Rose Harissa Dal

Exam results are supposed to come out today but no one seems to know when so I thought I'd distract myself with a new post. Other than that, my week has gone well. I've finally put pen to paper on my dissertation (a comparison of French and English food magazines) and am looking forward to seeing where it goes. I went to an amazing pizza place in Manchester last week, Rudy's, which I cannot recommend enough. I'm beginning to visit the last places on my "to review for the top 10 piece" list that I've been working on since 2013! I plan on uploading it before I graduate (which is scarily soon; I only have 15 weeks until my time in Manchester is over) and then I can start one for London in my new Moleskine travel guide.

Don't Say Never Trust A Skinny Cook: 'Light' Butter Chicken

Author's note: This was first published back at the beginning of 2015 and my photography and food styling skills have improved dramatically since then, so I thought it was time to update! These images are the result of a highly enjoyable lunch. Keep checking back to see more favourites updated with mouthwatering images. 

Comfort For All Seasons

We recently changed our internet provider and I’m afraid it’s been rather out of the frying pan and into the fire, so you’ll have to excuse the strange timings of posts - I might go to a cafe and schedule a few posts for the upcoming weeks, just until the internet settles down and behaves.

The weather has been weird. A few days ago it was so muggy I thought I was in a colder version of Singapore, and today it’s been drizzling for all it’s worth. I know Glastonbury weekend means rain but this is June, not October. Make your mind up, weather! I’m struggling to know what to cook - something hearty to guard against against the chill or a light meal to keep the heat at bay? Fortunately I stumbled upon a solution by way of Anna Jones’ cookbook A Modern Way To Eat. It’s a red lentil and spinach dal, topped with roasted sweet potatoes. Thee result is filling enough for the wettest, coldest day but still light and palatable in warmer climes (perfect for the Indian weather then, really). 

Don't Say Never Trust A Skinny Cook: Bhindi Masala

I'm sorry about the radio silence - things have been a bit hectic recently, but I'm now back in Manchester and ready to give you a new recipe for Don't Say Never Trust A Skinny Cook. Yesterday *the day before yesterday now*, I had a couple of friends over for a meal so that we could all catch up after our holidays and before exams. I decided to make light murgh makhani and naan for us but then I realised that there weren't really any vegetables in the meal so I thought I'd find some okra to cook. Well, the only place I knew sold okra was in the centre of town but I didn't want to go there and so I searched high and low along Oxford Road for some to no avail. Fortunately for the okra plan (unfortunately for my timings) my phone had an issue, causing me to go it to town to get it fixed so I was able to buy okra. This curry is the result of that search. Bhindi means okra, in case that's not obvious!

Homemade Naan (Much Easier Than You'd Think)

I love the fluffy naan that you get in restaurants, but not so much the supermarket ones that you heat up at home. As I was making curry for my dinner party I thought I'd also try my hand at naan to recreate that gorgeous fluffiness at home. It was amazingly easy after researching a few recipes and combining the best ideas I came up with this, which seemed a simple and tasty way of making them. They went down well and I wish I'd made more/bigger naan!

Naan Recipe

Makes 5 at the size in the picture, you could make them bigger or smaller as you wish

Preheat the grill as hot as you can

If you can't get onion seeds (I couldn't) a nice lady in Waitrose said to use sesame seeds for crunch or a handful of chopped coriander leaves for flavour

As usual I used my Kitchen aid to knead the dough for simplicity

Ingredients

1½tsp dried yeast

1½tsp sugar

200g plain flour

100g strong white bread flour

1½tsp black onion seeds

¾tsp salt

¾tsp baking powder

1½tbsp vegetable oil

3tbsp plain yogurt

3tbsp milk

Method

In a small bowl mix the yeast and sugar with a tablespoon of lukewarm water and leave to activate for 10 to 15 minutes until frothy.

In the mean time put into the mixer bowl the flours, onion seeds, salt and baking powder.

When the yeast has activated add it to the mixer bowl along with the oil and yogurt.

Set the machine to knead the dough, stopping once it is soft and smooth, add some of the milk if the dough feels dry.

Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for at least an hour, until it has doubled in size.

Heat the grill.

Divide the dough into as many balls as you want naan.

Using your hands, gently pull and flatten each ball into a tear shape about ½cm thick.

Dry heat a frying pan and then place one of the naan into it for 15 seconds or so to lightly brown one side. Place the naan, seared side down, onto a tray under the grill for 2 to 5 minutes until it has puffed up and has golden patches on the top.

Repeat with the other balls of dough.

Enjoy with curry.

Murgh Makhani

Also known as Butter Chicken, this Indian curry is generally mild, though in parts of Asia I've ordered it and it's most definitely been a medium-spicy curry! In fact, the sauce I used for the dinner party was also a medium curry, so I'd suggest you use less of the paste if you don't like spice very much. According to Wikipediea the authentic Delhi version of butter chicken is more spicy than the western kinds so that might explain the spice differences!

If you want a vegetarian curry then change the chicken to Paneer cheese (it's Indian cottage cheese, I bought mine from Waitrose). You don't need to marinate the cheese, just make the sauce and add the paneer about five minutes before serving it. It's called Paneer Makhani if you make it this way.

Paneer

Murgh Makhani Recipe

Serves 4

Serve with rice and/or naan (homemade is best!)

You need to marinate the chicken for at least 2 hours, but I normally do this overnight to help the flavours develop (ooh, that sounds very professional!)

Ingredients

Marinade

450g diced chicken

2tbsp butter chicken paste (mine is Fern's and I bought it from theasiancookshop.co.uk and souschef.co.uk - it's fairly authentically spicy though!)

2tbsp thick plain yogurt

2 crushed garlic cloves

1tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce

2tbsp vegetable oil

1 diced onion

100ml cream

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

2tsp sugar

100ml water

2tbsp butter

2tbsp curry paste

Method

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in an oven proof dish and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

When you want to start cooking preheat the oven to 200˚ and put the chicken in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, fry the onions in oil until soft and then add the curry paste, frying until fragrant.

Add tomatoes, butter, water and sugar and then cover the pan with a lid, cooking for 20 minutes.

Put the cooked chicken into the sauce, or gravy as it's also known, and cook for a few more minutes, stirring everything together - it'll really start to look good now.

Finally add the cream and check seasoning before serving.

How spicy do you like your curries?