Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls

Transcription

1 Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls This is not just any old wrap. This is a flavoursome,

2 satisfying chapatti wrap filled with rich paneer, tangy lemon and mouth-watering spices. Seriously, M&S would be proud. These kati rolls are simple, filling and perfect for lunch or dinner. You can stuff them with anything you like, from scrambled paneer to Bombay potatoes. Traditional kati rolls come from Kolkata where they are essentially a kebab wrapped in paratha. Just like sandwiches and wraps you ll find all over the world, from gyros to banh mi, kati rolls are a street food favourite because they lend themselves to eating on-the-go a must in any bustling city.

3 My take on kati rolls combines my passion for paneer bhurji (North Indian-style spiced, scrambled paneer) and hot chapattis. I figured if I was going to fill something with pure paneer and vegetables, I d better use a chapatti rather

4 than ghee-filled paratha. If you re not bothered about the extra calories, I d recommend you go the whole hog and wrap your bhurji in hot, buttery paratha. There s nothing quite like it. One of my favourite places to eat in London is at Payal Saha s The Kati Roll Company which opened after the first store in New York City's eclectic Greenwich Village was such a success. If you ve never been to the London shop, here s the lowdown; it s a tiny little café-style restaurant with no more than eight tables. The walls are plastered with vintage Bollywood posters and they play filmi hits you re more likely to bop away to at a family wedding rather than the UK s busiest shopping hotspot. My point is that I love the Achaari Paneer Kati Rolls here it is where the inspiration for my Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls came from. If you re up for it, try making your own Homemade Paneer. It will make a huge difference to the final texture of the paneer. However, if you re short of time, just use shop bought all you need to do is mash it up with a fork. I love to cook my Paneer Bhurji in butter it adds a delicious richness to the juicy paneer and vegetables. A squeeze of lemon juice at the end plumps up the paneer and provides the perfectly-balanced tang you re looking for in any good paneer dish.

5 Paneer Bhurji Kati Rolls (Makes 8 rolls) 450g paneer, crumbled

6 50g butter 1 large red onion, diced finely 1 tsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp freshly-grated ginger 2 hot red chillies, chopped finely ½ green pepper, diced finely Handful shredded red cabbage Handful petits pois or peas 3 spring onions, sliced at an angle ½ tsp amchur powder 1 tsp garam masala ½ tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp salt Juice of half a lemon Fresh coriander, to garnish 8 chapattis or paratha Salad leaves, to serve Method 1. Melt the butter in a large pan and add the cumin seeds. Allow to sizzle a little bit, and then add the chopped red onions and red cabbage. Cook on a medium heat, stirring frequently until soft. 2. Next, add the ginger, chillies, pepper, petits pois, amchur powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and salt. Allow to cook for 5 minutes on a low heat. 3. Finish by adding the paneer and lemon juice. Cook this on a medium heat for around 5 minutes, stirring often. Don t let this become too dry you want the paneer to stay juicy for your kati rolls. 4. Garnish with fresh coriander and spring onions. 5. You can either serve the bhurji like a curry with hot chapattis or naan or you can make perfectly-portable kati

7 rolls. 6. To make kati rolls, take a hot chapatti or paratha and put some filling inside. You can also add some fresh salad and chutney at this stage (I love Sriracha and green coriander chutney in these). Roll them up tightly and wrap with greaseproof paper. Serve hot with cold lassi, beer or a steaming cuppa chai.

8 Love Sanjana

9 Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream

10 Seeroh is one of those desserts that brings out the greedy little kid in me. Sweet semolina tossed with spices and so buttery it melts as soon as it hits your tongue. Flippin gorgeous. And before you ask, it s nothing like school

11 dinner semolina. Not even close. Years ago we d make special trips to the mandir (temple) during Navratri and Diwali to pray for the year ahead, see family and have an amazing, spiritual evening. Of course, I was there for all of these reasons, plus for the reason that there would be prashad sweets like Seeroh offered to the gods that evening. After putting my hands together in prayer, I d open them up and wait patiently for my Seeroh. I believe glace cherries have three purposes in life; to garnish cocktails, top cherry bakewells and stud this delicious addictive treat. If you really don t like them, replace with candied lemon or orange pieces. They ll add an incredible texture to contrast the soft texture of this dessert. I love experimenting with different flavour combinations with this recipe. The basic Seeroh is so simple that s it s easy to get carried away with different flavourings. One of my favourites is this saffron and lemon version. The other is my mum s orange and cardamom version. I could eat it all. day

12 long. There are two ways you can serve this dish; The first is to set and cool this in a square thali so you can cut it into pieces, and the second is to serve it loose as a hot pudding. Top with a scoop of ice cream and be blown away by the insane contrast of hot and cold. You should always store Seeroh in the fridge because it can spoil quickly at room temperature. This should keep well for 2-4 days whether it will last that long is another story.

13 Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream Serves 8-10 Ingredients

14 700ml hot milk 140ml hot water 100g sugar 50g golden syrup 140g salted butter 260g coarse semolina Zest of 2 large unwaxed lemons I love those beautiful Amalfi lemons A large pinch of saffron 2 tbsp glace cherries, halved Homemade or shop-bought pistachio ice cream, to serve (I ll give you my recipe in another post) Slivered almonds and pistachios to decorate Icing sugar to dust, optional Method 1. Heat the butter in a large non-stick pan and add the semolina. Sauté on a low/medium heat for around 3 minutes or until golden and toasted. 2. Slowly add the hot milk and water, whisking all the time. The mixture should thicken as you whisk. Add the sugar and syrup. 3. Cook on a medium heat for around 15 minutes or until a buttery sheen becomes visible on the top and sides of the mixture. Keep stirring all the time and cook for as long as it takes for the mixture to become glossy. 4. Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, saffron and glace cherries. Combine. 5. Serve hot with a big scoop of pistachio ice cream. That s it. Pistachio and Rose Bombay Halwa, Gujarati Mohanthal and Hot Saffron and Lemon Seeroh with Pistachio Ice Cream. Three Diwali desserts to keep you sweet all year long.

15 Happy Diwali! Love Sanjana Gujarati Mohanthal

16 Okay, round two. Not only is this our second Diwali sweet of the week it s also my second time making this Gujarati favourite for my blog. Mohanthal (pronounced: mohanthaal) are squares of mace-laced butter fudge made with chickpea flour. A

17 staple in homes during festivals, these sweet pieces of fudge are studded with crunchy pieces of chickpea flour crumble or dhrabo. Mohanthal can be served in two ways: In pieces like the kind here, or loose as a lava-like liquid gold you scoop up with a spoon and nothing more. There s a time and a place for both. Pieces of Mohanthal are perfect for gifting to friends and family during Diwali. The loose kind is more of a hot dessert served after a traditional Gujarati meal. My favourite way to have it is right after a meal of Aakhu Shaak (whole vegetables stuffed with peanut masala), daal, rice, rotli and sambharo (stir-fried cabbage and carrots with mustard seeds). Heaven. Shop-bought Mohanthal will often be brown in colour but I like my mine to be bright orange the dish is after all, named after Lord Krishna. Orange is said to be his favourite colour so there s no better colour than this for my Mohan s thali. Everything I know about making Mohanthal, my mum taught me. She teaches with a wonderful fervour that s so infectious, I become immersed like rasmalai in a pool of sweet milk. That s

18 the only way I can describe it. Having her as a mentor means I ve never been afraid of trying anything new and this Mohanthal is no different. Handling burning hot sugar syrup, scorching ghee and flour isn t easy but confidence, a steady hand and heaps of patience is key. Like a beautiful cake, you can t rush Mohanthal so take some time out and master this classic Gujarati sweet. With this recipe, I promise you ll never buy shop-bought Mohanthal again. Especially at Diwali. Classic Gujarati Mohanthal Makes pieces Ingredients For the Dhrabo (this is the bit that ensures your Mohanthal has those essential crunchy pieces): 320g gram flour/chickpea flour 1 tbsp melted ghee 2 tbsp milk For the Mohanthal: 250ml melted ghee 90g milk powder 1 tsp cardamom powder 2 2 A 1 A tbsp slivered almonds tbsp slivered pistachios pinch of saffron tsp mace powder (javantri) pinch of orange food colour (optional) For the Sugar Syrup: 400g sugar 250ml water Method

19 1. To make the dhrabo place the gram flour in a bowl and add 1 tbsp melted ghee and 2 tbsp milk. Rub the mixture in between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Allow this to sit for 30 minutes. 2. Sieve the dhrabo mixture through a medium-holed colander rubbing any large pieces between your fingers and pushing it through the sieve. Be patient. Set aside. 3. In a pan, add the ingredients for the sugar syrup and simmer until it is of a one-string consistency (this is the soft-ball stage if you have a candy thermometer). Keep this hot but do not let it go past the soft ball stage. 4. In a large, wide, no-stick pan add one cup of ghee and the dhrabo mixture you have passed through a sieve. Cook this on a medium heat until it becomes a golden almond colour. Keep stirring. Remove from the heat and allow this to cool until it is just warm. Add the cardamom powder, saffron, milk powder and mace powder. Don t be impatient let this cool properly or your mixture will seize up and become hard and crumbly as the mixture will become too hot. 5. Pour the hot syrup over the cooled flour mixture and stir until fully incorporated. Add some orange food colouring if you wish. 6. Pour the mixture into a greased thali or wide dish with sides. Sprinkle with almonds and pistachios. 7. Allow this to set for 24 hours at room temperature. 8. Cut into pieces. 9. Making liquid Mohanthal? At step 5, add an extra 250ml water after you ve mixed in the syrup and colour and serve hot with vanilla ice cream and sprinkled with almonds and pistachios. One more Diwali sweet treat coming up tomorrow.

20 Love Sanjana Pistachio Halwa and Rose Bombay

21 I used to love going into Indian sweet shops as a little nipper, especially around Diwali. Wide-eyed and full of wonder, the shop keepers would see me peering through their glass cases at the majestic displays of endless halwa, burfi,

22 penda, jalebi, kaju katli, mohanthal gulab jambu, rasmalai and everything in between. I very quickly became an expert at getting free samples. My dad would always ask me what I d like in my special box of sweets. I d think long and hard about which ones would make the cut it was a very important decision. To this day, he still buys me my own box of sweets and even if I m not there to choose them, he somehow always picks my favourites.

23 The one that always stood out was the Bombay Halwa. It s one of the only sweet that comes in lots of different colours and they re SO bright. Rows of translucent pink, yellow, green and orange jellies studded with jewel-like pistachios and

24 cashews. They were bright and beautiful and I was a magpie, attracted to anything colourful. For me, it was always the pink ones. As an avid fan of C.S. Lewis s The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, it reminded me of the White Witch s wicked Turkish delights that were conjured up to encourage Edmund s betrayal. Of course, the only things I betrayed were my poor teeth. It was so worth it. I learnt much later that Bombay Halwa is really easy to make. The jelly-like texture is achieved by mixing cornflour and sugar syrup very much like making Turkish delight. Next, you slowly add ghee until it s glossy and thick. And that s pretty much it. So simple but make sure your arm muscles are ready. There s loads of stirring involved. You can make pretty much any flavour or colour you like. I love rose and pistachio but saffron and cashew and simple lemon and cardamom are also great. Pistachio and Rose Bombay Halwa Makes pieces

25 Ingredients 160g cornflour 140ml water 400g sugar 250ml water 4 tbsp rose syrup 100g ghee, melted 50g roasted pistachios, lightly broken ½ tsp cardamom seeds, ground Method 1. Grease a 6 8 rectangular tin with ghee. 2. First, mix together the cornflour and 140ml cold water. 3. In a large pan (I use a wok with a large handle), add the sugar and 250ml water. Bring to the boil and wait for all the sugar to melt. 4. Once all the sugar has melted, in a slow and steady stream, add the cornflour mixture, stirring all the time. Keep the mixure boiling all the time and keep stirring. It will thicken and look a lot like wallpaper paste. 5. When you ve added all the cornflour mixture, add the rose syrup. 6. Next, start adding the ghee slowly at first. Keep stirring to ensure there are no lumps. Then add the rest of the ghee and incorporate. Cook again, mixing all the time until thick, glossy and translucent. 7. Mix in the cardamom and pistachios. 8. Pour the mixture into the greased pan, decorate with crushed pistachios and allow to set at room temperature for 12 hours or overnight.

26 9. Cut into pieces as big as you can fit in your mouth. I have two more of my favourite Diwali sweets coming your way this week. Keep an eye out.

27 Love Sanjana