Planet Veggie » Indian

Cauliflower, egg & potato curry

Cathy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:56:07 +0000

It’s a BBC Good Food week this week and tonight’s recipe says it’s a midweek curry treat but that was purely coincidental as I only decided to make this tonight to use up the egg in the fridge that was one day out of date.

I did wonder if it was going to be too hot for The Meat Eater but he said it was bordering on perfection. As it has coconut milk in it, it was hot and creamy but not too spicy.

Nice.

I don’t know who got the bad egg though.

Here’s the link to the recipe (and where you can see a better photo than mine).

I made the quantity for 4 as it states (and unlike some recipes it really does feed four), but as I was freezing two portions, only used three eggs not six, as frozen hard-boiled eggs defrost really rubbery and are rubbish.

Oven-baked potato cakes with mushrooms and thyme I asked The Meat Eater to get me some potatoes...
Tomato & chickpea bake Another one from my new favourite site – BBC Good...
Potato and leek boulangere After not being mightily impressed with the meals so far...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Ringan mattar (aubergine and pea curry)

Cathy — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:04:14 +0000

This dish is perfect for a Monday evening when you can’t be bothered to spend a lot of time cooking. Quick, easy and delicious. It’s taken from Hansa’s Indian Vegetarian Cookbook: Popular Recipes from Hansa’s Gujarati Restaurant which is a book I can’t say much about – except it has some pretty pictures – as this is the only dish I’ve tried from it so far. But after tonight’s success, I’ll certainly be trying out some more dishes from it.

Ringan mattar (aubergine and pea curry)
Serves 4
Preparation time 20 minutes / cooking time 25 minutes

1 large aubergine (cut into chunky pieces)

3/4 lb (330gm) frozen peas

1 tsp ginger (crushed)

1 tsp garlic (crushed)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp cumin and coriander powder

1 tsp red chillies

1 tin chopped tomatoes

5 tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp salt

1/4 pt (140 ml) water

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds pop and turn grey, add the tomatoes and the rest of the spices.
Let the mixture simmer for 5-6 minutes or until the oil starts to separate from the mixture.
Add the aubergine chunks, peas and water and mix well.
Cover the pan and let it cook for 20-25 minutes on a low heat, stirring frequently.

Aubergine melt Ok, so introducing food slowly back into my diet probably...
Macaroni bake There’s quite a lot of ingredients in this, although most...
Potato and cabbage gratin Today’s veg box arrived containing a cabbage and potatoes. Luckily...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Bibijis Tikka Masala

Cathy — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:22:39 +0000

I’m not a fan of packaged food, preferring to display to The Meat Eater my domestic goddess prowess by cooking from scratch but tonight I showed him my packet opening prowess instead. And I’m definitely not a fan of sauces that state they’re suitable for vegetarians and then tell you to use it with meat but I was offered a free curry sauce and therefore all my principles swiftly went out of the window.

A pouch of Bibijis Tikka Masala arrived for me in the post, I opened the envelope and was greeted by a not very inspiring package.

Bibijis Tikka Masala packaging

Still, it’s the taste that counts, not the packaging although I’m not sure it would tempt me in the supermarket. The packaging lists the ingredients (all natural) and nutritional information (including fat and calorie content which is very low).

After I’ve read the cooking instructions (cook some chicken (I substituted this for Quorn Chicken Style Pieces), pour the sauce over and simmer for 15-20 minutes) I read on the wrapper about their Unique Chilli System® where you can control the heat of the sauce by taking the whole chilis in there out to make the sauce milder, or leave in to keep it hot. Is there really a whole chili in there, I wondered? I cut open the resealable bag and peeked in.

Yep, there's a chili in there

Yes, there was a chili in there. Hurrah. I peered further into the sauce to see if I could see any more but so far only the one chili.

I cooked the Quorn Chicken Style Pieces in a wok and poured over the sauce and out fell two more whole green chilis.

It's not chicken tonight

While this was cooking, I boiled some rice (white; yes, yes I know… brown is healthier… but white is nicer) and about 15 minutes later dinner was served.

Dinner is served

The verdict:
Smell: Fresh and appetising
Appearance: Not great when first put in pan but looked good on the plate
Taste: Salty, but not unpleasant. Heat just right, not too hot and not too mild, although tikka masala isn’t supposed to be hot anyway (according to The Meat Eater – my curry knowledge is limited). The whole chilis were nice and fresh.
Texture: Good texture with just about the right consistency but a bit gungy in places, could be it needed a bit more stirring.
Colour: A natural looking orangey red.
Overall: Very nice but not as good as the real thing.

Available in fine food outlets and available to order online at www.bibijis.com

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.