Besan Purae (Chickpea pancakes)

Besan purae are a great breakfast, brunch or afternoon snack with tea. You can serve them with ketchup as I have here (my favourite) or you any pickle or sauce of your preference. You will need a nice non stick pan to fry these, they are so quick to prepare and so yummy, you might ditch the toast for this gluten free, vegan breakfast!

Ingredients - Serves 2-3

• 1-1.5 cups water
• 1 cup chickpea flour
• 1/2 onion chopped finely
• 1 tsp each salt
• 1 tsp dry ground red chilli (optinal)
• 1 tsp Garham Masala
• 1/2 tsp ajowan seeds (optional)
• Handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves, or frozen pre-chopped coriander.
• Flavourless oil, like sunflower or groundnut oil.

Method

1. Whisk all of the ingredients together into a batter, adding a bit more water if you need to get a consistency that will spread out in the pan (it might take a couple of pancakes to get this right).
2. Heat a nonstick pan (I use an 8" frying pan) on medium heat and pour in about a dessert spoon of oil in. Ladle some batter into the pan (I just use my normal cooking laddle you can use a 1/4 cup measuring cup for this too) and swirl it swiftly to get a pancake (if it doesn't swirl easily, you need to add a bit more water to the batter).
3. Cook the pancake on one side until it’s almost completely dry on top and golden on the bottom (you may have to adjust the heat to keep it from burning). 
4. Drizzle another spoon of oil on top of the pancake and then flip the pancake and cook until the other side is golden too.
5. Serve hot with your chosen condiment. Enjoy! Can be eaten cold for picnics or yummy pack up lunch.
6. By the way if you have nay batter left, just put it in a sealed container in the fridge and will keep for up to a couple of days. 

Green beans and Quorn chunks

This meal was cooked in a phone call (a short on for me!), less than 20mins from prep to completion.
I normally cook fine green beans with potatoes (the traditional way) it is very yummy this way and would recommend you trying it.  However, as I had run out of potatoes so I substituted Quorn chunks you could have also quite easily used paneer (indian cheese) too.

So here is how I did it...

Ingredients for serving 3-4

• 500g of green beans
• 1 cup of quorn chunks (150g) OR potato chopped in to small peices OR paneer

• 3tbsp Light olive oil or ghee

• 1/2 Chopped onion ( I like to use red onion)

• 1/2" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped/ grated

• 1 tsp Cumin/ Jeera

• 1/2 tsp Oregano seeds/Ajowan

• 1 fresh green chilli's chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets) - Optional

• 1-2 tsp Garam masala

• 1tsp Turmeric/ Haldi
• 1-2tbsp tomatoe puree

• 1-2 tsp salt

• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Add your oil, set the pan at a slow heat. Add your cumin seeds and ajowan, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
2. Cook the onion till it is soft and then add your ginger and chilli, stirring frequently.
3. Continue to cook this till the ginger is brown too, if the ginger starts to stick to the pan just add a couple of tea spoons of water and stir until it comes free.
4. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your quorn chunks as it starts to colour add your beans and then follow with the dry spices lowering the heat as you do so.
5. Cook for a few minutes and then add your tomato purée and half a cup of water.
6. Cover and cook on a medium heat for 5mins and then turn down to a lower heat for about 10mins or until the beans are cooked.  This can be reheated with no loss in quality.
7. Add the chopped coriander and serve as a main or side dish with roti, naan, or rice of your choice. We having it with paranta (fried breads) and yoghurt tonight.

Plantain subji

I love to eat green plantain just chopped deep fried, or sauté and salted.  They are similar to potato but still has a very yummy uniqueness.

You can buy them in most foreign food shops, i bought them from an Afghanistany shop in Cambridge.

Ingredients for serving 4

• 3 large green plantain, peeled and chopped into 1" chunks.

• 3tbsp Light olive oil or ghee

• 1/2 Chopped onion ( I like to use red onion)

• 1/2" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped/ grated

• 1 tsp Cumin/ Jeera

• 1/2 tsp Oregano seeds/Ajowan

• 1 -2 fresh green chilli's chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets) - Optional
• 2 fresh tomtoes chopped or 1/4 tin tomatoes - optional

• 1-2 tsp Garam masala

• 1tsp Turmeric/ Haldi

• 1-2 tsp salt
• 2tbsp fresh yogurt (optional)

• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Add your oil, set the pan at a slow heat. Add your cumin seeds and ajowan, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
2. Cook the onion till it is soft and then add your ginger and chilli, stirring frequently.
3. Continue to cook this till the ginger is brown too, if the ginger starts to stick to the pan just add a couple of tea spoons of water and stir until it comes free.
4. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your dry spices and salt, you have now made your base (masala). Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes. 
5. Add the yoghurt in here if you are wanting to and cook for a further few mins.
6. Add 1 litre of cold water and bring to boil or boiled water, and cook for a few minutes, then add in your plantain chunks.
7. Cook on a medium heat for 20mins, you want a gentle rolling boil.  Check the plantain to see if it is cooked you can do this by stabbing it with knife as with potatoes and also notice the colour of the vegetable becomes less white and more translucent.
8. Add the chopped coriander and serve as a main or side dish with roti, naan, or rice of your choice!

Band gobi aur matar (Cabbage and peas)

I love eating seasonally, cabbage is so sweet and yummy right now and tends to be quite sweet so marries well with peas (matar in hindi).

We call cabbage 'band gobi' which translates to closed cauliflower.

I tend to cook this dish as vegan. You can also make this Sathvick, by removing the onion and replacing it with a bit more ginger.  Again you can also use this as a side dish for an English meal to introduce a bit of spice!

Ingredients for serving 4

• I cabbage sliced on mandolin/ or just chopped
• 1 cup or 200g of frozen peas

• 3tbsp Light olive oil 

• 1/2 Chopped onion ( I like to use red onion)

• 1" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped/ grated

• 1 tsp Cumin/ Jeera

• 1/2 tsp Oregano seeds/Ajowan

• 1 -2 fresh green chilli's chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets) - Optional

• 1-2 tsp Garam masala

• 1tsp Turmeric/ Haldi

• 1-2 tsp salt

• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Add your oil, set the pan at a slow heat. Add your cumin seeds and ajowan, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
2. Cook the onion till it is soft and then add your ginger and chilli, stirring frequently.
3. Continue to cook this till the ginger is brown too, if the ginger starts to stick to the pan just add a couple of tea spoons of water and stir until it comes free.
4. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your dry spices and salt, you have now made your base (masala). You can cook any vegetable this way, it is so easy when you get familiar with the spices.
5. Add your cabbage and peas and combine the masala and vegetables, cover and cook on a medium heat for 5mins and then turn down to a lower heat for about 20mins or until the cabbage is cooked.  Cooked this way you can't easily overcook cabbage. And it can be reheated with no loss in quality.
6. Add the chopped coriander and serve as a main or side dish with roti, naan, or rice of your choice. We had it with Moongi daal tonight and roti, it was yummy!

Aloo mirchan, (potatoes and peppers)

One of my firm favourites, it is quick, goes with everything and the kids love it too!

We call all chillis, 'mirch', peppers are called 'shimila mirich'.

I tend to cook this dish as vegan. You can also make this Sathvick, by removing the onion and replacing it with a bit more ginger.  Again you can also use this as a side dish for an English meal to introduce a bit of spice!

Ingredients for serving 4

• 2-3 peppers, any colour
• 2 medium sized peeled potatoes chopped in even pecies (waxy potatoes are better, new potatoes are lovely just half them, avoid powdery ones)

• 3tbsp Light olive oil 

• 1/2 Chopped onion ( I like to use red onion)

• 1/2" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped/ grated

• 1 tsp Cumin/ Jeera

• 1/2 tsp Oregano seeds/Ajowan

• 1 -2 fresh green chilli's chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets) - Optional
• 2 fresh tomtoes chopped or 1/4 tin tomatoes - optional

• 1-2 tsp Garam masala

• 1tsp Turmeric/ Haldi

• 1-2 tsp salt

• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Add your oil, set the pan at a slow heat. Add your cumin seeds and ajowan, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
2. Cook the onion till it is soft and then add your ginger and chilli, stirring frequently.
3. Continue to cook this till the ginger is brown too, if the ginger starts to stick to the pan just add a couple of tea spoons of water and stir until it comes free.
4. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your dry spices and salt, you have now made your base (masala). Add tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
5. Add your peppers and combine the masala and vegetables, cover and cook on a medium heat for 5mins and then turn down to a lower heat for about 20mins or until the potatoes are cooked and peppers are soft.
6. Add the chopped coriander and serve as a main or side dish with roti, naan, or rice of your choice. We had it with Moongi daal tonight and roti, it was yummy!

Channa (chickpeas)

This is the first dish I remember cooking publicly.  We were cooking food from around the world in home economics. It made sense to me to cook something indian so this what I made with some roti for everyone in the class to sample.

You can buy dried chickpeas in most English supermarkets and in indian shops.

I tend to cook this vegan and serve with naan bread or butura (fried version of naan bread) which is really fluffy and yummy.

You can also decide to make this dish Sathvick just remove the onions, it takes on a whole new flavour complex.

Ingredients for serving 4

• I cup dried chickpeas These are best soaked in double their volume of water together overnight.

Tarka - We cook the channa and tarka separately and then combine them.

• 3tbsp Light olive oil 
• 1/2 Chopped onion
• 1" fresh ginger peeled and finely chopped/ grated
• 1 -2 fresh green chilli's chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets)  Optional
• 1/2 tin tomatoes or 2 fresh tomatoes chopped  - optional
• 1tbsp tomato puree -optional
• 1-2 tsp Cumin/ Jeera
• 1/2 tsp Oragano seeds/ Ajowan seeds (optional)
• 1-2 tsp Channa masala (if you can't get this add garam masala and something sour like amchur (mango powder) or crushed anardanna (dried pomegranate seeds)
• 1 tsp Turmeric/ Haldi
• 1 tsp salt
• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander
• 1-2tsp dry roasted cumin, pounded to a powder

Directions

1. If you can't soak the chickpeas overnight, then soak in boiling hot water for a couple of hours or pressure cook for 10mins and then go to 3.  I think it is best cooked slowly in a pan, but if your short of time, then you have the choice.
2. Wash your soaked chickpeas and add to a thick based pan, and top up with 3" or 8cm boiling water from kettle (this just speeds up the cooking). Cover and set it going at a rolling boil so the beans will boil and cook but not boil over.  It takes about 30-40mins for them to cook if they have been soaked.  Cooking them further will only improve the dish. This dish can be served as soupy or as thick as you like so just add water and continue accordantly  When your chick peas are cooked use your ladle to mash a bit to help thicken it. Keep stirring occasionally. While these are cooking we can cook our Tarka.
3. In a second pan add your oil, set the pan at a slow heat this is the secret to good tasting Indian cooking, this recipe is very similar to other daal recipes given.  Add your cumin seeds and ajowan seeds, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
4. Cook the onion till it is light brown and then add your ginger and chilli, stirring frequently.
5. Continue to cook this till the ginger is brown too, if the ginger starts to stick to the pan just add a couple of tea spoons of water and stir until it comes free.
6. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your dry spices and salt and tomatoes and tomato puree, you have now made your tarka.
7. Continue to cook this for a few more minutes until it is bubbling together nicely and the tomatoes have started breaking down, then add the tarka to your channa pot!  Add a little of the chickpea liquor to your tarka pan to make sure you get all the yummy spices and oil off and add back to the daal pot.
8. I like to cook my chickpeas for a good couple of hours in total, but it can cook in as little as one hour or even less if you are using tinned chickpeas.  It won't do it any harm for longer cooking, just make sure you don't forget to stir.  Taste it and add more salt if you like more.
9. Last stage is to add your coriander, garnish with roasted cumin powder and serve with naan or butura, enjoy! 

Biriyan (hulled urad/urid daal)

This is a dish my grandma used to cook and I learnt it from my sister in law.  It is not one you are likely to see in many Indian restaurants, but is totally sensational...I love it!

You are not likely to find this daal in many English supermarkets but it is worth the journey to the Indian shop.

It is very quick to cook and can be cooked vegan although I prefer it made with ghee.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• I cup of hulled Urid/Urad daal, washed.  Wash the daal well in a sieve until the water runs clear.

Tarka - We cook the daal and tarka separately and then combine them.

• 3tbsp Light olive oil or (Ghee-clarified butter if you are making this vegetarian)
• 1/2 Chopped onion
• 1 fresh green chilli chopped (the more you put in the hotter it gets)  Optional
• 1 tsp Cumin/ Jeera
• 1/2 tsp Oragano seeds/ Ajowan seeds (optional)
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• 1 tsp Turmeric/ Haldi
• 1 tsp salt
• Hand full of fresh chopped coriander

Directions

1. Once it is washed add it to a pan and top up with water 1 " above the level of the daal. and cook on a medium heat for 15-20mins or until it is cooked so a grain mashes between your fingers but NOT mashy in the pan, each grain should be separate and defined still so you have to keep a close eye on it. Once it has got to this point drain any extra water off and switch off heat and cover.
   While this cooks we can prepare our Tarka.
2. In a second pan add your oil/ghee, set the pan at a slow heat add your cumin seeds and ajowan seeds, when they begin to crackle add your onion.
3. Cook the onion till it is light brown and then add your chilli, stirring frequently.
4. Once the mix is caramel coloured, add your dry spices and salt, you have now made your tarka.
5. Add the tarka to your daal pot!  Add a little of the daal liquor to your tarka pan to make sure you get all the yummy spices and oil off and add back to the daal pot. Stir carefully not smashing the daal up.
6. Unlike all the other daals do NOT continue to cook this together as the mix will go mushy, which is still tasty but looses the nutty texture.
7. Last stage is to add your coriander and serve with rice or roti and enjoy!