbreads like I did. I had mine with Ryvita flatbreads (1.5 syns each). If you don’t want to use any syns, you can opt for crispbread that can be counted as part of your healthy extra B choice. Have a look here for all the options available from Ryvita.

Hummus

Hummus

 

Ingredients

  • 1 tin chickpeas, drained
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • lemon juice to taste
  • 2 tbsp. 0% Greek yoghurt
  • Cayenne chilli to taste

Method

Blitz all ingredients together till it is smooth. If you find the hummus too thick for you, you can thin it down with a little water or more yogurt.

No-Bake Cheesecake

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A super easy dessert you can whip up in a few minutes. My family love this cheesecake and now they can make it themselves with this recipe! This isn’t a SW friendly recipe, you can however work out the syn values yourself by working out the syns for all the ingredients and dividing by the number of servings you get.

You can top the cheesecake with pretty much anything you want. When I am pressed for time, I add chopped chocolate (as pictured), or grate a couple of digestive biscuits over it. Other toppings I love to add to the cheesecake are: fresh strawberries pureed and sweetened with a little icing sugar and crushed meringues (best to do this just before serving), crushed oreos, Ferrero Rocher, mango or passion fruit. What do you like to top your cheesecake with? Comment below with your fave toppings.

You can vary the biscuits you use for the base to include your favourite one – if I am making an Oreo flavoured cheesecake, then I’d use Oreo biscuits for the base and I would also add crushed Oreos to the cream mixture too.

Enjoy and feel free to tag me in your creations x

No-Bake Cheesecake

No-Bake Cheesecake

 

Ingredients

  • 250g digestive biscuits (crushed)
  • 100g butter (melted)
  • 600ml cream cheese
  • 100g icing sugar
  • 284ml tub Elmlea double cream
  • Vanilla extract

Method

Make the biscuit base first – crush the biscuits in a blender or you can crush them by hand. I usually get my kids to do it as they absolutely love bashing the biscuits with a rolling pin! Place the biscuits in a clean bag and bash it with a rolling pin until it is finally crushed. Add the melted butter and mix well. Place the biscuits in a flan dish and place it in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to firm up.

Mix the cream cheese with icing sugar (don’t overmix as the cream cheese will turn runny). Mix until the sugar is evenly mixed. Add the Elmlea cream and vanilla extract and mix till it makes soft peaks.

Add the cream to the biscuit base and chill. Add topping of your choice before serving.

Kheema Biryani

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I love a good biriyani and this recipe is so easy to make and perfect for us slimmers. All the taste without any of the syns!

Serves: 4

Syns: FREE

Time Taken: 45-60 minutes

Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients

  • 1 kg chicken mince
  • 2-3 onions, chopped
  • green chillies, to taste (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp garlic/ginger paste
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli flakes
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • Food colouring deep orange or yellow, just a few drops
  • 4 cups of white rice
  • Low calorie cooking spray

Method

Put mince and all the spices in pan, add enough water to cover mince meat and cook for around 30 minutes.

Boil the rice separately. In a pan of boiling salted water, add your rice and cook for about 8 minutes. You do not want to cook the rice fully at this stage. Once cooked, drain the water off the rice and place the rice in a colander.

In the pan you cooked the rice, spray the bottom and sides of it with a low calorie cooking spray. Put in a layer of the rice at the bottom of pan then layer some keema on top and layer again with rice and sprinkle with both food colours then keep repeating the method until rice/keema finishes ending with rice.

Cook for about 20 minutes on low heat.

Firecracker Chicken

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Last night I decided to try another one of Spicentice kits – Firecracker Chicken! I adapted the ingredients slightly to adjust to what I had at home and it was delicious.

I thought Firecracker Chicken sounded spicy and was worried that the hubby would find it too spicy but it had just the right amount for him and the kids. I added chilli flakes to mine as I love hot food! I eat super spicy food so for me this was a mild spice kit but I know many will probably find this just right for them. Below is the list of ingredients you will need to make this recipe with the spice kit, it is quite a straightforward recipe.

I used Crucials Chilli Ketchup for an added spicy kick but you can use just regular ketchup. Remember to double check syn values for yourself as different brands of sauces vary in syn values.

We all loved this meal and would have it again.

Enjoy x

Spicentice Firecracker Chicken

Spicentice Firecracker Chicken

Serves: 4

Syns: 2 syns per serving

Time Taken: 45 minutes (plus marinade time)

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 3 chicken breasts
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 cup peas
  • 1 pepper
  • 1 lime
  • Spring onions
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
  • 1 tbsp plain flour
  • Spicentice Firecracker Sachet
  • Jasmine rice to serve

 

Firecracker Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Firecracker Chicken with Jasmine Rice

Method

Chop the pepper and onion into quarters, and chicken into bite sized chuncks.

In a large bowl add the tomato ketchup, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, the juice of 1 lime, 100ml water and Spicentice Firecracker Sachet. Then add 1/2 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste and the chicken. Mix all ingredients together and leave to marinade for at least 15 minutes.

Heat low cal spray oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the remaining ginger/garlic paste and stir fry for a few seconds. Scoop out the chicken from the marinade and stir fry until the chicken is almost cooked through.

Add plain flour to the leftover marinade sauce and whisk thoroughly. Add to wok with extra water if needed (100ml). Allow to simmer, then add the onions, peppers and peas. Stir fry for 5-10 minutes and then garnish with spring onions.

Serve Spicentice Firecracker Chicken with Jasmine Rice.

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

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I came across Spice-N-Tice when one of my lovely members and friend gave me a very thoughtful gift – Chilli Rocks! Some of you may know that I absolutely love chillies and spicy food, so when the lovely Halimah (@Halimah_official on Instagram, please check her out and give her a follow) gave me this, I was just over the moon.

The chilli rocks came in a pack of 6 different types of chilli pots ranging from an earthy, sweet and mild heat from Sweet Ancho to the world’s hottest chilli on record – Carolina Reaper! Perfect gift for chilli lovers like me and those who like it hot, hot, hot!

Chilli Rocks

Chilli Rocks

The fab people at Spice-N-Tice got in touch with me and kindly sent me some of their Meal Kits to try out . I was hoping to have tried a few of the kits by now but have been super busy with the summer break and have only tried one so far and it did not disappoint!

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

Spice-N-Tice Meal Kits

 

I tried the shawarma style Turkish Doner Kebab and even my fussy younger children loved that. All of the spice kits came with a shopping list and a very easy to follow cooking instructions. All of the meal kits I was sent were gluten free, vegan friendly and Slimming World friendly.

Shawarma Style Doner Kebab

Shawarma Style Doner Kebab

 

Keep an eye out for more about these spice kits on my instagram page – @Rahema_m

For a 20% discount code you can use the code RM20. Let me know in the comments which of the spice kits you have tried and is your favourite. Feel free to share the code with friends x

Bulgur Wheat

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Bulgur wheat is a great alternative to rice or couscous. It is a Free Food and quite easy to make.

I used 120g of bulgur wheat and cooked that in with 600ml cold water for around 15 minutes. I also added one vegetable stock pot to it for flavour.

After the 15 minutes, I drained the water and added chickpeas, some garlic granules and chilli flakes.

Bulgur Wheat

Bulgur Wheat

When I made it again the other day, I added feta cheese to it and it was amazing!

We had it served with Peri Peri chicken and salad. It was delicious! You can add anything to the bulgur wheat – peppers, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn etc.

How do you have bulgur wheat when you make it? Comment below with your ideas.

 

Subway Guide

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I absolutely love Subway! Pre SW days I would always go for a foot long sandwich but that isn’t the best option if you are trying to lose weight or just want to eat healthier.

It can be quite overwhelming when it comes to ordering – the vast choice of breads to choose from, all the different meats, salads and sauces too. If you are following SW it can be quite straightforward though. First choice is to not have the bread! Opt for a bread-free sub – the salad bowl.

Subway Beef Salad

Subway Beef Salad

You can chose to add any of the salad options to your salad bowl including – lettuce, tomato, cucumber, gherkins, jalapenos, red onion, sweetcorn, peppers, olives and even grated carrot (although I found not all branches do the carrot).

All of the salad options are free apart from olives which you can count 1/2 syn if you enjoy a small sprinkle on your salad and the rest are all Speed options (apart from the sweetcorn) which makes it perfect if you are following Extra Easy SP.

You then chose from the meat options to add to your salad bowl. You can have that cold or ask them to warm it up for you (there may be a small charge for this). Choose from beef, chicken breast, chicken tikka, chicken teriyaki, turkey ham and turkey breast – all fab Free fillings as it is all lean meat and they’re not processed which tend to contain hidden syns and be high in Syns, such as the meatballs, pepperoni and salami.

Not all Subway franchises are halal but if you live in Birmingham there are quite a few branches to chose from. My favourite branch is the one in Hall Green, the staff are super friendly and make up your salad beautifully and are generous with their portions! You can search the Subway website to check if your local branch is halal or not http://www.subway.com/en-gb

If you are vegetarian watch out for the veggie pattie – although it contains Free Foods, it also contains hidden extras and is high in syns – around 9 syns for the pattie! If you don’t have a halal Subway nearby then a better option can be the Tuna Mayo for 4.5 syns.

There is also the option to have cheese with your combo – count 2.5 syns for a slice of Peppered and 5.5 syns for a serving of Monterey grated cheese. I always count the cheese as syns and never use them as part of my healthy extra A choice as these types of cheeses are not listed as healthy extras. I know that there are many people that do count it as healthy extra, so if you decide to do so and it is not affecting your weight loss then why not? As a SW consultant I would always advise to syn the cheese but you can make your own mind up!

Then you can chose your sauce for your salad (I always ask the staff to add the sauce to my salad before they add the meat! If you like me prefer to not have a dry salad, ask them for the dressing on the salad first).

Sauces in general are where a Free Food salad can quickly become packed with Syns. In Subway, you’re in charge so you can have as much or as little dressing as you like. If you find the staff have been generous with the dressing then increase the syns. My favourite go-to dressing is sweet onion!

  • Sweet onion – 1.5 syns per serving
  • Honey mustard – 1.5 syns
  • BBQ sauce – 2 Syns
  • Ranch dressing – 2 syns
  • Sweet Chilli – 2.5 syns
  • Light mayonnaise – 2.5 syns
  • Chipotle Southwest – 4.5 syns

If you are super organised and want to make sure your salad is all syn free then you can have it without any of the sauces or carry your own dressing or measured amount of cheese with you. I have a couple of members that do that every time they go to Subway. I am not that organised and I love the dressings and cheese from Subway anyway, that’s what makes the salad special in my opinion.

Black Eye Bean & Coconut Curry

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This is one of my favourite curries I loved eating when I was younger. The version I used to have would be a lot higher in syns so this is a SW friendly version I’ve adapted. The way my mum used to make this was a lot more complicated and she used some more spices but I find this way works well too.

I had a few people messaging me saying this is an odd combo but I don’t see how it is odd. Maybe because of my background I’m used to having a variety of different foods from different parts of the world that this is just another meal for me. I don’t know where it originates from but I am sure this type of curry is eaten a lot!

It is easy and very economical to make too. We have this served with boiled rice and masala fish.

Black Eye Bean Curry with Coconut

Black Eye Bean Curry with Coconut

 

Serves: 4

Syns: 2.5 syns per serving

Time Taken: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • Pinch of cumin seeds and chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp. curry powder (or more if you prefer spicy)
  • Salt to taste
  • 2-3 tbsp. tomato puree
  • 2 tins of black eye beans, drained
  • 200ml reduced fat coconut milk
  • 5g desiccated coconut
  • fresh coriander, to garnish

Method

Fry the onions with the cumin seeds and chilli flakes (if using) and the ginger/garlic till the onions have softened and are lightly golden.

Add the curry powder and salt to taste and fry for a further 5 minutes stirring constantly. If the spices start to stick to the pan, add a little hot water and keep stirring.

Add the tomato puree and the beans with the coconut milk and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

Once the curry is done, you can garnish it with fresh, chopped coriander and serve it with boiled rice.