Indian food at home - live chat with Meera Sodha (Mon 7 July 1-2pm)

Apart from opening a can.......... how do you make cocoanut milk from a cocoanut, bought in the bazaar,

Scrape the flesh out, put in a mixie and then add water, hot, or cold, strain and get thick milk, strain and repeat.

It is so S India, with rice vermicelli, they add sugar, my preference salt, a breakfast feast

Hello Meera, thank you for coming to talk to us. I adore coconut in all its forms but especially in savoury dishes. Are there any savoury coconutty recipes in your book (the more coconutty the better)? I'd love to make something that uses it in a form other in sauce if that makes sense (like how shredded coconut is used in peshwari naan).

Thank you

I've always liked Pataks sauces, too. Someone I know has a friend that runs a Chinese restaurant and he says the food they serve there is nothing like the food they eat at home which is far healthier and less salty. I assume it's the same with Indian food?

Sorry, Stansgran just noticed that I have sort of repeated part of your question.

hallo, I use Pataks pastes, I find them excellent. Even if I am following a recipe I tend to use them. Am I missing out on flavour?

Hi there . Tell me why curries from supermarkets always seem to taste the same. Conjuring up pictures of one vat of rather sub standard curry sauce and portions being dispatched to the various supermarkets!

Welcome crazycat

I love the dark brown dip they serve with samosas and things in restaurants. It tastes a bit like HP sauce but nicer! What is it and how can I make it?

Like a couple of the previous posters I am interested in gluten free recipes and would love to know if I can make a masala dosa this way? Also on masterchef the other week they were making them and had lots of trouble with the pancake bit - are they very tricky?

My two favourite starters are bhel puri and sev puri and I would love to know how to make them thank you

Hello Meera I too love indian food and would love to try making a meal for the family. Can you suggest a menu (vegetarian and fish please but not seafood) that would be exciting and interesting but not so complicated I would have to spend the entire day cooking it.

Oops sorry Kittylester!

Thank you for the lovely welcome!

Hi Meera, I absolutely love Indian food and, as a vegetarian, particularly paneer dishes (saag paneer is my favourite).
I find the paneer changes from restaurant to restaurant though - in one (my favourite) it melts well and is stringy, whereas in others it is hard lumps without much flavour.
Could you tell me what true paneer texture is supposed to be like? I love the former, melty version but I have a feeling it may not be real paneer Is there a recipe for it in your book?

It was me crazy cat . I hope you post on other threads!

Hi Kiligran! Thank you for the lovely welcome!

My freezers are full of 'portions I've frozen for later' then never get round to using.

Why don't you freeze portions for later? Most indian food freezes well especially curries. I always make a large amount and freeze the rest. Great news about your curry plant!

Hi crazy cat welcome.

I cook loads of curries for my OH. Always use the same ingredients though!

Any tips on variations of curries would appreciated thanks.

I'm new BTW. Like to say a big hello to everyone here!!!

I have put a recipe for a chicken and tomato curry in the recipes Galen which might be fiddly but freezes really well so I always do a vat of it !

I also grow my own Kashmir lime tree.

I adore Indian food. My problem is it's fiddly and time consuming just for one person.
Do you have any ideas please for simple dishes for one?

I'm growing a curry leaf tree in my lounge at the moment. It's about 2' tall at the moment.

Indian food is my absolute favourite and I've had many Indian friends over the past 35 years that have given me recipes and helped me cook some fabulous dishes. But one thing I cannot master is a perfect naan bread so please help. Regarding the curry leaves, I always got them fresh when I lived in the Middle East, since living in Cyprus I have manage to grow a curry leaf tree ( bought on the net ) I think it might be possible to grow one in a green house or conservatory in the UK. Worth a try.