Paneer with Peppers and Sweetcorn in a Spicy Tomato Sauce

Well, its finally over! - Christmas I mean... we had an absolutely fabulous time celebrating with the family, the kids loved their presents from 'Father Christmas' and their faces were an absolute joy to watch as they ripped them open on Christmas morning.

I most definitely have eaten way more than I should, as you normally and rightly should do so over the festive period!

Own body weight in Chocolates  ü

Mince Pies  ü

Double my own body weight in cheese ü

A few vegetables! ü

I think now is the time and probably the perfect time to start to get fit and eat healthier (eating the kids leftovers most definitely is not helping!)

So, while I wait for Big Ben to strike 12 and watch the fireworks on TV, with my massive mug of hot, sweet masala tea, I thought, what should I do?! brainwave, write a new post!

Today, I made an amazing paneer curry today, with hot buttery naan, so that hubby can party tonight on a full stomach!

For those that may not know what paneer is, its a fantastic Indian cheese, which is like halloumi as it retains its shape when cooked.

Paneer is prepared by souring milk, you can usually add lemon juice to hot milk to separate the milk, the curds which are left are drained in a muslin and the excess water is drained out, the paneer (still in the muslin) is then dipped into cold water, which gives it its unique texture.  The cheese then hardens after 12-14 hours and can then be cut and used in curries, such as saag paneer (spinach and paneer).  Personally, due to lack of time I buy paneer from specialist Indian grocery shops, or larger supermarkets do also stock it.

The paneer recipe I make isn't what you would normally get in Indian restaurants and its a great way to use up some vegetables from the fridge.

Here is the recipe:

Paneer with peppers and sweetcorn in a spicy tomato sauce.

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Ingredients

3 tbsp Sunflower oil

1/2 red pepper diced

1/2 Green Pepper diced

1 small can of sweetcorn or you can use frozen if you have this instead

2 Fresh tomatoes

1/2 can of chopped tomatoes

3 Green Chillies, chopped

Bunch of Coriander, finely chopped

1.5 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Sugar

2 tsp Garam masala

1 tbsp tomato puree

500g Paneer

Method

• Pre-heat the oven to 240°, adjust the temperature accordingly if you have a fan-assisted oven
• Chop the paneer into cubes and put in the oven on the middle shelf for approx 6-8 minutes.
• In a saucepan, add the oil, once heated add the chopped chillies until they sizzle then add the fresh and tinned tomatoes and add the salt and sugar and simmer for 5 minutes until the tomatoes are mushy.
• Add the coriander and garam masala and mix the sauce

  

  Paneer just out of the oven

• Next add the peppers and sweetcorn and simmer this for a further 6-8 minutes allowing the peppers and sweetcorn to cook.
• By this time the paneer should be a golden brown, remove from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes.
• Add the paneer to the saucepan and the tomato puree and cook for a further 5 minutes

Enjoy with hot buttery naan or flatbread

TIP: 

• Some people prefer to deep fat fry the paneer, which you can do, but I prefer to pop them in the oven
• Garam Masala can make the tomato sauce go quite brown in colour and therefore its always best to add this towards the middle of cooking a curry.

Kala Chana (Black Chickpea) Curry

What a manic few weeks its been, with Christmas round the corner, the shopping and trying to hide the kids presents has been a nightmare!

The seconds always seem to turn into minutes and the minutes into hours and the hours into day and weeks and before you know it a few weeks have passed and I haven't had a chance to update my blog.  So I am determined to finish this blog today even though there are 2 kids wanting to go on the laptop to look at pictures of themselves (vain or what! - I wonder who they get that from!)

In other news.... the reason for not being able to blog for a while is due to having to prepare for my court case, it wasn't anything glamorous or sordid - just a car accident I had in January 2013 and the verdict........ 'I rule in favour of the claimant' said the judge... I WON!!!!!!!!!! It was an amazing feeling and such a relief that its over.

Anyway, I'm sure you're probably getting bored of me harping on about what's been going on in my life and the main reason you're probably reading my blog is to get some inspiration for some veggie food.  I've made lots of different dishes over the last few weeks, so I'm hoping that I will be able to inspire you to cook some of the delicious dishes!

Don't forget my twitter page @bareveggie and facebook page bare veggie please do follow me and share with your other foodie friends.

So here it is Kala Chana (Black Chickpea) curry.  The family love this, and I make the kids one separately and add potatoes to it.

Chickpeas are an excellent source of vitamins and nutrients and are low in fat and high in fibre and protein and they are absolutely delicious as well as very healthy.

These are tinned kala chana

Preparation time: 5 minutes (if using tinned chana)
Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients
1 can of Kala Chana Approx 250g, wash these well in hot water in a colander or if you have time you can use dried chana which have been soaked overnight and cook them in a pressure cooker.
75ml Sunflower oil
2 Green chillis
1/2 can of chopped tin tomatoes
1/4 tsp Jaggery or you can use 1/4 tsp of sugar
2 tsp Coriander and cumin powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Salt
Handful of chopped coriander
50ml Warm water
1/2 Weetabix

Method

• Heat the oil for a few minutes and add the finely chopped green chillis.
• Once the chillis start to sizzle, then add the tomatoes and let this cook for a few minutes
• Next add salt, jaggery, coriander and cumin powder, turmeric, mix this all well and let it cook for a further few minutes.
• Add the kala chana and freshly chopped coriander, add the warm water and let this simmer for 10 mins on a medium heat, mix occasionally and then lower the heat and cook for a further 5 minutes, don't forget to mix every now and again!
• Just before you're ready to serve, crumble half a weetabix into the curry and mix well, the good thing about adding weetabix is that it soaks up the excess water, so that you're left with a lovely thick sauce - let it cook for a further 5 minutes and its ready.

We have this with chapattis and mango rus (mango pulp) again this can be made fresh or if you're in a rush like me crack open a can!... and don't forget poppadoms as well.

Chapattis

The feast!

Chana cooking away

Yum!..... Parathas

Hot Paratha anyone?!

Wow, what a manic week its been! Did you miss me?

Work, kids and 'trying' to get things organised for Christmas always seems to get in the way when I'm also trying to keep this blog up to date and when you do have a spare 5 minutes all you want to do is sit on the sofa with a cosy blanket and have a cup of tea (you might have guessed that I do love my tea!).

I've not managed to be in the kitchen much this week, so the kids having been having pasta, pizza and soup!  although, I did make these amazing parathas.  I do like eating these on a cold day with a cup of masala tea.

You may be wondering where parathas originate from and why they could be triangle, square or round!

A paratha is an unleavened flatbread that (as you can guess!) comes from India and its a popular meal or an accompaniment to a meal.  

Parathas can either be plain or they can be filled with some really tasty fillings, I usually do these with spicy mashed potato (recipe will be added) or carrots and cabbage or paneer (Indian cheese).

Stuffed parathas are usually eaten on their own with date and tamarind chutney and a plain paratha can be eaten with a sweet mango pickle or yogurt or can be eaten with a vegetable curry (dry or with a tomato sauce).

A paratha can be round, but I've always been bought up to make them triangle, this has helped me to be able to differentiate to my kids the difference between paratha, chapattis and bhakri (which is similar but not pan fried with ghee).  Regardless of the shape of the paratha, they are always made in the same way, with lots of layers so you get a crispy and flaky and delicious tasting paratha.

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Recipe
350g Chapatti flour
75ml Sunflower oil
1/2 tsp Salt
Hot water
1 cup of flour for dusting and putting into parathas
75ml Ghee (clarified butter)

Method
Combine to flour and oil until you get a sandy texture and then add the hot water a little at a time until a firm dough is formed, cover with cling film or a tea towel for 5 minutes to rest the dough.

Split the dough into 10 balls.

Start to roll our a medium circle and spread warm ghee and sprinkle some flour on top, fold and spread more ghee and sprinkle more flour and fold again, until you have a triangle.  Press down on the dough and start to roll, ensuring the shape is kept until you get a triangle which is approximately 7 inches long or 5mm width.

 

Next its time to cook them, these can be done on a non-stick frying pan, although every Indian household will have the proper cast iron tawa or a skillet, which is slightly concave and this is what we would use to cook parathas and chapattis. 

These should be cooked on a medium heat, wait for the pan to get to warm and place the paratha on the pan, wait a few seconds, spread ghee on top and turn, spread ghee on the other side, turn occasionally until golden brown, you can press down on the paratha using a spatula, if you need to.

 

Repeat the process until you have made all 10.  You need to roll out the next paratha while one is cooking.  Its a skill that takes some time to perfect, so initially you could roll them all out and stack them on greaseproof paper and then cook them one after another.

We eat these hot and straight from the pan..... so I couldn't get a picture of the whole lot... 

I hope you enjoy these as much as me and the family enjoy them!

No recipes today!

Growing up in an Indian household where homemade healthy food is very important, I quickly learnt the value of homemade delicious food.  Not only is it nutritious but you can adapt it to your own tastes, by using different spices to enhance the flavours and nothing is ever wasted e.g. chapattis can be used to make a soup based on yogurt and chillies, or they can be fried or reheated as a snack.

Unfortunately, there are no recipes on this blog, mainly due to me having a killer migraine and my 3 year old daughter having a sickness bug so this weekend is going to be a day of bland and simple meals!

Soup is always a winner at home, as I try to use as many vegetables as possible to make it healthy!

My basic recipe would be cauliflower, fresh tomatoes, carrots and potatoes, which are all steamed and blended with a handheld blender until smooth and simmered over a low heat, salt and jaggery and a bit of black pepper is added and its done! we always have this with crusty buttered bread. Any vegetables can be added and its a good way of using up what's in your fridge!

I am assuming most people reading this blog may not have heard of jaggery, this is a an unrefined sugar made from sugar cane juice that is reduced and set into blocks. It has a wonderful, rich flavour, and it tastes somewhere between molasses and caramel.  This is used in a lot of Gujarati dishes and is a staple in our kitchen cupboard.

Instead of adding sugar, jaggery is used to balance spicy and sour food and it always gives dishes an aromatic and unique taste, it is also used widely in Thai dishes.

This is what jaggery looks like, it is widely available in specialist Indian shops and larger supermarkets.


That's it from me today! hopefully next week will be better and I will be able to add more recipes on.  If there are any Gujarati foods that you would like to see featured on my blog then please comment below.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, I will be snuggling on the sofa watching X Factor!

Pau Bhaji (Mashed Vegetable Curry) with shallow fried bread rolls

Look tasty?!

Firstly, I have to apologise for not being on here for the last few days, unfortunately, work and kids always seem to keep me busy.

I also want to thank everyone for their support, you've kept me motivated to go on! with an impressive 900+ views on my page in one week of launching, I have to say I am gobsmacked that I have made so many people interested in Gujarati food, and from all over the world from USA to Australia and Europe.

Just a reminder that there is a facebook page, please have a look and join the group Bare Veggie

I also have a twitter page @bareveggie, so you can follow me on there.

As promised on my facebook page, here is the recipe for Pau Bhaji, simply translated to mean curry with bread.  Pau Bhaji originates from Mumbai, India and nowadays can be be readily bought as street food in India, its a very popular dish due to the simplicity and complex myriad of flavours it offers.

Here is a picture of how it is served in India at a local kiosk.  I remember going out with my family at 11.00pm and eating pau bhaji from a kiosk and I still remember how amazing it was, why is it that street food always tastes so good ?!



So, here is the recipe you have all been waiting for:

Preparation: 15 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins
Eating time: I like to enjoy all the spices in this dish so 20 mins!

Ingredients
5 Fresh Tomatoes (I like to use vine as the flavour is stronger) although if you are in a rush then you can use chopped tin tomatoes
200g Potatoes
300g Cauliflower
200g Peas (frozen is fine)
Handful of coriander
4 tbsp Sunflower oil
25g Butter
3 tsp of ready prepared pau bhaji masala (available at specialist Indian shops) OR you can use Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1.5 tsp Salt
3 Fresh Green Chillis or 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Sugar
Splash of Lemon Juice

Method
Take the skin off the potatoes and cut roughly, cut the cauliflower into florets.  

Steam the potatoes, cauliflower and peas - in actual fact you can add any vegetables you want! aubergine, peppers, broccoli, carrots (I prefer to keep it simple!)

Whilst this is steaming,score the tomato skin and plunge into boiling water for 5 minutes. Peel off the skin and chop the tomatoes roughly and blend until smooth (I prefer to do this with a hand held blender) Obviously if you're using tin tomatoes you can skip this stage.

When the vegetables have been steamed, mash coarsely.

Heat the oil and butter in a pan on a medium heat, wait for it to sizzle and add the fresh or tin tomatoes.  Let this cook for 5 minutes.

Add all your spices (Pau Bhaji Masala or Garam Masala, Turmeric, Salt, 3 Fresh Green Chillis or 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder, 1/2 tsp Sugar and Lemon Juice) and the finely chopped coriander.

Let this simmer for 5 minutes

Next add the mashed vegetables and mix well over a low heat and cook for 10 minutes, and its done!

For the kids I add the chilli and masala after taking some out for them.  This dish is great as you can get loads of vegetables into kids and stuff they would probably turn their nose up at!

I like to make this in the morning if we are eating it in the evening as the spices develop further, making this dish taste divine.

For the bread rolls simply cut the rolls in half, spread margarine or butter and stick them on a frying pan until they are golden brown on both sides (for a healthier option you can toast the rolls instead).

This tastes even better if you sprinkle raw onion and fresh coriander on top.

Potato Bhajiya

Woo hoo! Saturday is finally here and I can't wait for X Factor tonight (sad I know!).  Today has been quite a relaxed and chilled out day, usual Saturday morning of shopping and cleaning, boring I know but it has to be done!

I also now have a facebook group for whoever would like to join... please do as its going to be an amazing venture for me!  Its called ...... Bare Veggie (I'm sure you could have guessed that!).

Today for dinner I made bhajiya, you might automatically think onion bhaji from the 'Indian takeaway down the road', but these are actually a Kenyan snack (very famous in Nairobi), or if you eat enough of them in one sitting, it'll be classed as dinner! and trust me when I say once you start eating them you will not be able to stop, because they are just amazing.

They are best eaten straight from the fryer, when they are crispy and hot, with a spicy tomato chutney.

The difference between these bhajiya and the South Indian bhaji is the amount of gram flour used, you will see that these bhajiya's are only coated with a paste whereas an onion bhaji will be dipped in an ample amount of gram flour.

So, here is the recipe... Its actually really easy.  I would say:

Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Eating time: gone in 10 mins!!!

Ingredients:
5 Medium potatoes (I like to use rooster potatoes, but you can use any floury potato)
1-2 inch of ginger (depends on if you can take the heat)
3 fresh green chilli's
1.5 tsp Salt
0.5 tsp Turmeric
1/2 tsp Sugar
100g Gram Flour (chickpea flour)
2 tbsp Water
Small bunch of Coriander - finely chopped

Method

First you have to make a chilli and ginger paste, simply take the skin of the ginger off and cut the chilli's into small-ish pieces, put them into a blender,with a little bit of water and then set this aside. It should look like this:

Next cut the potatoes into thin slices, I do this by hand as you can see in the next picture, or if you're brave enough to use a mandolin slicer - be my guest!  The slices should be no thicker than 2mm

Wash them in a colander, and empty the potatoes into a large bowl immediately as you don't want to drain all the water away, the potatoes should still have some water on them.

Add all the other ingredients: ginger and chilli paste, salt, gram flour, coriander, turmeric, sugar and water.  Mix well by hand (messy - but has to be done!)

This is what it should look like after you've mixed it, remember you want the gram flour paste to just coat the potatoes, you definitely don't need to add lots of water.

Once this is ready, you should fry immediately, the longer you leave this to stand the mixture will become too watery to fry and the batter won't stick on to the potatoes.

Next, heat the oil in your deep fat fryer, heat for approx 5 minutes over a medium heat.  To test if the oil is hot enough drop one of the bhajiya in and if it just sizzles then you can add a few more, if it sizzles and starts getting a bit violent - don't panic, just turn the heat down.

I would probably go with frying about 10 at a time (depending on how big your fryer is)

 and fry until they are a light golden brown and drain on some kitchen paper.

Eat immediately with the tomato chutney (recipe to follow)

If you find you've got a bit of runny batter towards the end, you can add some more gram flour and chop up some peppers into slices or bullet chilli's and mix with the batter and fry as above.

Potato With Black Pepper And Coriander

What's for dinner?

So, as I am feeling extremely motivated and giddy with enthusiasm on my new venture to be a blogger about my favourite subject, here is another wonderful and easy recipe for you.

There have been a few people who have motivated me to do this (you know who you are!), so I just wanted to say THANK YOU!!!!!!!!  for all your words of encouragement.  Your confidence in me to do this, means a lot to me, more than words can describe.

As you can imagine life with 2 kids and a husband and working can be very demanding and hectic, so the last thing either of us want to do is cook a slap up meal, which takes ages.

We start our conversation about 'what's for dinner?' at lunchtime, and this recipe is always a winner.

It's so easy and done in 15 minutes and in the microwave! - you can't get easier than this.

This recipe is one of my favourites.  I usually make it when my husband wants an Indian meal and I’m too lazy to cook! It is really versatile and can be eaten as a snack or as a main meal.

Here it is, I hope you enjoy!

Potato with black pepper and coriander

Ingredients

4 tbsp Sunflower oil

½ tsp Cumin seeds
2 Fresh green chilli, finely chopped – leave the seeds in if you want it hot!
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 tsp Salt (a further ½ tsp can be added)
2 tsp black pepper

600g Baby New Potatoes with the skin on - wash thoroughly

3 tsp Lemon juice (or more if you want extra tang)

Method

Get a medium sized microwaveable pot and add the oil
Then add the cumin seeds and the finely chopped green chillis

Next add your potatoes, I chop these up into a different shape, they’re not diced nor are they like chips or wedges! I suppose they’re a mixture of all three! Basically if you think or how a potato wedge is chopped and then chop this length ways again, so you basically have a 2 inch length and 5 mm thick chopped potato. Mix well.

Add the salt and black pepper

Put the lid on your pot and cook in the microwave for 10 mins (1000w)

Mix after 5 mins to ensure even cooking

After the 10 mins take it out of the microwave and add the freshly chopped coriander and lemon juice, this will slow down the cooking process, especially if you are cooking potatoes, so it is always best to add this towards the end, this time leave the lid off.

Pop in the microwave for a further 5 mins and its done!

We normally just eat this with some low-fat yogurt or of you’re feeling indulgent then have it with Greek yogurt.  It can also be eaten with Samo (coarse semolina – recipe to follow soon).

Potato and aubergine curry

Like my mum used to say:

“Every Indian girl should know how to make a simple Gujarati meal”

At a young age I didn't want to learn how to cook and just wanted to be out of the kitchen using every excuse, but my mum could always see right through me!

Learning my mum’s cooking skills at such a young age has provided me with such a valuable skill that has gotten me through university and has ensured that my dad and brother’s don’t go hungry while my mum was visiting her family in India.

One of the main reasons why so many Indian girls are taught how to cook a basic meal at such a young age is because when they get married, a girl is expected to know how to cook, so that she will be able to prepare a nutritious meal for her family.    

The style of cooking and the taste of each dish varies slightly depending on the girl and mother’s teachings, but more significantly the region of where the family come from in relation to the state of Gujarat.  There can be many variations from family to family and I for one have adapted accordingly.  I have taken my mum’s teachings and my mother in law’s teachings, to create my own style and taste, which I can then pass on to my daughter and daughter in law and it keeps my fussy husband happy!

You may think why am I writing a blog with no qualifications in cooking, no restaurant experience and my career is not in the slightest related to cooking.  

The simple reason is that both my husband and I love our food!

So here is my first recipe, I hope you enjoy making and eating this as much as my husband and kids do!

Potato and Aubergine Curry

Ingredients

2 tbsp Sunflower oil

½ Tin of chopped tomatoes

3 Fresh tomatoes, diced

2 tbsp Tomato puree

Handful of coriander, finely chopped (and some for garnishing)

1½ tsp Salt

¾ tsp Chilli powder

2½ tsp Ground coriander and cumin seeds

¼ tsp Turmeric

300g Small red potatoes, chopped

100g Aubergine, chopped

150 ml warm water

½ weetabix

Method

Heat a large saucepan and add the oil, tin tomatoes and fresh tomatoes and coriander.  Cover and leave on a medium heat for 5 minutes or until the fresh tomatoes are soft.

Next add the tomato puree and mix this in to the sauce, then you need to add the coriander, leave some for garnishing!

Add all your spices: Salt, chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander and cumin and mix this in to the sauce.  Lastly add the potatoes and let them cook for 5 minutes and then add the aubergine, as this does not take long to cook and you will find that aubergines soak up a lot of liquid! This is why you need to keep the water to hand.  At the very end crumble the weetabix into the curry and let it simmer for 5 minutes, this will help to thicken the sauce.

Let the curry cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes and remember to keep checking on it, you may need to add water from time to time, but you shouldn’t need more than 150 ml.  You will know that this curry is done when the potatoesare cooked but still slightly firm.  

You don’t necessarily need to use chopped red potatoes, you can also use baby new potatoes (whole) or if you have some very small red potatoes, these can be stuffed using the fresh tomatoes and spices stated above and then cook as per normal with the aubergine.

Another alternative is to stuff the aubergine too.  You can buy baby aubergines which can be cut and stuffed with the tomato mixture and cooked as stated above.

Serve with rotli and rice