Kheema Matar, Channa & Halwa

I spent today slaving over the stove, ok well not quite slaving, I enjoyed it. The bit I didn't enjoy was all the washing up!
I made an Indian feast and didn't cut any corners this time, hence the food was delicious (even if i do say so myself!).
The Kheema Matar recipe was from a book I have, A Taste of... India. The list of ingredients is rather long, but here is the recipe:

Kheema Matar
2 onions
4 cloves of garlic
5 cm piece of ginger
4 green chillies (I only used 1 red one)
2/3 cup oil (I didn't use quite this much)
2 Indian bay leaves
500g minced lamb
2 tbs tomato puree
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp chilli powder
2 tbs ground coriander
2 tbs ground cumin
2 tbs thick plain yoghurt
3 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cup peas
1/4 tsp garam masala
5 tbs chopped coriander

Put onion, garlic, ginger and 2 chillies in food processor and process until finely chopped.
Heat the oil in frying pan over medium heat. Add onion mixture and bay leaves, fry for 4 minutes or until golden brown.
Add the lamb mince and fry for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up any lumps.
Add the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander and cumin, stir for 1 minute. Add the yoghurt, salt and pepper and continue frying for 5 minutes.
Add 3/4 cup of water a little at a time, stirring until it's well absorbed.
Add the two remaining chillies, stir then cover. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add peas and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
Add garam masala and chopped coriander, stir for 1 minute before serving.

This was an absolute stand out dish. It was so good I ate so much I nearly had no room left for dessert!

The Channa Masala recipe I found online. I chose this recipe rather than my mother in-laws because I never seem to get her's quite right. Unfortunately this didn't turn out as good as I would have hoped either. The search continues for the perfect channa masala recipe......

I decided to make Carrot Halwa because I bought a bag of carrots and wanted to use some of them. Plus I love carrot halwa and this is a low fat recipe!
The recipe I was following is supposed to be cooked in the microwave but I chose to cook it on the stove instead, I also added sultanas and omitted the powdered milk. I'm a bit weary about microwave cooking but I guess I shouldn't really knock it until I try it. Anyway, it took a long time for the milk to evaporate but thankfully the halwa didn't stick to the base of the saucepan so in that regard this was a success. It was also very tasty but the texture wasn't quite right, the milk had separated so that affected the final product. However, it was still a nice way to finish off a tasty meal

Once served up, this is what T's plate looked like.

Clockwise; kheema matar, prantas, raita, channa masala, pickles.

And here is dessert.

The day spent cooking was worth the effort. Overall, we both really enjoyed our dinner.