Camellia Panjabi: 'I've set my sights on making the British public fall in love with vegetables'

“Raitas made with yogurt and a vegetable are eaten all over northern, western and southern India, as is lassi or buttermilk – chaas,” says bestselling author and restaurateur Camellia Panjabi.

“But in Kerala, a raita, lassi or chaas is always ‘seasoned’ with hot coconut oil in which some key ingredients are lightly fried. They even make a buttermilk curry, known as moru curry.”

Serves 2. Ingredients: 1 large or 2 small beetroots; 1tsp finely grated ginger; ½tsp salt; 1½ fresh green chillies, finely chopped; 400g yogurt; ⅓tsp cumin powder; ¼tsp red chilli or red pepper powder; 2tbsp coconut oil, or other oil of your choice; 3 broken pieces of a dried red chilli, seeds removed; 10–12 curry leaves; ¼tsp ginger, chopped really fine

Put the unpeeled beetroots into a pan and add enough water to cover them. Add the grated ginger, ¼ teaspoon of salt and ½ a green chilli, bring to the boil and cook until tender. When cooked, remove the beetroots from the pan and leave to cool, then peel. Throw away the water. Cut the beetroot into long strips or as you prefer.

Whisk the yogurt, add ¼ teaspoon of salt, the cumin, chopped red chilli or pepper powder, and stir. Put into a serving dish, add the beetroot and stir.

For seasoning, put the oil into a ladle or a tiny pan over the heat. When it is very hot, add the rest of the chopped green chilli, curry leaves and chopped ginger and fry for 7 seconds on a medium heat. Pour this into the yogurt bowl.

The raita is ready to serve, without stirring.

Stir-fried peppers with paneer

“This is a popular dish in hotel buffets in India, and many would like to create a similar dish at home. It’s like a jalfrezi.

"If you are vegan you could use tofu instead of paneer,” says bestselling author and restaurateur Camellia Panjabi.

“Green and red peppers have slightly different nutrient properties and they look attractive when combined. But of course you can use just the green ones if you like.”

Serves 4. Ingredients: 150g paneer, store-bought; 6tbsp oil of your choice; 300–350g peppers, a mix of red and green; 1tsp whole peppercorns; 1tbsp coriander seeds; 1tsp cumin seeds; 1½tbsp chopped garlic; 1 heaped tbsp chopped ginger; 2 green chillies, chopped; 1 large onion, sliced; ½tsp ground turmeric; 1tsp red chilli powder; 2tsp ground coriander; 1tsp garam masala; 2 puréed tomatoes; ½tsp sugar; ½tsp salt; 2tsp lime juice coriander leaves, for garnish

Slice the paneer into batons, about 1cm thick (if the paneer you buy is firm, you can soak it for a couple of minutes in a little water before using). Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a deep pan and fry the paneer for about 2 minutes, until crispy brown on the outside. Set aside, but keep the pan as you will need it again.

Cut the peppers into similar-size batons to the paneer. In the same pan in which you fried the paneer, fry the pepper batons for 2 minutes, then remove and set aside.

On a griddle or in the same pan, without additional oil, roast the peppercorns and coriander seeds for 2 minutes. Remove, and when cooled pound to a very coarse powder. Set aside.

Add 3 tablespoons of oil to the pan, and when it’s hot add the cumin seeds, garlic, ginger and green chillies. After a full minute, add the onions and sauté for about 5–6 minutes on a medium to high heat. Add the turmeric, red chilli, coriander and garam masala – and continue to sauté for 2 minutes, then add the puréed tomatoes (the reason the tomatoes need to be puréed or even grated is so that they will coat the paneer properly). Add the sugar and salt and stir.

Add 60ml of water and stir well. Cook for a further 5 minutes, then add the paneer and 2 teaspoons of the coarsely ground spice mix. Add the sautéed peppers, stirring gently so that the paneer doesn’t break.

Let it cook on a low heat for 3–4 minutes. Add the lime juice and coriander leaves and stir. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Masala mango curry

“This is a dish from the Udupi cuisine of the Mangalore region in Karnataka. This area is known as South Kannada,” says bestselling author and restaurateur Camellia Panjabi.

“Depending on the sourness or sweetness of your mangoes, you can adjust the tamarind quantity and the jaggery [cane sugar], to your taste.

“The Jain community in this region also make this dish, omitting the garlic. It is a semi-dry dish.”

Serves 6 as a condiment or with rice. Ingredients: 30g tamarind; 1kg just-ripe cooking mangoes; 6tbsp coconut or other oil of your choice; 2tbsp coriander seeds; 1½tbsp white urad dal; ¼tsp fenugreek seeds; 1tsp raw rice grains; 1tbsp white sesame seeds; 3tbsp grated coconut; 5 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water; ½tsp mustard seeds; 4 cloves of garlic; 3 dried red chillies, broken into pieces; 20 curry leaves; 65g jaggery; 1tsp salt; 1¼tsp mango powder (amchoor); 2tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

Soak the tamarind in 125ml of warm water and set aside.

Cut the mangoes downwards into 2 slices and the middle seed part. Cut each slice into 2 pieces. Peel. Cut the sides off the seed. Discard the seed. If the mango is very large, cut each cheek into 4 pieces.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a skillet, and add the coriander seeds, urad dal, fenugreek seeds, raw rice, sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons of grated coconut and the 5 soaked red chillies.

Sauté for 3 minutes on a low heat, then set aside to cool. Once cool, grind to a paste in a spice grinder.

Heat another 4 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan, and when very hot, add the mustard seeds. After 6 seconds add the garlic and after a minute add the 3 broken red chillies and the curry leaves and fry for a minute.

Add the jaggery, the masala paste and the tamarind water, squeezed out and strained. Then add 1 cup (235ml) of water and the salt, and bring to the boil. Taste for seasoning, balancing between sourness (tamarind), sweetness (jaggery) and saltiness.

After it has boiled for a minute, add the mango pieces and cook until tender. Now taste again. Add the mango powder and stir. When serving, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and the remaining tablespoon of grated coconut.