Chana Masala Recipe

End of summer Recipe from Perfect Pans

It's been a while since Perfect Pans did a Blog posting as our summer was very busy with several shows. We want to thank everyone who came out to see us and to let you know that our Autumn and Winter show schedule is just as busy and exciting!
 
To see if we will be doing our demonstrations at an exhibition near you, check out our show calendar located here :
PERFECT PANS SHOW SCHEDULE
  
 
We were in the mood for Indian Cuisine tonight so we went for making Chana Masala, a classic Indian dish of chickpeas slow-simmered with onions, tomatoes and spices. Adapted from a recipe by Madhur Jaffrey, this is delicately spiced bright orange Chana Masala is delicious topped with cooling yogurt or Cumin Seed Crème Fraîche. This recipe requires many different ingredients most which can be purchased at your local supermarket, but to make it authentic you may need to try your local Indian food store.
 
We will be having  it over white rice and with some Coriander Naan on the side.

Yum Yum, hope you enjoy!

Chana Masala
Serves 8

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 fresh hot green chili pepper, minced
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp amchoor powder (if you can't find this you can use extra lemon juice)
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp cumin seeds, roasted and ground
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garam masala
15-ounce can whole tomatoes with their juices, chopped small
2/3 cup water
4 cups cooked chickpeas or 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 lemon, juiced
6-8 kari leaves for garnish (optional)

Heat the oil in a Crafond or Perfect Pans Sauté (we recommend 28 cm or even 32 cm depending on how many you are feeding.)

 
Add onion, garlic, ginger and pepper and sauté over medium heat until browned, about 5 minutes. Turn heat down to medium-low and add the coriander, cumin, cayenne, turmeric, cumin seeds, amchoor, paprika and garam masala.
 
Cook the onion mixture with spices for a minute or two, then add the tomatoes and any accumulated juices, scraping up any bits that have stuck to the pan. Add the water and chickpeas. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, then stir in salt and lemon juice.
 
Cover and keep on low heat until ready to serve with a garnish of fresh kari leaves.

Toasted Cumin Seed Crème Fraîche
Makes 1 cup

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 cup Greek yogurt or crème fraîche
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Place the cumin in a small frying pan over medium heat. Toast until lightly golden brown. Place in spice grinder or mortar and pestle and grind until coarse. Stir it into the yogurt and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

 

 

Guinness-Brined Lamb Steak

Lamb Steak Ingredients:

1 Pint Guinness ale
1 tablespoon Coarse salt
50 g sugar
240 ml water
3 tablespoons Chilli Rub
1 1/2 - 2 kg bone-in lamb leg steaks 
2 tablespoon Sunflower or Rapeseed oil
1 1/2 cups Guinness BBQ Sauce

Guinness BBQ Sauce Ingredients:

1 Pint Guinness ale
1 star anise (optional)
240 ml ketchup
60 ml dark brown mustard
118 ml honey
2 tablespoons hot pepper sauce
2 teaspoons coarse salt
2 teaspoons ground black pepper

Preparation:

Boil the Guinness in a saucepan with the star anise (if using) over high heat until reduced by half. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 minutes, or until thick. Cool and remove the star anise. Store in a tightly closed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Lamb Steak Preparation:

• Combine the Guinness, salt, sugar, water and 2 tablespoons spice rub in a large zipper-lock bag.
• Drop in the lamb steaks, press out the air, and seal. Refrigerate for 2 to 6 hours.
• Pre-season your Grill Pan with sunflower or rapeseed oil. 
• Remove the lamb from the brine and pat dry. 
• Discard the brine. Coat the lamb with the oil and season with the rub.
• Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Grill the steaks for about 7-10 minutes per side for medium-rare (Baste with a thin layer of the sauce during the last minute of grilling.
• Rest the meat for 5 minutes before serving. Serve the steaks with the remaining sauce on the side. 

Perfect Pans recommends using Newman's Pickles Home-made Apple and Mint Sauce to accompany this dish. 

Check our our previous Blog Post for a great side dish; Sweet Potato Dauphinoise. 

Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Prep Time: 15 min(s)

Cook Time: 10 min(s)

Total Time: 25 min(s)

Servings: 4-6

 

  

If you’ve always wanted to make your own Chinese restaurant food at home, this recipe is a great one to add to your collection. Enjoy!

 

 

 
Ingredients
 

Sauce:

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon orange zest

2 large cloves garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

Optional sweetener like sugar, honey, agave, etc.

 

 

 

Stir-fry:

1 pound chicken tender cut into cubes

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons corn starch

4 cups chopped vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, celery, mushroom, snap peas, etc.

Reapeseed oil

1/2 cup medium yellow onion, chopped

  

Instructions

• Blend all the sauce ingredients for the sauce in a blender or food processor for 10 seconds.
• Taste the sauce and add your choice of sweetener to your liking.
• Blend again for a few more seconds.
• Heat the sauce in a large skillet on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Carefully transfer the sauce to a heat proof bowl.
• Rinse the Sauté or Wok clean.
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Add the corn starch and massage the chicken with your hands.
• If using fresh broccoli or green beans boil the broccoli for 3-5 minutes until soft enough to pierce with a fork yet firm.
• Transfer the vegetables to a plate lined with a kitchen towel.
• Heat approximately 1 tablespoon of oil in the Saute’ or Wok on medium heat
• Cook the onion and chicken until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 5-6 minutes.
• Add the remaining vegetables and stir-fry them together for 2 minutes.
• Slowly add a few tablespoons of sauce while stirring the vegetables and chicken.
• Continue to add the sauce a few tablespoons at a time, allowing about 15 seconds between each addition to allow sauce to slightly cook down.
• Spoon the stir-fry over a bowl of hot rice.
• Serve immediately

 

Moist Banana Bread in a Saute pan!

Our first recipe for the new year, comes to you from Mrs. Macdonald in Glasgow. Feel free to make suggestions for the recipe or email us your own meals cooked in or with a Perfect Pan to be featured at sales@perfectpans.com !

Enjoy!




Ingredients
Serves: 4
125g butter
1 cup (200g) white sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 1/2 cups (185g) self-raising flour

Preparation method
1.Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Cream butter and sugar in a bowl until it turns a light colour. Gradually add beaten eggs one at a time. Mash banana on a plate with vanilla essence. Mix bicarb soda in a cup with the milk.

2.Add your mashed banana mixture into the creamed butter and sugar and mix until combined. Alternately add your flour and your milk mix until just combined.

 
3.Pour mixture into a lightly oiled (recommended sunflower oil) Crafond Saute Pan and bake for 30-45 minutes or until cake springs back from a touch in the middle. Cool on cake rack.

Fruit Smorgasbord Crumble

Let's try a dessert this time!

If your family is like mine, no matter how hard I try, they never seem to eat all the fruit I buy. It always goes bad or sits in some forgotten fruit drawer until I either cut it up to feed to our bunny or I toss it out. After several weeks of this I decided that I should start cooking the fruit so I created what I call, Fruit Smorgasbord  Crumble, using whatever left over fruit I have available. With this one, I used some left over blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, apples and raspberries. For the crumble, if I don’t have enough of the other ingredients blend in some left over muesli for that crunch, however I didn’t need to do that this time. 

Ingredients:

Cookware used:

1324- 24cm Saute' Crafond Perfect Pan
Mixing bowl

Fruit Filling:

100g White Sugar (to taste)
5-6 Apples
210g Blueberries
80g Strawberries
50g Raspberries
50g blackberries
3 tablespoons of Water

Topping:

75g Butter (room temperature)
150g Plain Flour
100g Brown sugar
2-3 teaspoons of Cinnamon

Method:

Core, peel and slice the apples or any other fruit. I like to cut raspberries and strawberries as it releases the juice better. 

Combine the  fruit, water and sugar to your 24cm Crafond Saute pan. Place on the hob covered with the lid on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until fruit is bubbling and soft. 


Mix with spoon to evenly distribute flavours. 

Put the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the butter. Rub the flour and butter together until it looks crumbly and the butter has been evenly dispersed through the flour. Add the sugar and mix together to ensure that everything is combined.

Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the top the cooked fruit using a fork to even out the distribution but don't press it down.

Sprinkle the cinnamon over the top of the topping. 

Cook in the oven for 40 - 50 minutes or until lightly golden brown.Remove the detachable handle while cooking in the oven. 

I topped mine with some powder custard for speed purposes, although this goes really nice with some vanilla bean ice cream!

 Serves 4-6