Beautiful food for a beautiful day - Paneer Mutter

Sunny, beautiful mornings make for a very contented Claire... Even when I have to work crazy hours and I'm suffering from a nasty cold and cough, a beautiful morning sets me up for the day.

I'm truly lucky to have a dog. Coco forces me to get up in the morning and go for a nice, slow stroll. Whilst she sniffs at every nook and cranny, I get to see life happening all around me. I meet so many random people who want to know how old Coco is, what breed she is, will she bite, can I stroke her, is she imported, where are you from...(15 months, Labrador - yes they come in chocolate brown colour too, no - but she will lick you to death if I let her, yes - if you don't mind getting licked, no - she's from Panvel, England - a little town called Nuneaton which is near Leicester and Birmingham) and they too become part of my daily routine.

And it's not just the people, now I'm the leader of a stray doggy pack which includes Brownie who accompanies on all our walks (unless the milk man cycles by, at which point Brownie descends into a mad panic and runs off in front of the milk man, barking all the way back to the compound where he barks and barks until the milk man leaves); white, butch looking doggy (Butch) who comes to greet us most days; skinny, little scared doggy (Lil) who desperately wants to be part of the gang but will only dare to follow at a distance until the end of the road; crazy, bouncy, white doggy (Springy) who bounces Tigger-like because he's sooooooooo excited; Flappy, who barks at us from his 1st floor window and even though this has happened every day for the last 6 months, Coco still can't work out where the barking is coming from (stupid dog!); Shadow, a gorgous Golden Retriever (wrong name for a golden dog!); Lester, the crazy, fluffy, white and brown dog who lives on the balcony and barks from a distance; Smokey, the grey and white spaniel, who tries to jump all over Coco, but is too small; and the little white and brown doggy, with droopy eyes that lives outside the docs surgery (Droopy).

Wow, as you can see, there's a very complicated doggy society going on around my neighbourhood. When a few of the owned dogs are out for a walk it's kind of like a family gethering. You know the ones, where all your extended family come together to celebrate an anniversary or something. There's lots of gossip and catching up, lots of snide remarks and nasty words, there's mad, old Uncle so-and-so who everyone avoids at all costs because he smells nasty and is likely to pee on you later when he's had one too many. Well my daily walk is a bit like this, and I love it!

Besides the dogs and people there's plenty of other life that I get to see. I've seen owls, bats, lizards, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, pigeons, sparrows, cats, cows and even an elephant (and although I can't see them - the teeny-tiny mosquitoes that bite me). Sitting, quietly in the garden, watching life flitter by leaves me extremely happy.

On top of that, I'm impressing myself with my cooking! One website that's been a great help in my quest is Show me the Curry. It has fab videos to make things easy to understand, and has a fab, unusual version of Paneer Mutter. It uses coriander and mint to make a gravy, rather than tomato, but I've tried it and it's really yummy. So here's my 'normal' tomato-ey version...

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Paneer Mutter (adapted from Show me the Curry)
1 tablespoon oil
2 onions, roughly chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
3-4 tomatoes, skinned and roughly chopped
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin) seeds
1" cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
2 elaichi (green cardamom)
2 laung (cloves)
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric) powder
200 grams peas (fresh or frozen)
water
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
salt to taste
500 grams paneer, cubed
1/2 cup dahi (curd, plain yoghurt)
3 tablespoons cream (optional)
1 teaspoon garam masala
handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped, to garnish

1. Heat the oil, add the onions and green chilli. Cook until onions turn translucent.
2. Add the garlic and ginger paste and continue to cook for a minute or two further.
3. Take off the heat, allow to cool and then grind to a paste with the tomatoes.
4. Using the same oil, fry the jeera until popping, then add the cinnamon, bay leaf, elaichi and laung. Stir well for a minute or so.
5. Add the haldi and ground paste, mix well.
6. Add the peas and a touch of water, just enough to cook the peas.
7. Add the red chilli and dhaniya powder and salt. Mix well then cover and cook until the peas are done.
8. Lower the heat then add the paneer, dahi and cream (if using). Stir in the garam masala and cook for 5 minutes or so. Add extra water if required.
9. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve with rice or chappati

If your paneer is really fresh there's no need to fry it first, but if you're using packed paneer, it's probably best to fry it until its golden, then soak it in water like suggested by the ladies at SMTC.

Skinning tomatoes is pretty easy - score the skin from the top to the bottom at least four times (like you were going to quarter the tomato), but more if it's a really big tomato. Cover with boiling water and leave to soak for a while. The skins come off pretty easily then, especially if your tomatoes are properly ripe.

Anyway, enough talk of food - need to go eat now and enjoy the rest of this gorgeous day! Oh and laugh at my dog who's decided to sleep in her cage, upside down and all twisty...

Beautiful day - Zumba-Rumba - Carrot and Cabbage subzi

It's been a beautiful day today, and days like this make me really want a large, shady balcony to sit out on. A place where I can write my blog, update my journal, surf the web, eat my lunch, enjoy a glass of fine wine, tend to my plants and watch the sunset. And I will make it happen. I don't know how yet, but I know I will.

So whilst I've been making both mine and Coco's food this afternoon, the tv's been playing away to itself, and I've now discovered 'Zumba'... No, not a new TV program... It's Guthy Renker's latest 'Product'! I love Guthy Renker and their tv advertising shows.


I'd never actually buy from one of these shows, but they really appeal to me - the mix of normal people and random z-list celebs coming together to sell a skin-care 'systeme' (that's pronounced 'sist - em', so it must be good, right?) or dance their way to losing half their body weight. Yes, Zumba is not an exercise routine, it's a fun dance 'systeme' that targets all three regions at once, using 'rhythm progression'.


So back to the food I've been making. I decided to use the rest of the cabbage I had, and mix it with carrot. It makes a yummy subzi, which is fab with chappati, or eaten alone.

Carrot & Cabbage subzi:

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2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon rai (mustard seeds)
a pinch hing (asafoetida)
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 small cabbage, chopped into quite small pieces
1 large carrot, use a veg peeler to peel into small ribbons, or chop into thin wafers
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric) powder
1/4 teaspoon jeera (cumin) powder
1/4 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
Salt to taste
splash of water

1. Heat oil, add rai and hing, cook until spluttering
2. Add ginger paste and stir
3. Add carrot and cabbage, mix well and cook for a minute or so
4. Add haldi, jeera, dhaniya, chilli and salt, stir well
5. Cook until tender, covered, over a low flame. Add a splash of water if required.

Serve with chopped fresh coriander leaves, a spoon or two of fresh dahi/curd/yoghurt and eat with chapatti.

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I think I need to try out a few more adventurous dishes, but simple cooking is good when you're short of time, which I am quite often!

Now I fancy going to the beach...may be next weekend. Instead I'm going to see if I can find some new recipes to try on this site I found whilst looking for pics - the kitchn :D

Duuuuuuude... it's a huge green vegetable thing - AKA Dudhi, Lauki, Bottle Gourd...

So it's been a busy few days of festivalling in India - Mother Mary's birthday, Eid and then finally Ganesh Chaturthi yesterday. Festivals in India tend to come with a lot of colour, noise, drums, fire crackers and fireworks, and men running around in matching jerseys like they're competing in some big Festival Worshipping tournament.

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And in all that busyness I forgot to get vegetables.

Which left me with two tomatoes, an onion, a potato that's sprouting, and some Dudhi, which is usually a component of Coco's Chicken & Veg... So on to the internet I went. There's loads of recipes out there for Dudhi, Doodhi, Lauki, Lau, Sorakaya, Opo, or whatever you want to call it, and many of them add quite a few other stuff for texture and flavour, as Dudhi has neither!

Besides the wide range of names for this vegetable, I also discovered that it is 96.1% water, aids digestion, there are just 12 calories in 100 grams of Dudhi, it's cooling and calming, and it's important in the treatment of urinary infections!

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So the one I went for was a Dudhi-Tomato Sabzi, as Tomato is one of my favourite veggies. The original recipe is here, but I used less oil and a smidge of water at the end and made it in a regular pan rather than in a pressure cooker.


Dudhi-Tomato Sabzi:

2 teaspoons oil
A pich of hing (asafoetida)
1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
2-3 tez patta (bay leaves)
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 kg dudhi, peeled and cut into small cubes
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric powder)
1 teaspoon dhaniya (coriander) powder
1/2 teaspoon jeera (cumin) powder
1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
salt to taste
coriander leaves, finely chopped for garnishing

1. Heat oil over a medium heat. Add hing,jeera & tez patta. Stir well for a few seconds.
2. When jeera crackles add tomato and fry until soft.
3. Add dudhi, mix well.
4. Add haldi, dhaniya, jeera, chilli powder and salt. Mix well.
5. Turn heat down, put a lid on the pot and cook until dudhi is soft. You may need to add a little water, but both dudhi and tomato contain lots of water, so watch and see.
6. Garnish with coriander

Serve with chapatti.

I may try out a few other Dudhi recipes sometime soon, maybe try some Dudhi Koftas... watch this space!

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Brain like a sieve - Aloo Bhaji

So last week I said that I'd probably make aloo bhaji for dinner. It didn't happen, and for the life of me, I can't remember why I didn't make it or what I did make in the end. This is not unusual for me. There are people that can remember every word that you ever said (this should be banned - it makes it really difficult to change your mind about anything, especially those things you say in your most irrational moments), then there are people like me, who can't can't remember anything a few minutes after it happened.

Not only do I have a sieve instead of a brain, but I'm also stupidly clumsy. I walk into corners of tables and desks; I trip over my own feet; I drop marker pens. Not only that, but like a four-year old kid I attract dirt, grazes, scrapes, cuts and bruises. I'll chop chilli then manage to rub it into my eye; I'll forget the rice on the stove (that reminds me...); I'll burn myself on the iron.

One of the best examples of my inner four-year old happened earlier this week, all I can say is that I'm lucky I travel to work in my own car, by myself. So I'm waiting at the traffic lights just before the turning I need to take to get to work when I look down. "Where are my buttons? Who's stolen my buttons?" What such silly thoughts go through our minds when we're confused! And then I realise, I've managed to pull my top on this morning inside out; it's the label that's been tickling my right arm.

How can this happen to a grown woman? Well I'm too lazy to undo my buttons on this blouse (why bother when you can pull it on and off over your head), and I got dressed in the dark. Anyway, I had a good laugh out loud at myself, causing the people in the next car to stare at me like I'm a maniac, which just made me laugh more. Luckily there were very few people around when I got to work...

Finally, mid-week I remembered my hankering for aloo bhaji, so tried out a recipe that I've got written in my book. Not sure where this recipe came from, I think from one of my friend's recipe books, but it's really quite tasty. I didn't make the puri to go with it, as I seem to be unable to make bread of any form, but really this is best eaten with puri, so I'll give you the recipe too, but be aware that it's untested! Instead I ate mine with chapatti, which I buy from the shop in the market because mine turn out like cardboard every time.


Puri Bhaji

Puri:
1 cup atta
salt to taste
1 tsp ghee
~1/4 cup water
oil for frying

1. Sift atta (flour) and add salt
2. Mix ghee into flour until it blends well
3. Add water and mix to form a dough
4. Knead with a greased hand to make it smooth
5. Cover and keep aside for 1/2 hour
6. Take a small ball of dough and roll out into a small circle - repeat
7. Deep fry in oil until golden
8. Remove and drain


Aloo Bhaji:
1 tablespoon oil
pinch of hing (asafoteida)
1/2 teaspoon rai (mustard seeds)
1 teaspoon urad dal
1 dried red chilli, broken (optional)
2 onions, chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
4 potatoes, boiled, chopped and mushed a bit
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 teaspoon haldi (turmeric)
salt to taste
few curry leaves
1 cup water
coriander leaves for garnishing

1. Heat oil and fry hing, rai, urad dal and red chilli
2. When spluttering add onion, green chilli and ginger
3. When the onion is golden, add the potato, tomato, haldi, salt and curry leaves
4. Add some water (up to a cup), mix well and boil until all is cooked well
5. Serve topped with coriander

<3 Yummy!

I'm not so keen on lots of chilli, which is why I don't use the dried red chilli in this recipe.
I know the puris don't sound too difficult to make either, but neither do chapatti and I suck at them. Please can I borrow an indian mummy for a day or two? I promise I'll give her back!

Looking forward to more of my four-year old adventures this week... :D