Vegetarian Korma

           I used the Vegetarian Korma recipe from Zarina's Home Cooking, Recipes from Singapore & Malaysia. I bought this book just after I got married, about 21 years ago. I have another book of hers, Zarina's Easy Cooking. That was a wedding gift presented to me by my schoolmate. If you are looking for  cooking books that have recipes of  common daily dishes, especially Malay & Indian dishes, I highly recommend these books!

Vegetarian Korma

Source: Zarina's Easy Cooking
            Recipes from Singapore & Malaysia

Ingredients:
A
300g small potatoes  - cut into halves
1 carrot (about 200g) -  I used mixed frozen vegetables.
200g cauliflower
100g french beans - I didn't use.

B
2 onions
4 medium tomatoes
4 sprigs mint leaves
3 green chillies
2 cloves garlic

C

6 cloves
4-5 cardamons
2 pcs (4cm lengh) cinnamon stick


D
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

E
1 cup water
salt
30 cashew nuts- roast or fry till brown
10 cherry tomatoes or 3 tomatoes (sliced into 8 parts)
juice of 1 lemon
2 sprigs coriander leaves]chopped
2 sprigs mint leaves        ]
6 tbsp oil

Method:

1. Boil salted water & half cook each of the vegetables. Strain & set aside.
2. Grind B in liquidiser until fine.
3. Heat oil & fry C until fragrant.
4. Add in B & D until fragrant.
5. Then add in water, potatoes & salt.
6. Then add carrot & cauliflower & cook for 5 minutes.
7. Then add corn, beans, lemon juice, cashew nuts & tomatoes. Mix well.
8. Finally, add chopped coriander & mint leaves.
9. Serve with rice, chapati or naan.

Tandoori Chicken

          Tandoori Chicken goes very well with naans. So I made these Tandoori Chicken. I used the recipe from the same book I took the naan recipe from. Everyone agreed the chicken was very delicious but Amirah asked me, "Why is your Tandoori Chicken not red.......???" That's because I didn't use any colouring because I didn't have any. Nevertheless, the taste was still authentic.

Chicken Tandoori

Source: The Complete Book of Indian Cooking

             by Shehzad Husin & Rafi Fernandez

Ingredients:
4 chicken quarters

175 ml (3/4 cup) natural (plain) low-fat yogurt
1 tsp garam marsala
1 tsp ginger pulp
1 tsp garlic pulp
1 1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
few drops red food colouring (I didn't use.)
2 tbsp corn oil

Method:

1. Skin, rinse & pat dry the chicken quarters. Make 2 slits into the flesh of each piece, place in a dish & set aside.
2. Mix together the yogurt, garam marsala, ginger, garlic, chilli powder, turmeric, ground coriander, lemon juice, salt, red colouring & oil & beat so that all the ingredients are well mixed.
3. Cover the chicken quarters with the spice mixture & leave to marinate for about 3 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 240 deg C (475 deg F). Transfer the chicken pieces to an ovenproof dish.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the chicken is cooked right through & browned on top.
6. Remove from the oven, transfer onto a serving dish & garnish with salad leaves, lime & tomato.

Naans

           As promised, I'm posting the recipe of  the Naans I made on Deepavali. I haven't made this for a very looooong time. Everyone in my family loves this flat bread, including my picky no 4! It's so easy to make, so I think I'll be making this more often.

          Traditionally, Naans are baked in a tandoor or clay oven. I used my Napoli Pizza Express oven to bake the naans. This oven has a baking stone base & its temperature can go as high as 470 deg C! You can learn more about the Napoli Pizza Express here. If you have a baking stone, you should use it in your oven. Otherwise, bake the naan (or any bread) on an inverted baking sheet. I learnt this tip from Peter Reinhart's book.

           Told you making this bread was easy.....  Even my 7-year-old could make it! In fact, he helped me rolled out & shaped all the dough! He's so proud that he couldn't stop telling everyone that he made all the naans. Good job Maisur!

Naan

Source: The Complete Book of Indian Cooking
             by Shehzad Husin & Rafi Fernandez

A
2 tsp dried (active dry) yeast - I used instant yeast
4 tbsp warm milk
2 tsp sugar

B
450g (4 cups plain)  plain (all- purpose) flour
1 tsp baking powder (I used double-acting.)
1/2 tsp salt

C
150ml (2/3 cup) milk
150ml (2/3 cup) natural (plain) yogurt, beaten
1 egg (beaten)

D
2 tbsp ghee (melted)

E (Topping)
chopped fresh coriander leaves (aka cilantro)
onion seeds (I didn't use.)

Method:

1. Combine A & leave to become frothy.
2. Sift B in a bowl. Make a well & pour in A & C. Mix thoroughly. (I used my mixer with dough hook.)
3. Add D & continue mixing to form a dough.
4. Tightly cover bowl & keep in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. To test, push a finger into the dough - it should spring back. Divide dough into small portions.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 deg C (400 deg F).
6. Take a portion of dough & roll out  on a floured surface. (Make each naan slipper-shaped.)
7. Sprinkle with coriander & onion seeds.
8. Place on greased trays & bake in the preheated oven for about 10-12 minutes.
9. Remove from oven & brush surface with ghee.