Shubh Divali

Tomorrow Hindus celebrate the festival of lights. Divali marks a triumph of light over darkness, this celebration is marked with the offering of Indian sweets which are shared with friends and family and of course a large and delicious feast.

Here are some of my favourite Indian recipes which I hope you will try to recreate in your homes soon! Shubh Divali

Vegetable Biryani

2 cups basmati rice, washed and soaked in water for 20 minutes, drained

1 tsp saffron threads, toasted and steeped in one cup warm water

3 onions, peeled

4 cloves garlic

1-inch piece ginger, chopped

2 tbs blanched and slivered almonds

3 tbs water

2 tbs cashew nuts

3 tbs raisins

4 to 6 tbs vegetable oil

1½ lbs mixed veg, carrots, cauliflower, potato etc

1` cup yogurt

6 cloves

½ tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cardamom seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

2-inch cinnamon stick

1/6 nutmeg

inch cayenne

Thinly slice 2 onions, set aside.

Place one onion into a food processor or blender; add garlic, ginger and 2 tbs almonds.

And water, process to a paste.

Meanwhile heat some oil in a frying pan, fry cashews until golden, remove then fry raisins until they begin to pop, remove for garnish.

Now add some more oil and fry onion slices until dark brown and crisp, this will take a while.

Now, heat 2 tbs oil in a large sauté pan, or shallow pan, add garlic and ginger paste, stir and fry until medium brown in colour.

Add vegetables to pan and stir and combine, add yogurt and some salt stir and fry.

Place cloves, peppercorns, cardamom seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cayenne into a spice mill, process to a fine powder.

Now add all this to the vegetables, add the rice and stir to coat well with spices.

Add 1 cup water with saffron threads and 1¼ cup additional water.

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Check and fluff, stir in onions, and decorate with raisins and cashews.

Serves 8

Palak Paneer

½ lb fresh spinach leaves

2 medium-sized tomatoes

½ cup chadon beni leaves

1 hot green pepper, chopped

1 tbs fenugreek powder (optional)

3 tbs coconut oil

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 tbs fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

2 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp turmeric

1 lb paneer cut into ¾-inch cubes

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and drop all the spinach into it. As soon as it wilts, drain in a colander and run cold water over it. Set aside to drain for another 5 minutes. Do not try to squeeze any more water out of it.

Put the tomato, spinach, chadon beni, hot pepper and fenugreek into a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.

Pour the oil into a medium, non-stick frying pan and set over a medium heat.

When hot, add the onion and fry for 7-8 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add the ginger and garlic and continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. the chilli powder, ground coriander, cumin and turmeric. Now pour in the mixture from the blender, srtir and fry for a few minutes, add the salt and stir in the paneer. Add about ½-cup water.

Cook on a simmer covered for 10 minutes.

Serves 6

Indian sweet rice or kheer

½ cup rice

2/3 cup water

7½ cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 cardamom pods

1 tbs toasted almonds, coarsely chopped

1/3 cup raisins

Soak the rice in ½ cup water for 30 minutes. Then boil the rice in the water until all the water dries up. Remove pot from the heat.

Add the milk and cardamom pods to the rice and stir well. Simmer on low heat for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally to ensure rice does not stick to the bottom and sides of the pan. At this point the rice will be of a creamy consistency.

Now add the sugar stirring constantly over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the rice is creamy.

Remove from the heat, remove the cardamom pods. Serve in individual bowls garnished with toasted almonds and raisins.

Serves 8

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