Tamatar Paneer (Tomato Paneer)

I was going to make a lamb curry next, but I found some paneer on sale at the Indian grocery store and decided to cook that as our protein tonight instead.

I love this curry. The paneer makes it satisfying and high-protein. And while it takes a bit of time to cook the onions down, it's not particularly difficult and doesn't require many spices or other ingredients. And while the cream is moderately expensive most of the other ingredients are quite affordable. Especially if you can get a good deal on the paneer! The cream also makes it deliciously rich and luxurious. Oh, and it also doesn't require marinating or pre-frying the paneer. So, pretty great all round!

Tamatar Paneer

From 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1-2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 6 green cardamom pods
• 1/4 c. tomato paste
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 c. water
• 250g paneer, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Melt ghee over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cardamom, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is nicely browned (~20 minutes).
4. Add the tomato paste, coriander, cayenne, and turmeric and cook until darkened (3-5 minutes).
5. Add water, paneer, and salt and cook, covered, until sauce thickens (~15 minutes).
6. Add the milk and cream and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
7. Stir in cilantro and serve.

This was meant to be spiced clementines with toasted pound cake but a) we didn't have enough eggs or sugar left to make the pound cake and b) it felt like a bit of a waste. We were going to have them with some store-bought sponge, but the local Countdown was all out. So we ended up just spooning them over a bit of vanilla ice cream instead. And they were quite tasty that way. A nice, refereshing summer dessert.

Spiced Clementines

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. water
• 4 allspice berries, lightly crushed (or 1/8-1/4 tsp. ground allspice)
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise, lightly crushed
• 2 black peppercorns, lightly crushed
• 1 vanilla bean
• 6-8 clementines
• 1/4 c. fresh mint¹

Directions

1. Combine the sugar, water, allspice, cinnamon, star anise, and black peppercorns.
2. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds out. Add both the seeds and the empty pod to the pot with the other ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Peel the clemeintines and slice crosswise.
5. Add clementine slices to syrup and remove from heat.
6. Allow to steep for 20-30 minutes, then serve over cake or ice cream and top with mint.

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¹ I completely forgot about the fresh mint when I made this. Even though that was half the reason for doing it since I had a bunch of mint in the fridge that needed using. Whoops! ^Back

This is meant to be made with fresh pears, but we had tinned pears to use up, so I just tossed them in. I've written up the instructions for fresh pears. If you're using tinned, then just omit the water and only add the pears for the last minute or two of cooking.

Whole Wheat Walnut Waffles with Maple-Pear Sauce

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Waffles

• 190g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 40g butter, melted
• 50g unsweetened applesauce
• 2-4 Tbsp. finely chopped walnuts

Sauce

• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 2-4 pears, peeled and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 1/2 c. maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. water
• zest of 1/4 a lemon

Directions

1. Combine the flour and sugar and sift in the baking powder.
2. Beat the eggs into the milk.
3. Mix in the vanilla, butter, and applesauce.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
5. Mix in the walnuts.
6. Preheat your waffle iron.
7. Pour in a portion of batter and cook according to manufacturer directions.
8. Repeat with remaining batter.
9. While waffles are cooking, toss the pears with the lemon juice.
10. Melt the butter over medium heat.
11. Add the pears and cook for a minute or two.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the maple syrup, water, and lemon zest and simmer until pears are tender (5-7 minutes).
13. Transfer pears to a bowl, increase heat to medium-high and cook until sauce is syrupy (5-10 minutes).
14. Serve waffles topped with pears, sauce, and extra walnuts (if desired).

Jhinga Vindaloo (Shrimp Vindaloo)

I had a busy day of moving boxes and furniture today, so I wanted something easy for dinner. I decided to throw together this simple curry and serve it with rice and dal. It worked out quite well! Even if I didn't make it quite to spec. (My shrimp were much smaller than what Iyer calls for and frozen rather than fresh.)

Jhinga Vindaloo

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 10 raw cashews, ground
• 450g large shrimp (32-40 per kilo), peeled and deveined
• 1-2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine vinegar, coriander, cumin, cayenne, salt, turmeric, and ground cashews and stir to form a paste.
2. Add the shrimp and toss to coat. Cover and chill for 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat.
4. Add the shrimp (reserving any residual marinade), and sear for 1 minute on each side.
5. Reduce heat to medium-low, add any remaining marinade, and cook until shrimp is pink, opaque, and curled.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal (Ginger-Garlic Red Lentils)

I wanted a dal to go with my shrimp vindaloo and I felt like red lentils and/or pigeon peas would work particularly well. This red lentil dal caught my eye first, so that's what I went with. It was very nice. Especially with the optional spinach. It could probably use even more if you wanted to work some more veggies into the meal.

Aardak Lasoon Masoor ki Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (masoor dal/Egyptian lentils/red lentils)
• 3 c. water
• 1-2 onions¹, coarsely chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, finger, or serrano chilies
• 4 tsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. ghee (or coconut oil for a vegan option)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 dried red cayenne/arbol or Thai chilies
• 1 small (~400mL) tin diced tomatoes
• 1/4-1/2 c. frozen chopped spinach or kale (optional)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse the lentils.
2. Add water and bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium heat.
3. Skim off any foam, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender (~20 minutes).
4. Meanwhile, add the onions, garlic, and green chilies to a food processor and pulse to chop.
5. Melt the ghee over medium heat.
6. Add the cumin and dried chilies and sizzle until fragrant and chilies blacken (20-30 seconds).
7. Add the onion mixture along with the ginger paste and stir-fry until onion softens (~5 minutes).
8. Add the tomatoes and spinach (if using) and cook until spinach is thawed and sauce has thickened slightly (5-10 minutes).
9. Pour the sauce into the pot with the lentils and stir to combine.
10. Simmer to let flavours meld (3-5 minutes).
11. Stir in cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe only calls for 1 (red) onion, but my onions were on the small side, so I used two. ^Back

I love sticky toffee pudding, but I've never actually made it myself. This is the first recipe that I've tried, but I really like it. And so did Reiver and my mom. I think I'd like to try adjusting the proportions sometime, just because it would be nice to have even more dates in it. That said, I've written the recipe up without modifications this time because it was so good as is. I'll put my suggested modifications below.

I ran out of brown sugar when making the sauce so I ended up using some white sugar mixed with molasses. I ended up putting in way more molasses than needed to make a brown sugar equivalent, so the sauce was much darker than intended, but Reiver really liked it and says he'd do it that way on purpose in the future.

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1/2 c. chopped dates
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Directions

1. Combine the dates and bakiing soda and pour over the boiling water. Set aside for at least 10 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour either eight 1/2-cup ramekins or one large casserole dish.
3. Cream the butter with the sugar until lightened.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Beat in the vanilla.
6. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt (if using) and mix until combined.
7. Add the date mixture and stir to combine. Mixture will be fairly thin.
8. Pour batter into prepared dish(es) and bake at 180°C (350°F) until done; ~20 minutes for small puddings, 50 minutes for one large one.
9. Meanwhile, combine the butter, brown sugar, molasses (if using), and cream for the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer.
10. Cook, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened.
11. Stir in vanilla and salt.
12. Once the pudding is done, remove from oven.
13. For small puddings, turn them out onto warmed plates and pour sauce over. For a large pudding, scoop generous spoonfuls into bowls and pour sauce over.
14. Top with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream if desired.

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Variations

Sticky Date Pudding

Ingredients

Pudding/Cake

• 1 c. chopped dates
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 c. boiling water
• 1/4 c. butter, softened
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 c. (140g) flour
• 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)

Sauce

• 1/4 c. butter
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses (optional, for extra dark sauce)
• 3/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• small pinch of salt

Nanny's Lemon Cream

This is the lemon curd that I grew up eating. It's my great-grandmother's recipe. And we all called it lemon curd, but when we got her recipe, she had it written down as "lemon cream". It's very good. Simple. And I like that it uses whole eggs rather than just the yolks. I've now also tried it with grapefruit and can vouch for the results. I expect it would work wonderfully with limes as well!

Lemon Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 3 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Combine sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and water and mix very well.
2. Cook over low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in butter.

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Variations

Grapefruit Cream

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 c. (or a bit more) grapefruit juice
• 3 Tbsp. butter