Last weekend when my Mum was here, I took the opportunity to try out a couple of recipes from a fairly new book that I hadn’t quite got around to trying yet.

The book is Prashad by Kaushy Patel, and it was another book that The Book People had brought into work. I wasn’t planning on buying another Indian vegetarian cookbook, I already own the book by Anjum Anand, but after flicking through I couldn’t resist!

I made these recipes last weekend, but found the curry to be DELICIOUS, but a bit salty, so I dialed back the salt, and reduced the oil a little when I made them again this weekend.

Pea and Cauliflower Curry Recipe (Wattana and Flower)

Ingredients

100ml sunflower oil (I used 50ml)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

½ teaspoon asafetida (I didn’t have any, so left this out)

1 medium cauliflower, cut into 1cm pieces

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1½ teaspoons salt (I reduced this to 3/4 tsp)

1 teaspoon sugar

400g fresh or frozen peas

1 medium tomato, finely chopped

1 large handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped

Masala

3–6 fresh green chillies, seeds left in

5cm root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Pinch of salt

Method

Crush the chillies and ginger together with a pinch of salt using a pestle and mortar (or a blender), to make a fine masala paste.

Heat the oil in a large thick-based frying pan over a medium heat for 30 seconds, then add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start to pop, reduce the heat to low and stir in the asafetida. (Heating the spices in this order is essential to the flavour.)

Add the cauliflower, then return the heat to medium and stir in the masala paste, turmeric, ground coriander, salt and sugar, plus 75ml of boiling water (if using fresh peas – I find that frozen peas don’t need it). Cover the pan and leave to cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Stir in the peas and tomato, cover the pan again and cook for a further 3–5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the chopped coriander, then leave to rest, covered, for 5 minutes or so, to let the flavours develop.

Cumin-infused Rice Recipe (Jeera Baath)

Ingredients

300g basmati rice

75ml sunflower oil (I reduced this again to 50ml)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 medium onion, cut into rings

1 1/4 teaspoons salt (again reduced to 1tsp)

Method

Rinse the rice twice in warm water, then drain.

Heat the oil in a large pan for 1 minute over a medium heat, then stir in the cumin seeds. When they start to brown, stir in the onion.

Increase the heat to high, cover the pan, and leave the onion to cook gently for 2 minutes before stirring. repeat this covered cooking and stirring several times, until the onion has caramelised to a dark brown (7-8 minutes).

Add the rice, stir gently, then add the salt and 900ml of boiling water and stir gently again. Boil, uncovered for 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all the water has evaporated and the rice starts to look dry. Put a large square of foil on top, tucking it round the sides of the pan and put the lid on. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and leave to cook for 6-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to rest, covered, for at least 5 minutes.

I also made some Roti or Chapati to go with it, but this was from the Anjum Anand book:

Roti/ Chapati/ Phulka Recipe

Ingredients

300g chapati flour, or if none available, half wholewheat and half plain flour. (I had neither chapati or wholewheat flour, so used half plain, half wholegrain spelt flour)

salt (optional)

Method

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Slowly drizzle in 200-240ml of water and use your hand to draw the flour into the centre, mixing all the time.

Knead for 8-10 minutes, place in a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 10 equal portions and roll each one into golf ball sized balls. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll each ball into a 12.5-15cm circle.

Heat a non-stick frying pan or non-ridged griddle pan until quite hot. Place a rolled out circle onto the pan, reduce the heat to medium and cook until small bubble appear on the underside, about 10-20 seconds, then turn. Cook this side then until it has small beige spots.

Repeat with the rest, keeping the cooked breads warm, wrapped in foil, in a low oven.

I used my chapati this time around like a tortilla, and loaded it with rice and curry. And much like with a usual burrito, over filled it and had filling spilling out everywhere!

Yum!