Kitchen Mania Cooking Theatre Recipes - Ashia Ismail-Singer

We had three amazing cooks demonstrating their mouthwatering recipes at the NZ Home & Lifestyle Show earlier this month! We are so pleased to be able to share them on our website for anyone who wants to try them out at home.

Ashia cooked a delicious recipe from her very own cookbook "My Indian Kitchen" and had the crowds jumping from their seats when it was time to taste! 

Pea and Paneer Curry

A perfect vegetarian dish, that is sweet and creamy. Paneer is a mild, fresh Indian cheese. It’s made by curdling hot milk with lemon juice. It’s quite bland, so it works really well with rich, spicy sauces.

500g Baby peas (frozen is fine)
3 Fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 onion finely chopped
1 Block of Paneer cheese (approx. 400g)
½ tsp Salt
½ Tsp turmeric
½ Tsp Cumin
1 ½ Tsp Coriander powder
½ Tsp Paprika
1 ½ tsp Chilli powder
¾ Cup Tomato Passatta
¼ Cup fresh cream
1 large serving spoon of Oil
1-2 cloves crushed garlic

Paneer – Cut the paneer into 3-4 strips, heat a nonstick pan and dry fry the paneer until golden, chop into approx. 2-3 cm squares, set aside.

Heat oil in a pan, add the chopped onions and fry until pale, add the garlic, salt and the chopped tomatoes, cook for 6-8 min, on a medium heat, add the spices and the Passatta, and cook for a further 10 min with the lid on( until the oil separates from the tomato).

Add the peas and cook for a further 6-8 min, or until cooked. Lastly add the fried paneer, and then the cream, Leave on a simmer for 5-6 min and then serve with naan.
Serves 6

Dad’s Basmati Fried Rice

This is the perfect way to cook rice and it tastes fantastic. 

1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
2½ cups basmati rice
5 cups boiling water
2 tsp salt

Soak the rice in cold water for a couple of hours. Wash rice in a bowl 2–3 times, draining all the water away. Heat butter and oil in a heavy-based saucepan with a lid. Add onion and cook until pale golden. Add the washed rice, stirring with a wooden spoon until it starts to look translucent and sticks to the pan, 3–4 minutes. Add the boiling water followed by the salt. Bring to the boil then reduce heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15–20 minutes until all the water has evaporated. Make sure that the heat is really low or it will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. The rice should be fluffy and the grains separate, not sticking together. Serve with any meat dish.

Serves 4-6

Images by Manja Wachsmuth @mwphotographynz