Whenever I choose a new venue for our yoga retreats, I make sure that alongside beautiful accommodation, some well-equipped studio and scenic surroundings, we also have exquisite food!
After all, a badly fed yogi is not a happy yogi! We work closely with our chefs who ensure that all ingredients are sourced from local farmers or fishermen. During most of our retreats the meals are vegetarian. This is the case in every location except India where you can have, for a small extra cost, fish or prawns freshly caught by the local villagers.
All our chefs are experts at attending to any dietary requirements you might have so you can rest easy during your stay, safe in the knowledge that all your meals have been prepared with the utmost care.
At the Marari Villas, Biju is our chef and he’s a damn good one! He has worked in 5-star hotels around the world and has even been featured in the Financial Times due to his culinary talents.
Biju cooks traditional Keralan food with a little twist of European influence, whilst staying true to his roots. He offers us the most incredible piquant and spicy dishes which are the Keralan trademark.
The cuisine of Kerala is not as heavy as some Northern Indian dishes. Most of the dishes are cooked in coconut oil instead of ghee and thus the resulting dishes feel a lot lighter and fresher on the palette. Of course, we can’t talk about Keralan cuisine without mentioning the marvellous spices that make those dishes so special. Kerala is known as the ‘Land of Spices’ because it historically traded spices with Europe as well as with many ancient civilizations, with the oldest historical records being of trade with the Sumerians in 3000 BCE. You can taste turmeric, mustard seeds, chillies, curry leaves, coriander, tamarind, fennel seeds, fenugreek to name a few in Keralan dishes.
Anyway, you must be salivating by now and after checking with …. he has generously allowed me to give you his vegetarian recipe for Palak Paneer.
He showed us how to make this mouthwatering dish during the Keralan cooking lesson that we offer to our guests during the Indian retreat. I hope you are going to enjoy it as much as we did!
Ruchiyode bhakshanam aaswadikkan kazhiyatte (bon appetit in Malayalam!)
രുചിയോടെ ഭക്ഷണം ആസ്വദിക്കാന് കഴിയട്ടേ
Palak Paneer (Spinach Paneer)
Ingredients
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2-3 small red onions
- 2 sliced green chillies
- 300 g of spinach puree from fresh or frozen
- Tablespoon of chopped fresh ginger
- Tablespoon of chopped garlic
- 2 big pinches of kasuri methi (leaves of fenugreek seeds)
- 300 g of pre pan-fried paneer
- Coconut oil
- Sunflower oil
- 3 tablespoons of cashew paste (soak cashew for 10 mins in water/ blend/ make fresh on the
- day)
- 200 ml water
- Fenugreek
- Turmeric
- Chilli powder
- Garam Masala
- Coriander powder
- Mustard seeds
- Cumin seeds
The recipe
Heat up sunflower oil in a pan.
Add:
1 pinch of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh garlic
2 chopped red onions
Keep mixing till golden
Make the masala:
¼ tablespoon of turmeric
Chilli powder to taste
1.5 teaspoon of coriander powder.
Add to the pan and cook.
Add green chilli
Add the chopped tomatoes and coo.
Add the cashew paste and stir
Add the spinach puree and stir and keep cooking
Add 200 ml of water and bring to a gentle boil.
Add the paneer.
Salt to taste
Add the 2 pinches kasuri methi and stir.
Add 1 teablespoon garam masala. Please note that garam masala is always added at the end of the
recipe.
Serve straight away on chapati or with basmati rice.
Join us in our next yoga retreat in Kerala, India. Click here for information
