'Chicken' seitan and spinach in Indian creamy sauce - Malai palak

This is one of those insanely good Indian recipes that I find irresistable.  Malai means cream, Palak is spinach and this is a loosely adapted recipe from Vegan Richa. In her recipe, she uses soy curls to replace chicken, which are then cooked in a delectable creamy spicy sauce. I’m not even sure if you can buy soy curls in New Zealand and can’t imagine them being commonly available around the world, so it strikes me as a much better idea to use seitan.  Seitan also produces a nice 'meaty' result.

In the original, the soy curls are marinaded and then baked. I think marinades are unseamanlike underway, as well as being wasteful. Certainly, I don’t find it makes much difference to seitan and in fact you get infinitely better results from incorporating the flavours into the seitan in the first place. This is what I’ve done in this recipe. As for baking - I assume many small income voyagers stil lsail without ovens and even those who do, will probabaly avoid using them because of the cost - and the fact that they heat up the cabin.

 

I use ginger paste and garlic paste in my ‛Indian’ cooking. If you prefer to use finely minced ginger and garlic, go ahead.  I'm not sure that this is really a Curry For Cooks, in spite the use of ingredients being pretty authentic: most boats would probably have them on board.  The only exception is the methi and if you don't have it you can leave it out.

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the ‟marinaded chicken”

6 slightly rounded tbsp vital wheat gluten

2 tbsp gram flour

2 tsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp mushroom stock powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp onion powder

        1/4 tsp garlic granules

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp soya sauce

For the sauce:

1 tsp oil

1 (Indian) bay leaf

1 whole clove

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic paste

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1 small green chilli, diced

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/8 tsp cayenne OR 1/4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

pinch ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp black pepper

*200 ml/7 oz ounce can of full fat coconut milk

2 tbsp vegan yoghurt

1/4 cup water or milk

125 g/4 oz spinach, washed and roughly chopped

1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves, kasuri methi

garam masala

chilli flakes

Method:

• Seitan: In a bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, gram flour, nutritional yeast, mushroom stock powder, salt, onion powder, garlic granules, ground coriander and ground cumin.
• In a small jug, mix the water and soya sauce and add them to the bowl.
• Mix into a soft dough, starting with a knife or spatula and ending with your hand. If the mix seems a little bit dry, add a little more water, a teaspoonful at a time. Use the dough to clean your bowl thoroughly, otherwise the dried seitan will need to be soaked off.
• Put the dough on a board and flatten down. You will be cutting it into bite-sized chunks, so it wants to be a suitable thickness.
• Put the trivet into your pressure cooker, along with 1/2 cup water. Place the seitan on the trivet, and bring up to pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure go down naturally.
• When you can take the lid off, take out the seitan and cut it up – or tear it for a more ‛authentic’ appearance.
• If you want to, you can now fry the chunks in some oil so that they are crisp on the outside. On odds, I think I prefer them soft.

For the sauce:

• Heat a pan over medium high heat and add some oil.
• Now add the bay leaf, clove, onion, garlic paste, ginger paste, green chilli salt. Cook stirring occasionally until onion is golden.
• Turn down the heat and add coriander, ground cumin, cayenne or Kashmiri chilli, cinnamon and black pepper
• Throw in the seitan pieces and turn for a few minutes so that they are well mixed in and covered in the spices.
• Then add in the milk, yoghurt, water and spinach and mix in. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for 12-15 mins, checking that it’s not drying out. Add some more water, if necessary.
• Add the kasuri methi, check salt and flavour and carry on cooking until you get a rich creamy sauce.

Garnish with garam masala and chilli pepper flakes if you like, and serve with rice, roti or even good quality bread.

Variations:

• Use two or three leaves of Swiss chard instead of spinach.
• Replace the seitan with half a cup of chickpeas or beans, cooked and drained, putting them in with the spinach
• Add some quartered mushrooms, with the onions, etc.
• If you don’t have yoghurt, use more milk/water. If you have a lot of coconut yoghurt, you can just thin that down to suit. You need around 300 ml liquid. You may need to simmer for more or less time to achieve the consistency you want.

Notes:

• * Coconut milk tends to come in an odd assortment of sizes. Just use a can closest to the size in the recipe. If you’re fortunate to find dried, genuine coconut milk, mix that according to the instructions on the container.

 

You will find many more recipeslike this, here, here and here 

 

 

Basic 'chicken' seitan

If you haven't made seitan before, I recommend you read my introduction to the process here. 

 

The basic proportions for making seitan are 1/4 cup of water to 1/2 cup flour.  However, this is somewhat excessively basic and the following recipe is a more appropriate basic 'chicken' recipe. 

 

Before we go any further, and at the risk of shattering all your hopes and illusions, seitan doesn’t taste remotely like chicken. I say this as someone who hasn’t eat chicken for well over a decade, but for all that, I say it with some certainty. I don’t want anyone to be disappointed.

 

This is the one to use if you are copying a tofu recipe: add the seasoning suggested for the marinade (if any) to the dry ingredients.  This 'chicken' can also be used to replace beans and chickpeas in various recipes or even to replace the meat in a well-flavoured chicken dish.  However, I wouldn't recommend serving a slab of it on a plate, with roast potatoes, two veg and gravy!

Serves  2

Ingredients

        1/3 cup  vital wheat gluten

        2 tbsp gram flour

        2 tsp nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp mushroom 'stock' powder

        1/4 tsp onion powder

        1/4 tsp garlic granules

       

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp soya sauce

 

Method:

• In a bowl, mix vital wheat gluten, gram flour, nutritional yeast, mushroom stock powder, salt, onion powder and garlic granules.
• In a small jug, mix the water and soya sauce and add them to the bowl.  Combine everything into a soft dough, starting with a knife or spatula and ending with your hand. If the mix seems a little bit dry, add some more water, a teaspoonful at a time. If too wet, carefully add some more vital wheat gluten.  Use the dough to clean your bowl thoroughly, otherwise the dried seitan will need to be soaked off.
• Put the dough on a board and flatten it down. You will be cutting it into bite-sized chunks, so it wants to be a suitable thickness.
• Put the trivet into your pressure cooker, along with ½ cup water. Place the seitan on the trivet, and bring up to pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure go down naturally.
• When you can take the lid off, take out the seitan and cut it up – or tear it for a more ‛organic’ appearance.
• If you want to, you can now fry the chunks in some oil so that they are crisp on the outside. On odds, I think I prefer them soft.

The seitan can now be added to your recipes and, simmered for as long as suits you.  Because it's completely cooked, it only needs reheating; however, it is robust and doesn't start to dissolve - I've often simmered it for about 20 minutes.  It is also quite happy to be shoved around by the spoon without collapsing.  I've seen recipes for tofu kebabs and this seitan, suitably flavoured, should also be a success in this context, too.

 You will find many more recipes for seitan here

Lentil lasagne

Lasagne is generally served up sizzling hot from the oven, with a crisp top, and often crunchy bits of lasagne sticking out. I’ve read that some Italians prefer to pop it into the oven for only about a quarter of an hour and to eat it moist and soft. That being so, I think we’ll go for the latter ‘gourmet’ version, which means that instead of using an oven, we can use the pressure cooker. However, be warned that this may not work in a cheap pan because it’s likely to stick. (If your pressure cooker is a bit on the thin side, what you’ll have to do is to put the lasagne into something like a cake tin, that will fit in your pressure cooker. Put half a pint of water in the bottom of the cooker, with the tin on the trivet, loosely covered with greaseproof paper or foil. It can then be cooked at high pressure for 10 minutes.)

I specify ‘no-cook’ lasagne, but in fact I believe that nearly all lasagne sheets can be used without pre-cooking.  If you can find the right pasta, this recipe can be gluten free.

Serves 2

Ingredients

6 pieces ‘no-cook’ lasagne

1/2 cup whole lentils

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 red or green pepper, chopped

400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp chilli flakes

salt and pepper

cheese sauce, mixed more thickly, as shown in the Variations on that post

Method:

• Cook the soaked lentils as usual and set aside.
• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and pepper and fry until the onion is golden.
• Add the tomatoes and mix in the sage, basil, oregano, cinnamon, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.
• When everything is mixed together and heated through, add the lentils. Cook gently for ten minutes or so to let all the flavours combine. Taste and check the seasoning.
• Pour half the sauce into the bottom of the pressure cooker. Add half the lasagne sheets. Unfortunately, these will not fit very neatly, but you will have to do your best. Now add the rest of the sauce and the remaining lasagne. Cover with the cheese sauce, pouring carefully, to ensure that all the lasagne is covered.
• On a medium heat, bring the pressure cooker up to pressure. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes and reduce pressure at room temperature. Ideally, leave it for a further five minutes so that if the lasagne has caught at all, it will lift easily from the pan. It’s impossible to serve this dish at all elegantly, but if you spoon it carefully from the pan, the layers should remain more or less intact.

Serve with a cooked green vegetable or salad.

Variations:

• Use 4 or 5 fresh tomatoes and 1/4 cup red wine in the sauce.
• Add extra grated cheese or "Parmegan"

Alternative cooking:

• Arrange the lasagne in a shallow oven-proof dish and cook it in a moderate oven for a quarter of an hour or so. I don’t find it needs the 45 minutes that most cookbooks recommend. In this case, you can substitute the cheese and yoghurt sauce for cheese sauce. It’s quicker and easier to make, and probably more nutritious, but due to the yoghurt, it might separate in the pressure cooker.
• Layer the lasagne into a deep frying pan, or wide saucepan. Heat over a low heat, using a flame tamer if necessary, to ensure it doesn’t catch and get burnt. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, checking every now and then to see if the sauce has cooked, by which time it will be quite firm. In this case you can also use the cheese and yoghurt sauce.

 

 

You will find many more recipes for pasta on the page:  Main-course recipes - pasta based

 

 

Cheese sauce

Although I have a recipe under Basic White Sauce, I thought that as cheese sauce is so much used and loved, maybe it should have its own post.

I have two versions here: classic cheese sauce and vegan cheese sauce. Actually, it isn’t really a classic cheese sauce, because I suggest use cornflour instead of plain flour, because I don’t think most people can be bothered to make a roux, which involves very gently flying flour in butter and then gradually adding infused milk, stirring all the time, until the sauce is cooked. It takes quite a long time for white flour to alter its personality and you need to carry on stirring, or put the sauce under an incredibly low heat until you get your perfectly cooked white sauce. You can, of course, mix and match the recipes to suit your tastes.

If you have any choice, try to use a sharp, yellow cheese, such as (real) Cheddar, Double Gloucester or Red Leicester for a fuller flavour and a more attractive appearance. I am sure there are plenty of good vegan cheeses being made on this planet, but if they exist in New Zealand, they are unavailable outside the big cities. I therefore suggest nutritional yeast in the vegan version: the advantage of using gram flour, is that it makes the sauce a pretty pale yellow colour.

I say this serves two, but of course it depends what you’re doing with it: my assumption is that you are pouring it over something life stuffed pancakes. I make suggestions for using the recipe for lasagne in the variations.

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 tbsp cornflour

1 cup milk

1 cup grated cheese

a good shake of *Worcestershire Sauce OR 1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Method:

• Put the cornflour into a small saucepan and add about a quarter of the milk. Stir well until the mix is smooth. Add the rest of the milk.
• Put the pan over a moderate heat and start to cook, stirring constantly. If you leave it even for a moment, once it starts to thicken, it will form lumps that are just about impossible to get rid of.
• Reduce the heat, add the cheese, Worcestershire sauce or mustard and season with salt and pepper.

Use immediately.

Vegan cheese sauce

Ingredients

1 tbsp gram flour

1 cup plant milk/water

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Method:

• Put the gram flour into a small saucepan and add about a quarter of the milk. Stir well until the mix is smooth. This will take some time and you may prefer to use a whisk. You don't want to start cooking until you've got rid of all the lumps. Add the rest of the milk.
• Put the pan over a moderate heat and start to cook, stirring constantly. As the sauce starts to thicken lower the heat and stir vigorously. It will start to form alarming lumps, but if you keep stirring they will disappear.
• When the sauce is smooth, reduce the heat again and add the nutritional yeast and mustard and season with salt and pepper.

Use immediately.

Notes:

• * I ought to mention that Worcestershire sauce, at least the original and peerless product made by Lea & Perrin's, contains a very small amount of anchovies. Considering that you merely shake a few drops into the sauce, the amount of anchovies must be about homoeopathic, but if you take your vegetarian principles seriously, I suppose you should avoid it. Sadly, I have found all the alternative brands to be significantly inferior.
• I find the gram flour is sufficiently creamy that I don't need to add plant milk. However, you may well prefer the taste.
• You can, of course, use gram flour in the first recipe, instead of cornflour.
• If you are trying for an elegant result, use white pepper instead of black, to avoid little black flecks in the sauce.
• If you have any fresh herbs, chop them and sprinkle over the top.
• To use the sauce in a flan or lasagne, I suggest making more and making it thicker. So double the amount of flour and use one and a half times the liquid.
  
  

Spaghetti 'Bolognese'

 

When I was a little girl, one of our favourite meals was ‘spaghetti mince’; my father had been in Italy during the Second World War and had brought back a taste for their food. This was about the only ‘foreign’ food we ever ate. The spaghetti had to be bought from a speciality shop – an ‘Italian Warehouseman’ – and came in long lengths, which were doubled over and wrapped in blue paper so that each strand must have been about a metre long!  Usually, Mum patiently bent it into the boiling water, but when she was in a hurry, she guiltily broke it into more convenient lengths.

 

Over the years, the name changed to ‘Spaghetti Bolognese’ and garlic was included and a sprinkling of mixed herbs.  Eventually, my mother started to try different recipes, which included bacon or chicken livers or whatever the recipe writers of the day considered appropriate.  I suspect very few resembled 'classic' spaghetti Bolognese - if there ever was such a thing.  Parmesan cheese was sprinkled over the top, sparingly, from a shiny, green cardboard container.

 

By the 80s, spaghetti Bolognese had become a standard in most households and, for that matter, it was about the first meal most people learnt to make on leaving home. The recipe varied greatly and I doubt that many citizens of Bologna would have recognised it.

 

‘Spag bol’, as it was disrespectfully known, was, of course, one of my first attempts at cooking - an effort to reproduce a favourite, which I had seen cooked many times. My own recipe became firmly established when I created a vegetarian version, and I’ve used it ever since. I got the idea for using carrot and the dash of hot sauce/chilli flakes, when I ate spaghetti Bolognese in the Portofino restaurant in Lancaster. The recipe always goes down well, and because of its familiarity, many meat eaters enjoy it. Dressed up with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese – or, if you want to be really trendy, slivers of Parmesan – it’s certainly good enough for the proverbial dinner party, as long as your guests are used to eating spaghetti, that is!

 

The most pleasing sauce is made with the tiny brown lentils, (those which become red lentils when split), but any whole lentils will do and it’s fine made with split ones, too, although the resemblance to the ‘real thing’ is considerably less.  I have used  the sauce, or something very similar, in a number of iterations, such as lasagne.

 

You can make this recipe gluten free, using the appropriate pasta. 

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

1/2 cup whole lentils

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves

1 carrot

1/2 green/red pepper

4 fresh OR 400 g/14 oz can chopped tomatoes

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp cinnamon

a good shake of hot sauce OR 1/4 tsp chilli flakes

1/2 tsp salt

pepper

 

25 mm (1 in) column spaghetti

 

Method:

• Cook the lentils as usual.
• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Dice the onion and garlic and fry until starting to brown.  This will add more colour to the sauce.
• Dice the carrot and add. Cook until it’s slightly softened  Now add he diced pepper.
• Dice the tomatoes and mix in the sage, basil, oregano, cinnamon and chilli (sauce). If you’re using fresh tomatoes and the sauce seems too thick, it can be thinned by the judicious addition of a little wine. This also improves the taste. Water can be substituted in extremis.
• Now add the salt.  When everything is mixed together and heated through, add the lentils. Cook gently for ten minutes or so to let all the flavours combine. Taste and check the seasoning – the hot sauce should just give it a slight ‘lift’. If the tomatoes have produced too much liquid, simmer a little longer, with the lid off. The sauce should be fairly thick, when it’s ready.
• While the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti. Check that it's cooked to your taste, and toss it in olive oil and cracked black pepper. If people are to help themselves, it’s easier to put the spaghetti and sauce into separate dishes. Freshly grated - or shaved - Parmesan cheese is the ideal accompaniment; have a small bowl of 'Parmegan' for vegans. 

Note:

• Italians don't serve their pasta and sauce separately and you might prefer to tip the spaghetti into the sauce before serving it.  Remember to save some pasta water in case the sauce looks too dry.  The only issue with serving it this way, if you are giving it to guests, is that it's really difficult not to flick bits of sauce around while dishing up the food!
• In heavy weather, however, it's probably worth mixing it first and serving in bowls.  You might want to break the pasta into shorter lengths, too. 

Variations:

• Use linguine, fettucine or another long past, instead of the spaghetti
• If you’re fortunate enough to be in the land of cheap red wine, a dollop in the sauce improves it immensely.
•  In really hot weather, when appetites are failing, the sauce is still quite delicious without the lentils.  
• Use a cup of mixed, finely chopped nuts, instead of the lentils. They will not need water, of course and you would add them after frying the vegetables. 

 

You will find more pasta, main-course recipes here.

Some notes on cooking rice

 

 

I entitled this 'Some notes', because it definitely is not definitive.  For a start, I cannot tell you how to cook long-grain white rice because I haven't personally done so since I was around 20 years old.  However, if you are a veg~an, chances are that you are interested in both food and health (as well as being compassionate towards animals), so I will assume that you, too, will want to eat brown rice, with its extra nutrition and fibre.  In a nutshell, the bran and germ, the two outer layers of brown rice, contain most of the vitamins and minerals in the grain. Those layers get removed when manufacturers make white rice, and that’s why brown rice is the healthier choice.  You can find out a lot more on the Internet - there are thousands and thousands of websites comparing and contrasting white and brown rice.  In my opinion, white rice, like white flour and white sugar comes under the description of 'pure, white and deadly'.

For me, the best of them all is brown basmati rice and while I will endlessly sing the praises of brown basmati rice, if I don't actually state it in the ingredient list, assume the recipe is written for 'brown rice', which takes longer to cook, although any Indian recipes can be assumed to include it.

To cook perfect brown rice in a saucepan

 

2 portions

1 cup water OR 1/3 cup seawater + 2/3 cup fresh

1/2 cup brown rice

1/4 tsp salt

 

Method:

• Put the water and rice in a medium saucepan. Add the salt if you're not using seawater.
• Bring to the boil and cover.
• Put the pan over a low heat and cook for 35 to 40 minutes.  Use a flame tamer if necessary, but the water should be just simmering.  If it boils too quickly, the water will steam off rather than beaing absorbed
• Take off the heat and let the rice stand for a few minutes to absorb the last of the water, if necessary.

Notes:

• Brown basmati rice, as well as tasting the best, in my opinion, is much quicker to cook - 20 - 25 minutes - and much more likely to absorb the water perfectly and end up with nicely separated grains.  I really recommend it.
• If you are buying 'long grain, brown rice', it will vary tremendously from one brand to another.  While the 2 of water to 1 of rice has always worked for me, the cooking time can vary from about 25 minutes up to 45 minutes, obviously depending on the varietal.  When you stock up with new rice, its worth spending a bit of time getting to know it.
• If you have only one burner, you can cook the rice for 5 minutes, take it off for 5 minutes, put it back on, etc.
• If you don’t want to juggle or use more than one burner, cook the rice for 20 minutes and then leave it to one side. It will continue cooking. About 5 minutes before you intend to serve it, check to ensure that it’s fully cooked and that all the water is absorbed. If it isn’t or hasn’t, put the pan back on for 5 minutes. This method is not entirely foolproof, however, and you might end up with a less-than-perfect result, although the rice will still be satisfactory.
• If you have good appetites, you might find 3/4 cup a more appropriate amount for 2 people.  I find 1/2 cup makes me two ample portions.

Pressure cooker rice

It's hardly worth doing this with brown basmati, but the other types vary tremendously.  It appears to me that the longer and thinner the grains, the easier and quicker brown rice is to cook.  You will have gathered by now that to me, brown basmati is the queen of rice, and well worth investing in if you find some that is affordable.  Because I am now almost vegan, I have a bit more money to spend on food, and so basmati rice is one of my primary indulgences.

 

Cooking rice in the pressure cooker is a bit more hit and miss than in the saucepan, simply because of its variability, so you may need to experiment a little with the timing.  However, the good news is that the longer it needs to cook, the less chance you have of overcooking it.  Moreover,  I think that brown rice is anyway much more forgiving and much less likely to dissolve into a horrid mush.  (To be perfectly honest, it is literally decades since I cooked long-grain, white rice, so forgive me if some of my comments about it are awry.)  I have also come to realise that there is a big difference between cooking on paraffin and cooking on meths, for example, so it's hard to be too definite with timings, something which is only exacerbated by the facts that not all pressure cookers announce at what pressure they cook and a big stainless steel pressure cooker will take a lot longer to heat up than a small alloy one.  All in all, I am rather flabbergasted at how the majority of recipe bloggers can tell me that my onions will be cooked to perfection in 7 minutes and similar statements!  I find cooking - well at least cooking on a boat - much more art than science.  Anyway, back to the pressure cooker rice, assuming 'standard' brown rice. 

 

2 portions

Ingredients

 

1 cup water OR 1/3 cup seawater + 2/3 cup fresh

1/2 cup brown rice

1/4 tsp salt

Method:

• Put the water and rice into a pressure cooker. Add the salt if you are using all fresh water.
• Bring up to pressure.
• Lower the flame and cook over a medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, just keeping the pressure going.
• Take the pan off and let the pressure reduce naturally. The rice will stay hot for a long time in the sealed pressure cooker, and, within reason, the longer it stands, the drier it will be.

Note:

• As mentioned above, brown rice varies widely from varietal to varietal and brand to brand.  If you eat a lot of rice, like I do, you will probably be buying at least 5 kilos at a time, so it's well worth carefully experimenting with cooking times, when you restock.  When I was voyaging I would often buy 20 k at a time.

Wild rice takes a long time to cook - you want to give it 45 minutes.  However, It will cook in the pressure cooker in 10 to 15 minutes (depending on the usual variables) and when I mix it with basmati, I find the latter hasn't suffered from the extra time.  If I am cooking it on the stove top, I put the wild rice in first and put the basmati in about 10 minutes later.

 

Black rice and red rice also take a lot of cooking.  I can't say I am impressed with black rice and that being so, I'm afraid I haven't tried red rice.  But then, I'm besotted with basmati!

 

Short grain, eg Arborio  I'm about to make a liar out of myself here: I use Arborio rice for risotto and paella and it confess to using white.  This is because my attempts with brown shot-grain rice have been less than successful.  Because New Zealand is a small country and because I live far away from cities in the Far North, there is little demand for 'exotic' foods.  Possibly there are types of short-grain, brown rice that go satisfactorily starchy, but the are not available to me.  To cook this type of rice, simply follow the instructions in the recipe, because sometimes you want obviously separate grains and other times you want the result to be creamy.  

There is a lot more about cooking rice here.

 

Risotto

Edited 26/5/25

 

Risotto is something that I’ve come to since living on my own, because it isn’t the sort of rib-sticking tack that my skippers would have liked. I adore it. 

For a long time I couldn’t get it just right. I kept reading all different recipes; I carefully kept my stock hot and ladled it assiduously into the pan, just like the maestros told me to, but the rice never seemed really to cook through and I never got the creamy consistency that the cookery books raved about: I think all the variables of heat, pan size and quantity are very important and unless you cook the same amount in the same pan each time, there's a lot of trial and error.  Keeping the water/stock hot is a further complication.  Moreover, some recipes imply that you heat up more water/stock than might be called for, and pouring water away on a boat, is a capital crime!  Finally, however, I came across a complete iconoclast who cooked her risotto in the pressure cooker and, moreover, she assured me that so do lots of Italian cooks, who, I assume prefer to sit down with the rest of the white wine, rather than standing over the risotto pot, ladling and stirring for three-quarters of an hour. So I tried it, and since then I have produced what I consider to be perfect risotto (although I have to admit that the one in the photo is a bit dry)!  You will have to experiment a bit to get the timing just right: the usual caveat about how long it takes your PC to get up to pressure and at what pressure it cooks applies as usual.

 

I have tried it with short-grain brown rice, rather than arborio, but the result has been disappointing.  From what I have read, risotto is meant to be of a creamy consistency, so it shouldn't stand up on its own, moulded on the plate.  Nor should it have any cream in it - the creaminess comes from the starch in the rice - and really, not even that much cheese.  The Italians are firm believers in Less is More.

 

Jamie Oliver adds lots of celery to his risotto and very good it is too. However, celery is not the sort of thing that most voyagers carry, because it comes in large quantities and doesn’t keep that well. Instead I have gone for a unique Annie touch (or so I would like to think) and use fennel seeds. Very Italian and very voyager friendly.  I also occasionally add celery seeds, too, in a nod to Mr Oliver.  Classic risotto recipes use neither, however, so feel free to leave them out if you prefer.

 

What follows is the basic recipe with the usual variations at the end.   Although I see a lot of recipes include vegetables early in the cooking process, traditionally most appear to be added at the end.  I dare say that's because after all the stirring, etc, the veg would be mashed.  However, with those that will re-heat quickly like mushrooms, it's better to pre-fry them with the onion and garlic and then set aside.  I usually sprinkle in some of my mushroom stock powder, just before adding the water and recommend it, but if you only have commercial stock you can use that, in which case go carefully with your salt.  If you don't particularly want to fry your vegetable of choice, for example if you're making, for example green bean risotto, partially cook the beans first and use the cooking water for stock.  But in reality – just go for it!

 

Please check the Notes before cooking :-) 

Basic Risotto

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

A knob of butter and/or olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed and diced

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp celery seed

2/3 cup short grain (ideally Carnaroli or Arborio) rice

1/2 cup white wine (or, in desperate circumstances, water)

1 1/3 cups stock/cooking water/water

salt and pepper

extra hot water/stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese or 'Parmegan' 

 

Method:

• Heat the oil and/or butter in the pressure cooker and then add the onion and garlic. Cook gently until softened, but don’t let them brown.
• Add the fennel seeds and/or celery, if you're using them and quickly mix them in.
• Add the rice and stir it around for a few minutes until it’s thoroughly heated and covered in the oil and onion mixture.  It should be starting to turn translucent and to crackle slightly.
• Pour in the wine and continue stirring until it has evaporated.
• Now add the water/stock/cooking water from your vegetable of choice, or water and stock powder; stir to ensure that everything is covered in liquid and well mixed.  
• Put on the lid and bring up to pressure.
• Cook for 5-7 minutes and allow the pressure to reduce naturally.
• Meanwhile, grate the cheese and heat up about a cup of water.
• Remove the lid and gently stir the risotto. Add salt and pepper and taste it. The risotto should be of a creamy consistency that flows rather than stands on its own. If it looks a bit dry, add some of your hot water and mix carefully.
• Add the Parmesan/Parmegan and gently mix it in.  Taste to see if you've added sufficient.
• *  At this stage, add your partially-cooked vegetables and mix carefully again.
  Put the lid back on and either let the vegetables reheat in the hot risotto for a few minutes, or put the pan back over a very low heat, if you are worried the risotto might cool down too much.  Give the consistency one final check adding more hot water/stock if necessary and serve straight away, with more cheese, if you wish.

A green vegetable or side salad go well with any risotto, but especially with the basic one above.

 

Notes:

• If you don't have or use butter, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil; otherwise just use one tbsp plus the butter.
• Substitute vegan ghee for butter.
• Try to avoid using red onions - they will colour the risotto.
• You can heat your extra hot water/stock while the pressure is coming off. 

Variations:

 

Please read through these little recipes carefully before starting cooking.

• Broad bean risotto: Shell the beans to make up about a cup full.  Following the basic risotto recipe above, cook the beans in a small amount of water to which you have added 1/4 tsp dried mint, until they are just tender.  Scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking liquid to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water and coninue with the method above.  Add the cooked beans at * and complete the recipe.
• Broccoli risotto: Following the basic risotto recipe above, cut the broccoli into tiny heads, simmer them in a small amount of water until just cooked - they will cook a bit more while reheating - and then scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water.  If you want to use some of the stalk, chop it and cook with the onions and garlic.  Continue as above, add the cooked broccoli at *, and complete the recipe.  Sprinkle with chilli flakes.
• Cauliflower risotto: 
  
  Following the basic risotto recipe above, cut off the florets, to whatever size suits you, depending on what result you are aiming for. Lightly cook them, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water. Take the stalk and any trimmings, chop and cook with the onions and garlic and 1/4 tsp chilli flakes.  Add the water/stock and continue with the method above.  While the risotto is cooking, you can thinly slice the florets, if you wish.   Add the cauliflower at *, and complete the recipe.  A variation is to cook the cauliflower more thoroughly and to gently mash it into the cooked rice.
• Green bean risotto.  Following the recipe above, cook about a dozen beans, sliced into 30mm/1in pieces, in a small amount of water with 1/4 tsp dried oregano, until they are almost ready.  Scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water and carry on with the recipe.  Add the cooked beans at * and complete the recipe.
• Mushroom risotto:
  
  Read through the recipe above.  (If you have any, soak a few dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes or so and use the water in the stock). Take half a dozen or so fresh mushrooms and fry them in the oil/butter with the onion and garlic, together with 1/4 tsp thyme and 1/2 tsp rosemary (1/4 tsp sage also goes well if you are using darker mushrooms).  When the onions are soft, set everything aside on a plate.  Now add some more oil to the pan.  Add the rice and cook for a minute or so until the grains start to turn translucent and crackle. Add the mushroom liquid to the water/stock to make 2 cups of liquid (you don't need wine with this risotto), then pour this over the rice.  Now add the drained mushrooms, put on the lid and bring up to pressure as per the recipe above.  Add the cooked mushrooms at * and complete the recipe.  If you are lucky enough to have some, drizzle some truffle oil over before serving.
• Pea risotto: Shell sufficient fresh peas to fill about half a cup. Bring a small amount of water to the boil, together with 1/4 tsp dried mint and a couple of the pods.  Add the peas and cook for one minute, then scoop them out onto a plate with a slotted spoon. Remove the pods. Make up the cooking water to 1 1/3 cups, with stock or water, and follow the basic risotto recipe.  Add the cooked peas at * and complete the recipe.  If you don't have fresh peas, you can use a similar amount of freeze-dried.  Cook them in the stock/water, together with the dried mint until they are nearly cooked.  Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Make up the liquid to 1 1/3 cups and follow the recipe.  Add the cooked peas at * and complete the recipe. 
• Pea and sun-dried tomato risotto: Follow the instructions for Pea Risotto, but add three or four sun-dried tomatoes, cut into strips, with the fennel seeds.
• Risotto Milanesa:  This is the classic Italian recipe and is very beautiful.  Saffron is horribly expensive, but its glorious colour and subtle fragrance make it worthwhile using on occasion.  Do not be tempted to substitute turmeric: it will overwhelm a dish like this which is so subtly flavoured.  For the same reason, leave out the fennel and celery seeds and make sure you use some decent-tasting white wine. Following the basic risotto recipe above, heat 1/4 cup of the water you intend to cook the rice in and add a good pinch of saffron strands (about 1/4 tsp).  Allow them to infuse for about 20 minute.  Cook the basic risotto as above, and add the saffron liquid to the water/stock to make up 1 1/3 cups.  Complete the recipe.

 

 

Chickpeas and wild rice with tomatoes

CHICKPEAS AND WILD RICE WITH TOMATOES

 

This is one of those really great recipes.  It tastes wonderful, but it’s simple, inexpensive, easy to cook and uses food that you - or at any rate I - always have to hand.  To me, it’s so delicious that it’s fit for a celebration or to give to guests. I love it, and every time I make it, I only wish that I’d made twice as much!  

 

If you don't have wild rice on board, or it's beyond your budget, substitute your normal brown.  It will still make a lovely meal.

 

serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil (preferably from a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil)

1/2 cup rice

1/4 cup wild rice

2½ cups water

1/2 cup chickpeas, soaked

1 tsp Annie's Mixed Herbs or a handful of chopped parsley

 1/2 tsp (heaped) Annie's Seasoned Salt

400 g/14 oz can tomatoes*

1 garlic clove

 cracked black pepper

 

Method:

• Heat the oil in the pressure cooker and add the chopped onion. Cook for a few minutes until softened and transparent.
• Add the rice and wild rice and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the grains of rice become opaque.
• Pour in the water and bring to the boil. Add the chickpeas and the dried mixed herbs (if you're using fresh parsley, keep this until the end). Stir well and put the lid on the pressure cooker. Bring up to pressure and cook for 15 minutes.
• Reduce pressure at room temperature. Add the salt. Dice the garlic and add to the pan.
• Drain the tomatoes and put the juice aside for another recipe. Add the tomatoes to the pressure cooker and chop them very roughly with your spoon – they should stay in big chunks.
• Season generously with pepper, check the salt and reheat, with the lid on, over a low flame. 
• If you are using fresh parsley, chop this finely and mix it through before serving.

Note:

• If you're somewhere that tomatoes are affordable, this is a good meal to use them, so that you don't have to store the juice.  Peel them first, if you want to and cut them in quarters or eighths, depending on how big they are.  I can't suggest how many to use, but cut up, they would measure a generous cup and a half.
• Fresh parsley truly enhances this dish.

You will find many more rice recipes here

Paella

 

Paella is Spain’s version of pulau or pilaf - as you can guess from the name.    Although everyone associates it with shellfish, oddly enough, seafood isn’t always included, but on the other hand meat is, so this version could hardly be described as authentic.    However, I have tried to use the traditional method and seasoning.    Paella can contain a number of different vegetables such as green beans or fresh broad beans.    A lot of veg~an cooks add artichokes, but I can always taste the vinegar that has been added to the jars and I feel this would not improve the flavour.    Many paella include white beans of one sort or another so I’ve included cooked cannellini beans (very popular in Spain), but broad, lima, haricot or any white bean would all work well.    You can leave them out altogether if you want: I do when the weather is really hot and I have less appetite.   

One of the ways in which paella is similar to Persian pilaf is that it is cooked in such a way that the rice at the bottom of the pan forms a crust, know as socarrat.    This is full of flavour and adds to this already delicious dish.     All the cookery books tell you that this crust won’t form if you use a non-stick frying pan: that may well be correct if you have one coated in Teflon, but my Spanish Valira frying pan/skillet apparently has a multi-layer non-stick surface made from titanium (!) and this certainly allows for the socarrat to develop.   I reckon you need to be reasonably generous with the olive oil, but, more importantly, once you’ve added the water, don’t stir it.    If you do, you’ll lift up the rice that’s at the bottom of the pan and the socarrat will have to start all over again.    However, don’t worry it it doesn't form: the paella will still be yummy.

As a reality check, for voyagers who don’t want to make or buy sausage of some description, I’ve tried leaving out the sausage. It still tastes fantastic. In fact, I’m often too lazy to make chorizo, and the photo shows an alternative with no sausage and with chick peas instead of white beans.

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

1/2 tsp saffron threads, crumbled

1 tbsp white wine or water

1/4 cup freeze-dried peas

2 veg~an Italian sausages or 1/2 Chorizo, thickly sliced

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 small red bell pepper, cut into strips

2 cloves garlic, chopped, minced or crushed

 a handful of green beans cut into 30 mm lengths

1 medium tomato, diced

1 tbsp capers

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/2 tsp thyme

 1/4 tsp cayenne

3/4 cups Spanish or arborio rice

1 1/2 cups water

 1/2 cup of cooked cannellini beans

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp mushroom stock powder 

black pepper to taste

fresh parsley

Method:

• Put the water or white wine into a bowl.    If it’s cold, try and warm it a little to help infuse the saffron.    Add the crumbled strands to the bowl and set aside.
• In a small saucepan, add the peas to ¼ cup lightly-salted water, cover, bring to the boil and turn off the heat.    Set aside. Or pour boiling water over the pea and add a little salt.
• Before starting on the paella itself, and assuming you only have one large frying pan or skillet, cook the slices of sausage in this now, in some olive oil.    Fry both sides until slightly crisp and then remove them from the pan onto a plate.    An additional advantage of doing this now is that the remaining oil adds additional flavour to the paella.
• Heat a little more oil in a the pan, over a medium heat. Once heated, add the onions and peppers. Sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 3-5 minutes.
• Add the garlic and sauté for a further minute.
• If you are using them, add the green beans.
• Now add the tomato, capers, smoked paprika, sweet paprika and thyme. Sauté for a couple of minutes.
• Put a little more oil in the pan and add the rice.    Stir everything thoroughly so that everything is well mixed and all the grains of rice coated with the various seasonings. Lightly toast the rice for a minute or so until it’s just starting to stick.
• Now add the water, salt, pepper, mushroom stock, saffron plus its water and the cannellini beans.    Now add your sausage pieces and stir quickly to ensure everything is evenly distributed.    Bring to a slow boil.
• Turn the heat down and keep an eye on the pan for a few minutes.    You want the liquid to be just moving, but not boiling.    The rice should take about 20 minutes to cook.    If all the liquid is absorbed at 15 minutes, carefully add another ¼ cup of water.   
• After 20 minutes, all the water should be absorbed and the rice should be cooked – this rice is not as soft as risotto, but certainly you don’t want it al dente.
• By now you should be able to hear a gentle crackling as the socarrat forms and there should be a nice toasty smell.    If it doesn’t happen, well it doesn’t happen.    With luck, practice will make perfect.    The problem with this sort of recipe is that it does rather depend on variables like how absorbent the rice is, how hot your burner is and the quality of the frying pan.    But if there is no lovely, crusty rice, the paella will still be very good.
• When you are sure that the rice is cooked, turn the heat down as low as it can go (and/or put the pan on a flame-tamer).    This will allow the crust to keep on forming. Take out a teaspoon or so of paella and check the salt.    If it needs more, sprinkle some over the whole pan – there’s still time for it to be absorbed.
• Spread the drained peas over the top of the rice (don't mix in). Cover the pan and and let the paella stand for 5 minutes or so.    If there’s the slightest smell of burning, turn off the flame.   
• Once the peas are heated through, turn off the flame and sprinkle chopped, fresh parsley over everything, should you be lucky enough to have some.    Grind some more black pepper over the top and then serve on hot plates.

Notes:

• If you don’t have mushroom stock powder, leave it out.    The mushroom adds a nice earthy taste you won’t get from other stock powders.
• Saffron gives the paella its distinct flavour and colour.    Well, certainly the colour: with ingredients like sausage and tomato, it doesn’t always come through. I suspect real paella has a greater proportion of rice than this recipe. However, you can’t be mean with it, if you want to be able to taste it.    Saffron also happens to be a shocking price and some would say a very wasteful crop, seeing that only the stamens are taken from a zillion crocuses.    (However, the fields must look gorgeous when they flower!)    If either of these reasons puts you off using saffron, substitute a ¼ tsp turmeric, which will give you a similar, lovely colour.    Bear in mind that the flavour is not only different, but quite noticeable, so only use as much as you need to colour the rice.
• This recipe really needs freeze-dried peas (or, I suppose, if you are voyaging on a rather larger income, frozen).    These are readily available in many countries and, as long as the locker doesn’t get too hot, keep well for several years. Apparently they still retain a lot of their nutrients, so are more than just a pretty addition.  If you don’t have them, try and add something else green, to keep the paella looking attractive.  You could substitute half the red pepper for green and add some diced carrot, if you don’t have anything beyond the normal vegetables on board.
• The green beans are a traditional addition but not always easy for sailors to find.  I have successfully used thinly-sliced carrots to add to the variety.
• If you have no fresh tomato, you can use one from a tin, or ¼ cup diced tomatoes from a can, or some tomato purée (in which case, add it with the water).
• Mushrooms can be used instead of the white beans if you don’t want the paella to be too filling, but I don’t feel they really go too well with everything else in this instance.
• Chick peas substitute well for white beans, and are, of course, very popular in Spain.
• Swiss chard is also a good addition and can stand in for the peas and/or beans if necessary. I realise that it’s far from being a voyaging vegetable, but it will keep up to a week if bought very fresh and treated with care.

 

You will find many more rice recipes here