Paneer In Urad Daal

Paneer and black gram split lentils, I was yet to combine in a dish, so yesterday was the day. I was extremely pleased with the result as I managed to get a mushy daal with bags of flavour. It tasted very similar to a daal makhani, as the paneer provided the wonderful creamy feel and flavour

Ummm…I was in heaven! I’m sure you all will love it too, guaranteed!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cubed paneer
1 cup split urad, white split gram lentils
½ tsp soda bicarbonate
¼ tsp turmeric
Boiling water
1 tbsp sunflower oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 onion diced finely
1 tomato chopped
1 tsp garam masala
2 tsp dried cumin & coriander powder
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste
½ cup tomato passata/crushed tomato
Fresh coriander optional

METHOD

Boil the urad daal with the bicarbonate of soda and turmeric until soft and mushy. Once cooked leave aside

In a large non stick saucepan, heat the oil and mustard seeds on a medium heat.  Fry off the onion and fresh tomato

Add all the spices and stir fry for a couple of minutes

Pour in this tomato passata, along with the cooked daal and its water.  Gently place in the cubed paneer into the saucepan

Simmer through on a low heat for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally

Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with freshly made hot chapatis

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Shahi potato curry

The Potato curry is a much loved dish in Indian food. The usual Bombay potatoes always appears on an Indian menu.
I thought I would make this curry tangy and spicy, with the warmth of ginger that comes through with every mouthful. The aromatic Shahi masala transforms this potato curry with its blend of cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, mace and star anise to name but a few, into a stunning and original new potato curry ~ Enjoy x

INGREDIENTS

15 new baby potatoes
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger peeled
1 small green chilli
1 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
pinch of asafoetida
200g tomato passata/crushed tomato
1 level tsp salt
1 heaped tsp shahi masala
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin & coriander powder
pinch of turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp sugar
A little water

METHOD

1. Parboil the potatoes until slightly tender, should take about 10-12 minutes. Drain and crush potatoes a little and set aside

2. Grind the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli in a food processor to a paste consistency

3. Heat oil in a large saucepan with the mustard, cumin seeds, cloves and asafoetida. Once seeds start to pop mix in the onion paste. Throw in the salt this will stop the paste from catching. Reduce to a low flame and cook for 2 minutes

4. Sprinkle in the rest of the dry seasoning, cook and cover for a further 5 minutes.

Pour in the tomato passata and stir in sugar, to take the edge off the acidity from the passata. Bring to a boil and reduce to the lowest flame, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes

5. At this point you may need to add a little water to loosen out the sauce. Combine the par boiled potatoes into the sauce and gently combine, avoiding breaking the potatoes. You may wish to crush them a little further to ensure better infusion of flavours

6. Cook curry covered on a low flame for 20 minutes stirring occasionally. Once done serve with buttered pitta bread

Fiery Ginger Chickpeas

Healthy, filling and tasty! What more do we want? I normally prefer the white chickpea but recently have taken to the dark brown variety. My husband loves them, so they were perfect to make as a side to the lentil dal and rice I had made yesterday for dinner. I had to spice them up obviously! As I do! But this time the real warmth and heat comes from the ginger. It adds an edge to them and makes them so moreish!

Give them a go friends and let me know what you think…Have a fantastic day, see you soon, much love D x

INGREDIENTS

1 tin dark brown chickpeas
1 tsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp finely grated ginger
1/2 tsp piri piri mix or smoked paprika
1 tsp ground coriander powder
Salt to taste
1/2 cup tomato passata
Pinch of dark brown sugar

METHOD

In a small saucepan, heat the oil in a medium heat with the cumin seeds, piri piri or paprika, stir in the ginger along with the tomato passata

Season with the salt and coriander powder, set to a low heat and simmer for 10 minutes

Garnish with some fresh coriander and serve with chapati or naan bread

Paneer Shashlik Masala

My husband absolutely adores paneer! He loves to eat it, prepare it and to cook it. So what better than to have a guest post recipe from him. He made this awesome masala yesterday for his birthday. I feel if you like something so much, automatically you’re able to make it soo well. This is extremely true for my husband!

He didn’t make it too spicy! knowing that our 3 year may want some, because he loves it too! and he was right… He nearly gobbled up EVERYTHING and we hardly got any! Lol 😉

So please be sure, if you have children, MAKE MORE!!! We’ve learn that for next time!!

Happy Birthday Honey! Your birthday cake is about to me made! Much love, D x

INGREDIENTS

1 green bell pepper diced
1 onion diced
250g paneer cubed
Handful of chopped coriander
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried coriander
Pinch of toasted cumin seeds
5 tbsp natural yoghurt
3 tsp tikka masala paste

METHOD

Put all the ingredients into a large bowl

Mix the tikka masala and yoghurt together

Pour over the ingredients and combine so that all the paneer, onion and pepper is covered

Cover and place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinade

In a large deep frying pan, warm up 1 tsp sunflower oil on a medium to slow heat. Cook the paneer through. This may take up to 10 minutes or more. Stirring occasionally

Once the paneer is soft and hot all the way through you are ready to devour

Serve up on a flatbread bread of your choice. We had a kidney bean curried flatbread I had made during the day

Marrow Masala

When I first got married, I would make really quick and easy meals for dinner and one that I came up with, was Marrow Masala.  Which I would serve up with some rice or khichdi.  A tasty and hydrating vegetable with onion and in a spicy tomato base has always been a winner in our home. 

I’m known for just eating it with some natural yoghurt, so healthy and so good for you!  It cooks extremely quickly and you have an incredible light curry in a matter of minutes!

Hope you all have a lovely week, see you tomorrow.  Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

1 medium marrow peeled & grated
1 small white onion grated
½ tsp sunflower oil
¼ tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves
Pinch of asafoetida
3 tbsp crushed tomato passata
½ tsp salt or to taste
Pinch of sugar
¼ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp chilli powder
1 tsp coriander & cumin powder
½ tsp garam masala
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

METHOD

• In a medium saucepan heat up the oil, asafoetida, cloves and cumin seeds.  Once the seeds start to sizzle, throw in the grated onion and marrow

• Sauté for 5-7 minutes on a low heat until soft.  Sprinkle all the seasoning and spices plus the crushed tomato, mix gently

• Cover and simmer for a further 8-10 minutes and then garnish with some chopped coriander

Crispy & Roasted Patra

“Patra is a popular vegetarian dish in the West region of India. It is known as aluchya vadya in Marathi, patra in Gujarati, and patrode in the Konkan region of India. Its main ingredient is crushed chickpeas, wrapped in the leaf of the taro plant” (Wikipedia)

I fondly remember my Mum sitting down on the floor and preparing the taro leaves to make patra at home. These leaves require a lot of attention so that you get the best out of them. It is then stuffed in a chickpea flour masala and steamed! Then on to curry or frying it!

These days we are extremely lucky to get pre cooked patra at its after steamed stage. Available all ready to cook and serve! We rarely deep fry anything in our home so I decided to roast the patra instead. With the onion that caramelize once roasted, a hint of fruitiness of the tomatoes and the heat of the chillies with the spicyness of the patra! What a taste sensation.

Perfect as a starter, just prep and put into the oven. No fussyness just simple food! Hope you enjoy! Much love D x

INGREDIENTS

1 ready made patra tin
1 red onion sliced into thin rings
2 tomato sliced into wedges
3 green chillies
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Fresh coriander to garnish

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 220°c. Pour in the oil in a baking dish and arrange the onion, tomato and chillies in the tray. Making sure it gets covered with the oil

• Place the patra slices onto the onion and tomato base and drizzle a little oil on top

• Roast in the oven for 15-25 minutes or longer until required crispyness. I took mone out at 20 minutes

• Serve up on a plate and garnish with fresh coriander

Tandoori Masala

A fresh masala to give ultimate flavour by Namrata @ My Food Tapestry. Thank you for sharing! 🙂

MyFoodTapestry

I never thought I would make masalas at home someday. Never. It’s for mom’s, grandmom’s and MDH/Everest, not for me. Or so I thought. Until now. Until I started taking my food seriously, until I observed health scares, food adulteration and until I started blogging.

Blogging has opened such new avenues, roads and direction, that attempting something new or bizarre is on my TO-Do list most of the time. It’s wonderful. It’s wonderful that I at least ‘think’ of making bread at home(till a year back I would have said ‘are u mad?!’ )
And now, I want to make granola, pies, tart cases, breads, dried nuggets, masalas at home! Yay! 🙂

Moral: Never say ‘Never’.

The beauty of making things from scratch is that it is actually not that difficult as they seem to be. Especially these spice powders/masalas. With the right ingredients at hand, all you need is…

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Samosa masala toasted sandwich

Bored of your usual sandwich fillings? If so, try this samosa masala sandwich. If you like samosas you will love this!

A healthy filling, apart from the cheese but you could leave that out! On toasty brown wholegrain bread which gives you your fibre intake. Ok! so I’m trying to be healthy in balancing out the naughty sweet recipes I post! Lol!

A quick recipe to satisfy your hunger pangs. If you fancy something sweet after, try my basil seed sweet faluda milkshake!

Have an awesome day…see you tomorrow x

INGREDIENTS

2 large red potatoes chopped into small cubes
1 small onion finely chopped
1 cup frozen garden peas
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
Pinch of asafoetida
2 tsp ground cumin & coriander powder
1/3 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt or to taste
A splash of tomato passata
Fresh coriander chopped

for the sandwich
Slices of brown wholegrain bread
Mozarella or cheddar grated
Butter

METHOD

Heat the oil with the onion,cumin, mustard seeds and asafoetida. Once they start to sizzle add the potatoes and coat well in the oil

Throw in all the dry spices and seasoning with the onion and combine well

Pour in a little water to aid the potato cooking process

Bring to the boil and then cover and simmer on a low flame for 10 minutes
Stirring occasionally

Throw in the peas, mix and simmer for a further 5 minutes

Stir in a little tomato passata and cover again on a low heat for 5-10 minutes

Make sure the potatoes are soft and tender. Then garnish with coriander

To make the sandwich toast two slices of bread and melt a little grated mozzarella or mature cheddar on one toast and butter the other

Spread the potato pea filling on one of the toasts. Sandwich together and then slice in half.” Voila!” your samosa sandwich with cheese is good to go x

Stuffed mutter paratha

Parathas are a flatbread from the Indian Subcontinent, still so very popular as they are so versatile and can be made plain or stuffed. Here I am sharing my recipe for paratha with masala peas. What is so wonderful is that it’s a meal onto itself. It’s like having your curry and roti or naan in the one hit with ultimate flavour as the paratha casing absorbs the flavour of the stuffing whilst being cooked.

Ideal for breakfast, lunch or dinner, served with a little yoghurt or chutney. In my case I served them with my carrot and courgette kadhi

My husband called it a perfect sunday lunch meal as you can eat them at your own pace whilst you chill out on your day of rest. I did not make them on a Sunday this time round so I guess we’re having parathas again on Sunday. Don’t worry I will come up with another stuffing recipe! See you soon x

INGREDIENTS
For the stuffing

400g Frozen garden peas
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste approximately under 1 tsp
½ tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin & coriander powder
⅓ tsp turmeric powder
¼ tsp red chilli powder
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds

For the Paratha casing

1 cup wholewheat flour
1½ cups plain flour
1 tbsp oil
⅓ tsp salt
Boiling water
A little plain flour for dusting
Oil for shallow frying

METHOD

• Boil the peas for 5 minutes and then blend along with onion and garlic to a thick paste

• Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the cumin and mustard seeds, wait until they sizzle and carefully mix in the pea paste. Throw in all seasoning and squeeze in lemon juice. Stir fry for a few minutes on a low to medium heat until the peas become more of an olive green. Set aside to cool

• Making the dough for the parathas ~ Measure out the flours and salt into a large mixing bowl and pour in the oil. Work through the flour so that it resembles bread crumbs and it sticks together. Slowly add some boiling water and use a spoon to bring the dough together. Once your able to touch the dough knead for 5 minutes. It should be slightly softer than play doh consistency

• Take a palm full of dough about the size of a golf ball and roll out on a floured surface to approx 4cm in diameter. Get a teaspoon full of pea masala, roll into a ball and place in the middle of the paratha round. Sprinkle with a little plain flour and then bring the dough up to seal the peas inside.

• Flour the uncooked paratha ball and gently roll out to approximately an 8cm disk, using flour to avoid sticking. You may find that the peas may try to escape so press back in again and roll out

• Preheat a large non stick frying pan on a medium heat and dry cook the first layer of the paratha, wait for a couple of minutes then turn. At this stage use a little oil to cover the second layer. Cook until both sides are golden brown and well done. Repeat for the rest of the dough and pea masala

• The pictures below will show you step by step instructions

Anussha’s Mint Masala Chai

I went to my good friend Anussha’s home recently where the children had a play date and we had a brunch date. She fancied having omelettes and had all the ingredients ready. It was lovely to cook for her and the children

We all had some brunch which was great but what was even better was the cup of tea she had made that was waiting for me after I finished in the kitchen.

Oh my god! I know you can have mint tea but to combine Indian masala chai/tea with fresh mint! Was really something! My taste buds were refreshed and my thirst quenched. I told her as soon as I had taken a sip that I would be blogging this recipe on her behalf.

What made this tea even more special was that Anussha had just picked the fresh mint from her very own garden. Which she had gently cultivated from a mint cutting from South Africa. So this tea was now a blend of flavours from India, South Africa and the fertile soil of the UK. Really a stunning trio!

So here’s to you my friend, we had an awesome time with you all and the tea! Well ~ please all go make a cup and see for yourselves. You’ll never have Indian chai without mint again! Thank you Anussha for sharing love you xxxx

INGREDIENTS

To make 2 cups of tea

4-5 fresh mint leaves
1 cup water
2 1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp tea leaves
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp chai masala
A little fresh grated ginger

METHOD

1. Boil the cup of water with the mint leaves and add sugar, stir to infuse flavours.

2. Lower heat and throw in the tea leaves, chai masala and bring to a boil

3. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil again, let the tea simmer for 5-7 minutes and top off with a some finely grated ginger

4. Strain the tea. If you want a more potent mint effect add some more mint leaves to your cup of tea and let the mint oils do its thing!