Lifestyle

Carrots, spices and paneer | Nigel Slater


The recipe

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Trim and scrub 800g of carrots and put them in large roasting tin. Pour over 5 tbsp of groundnut oil and toss gently to coat. Roast for 40-45 minutes till tender, tossing them halfway through.

Warm 1 tsp each of coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and nigella in a dry pan for a couple of minutes. As soon as the spices smell toasted and are starting to pop, crush them coarsely using a pestle and mortar, or give them a brief ride in a spice mill. Scatter the spices over the carrots with a little sea salt and toss gently, then remove the carrots from their tin and transfer to a serving dish.

Place the tin over a moderate heat and add 250g of paneer, crumbling it into small pieces as you go. Let the paneer fry, with the occasional turn, until it is golden. Scatter the paneer over the carrots and serve. Enough for 2.

The trick

Carrots roast sweetly enough, but it is a good idea to baste them as they cook, adding a little more butter or oil as you think fit. The sugars that caramelise on the base of the roasting tin are an essential part of the dish. Stir the paneer as it fries, encouraging it to pick up some of the sweetness left in the roasting tin.

The twist

Feta cheese, crumbled into large pieces, is a deliciously piquant alternative to the paneer. Young parsnips will work in place of the carrots. Make a coriander dressing to toss the roasted carrots and paneer in by blitzing olive oil and lemon juice with mint and coriander leaves in the blender. A pinch of sugar won’t go amiss.

Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter@NigelSlater

Greenfeast: Spring, Summer by Nigel Slater is out now (4th Estate, £22). To order a copy for £16.99, go to guardianbookshop.com





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