Vegetarian Recipe - Sag Paneer (as promised)!

Anyone want to make a tasty, healthy, homemade, quick as you like curry for dinner?  This is for you.  

Quicker than ordering a delivery, much cheaper and of course much healthier!  Great for a weekend treat, or a Friday night in front of the telly.  This one took about 15 mins and there was enough for 2 portions.  So as promised here it is - our no nonsense, vegetarian recipe for a healthy sag paneer (that's spinach and cheese curry)!   

I love a sag paneer and I cant believe I managed to make it myself!  I have no idea if this is the 'proper' way to make it, if this is authentic or spiced as it should be.  I do know it was my first attempt and it looked, smelled and tasted divine!  I will be making it again and I will be following the same recipe to try and create the same results...  Here's what I used and what I did.  Try it and let me know how you get on, or please feel free to share your recipes with me too so I can see how right or wrong I got it!

SAG PANEER

INGREDIENTS:
 
Spinach (approx 150g fresh baby leaves)
Paneer cheese (approx 100-115g)
Onion (1 medium)
Garlic (2 cloves)
Ginger (approx 1 inch)
Tomato (1-2 fresh tomatoes)
Green chilli (1/2 - 1 deseeded)
Ground cumin (1-2 teaspoons)
Ground Turmeric (1-2 teaspoons)
Garam Masala (102 teaspoons)
Rapeseed Oil (1-2 tablespoons)
Natural Greek Yoghurt (2-3 tablespoons)



METHOD:

• Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped onion 
• Once onion starts to sweat, add 2 cloves sliced garlic and the ginger (grated or finely chopped is good)
• Add the chopped green chilli (deseeded - this isn't a HOT curry, chilli is in here to give a little kick only but mostly for flavour)
• Dice the paneer and add to the pan
• At this point you can add the dry spices too 
• 1-2 teaspoons of turmeric will give colour, cumin and garam masala will give the flavour and the ingredients will cook now in a dry pan covered in the spices (to stop burning/sticking to the bottom of the pan you can add a little more oil here if required)
• Add all the spinach
• Once it starts to wilt, add 3 tablespoons of natural Greek yoghurt and 1-2 tomatoes at the end
• Keep on the heat and stir everything through making sure its all piping hot
• Add fresh coriander to dress

So on the side we added a cucumber raita - again homemade and this is one I had made before.  In fact for some reason this is the way I've made it since I was about 6 years old and it was the only thing I knew how to "cook" when I was little.  When my family would make curry, I would make this:

CUCUMBER RAITA:

INGREDIENTS:

Cucumber (approx 1/4)
Natural/Greek yoghurt (3 tablespoons)
Fresh lemon juice (half a lemon squeezed)
Sugar (1 teaspoon white sugar)
Fresh mint (3 medium sprigs, chopped)











METHOD:

• Grate/finely chop or dice the cucumber and add it to yoghurt in a bowl
• Stir in the lemon juice
• The stir in the sugar
• Lastly add and stir in the fresh mint

Could not be simpler, but the taste is just too good and very moreish.  So nice to cool down a hot curry or as an accompaniment to poppadoms or Indian breads.  Again a tasty and super fresh and healthy alternative to something like a mango chutney, or to shop bought dipping sauce (bar the spoonful of sugar, but you could actually leave that out if you really wanted to!)

And there you have it, super quick, super tasty and pretty damn healthy vegetarian sag paneer with cucumber and mint raita.  no nonsense. 

Have a go yourself and please share your recipes, photos of your creations and let us know how you got on.... You can share via 

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or via the comments below >>>

Keep your eyes peeled for more no nonsense recipes and our simple, quick, healthy versions of more dishes.  As we do them, we share them (as long as they are good!)  

You can also throw some dishes my way (not literally of course), but let me know if there is anything you love and at no nonsense nutrition we will try and healthy it up for you without losing flavour.... Always love a challenge so bring it on - you can send ideas to info@nitakothari.com where you can also contact us about any of our other services or ask me anything there to find out more!

Now, go get curry making, share your pics and enjoy!

 
 **Please remember this is advice ONLY (as is all other information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it) None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your GP or health professional**

 

Remember, remember...this chilli recipe

Remember, Remember the 5^th of November…..

Happy fireworks night / bonfire night / Guy Fawkes night…..? to you all.  What do we call it these days?  And what are we really celebrating?  Do you know the full story of the gunpowder plot to blow up the House of Lords back in 1605…..?  Here are a couple of wiki links with more info if you want to learn a little bit more about where/why this Nov 5^th tradition exists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonfire_Night

And when you’ve read these and made our chilli recipe (as below), and once the bonfire is out – you can take a quiz and see how much you remember about the origins of bonfire night here:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/how-well-do-you-know-what-happened-during-the-gunpowder-plot-a6721096.html

 

In the UK I know we celebrate by wearing all the winter clothes we actually own, going to the local park/recreation ground in the freezing cold, at night time, in the dark.  We get as close as possible to a mega huge bonfire built and lit especially for this night, and we hold our heads back and watch numerous fireworks bang, crack, pop and fizzle overhead until our toes and fingers are frozen, our nose is numb and our necks ache from the tilt.  We still make the noises though, the “oooooohs” and “ahhhhhhs” each time a big and beautiful twinkly firework goes off, because they really are so pretty!  If we are not lucky enough to get to a local organised display we congregate with other family members and friends into whoever’s garden is the largest, all bringing a homemade effigy of Guy Fawkes (or more recently we bring a balloon faced, charity shop suit, stuffed with paper and dressed as a rubbish celeb, or tv character – or is that just us?) to throw onto the lit bonfire that the men build.  The men also set off the fireworks bought from the supermarket, or fallen off the back of a lorry including Catherine wheels that never light properly and scare the life out of me)!  The kids get sparklers and we of course all write our names with them and try to take photos. 

We all drink a few warming brandies, or mulled ciders to keep warm, then feast on hotdogs and of course jacket potatoes and CHILLI.

 

No surprise then, that today as it’s the 5^th November and Thursday blog day, we are sharing (no not fireworks but…) a fantastic healthy chilli recipe.  This one we made with Quorn mince so it’s vegetarian too.  And with this one, there is the extra addition of tortilla chips backed in – yep, we are spoiling you, but think this will go down a treat in plastic bowls in the garden for the kids, or for a few of you huddled round the dining table when you get in from watching the local firework display.

 

VEGGIE CHILLI BAKE:

(serves 6 – or in reality 4-5 depending on portion size and what you eat it with!)

INGREDIENTS:

2 cloves garlic

½ a medium onion

A good large handful of mushrooms (approx. 6?)

1 large red pepper

1 medium red chilli

Handful of pitted black olives

350g Quorn mince (or if you’re not doing the veggie version use beef mince for the best flavour)

1 can chilli beans in chilli sauce

500g passata (we used a carton but you can make your own if you wish)

2 teaspoons of marmite (or more if you love it!)

4 teaspoons of gravy granules (beef or veg flavour)

1 LARGE packet of salted tortilla chips

Grated cheddar cheese (to top)

Soured cream (to serve)

Hot chilli powder and chilli flakes (as much as you like – add to your own taste/temperature)

METHOD:

• Use a large pan - heat some oil in the bottom 
• Add the garlic / onion / fresh chilli and fry  off slightly 
• Then add the mushrooms / red pepper and fry off all until soft 
• Add the mince, followed by chilli beans, passata  and olives
  
• After a few minutes (once the mince is nicely cooking through) stir in the marmite, gravy granules and extra chilli powder and flakes (to taste) 
  
• Simmer the flavours together for about 15-20mins, adding water as required so it doesn’t fry out (you will need to add more to the quorn mince as this really soaks up liquids like a sponge – you could also have some tinned tomatoes to hand should you need to top up the mixture without it getting too watery 
• Layer the chilli and tortilla chips in an oven proof bowl, with the final top layer being the chips
  
• Cover this with grated cheese and bake until the top is golden brown and bubbling! 
• Serve with soured cream, and maybe some guacamole and extra uncooked tortilla chips. Careful – it’s HOT !
  

Give it a go and let me know how you enjoy it, or please do let me know your homemade chilli recipes as I’d love to try some other ideas too.

Have a great and a SAFE bonfire night – remember to follow the fireworks code!   

Here are the safety rules from the London Fire Brigade:

Firework safety code

• Only buy fireworks marked with the British Standard Kitemark BS7114 
• Don't drink alcohol if setting off fireworks 
• Keep fireworks in a closed box and always follow the instructions carefully when using them 
• Light them at arms length using a taper and stand well back 
• Never go back to them once they are lit. Even if a firework hasn't gone off, it could still explode 
• Never throw fireworks and never put them in your pocket 
• Respect your neighbours – don’t let off fireworks late at night and remember there are laws to follow 
• Take care with sparklers – never give them to children under five. Even when they have gone out they are still hot so put sparklers in a bucket of water after use 
• Keep your pets indoors throughout the evening

Bonfire safety

• Build your bonfire well clear of buildings, garden sheds, fences and hedges 
• Never use flammable liquids to start a bonfire and never burn dangerous items such as aerosol cans, paint tins, foam furniture or batteries 
• Don’t leave bonfires unattended. An adult should supervise it until it has burnt out. If it has to be left, damp it down with plenty of water 
• Always keep a bucket of water or a hosepipe nearby in case of fire

http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/BonfiresAndFireworks.asp

For more info please see www.nitakothari.com or email me info@nitakothari.com

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**Please remember this is nutritional advice ONLY (as is all other information contained in this blog, the website and social media related to it) None of the info or advice is intended to override any recommendation from your GP or health professional**