Meera Sodha's brilliant recipe book East is probably the most used cookbook on our shelf. No doubt you will have heard me referencing her South East Asian inspired cooking before, as she's influenced so much of my vegetarian/vegan cooking, and I am yet to find one of her recipes I don't like. When I started the blog, I knew it would be a challenge to be constantly coming up with new recipes, so I also planned to occasionally share a few favourite recipes from other people that are already published that I think you'll like, and Meera Sodha's Roasted Paneer Aloo Gobi is one of those dishes that just can't be beaten! It's so tasty, it's fun to put together and eat with friends, and it's really simple to make. Like my last recipe, the oven baked chicken fajitas, it's all roasted up in the oven, so there's only a couple of trays to clear up afterwards. Plus, you can serve it up with whatever you like!
I didn't want to change much with this recipe as it all works so well together, so I've only made the smallest tweaks to the original recipe, to make it a tiny bit quicker and to suit my own tastes. But I cannot recommend this book enough. Stick it on your Christmas list for goodness sake and make some happy food :) and it's all vegetarian and vegan so you can feel good about doing your bit for the planet too!
INGREDIENTS (Serves 4, and reheats well)
100ml rapeseed oil
2.5 teaspoons ground coriander
2.5 teaspoons ground cumin
1.5 teaspoons kashmiri chilli powder (heaped teaspoon of chilli powder + pinch of smoked paprika if you don't have any)
1/2 teaspoon garam masala (plus a punch for the yoghurt)
1.5 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons of garlic paste
2 teaspoons ginger paste
2 red onions, cut into 8 chunks
1 pack of paneer (cut into cubes)
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
1 large potato (approx 300g)
small pack of plum tomatoes, halved (plum or cherry tomatoes will be ok)
Fresh coriander
1 lemon (squeeze of juice)
What to serve with:
Fresh coriander, chopped
Lemon wedge
Low fat greek yoghurt (pour into a bowl and add a pinch of garam masala on top)
Mango chutney
Garlic naan bread
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan and line two baking trays with foil.
To make the marinade, add together the rapeseed oil, dried spices, salt, garlic and ginger paste and mix well until there are no lumps.
Chop up your paneer and vegetables; add the onion and paneer to one tray and the cauliflower and potatoes to the other. Hold back the tomatoes for now.
Give the marinade a final stir then pour over both trays. I usually put just over half the mix on the potato and cauliflower as they absorb a little more and the remainder on the onion and paneer. Then get stuck in with your hands and mix it in thoroughly to make sure everything is covered.
Place both trays in the oven for 25 minutes. Once the 25 minutes are up, take out the paneer and onion tray and add the tomatoes, mix them in then place the tray back into the oven and roast for another fifteen minutes.
Meanwhile finely chop a large handful of coriander. Pour the yoghurt you want into a dish and add a sprinkling of garam masala on top.
Take the trays out of the oven and transfer everything into one dish. Sprinkle in a generous amount of freshly chopped coriander, a squeeze of lemon and season to taste. Don't forget to pop the naan bread in the oven for a couple of minutes once the trays have come out.
Serve the aloo gobi alongside naan bread, yoghurt, lashings of mango chutney and extra lemon or coriander if you wish.
It looks like a lot of ingredients but it comes together really easily, and once you've got those two trays roasting in the oven, the dinner cooks itself ! I really like the yoghurt and mango chutney combination on top as they add a little wetness to the dish; they soak up the spices and create a very light sauce which stops the dish feeling too dry. As ever if you give this one a try, do let me know, and don't forget to snap a picture and tag me on instagram or twitter.
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