Sag Paneer by Savera Dairy

As I mentioned in my previous post I've had the pleasure lately of trying out some brand new Indian dairy products by Savera Dairy. In this post I'm trying out their paneer and raitu.

Now to be honest I'm not that fussed when it comes to paneer. I can take it or leave it. Mum never cooked spinach curry with paneer in it so sag panner is not a dish I crave from childhood. My cousin does an amazing chilli paneer but she has yet to give me the recipe. So paneer is not a regular feature in my shopping basket or a dish I would opt when going out.

But that I think is all changing, thanks to Savera Dairy. When I opened the packet of paneer I was pleasantly surprised at its appearance. It was pure white and resembled feta cheese. Whenever I've bought paneer from the shops I always thought it looked rubbery and with a tinge of yellow in its colour.

So on first appearance it was thumbs up. I then cut the paneer into small chunks. I decided to make Sag Paneer (spinach curry with paneer) as I had a bag of spinach delivered in my veg box this week as well. Upon cutting the paneer it stayed strong and had a lovely texture to it, again much like feta cheese but not as crumbly as feta, which is another positive as you don't want the paneer crumbling away in a curry.

Once the paneer was cooked in the curry, it stayed whole and had a great texture and flavour. It soaked up the flavours really well and kept its shape. It even got the thumbs up from the American Vegetarian who has never been a great fan of paneer. So all in all I have to say Savera dairy paneer is great. It's much better than the paneer that I've found in the shops currently. It doesn't look rubbery, hasn't got a tinge of yellow and has a flavour.

Now on to the raitu. Raitu is a yoghurt dip with cucumber and herbs. What I really like about the Savera raitu is the convenience. I just peeled back the lid and immediately was hit by a waft of mint. It had a good balance of mint, coriander, and cucumber. Its cool, refreshing and great as a dip or accompaniment with the main meal. Also fantastic for barbecues and picnics.

So here is my recipe for Sag Paneer

Ingredients

1 pack of Savera dairy paneer; cut into chunks
1 big bag of spinach; washed and chopped
Some vegetable oil
1/4 tsp of mustard seeds
1/2 tsp of cumin seeds
a pinch of asafoetida (hing, optional)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp of chilli powder
2 tsp of ground coriander
3/4 tsp of salt
3/4 tsp of sugar

Method

Heat some oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds once they start to pop and become aromatic, add the hing if using, then add the spinach and paneer. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, ground coriander, salt and sugar and mix well. Cover and simmer on a medium heat for around 20 minutes. After 20 minutes check and adjust flavour. If you find it slightly bitter, add some sugar to sweeten it up. Add some water as well if all the water has cooked away. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes and then serve with rice, or rotli (Indian bread). You can garnish with coriander if you wish.

De-lish!
http://saveradairy.co.uk/

Lassi from Savera Dairy

I've had the pleasure of trying out some new Indian dairy products courtesy of Savera Dairy. They are not available in the shops yet, so I'll do my best to describe how delicious Savera lassis are.

Refreshing, tasty, thirst quenching and gorgeous.

There are two lassies available in the Savera diary range; mango and cardamom (picture on the left) and sweet lassi. They both have a thick consistency and a great full flavour.

I didn't expect this but the mango and cardamom lassi gave me a food memory from my childhood. The mango and cardamon took me back to the days when my parents would invite all my aunts, uncles and cousins over for food and instead of making a full on Indian meal, we'd have fried puri's with cold mango juice. It may sound like an odd combination but it's quite popular to make this when you're cooking for over twenty people. The combination of the hot puri with the cold mango tasted great. The food memory I instantly got from Savera Diary mango and cardamon lassi was a lovely reminder of a cherished past.

These products are great for a mid morning or mid afternoon drink, when you're in between meals and feeling a bit peckish. They remind me of a smoothie and have a similar filling feeling.

The sweet lassi is just as good. A lovely thick consistency with a delicate aromatic cardamon flavour. A very pleasing drink and unlike anything else on the market that I have seen. I look forward to seeing them on the shelves in my local supermarket.

www.saveradairy.co.uk

@SaveraDairy

Raw Mango Salad

I love a mango,. Ripe mangoes, raw mangoes, I just love a mango. Ripe mangoes are juicy and fleshy, and raw mangoes are quite sour. Raw mangoes are usually used in chutney and pickles. I got some raw mango the other day, and this is a very simple salad. Very nice to have alongside a spicy curry. It will give you a nice fresh accompaniment. I peeled my mango, but you don't have to if you don't want to.

Ingredients

1 raw mango; finely sliced
1/4 tsp of chilli powder
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 ts of ground cumin powder
A splash of lemon juice
Some sugar (optional; only add if you find the mango too sour)

Mix all the above ingredients together and enjoy.

Cooking like Mum

The other weekend I went home and asked my Mum, to show me how to make Fenugreek curry (Methi nu shaak). Fenugreek is a green leaf which is also known as Greek Hay and Wild Clover. It has immense health benefits and  many papers recently saying that it is a "fix-all elixir". All I know is that growing up this was one of my favourite dishes, and I wanted to make it like Mum does.


I may have mentioned before that my Mum isn't the most patient person with me when it comes to teaching me how to cook. Whenever I asked her how something was made, she would just reel off the following expecting me to listen and take it in "Just do the vagar, add the masala, and let it cook" all in Gujarati of course. So that's what I've been doing, and its been working. I make very nice currys but they don't taste like my Mums and I've always put that down to the fact that I'M making it and not my Mum. "Its a different hand" my Mum would say, (and now I do as well). You can follow a Jaime recipe, but I guarantee that it won't taste the same as if Jaime made it. So I've always taken for granted that my food will never taste exactly like my Mums because its my hand and not my Mums. That is until last weekend when I asked Mum to show me how to make Methi nu Shaak, and she responded with a "Haa ok", (Yes ok). After my amazement at not getting the usual response but something more positive I followed Mum into the kitchen. I watched and took a mental and written note of everything. I wrote down the times and didn't take my eyes off her for one second. (She got annoyed after a while, but I was on a mission)

Then a few days later I decided to make the curry myself. I was a bit nervous because I wanted it to taste just like Mums but in my heart knew that it wouldn't.  I followed Mums recipe and as I was cooking the American Vegetarian came home and said that the flat smelt like my Mums house. I was like "really", and she was like "yea".


Once it was ready we sat down and I took a piece of home made rotli, and scooped up some shaak (curry). As I ate it I was amazed and delighted that it tasted exactly like Mums. I was so happy. It actually tasted exactly the same. Even the American Vegetarian agreed that it could have been made by Mum. So here is the recipe for you try. It probably won't taste like my Mums as you haven't seen her cook it, but it'll be a very close contender.


Ingredients


Two big bunches of Fenugreek leaves; chopped and washed
Some oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp of asafoetida/hing(optional)
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp of ground coriander
3/4 tsp of salt 
1 tsp of sugar
3 small hand fulls of gram flour
Some water.


Method

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once they start to pop add the asafoetida if using then add the fenugreek leaves. Add the remainder of the spices and the salt and sugar, then add water until it covers the leaves to a level. Place a lid on the pan and cook on a medium heat for around 10 mins. After 10 mins add a little more water then add the gram flour on top of the leaves and put the lid back on for another 10 mins. DO NOT STIR the flour once you put it in. After another 10 - 12 mins check the flour is cooking. It should turn a slightly different colour, some of the flour will still look the same colour but that's ok because now you can give it a stir and allow the water to cook the rest of the flour. Once stirred, turn off the heat, cover with the lid again, and let it rest in its own steam



Serve with rotli and yoghurt. De-Lish!