Hello folks! I hope you are having a wonderful break! If your family is anything like mine, you are probably very tired of turkey right about now! It’s around New Years when a craving for some spicy or ethnic cuisine starts to hit our family and we like to create a menu plan that is fun, spicy and rocks our palate a little bit! We love having a theme or ethnic food night as a way of escaping the same old-same old.This year we are all about mixing in a little India!
One thing I love about mixing in a little India is that it is so easy to create with the help of Patak’s Sauces & Chutneys. Patak’s has a whole line of products that can lend just the right amount of spice, and at the heat level you desire. I love making great tasting meals that take less time in the kitchen. I really want to share with you some great menu ideas so you can create your own little Indian cuisine evening for your family!
With the help of Patak’s Mild Curry Paste, I created this really yummy Spicy Lentil Salad for our Indian Cuisine Night, to go with other hot dishes like Butter Chicken and Creamy Curried Vegetables. Any leftover salad is delicious the next day for packed lunches. And with canned chick peas and lentils, it takes 10 minutes to put together! If you add some yummy Pappadums, a whole vegetarian meal is complete.
Spicy Lentil Salad
{serves 6-8 as a side dish}
Ingredients:
1 can of chick peas, drained
1 can of lentils, drained
1/2 cup minced red onion
1/2-3/4 cup diced celery
3/4 cup red & yellow pepper, diced
1/4 cup oil
2-3 teaspoons mild curry paste
1 tablespoon curry powder
Directions:
1. To a salad bowl, add chicken peas, lentils, onion, celery and peppers. Stir to mix.
2. In small bowl, add oil, curry paste and curry powder. Combine with whisk. Pour over lentil and chick pea mixture. Mix gently. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding more curry paste or powder if desired. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
3. Using a frying pan and oil, cook pappadums according to package directions….which is super easy and only takes seconds!
This is a tasty meal by itself, but for an Indian cuisine night, serving a few more dishes adds to the fun!
Creamy Curried Vegetables with basmati rice is a great hot veggie dish to serve!
And Butter Chicken is super easy to create with the help of Patak’s Butter Chicken Sauce.
And for help in creating a family night of Indian Cuisine of your very own, the Patak’s site is full of tasty dishes that not only look amazing, but can serve the needs of any hungry group!
Here are some of my favourites from Patak’s:
a Naanwich Bar…perfect for relaxed cooking and introducing Indian cuisine to kids…
and this super easy Strawberry Milk Dessert.
As a busy mom, I really appreciate how Patak’s products can be a great meal helper and assist me in creating a fun and flavourful menu plan for my family in under half an hour! Everyone agrees that these sauces taste great and can make almost any dish a favourite meal!
I invite you to visit Patak’s and mix in a little India!
Disclosure: I am part of the Patak’s Ambassador Program with Mom Central Canada and receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
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Oh Angie, this looks delicious! So pinned!
The creamy curried vegetables look soooo good! I love love love Indian food. As a vegetarian, they have so many options for me. I love to go to the Indian restaurant and get samosas and I always get Sag Panir with Naan. Yum!