New to Student Cooking?
If you’d like to visit any of the shops and market stalls that Ainia and her friends visited, then you’ll find them below:
Leicester Market
9 Market Place South
Leicester
LE1 5HB
0116 223 2371
Monday – Saturday: 7am-6pm
(Indoor market Tuesday – Saturday: 8am-5pm)
Asiana Supermarket
70 Brazil St
Leicester
LE2 7JX
0116 255 3888
Monday: Friday 9am – 6pm
Saturday: 10am-4pm
Sunday: 11am – 4pm
Loughborough Second To Naan
Paneer Masala Recipe
Serves: 4-6
Vegetarian: Yes
Vegan: No
Ingredients:
- 2 blocks of Paneer (227g x2) cut into small cubes (found in cheese aisle
in supermarket)
- 3 Peppers- large diced (green, red & yellow)
- 2 fairly large onions- finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes- finely chopped
- 8 cloves of garlic- grated
- 2 to 3 small green chillies- finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons paprika powder
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- Cooking oil
- Spring onions to garnish
Method:
1. Shallow fry the pieces of paneer until golden brown. Place cooked paneer
pieces into water and leave to one side.
2. In a new pan heat 6/7 tablespoons of oil. Add the grated garlic and
chillies. Cook until garlic is slightly golden.
3. Add in chopped onions. Keep mixing and cook until onions are golden brown.
4. Add in chopped tomatoes, salt, paprika, garam masala, ground cumin, ground
coriander and turmeric powder. Stir well.
5. Add in peppers. Stir well. Place lid on pan to help cook peppers quicker
and keep moisture in. Keep stirring in between to prevent sticking.
6. Once peppers are cooked, drain the paneer and add it to the mixture. Stir
well and until paneer pieces are heated through.
7. Garnish with chopped spring onions. Serve hot with naan bread. Enjoy!
Jon kindly found the time to show us how to make a traditional Malaysian Tea. To see the video click the link below:
I chose to cook because it’s my signature dish that I’ve never received any negative comments about so I thought okay I’ll be the cook. It’s probably one of the easiest things you could cook but that doesn’t mean it’s not nice food.
I think it’s link back to the band and the music we play is slightly tenuous but I didn’t want to try something really fancy that I’d not cooked before so we just tried to figure out a way that it might fit. I was a little disappointed with the finished product – it wasn’t the best I’ve ever cooked the recipe for which I blame my bandmates. Turns out too many cooks spoil the broth after all! Ultimately I think that’s why we didn’t win and to be fair the Sal Paradise guys did do a great job.
I haven’t let it put me off though – I’ve cooked the dish again since and got it perfect so it is a shame that I/we messed it up on the day. Nevermind!
We first started planning International Cooking Competition as we thought it would be very facinating to find out how people in other countries cook and present their dishes. I told myself “It would definitely be very exciting and taste-rewarding”. And indeed, we had a very positive response from Loughborough’s International Students with lots of them eager to show off the best cuisine their country has to offer. We quickly got the teams signed up and the day of the competition was soon upon us!
On the day, the atmosphere in the kitchen was nervous, hyperactive and friendly. Contestants had to multitask, watching over their pans and pots as well as peeking what other countries were doing. Of course the best and at the same time the hardest part of the competition was the tasting and judging. It was evident that everyone and poured their patriotism into their work and done their best countires culinary pride, and every single meal was in its own way delightful and exotic. The true International Spirit or you may say flavour, could be felt in every meal and each one presented us we a new flavour we’d never tasted before.. Even though it was hard, we picked a winner and thankfully none of the contestants felt bad or upset!
Overall I think that during these two hectic hours, whilst running around the kitchen and asking fellow contestants for a spare egg or some cooking oil, people became good friends. The event was a great success and opened up a lot of peoples eyes to the huge exotic and exciting variety of food they’re able to cook.
Thousand Year Old Eggs – China
Despite it’s name the eggs are not in fact a thousand years old. They’re created
by burying them in ash and salt for 100 days! This makes the white go grey and smell really quite awful. An acquired taste I don’t think anyone would really want to acquire.
Surströmming – Sweden
This is everyone’s favourite…fermented herring in a can. Most notable for it’s over bearing odour and famously banned by many airlines because of it! The herring is fermented for 2 months in barrels before being canned where the fermentation doesn’t stop. Oh no it continues until you gulp down one of these delicious slippery, slimy and stinking fish.
Isaw Manok – The Philippines
‘What pray tell is Isaw Manok?’ I can hear you ask. Well I can tell you that it’s barbequed chicken intestines on a skewer. Enough said.
Turtle Soup – Singapore
Are you having some problems with your ‘mojo’? Well take a leaf out of a Singaporean’s little book of sex tips and try the sex inducing aphrodisiac that is Turtle Soup. Despite turtles being close to extinction it is still cooked into a broth with Chinese herbs and made into a thick tasty soup. Mmmmm!
Nattō – Japan
It’s morning in Japan and I’m hungry for some breakfast, however I’m all out of cornflakes and there’s not a bacon sandwich in sight. I know I’ll just have some Nattō. Delicious fermented soybeans. Although they are a great source of protein, they’re smelly and sticky so I think I’d remain hungry till lunch…when I’ll ‘enjoy’ some raw fish.
Full English Breakfast – England
Although to a Brit this would entice many an ‘mmmmm’ to many international students it entices much confusion about why on earth we would want to start our day with such a lot of fatty fried food. In addition to this we throw in some fried pigs blood in the form of black pudding.
If you’ve got any experience of eating any of these or have something you think should be added we want to know!
