Quick Indian Cooking

It’s happened at last. My little sister’s film has premiered in India.

Called Love Songs, this film has more coy, eyelash flutter action than I can shake a chappati at.

Following her eldest sister’s somewhat half-baked example, the little one is setting YouTube alight with lilting tunes and romantic distant stares.

To think the former bald midget is a mighty superstar in the making… I am beyond myself with excitement!

Check her out here.

Some of you will remember that she went on some crazed “eat nothing but lemons” diet for months to turn size zero before filming.

Thankfully, good sense has prevailed. She is back to looking normal and eating properly. In fond remembrance of her dieting days, here’s a stupidly low-fat party dip.

Because she’s worth it.
Read More

I spent Easter almost entirely in bed. Resurrecting briefly to make nibbles for a friend’s party.

I know. I swore I would never cater again after the last experience.

But he asked so nicely. And the other option was hastily planned dinner cooked by his other friend.

I arrived with a bright yellow Selfridges bag filled with the goodies. The guests inspected the contents with interest.

Murgh hara tikka. Oooh!

Vegetable kebabs. Nice.

Roasted aubergine dip. Interesting…

Tesco Supermarket Naan?!?

There really is no pleasing some people…

The vegetable kebabs were the alter ego of quick cooking and will NEVER feature on this site. But the Murgh Hara Tikkas were a resounding success. Worth getting out of bed for, standing in the firing line and more.

Serve these creamy soft kebabs with a spicy mint and coriander chutney to make a decent impression.
Read More

All this last minute party planning is so exhausting. I survived Diwali. I’m not taking any chances with Christmas.

Along with sorting my festive glam outfit (red tights are so in) I’ve been in deep thought about Christmas nibbles.

Festive snacks, it seems, are the mainstay of keen chefs and gluttons for punishment only. I am neither. You so won’t catch me wrapping 50 tiger prawns with 50 slices of prosciutto or fashioning 50 little kebabs to shallow fry in batches.

Just thinking about it is exhausting…

I will be sitting in front of the roaring fire instead. Hurling abuse at my siblings. Glass of winter Pimms in one hand. Whopping everyone at Pictionary with the other.

As if by luck, Santa came early this year. And he brought just the thing I needed for inspiration, a wonderful cookbook titled Modern Indian Cooking.

Written by Vikas Khanna and Hari Nayak, two US-based Indian chefs, this cookbook does exactly what it says on the tin. There’s no “let’s put Indian ingredients together and pretend it’s what we grew up on” malarky. This is an unashamed tribute to the recipes your mother didn’t cook at home. Like almond crusted roast leg of lamb and peppers stuffed with coriander coconut cream.

I made the superb prawns with a tamarind glaze, which will definitely feature at Christmas. Two hours of marinating, three minutes of shallow frying give you one large plateful of lick-your-plate-clean prawns.

My kind of Christmas snacking. Ho Ho Ho…

This recipe feeds 6:

500 gm large prawns, shelled and cleaned (I defrosted a bag of frozen ones)

1 tsp ginger, minced

4 tsp garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp tamarind paste

1 tsp chilli powder

Half tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp plain white flour

Salt to taste

4 tbsp vegetable oil

One lemon

Wash and dry the prawns. Mix with all the ingredients (bar the lemon juice) and two tablespoons of oil. Leave to marinate for about two hours.

When ready to eat, shallow fry the prawns in the remaining oil on ether side for two to three minutes turning once during cooking. Pile up high on a large white platter and squeeze the lemon juice all over.

PS = This is my entry for Zlamushka’s Spoonful of Christmas event on the grounds that the marinade (and cookbook) will make an excellent present.

PPS = Does this mean I have made it to my first blog event this year? Does it? Better late than never…

Just as I thought I was ready to strut my stuff at my colleague’s party, I was faced with a kebab crisis:

1. No green bananas

Okay, so I need to ditch vegetable kebabs in favour of vegetarian shammi kebabs.

2. Soggy dough

I’m more likely to plaster walls with this than fashion 40 little nibbles.

3. One hour to party

My nails smell of ginger. Hair smells of onions. Glitter vest needs ironing…

I don’t ever want to hear the words “Madhur”, “Jaffrey” and “perfect” spoken in the same sentence.

Panic stricken and distraught, I flung half a cup of flour into the dough, greased two shallow baking trays, spooned in the dough and stuck the whole lot into the grill.

A bloodcurdling “honeeeeeeeey” drafted the man in to help, while I jumped into the shower, squeezed into skinny jeans, did my make up and skipped back into the kitchen.

I arrived at the party on time, as cool as my cucumber raita. And mother of all suprises – the vegetable and lentil bites (as they had now been christened) were the biggest hit of the evening!

Glass of vino is one hand, I lapped up the praise, claiming they had been ridiculously simple to make from a recipe I had been using for years.

Perfection. Just the way I like it.

This recipe makes enough for 20:

250 gm channa dal (yellow gram lentils)

2 medium onions, roughly chopped

3 inch ginger, grated or chopped fine

8 cloves

2 inch cinnamon

4 bay leaves

1 tsp whole black pepper

6 large potatoes, peeled

4 large carrots

Half cup plain white four

125 gm fresh coriander, chopped

Salt to taste

2 tbsp sunflower oil

Wash the lentils thoroughly until the water runs clean. In a large pot bring the lentils to boil with the whole spices, onion and ginger. Cook until you can squish the lentil pieces easily.

I pressure cooked the whole lot for 10 minutes, after the first whistle.

In the meantime, boil the potatoes and carrots until a fork can be inserted through them easily.

Drain both the lentils and the vegetables. Remove all the visible whole spices from the lentils and combine it with the vegetables in the larger pot. Add the fresh coriander, pepper, flour and salt and mash well until you get a semi smooth dough.

Pre heat the grill to a medium heat (gas mark 5, 190 degrees). Line a shallow baking tray with kitchen foil and grease lightly with a tablespoon of oil. Spoon and smooth the dough evenly into the baking tray.

Grill for 15 minutes on one side. Cover the tray with a wire rack, flip the dough over and place back into the tray to cook the other side for another 15 minutes.

Leave the whole lot to cool, cutting into bite-sized bits when ready. This is ideally served with dhaniya pudina or mint and coriander chutney.

Recipe for mint and coriander chutney:

150 gm fresh mint

250 gm coriander leaves

Juice of 1 lemon

4 green finger chillies

1 tbls natural yogurt

Quarter pint water

Salt to taste

In a food processor, blend the whole lot. Adjust according to taste so if it’s too lemony add a handful more herbs and if it’s too spicy add a bit more yogurt. Chutney rules don’t apply.