paneer butter masala

I really like Meera Sodha’s first cookbook so Rock ordered her second book, Fresh India, from the UK last year… I think for Valentine’s Day!  I prefer getting a cookbook over chocolates any day.  I just looked and this book is still not coming out in North America until this coming May so, good job Rock!

Anyway, I have my go-to butter masala recipe but I decided to try Meera’s recipe and it turned out really great!  It’s definitely different from my go-to but just as good.  I did make some alterations, mainly to measurements, and I substituted the tomato passata and double cream (which we don’t readily have here in Canada) with crushed tomatoes and coconut cream.  And if you’d like, which I didn’t but Rock and Aymeric did, you can sprinkle over some toasted flaked almonds to serve.

Serves 4.

grapeseed oil  / 400 – 500 grams of paneer, cut into 2 cm cubes  /  3 tbsp unsalted butter  /  1 large yellow onion, finely chopped  /  4 cm piece of ginger, peeled and grated  /  6 cloves of garlic, crushed  /  800 grams of crushed tomatoes  /  1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves  /  1 tsp ground cinnamon  /  1/4 tsp ground cloves  /  1/4 – 1/2 tsp chilli powder (I used 1/4 so that it would be pretty mild for our 10 month old)  /  2 tbsp honey or sugar  /  1 and 1/2 tsp salt  /  150 ml coconut cream, plus a bit extra to serve

Heat up about a tablespoon of oil to a large lidded frying pan over medium heat.  Fry the paneer until the cubes are a bit golden on all sides and then transfer to a plate and set aside.  Next, heat up the butter in the pan and fry the onion for about 10 minutes or until they’re translucent and turning a bit golden.  Add in the ginger and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.

Stir in the crushed tomatoes and cover with the lid and cook for about 12 minutes.

Stir in the fenugreek leaves, cinnamon, cloves, chilli powder, honey and salt.  Then stir in the paneer, cover back with the lid and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

Mix in the coconut cream and let it cook for another few minutes.

And you’re done! Drizzle a bit more of the coconut cream over and serve with basmati rice.  Really delicious!

100 garlic clove curry

We had recently gotten the Made in India cookbook by Meera Sodha and I had been dying to try out her 100 garlic clove curry.  I couldn’t find any photos online (nor is there one in the book) or anything and I was just so curious to find out what a dish centred around garlic would be like.  So we tried it!

Well for such a crazy huge amount of garlic, this curry is actually not overpowering but kind of more like roasted garlic all sauced up in a coconut-tamarind curry.  Which is delicious.  However, the recipe says it can be for 2 as a main dish, which is what we did, but we think it’d be better off as a side dish for a bunch of people.  After all, it is about 50 cloves of garlic per person which is pretty damn intense!  Anyway, if you love garlic and are feeling adventurous, give this a try.  It’s a very easy recipe with the only laborious part being peeling all the garlic!

100 cloves of garlic, peeled  /  3/4 tsp mustard seeds  /  3 tbsp oil (we used avocado but the recipe is for canola)  /  10 fresh curry leaves (which we couldn’t find but managed to snatch up some dried ones.  I just used a few pinches of that but I’m sure fresh ones would be much better if you can find them!)  /  1/2 tsp salt  /  1/2 tsp hot chilli powder  /  1 tsp ground turmeric  /  1 tsp tamarind paste  /  1/2 cup coconut milk (I used 1/2 a can ‘cus I wanted it saucier!)

Heat up the oil in a large lidded pan over medium heat and then add the mustard seeds.  When the seeds start to pop, toss in the curry leaves and the garlic cloves.  Let the garlic sear a bit on both sides then turn the heat down to low and add 1/2 a cup of water.  Cover with the lid and let the garlic cook for about 20 minutes.  You can check every now and again to make sure the garlic isn’t burning and if it is, you can add a bit of water.

Gently (as you don’t want to smush up the garlic!) stir in the salt, chilli powder, turmeric and tamarind paste and cover with the lid for another couple of minutes.  Next, stir in the coconut milk and just let it cook away for another 5 minutes or so.  And that’s it!  We ate it with freshly made naan.

 

stove-top naan

I just got a new cookbook called Made in India by Meera Sodha and just in time ‘cus Rock has been dying to try making naan at home.  Instead of cooking naan in the oven, which is how I for some reason assumed was the only way to do it (without a tandoor oven that is!), this recipe has you using the stove top.  These turned out great and infinitely better than the dense, stiff, packaged ones you get at the grocery store.  This makes a dozen nice, soft naan which is enough for 6 people so feel free to halve the recipe.

4 cups all-purpose flour (plus a bit extra for dusting)  /  4 tbsp plain yogurt  /  1/4 ounce yeast  /  2 tsp sugar  /  2 tsp salt  /  1 tsp baking powder  /  1 cup whole milk, warmed to about body temperature  /  canola oil (we used avocado oil)  /  butter, room temperature (optional)

We’re lazy so we used our trusty stand mixer but you can also make these by hand.  Pour the flour into your mixing bowl and make a bit of a well in the middle.  To the well, add in 2 tbsp of oil, the yogurt, yeast, salt, sugar and baking powder.  Mix until the ingredients have come together and looks kinda like breadcrumbs.  Slowly add in the warmed milk while mixing until it forms a dough.  Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and then plop into a large bowl and rub about a tsp of oil over the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and leave it to rise for at least an hour; it will double in size.

After the dough has risen, cut into 12 equal portions.  Roll each portion into a ball and flatten with your hands.  Dust with some of your extra flour and roll out to about 5 x 8 inches.  Heat up a frying pan over medium-high to high heat and it’s time to start cooking.  For each naan, place in the frying pan for about 20 to 30 seconds (it may start to kinda bubble up a bit) and then flip over and cook for another 20 to 30 seconds.  You can check every now and again to make sure it’s not burning.  Flip it over again and gently press down all over with your spatula and then cook for about 10 seconds.  Some of ours puffed up at this point and apparently that means your naan will be extra soft in the middle, so, score!  Flip one last time and cook for another 10 to 15 seconds, making sure it’s cooked and not still doughy.  Repeat with the rest of the dough (you can stack them up and wrap them in foil while you go) and then, if you’re like me, smother with melty butter while nice and hot before eating.