When the eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel off the charred skin, scoop the flesh out into a bowl and mash using a fork, then set aside. Also, I've discovered that I don't like the stringy texture of sliced onions in these curries, so next time I'm going to chop them. In this collection, Meera serves up a feast of over 130 delicious recipes collected from three generations of her family- there's everything from hot chappatis to street food, fragrant curries, to colourful side dishes, and mouth-watering puddings. We do not like crunchy green beans and did cook more with cover on to our desired doneness since we used regular American variety green beans. Not to mention fire-smoked eggplant, chicken livers in cumin butter masala, and beet and feta samosas.

What I did was caramelize the onions for a long time with the chickpeas, roast the vegetables, and then allow both of those components to cool before mixing them together in a big bowl. The second time around I crushed extra ginger, green Chile, and some fresh turmeric and tossed this with the fish, allowing it to sit while I finished prep and started the curry. This coconut fish curry from my new book ‘Made in India’ is a great Summer curry recipe which is straight from the heart of Kerala on the south west coast of India. I liked the simplicity of most of the recipes with some interesting twists to some classic recipes coming from the author's family history of living in Uganda and the UK.I cut the potatoes a bit smaller than it said so they would cook in a reasonable amount of time, but otherwise followed the recipe. In MADE IN INDIA, Guardian columnist Meera Sodha introduces Britain to the food she grew up eating here every day – food that’s fresh, vibrant and surprisingly easy to make.

Dip your dough ball into the bowl of flour and roll into a circle roughly 4 inches in diameter (the size of a bottom of a mug). Really tasty, but I did have to add an extra tomato and then a little water once the spinach went in. Unlike the stuff you get at your local curry house, her food is fresh, vibrant and surprisingly quick and easy to make. An essential addition to any cookbook collection and the perfect foodie gift, it will change the way they cook, eat and think about Indian food forever.It took a little longer than Sodha suggested for me to fully cook the garlic, probably about 30 minutes after I put the lid on the pan. Cover the pan, and cook for a further 5 minutes until all the ingredients have come together into a lovely thick mash. I used cherry tomatoes, so there were lots of skins left in that I would also remove next time, or just use canned tomatoes.

In this collection, Meera serves up a feast of over 130 delicious recipes collected from three generations of her family: there’s everything from hot chappatis to street food, fragrant curries, to colourful side dishes and mouth-watering puddings. Particularly useful are the detailed glossary of ingredients and spices, proposed menus and ideas for leftovers. This was good, but next time I will increase the amount of garlic and ginger, as I felt the flavors were a little mild. We've made this no less than five times and even the picky eater asked for this as his birthday meal this year. Well, actually, I want a disciple of Meera's to open a Fresh Indian restaurant in my city, so s/he can make them for me.

I didn't really get the point of the parchment paper wrap other than to replace the flavor-providing banana leaf traditionally used.