Food is such an important and unique thing in India and they arguably have the best food in the world. The recipes vary depending on which area you are in and there is definitely a huge difference between the north and the south but one thing that holds the whole of India together is their love of food. Every train journey I have seen families eat banquets out of plastic boxes, and I have never been disappointed by a meal here, no matter how simple. They have a way with flavours that puts food at home to shame.
As promised here are the very very delicious recipes I have learnt since being in India. So please, DO try this at home! :)
When I stayed with Sharon and Govind in Jodhpur before the music festival I ate a lot of amazing homemade food! This recipe was one of my favourites and the only dish I managed to get the recipe for. I have such a weakness for paneer (Indian cheese)! Although there are few quantities of ingredients, I have a feeling you can just experiment and enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
Onion
Tomato
Potato
Paneer
Spinach
Ginger
Black pepper (whole)
Corriander powder (6 spoons)
Fresh corriander
Garlic
Chilli (green, red, red powder, or paprika)
Oil - refined oil (ghee)
Cinnamon sticks
Cumin
Tumeric powder
Hot water
Garam masala
Oil in pan, heat, add cumin and pepper and other spices when oil hot
Before it burns add chilli, smashed ginger and garlic
Add sliced onions and cook for 1-2 minutes
Add sliced small potatoes
Mix and put lid of pan until potato is cooked
Add tomato finely chopped and coriander powder and turmeric powder
Cook without lid
Boil some water
Add garam masala and ghee (and half spoon of chilli powder if no fresh chilli)
add water when coriander is cooked
Add cut spinach
Cook quickly until spinach is cooked
Turn pan off and slice paneer and add paneer and fresh coriander
Let the paneer soak in the curry
Serve with roti or rice
Chai
Chai is an absolute essential recipe. I drink it at least once a day while I am in India and I am very glad to have a recipe from Sharon. There is a slow and a speedy version, for that quick chai fix. I am looking forward to making it for people during the cold winter in the UK . Yum yum yum. Oh, and feel free to experiment with the ingredients and add more of the flavours you like, every chai is different!
Serves 4 people
INGREDIENTS
2 cups full milk
2 cups water
Bit of black pepper (slightly crushed, more if it's cold to warm you up)
Bit of ginger (about the size of the top of finger, more if cold)
2 cardamon pods
3/4 spoonfuls of tea
6 spoonfuls of sugar (!)
Boil water in pan
Add tea and ingredients apart from milk and sugar
Boil
Add milk
Boil
Add sugar
Boil
Serve
If in a rush:
put all ingredients in except sugar,
bring to boil for a bit,
add sugar,
boil and bit more
Serve
SIMPLE and effective!
The following recipes I learnt in Varanasi at my cooking class and I thoroughly recommend trying them out. They are easy and delicious!
Stuffed Eggplant - Bangan
These little pods of joy make my tummy very happy, I am sure you could try many different stuffing ingredients, but make sure you try this one first, you won't be disappointed! Once again, no quantities, just give it a go :)
INGREDIENTS
Tomatoes
Corriander fresh and powder
Tumeric powder
Chilli powder
Salt
Dried mango powder
Onion
Ginger
Oil
Small aubergines (although, I guess it could work with large ones too!)
Wash vegetables,
Pick corriander leaves,
Dice onions
Chop ginger
Chop tomato roughly
Slice eggplant a bit to check its ok inside
Add corriander powder, chilli powder, salt, tumeric, dried mango powder to raw onions
Mix with fingers, add splash of oil (1tbsp)
IT SMELLS YUMMMMMMM
Stuff it into aubergine
Add oil to pan (1 1/2 tbsp)
Place eggplants in pan stuffed side up (biggest in the middle)
Cover pan on low heat
Add some water after 5-10minutes
Turn eggplants every so often
Leave to soften
Add oil to stop eggplants from sticking
Cook until very soft
Butter Masala Paneer
This recipe is a staple curry dish, you can change the paneer for chicken, or spinach or anything really and I promise you will love it!
Serves 7 People
INGREDIENTS
250g of paneer
1tbsp olive oil
5/6 big onions
Two green chillies
Cinnamon stick
Ginger
Mace (type of flower)
Corriander
2 bay leaves
Cloves 8-10 (5-6 medium spice)
Black pepper
Salt to taste
Serve with rice
Oil in pan,
Add herbs/spices, chillies and onions
Fry and keep stirring for a while
Add tomatoes
Cover pan on low heat until tomatoes soften
Add splash of water
(Now you have basic masala puree)
Cool
Grind into puree with blender
Strain through sieve (if you want it a bit more rustic, leave a bit lumpy)
Add to hot pan with oil and bit of chilli powder
Wash paneer
Dice paneer
Add salt near the end of curry cooking
Then add paneer
Cook for a couple of minutes
SERVE!
Rice Pudding
They love sweet dishes in India, and this is one of the most common, especially when you order a thali (a kind of Indian tapas of lots of different dishes).
Serves 8 People
One tbsp of rice per person
One cup of milk for one person
One tbsp sugar one person
Cardamom powder (one pod per person, grind to make powder) 1/3 of tbsp
One little spoon of vegetable colouring
Boil milk on low heat
Cook rice (10mins in steam cooker) (if not steam cooked, boil rice in milk, takes 1hour)
Place rice in well boiled milk
Leave
Add sugar
Stir every so often
Add colouring
Stir
Add cardamom powder
Stir
Leave
Serve in bowls (cold or hot)
Chapati
With curry you will either eat it with chapati (more common in the north of India) or rice (more common in the south) or BOTH! It is a very simple thing to make quickly and it is perfect to scoop up your curry when you eat with your hands, which I LOVE doing!
Serves 7 people
INGREDIENTS
Wheat flour (1 handful= 2/3 chapti)
Water
Fresh corriander
Flour in bowl
Mix in water, little by lit and knead until medium doughiness
Leave for 5-10 minutes for 'more fluffy'
Cut corriander
Flour surface
Break dough into 3 smaller balls and knead on surface into sausage shape
Break off small palm sized dough balls, cover in bit of flour
Flatten with rolling pin, make sure to add a bit of flour to stop it being sticky
Cook on flat pan, full heat
Turn
When nearly fully cooked place on open flame so it puffs up (looks cool too)
So there we go! Let me know how you get on with making them!
ENJOY!
Emma x
No comments:
Post a Comment