Paneer Tikka Masala

Marinate cubed paneer in thick yoghurt with spices and vegetables.

1) Take some thick yoghurt, add: chili powder, kasturi methi (=dried leaves of fenugreek), salt, lime or lemon juice, oil and mix. Add cut tomato, red onion and bell pepper (bite sized) and marinate with the paneer.

2) The sauce:
Heat oil in pan, add cumin seeds, finely chopped onion, salt, add pinch of turmeric, garlic-ginger paste and flower (maïzena). Add one cup of pureed tomato's, coriander powder, cumin powder and chili powder. Add water when the mixture becomes dry.

3) In another pan cook the paneer-yoghurt mixture. Make sure the tomato's don't become overcooked.

4) Boil sauce (add water if needed) and add the well cooked paneer-yoghurt mixture. Add garam masala powder and finish with adding cream.

Spaghetti with Tuna, Mushrooms and Pancetta

Tried & tested:

Soak 15 gram dried porcini in hot water for 20 minutes.

Heat oil, add one clove of garlic, crush gently and cook for 2 minutes. Discard garlic.

Add 75 gram diced pancetta or bacon and fry for 4 minutes.

Add drained dried porcini (chopped finely) and 225 gran chopped button mushrooms. Fry for 2 minutes and add soaking liquid from the mushrooms (about 6 table spoons). Simmer for 10 minutes.

Cook pasta, adding remaining soaking liquid from the mushrooms.

Add a can of tuna to the sauce and taste for pepper and salt.

Toss pasta with the sauce and serve with grated Parmesan.

Note: leave out pancetta (or even the tuna) for a vegetarian version. Update: tried it and it doesn't taste as good. You need some pancetta, if only a little.

Spaghetti with Saffron

For this simple dish you will need dried spaghetti, a few strands of saffron, 150 gram cooked quality ham, 200 ml panna da cucina, 2 egg yolks and 50 grams freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Cook the pasta.

In the meantime put the saffron in a few tablespoons of water and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils turn off the heat and leave to stand for a while. Add strips of ham. Stir in the panna da cucina and Parmesan. Add salt and pepper and heat gently while stirring. Remove from heat and add egg yolks. Mix well.

Add the sauce to the drained pasta and toss.

Serve with extra grated Parmesan.

Kimchi bokkeumbap (김치 볶음 밥)

Kimchi bokkeum-bap means: kimchi-mixed-rice. It's the Korean version of nasi goring. You take some left over rice (don't use fresh cooked rice!) and fry it with several ingredients. The main ingredient is kimchi (김치) made from Chinese cabbage.

The basic ingredients: cooked rice and kimchi:



Kimchi is already pretty spice but you can add one teaspoon of hot pepper paste (gochujang). You can also make this dish without the hot pepper sauce, especially when you use many other ingredients. Gochujang is rather overpowering:



Cut kimchi finely (note: I didn't cut the kimchi in the photo's below). Fry the kimchi and pepper paste in some oil (sunflower, sesame or a mixture of both):



Add the rice and fry on a low fire for 15 minutes:



I make this dish as an easy and quick lunch. Prepare some side dishes like (Japanese) pickled daikon and seaweed salad (chuka wakame) and you're done in 15 minutes.



This is the basic version. You can also add a can of tuna, left over meat, shrimps, mushrooms, onion, carrot or zucchini. A can of tuna in juicy olive oil works best. Just make sure to chop all ingredients rather small. To serve you can fry an egg and put it on top of the kimchi bokkeumbap and sprinkle some shredded gim (dried seaweed), chopped scallions or sesame seeds as a garnish. You can make kimchi bokkeumbap into a rather rich dish. Or keep it simple when you're pressed for time.

In Amsterdam all ingredients are available in Dun Yong, Stormsteeg 9 near the Nieuwmarkt.