Paneer and sweetcorn curry

I haven't made this dish in a while and so I was looking through my blog to refresh my memory as to how I made it, and I was horrified to find I hadn't blogged it ever yet!

As Big'Un is at Uni and sometimes turns to Mama's blog to find the recipes for the dishes she misses, I thought I'd better get it blogged.  Turns out Middl'Un LOVED the dish and talked about needing me to "post it to her" when *she* goes to Uni, so I thought even MORE reason to get it written down! (So that she can cook it so I don't have to explain why I won't be able to post it...)

Ingredients:

• one pack of paneer (around 225-250g)
• 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
• one small onion, finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• half a tin of chopped tomatoes
• 250g sweetcorn (I use frozen, but tinned would also be fine)
• pinch of turmeric if wished 
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste

Method:

Cut the paneer block into smallish cubes, about the size of playing dice.  Fry gently in a little vegetable oil or ghee.  Keep turning until they are crispy and brown on all (or most of) the sides.  

Add the cumin seeds and when they start to sizzle, add the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft.  Add the turmeric if using.  Continue to fry until the rawness of the turmeric is gone, and the garlic and onion are very soft and translucent.

Add the tinned tomatoes and a little water.  Cover and cook until the tomatoes are "melted" down.  Stir well and add the sweetcorn. Season with the salt and pepper and cover.  Allow to simmer for 10-15 mins.  Stir well when done and serve with hot buttery chapatti.

Thali meal of joy

I realise it has been a little while again, mainly because I have reached a core of good regular recipes I use, but also because I simply have less time to blog when I do do something new.
But I still add pics to my various social networking sites, and when I get lovely feedback, it impels me to update this blog. 

I had a really good time making supper yesterday, having been through a bit of a slump of lack of inspiration and tiredness, and with Godpapa's suggestion of serving the meal on thalis, the meal was just perfect and all three kids ate with much pleasure.

It was a very simple meal, really, and only took under an hour to prepare, but it was a really good compilation.  It was the pickled prawn curry which I have blogged before here, along with a very simple cauliflower and pea curry, a mix of Basmati, brown and wild rices, and some quick and easy but crunchy and tasty hake fish pakoras.

 The smaller kids have little thalis which are less intimidating.

Inside a fish pakora. Batter should be crispy and the fish should be fully cooked but still moist inside.

The cauliflower was very easy and I put that on to cook first.  

I fried some cumin seeds and turmeric powder in a little oil until the cumin started to pop.  Then I tipped in half a bag of frozen cauliflower. Obviously fresh would also work, but this had been taking up much needed space in my freezer and I wanted to use it up.  I tossed it about to coat it, and sprinkled on some garam masala.  My home made spice mix, which I make mostly according to a Vicky Bhogal "recipe". (Looks like I have never blogged it, so I will in a separate post.)
I then chopped in a few wrinkling tomatoes and a splash of water, and a little of the tinned tomatoes I was using in the prawns. (I also added some chopped wrinkly cherry tomatoes to the prawns.)  About half a teaspoon of salt sprinkled over, then lid on and left to simmer for a few minutes.
At the very end I poured in a cupful of frozen peas, and switched it off. The residual heat heats the peas and you want them fresh and vibrant green, not grey green and shrivelled.

Meanwhile I made the pakora batter in a bowl and Godpapa helped me by kindly cubing the hake fillet up.

About a cup of gram flour, also known as chickpea flour or besan, a tablespoon of sesame seeds, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of ground cumin, and half a teaspoon of ground coriander.  Mix evenly, then slowly add about a third of a cup of cold water. I also remembered I had an open bottle of cheap value basics savers type fizzy water, so added a little splash of that as an afterthought a la Ready Steady Cook.  The batter should be thick not runny, I suppose slightly thicker than pancake batter.

I then put the fish pieces into the batter, and gently deep fried them in my karahi.  If you have a deep fat fryer, this would be much quicker. I had to do it in several batches.  I don't fry often, especially not deep fry, I'm not going to justify it, or even explain in detail how to do it, as you kind find that info anywhere online if you have never done it before.  Though I will say, if it helps, make sure the oil is hot enough by dripping a drop of batter into the pan. If it sizzles and pops straight to the surface, the oil is just right.  Don't do too many at a time, and drain on kitchen paper.

The rice cooked itself in the rice cooker, I used a Waitrose brown and wild rice mix, and cut it with basmati which I buy in big bags when it is on offer around Eid and Diwali.

To make things look nice, I spooned the rice into little ramekins and turned it onto the main thali spaces, which amused the kids as that is how Masala Zone serves their thalis.

Even Big'Un who normally won't eat prawns ate 3 helpings of the prawn curry, and Littl'Un who has only recently started eating fish again had 2 pakoras.  Tiny also ate all he was given and had more, though the rice was on the chewy side for him it seems.  Brown rice can be a bit too filling for little tummies, which can mean they don't get enough protein or veg, so I cut back their rice servings accordingly and it went better.

The pakora batter is useful for all sorts of things, incidentally! Veggies, small pieces of chicken, onions (of course!) and some people make "bread pakora" as a snack, where squares of bread are sandwiched with a thin layer of ketchup, dipped in the batter and deep fried.  It can also me made into a sort of pancake which is more reminiscent of an omelette, useful for vegans and anyone allergic to eggs, especially as it is very protein rich.

Have fun, and remember to present food beautifully when you can!

Parathas & kale for lunch

Not at all a quick lunch, but something I really enjoy on a cold weekend lunch time, crispy flaky buttery flatbread with tangy sweet chutneys, sour hot pickles and cool creamy yoghurt.  Bengalis traditionally enjoy a bitter green vegetable dish to accompany a meal like this to cleanse the liver.

This was a REALLY frugal meal, and if one has time and inclination, can really boost your budget a lot, as it's cheaper even than a few sandwiches for lunch for the family.

The paratha dough is easy, similar to chapati, but with a tablespoon of oil added - 2 cups of atta, half a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of garam masala, aforementioned oil, bound together with a quarter cup (ish) of water.  Firmly kneaded until smooth, and then left to rest for half an hour.

I then rolled small balls

 and rolled them out

then I spread a thin layer of melted ghee onto the rolled out circle, folded it up like an envelope into a square, and then rolled that out again. Then I slapped it onto the preheated tawa, and circled around it with a dab more ghee.

Once it bubbles up, there will be nice brown spots underneath, so it's time to turn it over:

Repeat for all the balls of dough, keep them all hot and serve together, or serve one at a time.

As for the bitter greens, in this instance, I had some kale I had attempted to dry in the oven as crisp kale snacks, with a touch of oil and soya sauce, but it wasn't as tasty as the Inspiral raw kale chips, and a lovely fairy Godmother bought me 2 big tubs of those, so I thought it worth a try to curry it in some way rather than just throw it out.

I fried some chopped shallots and garlic puree with some oil or ghee in a karahi and then added half a teaspoon of cumin seeds.  I dumped the kale in, and once it had cooked into the flavoured oil, I added a tablespoon or 2 of natural yoghurt, and finished it all off with a drizzle of mustard oil for the authentic Bengali scent.  It was heavenly and I will be trying this dish with fresh kale sometime, for sure!

My thali:

A kid thali!  She had mango chutney with her yoghurt later, and a boiled egg for protein. Even the Baby loved smushing his paratha into some yoghurt on his tray.  He even ate some!

Meatless Monday on the fly - courgette curry

A friend on Twitter has been championing the protein rich savoury breakfast lately. Hers usually consist of daal, kale, avocados, poached eggs and recently chapattis too. What can I say, her photos have been building a craving in my soul, and today I tried to do something about it.
(If you want to see what inspired me, have a look on Twitter & Flickr at Monica Shaw's tweets & pics.)
I planned a daal and rice, I wanted to practice my chapatti making and thanks to Monica, I wanted some veg curried in some way too.  I looked in the fridge and saw the pack of baby courgette I had bought for dips and baby led weaning food, and decided to try something with that, thinking if I can't get my family to eat courgette curried in some way, then I'm giving up trying to get them to eat it again!
I sliced a couple of garlic cloves and fried them in a couple of teaspoons of ghee and then added a teaspoon of cumin seeds. I then added the sliced up courgettes and fried for about 5 mins til the slices were softened and starting to crisp at the edges.
I had used half a can of chopped tomatoes in the daal, and reserved the other half for dinner tomorrow, but I poured about an inch of water into the tomatoey tin and swished all the juice out into the pan. Waste not want not. I then halved a handful of organic cherry tomatoes (cos that's what I had, otherwise I would have used some of the tinned actual tomato or chopped up a couple of normal tomatoes.)
Then I sprinkled on half a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of my garam masala. I left this to cook on a fairly high heat, to smush the tomatoes down, and then just before serving I stirred in a dollop of natural yoghurt. 
I have to say, I did myself proud, the flavour was exactly what I'd been going for, and it perfectly complemented the creamy smooth masoor daal. Littl'Un had 4 helpings, including the last 2 slices from Papa's plate. Papa had 3 helpings. Yes, Papa who won't eat courgette!
I have to add a note that I also served a really yummy salad of sprouted beans and lentils with half a mixed leaf bag, dressed with olive oil and blackcurrant & rosemary vinegar by Womersley Foods. The sweetness was the perfect dimension needed to complete the experience for this meal.