You have Naan? I have a dinner (1), Onion Bhaji, Cucumber raita

So what did we have with our Naan?

From the top right: chicken balti, tandoori chicken, onion bahji and Saag Paneer Palak Paneer in the center.

During a Skype session Tanna suggested Saag paneer (which in effect became Palak Mozzarella... center of the plate), I found some long forgotten Tandoori spices in the pantry and made grilled chicken Tandoori.

I remembered a cookbook featuring all kinds of Asian dishes, and while I told Tanna that I never had anything like Saag Paneer I flipped the pages to find a recipe for it! Right there in a book I've had for ages.

Paneer being a firm cheese, the Palak stands for spinach and spices. Ok, that settled it. Timewise I substituted mozzarella for paneer. Both Husband and I didn't like the way it looked, didn't like the way it smelled. We tentatively took a bite.... Not bad at all! Paired it with Naan... delicious! Between the three of us (oldest son helped) we polished off the entire bowl.

I gladly refer you to Tanna for the recipe, I used the one I found in the book but as certified sources have it that one should be called Palak Paneer because it uses spinach. Saag Paneer is made with mustard greens... I think I'm confused. Maybe not. But it's good and you should try!

Next I made Balti chicken (recipe follows soon), fairly mild to accomodate the twins, they loved it!

A lonely cucumber I found transformed into cucumber raita, simple but a delicious aside.

Cucumber Raita

2 cucumbers, peeled, deseeded and chopped

200 ml -thick- yoghurt

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1/2 tsp grated gingerroot

salt and pepper

paprika for garnish

Roast cumin and mustard seeds in a dry frying pan until fragrant. Mix cucumber with yoghurt and spices plus gingerroot. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Quickly scatter some aleppo chili flakes in before anyone notices hehe). Serve!

Something else I made were little onion fritters, not entirely sure how I think about them though, in potential these sound delicious but I detected a hint of something strange. My oil? The chick pea flour too old? I do know I want to try again because as I said in potential... yum!

Recipe Onion Bhaji (onion fritters):

80 gr besan (gram flour/chickpea flour)

60 gr ap flour

1.1/2 tsp baking soda (baking soda is what they said, maybe I should have used baking powder?)

1 ts ground chili

1 egg

3 dl water (add as you see fit, you'll want a thick batter, this is way too much)

4 large onions, peeled and sliced in rings

4 garlic cloves, chopped

oil for frying (I used sunflower seed oil)

Sift flours, baking soda and chilipowder in a bowl, mix egg and water and add to whisk into a thick batter. Add garlic, whisk and finally add the onion.

Heat 1/2 to 3/4 inch of oil in a large frying pan and make small "pancakes", using approx. 2 tbs of batter for each fritter. Fry on each side until golden and done. Leave to drain on paper towels and serve as hot as possible with mango chutney or chili sauce. (Or cucumber raita!).

Enjoy!