An Indian Feast

Last Bonfire Night, I hosted an Indian themed supper. Each guest brought a dish, and I made chutneys and onion bhajis. It went so well that I decided to recreate the feast again this week, but this time I made everything myself, including three curries, chutneys, raita, bhajis and naan bread. As you can imagine I was pretty exhausted after a good four hours of cooking - I think I chopped 12 onions, 12!!

All the recipes came from the wonderful BBC Food and Good Food websites, except for the main chicken tikka curry which is a Gordon Ramsay creation, originally found by my lovely friend Maddy. The best thing about these recipes is that they can all be made up ahead and reheated, saving time, energy and hob space later.

Chicken Tikka Masala

I doubled up the Chicken Tikka recipe to serve 6 people with leftovers. I started by making the sauce and blending it, then leaving it to one side, before reheating it just before serving and adding the browned chicken pieces which I allowed to infuse in the sauce for about 10 minutes or so. This curry has a good red colour, creamy texture and a deep flavour, with just a hint of spice that should appeal to even the most chilli fearing of friends.

Spiced Paneer and Tomato Curry

I’m a big fan of paneer, an Indian cheese similar to halloumi, and the Spiced Paneer and Tomato Curry I made was sympathetic to its delicate flavour. Again the spice level was more warming hint then blast.

Chickpea and Spinach Curry

The final curry I made was a Chickpea and Spinach number, Ben’s favourite, which made for a bit of colour on the table, and also could be described as healthy (mainly because it was green). I made the entirety of the curry up ahead, except for the addition of the spinach, which I added to the warmed sauce to wilt, about 15 minutes before serving.

The mix for the onion bhajis was again made up ahead, except for the flour, which was added to the onion, egg and spices just before frying. Once fried, I popped the bhajis in a Pyrex dish and placed them in the oven, on a low heat, to keep them warm until I was ready to serve.

Onion Bhajis, Raita and Naan

I can’t take all the credit for the feast though. Ben did make the Naan breads. He followed this Madhur Jaffery recipe, and cooked them on a slightly oiled pan on the hob rather then in the oven. They puffed up perfectly, and made for a sweet and fluffy accompaniment to the meal.

Alongside all this I served my trusty coriander chutney with the addition of a little natural yoghurt to create a smoother consistency, and cucumber and mint raita to cool everything down.

Phew, I’m exhausted just recounting it all to you here, but I’m pleased to say the meal went down very well, and six people managed to eat almost all of the different curries, which had been meant to make 16 portions!!

Paneer Kebabs

Remember the Muttar Paneer curry I made the other day? You should do, it tasted pretty great if I do say so myself. Well, I had a bit of left over cheese to use up and as Ben had gone to London I decided to make my self a romantic dinner for one.

After a quick scan of Google I saw that the majority of recipes where curry based, so I opted for a kebab option. After marinating the cheese, onions and peppers, I threaded the lot on to skewers and grilled for 10 minutes. The flavour was great, the paneer a blank canvas allowing the spices to really shine through, but the whole thing would have been a little bit dry if I had not made my Coriander Chutney to go along side it. Good with curries as well as making a great dip for poppodoms, the chutney takes under 5 minutes to make, and elevated this dish from good to great.

The Paneer Kebab recipe can be found here.

My Coriander Chutney recipe can be found here. 

Muttar Paneer

There is nothing better then a curry, whether it be homemade or takeaway, each has a time and a place. Their simplicity and throw-it-all-in-and-see-what-happens style makes them the perfect choice for the experimental cook. In regards to the curry recipes I’ve seen in cookery books, my top choice is Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic, as one reader commented, not the most trust worthy of names, but she sure does have some lovely and more unusual recipes. You may remember her Afghan Yoghurt Curry I made a few months back, well it was delicious, and I had high hopes for the Muttar Paneer Curry that I tried next.

Now my knowledge of vegetarian curries stretches little further then the obligatory butternut squash variety, which is great and all that, but gets a bit boring after a while. This curry uses paneer as the star ingredient, an Indian cheese with a squeaky likeness to halloumi. The cheese is fried until golden brown and then added to a delicious homemade curry paste (so simple to make and useable as a base for any curry) as well as peas. The mild sauce allows the sweetness of the peas to burst out with every mouthful and the cheese adds texture, making it a great alternative to tofu. Gizzi also suggests serving the dish with a naan rather then rice, a welcome change in my opinion.

Slightly adapted from Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic

Serves 2

1 tbsp vegetable oil

125g Paneer cheese

2 ripe tomatoes, chopped

150ml vegetable stock

150g frozen peas

naan bread

-For the Curry Paste-

1 tbsp vegetable oil

½ onion, peeled and chopped

1.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

pinch of garam masala

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

1. Put all the ingredients for the curry paste into a blender and mix to a paste.
2. Add the oil to a pan over a medium heat, then fry the paneer until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.
3. Add the paste to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, until it starts to brown a little. Add the stock and tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes until thickened. Add the paneer and the peas and cook for 5 minutes.
4. Season, and serve with naan bread.

Kedgeree

Aren’t food memories the best? I think probably most of my memories revolve in some way around food. Whether it be ‘Cosy Tea’ when I got home from school, eating turkey dinosaurs after Nursery, that duck we ate for my big 18^th Birthday dinner, or that first takeaway pizza on day one at University. This Kedgeree is no different, for it really reminds me of Mum and when she’s being extra lovely and treating me to one of my favourite suppers. Billed as a breakfast (and it does taste amazing the next day heated up) we always seem to have kedgeree as an early supper before an evening out, on this occasion to the theatre.

Kind of like a biryani I suppose, Kedgeree is an Indian dish brought back to England by the Victorians and enjoyed as a hearty breakfast ever since. Consisting of flaked white fish, onion, rice, peas, boiled egg, lemon juice, curry powder and turmeric, which gives it its slightly radioactive yellow colour, it really is very simple make. More importantly, it tastes amazing too, the tang of the lemon and punch of the curry powder complimenting rather then over powering the more delicate flavour of the fish. I always have seconds and I’m sure you will too!!

Adapted from The Breakfast Book

240g smoked haddock, cooked and flaked

240g cooked rice

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp curry powder

Juice of 1 lemon

120g butter

2 hardboiled eggs

2 tbsp peas

1. Soften the onions in half the butter in a large casserole dish. Add the turmeric, curry powder and lemon juice.
2. Fry gently for a couple of minutes before adding fish, rice and rest of the butter.
3. Hard-boil the eggs. Keep the fish and rice mixture over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Heat the peas for a few moments.
4. Chop the hard-boil eggs and mix lightly, along with the peas, to the dish. Season and serve.

Curry Night

It was no mean feat getting everyone on my course together between holidays and the start of exams, but I managed it and the result was plenty of curry and cake. Managing to fit 8 people round my small table was also quite a challenge, considering I only have 4 actual chairs (a coffee table, step ladder and guitar amp made good alternatives). I started off by making two chutneys, coriander and mango, to dip poppadoms into, which went down very well if I do say so myself. I went on to make Sophie Dahl’s Dad’s Chicken Curry, brilliantly easy to make with a very delicate flavour making it suitable for all, while my friend Lydia rustled up a veggie option. Clean plates all round. And what did I get in return? 4 cakes, including 2 chocolate fudge cakes; don’t I have lovely generous friends.

-Coriander Chutney-

Makes one ramekin

One large handful of coriander, roughly chopped

½ red onion, roughly chopped

1 green chille

1 tsp cumin seeds

juice of ½ a lime

1 tsp light brown sugar

pinch of salt

1. Put all of the ingredients, apart from the coriander, into a blender and blend to a coarse paste.
2. Add the coriander and blend to a fine paste.
3. Check to see if you need any more salt.

Recipe for the Mango Chutney can be found here.

Culinary Know How: FRESHER

Budget: CORIANDER CHUTNEY – UNDER £1.50, FOR THE WHOLE MEAL - £3 MEAT EATERS/£2 NON MEAT EATERS

Kitchen Requirements: CORIANDER CHUTNEY - BLENDER, RAMEKIN.

CAKE!!