Easy Weekend Curry Recipe

Curries can indeed be quick and super easy. And I thought I'd do a little bit of a different curry because I'm going to use paneer. Do you cook much with paneer? I love paneer. I don't cook much with it but it's one of those curries I always order when I go Indian. I love it. Yeah, I think it's so interesting and something a little bit different. Actually, Indians do have quite a lot of dairy products so it's an interesting one to make. So I'm just going to make a little marinade first. Can I get you chopping some onion for me? Yeah. Slice, dice. However you like. I'm easy. I'm easy in the kitchen today. I think this is one of the nice things about curries though, right? I mean, it's kind of anything goes. You mix stuff up, you can't go too wrong. Put some really good spices in there. I'm right there with you. Like, I absolutely adore curry. I probably have a curry at least once a week in my house. Like, it's just a great way of eating different things as well. Yeah, I'm one of those people that, like on holiday, I can have curry breakfast, lunch, dinner. You know, absolutely love it. I didn't tell you which spices I put in here. So I've got some garam masala. I put some chili powder. Cumin always has to go in. And then I put some turmeric in there. That is what brings your flavour out. That is what gives the depth to curry. They're so, so good. Turmeric in particular is anti-inflammatory, but honestly, all of them are giving different kinds of effects. So this is kind of like, you know, not only tastes delicious, but it's super, super good for you. So I'm just literally dicing up my paneer. You can see it's really firm, so it's not going to fall apart, but it takes on the flavour. And if you've got time, leave this to marinate for, you know, 15 minutes at least, longer if you've got it. And when you've done that, yep, you're doing the garlic and ginger. See, you can anticipate what my needs are going to be. And we're going to pop some zucchini in this as well, I thought. Do you want it diced? Yes, please. So we can set our pan on now, get it nice and hot. So my paneer now is nicely marinated. We've got a hot pan. I'm going to pop a little more extra virgin olive oil in there, and then we're just going to fry this paneer off. So in it goes into the pan, and you just fry it for until it's nicely turning a golden brown on all sides. So just keep it moving around the pan, turning over every now and again. So paneer is a cheese, and this is your protein source in this dish, because the paneer is literally pressed and strained, so the liquid's coming out, and you get this concentrated protein then into the paneer. And because it's super firm, it makes it really forgiving to cook with. Yeah, it is very similar in a sense to, you know, like a firm tofu. Like it kind of acts in that same sort of way. Yeah, and taking on the flavours of whatever spices you're using with it. It's a vessel. Yeah, exactly. And when that's nice and golden brown, you can tip it back out, and you can tip it back out into the same bowl. I'm just going to set that aside now, and that will go back in at the end. The spices in the air, Jo, you're making me hungry. Beautiful. Okay, so I'm using the same pan. Love a same pan dish. You know, limit the washing up, and just heat a little more extra virgin olive oil in there. And I know, you know, they probably wouldn't have used extra virgin olive oil, but they are now. Lots of cuisines now are using... I've got anything to do with it. No, in all seriousness, all sorts of cuisines now, not just the Mediterranean diet, are using their extra virgin olive oil. Everyone's knowledge of oils is so much greater now, right? Exactly, exactly. And if we're having fusion of all sorts of ingredients and flavours, then why not with oils too? Yeah, agreed. So a very, you know, how many times do we start with garlic, ginger and onion in the pan? This is where this is going, and you just want to cook that for a couple of minutes until the onion's nicely softened. So here's more of those spices. We've got again the garam masala, I've got some cumin powder, this is the turmeric, and then some chilli. Pop those spices in. Oh, you're killing me. You can just tell that's good for you from the smell, can't you? And then something I've learned from you, Mike, is make sure you put your tomato paste into the oil. Layering the flavour. So you've heard of lycopene, right? But the lycopene in tomatoes you can't absorb without oil. You give the cook's reason, the chef's reason why you want to put things in oil, and I'm giving you the nutritional pluses of that too. But that's why I love cooking with you and Jack Joe, because you just, you reaffirm so many things I'm doing from a flavour perspective, and then give me the health benefits of like the oils with the tomatoes, and I'm just like, yay me! I'm just going to put some salt in here. Frying it off nicely so we're getting those delicious flavours, and then into our mix go our tomatoes. I'm just using canned tomatoes. And then Mike, if you could pass me a little stock. In goes the stock. Smells so good. So I just want this to simmer gently for about eight to ten minutes so those veggies soften, the flavours all come together, then we'll add the milk and the yoghurt which will make it a beautiful creamy sauce, and then we'll be ready to pull it all together at the end. So this is just about ready now. You can see that's kind of added a creaminess and a nice glossiness. Thickens it as well right, with the reduction in the yoghurt. It's so nice. Now if you could pass me the honey. I'm going to put just a touch of sweetness with the honey in there, so maybe a teaspoon full or so of honey, have a taste of it and check, and then it sort of sounds odd but doing honey and then a bit of zesty lemon, but it works, I promise. That's what a curry needs though, it needs that balance, it needs the sweetness, the acidity, the spice. And we are ready now to, actually I'll get you to pick some coriander for me. We're going to put some coriander just in at the end. We're ready to get cooking. I'm going to put some spinach, I'm going to fold through my sauce. Always add your spinach right at the very end. Don't worry about, you know, having it tomorrow, it's fine, the spinach is going to be great, but I do love it when it's just kind of wilted through. Still got a bit of colour in there as well. Yeah, now let's take a look at these naan breads, Mike. Yeah, sure. I want to get the naan bread on, so I'm just going to put it straight onto a hot pan, and this is so convenient. I'm sure you make your naan bread from scratch at times, Mike. Do you know what, 10% of the time I make it though, 90% I pull from the freezer because they're super good, they're convenient. Yeah, I mean look at that. Great flavour. These are authentic naans, they're made for you, it means you've got them in the freezer and you can cook them literally from frozen. So just go straight into the hot pan and you're going to cook it for a couple of minutes on either side. So rather than serving my curry with rice, I'm going to do it with a naan bread because how good is it to just mop up the beautiful juices. Yeah, I'm a naan bread, roti, I love to mop curries. So our paneer there and any of the spices I've collected in the bottom of the bowl, just put that in and you just want to fold that through. It's already been cooked, it's got that slightly crunchy coating. Put it through the sauce and the spinach, flip our naan over. So it's already, you know, just cooking it from frozen, it just takes literally two minutes perhaps on each side. I can turn that heat off and we are ready to start plating up. So this is the kind of dish that I would just serve the naan in the middle of the table so you can just rip off a piece. So this is all good to go, we're ready to serve up. Oh, smells so good. Look at you, you can't wait to taste. No! You were looking for the spoon there. Wait till I give you your naan bread and you can dip that in it. I told you, curry for breakfast, lunch, dinner, don't care which one, it makes Chef Mike a happy man. Well that's a good place to be. So spoon your curry into your bowls. I like to just top it with a little bit of these slivered toasted almonds, it's kind of nice, it adds that texture and crunch. Just a touch of some fresh coriander that you can mix through or leave just as a side and then look at our beautiful naan, ready in just a few minutes, serve that on the side. So I know you're dying, you're dying for a What's that little bit? Come on! Go on, tuck it in, I know you want to go for the big one. Oh I see, you get it like a scoop so you're getting more onto his naan. A nice small TV bite for you Jo. Don't burn yourself. That is so delicious. This is really good. You've got that crispy naan on the outside, the beautiful flavour of the paneer, lovely spice in that curry. In fact you did that in what, under 15 minutes? Exactly. That is, that's a banger. So you can literally add any veggies you like into this, it's got that delicious sauce, high protein from the paneer, all sort of scooped up with your naan bread. What's not to love? Oh you know what, I'm a happy chef. Thanks Jo.