Chicken Pickle

Rather curious one this - again from Rick Stein's India - and time to introduce a new ingredient!

Mustard Oil. This is available online and in the EU at least, you will notice that the bottle specifies for External Use Only. Rick also mentions this in his book, but notes that in a fair bit of research, he can find no evidence that links any major health problems with internal consumption! (I'm still alive too so.....). Therefore, I must responsibly point out the potential issue and hereby instruct you to do your own research and decide for yourself whether or not you wish to use it.  If not, you could always take Sunflower oil and warm gently with a good handful of mustard seeds and infuse it. I might try this at some point and then I'll repost this with timings and temps if it works! :-)

So, Once more unto the breach, dear friends......

Ingredients:
The Chicken -
500g Skinless boneless chicken cut into 2cm pieces (thighs or breasts, whichever you prefer)
1 tsp Dried Red Chilli Flakes
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
8 cloves garlic, crushed
50g Ginger, pulped
The spice mix -
1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1 1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
1 1/4 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp garam masala (elsewhere on this blog)
To Finish -
300ml mustard oil (or Vegetable oil - or indeed a mix of the two!)
2 medium red onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
pinch Asafoetida
8 cloves garlic, finely chopped
50g ginger, finely chopped
150ml White Wine Vinegar
To Serve -
Parathas - plus I made Aloo Gobi with Deep fried Paneer thrown in at the end (I needed to use up some paneer and it was also nice to snack on whilst cooking everything else!)

Method:
1. Mix chicken with chilli flakes, turmeric, salt, garlic, ginger and leave to marinate for at least an hour
2. Dry roast the fenugreek seeds, black mustard seeds and fennel seeds, then leave to cool and grind to fine powder. Add the garam masala & mix well
3. Heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onions and fry for 10-15mins stirring often until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside. Keep oil in pan hot.
4. Fry the chicken in the oil in batches for 3-4 mins until cooked. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
5. Add the asafoetida to the oil, followed by the spice mix, garlic and ginger. Fry for 2-3 mins then remove from the heat and add the vinegar. Return to the heat, bringing to a simmer, and add the onions and chicken back in. Cook for about 3-5 mins further, then serve with the parathas, and some chopped fresh coriander

(By the way, you did read correctly that this recipe chews 16 cloves garlic! Happy days!)

#chickenpickle

Beef Vindaloo & Ferar Bataka (Ginger chilli peanut potatoes)

A mini feast created yesterday - Beef Vindaloo; Ferar bataka, Vagareli makai, Lila dhania baath, pickled onion and green chilli salad, Phudino dai!

The Beef Vindaloo comes from Rick Stein India, as does the pickled Onion and green chilli salad, recipe for which can be found on the blog with the Kati Rolls.

The Ferar bataka, Vagareli makai and Lila dhania baath comes, as always, from Kaushy Patel's Prashad recipe book which I always recommend as an essential volume for anyone attempting to explore eastern cuisine.

If you are doing this menu, note that the order of battle is to get the beef in the marinade the day before/ 12 hours or at least 6 hours prior to cooking (variance is due to what type of beef you have selected - see below). Next, get the pickled onion and green chilli salad done.
Assuming you have pre-made your masala for the rice, then you are ready to go on the day, although note that the beef wants to be cooked for 2 hours or so unless you use a pressure cooker.

So, to the Beef Vindaloo. Note this is the proper stuff, and doesn't taste anything like a vindaloo you might get in many Indian restaurants in the UK!
Ingredients:
750g beef - (boneless shin of beef cut into 3cm medallions) - although I simply used diced stewing steak
Marinade:
5cm cinnamon stick
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds (my addition)
1 tsp fennel seeds (my addition)
seeds from circa 12 green cardamom pods
1 onion, roughly chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled
5 cm root ginger, roughly chopped
2tbsp tamarind liquid
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp palm sugar/ jaggery/ brown sugar
2 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
5 tbsp white wine vinegar
To cook the vindaloo:
2 tbsp(30g) ghee or vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, sliced
3 fresh green chillies, halved lengthways
100ml water

Method:
For the mariande, grind the cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cardamom to a powder. Put the onion, garlic, ginger, tamarind, salt, sugar, chilli powder, turmeric and vinegar, and all the ground spices into a food processor and blend to a paste. Mix in thoroughly with the beef in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge for the prescribed time above.
Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fry for 10 mins or so until golden. Increase heat to medium high and add the beef and all the marinade. Fry for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Stir in the tomatoes, green chillies and water, cover with lid and cook for around 2 hours until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally to check it isn't sticking or going dry - add a splash of water if so.
Sprinkle with some chopped coriander to serve.

Ferar Bataka
This, I loved. Delicious!

Ingredients:
4 medium red-skinned potatoes
5cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped, then pulped
6-8 fresh green chillies, sliced into fine rings
100g unsalted butter
80g red skinned, unroasted, unsalted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 lemon quartered, to serve (I forgot this but hey ho!)

Method:
Cut potatoes into 1.5cm cubes, and boil until just cooked.
Melt butter in large pan, reduce heat to low and stir in the ginger and chilli rings. Continue to stir for a minute or so whilst the ginger and chilli infuse the butter. Stir in the peanuts. Increase the heat slightly. Stir in the sugar and salt.
Gently stir in the potatoes so they don't break up, making sure you coat them all in the spiced butter. Cover the pan and cook for 2 mins or so until heated through.

Chole ~ Cinnamon Chickpea Curry

One from the Prashad book here. I made it along with the Chicken Chettinad and Lila Dhania Baath, both found elsewhere on this blog.
Ingredients then:
3x 400g tins chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Sunflower oil
15g Coriander seeds
8cm cinnamon stick
6 dried kashmiri chillies
8 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns
6 dried Indian bay leaves
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4cm root ginger, finely chopped, then pulped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped, then pulped
2 tsp salt
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp sugar (I used palm sugar but jaggery or dark brown sugar also fine)
2 handfuls freshly chopped coriander

Method:
Place the chickpeas along with 500ml water in a pan over a high heat, bring to the boil for 5 mins, then remove from heat and set aside (do not drain)
heat 4 tsp oil in a pan over a low heat, add coriander seeds, cinnamon, dried Kashmiri chillies, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and 1 tsp of the cumin seeds. Fry for 5 mins or so, stirring continuously. Set aside to cool.
Heat about 75ml oil in a large pan over a medium heat, add the other tsp cumin seeds and fry until they start to go brown (about a minute tops - make sure you don't let them burn)
Stir in the onions and fry until dark brown, stirring every minute or so.
Stir in the tomatoes, ginger and garlic, salt, chilli powder, turmeric and sugar and increase the heat to high.
Immediately stir in the chickpeas along with their cooking water and an additional 300ml warm water. Cover the pan and leave to simmer for 5 mins, stirring occasionally.
While this is going on, finely grind the cooled roasted spices. Note well: ensure you do not scrimp on this process unless you like pieces of cinnamon bark!
Add to the chickpeas, stir, then remove the pan from the heat.
Sprinkle with chopped coriander then cover the pan and leave to rest for around 10 mins.
Reheat over a medium heat to serve.

Pork Koftas with Cinnamon Chilli Yoghurt

Well, this is supposed to be Keema dhai vada...except I had no Lamb at the time and didn't see any reason why it wouldn't work with some pork I had instead.
On balance: it works fine so give it a go!
Ingredients:
For the Koftas
500g pack minced pork/ lamb etc
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garam masala - Garam Masala
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
2 cloves garlic, chopped
handful mint leaves
handful coriander leaves
1 tsp salt
Oil,  for frying
For the yoghurt
400ml natural yoghurt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra for sprinkling
Pinch Kashmiri chilli powder, plus extra for sprinkling
Parathas or chapatis to serve.

Method:
Put all the Kofta ingredients except the oil into a food processor and blend until smooth. Get a bowl of water to hand and a platter, and using wet hands each time, take a golf ball sized amount of the mixture and roll to a ball. place on platter.
Heat oil and fry the koftas (in batches if necessary) for 7-10 mins until browned on the outside and cooked through. (be especially careful if using pork)
Yoghurt: mix the whole lot in a bowl! If too thick add some water. Note that my wife and I think that the minted yoghurt sauce elsewhere on this blog works with this equally as well.
Fry up some parathas and server the koftas on top, drizzled with the yoghurt. Sprinkle with extra chilli powder, cinnamon (or my preference.....some chat masala) to taste.

Thakkali Rasam ~ (Pepper & Tomato Sour Soup)

Another from the Rick Stein India book.....with some adaptations.....

Its a delicious sour soup which goes very well as a side dish. It is also extremely easy to make!

Ingredients:
1 tbsp ghee (or 25g unsalted butter and 1tbsp sunflower oil)
1 tsp black/ brown/ red mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 dried kashmiri chilli, broken/ ripped into pieces
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp curry leaf powder or small handful fresh curry leaves
4 large tomatoes, chopped (or can of quality plum tomatoes with some chopped baby plum fresh tomatoes)
3 green chillies chopped
3cm root ginger, very finely chopped
3 tbsp red lentils
50 ml tamarind liquid
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
500ml water
Handful coriander chopped to garnish

Method:
Heat ghee/ oil over medium heat. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and Kashmiri chillies - fry until the mustard seeds pop.
Stir in the black pepper and asafoetida, fry for 30 secs, then add the curry leaf powder/ curry leaves, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger, red lentils, tamarind, turmeric, salt and water and simmer for 20-25mins or until lentils are tender.
Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve.

Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry

One inspired from the Hairy Bikers Curry book here, but also because it is one of the wife's favourites in Wagamamas.
Its a tasty dish, with nice contrast between the sticky glutinous rice and the crisp panko breacrumbed moist chicken, with the curry sauce alongside.That said, it isn't a fiery one so good to try on the kids and those who aren't into massive heat.
For those of you who like a little more muscle, you will readily see where you need to add or increase ingredients, or you could do as I did and simply apply large quantities of chat masala sprinkled over the top!

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
Skinless chicken breasts - 2x large ones/ 4x smaller ones
50g or so plain flour
1 large egg
150g Japanese Panko breadcrumbs (widely available in supermarkets and makes all the difference, although stale white breadcrumbs can be used in a pinch)
200ml Sunflower oil
For the sauce:
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 medium onions or 3-4 banana shallots, roughly chopped
30g piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, finely sliced
1-2 tbsp "medium" curry powder (see above plus previous post)
2-3 star anise, ground up in mortar
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
20g plain flour
500ml chicken stock - made with good quality organic stock cube is fine
2 tsp tomato puree
Freshly ground black pepper plus S&P to taste

Method:
Firstly, start with the chicken: Put the breasts between cling film and bash the thicker part with a rolling pin until you have flattened chicken pieces about 2cm thick all around.
Sieve the flour onto a plate large enough for the chicken pieces. Beat the egg into a shallow bowl and finally put the breadcrumbs onto a large platter and spread around.
Dredge the chicken pieces one by one through the flour, then into the beaten egg to coat, and finally into the breadcrumbs, patting them down onto the chicken, turning and ensuring its properly coated.
Place the chicken on a platter carefully, and transfer to the fridge to help the coating "set" onto the chicken. This needs about 30 mins to an hour, during which you can make the sauce and get the rice ready to go.
Sauce: heat the oil in a large pan on medium heat and add the chopped onions. Put the lid on and gently fry for about 8 mins, stirring occasionally until fully softened and pale gold in colour. take lid off and increase heat slightly, cook for another 3 or so minutes until the onions reach a darker gold colour, then decrease the heat and add the ginger and garlic and simmer gently for about 5 mins, stirring every so often.
Stir in the curry powder, star anise, turmeric and some ground black pepper, cook for 2 mins, stirring regularly, then sprinkle over the flour, continuing to stir. Gradually incorporate the chicken stock, stirring all the while, until the mixture is incorporated. Stir in the tomato puree and bring to a simmer; cook for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Whilst this is cooking, commence the rice - just make plain sticky jasmine rice according to instructions. Remove sauce from heat.
Take a stick blender and blitz. Or tip into food processor.Blitz/ process until you have reached the desired consistency. Cover and set aside whilst you get the chicken.
In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and once hot, carefully place the 2 pieces of chicken in the oil to fry. Keep an eye on it but you want about 4-5 mins each side (but make sure its properly cooked of course)
After you have turned the chicken, put the sauce back on low heat to return to simmer.
Slice the chicken thickly and serve on warmed plates, with scattering of fresh coriander and some sticky rice, with a bowl of the sauce so your guests can help themselves.

Curry Powder

The receipe I am about to post required curry powder. So clearly I had to make some.
As usual there are thousands of methods, mixes etc out there so feel free to make any adjustments you like to the below:

Ingredients:
3 tbsp cumin seeds
3 tbsp coriander seeds
3 tbsp brown mustard seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 1/2 tsp Ajwain seeds
3 tsp ground mace
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
5 ground cloves
2 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder (see below)
2 tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tbsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp ground paprika
1 1/2 tsp dhania jeera Dhania Jeera spice mix

Method:
Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300F)
Combine the coriander, cumin, mustard, fennel, ajwain, mace, turmeric & cloves in a glass baking dish and mix up well.
Bake for 30 mins, stirring/ shaking around occasionally
Cool completely
Stir in the chilli, ginger, paprika, pepper, paprika and dhania jeera

In small batches, grind to fine powder in Pestle & Mortar.

The above makes a standard Jam jar amount.

Kashmiri chilli powder - I make this in fairly large quantities - take 60 or so dried kashmiri chillies, roast off for about 5 mins in a large pan, tossing regularly (every 30 seconds or so). Be warned, the aromas coming off these chillies can be quite overpowering, so ensure you have adequate ventilation and ideally no pets, children or guests around! (If you have a gas BBQ, this would be ideal to do outside!)

Allow to cool completely. Rip the stalk off each chilli, ensuring you don't lose all the seeds, and transfer to food processor. Pulse to break up the chillies, then transfer in small batches to a mortar or spice grinder to form a powder.
Careful using a spice grinder here - you can overheat the chillies and burn them....

Pho Bo...(Vietnamese beef noodle soup)

Pho Bo ~ Vietnamese beef noodle soup - Rick Stein Far Eastern Odyssey

I shall start by saying this is sublime. Possibly because I ignored some of the recipe and added something else from the Stein stable - but frankly if you like it hot with deep flavour, this has a seriously addictive quality and I shall be making this again!

The first thing to mention is that the recipe calls for an Asian beef broth. This is a long'ish process involving shin of beef and marrow bone, neither of which I had at the time and moreover, I was hungry. So effectively, I have "topped and tailed" the broth recipe process by utilising good quality beef stock (cubes or Kallo "pots" work), dovetailing that with the original process and deciding to add some Nam Prik Pao for good measure (you can find the recipe for that under the Tom Yam entry)

Asian Beef broth (which I guess I should now call David's beef broth!)

Ingredients:
3 beef stock cubes/ stock pots. I used Kallo stock pots, mixed with 1.5L boiling water and kept simmering.
40g fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into about 6 pieces
350g shallots, sliced
4 star anise
2x 7.5cm cinnamon sticks
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
8 cloves
1 tbsp Nam Prik Pao paste (optional)

Method:
Using a dry pan, roast off the fennel seeds, cinnamon and star anise and set aside
Bash the ginger and shallots a bit with a pestle or rolling pin.
Fry the ginger and shallots in a little oil until softened, then add to the roasted spices
Add the roasted spices, ginger and shallot to the simmering beef stock
Add the peppercorns, cloves and Nam Prik Pao paste (if using)
Simmer for as long as possible, then strain and return the strained stock to the heat, keeping on simmer.

Pho Bo
Ingredients:
Asian broth - see above
Nice piece of fillet steak - say about 200g, very thinly sliced. (I rolled in cling film and put in the freezer for about an hour before slicing. Bring back to room temperature before assembly)
300g Rice noodles
10g each of the leaves of; Thai basil (sweet), mint and coriander
5 red birds eye chillies, thinly sliced
2 limes, cut into wedges
8 spring onions, sliced on diagonal, white and green parts separated
4 tbsp Nam Pla (fish sauce)
100g bean sprouts

Method:
Take a pan of unsalted boiling water and drop the noodles in. Remove from heat and sit for about 10 mins or until the noodles are softened
Put the basil, mint, coriander, limes, green parts of the spring onion and red chillies on a platter for your diners to help themselves
Add the white part of the spring onion to the simmering broth along with the fish sauce.
If you have used Nam Prik Pao, I suggest adding some sugar to taste here, along with some lime juice
Bring to a gentle boil

Assembly:
Drain the noodles and heap in the bottom of deep soup bowls
On top of the noodles, place some beef, chillies, basil, mint, coriander, spring onion and beansprouts.
Ladle the stock into the bowl
Squeeze some lime to taste.

Enjoy!

Chopping chillies !

I've always ridiculed advice to wear gloves when working with fresh chillies (on the assumption that you wash your hands afterwards and remember not to put your finger in your eye!).
Yesterday however finely chopped about 50 chillies as a re-stock exercise for masalas and to freeze and I have the following revision to my opinion - don't chop this many in one sitting!
not only is my left hand still tingling 12 hours and several washes later, but I've also noticed that my chopping board has been bleached white in the centre.......!

Chettinad Chicken, Tarka Dal & Coriander Rice

The Beauty of this meal is that the chicken requires no lengthy or overnight marinades, yet still packs a wallop of flavour!
Both the Chicken and the Tarka Dal come from Rick Stein's India; the Lila Dhania Baath comes from Prashad and should be familiar by now to anyone who has cooked anything on this blog, as I usually make it with everything!
Assuming you have some staples at the ready (such as the masala for the rice) this is a great one for a weekday evening meal and you won't be eating at midnight!
Read through the recipes before you start noting the timings so everything is ready at the same time if you are doing all three dishes - you start with the Dal, the rice and chicken starts at around the same time (the rice can remain resting for as long as you like after its finished), and finally its the tarka for the dal which is done as the chicken is in its final phase.

Chettinad Chicken

There's another interesting ingredient addition here: dagarful (a.k.a Kalpasi or stone flower), which is a lichen. You can get it online or, as I have done here, simply use more cinnamon

Spice blend ingredients:
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder

Chicken ingredients:
50ml or so sunflower oil
1 tsp fennel seeds
cinnamon stick - circa 8 cm (or 5cm cinnamon and 1 tbsp roughly chopped dagarful)
150g shallots, diced
Handful curry leaves (if you don't have fresh, try some curry leaf powder like I did - seems much more effective than dried curry leaves - I used a heaped teaspoon or so)
Skinless chicken - about 700g - cubed
4 or 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
4 cm or so root ginger, grated or crushed
1 tsp sugar/ jaggery/ palm sugar
1 tsp salt
100ml water (plus extra if required)

Method:
Spice blend: put all the ingredients in a spice grinder or mortar and create a powder.
Heat the oil in a heavy pan and add the fennel seeds, cinnamon and dagarful (if using), and fry for a minute. Add the shallots, curry leaves or curry leaf powder and fry until the shallots are softened. Add chicken and fry for a couple of minutes, then stir in the garlic, ginger, sugar, salt and all of the spice blend. Fry for 2 mins then add the water and cook for 10 or so minutes, stirring often to prevent sticking, and adding more splashes of water if required, until the chicken is cooked and the sauce is reduced and sticking to the chicken (This is quite a dry "curry"). Sprinkle some chopped fresh coriander to garnish.
And that's it - enjoy with the rice and the tarka dal.

Hope you all noted my new "mise en place" trolley! :-)

So, to the Tarka Dal
I shall list Rick's ingredients here, but note that I used the Prashad Tarka dal mix of 150g masoor dhal (Split red lentils) and 150g mung Dhal (yellow split mung beans), mixed together and rinsed at least 4 times in warm water then drained.

Ingredients:
For the Dal -
200g Yellow tur dal or chana dal, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained
2 medium tomatoes, chopped (I used about 12 baby plum tomatoes)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 green chillies slit lengthways, seeds in (I had no whole chillies left so used about 2 tbsp chopped green chilli)
4 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
2 tsp curry leaf powder (or small handful fresh curry leaves - don't use dried!)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric

For the tarka - (spiced oil)
50 ml sunflower oil
1 tsp black/ brown mustard seeds
2 shallots, finely chopped
4 dried kashmiri chillies, ripped up
15 fresh curry leaves (or another 2 tsp curry leaf powder)
Handful of chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Method:
Put the dal into a medium saucepan and cover with about 4 or 5cm water
Add all the remaining dal ingredients and bring to the boil, then lower the heat to medium/ low and simmer for about 45 mins to an hour until the dals are soft but still have a little bite. Use a potato masher to roughly break up the dals and other ingredients but leave plenty of texture
For the tarka, heat the oil over medium heat and add the mustard seeds. When they start popping, add the shallots, kashmiri chillies and curry leaves/ powder and fry for 2-3 mins until the shallots are softened. When you are ready to serve, pour or spoon the sizzling hot oil directly on top of the dal, sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and serve.

Paneer cooking

A short post on Paneer cooking....following a question from a reader...

"Hello! Advice please oh spice master....cooked chana masala this week and had real trouble cooking the paneer. Receipe suggested frying in a little oil in medium heat but it just burnt and broke up...have had this trouble before.

Thanks in advance!

And my reply as follows:

Hello there!

If you are putting paneer in your chick pea curry, then you do have the option of simply carefully stirring it in once you are happy the chick peas are cooked through, along with the remaining final ingredients.

However, if this doesn't float your boat and you want it as per your original question then....

Paneer can be rather crumbly, which doesn't lend itself to being shallow fried or tossed around. Halloumi works OK like this, but its so salty you have to adjust all other seasoning in your dish.

So, assuming we stay with the paneer......

Firstly, the (fresh) paneer should be in roughly 1.5cm x 1.5cm cubes.

Secondly, you cannot do this in my opinion with "a little oil" unfortunately - you need a depth of circa 10-15cm of sunflower oil (or similar with high burn point such as rapeseed/ canola etc - keep a bottle so you can strain the stuff afterwards for re-use)

The oil needs to be put on the heat until it reaches 180 degrees - use a sugar thermometer or digital probe - and keep it there by regulating the heat. You then need either a "basket ladle" as I call them, or one of those very shallow wide perforated spoons. (See Equipment on my blog :-))

Failing that, there is the age old test to measure the temp - once it is about there, a cube of paneer dropped in should immediately get the oil bubbling around it - once this happens, reduce heat to a low medium to keep the temp there.

Do the paneer in batches of about 6 cubes (so as not to lower the temp of the oil too much) and use a relatively small pan to save on oil when reaching the 10-15cm depth (with lid in case of accidents!!)

Keep turning the paneer around in the oil until it is nicely mottled with dark brown edges through to light coloured centres on each facet of the cube, then remove and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.

Alternatively, you could have them as a side to the chana masala - perhaps skewered as kebabs. Here is a quick recipe from Prashad...

Make a marinade of 2-3 fresh green chillies, 4-8 cloves garlic, 2 handfuls fresh chopped coriander, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp garam masala, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric, 2tbsp plain yoghurt. Using 2x 250g blocks of paneer, cut each block into 9 equally sized cubes. and marinade with some chopped peppers and onion pieces for at least 8 hours or ideally overnight.

Thread each skewer with 3 pieces of paneer, onion and peppers, place on a lightly oiled BBQ/ griddle and cook for 20 mins until slightly charred, turning them every 4-5 mins to ensure they are cooked evenly on each side.

Chingri Malai (Coconut Prawn Curry)

Herewith a great Prawn Curry from Rick Stein and the tried and tested Lila Dhania Baath (Green Coriander rice) from Prashad.

For refresher on the exquisite rice, Go to this link - Lila Dhania Baath

To the prawns then.....

Ingredients
4 medium onions - 2 roughly chopped, 2 finely sliced
25g ghee (or 20g unsalted butter and a splosh sunflower oil)
2 Indian Bay leaves (**!)
1/2 tsp Garam masala
3 cm root ginger, finely grated/ pounded to paste
3 cloves garlic, finely crushed in with above
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
lots of raw, peeled, large prawns :-)
1 can good quality coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
50ml water

Couple of things to note:
1) Original recipe has 280ml coconut milk and 150ml water. My cans of coconut milk are 400ml and I didn't have plans for the remainder, so reduced water accordingly.
2) Indian bay leaves are different from the ones you get in UK supermarkets and are NOT interchangeable. If you don't have any, use a 3 cm piece of cinnamon instead

Method

Get the food processor out and blend the 2 roughly chopped onions to a fine paste - if you need to, add a splash of water to assist the process
Heat the ghee/ butter over medium heat, add the Indian bay leaves or cinnamon stick and fry for 1 min until fragrant. Add the sliced onions and fry for 10 mins until golden and soft, then stir in the garam masala. After 30 secs, stir in the onion paste, ginger, garlic, turmeric and chilli and fry for 5 mins, stirring often. Continue until th onion paste is golden and again, add a splash of water if necessary to prevent anything catching on the bottom of the pan
Stir in the prawns, cook for 1 min, add the coconut milk, salt, sugar and water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 mins or until the prawns are done and the sauce has reduced.

Sprinkle some chopped coriander to serve if you like, along with the Green coriander rice.

NOTE: have some chat masala to hand because it is simply great sprinkled on top of this curry!!

Pau Bhaji

This is another from Rick Stein's India book which makes a quick and tasty lunch - all the more so if you happen to have the following:
1) Pau Bhaji Masala spice mix (see other post)
2) Some left over mashed potato
3) Crusty bread rolls and butter (although parathas work equally well)

Ingredients

Fresh or left over mashed potato - about 350g
50g butter plus another 15g to finish
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin seeds
400g can of chopped tomatoes - drained slightly of the juice
good handful frozen peas (or a drained can)
3 tsp Pau Bhaji masala spice blend
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp Ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
Handful fresh coriander, chopped
Fresh rolls or parathas to serve
more fresh coriander, chopped, to serve
1-2 limes, cut into wedges
1 red onion - very finely sliced

Method
Heat 50g butter over medium heat. Add onion and cumin seeds and fry for 10 mins until softened and golden. Stir in the mashed potato and fry for 1-2 mins then add the tomatoes. Mix well and cook for 5 mins, stirring often.
Add the peas, all the spices and salt and cook for further 5 mins
Finish by stirring through remaining butter and handful coriander.

Serve with the rolls, more coriander, lime wedges and the red onion.

NOTE: I would also recommend having some Chat masala spice mix to hand to sprinkle over....see post on Chat masala

Renghan bataka (Aubergine & Potato Curry)

Another great recipe from Kaushy Patel's Prashad Indian Vegetable Cooking.

For those of you who have already tried some of the others I have posted it will not be a surprise to hear that a "standard type masala" is required.

So, out with the mortar and bash up 3-6 fresh green chillies, a 3 cm piece of root ginger and some salt. (I also added a clove or two of garlic) - make a fine masala paste and set aside.

Rest of the Ingredients:
75ml sunflower oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp brown mustard seeds
1/4 tsp asafoetida
2 medium aubergines, cut into 2cm cubes
2-3 medium red skinned or other waxy potatoes, peeled if you like and cut into 2cm cubes
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp medium red chilli powder
2 tsp sugar (grated jaggery or palm sugar)
3 tbsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 medium tomatoes, roughly chopped
2 handfuls chopped fresh coriander

NB - you are better off with a smaller pan than the one I used, illustrated below. I had too much surface area and therefore had to add more liquid for the "simmering boil" phase. Use an ordinary high sided saucepan of about 20cm diameter or so.

Heat the oil for a minute or so and add the cumin and mustard seeds
When the mustard seeds start to pop, remove from heat and stir in asafoetida, aubergines and potatoes and put back on medium heat.
Stir in the masala paste, turmeric, salt, chilli powder, sugar, ground coriander, ground cumin and150ml boiling water, then cook uncovered for 3-4 mins over a low heat.
Increase heat to bring to simmering boil and continue to simmer for another 5-6 mins uncovered, stirring occasionally. (if it starts sticking add a little more water)
Stir in the tomatoes and half the coriander, cover and simmer for another 5 mins, or until the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from heat and allow to rest for at least 10 mins, covered. Gently re-heat if required to serve, along with the rest of the chopped coriander.

Kati rolls with pickled onion & green chilli salad

The picture of this in Rick Stein's India book looked fabulous. It simply had to be made and sampled.
And....it was unquestionably delicious.
(Note, clearly not quite enough on its own so I served it with a Renghan bataka (Aubergine and potato curry), and the old favourite phudino dai (Yoghurt and mint dip) - both of which can (or will be very soon) be found on this blog.)

In essence, this is street food - in Western parlance, this is a "pancake" type round flat bread, with a layer of coriander flavoured omelette, wrapped around very tasty and succulent beef (although I see no reason why pretty much anything wouldn't work - chicken, duck, pork, lamb would all be good contenders) - combined with a nice crunchy pickled salad. Then just munch away!

It is also a doddle to make (Although as a quick caveat, you will need to have made some chat masala and garam masala ahead of time)

Ingredients

I recommend doing this in the order below....

For the Pickled Onions -
2 medium sized red onions, halved and very finely sliced - use a mandolin if you have one on pretty much minimum setting if your knife skills need honing (!) but watch the fingers.
2 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp white wine vinegar (or rice wine vinegar probably works too)
1 tsp salt
Handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves

Mix all the above together well and leave, covered, for at least an hour.....

For the meat -
500g Sirloin or rump steak, cut into 3cm cubes. (As it happened, I used about 370g good quality chuck steak)
6 Cloves garlic - crushed
3 fresh green chillies, finely chopped
3 tbsp lime juice/ juice from 2 limes
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all the above together well and leave to marinate for at least an hour

For the wraps -
6 free range eggs
1 tsp salt
Handful of chopped coriander leaves
6 parathas or chapatis
vegetable oil (Dependent on whether using shop bought parathas - I used pre-frozen ones where the oil is already combined into the product)

Method

First, the parathas.
Lightly beat eggs with the coriander and salt. Heat frying pan and place your paratha in the hot pan for 30-secs - 1 min, until the underneath starts to brown. Then, coat the top of the paratha with 1/6 of the mixture and flip it immediately. Most of the egg mix will promptly fall off into the pan but do not worry about this. Press down briefly on the top of the paratha and cook for 1-2 mins until the egg is set . Flip back over to complete the browning of the first side.
Set aside in a warming oven and complete the remainder of the parathas.

Ideally, you can get your sous chef to continue the above whilst you address yourself to the meat. This can be done in numerous ways - skewer on BBQ, griddle pan, grill etc - but I just used the big wok.
First drain the meat from the marinade. and pat dry.
Put wok on high heat, add splosh sunflower oil and then the meat, tossing regularly so that you get caramelisation on the beef but DON'T overcook it - you want this succulent, not a piece of shoe leather in a wrap. I wouldn't recommend taking this anywhere more than rare - medium rare.

Plate up. Tip the beef onto a warmed plate and sprinkle with the fabulous chat masala!!!
Get the parathas out of the warming oven, the phudino dai out of the fridge and remove the cover on the pickled onions. Drain the juice from the onions and toss with a little more chopped coriander.

This is now a fun assembly job for your diners, just like tacos or burittos.

Tastes fantastic!

Chat Masala Spice mix - ESSENTIAL!!

OK, you might say this is a "nice to have" spice blend, but let me tell you, it isn't. In fact, I intend to make a fresh batch of this every month to sprinkle on......everything!
And there is the clue......this mix, so far in my experience looking at recipes, acts as "table seasoning" like the good old salt and pepper but frankly, the results are poles apart!

So, like the Pau Bhaji Masala spice mix where we introduced Amchur, we have another newcomer to the scene with this one.....and it is Kala namak, or Black Salt which is from rocks, not the sea. Unless you particularly like the smell of sulphur, then its aroma takes a little getting used to (that is, on its own, once blended into the spice mix it is much less apparent) - but trust me, once you taste the result, you get used to it very quickly.
Kala Namak is available in both powdered and "rock" form - I have both, and be aware that its one of the harder things to grind in the mortar, so unless you have a big granite job or an old electric spice grinder you don't mind killing, then get the powder!

Recipe mix here comes courtesy of Rick Stein in his India book. He seems to love the stuff and I can see why.....

Ingredients
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 tbsp Cumin seeds
1 tbsp Black peppercorns
1 tbsp Amchur powder
1 tbsp Dried ginger powder
1 tsp Asafoetida (PS...note the "Teaspoon" quantity here in the company of "tablespoons!" :-) )
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder (You can buy this ready made but better to grind your own)
1 tbsp Black salt powder
1 tbsp Ordinary sea salt.

Method
No surprises....roast the cumin, coriander and black peppercorns. Allow to cool completely.
Combine all other ingredients and grind to fine powder. It would keep for about a month, although if you like it as much as I do, you will have no problems getting through it.

As well as in hot recipes, its also great sprinkled on nuts and other snacks and I will definitely be doing some blend experimentation here. For example, as a great lover of sauted savoy cabbage rich with butter and liberally sprinkled with gound nutmeg, salt and pepper, I can definitely see me adding some nutmeg or perhaps ground mace to the mix! Topping for cauliflower cheese, mixed in with the panko breadcrumbs perhaps...ditto fish pie, mashed potato and so on.......it really is that good!

Pau / Pav Bhaji Masala Spice Mix

One of those mixes absolutely required for certain dishes (see later post for the Pau Bhaji itself) - and the newcomer here is the Amchur, or dried mango powder.
As per usual, I found a stack of different blends so will post two of them for you - the first of which is the one I used.

Mix recipe 1
BTW, if you imagine a jam jar, the following quantities make about 1.5-2" of spice mix when put in one!

Ingredients
1 tbsp Coriander seeds
1 1/2 tsp Cumin seeds
2 dried kashmiri chillies
Pinch ground turmeric (about 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp Amchur (dried mango powder)
1 tsp green cardamom seeds
3 cloves
1" piece Cinnamon
1 Star anise
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
2" piece of Dried ginger (ground to powder)
1 1/2 tsp garam masala

Method
Roast of the Cumin, Coriander, Fennel seeds, Chillies, Cloves & Cinnamon as per usual practice.
Grind all the ingredients together in the mortar. Store airtight for up to 4 weeks.

Note, In my opinion this mix could use a bigger chilli kick so will be increasing to 4 chillies next time......

Mix recipe 2

Ingredients
4x BLACK cardamom pods
1/4 cup coriander seeds
1/8 cup cumin seeds
1/8 cup whole black peppercorns
1 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
10 whole dried chillies
2x 5cm pieces cinnamon
2 tbsp Amchur

Method
Roast all ingredients as normal except for the amchur.
...and here is the weird bit as normally powdered spice doesn't join the roasting pan....for the last minute, add the amchur powder.
Tip into bowl, cool completely and grind to fine powder.

Tom Yam Gung .....Recipe 2....

I was going to call this recipe "more complex" - but the truth is that it isn't - just more time consuming. In fact its final assembly is arguably far simpler than Recipe 1.

What makes this more time consuming, but arguably very much better (and more authentic) is the incorporation of Nam Prik Pao (or Thai Chilli and Dried Shrimp sauce/ paste). This is very easy to make - and you can do it once to last quite a few Tom Yams - it will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months or so - but obviously the first time you will add some time to your overall wait to get stuck in.

The basis of both the Nam Prik Pao and the Tom Yam Gung is from Rick Stein's "Far Eastern Odyssey" which is another of my staples when craving spice!

Onto the Nam Prik Pao then......(BTW, have a sterilised Kilner jar/ air-tight jam jar etc ready to go)

I think (judging by the below) that Rick's exact quantities must have actually made enough for about 5 jam jars worth, so I have taken the liberty of quartering all the ingredients!

You will need:
25g Dried red Kashmiri chillies (sounds a lot but online they usually come in 200g bags) - this equates to about 20 odd chillies
10g shrimp paste
15g dried shrimp
10g garlic, finely sliced
40g shallots, finely sliced
15g tamarind pulp
1 tbsp nam pla (fish sauce)
15g palm sugar
30ml sunflower oil
25ml water


Method:
Heat a large wok over high heat, dry (without oil), and add all the dried chillies, tossing them occasionally until they darken and you can noticeably smell them in your kitchen!


Set aside to cool. Once cool, tip into mortar a few at a time and grind to fine powder. (Note - you can do this part in a food processor/ grinder but take special care to ensure that you don't burn the spice - use a pulse method briefly rather than sticking it on long blend)
Take a square of tin foil, put the shrimp paste in the middle, fold over the foil and squash, then fold again to make a flat parcel. Returning the wok to heat, add the parcel and roast the shrimp paste for about 2-3 mins, turning once, then remove and allow to cool
Add all the oil to the wok and then the dried shrimp, fry until begin to colour then remove with a slotted spoon (to retain the oil in the wok), and then put into a food processor
Now add the garlic until golden, remove with slotted spoon and add to food processor
Then the shallots, frying until golden and tip both shallots and the oil now into the processor.
Finally, add your roasted chilli powder, shrimp paste and blend. You should end up with an almost crumbly damp texture, deep red in colour. (Note, I would wash your food processor items pretty fast after this next step!)

Put the mixture in a non-stick pan, adding the tamarind, fish sauce, sugar and 25ml water. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Continue to simmer until the mixture reduces and becomes almost a jam type consistency. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Spoon into air-tight jar(s)
(If you want to make a job lot - go back to Rick's quantities, multiplying everything by 4)


Onto the Tom Yam Gung
You will need to start with:

200g (x4 banana shallots), finely sliced
20g (x7 cloves) of garlic, finely sliced
50g finely chopped galangal or root ginger - this was about 3x 1" pieces of the galangal I had at the time
3 - 4 fat lemon grass stalks, finely sliced (again, note that if doing this with UK supermarket lemongrass, I recommend at least buying 2 packs!)
3 - 4 hot birds eye chillies, finely sliced, seeds in

method for this bit:
You want to bash all the above up into a paste, starting with the garlic and shallots and then adding the rest until they start to break up and form a rough paste.
Note that a food processor is not recommended for this bit by Rick, but also note that this means your finished "broth" will contain the rough paste which some people may not like, although I consider to be an integral part of the experience.


 Next bit - you will need:
800ml (2x cans) coconut milk
300ml water
2 tsp palm sugar
4 tbsp nam pla
2 tbsp of your Nam Prik Pao
4 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
Lots of large, raw, peeled prawns
250g mushrooms such as oyster, but any you can get your hands on really will do
4 kaffir lime leaves
4-5 spring onions, finely chopped
8 baby plum tomatoes - halved
Bamboo shoots if you like
Coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method:

• Bring coconut milk and water to gentle simmer in large pan
• Add the Shallots/ garlic/ ginger, lemongrass and chilli paste to the pan and simmer for 2 mins
• Add the sugar, fish sauce, Nam Prik Pao, lime juice and salt and simmer for another couple of mins.
• At this point, I run a seasoning check and adjust if necessary with sugar, lime juice and nam pla.
• 
• When you are satisfied, add the prawns, mushrooms, tomatoes, lime leaves and bamboo shoots if using, and simmer for another couple of mins
• Stir in the Spring onions, then serve in a warmed bowl, with coriander sprinkled over top to garnish and some lime wedges on the side.

Fabulous - and well worth the effort.

Tom Yam Gung - some experiments......Recipe 1 (Simple)

I am a great lover of this stuff - the combination of lime, fish sauce, chilli heat, and big juicy prawns (although you can of course put whatever protein you like in - or even keep it veggie by adding mange tout, baby sweetcorn etc etc)

There must be thousands of receipes for Tom Yam, and I am going to embark on some tests to find out which ones I like best.

You can seemingly make these as complex or simple as you like......I shall start with simple and move on from there!

Ingredients

For the paste:
4 garlic cloves
1 fat lemon grass stalk (or a pack of the ones from UK supermarket chains!)
1" piece galangal (or same root ginger)
Bunch of coriander - stems only (and roots if you have them on as well)
Chillies - birds eye - x3
2 shallots
Good splash lime juice (or juice from 2 limes)
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tsp shrimp paste - try and get this from Thai supermarkets in the smallest sized volumes so you reduce wastage - it will keep in the fridge (seal the pot in a baggie as well!) for a while...

For the rest:
1.5L good chicken or vegetable stock. The Kallo organic stock cubes are good if used as directed: i.e. 1 cube per 500ml
Another fat lemon grass stalk (see above) very finely chopped
Chillies - birds eye - x2 or even 3 finely chopped
4cm piece root ginger, sliced into batons 1mm x 1mm
Fish Sauce (nam pla) - 3-4 tbsp plus to taste
Lime juice - 2-3 limes plus to taste
1tbsp palm sugar
Mushrooms - oyster if you can get them, otherwise a nice variety - mixed wild mushrooms are great - I used some foriesterre and some funky thai mushrooms
Prawns - big ones. lots. I like a good 8 per person - raw, peeled and defrosted if frozen
Bamboo shoots - these are great in the soup. I get these packaged simply from the thai supermarket, but they are available in mainstream supermarkets, although often jarred in oil - be sure to rinse them off
Spring Onions - 5 or 6, finely chopped
Coriander (the leafy bits left over from your paste), chopped roughly. Reserve a small sprinkle for serving

Method
First to make the paste.
Combine all the paste ingredients in a food processor and blend to a rough paste
Heat a saucepan and add paste. Stir around to ensure it doesn't stick, then add the stock.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 mins or so
Remove from heat, and then sieve into a bowl. Discard paste, rinse pan and return your stock to it.
Place back on heat and bring to a boil again. Skim off any froth and impurities from the top then reduce to simmer
Add the lemongrass, chilli, ginger, nam pla, lime juice and sugar and stir well
After about 2 mins, taste, and adjust nam pla, lime juice and sugar accordingly
Add the mushrooms (and any other veg if you aren't making this with prawns!)
Add the bamboo shoots
Finally, add the prawns. (and tomatoes - optional)
Once the prawns just start to turn pink, add the spring onions and most of the chopped coriander leaves.
Very fast, do a final taste, adjust lime, nam pla or sugar as required and serve, with a sprinkle of the reserved chopped coriander on top.

Enjoy!