Al fresco food, glorious food!

Barbeque season is officially here, in India anyway as it is COOL enough to sit out! We just had a yummy mini BBQ on our balcony, i'm vegetarian and I loved it! My ingredients for a brilliant BBQ are as follows....

- some pretty lights, i love my lanterns from Dubai 

- somebody very patient who can get those coals a'smokin (HI HUSBAND!)

- a nice sauvignon blanc or indus pride beer (lager infused with cardamom, coriander or fennel)

- corn on the cob as a v easy starter, just remove the leaves and silk and chuck on the bbq, serve with salt, pepper, lemon and a bit of butter

- homemade coleslaw as a side dish (grate half a white cabbage, 2 carrots and stir in 2 dessert spoons of mayo, use red cabbage and raisins too if you feel fancy!)

- sausages and burgers are so retro, if you fancy a (healthy) change try my kebabs!:

- chop a couple of green peppers, 2 red onions into 1/8's and throw in a big bowl with some mushrooms and a good amount of paneer or chicken chunks (we do half and half), you can use any veggies that bbq well but just be mindful they should all take the same amount of time to cook, cremated tomatoes are not a good look! Make a marinade of 1 tsp chilli flakes, half tsp turmeric, 1 tsp kitchen king masala (or garam masala), 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsps chicken seasoning (the one i use is paprika, dry garlic, chilli, dry onion and pepper), juice of 1 lemon, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tbsp veg oil and 3 tbsp yogurt. Mix well and marinade your veggies and paneer/chicken for an hour... 

- while your kebabs are soaking up those spices, throw some wooden skewers in a load of water so they don't burn on the bbq

- after one hour stick your veggoes and paneer or chicken on skewers and bbq til cooked!

- serve with coleslaw! You could also do some jacket potatoes if you have the patience (scrub clean large potatoes, dry, rub in olive oil and salt, wrap in foil, thrown on bbq for an hour)

Yum!

Of course if its too hot/cold to sit out you could make all of these in the oven!

Cooking with my mother in law

I feel like my first 2 blog posts were focused on the more negative aspects of life in india, so i wanted to share something a bit more cheerful! My future mother in law is staying with us at the moment. She's an amazing lady, not the typical indian mother in law i'd heard about. For a start shes absolutely cool with Sushil marrying a gori (white girl) and us living together before marriage. I know of indian parents in the UK who won't allow their kids to date people of different castes, never mind different countries! We don't speak the same language, she speaks a little english and i speak a little hindi, but we get along really well. Well i think we do!

Anyway while she is staying im desperately trying to learn as much as i can from her in the kitchen department, so i thought i would share her recipe for channa masala with you, my favourite dish! This is a brilliant dish for vegetarians like me as its high in protein and absolutely delish! We use dried chickpeas, tinned food hasnt really caught on here, but you can use a can of chickpeas instead and skip the first step, just add them at the end with a cup or 2 of water.
I like to make this as early as possible to allow the flavours to infuse. We eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner, its very tasty and filling!

2 cups channa (dried chickpeas)
2 tbsp channa dhal
1 tbsp tea or 2 tea bag
1 tbsp oil, veg oil is fine, i like to use coconut oil if available though.
1 tbsp jeera (cumin)
1 onion
1 green chilli
2 tomatoes
1 tsp lal mirchi (red chilli powder) - you can adjust the amount according to your preference
1 tsp haldi (turmeric)
1 tsp dhania (coriander powder)
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp channa masala mix (available in indian supermarkets)

1.Soak channa and dhal over night in a covered bowl with double the amount of water and 1/2 tsp salt. add to a pressure cooker with water it was soaked in. Cook for 45 mins with salt and 1 spoon of tea tied in a muslin cloth (or 2 teabags). - if your channa doesnt cook well a tip is to add 1/4 tsp baking soda
2. Meanwhile fry 1 tbsp jeera until it browns and the fragrance is released
3. Add 1 chopped onion & 1 chopped green chilli and stir regularly
4. Chop 2 tomatoes and add to onion mix after 5 mins
5. Add 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp coriander 1/2 tsp garam masala
6. Add a little water (approx 1/2 cup) and cook on a medium flame for 10 mins, the water helps release the spices aroma and flavour
7. Add onion & tomato mix to cooked chick peas in water
8. Add 2 tsp channa masala mix And salt to taste if required
9. Simmer for 5 mins
10. Keep covered until ready to serve.

Serve with rice, rotis or battura. I like a big dollop of yogurt and a good sprinkle of fresh coriander before serving looks nice and tastes brilliant. If you liked this please comment and let me know if theres any other indian dishes i can try and tell you about!