Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I like green: Palak (and celery) Paneer, and I made some Chapati too!



The original recipe (which was for a silver beet, not spinach, paneer) is here, but I changed a few things, like adding celery, and more spices. Fist sauté with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil or ghee 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and 1 tsp turmeric. Then add a couple of roughly chopped shallots, a good pinch of salt and finally 500 g chopped frozen spinach (defrosted at room temperature) and three celery stalks, with leaves. Add a little water too, about a cup, and simmer for 20 minutes. Then add 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, and salt to taste. In the meantime cut a block of paneer and sauté until lightly golden on the borders (Vegan use tofu). Blend the spinach with an immersion blender, then add the paneer. This is my very favorite Indian dish! 




Ah, and I made chapati too, the edges are not very smooth, but I was in a hurry!
I used 1 cup wholemeal flour, mixed with 2 tbsp vegetable oil and then enough water to make a thick dough. I made 4 chapati with it (see the step by step here) and to cook them I used my Italian cotte, the iron hot plates that I use to make crescentine. They worked perfectly well and I could cook two at the time.





And now for some more green: a walk to Fairy Falls in Waitakere, a good track suitable to most people as it is not too difficult and only 45 minutes walk. I am not sure if this track will be closing soon because of the Kauri dieback that is killing our beautiful trees, at the moment we need to brush our shoes well, and spray them with the spray bottles provided at the entrance of the track (many tracks have this), but this provisions may not be enough. I'll keep my finger crossed for the trees, and if some tracks will need to close, well, it is for the best, and at least I will have my photos to look at.





Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

16 comments:

  1. E' una delle cose che amo di più della cucina indiana ma..devo rinfrescarmi le idee dic ome si realizza il paneer ;)
    Le foto di quelle cascate sonoa dir poco affascinanti.
    Bacione

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    Replies
    1. Per fortuna qui trovo del paneer molto buono, io ho provato a farlo un paio di volte ma si sgretolava tutto durante la cottura, dovrò riprovare.

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  2. che bella quella passeggiata che proponi...io sono appena tornata da un giro in campagna tra uno scroscio di pioggia e un altro....delizioso viaggio anche nel piatto :)

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  3. Had to come on here to tell you love reading your comment on Food52 about ricotta & Smitten Kitchen...you've just become one of my favourite bloggers! I'm well known for being pedantic.

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  4. Ciao Azélia,

    Lovely to meet you, you have a great space here, well cared for. In regard to that ricotta comment, well, you have strong European roots like me, after so many years I have realized that this do make us different, and we refer to cheese and other products with a sort of respect that is not often shared by wanna-be cooks and food writers. I try to be polite and explain things in different tongues too :-), to be understood, I mean :-). I am keen to learn and treasure what other cooks teach me, and I am happy to share my knowledge too. And I try my best to tell things as they are without being rude, this is not being pedantic, it is just calling things by their proper name. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't :-). Thank you for your comment!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

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  5. nice to see some Indian recipes at your space :) the clicks sure capture the beauty of the nature :)

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  6. Wow, che bellezza incontaminata ... spero mi caccino dal paese per venire lì ;)

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    Replies
    1. se ce la fai ad essere 'superbo' come me ... :-)

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  7. intanto grazie per aver suggerito anche la versione vegan ^_^
    e poi se il paneer si sgretola a te, io direi che non ci provo nemmeno.....

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  8. Lovely nature photos to accompany a lovely dish Alessandra!

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  9. The dish is so perfect, light and beautiful too. Nature photos are outstanding...

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  10. Lovely pictures Alessandra in the company of a lovely dish. :)

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  11. Excellent! When can I come for dinner at your house!

    XX
    Jo

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  12. This is one of my favourite dishes too, Alessandra - only I know it as Saag (more corrctly saag paneer, I guess).
    I'm enjoying your blog and have some of the plum powder in my pantry I must try; it's so good you're experimenting with these for us to see, as quite a few people have commented that they're interested but aren't sure what to do with these products - thank you!

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