Fried paneer with turmeric and cornflowers

My family love paneer, most of our curries have it, and if they don't I often fry some on the side to add to warm roti or chapati breads. For this recipe I added some spices, including a little turmeric, so the blue cornflower petals looked stunning!

Cut the paneer in slices. Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet or frying pan, add a few coriander seeds and a few cumin seeds and then, when the oil is hot, the paneer slices. Fry for 2-3 minutes on one side, then turn, add a pinch of salt and a little turmeric powder and fry on the other side for 1-2 minutes. Turn one last time so the paneer slices are completely coated with turmeric and then turn the element off.  Sprinkle with cornflower petals and serve immediately.

And now some flowers from the garden and from the home for Pinterest

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Eating in Auckland: Ghazal, Indian Restaurant, Glen Eden

Being a vegetarian I am usually quite happy to go to Indian restaurants since there are always plenty of vegetarian mains (mains guys, not side vegetables!!) on the menu. But I used the term 'quite' because too many Indian restaurants in NZ seem to serve exactly the same food, and by same I don't mean that it has the same name, but it is exactly the same! Like something cooked in big pots somewhere and then distributed around all the Indian restaurants, and take-aways too. Of course there are exceptions, and Ghazal seems to be one of them.

The place is unpretentious and friendly, plus on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays the mains are only $10. I went with Arantxa and Sue, who organized the evening since she knows the owner well, having a business in the area herself (Sudan Hair). In fact she is a regular and when she goes there she doesn't even order, her husband Dan and her just eat what they bring to the table, accommodating for their tastes too (with Dan being on a no-carb diet, he gets finally chopped cabbage or cauli instead of rice). 

And so we didn't order, since Sue had requested a vegetarian evening for us three, and we just sat down and waited. It is lovely not to have to look at the menu sometimes, and while we were crunching on pappadums two different starters arrived: some paneer marinated in yogurt and spices and then cooked with capsicums, and some unusual vegetarian dumplings in a gravy which had soy sauce in it (soy sauce is used in Northen India). Both dishes were not exactly spicy, came with unusual dipping sauces and tasted different from anything else you usually find in Indian restaurants. 

I was actually full by then, but the two mains were amazing! Gary Smagh, the owner, is vegetarian and he cooked the cauliflower curry, the best I ever had. The chef is not vegetarian, to cater to the general public I guess, but his lentil curry was equally good, in fact it was hard to decide which one of the mains was the best. We had rice and naan, and were so full that we had to take the leftovers home. We ate them the day after, and they tasted great (and without the aftertaste what you usually get if you try to reheat take-away food).

I took a take-away menu on my way home as we plan to return with the boys soon, and yes there are all the standard dishes that you find in all Indian restaurants, including the usual butter chicken. For some reasons I cannot understand Kiwis really love butter chicken, obviously the person who invented this dish (Moti Mahal restaurant?) put together two of the British customers' favorite words: butter and chicken, and got a winner. But there are also novel names on the menu, and I know that if I go there again instead of just looking at the menu I'll ask Gary what vegetarian dish he has cooked for his family that day, and I'll have that too, if there is to spare :-).

Ghazal Indian Cuisine

9/5 Captian Scott Road, Glen Eden

Auckland

09 818 1122

http://www.ghazal.co.nz

Photos  by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Silver beet and paneer curry with aromatic basmati rice - step by step

Wash and cut two small bunches of silver beet, (or a big bunch) then steam the stalks for 10 minutes and the leaves for 5 minutes.

Measure the spices:

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp turmeric

1/3 tsp ground chili

Peel and roughly chop two shallots. In a heavy pot heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (or ghee) then add the shallots.

Stir and add the spices.

Stir to coat the shallots.

Add the silver beet and a little water, plus a pinch of salt, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add a handful of chopped coriander and blend with an immersion blender.

In the meantime pan fry one block of paneer, cubed, with two tbsp of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt, coriander seeds and cumin seeds.

Add the hot paneer to the silverbeet curry. 

Stir and keep warm while cooking the rice.

Use the same pot where you fried the paneer: keep the leftover cumin and coriander seeds, add a few chili flakes if you like and then the rice.

Add Basmti rice, rinsed a few times, and coat with the oily spices, then cover with water, a pinch of salt, and steam. Serve the hot rice with the silver beet Paneer.

 Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Kashmiri Masala chickpeas and potatoes

Manu invited me to a 'Swap' on her blog, and my swapping partner is Billie from Scotland. We had to send each other an ingredient and then make a recipe with it. I sent Billie the Fresh As raspberry powder, and I look forward to see what she will do with it! She sent me some Kasmiri Masala, but because I got it late (I forgot to tell Billie my address, silly me, but fortunately she copied it from the parcel I sent her!). I had a super busy week (which included preparing for a full day TV shoot), and I am behind with my deadline for publishing a recipe! But the best thing about a Masala is that you don't have to sizzle all the spices at the beginning and work out the doses, in fact a masala should be added at the very end, to enjoy the fragrances of the aromatic spices (and the Kashmiri Masala is definitely very aromatic!!). So even if I was running around like mad I managed to throw together something starting with the leftover juice of a peperonata (stewed capsicums with celery, carrot, and garlic).

I had all that wonderful bell pepper's stock left from the night before (we ate all the capsicums and veggies), so I just peeled and cut 5 large potatoes, added the content of one can of chickpeas, and some cherry tomatoes from the garden (make an incision with a knife so that they don't 'explode' during cooking). I added a little salt and then simmered everything until the potatoes were soft. I adjusted for salt and added one tsp of Kashmiri Masala, put the lid on for 2 more minutes on low, and then served my aromatic stew to the family (with some roti and some raita). The only problem is that I don't have a last photo! We ate too quickly before remembering to take one! :-) But I hope that you will like the recipe, and it is super simple!

And for the weekly gardening photo: the last blueberry (I think) from my plant but still quite a few Alpine strawberries coming up, this is what we can pick every two days, not enough for jam maybe, but enough to decorate desserts :-).

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

Masala Dahl

I have posted this a few years ago, and it is one of my tried and true lentil recipes that I make again and again. Also this post got quite a few views, but I didn't have the comments activated at that stage of blogging (it took me a while to get into that! What was I thinking!), so it would be good to get some comments now.

In my original recipe I used some masala powder that my friend Mahendra Motibhai - Patel from Fiji gave me (yes, it is his own brand). The package is great and the spice mixture smells highly aromatic and fresh. I love Indian food, I tried to make up a few recipes with the Motibhai masala, and I was particularly pleased with this one.

Well, the Motibhai masala is long finished now, so I use any type that I can get (do you have any brand to suggest?), but here is my original recipe.

Please note that Dahl is usually a soup and the lentils are small, but I had some green organic lentils which I wanted to use, and I was looking for a thicker consistency.

I sautéed for 30 seconds half tsp of turmeric and half tsp of cumin seeds with a little rice bran oil. Then I added a finely chopped onion and one tbsp of masala powder. Then the lentils, which had been rinsed, and then soaked for 30 minutes. I covered with water and added a big hot whole chili. After 30 minutes I added a little salt to taste and, just because I felt like it, a tbsp of butter (this is not necessary, of course). It was perfect, warm, fragrant, and mildly hot. 

Serve with basmati rice.

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©



Also, I would like to acknowledge this.

image from http://teebriciole.blogspot.co.nz/

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 ©

Shrikhand

I got the idea from Zero in Cucina, recipe here, so thank you Chiarina-ina :-). 

Chiarina's version called for some yogurt, mushed cardamom seeds and saffron (I used a sachet of Italian saffron) and she adds a little icing sugar just before serving. I did it a bit differently, I added a tbsp of bush honey to mine. I use Cyclop yogurt, thick and creamy. Put everything in a gauze or fine cotton cloth and let it drip for a night (I did it for a bit more). It tastes delicious and quite... citrusy!! In fact it is difficult to guess the ingredients, everybody said lemon!! I liked it like it was, but the rest of the family added some maple syrup to it (I guess that it was a bit too... sour for their taste).

After straining the yogurt I had all this saffron 'juice' left. OK, it is not that much, but still, not something that I would want to discard! So tomorrow I will show you what I did with it!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

An Indian cooking class

It was a very 'Slow' weekend, fist we had the bush walk on Saturday, and then an Indian event on Sunday! The cooking class was taken by Sheena, and we all learned a lot. The main dish was a chicken curry, but she also kept some spices aside and made the same curry vegetarian for the five veggies who were present. Then Sheena showed us how to make a cauliflower and carrot baji, a daal, chapati,  basmati with cumin seeds, and a good chai.

From top left clockwise: the rice, frying onions and spices, chiken and veg curries, vegetable baji

Making Chapati

Making chapati was my favourite part, every student made his/her own, but I ended up making quite a few, for the children and the house staff too, it was very enjoyable! I think that this is the first thing that I will try at home because I need to eat more wholemeal flour, and chapati are so easy to make!

If you live in Auckland and would like to come to some Slow Food events please follow the Slow Food Waitakere blog for updates, or join the Slow Food Waitakere Group on Facebook.

From top left clockwise: Sheena and Sachiko, making chai, flavouring basmati with fried cumin seeds, daal and chapati.

Photos by Alessandra Zecchini except the 4th one (of me) by Steve Kesler©

Matar Paneer and Weekend Baking

In my garden

This has to be one of the easiest curries ever, and one of the first I learned to make (alongside Dahl and Palak Paneer). The kids love it, they love all curries, especially if they have paneer.

Matar Paneer

Paneer and Pea Curry

1 onion

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp vegetable oil

half tsp each of

Garam Masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, salt

1 bay leaf

 800 ml can of tomatoes

  half a tsp of freshly ground ginger

1 cup frozen peas

1 block paneer cheese

half a cup of cream (optional)

fresh coriander to end

Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the oil in a pan and sizzle the Garam Masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, paprika, salt and bay leaf for a few seconds. Add the garlic and onion and sizzle until the onion start to colour. Add the tomatoes and ginger and simmer for 20 minutes, then blend everything with an immersion blender. Add the peas and after 10 minutes the paneer, cubed. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes, then finish with the cream (optional) and some fresh coriander leaves. Serve with rice or Indian bread.

These images are of the afternoon baking with my daughter, we made jam ring biscuits with strawberry jam, and with the left-over pastry Arantxa cut her own biscuits.  She really likes little details :-).

Happy week to everyone!

Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©