Anyone get Fresh India for Christmas?

[CaptainWarbeck]

I know it's been done by cookery club (and I'm going back to reread those threads!) but wondered if there was anyone new with a copy who wanted to chat through some of the recipes, or any old hands who're up for sharing the recipes they make regularly from it.

I read through it on Christmas day and love it already, lots of yummy looking things and lots made with mostly store cupboard ingredients.

Boxing Day dinner for us (in a different time zone) was the pumpkin, bean and coconut curry on p169 and it was blooming delicious which bodes well for the rest of the book. Creamy with a kick of chilli and the flavour of the mustard seeds, really good.

Just a thread to sing its praises really!

[Cookingongas]

The chickpeas were tinned, so 25 minutes steaming with the rice was more than enough to cook them.

The roast veg curry and perhaps the momos are next for me.

[MarjorySunshineDust]

Yes it's more creamy and fragrant than punchy tomato.

Was going to ask if the pastry lid is essential for the biryani? I don't have any puff pastry and don't want to go to the shops unless essential. Can I just use a lid/foil?

[ThisIsSylviaDaisyPouncer]

I just used a lid Marjory and it was more than fine

[MarjorySunshineDust]

I went with the lid!
Was delicious but don't think I will make it again for a while as quite a bit of messing about, maybe when we get a new dishwasher ! I really liked the coconut coriander sauce.

[OnyK]

I just made the butternut squash seekh kebabs. I didn't have a squash so I used half sweet potato and half normal potato. I kept all of the other ingredients the same except for the butter, yogurt (Veganuary) and amount of salt (which I reduced from 1½ tsp to a pinch!).

They look and taste great. Not boasting, but mine were around 12-15cm long compared to Meera's measly 10cm! I served them with shop-bought, frozen and ready to cook parathas.

I definitely wouldn't reduce the amount of spices use, unless serving to children.

[ilovetosleep]

I love the sound of this book but is it very heavy in the paneer? I can't stand paneer and anyway DH tries to really limit dairy intake. Should we bother? Thanks

[CaptainWarbeck]

Onyk those look great! They're on my list to make too.

Ilove there's a small section on paneer, maybe 4 or 5 recipes I think. Not heavy on it at all.

[knackeredpelvicfloor]

Based solely on this thread I have ordered this book (such a mug for a book recommendation) and am looking forward to trying these things out a lot!

[OnyK]

Thanks Captain. I'm cooking the Baingan Bharta tonight.

[babybat]

Me! I loved Made in India and dropped so many hints about Fresh India that both DH and DM bought it for me! Have so far made the Goan squash cofreal with coriander and coconut, which was lovely. Tonight DH is making the aubergine and pea curry, and a coconut dal. Will take a look at the other thread for tips.

[OnyK]

The Baingan Bharta was good. I used fresh chilli instead of dried and a tin of tomatoes instead of fresh. It took a bit longer to cook than the recipe stated, but everyone enjoyed it.

Does anyone use the amount of salt she suggests? That sounds like an awful lot to me, and it's in every recipe.

[Cookingongas]

Ony- I hope not! Beautiful recipes, great food, crazy amounts of salt! I at least half it in every recipe

[OnyK]

Just made the spinach and chickpea curry/saag chana and it's delicious...the best yet!

[RemusLupinsChristmasMovie]

Going to make the butter paneer this week, I think.

[ThisIsSylviaDaisyPouncer]

I made the red cabbage and carrot dish tonight and the butternut squash kebabs. The cabbage and carrots were perfectly nice but felt like a great side dish to me rather than a main course. The kebabs tasted great but annoyed me! They were too soft to stay on the skewers so ended up s touch undercooked as they kept falling off while I was turning them... anyone else find this? Any tips?

[ThisIsSylviaDaisyPouncer]

Also quantities were a bit crazy - I felt that the red cabbage and carrot dish would have been enough for four. I'd happily make it again though but for a party, I think (it was very easy to make though)

[OnyK]

ThisIsSylviaDaisyPouncer I didn't weigh my breadcrumbs so probably used more than stated, I also chilled the mixture to let it firm up before putting it on the skewers.

[Nospringflower]

I am turning vegan! How many of the recipes are good for vegans or easy to adapt? Thanks.

[OnyK]

Nospringflower quite a few involve paneer or other dairy products, but easy to adapt (I'm doing Veganuary).

[CaptainWarbeck]

If people are still reading this/trying recipes, I made the courgette koftas with tomato and ginger sauce. The koftas are really really yummy. Sauce was really thick, so had to thin it out with yoghurt and water. I also agree on the salt amounts... you can tell there's a lot in there! I'm going to take the previous advice to halve it in her recipes.

[MarjorySunshineDust]

"Nospringflower* there is a section on paneer and egg recipes but I think the majority of the book can be easily adapted by using oil instead of ghee/soya yogurt etc. You could also substitute firm tofu for the paneer maybe.

May try the koftas next captain I never manage to do anything very interesting with courgettes!

[OnyK]

I made the onion bhajees tonight and made the courgette kofta sauce, but added chickpeas and mushrooms instead of making kofta.

[knackeredpelvicfloor]

So my copy of the book arrived and I did some stuff at the weekend.

Made the Darjeeling momos with chilli sauce - these were nice, we scoffed them. The filling was far too much for 20 dumplings so I will make them again. Have frozen the rest of the filling for now.

Then I made the Gujarati dal with peanuts and star anise and it was just a bit meh. It was fine and all that (although the kids hated it ) but not completely woohoo. I don't think I did anything wrong, it was just all a bit flat. I have to say I have never yet eaten a dal that knocked my socks off, so maybe it just isn't for me???

To go with it I made the roasted broccoli with almonds and cardamom and I really didn't rate this. We all love broccoli and meera goes on about the 'real moment' she had with this dish when she ate it and I just thought it was very disappointing.

I so want to love this book - love the look of it and the sound of the recipes. I love veggie food. I love Indian food. This should be my book. What should I try to really turn this around??!

[CaptainWarbeck]

knackered I'm also fussy with dal and I use this recipe which is great heree* - it's BBC food surprisingly but is delicious.

Were the momos worth the hassle of making them? I LOVE momos and always order them out but am debating whether it's worth it with a 1 year old running around my feet.

[knackeredpelvicfloor]

Captain thanks for that dal recipe, I will give it a try.

Yes I thought the momos were worth the hassle. I didn't make the wrappers myself and just bought frozen gyozo wrappers at the Asian shop and they were very easy to handle (had heard from a friend about struggling to separate the wrappers but that may have been non-frozen ones).

Filling and wrapping the dumplings was very satisfying because I was worried they wouldn't work and they did work and looked very satisfyingly uniform and professional once they were all done. I would recommend doing these!