China Crumpet

I am loving my Indian food right now. Somehow, it feels luxurious and exotic to be having curry and pratha in December, it sort of fills up the space between the goose and the ham really nicely. The nice thing about Indian food as well is that there are so many vegetarian recipes (and this one is vegan even!) that don’t leave you feeling like you’ve missed something.

This is a sturdy Daal (lentil or chickpea based mixture) that will feed 4 with a but of rice or naan bread to go with it. It can also be eaten as a dip or together with other Indian classics such as Palak Paneer or Chicken Do Piaza.

You will need:

2 cans chickpeas
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 small onion; minced
1 tbs minced fresh ginger
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 dl tomato paste
2 dl (3/4 cup) water or mild, brewed tea
1/2 teaspoon salt; or to taste
2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Oil for frying

Coarsely chop about half the chickpeas. In a food processor or a blender, process the remaining chickpeas and half the water or tea until you get an even puree. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the cumin seeds and fry until they pop, about 10 seconds. Add onion, ginger & garlic and fry until onion is soft and slightly transparent. Add turmeric, coriander and cayenne. Cook for about 30 seconds or so, stirring to make sure nothing burns. Add tomato paste and remaining water/tea. Simmer for a minute or two and then add the chopped and pureed chickpeas. Simmer for a while longer, season with salt and add the lime juice right at the end. Serve with rice and/or pratha.

When I lived in Singapore, I developed a real tooth for Indian food since the really good, authentic stuff was available all over the place. Here in Beijing, we have some pretty decent Indian places too, which makes it so much easier to go out and get it when you want it instead of slaving over the pots and pans at home.

But then I think of the future, possibly sitting in a Swedish suburb somewhere, and craving nothing more than a simple roti or curry… with none to be found. The horror!

So this week I have decided to start learning how to make a decent Indian meal at home once and for all before the tragedy becomes reality.

This curry was super simple and really tasty. It comes from the South of India where they do not go in for the creamy, buttery tastes of the north but that suits me just fine. The end result was delicious and left me longing for the left overs that I will have for lunch tomorrow. Always a good sign!

This will feed 4 and takes about 40 minutes:

1 1/2 kg chicken, cut into bite size chunks
6 medium onions
4 fresh green chilies, seeded
4 teaspoons chopped garlic
1 1/2 tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1 tbs ground coriander
1 tbs ground cumin
2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 tbs butter (or even better ghee, if you can get it)
3 tbs oil
3 ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 1/2 dl water
3 tsp salt

Cut half of the onions into thin slices and set aside. Roughly chop the rest of the onions and blend in a mixer with the chilies, garlic and ginger until you get a puree. Mix in the ground spices. Heat butter (or ghee) and oil in a large saucepan and fry the sliced onions, stirring frequently, until they become nice and golden. Get the onions out of the pan leaving as much fat as possible, and set aside. Add the blended onion puree mixture the remaining oil and fry on medium heat, stirring until it starts to brown and you see oil around the edges. Add the tomatoes, stir and cook until liquid from tomatoes is almost evaporated. Add the chicken pieces and stir well. Add water and salt, cover and cook for 35 minutes or until chicken is tender. Add the fried onions, cover and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice or parathas, listening to your favorite Bollywood tune.

This Indian restaurant staple can be made at home just as easily. And if you are like me, the amount of time I have cravings for Indian totally justifies learning how to make the stuff at home.

You will need:

500 g fresh spinach
100 g Paneer diced
Oil for frying
1 medium minced onion
1 tbs minced ginger
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs butter
1 tsp garam masala or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Cayenne pepper

Wash the spinach thoroughly and boil in a large saucepan until it wilts (about 3 minutes). Cool the spinach by dunking it in ice cold water or running it under cold tap water. When it is cool, put it in a mixer (or a bowl if, like me, you are using a hand mixer) and blend to a thick puree. Set aside. Heat a skillet and add some cooking oil. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger until golden. Add the garam masala, cumin and salt. Add the spinach and 1 tbs of the butter and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Carefully stir in the Paneer. When everything has come together and you are ready to serve, heat another little skillet or saucepan and add the butter. When it is hot, take it off the heat, add the cayenne quickly and immediately pour the cayenne/butter mixture over the palak paneer. Serve with rice or naan.

Paneer is a kind of Indian milk cheese. My fave is to use it in Palak Paneer, where the cheese is stewed for a little while in a spinach gravy. There are tones of other uses too though and it really is the easiest thing in the world to make.

All you need is:

1 litre milk
1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice

Boil the milk. When it is boiling, add the vinegar/lemon juice. The mixture will curdle straight away. Turn off the heat and leave it for 5 minutes. Strain the curdled milk into a clean cheese cloth (or cotton kitchen towel) and leave it to drip. You can save the liquid to make bread if you like. When it is dry, tie a knot in the towel (or tie it with a sturdy bit of string) so the cheese is nice and secure in the towel and mould it into a rectangle. Put a heavy weight on top of the whole thing and leave it for a couple of hours to set.

You will be left with a soft bit of white cheese, lovely for cooking with or having with a drizzle of honey. Fried, it turns golden brown and crisp on the outside and soft and mild on the inside. Heaven.