A mini banquet - Part 2

So - onwards to part 2 - we've done our prep the day before and are now ready to assemble like avengers.

to remind you of the menu, here it is again..

Lila dhania baath - Green Coriander Rice
Sukhu bataka - Spicy Picnic Potatoes
Bombay bataka - Tamarind, tomato and potato curry
Vagareli makai - Spicy sweetcorn
Chicken Tandoori/ Tikka type thing
Minty yoghurt dip

Some words on the menu - all of the above I've cooked many times before, except the Bombay bataka - but looking at the recipe, I already know it is going to be fabulous. The Sukhu bataka, Lila dhania baath and Vagareli makai I have taken to dinner parties and lunch parties to great acclaim- and provided you warn people that peanuts are present, then you shouldn't have any trips to A&E either! (Did peanut allergy even exist when we were growing up?!)
Don't worry about the amount of chillies through these dishes - particularly with the masala - I promise it won't blow your head off. ( I think the one to be careful of generally is commercial dried chilli powders as they can be very harsh without much depth of flavour) - always better to make fresh.

I'm going to cook these one at a time - it isn't an efficient use of time, but I find it more enjoyable and the completed dishes do well in a warming oven - I've eaten all the above cold as well and its perfect. It also enables me to set out each mise en place and photograph them for this blog!
That said, the rice I always do last.

So, just before we commence, there is one other vaguely time consuming thing to do - make the tamarind water. You can buy this easily in supermarkets but it is equally easy to do at home. Tamarind is widely available in dried blocks. I've carved off about 30g worth, which you place in a bowl with 250ml boiling water. Leave for 10 or so mins - don't think it matters too much - I didn't get back to mine for 20 mins - and pulp the block with your fingers in the water until thoroughly broken up - the water will turn satisfyingly dark brown. Parse through a fine sieve into a container and set aside.
Take the chicken out of the fridge to reach room termperature.

You should now have:
1) Chicken in marinade coming up to room temp.
2)  a good quantity of masala paste in a bowl
3) A glass of Tamarind water.


We are now ready to set up each mise en place and prepare the dishes. Be warned - with the masala made, these dishes mostly complete in minutes so put your mise en place in order and make sure you have necessary spoons, spatulas, lids, kettle boiled etc ready before you commence!

Lets start with the Sweetcorn ~ Vagareli Makai ~ From Prashad - Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Kaushy Patel.

Prepare the mise en place:

• Sweetcorn- I'm using 4 drained tins of the Green Giant Niblet small tins here (they usually come in the supermarket in 3 packs). I daresay you could use the low salt, low sugar varieties etc but frankly...I don't.
• 100g Peanuts - roughly chopped. These are supposed to be monkey nuts that you shell, together with the brown skins. In the event however, I didn't have enough, so provided you use natural unsalted, un-roasted peanuts you should be OK.
• A bowl of chopped fresh coriander. Stalks and all. Make sure at the stalk end you are chopping in the millimetres - you can relax a bit towards the leaf end!
• Brown mustard seeds - a good 2 tsps
• Sesame seeds - 2-3 tsps
• Asafoetida - 1/2 a tsp
• Circa 100ml Sunflower oil and your tub of powdered turmeric completes the mise en place 

 Ready......?

Here's the method - and it's fast.

1. Get a nice heavy saute pan, place on full heat. Pour the oil in and leave for 30 secs to a minute. (PS - should be obvious but make sure your pan is dry with no water around!)
2. Carefully add the mustard seeds and shake the pan around so they are evenly spread across the base of the pan
3. When the mustard seeds start to "pop", turn the heat down to low, ensure the pan is comfortably accessible without a stretch, and carefully tip in the sweetcorn and asafoetida. NOTE, however well you have drained the sweetcorn, there is going to be water in it which will spit when it hits the hot oil. Tip the bowl of sweetcorn away from you into the pan - you can wear gloves if you like too. Stir well, then kick the heat back up and fry for a minute or so
4. Now add a good tablespoon of your prepared masala and stir in well. Then add about 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric, 1tsp salt and stir that in too, along with the peanuts, coriander and sesame seeds. Make sure it is all mixed well together, then reduce the heat to medium. Cook for 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan every so often, and then remove from heat, cover with the pan lid and set aside on a mat.  

You should have something that looks like the above - leave to the side. When you get your warming oven going, (at no more than about 70 degrees) - then place the pan (or decant into a serving bowl) and keep warm with the rest of the dishes.
Note, if you are consuming this straight away without the other dishes, then leave covered for 5-10 mins to let the flavours infuse before serving.

This dish has been successful with all recipients and with good reason - it's superb. What is even better is that if you have pre-made your masala (see previous post) and frozen it, then all you need to do is add the garlic to the masala (whichever method you use - mortar, garlic twist etc, this should still only take 5 mins at most), - and then just add up the times above - you can have this dish done in less than 10 mins and ready to eat within 20 minutes tops.
It also seems to go with everything too - although again - don't forget to warn people about the peanuts.
I haven't tried it yet, but you could of course do this with any plain unroasted and unsalted nuts if peanuts are a problem.
Cold, it would work well incorporated into a summer salad, or you could incorporate things into it cold - such as broken up pancetta, a can of tuna (in oil not brine) etc. Have a play!

Onwards to part 3.....