mmmm. I cannot get enough of Indian dishes that have sauce, especially with a tomato base. It infuses the dish with such wonderful combination of flavours. It is great to eat alone with roti or with rice. The only downside is perhaps the long list of ingredients you have to go hunting through your kitchen cupboards for  and the mess you have to clean up afterwards. See below.

However, there is no doubt in my mind, that Indian food is 100% worth the mess.

Taken from Everyday Indian by Bal Arneson

• Oil
• Large onion, chopped
• 1 Tbsp each: chopped Garlic, ginger, tomato paste, cumin seeds, methi leaves, garam masala, paprika
• 1tsp each: sugar, turmeric, salt
• 1 cup: crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 cup each: water, yogurt
• 1-1/2 to 2 cups cubed paneer

1. Put oil in frying pan/wok under medium high heat. When heated, add onion, garlic and ginger. Cook until onions go limp – 5-6 minutes
2. Add tomato paste & cumin seeds.
3. After 1 minute, add the rest of the dry ingredients
4. After 2 minutes of stirring occasionally, add the wet ingredients except the paneer, reduce heat
5. After 10 minutes or so, gently mix in paneer. Turn off heat and cover for flavours to infuse

My rating: 9/10.  Not as spicy as I would like. Next time, green chili’s are being added to the mix!

1 cup spinach (thawed from frozen with the water squeezed out)
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup chopped onion (I used white, but red can work too)
1/4 cup chickpea flour (Besan)
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1/2 tsp Corriander leaves
1/2 tsp salt

Mix all ingredients.
Heat some oil in a frying pan. Form small bunches of the mixture and place as many of them as you can in the pan (see image above). Cook them until they are golden brown on either side.

My rating: 9/10 — (I would double the recipe next time. There was not enough spinach’y goodness!)

Rach and I competed for the best pizza. She wanted to know how good a pizza this indian restaurant we had went to, could have tasted. I just like making dough, however she used a machine to do it, it makes me sad. But the dough came out of the bread maker so easy it makes me rethink life.

Her toppings:

- tomato sauce with mozzarella cheese topping
- red pepper
- green pepper
- red onion
- green chilies
- corriander
- feta cheese

My toppings (there were 3 different styles):
1/2 was: tomato with mozzarella cheese. topped with:
- green pepper
- red pepper
- red onion
- mushroom
- broccoli
- feta cheese
- and just one or two green chili slices
1/4: sea salt, sprinkle of mozzarella, potato (3mm thick), cilantro
1/4: sea salt, sprinkle of mozzarella, potato (3mm thick), mushroom

we also had garlic bread and fried potato for side dishes. (only got a pic garlic bread)