Its Curry Time !!

We have recently moved from London to Derbyshire.. our work brought us to Sheffield.. and both, my husband and I not being big fan of city life took to a lovely country side in Derbyshire. We live in a small village in a quiet cottage, but being up north we get much more chilly rain and hail storms, and on days like this all you can do is bundle up and stay at home, take to cooking or reading or switch channels on the good old telly. Its really funny but every time it gets dull and grey and its pouring down, I get motivated to cook a nice meal, it just makes the whole house warm and takes the dullness out from the day. A good meal and films on a lazy afternoon makes a  rainy weekend really special. I have been cooking all kinds of food lately, today however I was craving a nice hot spicy curry teamed up with naan and rice. I didn't have any vegetables at home just a pack of paneer and loads of spices, so I called my sister to get some ideas on making something nice. She is the most creative person I have met, when it comes to making a delicious meal with whatever you have. This blog is to thank her for making my weekend special :) Heres what she could think of with the supplies I has, a spicy paneer curry, kalonji (onion seeds) naan and jeera (whole cumin seeds) rice. Here is what you need to get started:
For the Paneer Curry:

1. 250 gms of paneer, cubed.
2. 2 heaped table spoons of naturally set yogurt.
3. 1 teaspoon - Coriander Powder
4. 1 teaspoon - Cumin Powder
5. 1 teaspoon - Chilli Powder (reduce this if you want less heat)
6. a good pinch to asafoetida
7. 1/2 teaspoon tumeric powder
8. 1/2 teaspoon pepper powder, white - black works if white pepper is not easily available.
9. pinch of sugar
10. quarter of an inch of finely grated ginger
11. 2 large cloves of garlic finel grated
12. Finely chopped coriander, 1 heaped tablespoon
13. 1 teaspoon regular garam masala.
14. 1 bay leaf
15. 3 cloves
16. whole cumin seeds
17. vegetable or sunflower oil
18. 1 large onion
19. 2 medium size tomatoes

For Naan bread:

1. 2 cups of strong bread flour / plain flour (maida)
2. sprinkling of onion seeds (kalonji)
3. finely chopped coriander enough to sprinkle in.
4. 1 clove of garlic finely grated.
5. a good pinch of salt
6. a cups of warm water
7. 1 heaped table spoon yogurt.
8. a pinch of baking soda

Jeera Rice:

1 cup of basmati rice

1 teaspoon jeera / whole cumin seeds

a teaspoon of sunflower oil

a pinch of salt.

My favourite part :-) Lets get cooking!! once everything is organised all you need to do is put things together.. as simple as that :) I just like to line up things in a way, that allows me to cook one thing after the other without wasting too much time. Here is the order I think worked for me, but not something that needs to be strictly followed. I knead the naan dough first and let it rest, while I get the marinade for the curry ready. Once the Paneer is resting in the marinade, I put the rice in the microwave. All this gives enough time in between, by the time your curry is ready, naan and rice is also ready and pipping hot!

Naan Dough:

Tip the flour in a roomy pot, add baking soda, salt, yougurt, onion seeds, oil. Keep adding warm water while working on the dough. Stop adding water once you are happy with the consistency the dough should be slightly loose, so that the naan can be rolled out easily. Let the dough rest for 15-20 mins.

Curry:

1. Tip the yogurt in a pot big enough to marinade the paneer cubes at later point.
2. Add all the spices, ginger, garlic, coriander and give everything a good mix.
3. Tip the paneer cubes in the mix and let it sit for atleast 20 mins anything more will only make the curry more delicious.

Jeera Rice:

I quite shamelessly make the rice in the microwave, if you are a purist you can make the rice the same way on the hob or rice cooker.

1. Wash the rice thoroughly, until you get clear water while washing the rice. This takes most of the starch out of the rice, making it more light and flaky and more healthy.
2. Add the cumin seeds, oil and salt.
3. Add water. This is the most important thing to get right, if you want nice flaky rice. I generally follow the rule my mom taught me, using the finer nail length, i.e. the rice should be immersed in water and the water should be about tip of the finger to the second joint of the finger above the rice. If this sounds complicated. Take twice the measure of rice, in this case 2 cups of water for 1 cup of rice.
4. Give everything a good stir and bung it in the microwave on medium heat for 20 mins. Let the rice rest for 10 mins, the rice get really fluffy and soaks in all the extra water and make it moist than dry hard rice. If you are making it on the hob turn the gas mark to low and cover the pot. Let the rice cook for 15 mins, then remove the lid and let the rice cook for another 2 mins. Keep rice covered until ready to serve. Garnish the rice with mint leaves.

Coming back to the naan dough:

While all this is happening the naan dough has had a good enough time to rest. I dont roll out the naans with a rolling pin, I just stretch a ball of dough in a what ever shape you like and what ever thickness suits you. Here are some tips to make the process easy. 

1. Take a parchment paper, oil it and wrap it around a plate or a cutting board. Divide the dough in balls. Put some oil on your hands before you start stretching the dough out. 
2. Put a heavy pan on hob on medium heat. 
3. Place the dough ball on the parchment paper and stretch it out as big as you like. If this tears in places don't worry  they cooks just fine. Dab a little oil and sprinkle the onion seeds.
4. Place the naan on the non stick pan. Please add oil to the pan only if you are not using a non stick pan.
5. I use a grill pan to get some nice pattern on the naan, but a regular pan will do and roast the naan well on both sides, let them burn a little, they taste nice and crispy.
6. Repeat the process for other naans, This amount of dough will make 6 medium size naans.

It finally curry time, the simplest of all:

1. Take a roomy heavy bottom pot and add oil.
2. Add the cumin seeds and let them sputter.
3. Add the onion and fry till golden brown.
4. Add the tomatoes.
5. Add the cloves and the bay leaf.
6. Fry everything well tell tomatoes break down and the oil comes to the surface.
7. Add the marinated paneer along with the left over mix if any and stir everything well.
8. Add half a cup of water, turn the heat to low, cover the pot and let it simmer for 15-20 mins.
9. Squeeze in half of a lemon and garnish with coriander.

It does look like a long process of cooking, but its really up to you if you would like to make some things in advance or later, the whole dish tastes really well with a lovely glass of red wine, my choice of the day was mulled wine to carry the flavour of the spices. My husband ended up making a separate chicken curry which tasted great with naan, I will put up the recipe for this curry if he agrees to share one :-0)

Happy Cooking!!