Hey guys!

In celebration of the discovery I am in fact 17% South Asian, where in Asia that is, we are none the wiser, but I wanted to add some delicious and super easy side dishes to my Indian recipes I’ve popped up. Here is a recipe for bhajis, naan bread and a simple curry.

Ingredients

White Onions (2)
Vegan Butter (Pure)
Salt
Pepper
Turmeric
Nigella Seeds
Cumin
Brown Sugar
White Flour
Chickpea Flour
Raisins
Vegetable Oil

So the trick with this is to chop up the onions, I like them to be a little bit more robust than shop bought, so I roughly diced up two small onions. I then fried them off in a vegetable butter, one that has some salty taste to it is great and I always go to Pure. They have a range of different types that are dairy free so it’s great for baking and adding a mellow note to sauces or dishes. Add a tsp of nigella seeds, cumin, brown sugar. 2 tsp of turmeric for colour, then salt and pepper. You need to cook these for a little while until they become fragrant and the golden colour takes over the onions.

Next, set this aside to cool because we’re going to use our hands to shape them. Mix up a cup of white flour, half a cup of chick pea flour and 4 tbsp of oat milk. In a frying pan, pour enough vegetable oil so that it is about a cm full, and put up the heat. If you want to test whether the oil is hot enough to fry, you just put a bit of white bread into the oil and when it goes golden you have a great result. Next the onions are cool, mix with the paste and add some raisins if you fancy.I put in extra turmeric so they were super yellow haha. Form some balls and then you are good to go.

Add them in sections to the hot oil and leave for about a minute. Then use some tongues or a fork to flip them over and ensure both sides are crispy. Now you can actually just cook them like this but for me, I think they work better if you then add them in the oven so that the middle cooks through. So pop on the oven at 200 and add them for about 10 minutes on a baking trey. They’re easy, and totally delicious with any curry type dish.

Ingredients

250g White Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
7g Yeast
125ml Yogurt (Alpro)
Cheese Alternative (Sainsbury’s Free From Cheddar + Cream Cheese)
Caster Sugar
Salt
White Pepper
Free From Butter (Pure)
Chilli Flakes
Green Chillis

So with the naans, they take a little prep time but are super simple. In a bowl, mix your sachet of yeast (or about 7g) to 7 tbsp of warm water. Not hot, but warm. Then add a tsp of sugar. This will get the yeast going and it should start bubbling. In a separate bowl, sieve in the flour, the baking powder, a tsp of sugar, salt and white pepper. Create a well in the middle and then add the yeast, it shouldn’t be too wet at all. Next spoon in your yogurt and carefully fold until you get an elastic dough ball, and then it’s time to start to need the dough.

On a floured surface, you need to start working the dough and basically folding it in half, rolling it. When I started to learn how to bake I never understood what I was doing and why the bread never came out looking like the videos, and I have to say the trick is the dough needs to be worked and worked and worked. It doesn’t have any speedy step to beat this part, you have to really work the dough and if you don’t, it just won’t happen. In the flour is gluten, and what you’re doing is warming up the gluten and stretching them into strands, so this is what gives you the elastic quality. Then you have to leave it in the bowl for about an hour somewhere warm. This will allow the yeast to eat what they wanna eat and release those air bubbles that make the bread rise. You will tell when the dough is ready as it will be elastic and springy, aka if you push your finger into it it’ll bounce back.

On a separate plate, mix up some cream cheese, I used half a pot which I think is about 125g, some cheddar grated into it, some fresh green chillis and some chilli flakes, and a spoon full of pure butter. This is going to go inside the naan. If you want it plane, leave it as it is, or add some nigella seeds. I fancied chilli cheese! Mine actually stuck together perfectly and I made little parcels, but you can use an oat milk or chickpea water to really glue the edges down. Then get a pan full of hot vegetable oil and butter, and start to fry them on each side. You should have little parcels. They then easily become the most yummy naan breads ever!

So below I wanted to just give a quick curry recipe to go with it, but this is not the focus. It’s basically some spice flavours and why I use them. So I start with some cinnamon for a fruity round flavour, chilli for heat, cumin for a dry flavour, turmeric for a wide golden dry flavour, white onions sweetness, ginger for an almost citrus warmth, garlic for sweetness and heat. I also added cumin seeds for an extra flavour intensity, a salted butter alternative for that warm ness, and a dash of lemon juice to bring it together. Simple base, it’s up to you what you want to start with but it’s super simple.

Then any veg you wanted, I used Brussels sprouts, tender stem broccoli, cauliflower, peas, new potatoes and some violife cheese alternative. Bring in some stock and coconut milk, slow cook for about an hour and you have heaven on a plate.