So for a quick-ish post tonight, I made Tomato Kurma with Leek and Paneer Kulcha (stuffed Indian breads). It was the first time I made Kulcha and they are absolutely amazing!
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| Tomato Kurma with Leek Kulcha |
Showing posts with label Tomato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tomato. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Tomato Kurma with Leek Kulsha - Indian Food Week
I have writer's block tonight, probably due to the Brewer's Gold, Timmermans Faro and Boon Oude Gueuze that I drank earlier at the Kingston Arms, Cambridge. I'd recommend all 3 to anyone who enjoys a good beer (or 2 or 3!)
So for a quick-ish post tonight, I made Tomato Kurma with Leek and Paneer Kulcha (stuffed Indian breads). It was the first time I made Kulcha and they are absolutely amazing!
Tomato Kurma I know that this dish is only supposed to contain tomatoes, but to make it a bit healthier I added peas and carrots to it. I'm sure it would be delicious with fresh tomatoes only, but the UK isn't known for its bright red, juicy, tasty tomatoes in Spring so I added a tin of plum tomatoes to the sauce as well.
So for a quick-ish post tonight, I made Tomato Kurma with Leek and Paneer Kulcha (stuffed Indian breads). It was the first time I made Kulcha and they are absolutely amazing!
Monday, 19 March 2012
Post St Patrick's Day Hot Chocolate
Saturday was my first official St Patrick's Day in Cambridge and we decided to celebrate by having a braai (read barbecue) at our house. Thanks to everyone who could make it - it was such a fun party!
After most big parties, the best thing is comfort food. After St Patty's Day, I made Hot Chocolate, Spicy Stifry and Caponata (Sicilian Aubergine Stew) and hung around the garden reading "A Clash of Kings" - the second Game of Thrones book.
Coconut Hot Chocolate
While sitting outside on Sunday reading my book in the Spring sun, I had this craving for hot chocolate! Though after the previous night's Guiness drinking, I couldn't have handled a heavy hot chocolate so I decided to try and make a light yet chocolatey drink!
The coconut milk really adds a nice, exotic flavour to this hot chocolate but you can use any kind of milk though dairy will make it heavier.
Ingredients: (for 2 people)
2 cups Coconut Milk (or any non-dairy milk to make it lighter)
2 heaped tsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Almond Butter (you can leave this out)
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar or enough sugar/sweetener for your taste
A few drops of Vanilla Essence
Optional: 1/2 tsp corn flour diluted in some hot water- if you like thick hot chocolate, otherwise leave out.
How to:
Mix everything in a pan and bring to the boil, mixing well when boiling point approaches.
Pour in cups and enjoy warm!
Cabbage and Carrot Stirfry
One of my best comfort foods is a bowl of (leftover) stir-fry with noodles, eaten with chop sticks! You can pretty much use any vegetables with this basic sauce. You can add more spices/ingredients to the sauce if you like, just experiment!
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Red Chillies
4-5 Carrots, chopped into thin sticks
A small head of Cabbage. shredded into small strands
One Leek
Any other vegetable including Spinach, Bean Sprouts...
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 cm piece Ginger, crushed
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Brown Sugar or Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Pea/Whey Protein or 1 tsp Cornflour
Any type of noodles you like - Soba Noodles are delicious!
How to:
Heat up the sesame oil in a large pan or wok. Stir-fry the chillies and vegetables on medium heat for a few minutes.
In the meantime, mix up the rest of the ingredients (except noodles, of course) to make the sauce. Cook the noodles in some boiling water according to instructions.
Pour the sauce over the vegetable and cook for a minute until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve in a bowl with vegetables spooned over noodles. You can add some more soya sauce if you'd like.
I usually also make some marinated tofu to go with this dish but we didn't have any tofu that night so I left it out.
Ingredients:
A block of tofu, chopped into cubes
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Brown Sugar or Agave Nectar
How to:
Heat oven to 200C. Put the tofu cubes in an oven-proof dish.
Mix up all the sauce ingredients and pour over the tofu. You can let the tofu sit for an hour if you want a stronger taste.
Grill the tofu in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the tofu is golden brown, mixing the cubes up halfway.
Caponata
This is a Sicilian Aubergine Stew traditionally seasoned with sweet vinegar and capers. I replaced the capers with olives since they're cheaper. You can serve it as a starter, spooned on some bread or as a main with rice or pasta.
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Aubergine
1 small Onion, chopped finely
2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
2 handfuls ripe Cherry Tomatoes, chopped into quarters
10 Olives (kalamata or green, pitted and chopped up)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
A handful Flat-Leaf Parsley, stems chopped small and leaves chopped
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
How to:
Chop up the aubergine into medium-sized pieces; too small pieces will soak up too much oil and become soggy.
Heat up the oil on medium-high heat and add the aubergines, oregano and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing every now and again until the aubergines are light brown.
Add the onion, garlic and parsley stems. Cook for a few more minutes.
Add the chopped olives, cook for a minute then add the cherry tomatoes and vinegars.
Cook until it reaches a thick consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve with the flat-leaf parsley and some toasted bread.
After most big parties, the best thing is comfort food. After St Patty's Day, I made Hot Chocolate, Spicy Stifry and Caponata (Sicilian Aubergine Stew) and hung around the garden reading "A Clash of Kings" - the second Game of Thrones book.
Coconut Hot Chocolate
While sitting outside on Sunday reading my book in the Spring sun, I had this craving for hot chocolate! Though after the previous night's Guiness drinking, I couldn't have handled a heavy hot chocolate so I decided to try and make a light yet chocolatey drink!
 | |
| My reading spot in our garden |
The coconut milk really adds a nice, exotic flavour to this hot chocolate but you can use any kind of milk though dairy will make it heavier.
Ingredients: (for 2 people)
2 cups Coconut Milk (or any non-dairy milk to make it lighter)
2 heaped tsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Almond Butter (you can leave this out)
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar or enough sugar/sweetener for your taste
A few drops of Vanilla Essence
Optional: 1/2 tsp corn flour diluted in some hot water- if you like thick hot chocolate, otherwise leave out.
 |
| Coconut Hot Chocolate |
How to:
Mix everything in a pan and bring to the boil, mixing well when boiling point approaches.
Pour in cups and enjoy warm!
Cabbage and Carrot Stirfry
One of my best comfort foods is a bowl of (leftover) stir-fry with noodles, eaten with chop sticks! You can pretty much use any vegetables with this basic sauce. You can add more spices/ingredients to the sauce if you like, just experiment!
 |
| Stir-fry served with black rice noodles, topped with some grated beetroot |
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
2 Red Chillies
4-5 Carrots, chopped into thin sticks
A small head of Cabbage. shredded into small strands
One Leek
Any other vegetable including Spinach, Bean Sprouts...
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 cm piece Ginger, crushed
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1/2 Cup Vegetable Stock
1 tsp Brown Sugar or Agave Nectar
1 Tbsp Pea/Whey Protein or 1 tsp Cornflour
Any type of noodles you like - Soba Noodles are delicious!
How to:
Heat up the sesame oil in a large pan or wok. Stir-fry the chillies and vegetables on medium heat for a few minutes.
In the meantime, mix up the rest of the ingredients (except noodles, of course) to make the sauce. Cook the noodles in some boiling water according to instructions.
Pour the sauce over the vegetable and cook for a minute until it thickens. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve in a bowl with vegetables spooned over noodles. You can add some more soya sauce if you'd like.
I usually also make some marinated tofu to go with this dish but we didn't have any tofu that night so I left it out.
Ingredients:
A block of tofu, chopped into cubes
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce
1 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 tsp Sesame Seeds
1 tsp Brown Sugar or Agave Nectar
How to:
Heat oven to 200C. Put the tofu cubes in an oven-proof dish.
Mix up all the sauce ingredients and pour over the tofu. You can let the tofu sit for an hour if you want a stronger taste.
Grill the tofu in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the tofu is golden brown, mixing the cubes up halfway.
Caponata
This is a Sicilian Aubergine Stew traditionally seasoned with sweet vinegar and capers. I replaced the capers with olives since they're cheaper. You can serve it as a starter, spooned on some bread or as a main with rice or pasta.
 |
| Caponata - to be served with flat-leaf parsley |
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Aubergine
1 small Onion, chopped finely
2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
2 handfuls ripe Cherry Tomatoes, chopped into quarters
10 Olives (kalamata or green, pitted and chopped up)
1 tsp Dried Oregano
A handful Flat-Leaf Parsley, stems chopped small and leaves chopped
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
How to:
Chop up the aubergine into medium-sized pieces; too small pieces will soak up too much oil and become soggy.
Heat up the oil on medium-high heat and add the aubergines, oregano and a pinch of salt. Cook for 3-4 minutes, tossing every now and again until the aubergines are light brown.
Add the onion, garlic and parsley stems. Cook for a few more minutes.
Add the chopped olives, cook for a minute then add the cherry tomatoes and vinegars.
Cook until it reaches a thick consistency. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
Serve with the flat-leaf parsley and some toasted bread.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
Festival Food
Ever been to a music festival with a vegan? Well, I have! And I've had
to get quite creative to keep the recipes tasty, cheap, quick and with
the minimum amount of ingredients to take along. All the recipes below are vegan but you can substitute ingredients for more conventional alternatives - though the chocolate fudgey bites are phenomenal as they are!
So yeah, sorry I haven't posted for a few days but we spent the weekend at a music festival (a vet, vegetarian, vegan and a legendary Essex lad!) - All Tomorrow's Parties - in Minehead (across the sea from Cardiff). To prevent excessive consumption of junk food during the weekend (we did pig out once for lunch...), I decided to come up with easy, quick recipes to feed 4 people using as few ingredients as possible.
Note that this is not for your typical South African festival, you'll need basic kitchen equipment for these recipes but they'll work for a quick meal.
Lunches and dinners for 3 night stay:
Tomato Soup
Leek and Parnsip Risotto
Roasted Potato with Beans (don't need a recipe for this one, lol!)
Butternut Mac n Cheese
Celeriac and Cauliflower Mash with Veggie Burgers
Snacks:
Chocolate Fudgey Bites
Pita and Carrots with Hummus
Tomato Soup
I absolutely love tomato soup - it is probably the best kind of soup out there. The trick to delicious tomato soup is to de-seed all the tomatoes before cooking them. It can be quite time consuming but it is really worth it. You can also use cherry tomatoes if you have the patience/time to de-seed them!
Ingredients:
1kg tomatoes (you can use 1kg cherry tomatoes or half cherry tomatoes/half normal tomatoes)
1 onion, sliced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 liter vegetable stock (use as much as desired depending how thick you like your soup)
Salt and pepper
Optional: butter, bread (we used wholemeal sourdough from the Earth's Crust in the Cambridge market) and cream to serve
How to:
If you'd like, you can skin the tomatoes but it is not necessary.
Start by chopping up the tomatoes and remove the seeds.
Heat up some olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion until soft.
Add the tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the stock and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for 10 minutes.
Blend, season and serve warm with some cream and buttered bread.
Leek and Parsnip Risotto (with Ruby Orange Vodka Cocktail)
Ingredients (for 4 people):
1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 fennel, chopped into small cubes
2 leeks, sliced thinly
400 grams risotto rice
150ml white wine - I used Pinto Grigio but I think a drier white would work best
1 liter of vegetable stock, keep warm in a separate pan
juice of one lemon
parsley or thyme - I only had thyme handy but I think parsley would work better
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
How to:
Heat up some olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the onion. Cook on low heat until the onions are translucent but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the fennel and leek and cook on low-medium heat until both are soft.
Add the risotto rice and make sure it is nicely coated with the leftover oil in the pan. Keep mixing gently for a minute.
Pour the white wine in the pan and wait until it has mostly evaporated.
Add ladles of the warm stock one at a time. Wait a bit in between each ladle until the water has been absorbed by the rice - make sure the stove's not too hot or the stock will just evaporate and not cook the rice.
You can always add a bit more stock if needs be, just taste the rice along the way until it is al dente!
Once the rice is cooked, add chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste and the lemon juice.
Serve immediately on a sunny patio with a cool glass of white wine.
For the Ruby Orange Vodka Cocktail:
Pour some Vanilla Vodka (I tend to be heavy handed so I won't give you any guidelines there, but the usual "single, double" rule should be alright here) in a tall glass. The mix is made up of 2/3 blood orange juice (or ruby orange juice) and 1/3 cranberry juice. Drink cold.
By the way, I need a creative name for the above cocktail - please help me with one!
Butternut Mac n Cheese
I stole this recipe from "Oh She Glows" so I'll link this up to her website where the original recipe is. I follow it to the letter and it comes out perfect, comforting and delicious.
Celeriac and Cauliflower Mash with Veggie Burgers (or any other burger for that matter)
Ingredients:
1 celeriac, peeled and chopped - I guess you could use parsnip or any other root vegetable
1 cauliflower, chopped
Thyme
A knob of butter (vegan or not)
A splash of milk (dairy or not) - adjust quantities depending on how thick/runny you like your mash
Salt and pepper
How to:
Boil the celeriac and cauliflower until very tender.
Drain and put into a large bowl. Add the thyme, salt, pepper, milk and butter.
Mash using a hand-held blender or a masher.
Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Serve with the burger of your choice - we ate Aduki Bean Kiev and they were delicious!
Chocolate Fudgey Bites
For snacks, I made these little devils: German Chocolate Fudge Bites and they came out so chocolatey and addictive!
Damon's musical note: Music wise, the weekend's highlights included the Boredoms, the mighty Fall, Group Doueh's infectious Saharan grooves, Mount Eerie, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the monumental Earth and Matana Roberts.
 |
| Doing what I do best - cook for everyone! |
So yeah, sorry I haven't posted for a few days but we spent the weekend at a music festival (a vet, vegetarian, vegan and a legendary Essex lad!) - All Tomorrow's Parties - in Minehead (across the sea from Cardiff). To prevent excessive consumption of junk food during the weekend (we did pig out once for lunch...), I decided to come up with easy, quick recipes to feed 4 people using as few ingredients as possible.
Note that this is not for your typical South African festival, you'll need basic kitchen equipment for these recipes but they'll work for a quick meal.
Lunches and dinners for 3 night stay:
Tomato Soup
Leek and Parnsip Risotto
Roasted Potato with Beans (don't need a recipe for this one, lol!)
Butternut Mac n Cheese
Celeriac and Cauliflower Mash with Veggie Burgers
Snacks:
Chocolate Fudgey Bites
Pita and Carrots with Hummus
Tomato Soup
I absolutely love tomato soup - it is probably the best kind of soup out there. The trick to delicious tomato soup is to de-seed all the tomatoes before cooking them. It can be quite time consuming but it is really worth it. You can also use cherry tomatoes if you have the patience/time to de-seed them!
Ingredients:
1kg tomatoes (you can use 1kg cherry tomatoes or half cherry tomatoes/half normal tomatoes)
1 onion, sliced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 liter vegetable stock (use as much as desired depending how thick you like your soup)
Salt and pepper
Optional: butter, bread (we used wholemeal sourdough from the Earth's Crust in the Cambridge market) and cream to serve
How to:
If you'd like, you can skin the tomatoes but it is not necessary.
Start by chopping up the tomatoes and remove the seeds.
Heat up some olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion until soft.
Add the tomatoes and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add the stock and the balsamic vinegar. Cook for 10 minutes.
Blend, season and serve warm with some cream and buttered bread.
Leek and Parsnip Risotto (with Ruby Orange Vodka Cocktail)
 |
| Eating lunch outside in the sun - an ATP festival first! |
1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
1 fennel, chopped into small cubes
2 leeks, sliced thinly
400 grams risotto rice
150ml white wine - I used Pinto Grigio but I think a drier white would work best
1 liter of vegetable stock, keep warm in a separate pan
juice of one lemon
parsley or thyme - I only had thyme handy but I think parsley would work better
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
How to:
Heat up some olive oil in a pan on medium heat and add the onion. Cook on low heat until the onions are translucent but not brown. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
Add the fennel and leek and cook on low-medium heat until both are soft.
Add the risotto rice and make sure it is nicely coated with the leftover oil in the pan. Keep mixing gently for a minute.
Pour the white wine in the pan and wait until it has mostly evaporated.
Add ladles of the warm stock one at a time. Wait a bit in between each ladle until the water has been absorbed by the rice - make sure the stove's not too hot or the stock will just evaporate and not cook the rice.
You can always add a bit more stock if needs be, just taste the rice along the way until it is al dente!
Once the rice is cooked, add chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste and the lemon juice.
Serve immediately on a sunny patio with a cool glass of white wine.
For the Ruby Orange Vodka Cocktail:
 |
| Eating tasty Butternut Mac n Cheese |
By the way, I need a creative name for the above cocktail - please help me with one!
Butternut Mac n Cheese
I stole this recipe from "Oh She Glows" so I'll link this up to her website where the original recipe is. I follow it to the letter and it comes out perfect, comforting and delicious.
Celeriac and Cauliflower Mash with Veggie Burgers (or any other burger for that matter)
Ingredients:
1 celeriac, peeled and chopped - I guess you could use parsnip or any other root vegetable
1 cauliflower, chopped
Thyme
A knob of butter (vegan or not)
A splash of milk (dairy or not) - adjust quantities depending on how thick/runny you like your mash
Salt and pepper
How to:
Boil the celeriac and cauliflower until very tender.
Drain and put into a large bowl. Add the thyme, salt, pepper, milk and butter.
Mash using a hand-held blender or a masher.
Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Serve with the burger of your choice - we ate Aduki Bean Kiev and they were delicious!
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| Chocolate Fudge Bites! Nom Nom Nom |
Chocolate Fudgey Bites
For snacks, I made these little devils: German Chocolate Fudge Bites and they came out so chocolatey and addictive!
 |
| Mark E Smith and Me! - "Good Evening, we are the Fall" |
Damon's musical note: Music wise, the weekend's highlights included the Boredoms, the mighty Fall, Group Doueh's infectious Saharan grooves, Mount Eerie, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the monumental Earth and Matana Roberts.
 |
| The Boredoms (and me!) - Acid Police! |
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