I am a bit frustrated at the moment. The last two meal plans I put up are for 1 person, so I thought it would be interesting to amalgamate the two, and make one weeks plan for 2 people.
I envisaged it as a bit of a 5 minute job. But I have fiddled and twiddled trying to make it work, it took ages. Finally, I got it right and wrote the post, ready. I just needed to add the nutrition, so worked it out….. and it doesn’t have enough calories! Gah! It works out at about 1800 calories each, where I do 1 person at 2000 and 1 person at 2500 when I do a 2 person plan. How very annoying 🙁
Spinach and Onion Bhajis
For 1 person, you will need
35g frozen spinach, 1kg £1.15, 5p
Tsp garlic powder, Rajah 69p/100g, 3p
Tsp ginger, Rajaj 69p/100g, 3p
40g onion, chopped 5p
50g value flour, 1.5kg/45p, 2p
Half tsp turmeric, TRS 62p/100g, 3p
Half tsp garam masala, TRS 60p/100g, 3p
Tsp cumin, Rajah 68p/100g, 6p
Tbsp oil to fry with, 1p
Total of 31p, plus accompaniment
Just mix everything together with enough water to make a paste. Heat a frying pan with a little oil in. Drop in large spoonfuls of batter and fry gently until the tops are set. Flip over and do the other side, adding more oil if you need it.
I had them with a salsa of tomatoes and apple, which was ok, but I wouldn’t have it again with these. What did work very well however, was the puddle of sweet chilli sauce. You definitely need something piquant to go with them, some pickle, or chutney of some kind.
I used some garlic and ginger paste from a huge jar I got from an Indian shop. I didn’t fry the onion first because when I do onion bhaji’s I don’t, and they work well. So I thought these would too, and they did.
You could use absolutely any spices that you have stashed in the larder. Including of course, a premixed curry powder.
You could add a lot or a little chilli to spice it up. You could use the spices I have, but less of them. Give it a go and see what combination you can come up with.
On Wednesday, guess what we had fitted?
THESE!! Woohoo!!
Thanks. I’ll look for Pataks here or maybe something equivalent. I mostly use individual spices too but after reading your blog I was looking at the bulk spices in a market and the name vindaloo sounded intriguing. Had to buy a little! Good morning to you but good night for me. It is after midnight here so I’m off to bed now.
Interesting sounding dinner, lots of different flavours in there.
The Indian spices took a while to learn, and I have a lot to learn still. But I prefer to use the individual spices, partly because I am more likely to get the flavour I want, and partly because the pre-made ones tend to taste the same. Although having said that, they are an awful lot better than they used to be. Pataks jars of paste are very good, and last ages.
These spinach cakes look delish. I’ll be trying these as well as the lentil dumplings. I’m not nearly as familiar as you are with Indian spices and dishes so I’m learning from you. Tonight I’m having puréed cauliflower with cumin and vindaloo curry dry spices under a melange of leftover chicken, chickpeas, mushrooms, chard, a little leftover coconut milk and more Indian spices. Thanks for the inspiration and congratulations on the beautiful new windows. Looking forward to seeing your room finished. I remodeled an old mobile home 5 years ago with bamboo floors and kitchen counters, stainless steel sink, new lower cabinets of MDF–a budget job and I love it. Perfect for me as yours will be for you. Also enjoyed your Scotland trip stories–wish it was me!! Cheers.