Vegetable Curry with Paneer cheese and Naan

This one is Jamie Oliver , though it was originally a lamb curry, and I couldn’t afford Lamb this weekend, so now it’s a vegetable curry.






Rub mixture:
2tbsp fennel seeds
2tbsp cumin seeds
2tbsp coriander seeds
1/2 tbsp fenugreek seeds
1/2 tbsp black peppercorns
1 clove
1/2 a cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Toast all ingredients in a pan over gentle heat before pounding or crushing into a fine powder.

2tbsp butter
2x400g tins tomatoes
285ml/1/2pint stock or water
Some vegetables

Curry paste:
5cm/2inches fresh ginger, peeled
2 tennis ball size red onions, peeled
10 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 fresh red chilies, with seeds
1 bunch fresh coriander

1 handfull chopped mint and coriander (cilantro)
285ml/1/2 pint natural yogurt
Salt and pepper and lime juice

Preheat to 170c/325f

Chop the paste ingredients roughly, add the toasted and ground rub mixture, and puree in a food processor. In a large casserole pan, fry the curry paste mixture in the butter till it goes golden, stirring regularly. Add the tomatoes and the stock, or water. Bring to a boil, cover with kitchen foil and place in the oven for 1.5 hours to intensify the flavors. Remove the foil and continue to simmer on the stove until it thickens. This is the basic curry sauce that you can add what ever you want to. I’m using some cauliflower, potatoes, green beans, and mushrooms. Throw them in a cook for about half an hour to an hour, till everything is tender.

Sprinkle with the mint and coriander and a little lime juice and serve with the yogurt.

Paneer cheese:

Bring 2 litres of full cream milk to a boil in a thick bottom pan, remove from the heat and add a wine glass of white wine vinegar. Stir then leave for 5 minutes. The milk will begin to curdle. Pour it through a fine sieve, or a colander lined with muslin. Allow the water to drain, then squeeze the remaining curd and chill in the fridge. Chop the cheese into thumb size pieces, fry in butter with a little chili, garlic and sea salt, then add to your curry.

This is a bit of a cheat, as I have made this curry sauce before. The new bit for me was making it vegetarian and making the paneer cheese. I thought I’d include the curry recipe though because it's kind of integral to the dinner.

The curry worked fine with the vegetables instead of Lamb, but I have to admit, it was not super fabolous incredable like it was with Lamb. Next time I probably won't make it vegetarian.

The Paneer was really interesting. I did not believe for a minute that it was going to make anything like cheese, but there it was, cheese. Pretty awful cheese on it's own. Raw it tasted just like what it is, milk and vinegar, but somehow, when you cook it with the garlic and chilies and salt, it gets really good. By the time it was done it tasted a lot like hot feta cheese. Good for me cuz I love salty.

The Naan was from Joy of Cooking. It's quite fun to make, though you need a really hot oven. I'll post the recipe soon.