Cooking with Corn

One of my favourite memories of recent times is from the monsoon in Mumbai last year. Having got soaked to the skin, I stood with my friends & stared out to sea with a cup of hot, spicy sweetcorn to warm me from the inside - A perfect day...
























So when I got wet in the rain a few days ago, the beautiful looking, fresh corn cobs at the market just jumped out at me. Three days later I'm still enjoying the corn, and have had a chance to try out some scrumptious recipes.

Corn is sooooo easy to cook - just boil or saute. And even if you just eat it totally plain it's extremely tasty. This is why corn appeals to me. It's easy to cook and pretty difficult to mess it up!

So Friday and Saturday nights have been accompanied by corn - I just wish my camera was working so I could take some photos of the food. Not only was it really tasty, but it looked pretty good too! Anyway, here are the recipes...

Friday night: Sweetcorn Pulao

1 tablespoon oil / butter
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
3-4 cloves (laung)
3-4 peppercorns
2-3 cardamoms (elaichi)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
1 cup sweetcorn
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups cooked Basmati rice
Coriander leaves, finely chopped


1. Heat the oil / butter then add the jeera.
2. When jeera splutters add the onion and cook over a medium heat until starting to brown.
3. Add the ginger paste, laung, peppercorns, elaichi and haldi. Stir for a few minutes.
4. Add the corn and salt. Cook until corn is soft, ~7 minutes.
5. Stir in the cooked rice. Mix well and heat through for a few minutes.
6. Serve sprinkled with chopped coriander

I enjoyed this with curd and sliced tomatoes. It was really tasty, if I do say so myself!
















Saturday night: Palak Makkai (Spinachy-corn or Green corn)

1 bunch spinach (palak)
1 tablespoon oil / butter
2 onions finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1 cup sweetcorn, boiled
Salt to taste
Handful of cashews, ground to a paste with a little water
A little water/milk (optional - if you prefer a thinner consistency)
Chopped coriander leaves


1. wilt the spinach in a hot pan. Leave to cool. Grind to a paste in a blender.
2. Heat the oil and cook the onions over a medium heat until starting to brown.
3. Add chillies, garlic and ginger paste and chilli powder. Fry for a few minutes.
4. Add tomatoes and cook until soft
5. Stir in garam masala, salt, palak and corn
6. Cook for 10 minutes or so until everythings well cooked, then add the cashew paste. Simmerfor a few more minutes.
7. If you prefer a thinner consistency, add a little water or milk towards the end.
8. Garnish with some chopped coriander.

I had mine with roti, but it's good with rice too.
If you feel really indulgent then add a lump of butter at the end, or a splash of cream

Hope you enjoy these... I'm still on the look out for more corn recipes, so please send me your favourite one!