Saffron Infused dip
As soon as the saffron touches the water you'll see golden yellow beams muddy its clarity within seconds. Stir in some yoghurt, garlic and lemon juice and you have a great dip to dollop over absolutely everything.
Ingredients:
Pinch of saffron
1 tablespoon of warm water
1 clove garlic
Juice of half a lemon
Half and teaspoon garam masala
salt and pepper seasoning
Put a pinch of saffron with a small amount of hot/warm water and give it a stir (about 1 tbsp worth) then allow to cool. This will give it time to infuse. Once cool add a finely chopped clove of garlic, juice of half a lemon, 3 tablespoons of natural yoghurt, half a teaspoon of garam masala and plenty of salt and pepper to season. This goes really well with most Indian dishes, 9I have posted a few on here), but particularly well with rice, popadoms, and any kind of Indian breads that need to be dipped in something.
Baked tikka paneer
For a long time I was not a great fan of paneer and found the big old chunks that it's usually cut into and cooked as always tasted a bit rubbery and lacking in a lot of flavour even if you had marinated them within an inch of their lives.
After much perseverance and, with the thinking cap firmly on, I decided to slice the cheese much thinner and wider and to prick it with a fork before marinading it to enable the juices to seep in better. I also laid a fair old bit of marinade on top whilst baking it to get almost a crust like finish with the tikka chutney.
This weekend I will be making my own paneer from scratch as I think this will change everything again. It sounds pretty straight forward so hopefully I'll be posting some positive results on here afterwards. If you don't have the time for this the shop bought paneer worked really well here.
Baked tikka paneer
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons paprika (half smoked and half plain paprika if you have them both)
4 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1 small handful fresh coriander leaves
1 red chilli
1cm fresh root ginger
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon water
Juice of 1 lime
2 tablespoons Greek yoghurt
2 teaspoon garam masala
Salt and pepper to season
1 250g block paneer
Make the tikka paste ahead of time to allow the cheese to marinade for 30-1hr before cooking.
Dry fry the cumin seeds, coriander and paprika for 3 or 4 minutes until they become aromatic. Set aside.
Chop the garlic, shallots, peel and chop the ginger, and de-seed and chop the chilli. Put them in to a large bowl with the fried spices, olive oil, water and juice of the lime and whiz with a hand-held blender. Once this has turned into a paste stir in the yoghurt and garam masala, plenty of pinches of salt and pepper. Mix it all together and whiz once more to combine into a paste.
Slice the block of paneer in half and half again, so it's half its original thickness. You should end up with four slim even square pieces. Gently prick each one with a fork on both sides, and lay out side-by-side in the centre of a baking tray (a square shape works well when holding the marinade).
Spread the tikka paste over the top across each piece, until the block is completely covered. Place in the fridge to marinade. If you don’t have much time leave it in for at least 20 minutes, otherwise leave in there for one hour. 10 minutes before it’s ready to come out pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Bake for 20 minutes. Serve straight away with either the vegetable rice or sweetcorn salad below. Also, the whole baked aubergine recipe goes really well with this too if you're after a full-on feast.
I don't usually associate Indian food with salads but they provide a great balance to the sauces in curries and all the rice we tend to consume when eating Indian food. This one is really simple and fresh.
Spicy sweet corn salad
Ingredients:
2 large corn kernels
100g fine green beans
7-10 cherry tomatoes (couple of handfuls)
3 spring onions
Dressing:
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of half a lemon
1 teaspoon mustard powder or French mustard
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons sugar
Sat and pepper to season
Small handful of chopped mint sprigs
Remove any husks from the kernels and clean down. Lay flat on a chopping board and get a sharp knife to shred off the corn. If you make and incision just to the base of the corn and shred the knife across you should bring off a few rows at a time. Keep turning it over until all the corn in removed. Wash and chop the green beans into 1cm small matchstick pieces. Quarter the tomatoes and shred the spring onions into fine diagonal shapes. Set aside.
Warm a small pan of water on a medium heat whilst you make the dressing. Stir all the ingredients together in a jug. Taste and maybe add a drop of water or more olive oil depending on how it tastes. Just play around the mustard and white wine vinegar if you prefer it a bit tangier. Make sure to whisk it real well before using.
Once the water is boiling add the chopped beans and after 1 minute add the corn. Boil for 2 minute more. Drain and stir the beans and corn in a serving bowl with the dressing whilst the vegetables are still hot. The heat will make the dressing combine really well and give it a bit of a creamier texture. Now stir in the chopped tomatoes and spring onions. Serve with curry as an alternative to rice or with the paneer and aubergine on this post.
Whole baked aubergine
Ingredients:
1 aubergine
To make the paste:
2 big handfuls of fresh coriander
1 garlic clove
2 shallots
1 red chilli
Juice of half a lemon
2 teaspoons of sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of water
Pinch of salt
Pre-heat the oven at gas mark 180 degrees C.Cut the aubergine from top to bottom but not going as far back as to break it in two, then cut across ways 4 times, at even points, never going right through the back, to make about 8 sections.
Blend all the other ingredients together with a hand held blender. You should peel and chop the shallot and garlic first, de-seed and chop the chilli, and throw all of the coriander in including the stalks as it gives it more flavour and texture.
Spread all of the paste between the gaps cut into the aubergine, as you would if you were making garlic bread. Close back together and wrap tightly in tinfoil.
Place in a baking tray and bake for 50 minutes.
Vegetable-(kind of jambalaya)- Rice
Ingredients:
200g basmati rice
Half a red onion
1 garlic clove
1 red chilli, de-seeded
1 bay leaf
Juice of half a lemon
3 medium organic tomatoes
100 fine green beans
Soak the rice in a bowl full of cold water that covers it by a few centimetres. Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic, and chilli. Put the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water from the kettle. After one minute take them out and peel off the skins. Finely chop the tomatoes.
Heat up a tablespoon of rapeseed oil in a large pan over a medium heat with the bay leaf. Add the ginger, garlic, chilli, and onion. Cook for 2 minutes. Squeeze in the lemon juice.
Drain the rice and run cold water over it in a colander to rinse off the starch. Add the rice to the pan and stir it through. Cook for two minutes. Then stir in the tomatoes and the green beans. Cook for one minute.
Boil approx 300ml of water, you need to add just enough to cover the rice by 2 centimetres, just add a bit at first if you are unsure and keep stirring every now and then. This is a no-drain method so you need to not add excess water that won’t be absorbed by the rice. Add the water and turn the heat up high to bring to the boil. Season well with salt and pepper. Once boiling turn the heat down to a low and cover with a lid. Check every couple of minutes to make sure the rice doesn’t dry out; add more water if it need it.
It should take about 15 minutes to cook but taste it as you go along. Serve with the saffron yoghurt.
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