Friday, December 21, 2012

PANEER WITH SPINACH


An Indian recipe for today. A recipe with Paneer, a typical Indian cheese. You can find it in Indian stores and in many supermarkets nowadays. I hope it is not very difficult to find for you.

Ingredients:

10 oz spinach
16 oz paneer
Some extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon ground Kashmiri red chillies or hot pimentón
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
8 oz crushed tomato
1 tablespoon flour, dissolved in some water
4 oz milk or cream
Some salt to taste
4 slices of tomato

Start preparing the spinach. To do that, wash them and remove the stalks. Then put the spinach in a pan with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. After that, remove the spinach from the pan, drain it and cut it in little pieces. Reserve the spinach.
Now take the paneer and dice it. Next, put some oil in a pan, heat it and cook the cheese for about 4 minutes. Remove the cheese from the pan and reserve it.
In the same pan, and after turning the fire low, put the cumin, the turmeric and the ground Kashmiri or the pimentón. Stir well and then add the ginger. Add the tomato and go on cooking for about two minutes. Then add the spinach and mix well.
Now add the flour dissolved in water, stir and add the milk or cream. Make sure if it needs some salt and let it simmer for five minutes.
Finally, add the cheese, mix well and simmer for two more minutes.
You will have your paneer ready now. Serve when it is hot. Add the tomato slices over the dish. Enjoy!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

KOFTA


Ground lamb with spices. A recipe, with many variations, well known around the world, from the Mediterranean to India. Wonderful.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cloves
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
10 black peppercorns
A pinch of cinnamon
A pinch of nutmeg
½ teaspoon hot pimentón
½ teaspoon salt
½ small red onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
1 pound ground lamb

Start preparing the wooden skewers. It is highly recommendable to soak them in water for half an hour at least.
Then prepare the spices. Put in a mortar the coriander, the cumin, the cloves, the cardamom and the pepper. When it is well ground, add the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the hot pimentón and the salt. Mix well.
Prepare the onion too. Chop it. Do the same with the garlic. Then, in a bowl, mix the ground lamb, the ground spices, the onion, the garlic and the parsley. Let it rest for 20 minutes.
And then start preparing your Kofta skewers. Take a piece of ground meat, already mixed with the spices, and make a cylinder around the skewer. Go on doing this, about three pieces per skewer, making sure that are firmly attached to the skewers.
The ideal thing is cooking the skewers on a grill, but you can also do it in an oven. If you do it in an oven, put the skewers on the brim of an oven tray. The oven must be preheated to 350ºF. Cook the Kofta in the oven for about 20 minutes. Do not overcook, though. Be careful.
You can serve it with pita bread and alioli sauce. Delicious. Enjoy!