ross dobson food

I always prefer to cook a curry from a recipe that does not involve dozens and dozens of dry spices. Southern Indian food tends to have a greater emphasis on fresh ingredients, with just one or two spices thrown in, so this style of cooking appeals to me. Paneer is a firm white cheese from India – if you can’t find it, halloumi will work just as well.

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 250 g paneer, cubed
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 5 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 fresh green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
• 3 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 200 g frozen peas
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala
• a handful of fresh coriander leaves
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• cooked basmati rice
• naan bread
• mango chutney

Serves 4 Heat the oil in a frying pan set over medium heat. Add the paneer and cook for 4–5 minutes, turning often until golden all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add the butter to the pan. When it is melted and sizzling add the onion and stir-fry until softened and lightly golden. Add the ginger and chillies to the pan and cook for 1 minute.

Add the tomatoes, vinegar and 65 ml water and bring to the boil. Cook for about 5 minutes, to thicken slightly. Add the peas and return the paneer to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the peas are tender.

Stir in the garam masala and season to taste. Sprinkle with coriander leaves and serve with basmati rice and an assortment of Indian accompaniments.

I really don’t know why tinned fish gets such a bad press – it is one of the most convenient and healthy fast foods to have on hand. I just love it with other simple, fresh Mediterranean flavours, such as lemon and parsley. The inclusion of feta cheese here may seem a little odd but it really does work. Just a small amount provides an extra tangy, savoury element to this summery dish. Any large open pasta shape will work but I have used lumaconi here which translated from the Italian means ‘snail shells’.

• 400 g large pasta shells, such as lumaconi
• 65 ml olive oil
• 2 red onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons small salted capers, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 425-g tin tuna in oil, well drained
• 50 g feta cheese, crumbled
• 50 g wild rocket
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Serves 4

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook for 8–10 minutes, until tender. Drain well and add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Transfer to a large bowl.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan set over high heat. Add the onion, garlic, chilli and capers and cook, stirring, for 2–3 minutes, until the onion has softened. Add the vinegar and cook for 1 further minute.

Add the tuna and use a fork to roughly break up any larger chunks, without mushing the tuna too much. Add the tuna mixture to the bowl with the pasta. Add the feta and rocket and gently toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Serve warm or cold, as desired.

This is basically a giant crème caramel, and as such is Spain’s most popular dessert, where it is on every menu in every region. And rightly so as the simple yet delicious combination of rich, baked egg custard with a caramelized sugar syrup is a real winner – your guests will almost certainly want seconds.

• 450 g white granulated sugar
• 10 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 litre milk (not low-fat)

Serves 10–12

Put half of the sugar in a large, heavy-based frying pan and set over medium heat. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and is just starting to turn golden around the sides of the pan. Increase the heat to high and gently swirl the pan over the heat so the sugar dissolves and is the colour of golden syrup or honey. Remove the pan from the heat before the sugar starts to burn and continue swirling the pan so that the sides are covered in the caramel. Do this until the caramel starts to set. Set aside until needed.

Preheat the oven to 180oC (350oF) Gas 4 and put the frying pan with the caramel in a large roasting tin.

Put the milk, remaining sugar and vanilla extract in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until the milk reaches boiling point, but remove it from the heat just before it boils.

Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the hot milk to the eggs and whisk to combine. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve then pour the custard into the frying pan, over the caramel. Pour enough cold water into the roasting tin to come almost to the top of the frying pan and carefully put into the preheated oven.

Cook for 11⁄4 hours until the custard has set. It may still be slightly wobbly in the centre. Lift the frying pan out of the roasting tin and let it sit at room temperature until cool. Refrigerate for 3 hours or ideally overnight.

To serve, run a knife around the sides of the frying pan, to remove any stuck-on bits. Sit a serving plate, larger than the frying pan, over the top and quickly turn the flan out onto the plate. Sit it on a work bench and tap the bottom of the frying pan to release the flan. Use a large spoon to serve.