Mat's Indian Feast

After making quite a lot of mango chutney I needed to complete the full on Indian feast for the boyfriend's pre-valentines dinner and started with preparing the dough for the poppy seed naan bread. To be honest everything was pretty simple but just required lots of different spices and ingredients so took a while to prepare. I also whipped up some onion bhaji's to start and a chicken and spinach curry (sometimes known as a Sagwala) for the main.

I needed to leave the dough to rise for a while, so got on with the onion bhaji mix. I would chop the onions a little finer and in half again next time as I think this would help them stay in little balls when it comes to frying them.

I got to use my new food processor attachment on my hand blender too to create a spinach puree and a separate tomato, garlic and ginger paste to go in the curry. I think there is room for improvement but the extra effort of frying your own spices and using very fresh ingredients made for it being a hundred times better than anything in a jar and was just as good as meals from our favourite curry house too! All the recipes came from BBC Good Food Website and have just tweaked them below where necessary.

Naan bread

Makes 4

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

For the topping:

• nigella seeds, poppy seeds or sesame seeds, or chopped garlic and fresh coriander

• 1 tbsp butter, melted, to serve

Method:

For the dough, sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the milk and oil.

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.





Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea-towel and leave in a warm place for 10-15 minutes. Form the dough into five balls.

Preheat the grill to medium and place a heavy baking sheet on the upper shelf of the grill to heat.

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.

Onion Bhaji

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 free-range eggs

• 3 onions, sliced (approx 2mm wide slices and chopped in to 2-3cm in length)

• 140g plain flour

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra if required

Method:

Beat the eggs in a bowl.

Add the onion rings and mix well.

Add the flour, ground coriander and cumin seeds and stir well to combine.

Heat the oil in a deep-sided frying pan over a medium heat. When hot add a table spoonful of the bhaji mixture - I shaped them in to balls (as best as I could due to the dough being sticky) and slightly flattened them and fry for 1 - 2 mins, until golden-brown.

Turn the bhaji over and fry for a further 1 minute, until crisp and golden-brown all over. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Repeat with the remaining bhaji mixture, replenishing the oil in the pan if it runs low and allowing it to heat up again after a new addition.

Chicken with spinach

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 450g/1lb 2oz spinach leaves, washed

• 6 tbsp vegetable oil

• 3 black cardamom pods

• 2 bay leaves

• 5cm/2in piece cinnamon

• 3-4 green chillies, pricked with a knife

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2cm/¾in piece ginger, peeled and chopped

• 11 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole

• 3 large tomatoes, cut into quarters

• 500g breast chicken, cubed (the recipe recommends whole chicken jointed, skin removed)

• 2 tsp ground coriander

• 1½ tsp garam masala

• salt, to taste

• 4 tbsp plain yoghurt, stirred

• freshly ground black pepper

• basmati rice, cooked according to packet instructions, to serve

Method:

In a food processor, blend the spinach to a purée using one or two tablespoons of water to loosen the mixture. Set aside.

Heat the vegetable oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add the cardamom pods, bay leaves and cinnamon and fry for 20-30 seconds.

Add the green chillies and onion and continue to fry for 4-5 minutes, or until caramelised.

Meanwhile, blend the ginger, garlic and tomatoes to a smooth paste in the food processor.

When the onions have caramelised, add the paste, chicken pieces and remaining spices to the pan and stir well to combine. Season, to taste, with salt and simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring regularly.

Add the yoghurt, stir well and continue to simmer the mixture until the sauce has thickened and almost dried out.

Stir in the spinach purée and continue to simmer for 10-12 minutes, or until the chicken has cooked through. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then serve with rice.