Paneer Bhurji

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! We've already seen a couple of paneer dishes in our time together, that have nice, succulent, chunks of paneer in a gravy of sorts. So I thought in this next recipe, we could look at cooking our favourite result of curdled milk, a little differently. We break it down into tiny, almost cous-cous like pieces and cook it with just 2 masalas so the taste of the paneer isn't masked by the rest of the ingredients. Best part is, it takes about an eighth of the effort and has just as much flavour! 

I have seen (and heard) a misconception over the years that since the name of the dish has the word 'bhurji' in it (a Hindi word, synonymous to scrambled eggs), it is non-vegetarian. Now, I don't know where this piece of information originated, but unless the source has a very warped idea of how this dish should be, people have been, I'm afraid, greatly misinformed. The good news is, since this dish is completely vegetarian, you can partake in all the delights that it has to offer. Rich creamy paneer with fresh capsicum and tomatoes and a hint of chilli. Accompany this with a rich dal makhani and some hot rotis or parathas and you'll soon have a meal to brag about.

For Paneer Bhurji, you will need the following:

Paneer                                   300 gms

Onion                                     1/4

Green chillies                          2

Green pepper                          1/2

Tomato                                  1

Haldi (turmeric)                      2 tsp

Red chilli powder                     1 tsp

Double cream/milk                  splash

Salt                                        to taste

Oil

Prep:

1. Boil about 3 cups of water.
2. Pour it into a bowl.
3. Cut open the packet of your store bought paneer.
4. Cut the paneer into cubes.
5. Dunk the cubes into the boiling water.
6. Forget about it for 10-15 minutes.
7. Chop the onion (not too fine).
8. Chop the green pepper (each piece slightly larger than the onion pieces).
9. Chop the tomato.
10. Chop the chillies.
11. Return to the soaked paneer.
12. Drain the water.
13. Crumble it down to as fine as you can make it. (Little lumps are fine. Don't be too fussed.)

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20 as the oil heats up.
5. Drop in the onion.
6. Toss in the chillies.
7. Cook until the onion gets translucent.
8. Sprinkle in the haldi and the red chilli powder.
9. Mix for a couple of minutes until the masalas are cooked.
10. Plop in the paneer.
11. Mix well until the paneer is uniformly yellow.
12. Cook for 2 minutes.
13. Add in the green pepper.
14. Slide in the tomato.
15. Add salt to taste.
16. Mix well.
17. Slap a lid on.
18. Leave to cook for a few minutes.
19. Take lid off.
20. Splash in the double cream/milk. (Forget about the calories! This will make it soft and moist.)
21. Mix well.
22. Adjust the salt if you need to.
23. Slap the lid back on for 2 minutes.
24. Turn the gas off.
25. Serve with garam rotis or parathas.

Tip: If you're running low on paneer and can't run to the store to buy more, boil some milk and squeeze in a lemon to curdle it. Then just run it through a clean cloth and voila, paneer!

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Good Old Bhindi

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! We get back to veggie ways today with good old bhindi (okra)! We've done some less than simple dishes over the past few weeks and I figured it was time to reign it in and go back to basics because let's face it, simple, clean cooking always hits the spot.

One of my fondest (and this might kill your appetite) memories of bhindi is from back in school. Before I tell you though, I must tell you that while in school, I was a pretty titchy kid. At the age of 14, I was no more than 5 feet tall, so while playing football, I got pushed around a bit. Another thing I must tell you (and I'm sure you already know) is that bhindi is slimy on the inside. It doesn't matter how well you cook it, you can always feel it in the inside of your mouth for a bit after you're done eating. One post-bhindi lunch break sometime in the 1990's, we were playing football and one of the taller (and ganglier) of my friends got in a tussle with me over an alleged shoulder push. Needless to say, I was pretty upset, but being about half his size (and not being particularly fond of fighting), physical retaliation wasn't an option. So I sucked in a deep breath, gathered up the oily bhindi slime and hocked a loogie at the guys throat. His eyes widened as the projectile made contact with his throat and sort of hung there before its oily consistency caused it to commence a southward journey towards the collar of his shirt. As he gasped with disgust, I did the one thing I was an ace at. I sprinted. All the way across the field where he couldn't catch me.

But slimy as it may be, I love bhindi. I love that it can be cooked different ways and still feel like a completely different vegetable. From stuffing it with masalas to crisping it with besan, adding it to sambar or just a simple toss in the pan with onions and tomatoes, bhindi is always good!

Today's recipe is the simple, back to basics, no fuss, old fashioned bhindi.

For Good Old Bhindi, you will need the following:

Bhindi (okra) 300gms

Onion 1 medium

Potato 1 medium

Tomato 1 large

Green Chillies 2

Haldi (turmeric) 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder 2 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil

Prep:

1. Cut the head and tail off the bhindi.
2. Cut the bhindi into circles.
3. Wipe the slime off the knife.
4. Repeat until all the bhindi is cut.
5. Cut the potato into cubes.
6. Slice the onion.
7. Chop the chillies.
8. Chop the tomato.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Roll in the chillies.
6. Drop in the onions.
7. Hastily take a step back as the oil sputters.
8. Cook for a minute.
9. Pop in the potatoes.
10. Cover the pan for a couple of minutes.
11. Take the lid off the pan.
12. Toss in the bhindi.
13. Sprinkle in the haldi.
14. Shake in the chilli powder.
15. Slap the lid back on for about 8-10 minutes until the bhindi cooks. (You can check it a couple of times to make sure it isn't sticking. I recommend just tossing it around Chinese chef style instead of using a wooden spoon to avoid breaking the bhindi.)
16. Take the lid off.
17. Add in the tomato.
18. Add salt to taste.
19. Cook for another 5 minutes or so until it is all cooked. (Spear a potato and a piece of the bhindi to check. If it isn't done, give it another few minutes.)
20. Turn the gas off.
21. Serve with garam rotis and a dollop of curd (yoghurt).
22. Stuff face.
23. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Bhindi shrinks when it's cooked so one way to make sure that it's done (aside from regular taste tests) is to check that it has shrunk to roughly 2/3 of it's original size.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Criminally Simple Thai Green Curry Chicken

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! You know how most people say, 'I want to eat something good!', and when you ask what they want, they infuriatingly say, 'I don't know.. But I want to eat something good!'. And as you're counting to 10 to keep from exploding, they say something completely irrational like, 'I want Thai food. But I don't want to go out!'. Well, take a deep breath and unclench those fingers. Slowly open your eyes and relax. Varun has an answer! 

The more faithful of my readers will remember us starting off cooking with a paste. While this isn't always the best idea, it does have it merits on occasion. To put it in more cliched terms, 'There's no point reinventing the wheel!', or, 'Work smarter, not harder!', which both basically mean, don't get worked up and slave for hours over something you can get of equal or better quality with only a fraction of the effort! And for Thai food, with a perfectly wonderful selection of Thai pastes available at most supermarkets, I strongly suggest you give them a shot before writing them off as 'unauthentic'.

Having said that, don't mistake me telling you to adopt the paste as being the same as adopting the recipe on the back of the bottle because that's where I draw the line. As somebody who has made the mistake of following the bottle recipe and discovering it was woefully inadequate, I have my own take on the recipe that even after making it countless times, has never resulted in an unhappy eater.

For my Criminally Simple Thai Green Curry Chicken, you will need the following:

Chicken	300 gms (boneless)
Mushrooms	4-5 large
Green/red pepper	1/2
Green chillies	6
Spinach	250 gms
Thai green curry paste	1 bottle
Lemongrass paste	1 tsp (for a stronger flavour)
Coconut milk	1 tin (400 ml)
Salt	to taste
Cornflour	1-2 tbsp
Oil

Prep:

1. Wash and cube the chicken.
2. Grab a bowl.
3. Drop in the chicken.
4. Sprinkle on the cornflour until the chicken is nicely coated.
5. Sprinkle in some salt.
6. Slice the mushrooms.
7. Cube the green pepper.
8. Vertically slice the chillies.
9. Open the tin of coconut milk.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a frying pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Wait one minute until the oil heats up.
5. Slide in the chicken a few pieces at a time.
6. Shallow fry until golden.
7. Fish out of the pan and place on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
8. Repeat until all the pieces are fried.
9. Bung a bigger pan on.
10. Splash in some oil.
11. Count to 20.
12. Toss in the chillies.
13. Pop open the bottle of Thai paste.
14. Tip in all the contents. (Yes, I know the back says 1/3rd. The back is wrong. And stupid.)
15. Glob in the lemongrass paste.
16. Fry for a couple of minutes.
17. Add in the mushrooms.
18. Cook for a minute.
19. Pour in the coconut milk.
20. Mix well.
21. Bring to a simmer.
22. Pop in the pepper and the chicken.
23. Simmer for a few minutes.
24. Add salt to taste.
25. Add in the spinach. (Don't let the daunting pile scare you, once it starts to cook, it will shrivel up and the pile will reduce to a quarter of the size.)
26. Slap a lid on for a couple of minutes.
27. Take lid off.
28. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
29. Turn the gas off.
30. Serve with rice.
31. Stuff face.
32. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: I've used green curry paste, you can use red or yellow or massaman curry paste or whichever you want! Also, if you can't be bothered, don't fry the chicken, drop it in before the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes and then continue as normal.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Chole

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! You know how as you get older, your little bubbles of belief go pop pop. Like, 'Santa Claus isn't real' or 'There's no such thing as the tooth fairy'? Well I have a real doozy for you! Brace yourself. Sit down if you need to. Ready? Here it comes. Unless you're from north India, the 'chole' that you have been eating all your life with bhaturas or pooris or even in your 'Punjabi' chaats aren't real. They're impostors. Pretenders. They are merely chana masala operating under an alias! Is your mind blown yet? No? Well it will be after you've tasted the outcome of this oh-so-simple recipe.

Today's recipe is what is referred to in my house as kicchad chole. Kicchad meaning muck. This muddy moniker has been conferred upon this dish owing to it's thick muck like consistency. The chole aren't hard and chewy like the ones you've probably had. They're soft and melty. The thick gravy is alive with the flavour of ginger and masalas. Best coupled with fluffy yellow rice, hot crispy bhaturas or aloo tikkis, these chole are the real deal!

Without further ado, on to the recipe!

For my Chole, you will need the following:

Chole (chick peas)	300 gms (Please do not get the canned variety!)
Onion	1 large
Ginger	big chunk
Garlic	2-3 cloves
Dhaniya (coriander) powder	2 tsp
Jeera (cumin) powder	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	2 tsp
Chole masala	1 tsp (Yes, chole masala. It works!)
Garam masala	1/2 tsp
Amchoor (dried mango) powder	1 tsp
Salt	to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Soak the chole overnight.
2. Slice the onion.
3. Julienne the ginger. (Psst.. cut it into straws!)
4. Peel the garlic cloves.
5. Mix all the masalas.

Method:

1. Drain the soaked chole.
2. Empty the chole into a pressure cooker.
3. Add in water until the chole are submerged about 3 fingers deep.
4. Drop in the onion.
5. Plop in the ginger.
6. Pop in the garlic.
7. Sprinkle in some salt.
8. Slap the lid on.
9. Turn on the gas.
10. Crank it up to high.
11. Bung the cooker on.
12. Wait until the first whistle.
13. Drop the heat to low
14. Listen to the whistles and groans for 30 minutes.
15. Turn the gas off.
16. Let the cooker sit until all the steam escapes.
17. Turn on a smaller burner.
18. Bung on a pan.
19. Splash in some oil.
20. Count to 20.
21. Add in the masalas.
22. Cook until very brown.
23. Take the pan off the burner.
24. Open the pressure cooker. 
25. Put the cooker back on the burner.
26. Add in a cup of water if the water is all gone.
27. Smoosh some of the chole against the side of the cooker.
28. Mix well, randomly squishing and bruising the chole. (This is to thicken the gravy.)
29. Add in the browned masalas.
30. Mix well.
31. Add salt to taste.
32. Let the chole bubble and simmer for a few minutes. (Adjust the water content to get the right thickness.)
33. Turn the gas off.
34. Serve with yellow rice, bhaturas or aloo tikkis.
35. Stuff face.
36. Bask in the glory in your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Don't be alarmed at all the whistles and groans in the 30 minute wait. Patience will get you soft melty chole!

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!

Methi Chicken

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! You know how grown-ups are always saying, 'Eat your vegetables!', or 'You need more green leafy vegetables in your diet!' and you're thinking, 'Umm.. No thank you, I'm fine with my chicken!'. Then there's people who try to convince you to try 'different' things, knowing full well that you want nothing to do with them, 'Beta karela kha lo. It's not that bitter. Accha lagega.', and you're still thinking, 'Umm.. No thank you, I'm fine with my chicken!'. Yes? Well then this recipe is for you! It offers a wonderful combination of a very underrated green leafy vegetable that is ever so slightly bitter to the taste, and tender juicy chicken that when cooked together with the right spices will introduce you to a whole new world of flavour.

I can't recall my mum making this (although I suspect she'll be calling me 'kanjar', when she reads this), but it is something that I have eaten a few times and enjoyed, and with some input from my mum and my own spin on things, I've come up with a recipe that I'm sure you'll like, and cook over and over.

The recipe is methi chicken; methi being fenugreek leaves and chicken being well.. chicken. Methi is native to the subcontinent and although you won't find it at your local grocery store abroad, you'll definitely find some at your friendly neighbourhood Indian store, probably sitting next to big bunches of dill and mint and spinach. So the next time you foreign types are in there to replenish your stock of all things 'subcontinenty', wander over to the fruit and veg aisle and pick up a couple of bunches of this bad boy. I promise, you won't be disappointed!

For my Methi Chicken you will need the following:

Chicken	400 gms
Methi (fenugreek leaves)	2 bunches
Onions	1.5 large
Tomatoes	2 medium to large (get nice red ones or open a tin)
Potatoes	2 medium
Green chillies	4
Cumin	1-2 tsp
Ginger garlic paste	1 tsp (I'd freshly chop it if I were you)
Dhaniya (coriander) powder	2 tsp
Jeera (cumin) powder	1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder	2-3 tsp
Haldi (turmeric)	pinch
Garam masala	big pinch
Amchoor (dry mango) powder	sprinkle
Salt	to taste
Water	1 cup
Oil

Prep:

1. Wash and cut the chicken.
2. Wash and roughly chop the methi.
3. Peel and quarter the potatoes.
4. Grate (or blitz) the onions.
5. Puree the tomatoes. (As always, watch out for the edge of the tin.)
6. Chop the chillies.
7. Mince the ginger.
8. Mince the garlic.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a pan on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Count to 20.
5. Throw in the cumin.
6. Slide the chillies in off the chopping board.
7. Watch a couple roll off the wrong side and roll under the pan or on the floor.
8. Try to get the bit under the pan with your fingers, pretending the heat doesn't bother you.
9. Burn fingers.
10. Give up.
11. Add in the ginger and garlic.
12. Breathe in the fresh aroma.
13. Add in the onions.
14. Dodge the spatter.
15. Cook until the onions get brown. (Not unlike the dusky beauty at the checkout counter of the Indian store.)
16. Drop the heat to low.
17. Sprinkle in the dhaniya powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder.
18. Pinch in the haldi and garam masala.
19. Mix well.
20. Cook until you're afraid the onions will burn.
21. Splash in some water.
22. Pour in the tomato puree.
23. Throw in the methi.
24. Cook until the oil separates from the tomatoes. (At this point, your methi will have started to shrivel.)
25. Pop in the chicken.
26. Plop in the potatoes.
27. Cook for a few minutes until the chicken goes white.
28. Add in a cup of water.
29. Shake in the salt.
30. Bump the heat up a notch.
31. Put the lid on.
32. Hang around idly for about 15-20 minutes.
33. Take the lid off.
34. Wipe the steam from your glasses.
35. Cook without the lid until the gravy reaches the desired consistency.
36. Turn the gas off.
37. Sprinkle of the amchoor.
38. Serve with rotis.
39. Stuff face.
40. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: Onions cook quicker if you sprinkle some salt on them. So if you're in a rush or just impatient, sprinkle some salt on the onions when you drop them into the oil. Remember to add less salt later to compensate. Taste as you cook.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!