Cumin rice

This is a quick way of adding a tasty twist to boiled rice. It's great for when you want rice, but plain just won't cut it, and may not have all the essentials for traditional Pilau. The simplicity of this recipe is what I think actually makes it so moreish 

It goes great with most daal dishes as lentils and cumin are just a beautiful combination, or even just a drizzle of natural yogurt !

This will easily serve 4-6 people and you may even have enough for the next day :

4 cups of rice

2 tablespoons cumin

1 large onion

1 tbsp salt

7 cups water

125g butter

1 fl oz vegetable / olive oil

• Melt the butter in a heavy based pan, and add in the oil. Finely slice the onion and add to the pan. Fry the onions on a high heat till the are dark brown in colour. You will need to keep stirring to stop the onions from catching at the bottom of the pan.
• When the onions have browned, add in the cumin, and slightly lower the heat, stir the cumin with the onions for a couple of minutes. The cumin should brown and their aroma should come through
• Pour the water into the pan & bring back to a high heat. When the water reaches boiling point, add in the rice & salt.
• Boil the rice until the water has almost completely been absorbed. Remember to keep a close eye as the rice will can stick and burn at this point
• Lower the heat completley under the pan, place the lid on the pan* and leave for about 10-15 minutes on the low heat
• Fluff the rice through with a fork and serve

*cover the lid with a tea towel first as this helps absorb the excess moisture in the rice and gives them their fluffiness

Split chick pea daal & bottle gourd curry

I'm starting this post with a confession, I have made this dish on countless occasions but never blogged it,  I made this for Iftar last night, (breaking of fast at sunset) as I thought of sharing this recipe I realised that although I knew in Urdu the name of the vegetable in question for this dish  .. but what of the English name ? Well I was totally clueless

How could I possibly post a recipe without knowing what i was referring to ? So I asked for help from my fellow Tweeters, thankfully the mystery was solved. This particular beauty is whats known as bottle gourd and looks like this , it's a much milder version of bitter gourd which is an acquired taste. The slight sweetness of bottle gourd works extremely well with the spice in a curry.

So here we go Channa Daal & Thoriyaah: (pronounced tho-ree-yah)

1 cup/ 125g channa lentils ( split chick pea lentils)

1 large bottle gourd

4 medium onions

1 tbsp garlic paste / 6-8 crushed cloves

2 tsp salt

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 green chillies

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

125g butter

• Start by washing the lentils till the water runs clear. Soak the lentils in a bowl with warm water*, whilst the lentils are soaking, roughly chop your onions and fry in a large non stick pan with butter
• When the onions have softened, add in the garlic, salt & green chillies. Stir on a medium heat and  when the onions are golden brown, add in the tomatoes & curry powder. Add a splash of water, cover the pan and leave to simmer on a low heat for the tomato to soften 
• Peel your gourd, chop of the stalk and bottom and give it a quick rinse under water. Cut the gourd in half lengthways, and then slice the 2 halves. Place to a side
• Check back on your masala in the pan, if the onions have softened, then drain the water from the daal, add the daal to the pan.
• Let the daal simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, it should almost double in volume as the lentils cook through.Check that the lentils have softened by taking a few between your fingers and squashing. They should break easily without too much pressure. If they still feel raw, add a little water and leave to simmer on a low heat for a little longer.
• When the lentils have softened** add in the sliced gourd & stir together. If most of the water has evaporated, and the daal is looking dry, add just enough water to cover the daal, cover the pan & leave to simmer on a low heat once more for about 20 minutes.***
• Check back on the daal, the gourd by now should have softened & cooked through. The way to check this is that the colour of the gourd will have changed from white to them becoming see through, as well as being soft in texture. You can do the finger test with a slice of the gourd just as with the lentils earlier. 
• When your gourd has cooked and softened, depending on the consistency, you can add a little water if it loos too dry. Serve with either plain boiled rice or my cumin rice

*pre soaking the lentils helps speed up the cooking, even if they are left for just half and hour it's a bonus 
** the lentils should be soft but not mushed, you want to try and keep the lentils whole
***whenever you cover up the pan, do remember to keep an eye on it so your daal doesn't end up sticking to the pan

Mixed Vegetable Karahi

Tonight I'm posting a recipe for all the vegetarian curry fans. Personally I think that vegetable curries are so underrated, I try to make a vegetable based curry at least once a week for my family. This particular one is brilliant for using literally any vegetable you like. 

If like me you have 2 kids that have a favourite veg, then just add extra amounts of it to make up for bits they might not be so keen on. Its's also great to use any left overs with a bit of stock and blend into a delicious winter warmer soup.

So for my Mixed Vegetable Karahi you'll need :

5 medium onions
1 bulb of garlic crushed OR 3 tbsp of garlic paste
2cm fresh ginger crushed OR 2 tbsp ginger paste
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 green chillies
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tin plum/chopped tomatoes
1 tin baby new potatoes 
1 medium cauliflower 
4 small parsnips
1 sweet pepper
a good handful peas
a good handful of grated cabbage 
a good handful of chopped spinach leaves
2 large carrots
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp seasame seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
A good squeeze of lemon juice
Handful of chopped coriander to garnish

• start by slicing the onions and on a medium heat, fry in a heavy based pan in a little olive oil till soft, then add the salt, garlic, ginger & chillies. Fry these together till the onions turn golden brown & chillies have softened. Make sure that you stir the mixture to stop it from catching on the bottom.*
• once the onions have browned, add the tomatoes & curry powder and again stirring, keeping an eye that the mixture doesn't catch. Keep cooking till the mixture has slightly reduced and the consistency is sauce like.. this normally takes about 10 minutes, turn off the heat and next make a start on the veg.
• Peel & wash all your veg as required, then roughly chop. As in my roast vegetables, rough & varied sizes is fine. For the baby potatoes just remember to drain the water.
• Turn the heat back on under your pan, again have a medium heat, add the cauliflower first and stir well so the cauliflower is coated with the curry masala. Pop the lid on the pan, lower the heat and leave for about 10-15 minutes to softened. When the cauliflower has softened slightly, add the parsnips, carrott & cabbage. Again place the lid back on, leave for another 10-15 minutes to let the veg soften.**
• When the carrots & parsnips have softened, add the potatoes, spinach, pepper, peas  & the lemon juice. Turn up the heat and keep stirring every few minutes to cook all the veg through ***  This stage can take from as quick as 10 minutes up to 30 minutes, depending on how soft you want your vegetables to be. I like my veg to have a slight crunch & not completely softened.
• Finish off by adding the cumin, mustard & sesame seeds, garnish with the chopped coriander & serve with naan 

* if the onions begin to catch, add a splash of water and stir. This also helps to soften them too

** again make sure you keep an eye on it, and stir every few minutes