Salmon Tikka with Cucumber Yoghurt

If you are looking for a way to become friends with fish, this might be a good recipe for you. If you are already a fish enthusiast, then you're in luck too. The Indian spices, though not terribly hot, are so delicious - I'm sure there is a way to do this completely from scratch but I followed directions and bought a jar of Patak's Tandoori paste - if I hadn't made my own naan bread, this would have been a very quick, less than 30 minute meal. This recipe serves two.

You need:
- 1.5 c plain yoghurt
- 1/4 c minced red onion
- 1/2 c chopped cucumber
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 2 salmon fillets
- 3 TBS Patak's Tandoori paste
- 1 TBS oil
- 2 pieces of naan bread
- 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

First, prepare your yoghurt. This is a really nice, cool side that complements the spices on the fish really well. If you add some hot peppers to it, you will also get some bit. We are wimps though and don't abide by such things. Anyways, seed a half a cucumber, or a third if you have one of those giant long ones, and dice it finely. I left the skin on because I like it that way. Finely mince a about a quarter cup of red onion. Stir these, along with about a 1/2 tsp of ground cumin, into 1.5 cups of plain yoghurt. I used fat-free organic, but thick Greek style would be great too. Set this aside in the fridge.

If you are making your own naan, you want to start that well in advance, as the bread will have to rise etc. But if not, and you have purchased naan from your local Indian restaurant or from your grocery store, then you can move right on to the salmon portion of this dinner.

You need a couple of fillets of salmon - make sure the fish you are buying is sustainably fished in your part of the world. If you can't find salmon, red-fleshed trout works well too. Cut the fish into thirds lengthwise and leave the skin on. Brush the top and sides of each piece with the Tandoori paste - I used about 3 tablespoons total - maybe a little less. Don't put the brush back into the jar because you will get fishy things in your jar of paste and that is unsanitary.

At this point, bake your naan bread if you made your own, or start heating it up if you bought some. Heat up about a tablespoon of oil in a cast-iron pan, or other pan if you don't have a cast-iron one. But cast-iron is really the best. It should be on about medium or medium high depending on how hot your stove gets. Place the salmon pieces in the pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side, until the salmon turns opaque.

Give each person a warm naan bread, dollop some of the yoghurt on it, top with the salmon, and with some chopped cilantro if you are into cilantro. If not, that is sad but not your fault. You can fold up the sides and munch on it like a taco, or use a sophisticated knife and fork. Either way, enjoy!

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Is it summer yet?

Can I grill things outside? Can I have a burger? Please?

1. Not yet.
2. Not really.
3 & 4. Yes! Yes you may have a burger!

These are some scrumptious burgers from a truly scrumptious magazine. Did you know that the LCBO has a magazine? Did you know that you can get a subscription?* Both of these things are true. Along with some excellent drink recipes and ideas, the LCBO food magazine has some seriously tasty recipes. And gorgeous pictures to boot! This edition has a whole section on winter burgers, which was perfect because I really had a yearning for a good burger, but it is still far from grilling season.

These are anything but boring burgers. The Indian spices are a bit hit in this house, and this recipe was no exception. The chutney topping was also a nice touch. ENOUGH TALK! RECIPE!

You need (adapted from the LCBO Food&Drink Magazine):

1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated.
1 small onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tbs curry powder
1 egg
1/2 c yogurt
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 c bread crumbs
1/3 c chopped coriander/cilantro leaves
1.5 lbs ground turkey (or chicken!)
butter and oil
some Major Grey chutney, or you can make your own
some yoghurt, to top
some sliced cucumber
some sliced red onion
naan, chapati, pita, or hamburger buns!

1. Sautee apple, onion, and garlic in 1 tbs of butter until the onions are soft and there isn't any liquid. Add the curry powder.

2. Mix egg, the 1/2 c of yoghurt, the breadcrumbs, cilantro, apple/onion mixture and the turkey with your hands! It won't kill you. It's just meat.

3. Form patties (not too thick! about 2 cm thick - I got 6 out of this batch). Heat your magical grill pan or cast iron pan with a bit of oil or butter over medium/medium low and grill/fry the patties until you get lovely grill marks (I love grill marks) and the centres are cooked through.

4. You are ready to assemble! Toast your bread product of choice and top your burger with cuke, red onion, yoghurt, and most importantly, chutney! YUM! Some spinach would also be delicious here, as the mag suggests.


*Dear LCBO: If you are reading this, and you like that I posted about your magazine and would like to say thank you, a large bottle of Forty Creek would make me really happy. Just sayin'!

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Dosas with Chickpea Filling and Coconut Sauce

This recipe was my first assignment in the Daring Cook's Challenge. Every month, a challenge is assigned and cooks and food bloggers all try their hands at what might be something completely new and unfamiliar.

This month, the challenge, assigned by Debyi of The Healthy Vegan Kitchen, was a wonderful vegan Indian dish composed of spelt flour pancakes (dosas), a chickpea curry, and a coconut and tomato sauce to finish. I admit that I grumbled about having to go out and buy soy milk, but the meal was delicious and will definitely become one of my go-to special dinners.




The amounts here will feed at least five hungry people (we were only three and have enough left over for lunch and dinner for two!), but the chickpea filling freezes well and the dosas are actually quite easy to make, so a little extra wouldn't go amiss.

First, for the Chickpea Filling, you need:

5 cloves garlic, crushed and minced.
1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
1 largish carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced (red, yellow or orange are fine too)
2 medium hot banana chilies, minced (I couldn't find any hot peppers so I omitted them. Still yum.)
2 TBSP ground cumin
1 TBSP dried oregano
1 TBSP coarse sea salt (remember that if you use fine, you should use less!)
1 TBSP turmeric
4 cups cooked or canned chick peas (about 2 cans)
½ cup (one small can) tomato paste

1.Heat 1 TBS canola oil in a large saucepan over medium to low heat. Saute the onion and the spices with the carrot until the onions are softened. Then add the garlic and peppers and continue to cook until soft, stirring occasionally.

2.Mash the chickpeas by hand, with a hand blender like I did, or in a food processor. They don't have to be completely mashed - I left a bunch (maybe a third) whole to make a better texture.

Add the chickpeas and tomato paste to the saucepan, stirring until heated through. At this point mine was a bit dry, so I added about 3/4 c water - you may wish to do this also.

Second, make your coconut sauce:

1 onion, peeled and finely diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
½ ground cumin
¾ tsp coarse sea salt
3 TBSP curry powder (mild or hot - whatever you like!)
3 TBSP spelt flour (you can use whole wheat flour if you can't find spelt)
3 cups vegetable broth (you can use chicken if you don't mind it no longer being vegan!)
2 cups coconut milk
3 large tomatoes, diced

1. Heat a little oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cooking for 5 minutes, or until soft.

2. Add the spices, cooking for 1 minute more. Add the flour and cook for 1 additional minute.

3. Gradually stir in the vegetable broth to prevent lumps. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the coconut milk and tomatoes, stirring occasionally.

4. Let it simmer for half an hour.



At this point, you are ready to start your pancakes. For the Dosas, you need:

1 cup spelt flour (or whole wheat, or gluten free)
½ tsp regular salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp curry powder
½ cup soy milk (or almond, or rice, etc.)
¾ cup water
cooking spray, if needed (I needed.)

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly add the soy milk and water, whisking until smooth.

2.Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Spray your pan with a thin layer of cooking spray, if needed. It's important that the pan is hot enough - you will end up with sad pancakes if your pan is not hot. We had a few sad pancakes, but they were eaten anyways, so I guess they weren't that sad! :)



3.Ladle 2 tablespoons of batter into the center of your pan in a circular motion until it is a thin, round pancake. (If you have made crepes before, it is the same technique.) When bubbles appear on the surface and it no longer looks wet, flip it over and cook for a few seconds. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining batter. Makes 8 pancakes. (We ended up with about 12 pancakes, but they were on the smaller side.)


I arranged the pancakes on a plate and served the chickpeas and the coconut sauce separately so that people could assemble their own. The basic idea is that the chickpea filling goes inside the dosa like a burrito, and then the sauce either can go on top, enchilada style, or inside before you wrap it up. You could even dip, I suppose. Either way, this was a popular dinner in my house and I am very excited to have expanded my cooking skills! Look for another Daring Cook post next month at this time!

Muttar Paneer and Dal

I've been a little Cast-Iron Dormant of late - sorry about that. I won't bore you with excuses. Instead, accept this humble offering - three new recipes and accompanying pictures.

I've been wanting to make a nice dal in the crock pot for a while now, and finally decided today was the day to do it. But I decided I couldn't just have dal for dinner all by itself - that would be silly. Clearly I needed another curry to go along with it. And probably some naan bread, too. And so we called some folks and I made a vegetarian Indian feast - we had not only dal, but also muttar paneer, and naan bread.

The most fun part of today, the really new thing for me, was learning how to make paneer. I always try to order some paneer (or at least steal a bite of someone else's) when we go out for Indian, and I just assumed it was one of those really complicated things to make - that I'd have to buy rennet or a cow or something. Actually, it's pretty easy.

So here are the recipes, if you'd like to follow along. First, crock pot dal, as it's the one you need to start earliest (unless you don't use a crock pot to make it). It makes enough for dinner for four plus lots of leftovers, so if you have a smaller crock pot, feel free to halve the amounts.

You need:


3 c dry red lentils, rinsed and sorted
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large knob of ginger, minced
1 bay leaf
1.5 tbs cumin
2 tsp cinnamon + 1 cinnamon stick
1 can coconut milk
1 c crushed tomatoes
3-4 c veggie or chicken stock
1.5 tbs garam masala
1 tbs tumeric
1 c plain yogurt, to add at the end if you want. We didn't but it would be good.

Just put everything except the yogurt in the crock, give it a stir, and turn it on low for about 6 hours, or until the lentils are cooked and everything smells nice. Easy. This one doesn't look so pretty when it's cooked, so no photos.

Next, making your own paneer. Paneer is a very mild and delicious non-melty Indian cheese. It kind of has the consistency of tofu, but not the flavour, which instead is mildly creamy. It only has two ingredients:


1 litre of whole milk
juice of 1 lime

You'll need to have some cheesecloth handy to make this, or a very fine seive. I found lots of great tutorials for how to make this online - this was the one I ended up following - very helpful, and lovely photos!

1. Bring the milk to a boil - a full boil. When it is boiling, add the lime juice and stir. The curds will separate from the whey, as you can see in this astonishingly unappetizing photo:


2. Using a slotted spoon, remove the curds and place in the cheesecloth bag to drain. You'll need to drain it for an hour or two. For the first hour I hung mine from a knob, letting the whey drain into a measuring cup below.


For the second hour I pressed it between a rack and a heavy casserole dish to make a firm cheese suitable for cutting and frying.


3. When the cheese is firm, remove the bag and cut it into little cubes. It's now ready to use.



My favourite ways to eat paneer are in saag paneer (with spinach) or in muttar paneer (with peas). Tonight was a peas night. I turned to Nigella for help.

You need:

20 oz (by weight) of frozen peas
your paneer that you just made
some oil for frying
1 onion, very finely diced
1 knob ginger, very finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, very finely diced
1/4 c crushed tomatoes or PLAIN tomato sauce
1.5 c veggie or chicken stock
2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp garam masala

1. Fry your paneer. Heat up a pan with some oil and then add the cubed paneer. Let it get brown on all sides, then remove it to a dish lined with paper towel to drain. They should look AMAZING. Resist popping them into your mouth like popcorn.


2. In the remaining oil, gently fry the onion, ginger, and garlic. Add the spices and fry again for a minute.


3. Add the frozen peas, the stock, and the tomato. Cover, and let simmer until the peas are soft.

4. Stir in the paneer pieces and heat through.


Serve with naan bread to your happy guests.

Chickpea Curry with Star Anise

In my Christmas stocking this past December, Santa gave me a jar of Bruno's Favourite Curry Powder. It's from a small store called Bruno's Best in Vancouver (Santa always knows the best places to shop). Tonight I used it to make a variation on one of my standard, go-to meals, curry. The addition of whole star anise and cinnamon during the simmering of this curry add a real depth of flavour - not to mention, star anise is really one of the prettier spices!


You need:

3 whole star anise (mine were a gift from a friend who visted Malaysia but you should be able to get them at a normal grocery store)
1 large cinnamon stick
2-3 tbs curry powder (I used Bruno's favourite, of course)
1 tbs cumin, dried
1 big can diced tomatoes with juice
1 c chicken or veggie stock
2 c cooked chickpeas
1 diced red bell pepper
5 cloves minced garlic
2 diced medium onions
2 tbs apple or mango chutney

1. Heat up 2 tbs of canola oil in a big pan over medium heat. This is the one I use. I love it. When the oil is hot, add your onions and saute until they're translucent.

2. Add the ground spices, garlic, and red pepper and saute for a few minutes, until the spices are fragrant and the garlic starts to cook.

3. Add the tomatoes, stock, chickpeas, chutney, and the star anise and cinnamon. Let this simmer for about 20 minutes. It will reduce and the flavours of the cinnamon and star anise will slowly meld into the gravy, adding a nice depth to the curry.

4. Serve with jasmine or basmati rice, and perhaps some naan bread.

Slow-Cooker Indian Butter Chicken

I've owned a slow-cooker for about eight years now, and tonight marks its inaugural use. It's not that I scorned the crock-pot; it's just that first of all, I love the act of cooking. I love standing in front of the stove and watching the flavours and colours come together. Second of all, I'm never really sure what I want for dinner until it's 4pm and I don't want to work any more and my mind and web browser turn to cooking and food blogs.

But this morning, having woken up with a sore throat, I knew that by the time my meeting-filled day wrapped up, I was going to be ready for nothing more than a couch, a cozy meal, and maybe a beer. Thus inspired, I looked through the many recipes my generous friends have sent my way, but I also looked to this lady, whose crock-pot blog is the go-to online for slow-cooker recipes.

I have been trying for years with no success to cook something akin to the butter chicken I order when at Indian restaurants. I decided to give it one more try, using this recipe, but with some modifications.


You need (adapted from the above link):

A 3.5 litre crock pot (but I bet you anything you could do this stove-top too!)

2 large-ish chicken breasts
2 onions, sliced into half-moons
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of coconut milk
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5" knob of ginger, minced
2 whole cinnamon sticks
15-20 whole cardomom pods
2 tsps whole pepper corns (I used mixed: red, green, and black)
1 tsp grated nutmeg
2 whole star anise
1 tsp whole cumin seeds
1 tsp whole cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tbs curry powder
2 cubes of chicken/veggie/beef stock (cheating, cheating, yes, yes.)
4 tbs butter
1/2 c frozen peas
1/2 c chopped sweet pepper (I had a yellow one on hand)
1/2 c cooked chickpeas (because they were there)

1. Put into the crock-pot all ingredients but the last three. I put my whole spices in a cheesecloth bag tied at both ends and I recommend you do the same.

2. Cook on low 7 hours or high 3.5 hours. After that time, taste it to adjust the spices and add in the last three ingredients. Cook another hour on low or another 30 minutes on high.

HOW EASY WAS THAT, HMMM? Serve it with basmati rice and naan bread, a recipe for which you can find here.

Naan Bread and Chicken Madras

I love naan bread. I love Indian food. So does M.

I made a huge batch of delicious chicken madras the other day and froze some. Tonight we're busting it out for dinner #2, and because I can't seem to eat a dinner without working for it, I decided naan was in order. I made naan about two years ago with a yeast-based recipe, but the one I tried today is yeast-free and relies on baking powder for its puff.

Here's what you need (From BBC Food):

Ingredients
For the dough
250g/9oz plain flour
2 tsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
110-130ml/3½-4½fl oz milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing

1 tbsp butter, melted, to serve

Method
1. For the dough, sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the milk and oil.
2. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour in the liquid mixture. Slowly mix together the dough by working from the centre and incorporating the flour from the edges of the 'well', to make a smooth, soft dough. Knead well for 8-10 minutes, adding a little flour if the dough is too sticky.
3. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and leave in a warm place for at least an hour, until doubled in size. Then knock the dough back and form into five balls.
4. Preheat the grill to medium and place a heavy baking sheet on the upper shelf of the grill to heat.
5. Roll the dough balls out quite thinly, ideally in a teardrop shape, but really this is just aesthetic. Sprinkle over your chosen topping and press into the surface of the dough. Place the naans onto the hot baking sheet and grill for just 1-2 minutes, or until lightly browned. Brush with butter and serve hot.

My dough is currently sitting for its hour rest right now. A few minutes before dinner, I'll pop them on my baking stone for a few minutes and tell you how they turn out.


Edit: They turned out pretty good. I would cook them at hotter than the 400F I did this time, and for less time. Also, I would poke holes in them with a fork to release some of the air, as they got pretty puffy.


Here's my chicken madras recipe:

2 chicken breasts or equivalent amount of other boneless, skinless chicken, in cubes (Optional! You can use tofu, beef, just have chickpeas, etc!)
4tbs Patak's madras curry paste (yes, yes, it's cheating but it's tasty) or to taste.
2 medium onions, diced
1 green or red pepper, chopped
1.5 c chicken or veggie stock
1 large potato, skin on, diced
1 c chickpeas (optional)
2 c chopped fresh spinach (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes with juices
1 tbs oil

1. In a large cast-iron skillet or deep-sided pan, heat the oil on medium or medium high (medium for cast-iron, medium high for others). Add the chicken and brown on all sides.

2. Add the Patak's paste, the potato, and the onions and fry until onions are soft and everything is coated in paste.

3. Add the tomatoes and the broth, the pepper and the chickpeas, if using. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half. Remember to check it every once in a while and scrape the bottom of the pan.

4. Add the spinach, stir, and serve with basmati rice (I cook mine with peas and butter), and the naan you made from the above recipe. I like yoghurt with mine, because I'm a spice wimp. :)