I’m a bit pushed for time this week as we have the builder in, I’m been recipe testing and prepping for Wakelyn’s Dal Festival tomorrow where I’ll be demo-ing and compering, and I haven’t yet packed for our holiday next week (burglars please note: our builder will be living on the premises). However, a few people have asked how I made the paneer tikka I pictured on social media, so here you go. You’ll be disappearing down a few internet rabbit holes so gird your loins.

The coconut tarka dal I served with the paneer tikka features elsewhere on these pages, so forgive me if I direct you to this post rather than writing it out again. It makes regular appearances in our house and it’s my go-to dal recipe.

The tomato and French bean curry I served alongside – I think you need something wetter and tangier to offset the dal and paneer – was based on this recipe from Anna Glover in Olive magazine, who in turn based hers on one from Laxmi Khurana. I roughly trebled the number of fresh tomatoes and reduced the quantity of beans to a big fistful and because the tomatoes produced a lot of juice, didn’t add any water.

And finally, the paneer tikka. You can use a shop-bought tikka paste but I used this one from a BBC recipe (scroll to the bottom) and added a couple of tablespoons of oil. Simply dice the paneer, toss it with the paste, cover and refrigerate for anything from four hours to two days.

Shortly before you want to eat, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan and cook the paneer tikka until browned on all sides. Serve on top of the warmed coconut tarka dal, with the tomato and bean curry on the side.

You can eat this with rice but I prefer flatbreads. I had a couple of naans bought from our nearest village shop, which fortuitously is run by an Asian family. I heated the naan in a dry frying pan and brushed them with melted garlic butter, flipping once or twice to crisp them slightly in places. Job done and a really satisfying, veggie mid-week meal.