Ooops, I forgot that bit, Mart That`s quite important. It allows the rice to settle and plump up.

I mentioned Barts Thai paste only because it seems to be readily available but Blue Elephant is very good if you can get it.  I only use jars of paste for Thai food, never for Indian.

This is a nice Chana Masaledar.  Chickpeas (tinned to save time), ¼ teaspoon whole cumin seeds, 1 chopped onion, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 2 cloves finely chopped garlic, a piece of ginger, grated, 1 tablespoon tomato puree, ¼  teaspoon cayenne paper, 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Heart oil in deep frying pan.  When hot put in whole cumin, when they darken add chopped onion, stir and fry about 8 minutes.  Turn heat low and garam masala and coriander, mix, add garlic and ginger and cook for a couple of minutes, add tomato puree, chickpeas, cayenne and lemon juice and some water, mix well, cover and cook gently, stirring occasionally.  Serve garnished around the plate with quartered tomatoes, raw onion slivers and fresh green chillies (or if you don’t like raw chillies then slices of green pepper.  Serve with naan bread or rice and perhaps some cucumber raita or yoghurt.

That's the word, Martle! I knew it began with a 't'.

You've a third member who has used the 'minimal water, leave on the lowest possible heat and for gawd's sake don't dare lift that lid until the time's up' method of cooling rice since before some of our number were born; one of Rose Elliot's recipes, I believe. Used to wash the rice beforehand, but was sternly advised against this by an Indonesian/Chinese friend, from whom I also learned the trick of always cooking more rice than necessary so that there'd be some left over for fried rice at another meal; egg and bacon fried rice has been a Sunday brunch staple ever since...

Bad language alert! This is a veggie thread

Yeah, but you can get those "Streaky Strips" ersatz-bacon-rashers thingies still in Britain, can't you?  My dim memory of them is that they cook-up into something like an outrageously greasy pink crispy noodle.

My memories of Britain (which are stuck in the 1980s) were that the right-on hemp-clad veggies of Stoke Newington High Street regarded ersatz bacon, Quorn "chicken slices", and any sausage-shaped soya/tofu/tvp creations as an evil kind of Thought Crime...

What do British veggies eat these days if they only have 10 mins to rustle something together?  Are frozen veggieburgers still a standby item?

I have been digging through the Mort recipe archive (often a daunting task. Must get them organised )  for this. Once you`ve tried homemade baked beans you`ll never look at Heinz in the same way again. Don`t be put off by the long cooking time, regard it as time to do constructive things like the housework, paperwork, sort out the World Peace issue or, fritter it away on MBs

Cowpoke Beans  (gawd bless Jane Grigson)

1  lb dried beans soaked overnight. Pinto if you can get them, but Borlotti work really well
1  large onion
3  cloves of garlic, halved
1  tblspn brown sugar
1  tspn mustard powder
2  tspns cayenne
Half tspn ground cumin
1  bay leaf
1  lb tinned, chopped tomatoes
Half tspn salt

Drain and cook the beans until barely tender, not collapsing. 45 minutes should do it. It will be longer if the beans have been gathering dust for ages in your larder. Best buy some new ones, eh?

Drain beans and reserve the liquid

Preheat oven to 130C/250H, gas mark 1/2 (half, not 1 to 2)

Put the onion and garlic into a heavy pot and cover with the beans

Mix 1 and 1/4 cups of the bean liquid with the seasonings and pour over the beans. Add the tomatoes and some more bean liquid if the beans aren`t completely covered.  Add salt.

Cover and bung it in the oven for 5-6 hours. Check every now and again and add more bean liquid if it looks to be getting too dry.

That`s all really. I`ve got away with less cooking time. It all depends on your oven.   

 

Can I be the first to mention "Blazing Saddles"?