It's been a while since I blogged a home-cooked meal, hasn't it? In fact, I think the last meal I blogged was
my entry for the Barossa's Table competition, almost three months ago! Since we came home I've been so busy with work, social engagements and other projects that we've been dining out most nights and have barely cooked at all. (Nothing noteworthy anyway). And on the nights we have been at home, we've been so knackered that we've been getting takeaway and/or home delivery in. Eep!
But finally, the Easter weekend came - five whole days of relaxing, five days to sleep in, five days to catch up on my blog, five days to get back into the kitchen!
I spent most of Friday happily pottering about the kitchen, putting together this yummy Indian meal. I do enjoy Indian curries, but don't often cook them as they can be quite time consuming.
A Relaxing Homemade Indian Meal
Mughlai Chicken
Navratan Korma
Pilaf
Homestyle Garlic Naan
The chicken recipe comes from Nigella's
Feast (recipe
here!), I found the
korma recipe on the internet, the pilaf was just basmati rice with onions and a few spices, and I adapted Jamie Oliver's recipe for Favourite Anytime Flatbreads to make the Naan. (I've posted the recipe at the bottom of this post!).
I also got to break in my new
Magimix Compact 3200, which was super-exciting! I got it as a belated housewarming gift from my family friends Uncle Mike and Aunty Helen. I love it! It's got 3 bowls of different sizes, and a whole range of super-sharp attachments. I used it to mince up the spice pastes for both curries, to chop up onions, to grate up paneer, and to knead the dough for the naan.
This is the spice-paste for Nigella's Mughlai chicken - loads of spices, garlic, ginger, water and almond meal.
As I mentioned, I simply googled the
recipe for the navratan korma (one of my favourites for when I go to Indian restaurants), and was really happy with how it turned out. The first step was to fry cashews in ghee, and it was so incredibly fragrant! Love. I was also happy to make something with a big vegetable contingent - something that's easy to miss when you're eating out a lot.
Here's the spice paste for the navratan korma - I love the deep ochre tones of the paste.
It was only at the last minute that I decided to make naan to accompany the meal. I love, love, love naan, but it's never worth ordering it take-away, as it always gets soggy by the time you bring it home. This recipe is at the bottom of the post. It's not exactly the same as a proper naan, cooked in a tandoor by an expert who makes naan day-in, day-out, but it's so tasty and easy - I'd highly recommend it!
You just mix everything in a food processor (check out the Magimix plastic dough attachment)...
... form a dough...
... roll it into portions, and fry on a griddle! Look how much it puffs up. It really smells like proper naan too.
Ta-dah! I was so impressed with how they turned out. I totally want to try making other naans now: kashmiri naan, cheese naan, plain naan... yum!
And here are the finished products...
 |
| Mughlai Chicken |
 |
| Pilaf |
 |
| Navratan Korma |
Homestyle Garlic Naan
(adapted from Jamie Oliver's "Favourite Anytime Flatbreads")
Makes 6
Dough:
250g plain flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp salt
250g Greek-style yoghurt
Topping:
75g melted butter
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tbs flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
For the topping, simply stir all the ingredients together.
For the dough, place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, and mix to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead lightly until smooth. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Heat a griddle pan to medium-high heat. Divide the dough into 6 even(ish) pieces, and roll out thinly. Brush a piece of dough lightly with vegetable oil, and cook for 1-2 minutes on the first side, until puffed up and stripily charred. Flip over, brush with some of the garlic-butter mixture and cook for a further minute, until cooked through.
Repeat with the remaining dough pieces, and eat immediately.
Enjoy! Did everyone else enjoy their long weekend? What did y'all get up to?
Gold, Bright White, Regal Purple and Leaf Green
will do. 
