Chana Paneer

Another 660 Curries recipe, this mixes fried paneer and spicy chickpeas. Iyer recommends serving it with a starch, and particularly commends the practice of making up some toast and dipping it in the curry.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) canola oil
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cumin seeds
• 1 finely chopped red onion
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, cayenne, or serrano chilis, stems removed
• 1 large tomato, cored and finely chopped
• 1/4 tsp. (1mL) coarse salt
• 1 tsp. (5mL) balti masala
• 1/2 tsp. (2.5mL) turmeric
• 1 c. (256mL) cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 c. (256mL) water
• 250g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes and pan-fried
• 1/4 c. (64mL) whipping (35%) cream
• finely chopped fresh cilantro for garnishing

Procedure

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the cumin seeds and cook until they turn reddish-brown and fragrant, ~10 seconds.
2. Add the onion and chilis and stir-fry until the onion is starting to brown, 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the tomato, salt, masala, and turmeric. Lower the heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the tomato softens, ~3 minutes.
4. Add the chickpeas and 1 c. (256mL) of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the sauce thickens, ~10 minutes.
5. Stir in the paneer and the cream, and continue simmering, uncovered, until the cheese is warmed through.
6. Top with cilantro and serve.

Pasta with Pancetta and Acorn Squash

From The Kitchn, the original recipe calls for half a pound of pasta and one acorn squash (and penne). I had two squashes, so I made a double batch (and used cavatappi, because I like it more than penne). It was delicious but, in retrospect, a bit too much pasta for one person.

The recipe presented here is the doubled version, since we're usually cooking with pasta in 500g increments. It also uses all of the garlic (the original calls for roasting an entire bulb but only using four cloves of it) -- if you are not as much of a garlic fan as I am, cut it back to one bulb and use only eight cloves from it.

Ingredients, for 500g dried, store-bought pasta

• 2 acorn squashes (1-1.5kg total mass)
• 2 small bulbs of garlic (or large bulbs if you're feeling frisky -- yes, that is entire bulbs, not cloves)
• olive oil
• 500g pancetta, sliced 5mm thick and then diced
• 256mL vegetable, chicken, or mushroom stock
• 10mL chopped fresh rosemary
• 128mL freshly grated parmesan

Procedure

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F.
2. Bisect the squashes. Brush the exposed sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place face down on a baking sheet.
3. Slice the tops off the garlic bulbs so that the tops of the cloves are exposed. Brush with olive oil, wrap in tinfoil, and place on the baking sheet with the squash.
4. Bake until the squash is fork-tender and the garlic soft and spreadable, ~30 minutes.
5. Once the squash is cool enough to handle, peel it and cut it into chunks. You may also want to take the time now to peel and/or squeeze the garlic in advance.
6. Begin heating a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
7. While the water heats, in a deep, wide saucepan, sautee the pancetta over medium-high heat until it is well browned and just starting to crisp, 10-15 minutes.
8. At some point while you're doing this, the water will boil. Add the pasta and some salt to the pot and cook it al dente. Drain, reserving ~128mL of pasta water.
9. Deglaze the pan with the broth and add the garlic and rosemary. Stir until the garlic is fully mixed with the sauce, <1 minute.
10. Add the squash to the pan and mix well.
11. Add the pasta. Toss to coat. The squash is probably starting to break up into a gooey squash sauce. This is fine.
12. Stir in the cheese. Adjust consistency with the reserved pasta water, if desired. Eat.

Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti Squash

Not sure what to do with your spaghetti squash? Take it apart, then put it back together with chicken in. From Wanderlust and Wellness, this recipe results in two spaghetti squash skins stuffed with a delicious and mildly spicy chicken/squash mixture topped with gooey cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized spaghetti squash
• olive oil
• 512mL cooked shredded chicken (a grocery store rotisserie chicken works well here)
• 256mL shredded mozarella cheese
• 84mL Frank's Hot Sauce
• 32mL melted ghee
• 84mL  coconut cream
• 1.25mL pink himalayan salt
• 1.25mL ground black pepper
• Shredded cheddar and/or monterey jack cheese
• more hot sauce to top with

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
2. Bisect the squash lengthwise. Remove the seeds.
3. Brush the exposed interior of the squash with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place the squash face down on a baking sheet and cook for 40 minutes.
5. While the squash is baking, combine the shredded chicken, mozarella, hot sauce, coconut cream, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
6. When the squash is finished, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh and mix it into the bowl.
7. Return the squash-chicken mix to the skins. Top with cheddar and monterey jack.
8. Place under the broiler until the cheese has melted and is just starting to brown.
9. Drizzle with additional hot sauce and serve.

Kheema Paav

Aka "Indian sloppy joes", a well spiced ground beef curry that exists to be served on buns. In my opinion, there's no point in making sloppy joes when kheema paav is on the menu.

Ingredients

• canola oil
• 5mL cumin seeds
• 256mL finely chopped red onion
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 slices of fresh ginger, finely chopped, or 32mL ginger paste
• 2 fresh green thai, cayenne, or serrano chilis, stems removed, finely chopped (do not remove the seeds)
• 32mL tomato paste
• 5mL Bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 5mL coarse salt
• 256g lean ground beef
• 32mL finely chopped fresh cilantro
• buns -- the book calls for fairly small slider-type buns, but you can make it with full size burger buns as well
• 128mL finely chopped scallions for garnish

Procedure

1. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle until they turn reddish-brown and fragrant, 10-15 seconds. Immediately add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chilis. Stir-fry until the onion starts to brown around the edges, ~5 minutes.
2. Add the tomato paste, garam masala, and salt. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce develops an oily sheen, ~5 minutes.
3. Add the ground beef, breaking it up if needed. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the meat is browning and partly cooked, 5-10 minutes.
4. Stir in 128mL water and continue simmering, covered, stirring occasionally, until the flavours have mingled and the beef is cooked through, ~8 minutes.
5. Brush the buns with butter or ghee and toast them on a griddle or in a toaster oven.
6. Fill buns with meat. Sprinkle with scallions. Insert into face.

Saag Paneer

Often described as a spinach and cheese curry, the version in 660 Curries uses both spinach and mustard greens; personally, I like mustard greens so much that I think it's even better if you omit the spinach entirely and double the amount of mustard greens.

Ingredients

• canola oil
• 1 medium-size red onion, bisected and thinly sliced
• 6 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 4 5x2cm slices of fresh ginger, coarsely chopped (or 64mL of ginger paste if you don't have fresh ginger on hand)
• 10mL Bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 2.5mL ground turmeric
• 32mL tomato paste
• 512g mixed spinach and mustard greens in any proportion you like, coarsely chopped
• 5mL coarse salt
• 550g paneer, sliced into 2cm cubes and fried
• 128mL whipping (35%) cream
• 2.5mL Punjabi garam masala

Procedure

1. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and ginger, and stir-fry until the onion browns, ~10 minutes.
2. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the Bin bhuna hua garam masala; the residual heat will be enough to cook the spices without burning them.
3. Transfer the mixture to a blender jar. Add the tomato paste and 64mL water. Puree, scraping the inside of the jar as needed, to form a smooth paste. Return it to the skillet. Rinse out the blender jar with 192mL of water and add that to the skillet too.
4. Return the skillet to medium heat. Pile some greens into it and cover until they're wilted enough that you can stir them into the sauce and add more. Repeat until all the greens are in.
5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the greens break down and merge with the sauce, turning it dark green, 10-15 minutes.
6. Stir in the salt, cream, paneer, and Punjabi garam masala. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is warmed through, 5-8 minutes.
7. Eat.

Chana Masala

660 Curries contains something like half a dozen chana masala variants. This is the one simply titled "Chickpeas in a Spicy Tomato Sauce (Chana Masala)".

Despite not having whole chilis in it, I find this more spicy than the vindaloo without the moderating influence of the vinegar.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) ghee or oil
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cumin seeds, whole
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cumin seeds, ground
• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) ginger paste
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. (32mL) tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) coriander seeds, ground
• 1 Tbsp. (16mL) amchor (unripe mango powder) or lime juice
• 1 tsp. (5mL) cayenne
• 1/2 tsp. (2.5mL) turmeric
• 1L cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 c. (64mL) chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. (5mL) coarse salt
• 1/2 c. (128mL) finely chopped red onion

Procedure

1. Heat the ghee in a large saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Sprinkle in the whole cumin seeds and cook until they sizzle and turn reddish-brown and fragrant, 10-15 seconds. Immediately lower the heat to medium and add the ginger and garlic pastes. Stir-fry until they start to brown, ~2 minutes.
3. Add 256mL water and the tomato paste, coriander, amchor, cayenne, turmeric, and ground cumin. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until most of the water has cooked off, leaving you with a thick, reddish-orange sauce, 5-10 minutes.
4. Add 512mL water, the chickpeas, the salt, and half of the cilantro. Raise the heat back to medium-high and cook, stirring occasoinally, until the sauce thickens, 15-20 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and top with the onions and remaining cilantro. Serve over rice or naan.

Beef Vindaloo

A favourite of mine, this curry -- despite its reputation in the UK as a melt-your-face-off death curry -- is more tart than hot, with the vinegar moderating the heat of the chilis. It's easy to make, as long as you start the day before (so it can marinate overnight) and allow an hour for it to simmer the day of. Don't forget to prepare a side dish as well; there's not much to this apart from the beef.

Ingredients

• 128mL malt vinegar
• 10mL cayenne
• 2.5mL turmeric
• 500g boneless stewing beef, cut into 2cm cubes
• canola oil
• 128g pearl onions, peeled and halved, or an equivalent amount of yellow or red onion, chopped coarsely
• 5 medium-size cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 6 dried red thai or cayenne chilis, stems removed
• 5mL coriander seeds, ground
• 5mL cumin seeds, ground
• 2.5mL coarse salt
• 32mL finely chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)

Procedure

1. Combine the vinegar, cayenne, and turmeric in a medium sized metal or glass bowl. Add the beef and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but preferably overnight.
2. Heat ~32mL of oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic, onions, and chilis. Cook, stirring, until the onions brown, ~5 minutes.
3. Add the beef and marinade. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef has absorbed the vinegar and started to sear and the oil has separated from the meat, ~15 minutes.
4. Stir in the coriander, cumin, and salt and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Add 256mL water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, ~45 minutes.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.