Palak paneer with coconut - paneer spinach with coconut

I've mentioned in a previous post that for Hindus fasting can mean abstaining from specific food types or limiting oneself to eating only certain foods. In this vein, my mum would only eat spinach curry on Thursdays for years throughout my childhood.  I actually quite like spinach but in the winter months (pre air freighting of fruit and vegetables) she would resort to frozen spinach which would turn the dish into a gloopy, water-logged green mush.  It was not pleasant and I would rummage in the fridge for leftovers to fill my belly.

I have never quite overcome my aversion to frozen spinach but fresh spinach, cooked well is delicious.   This dish is very different to my previous recipe in that the spinach is finely chopped and cooked for some time to produce a rich green sauce.    The addition of coconut cream follows a conversation with my miraculous acupuncturist, Maureen, about a dish of palak paneer with coconut that she orders regularly from her local Indian restaurant.

If you do try it please let me know what you think.

Video recipe: Fresh hot chapatis

Click here for the high definition video

Fresh chapatis (also known as rotis or rotlis) are the staple carbohydrate of every Gujarati household.  They are a type of unleavened flat bread made of wholewheat flour.

As you are probably aware, Indians eat with their right hand.  They break off a piece of the chapati (using the right hand only) and then form the torn off piece into a cone shape using their thumb and forefingers.  This cone is then used to scoop up the curry before being placed in the mouth.  The theory behind this is that you should use all of your senses when eating food - the smell, sight and taste of the food but also, the sound of the food being prepared and by eating with your hands, you are involving your sense of touch.  This approach also saves on the washing up!

When I was young my mum used to make fresh chapatis every day.  I didn't appreciate it at the time as it was such a chore but it was the equivalent of having fresh bread straight out of the oven with our dinner.  I used to refuse to make the chapatis on the grounds that in my opinion the taste didn't justify the effort (and my mum insisted that they couldn't be in the shape of elephants...) and so I would never need the skill.  My mum would ask me what I was going to feed my future husband and I would respond that one of my criteria for marriage was going to be a preference for fresh bread over chapatis.  Luckily for me Steve does prefer fresh bread although I imagine that again this is more because of convenience than taste or texture.  This, however, is the only one of the marriage criteria from my childhood that Steve fulfills.  My future husband was going to be tall, athletic and have a British private school accent (I think he was based on Roger Moore's James Bond).  Steve is on the short side, mildly asthmatic and has an odd accent that was originally from the North-East of England but now no one can place.  It's definitely love!

Shallots in a tamarind sauce

Winter is shallot season in the UK and this recipe is a great way to use up any surplus from your organic vegetable box.  Shallots have a more subtle flavour than onions and when they are cooked they are almost sweet.  The tamarind paste* provides sour elements that are balanced by the garlic, ginger and red chilli.  We have been eating this dish with baked potatoes and large knobs of butter for a hearty winter meal.

That's shallot for now.**

* I have used tamarind paste in this recipe rather than dried tamarind as it is easier to find in supermarkets.  If you are using dried tamarind make the paste as follows:
Place 15 grams dried tamarind in a small bowl.  Add 50 millilitres of boiling water and leave to steep for 10 - 15 minutes.  Then, using a nylon sieve, strain the mixture into a bowl.  Use the back of a wooden spoon to push the pulp through the sieve.  Extract as much of the tamarind as possible, periodically removing the pulp from the back of the sieve into the mixing bowl.  The resulting paste can then be used in the recipe.

** Do you see what I did there? :-)
 

Perfect soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies

My niece Jennifer is a fantastic baker.  She regularly wakes up early to take her classmates warm muffins for breakfast and so it will come as no surprise to hear that she is very popular at school.  We visited her and her (very cute) sister Daria in Poland last summer and were spoiled with Jen's culinary delights.  Probably my favourite recipe were the cookies below - they were soft, sweet and chewy with just the right amount of chocolate; In essence they are my idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie.