25.05.08: Saag paneer, naan, and salad

Trying for authenticity this time: She made Her own v. simple paneer from a J Oliver recipe she came upon by chance and gave this recipe another go, heated up some supermarket naan, and threw together a salad with some leftover ingredients from Friday nite plus new leaves and some avo.

SHE SAYS: Shame the paneer went so crumbly - it was more like ricotta or cottage cheese - but I've seen it that way in some restaurants, too. Still v. tasty, with good depth of spice, but without quite the same salty kick halloumi gave it first time around. Naan was perfectly ok, and the salad did it's fill 'er up routine with flair.

HE SAYS: This Indian spinachy treat was delish. The rice cooker enjoyed the night off as I forgot to pick up some rice at the store, but it worked out well since we had some extra naan bread still left in the fridge. Even though it's consistency was more like cottage cheese than firm cubes, the ho-made paneer She made was very yummy and authentic-tasting. The salad was invigorated and brought back to life from Friday, and performed well with the Sweetfire beetroot again taking centre stage.

25.04.08: Lamb korma, naan, and salad

The Friday nite curry: He browned some leg o' lamb, mixed in some korma sauce from Bombay Authentics (we keep trying!), and served it over brown rice cooked with lemongrass and onion seeds and quick chopping of fresh coriander. Some oven-toasted readymade naan and a salad of watercress and dark, green-striped tiger tomatoes did right by us as the weekend approached.

SHE SAYS: Three cheers for the korma sauce; blended with the broth of the lamb it was deeply savoury, but not at overcomplicated. I found the lamb to be tough and fatty, even though I know He trimmed it...maybe there's a better cut to choose for this quick-cooker, and the leg stands up better to a nice long braise? The crispy naan made for good scooping, and the salad was a real firecracker - watercress in season delivers a v. spicy kick! Meanwhile, the tiger tomatoes put the insipid waterbags you find masquerading on supermarket shelves as proper lycopersicums well to shame.

HE SAYS: I used two jars of the sauce, learnt from last time we tried a sauce from this range that one doesn't afford much sopping up action. The flavour was nice and creamy and fragrant but still had a spicy kick without the heat. Rice was pepped up with some lemongrass, a pinch of garam masala, onion seeds, and a teaspoon of the chicken broth that She discovered recently. Salad was tasty with the inclusion of the almost-green tomatoes. A pint of Cobra and a few naan helped recreate an authentic Friday curry nite out without leaving our kitchen.