Hello friends — I’m really putting the “ish” in monthly(ish) by sending along this little newsletter now, just before the start of summer, when I meant to do it last month. But this is the type of recipe that’s flavorful enough for any time of year, and I can’t imagine why you couldn’t throw some of this on the grill either, so I’m just going to go ahead and share it now.
RECIPE: Sheet Pan Paneer and Veggies
I’ve expressed my admiration for Meera Sodha’s cookbooks in this newsletter before, so I’m sharing a lightly adapted recipe, officially dubbed “Roasted Paneer Aloo Gobi,” from her book East. I didn't change much at all— and my notorious tomato-hating self actually used tomatoes (though I opted to use whole grape tomatoes): 1) because they look pretty along with the rest of the veggies and 2) I'm not just feeding myself. Other changes I made involved simply mincing items like garlic and ginger, instead of grating or crushing, while adjusting other ingredients’ quantities. I’ve made this dish a few times and figured I’d share it here:
Ingredients
100 milliliters neutral cooking oil
2 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons Kashmiri chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 to 2 inches of ginger, peeled and minced
2 red onions, halved and then cut into wedges
About 13 ounces of paneer, cut into cubes
Slightly over half a pound of potatoes, cubed
1 pound cauliflower florets (I used some colorful ones this time around)
1 pound grape tomatoes (left whole)
Fresh chopped cilantro, plus some lemon wedges for serving
Recipe
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line two sheet pans with aluminum foil.
Make the marinade by mixing the oil, coriander, cumin, chili powder, garam masala, salt, garlic and ginger. Keep it to one side.
Place onions and paneer on one pan, while placing the cauliflower and potatoes on the other. Pour the marinade in equal amounts over both trays and then massage the veggies with your hands to make sure they’re well coated.
Place the onion and paneer pan on the top rack of the oven, while placing the cauliflower and potato pan in the middle. Let them cook in the oven for 25 minutes — until the cauliflower and potatoes and blackening and softened up, then remove the trays. *
Add the tomatoes to the onion and paneer pan and return it to the oven for another 15 minutes. (You can cover your cauliflower and potatoes with foil so that they retain heat.)
When you remove the onion, paneer and tomato pan from the oven, add the potatoes and cauliflower to the same sheet pan and mix everything up.
Garnish with the chopped cilantro and squeeze lemon over the veggies, which can be served with plain yogurt or raita and a range of flatbreads including naan or chapatis.
Notes
* I did put the cauliflower and potatoes back for an additional 5 to 7 minutes this time around.
Adapted from Meera Sodha’s East.
Food for Thought
I recently found myself with a surplus of mangos (some in the freezer, and some fresh) and felt like I needed to mix up how I was consuming them, so I tried this Mango Cobbler recipe via Yummy Medley and it was delightful. (I made a self-rising flour substitute but otherwise followed the recipe pretty faithfully aside from using half a lime’s worth of juice.)
I had saved this recipe for Samosa Pastry Rolls via Rooted in Spice on Instagram a while ago, and finally got around to making them this weekend. Mine didn't turn out as picturesque, but they were really tasty, and frankly... each individual roll is a little lighter than your average samosa. A fun experiment if you’re up for it.
Bites of Culture
I’m making my way through RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, which is pretty neat. But other books I recently read included Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain and Perumal Murugan’s Pyre. Neither of those books is particularly cheery (so I would not recommend them if your spirits are low), but they are compelling reads.
Some albums I’m enjoying include The Smile’s A Light for Attracting Attention and Fontaines D.C.’s Skinty Fia.
And on TV… I’m wrapped up in the HBO version of The Staircase (not entirely sure I love the narrative structure though) and have enjoyed what I’ve seen of Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi so far.
Earlier Newsletters
Chocolate Bourbon Delight Cake
Cocktail-style Chicken Meatballs