I often like to cook at home and my mum is a great cook, so we are always on the look out for new Indian recipes or different ways to cook traditional fare.
Suki Pantal is a Malvern-based chef who is known for her authentic Indian home cooking.
The chef rose to fame after appearing on Channel 4's Great Cookbook Challenge in 2022.
Mrs Pantal served up Murgh Makhani (butter chicken), which went down well with the judges, and even Jamie Oliver gave it his seal of approval.
So my Indian Mother was extremely pleased when the star chef agreed to teach me how to cook a traditional dish.
Suki and I made Paneer and bell peppers, a recipe passed down from her maternal grandmother.
She said: "This recipe shouldn't take more than 20 minutes. My mother used to make it a lot.
"It's a great simple recipe for a weekday."
Over Zoom, I had fun following Suki as we made the same dish while
expressing our love for authentic Indian cooking that is rich in flavour, taste and culture.
A lot of Indian recipes are passed down from parents to their children and you'll often find them tucked away in a journal on a kitchen shelf.
Despite the boom of Indian takeaways, traditional Indian food is healthy and rich in flavour and culture.
Suki said: "Indian food is often made with natural spices and authentic colour.
"The rich colour usually comes from the spices, and ingredients like onion and tomato."
Throughout the cook-along Suki shared some of the cooking tips she had learned over the years.
She says: "When you are using powdered spices in cooking, always reduce the heat, to reduce the chance of the spices burning and in case you feel as though your spices are burning, add a tablespoon of water."
At the end, we managed to compare dishes, Suki's version definitely looked better than mine. But I'm glad to have tried my best and even bagged a new quick and easy recipe.
Here is the recipe and ingredients if you want to remake Suki's dish:
200-250 gm of paneer. Chopped into medium size cubes.
- 2 bell pepper/ capsicum (green, red, or yellow). Chopped into medium size pieces.
- One teaspoon cumin seeds.
- One onion. Sliced finely.
Spices
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (optional)
- 1 and half teaspoon coriander power
- 1 teaspoon of garam masala
- Less than quarter of teaspoon of asafoetida
- Hand full of fresh coriander leaves, chopped coarsely.
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
- One green chilli – slit (optional)
- Few tablespoons of water
Instructions:
1. Warm pan with oil
2. Add cumin seeds
3. Add in asafoetida
4. Add in onions and stir
5. Mix in salt to the pan
6. Add in paneer and stir
7. Let the paneer cook for four minutes
8. Add in tumeric
9. Add in chili powder
10. Stir and mix in coriander power
11. Finally, add in your bell peppers
12. Add your coriander leaves and garam masala
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