Matar Paneer

Aaah the good ol' matar paneer (literally peas and paneer - cottage cheese). The comfort food for many and certainly for me today. All I wanted to do on this lazy Friday was to eat a home cooked meal and sit in front of the TV for hours. Well mission accomplished on both counts :) Finally got up to start blogging. Lets see how the pics turn up with the new camera.

Almost all Indian restaurants have this dish on their menu. But like many other items what you get in restaurants in the "soaked in grease" version of the simpler home fare. I had fun cooking this one. The thought that I'm going to be blogging this one made it extra enjoyable.


Ingredients:
Paneer - Indian cottage cheese, 14 oz (Cut in 1x1 cubes)
Peas - Frozen, 1 cup
Onion - 1 small, diced
Onion - 1 big, pureed
Garlic - 4 pods
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Roma Tomatoes - 5
Cumin - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 6
Cloves - 6
Cinnamon stick - 1inch
Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves) - 1 Tbsp
Almonds - 1 Tbsp, soaked in water
Milk - 1/2 cup
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Olive Oil - 3 Tbsp
Salt



Dice the small onion and puree the big onion along with the ginger and garlic. In a pan, bring the oil to medium high heat. Add the cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick. Add the diced onions as well as the onion-garlic-ginger puree.



Cook on medium high till all of the water has evaporated and the paste no longer sticks to the bottom of the pan. Puree the tomatoes and add the puree once the onion paste has been cooked sufficiently. To this add pureed almond paste. Mix well.











Add the spices (turmeric, chilli and coriander powders) and salt. Mix once thoroughly to combine the spices.











Add milk. You might want to taste the curry here before proceeding to add the peas and paneer. Adjust for seasonings.



Lastly add, cubed paneer and thawed peas. Don't forget to season with kasuri methi for a flavorful aroma.











Enjoy this dish with roti or paratha and a raita. Happy weekend!

Back!!! No more MIA

Feels good to be back on the blogosphere after a long hiatus. But I'm not to blame. Wasn't happy with the cameras that I was using (too blasphemous to even mention which models). Was waiting for my new shiny baby. And here it is...... Check out my new Canon Rebel XSi! Loving to play with it already. Hope to make the food look even better with pics from now on. I do hope not to be gone missing for so long. Till then lets get something cookin!!!

Banana Walnut Bread

Bread Pizza

There are a few days when my taste buds just crave a juicy pizza. More often than not I do give in to the the temptation. What inevitably follows is a mountain of guilt! Argh!! That is where this recipe comes in. Although not a "real" pizza, its a great healthy substitute. I got this recipe from my mom and changed it some and I'm sure she improvised it from some word of mouth recipe. Isn't a yummy pizza sans cheese every diet lover's dream? Well now you can make your own pizza on a bread without cheese. Lets see how to accomplish that.

Ingredients:
Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
Non-fat Yogurt - 4 Tbsp
Onion - 1 medium (chopped)
Tomato - 2 small (chopped)
Bell Pepper - 1 small (chopped)
Jalapeno - As desired (chopped)
Banana Pepper - As desired (chopped)
Cholula Hot Sauce - 1 Tbsp
Sliced Bread - 12 slices
Salt to taste
Butter or Olive oil to roast


1) In a mixing bowl combine the rava, yogurt and the Cholula hot sauce. You can also add a paste of green chillies and ginger. Just make sure to add some spice at this point. The mixture should not be runny. Leave the mixture on the kitchen counter for about an hour.












2) After about an hour add the chopped veggies and the chillies and mix well. I used bottled pickled jalapenos. Feel free to experiment with the chillies. Add only as much as your heart can take.





3) Heat a non-stick pan. Take a slice of bread and spread a teaspoon of the veggie-rava mixture on it. I used Whole Wheat bread to keep it as healthy as possible. You can use regular white bread. I have not tried this recipe with rye or sourdough bread. However, I recommend to use simple white or wheat bread.



4) Add a little butter/oil in the center of the pan and place the bread with the spread facing down. Let this cook on medium to medium high heat for about 10-15 minutes. It takes at least that long for the mixture to cook. If it starts turning black before 10 mins that means the heat is too high. It will remain uncooked in the center. Once the spread side is done, flip and cook the other side till the bread gets toasted (2-3mins).



5) Take it out on a plate and cut into pieces. Serve with your favorite sauce, chutney or just with good ol' ketchup. Enjoy!

Veggie Stir-fried rice

Hello after a looooong time. I have taken pics for a lot of recipes but haven't gotten down to blogging in a while. Started a lot of new activities since the last post. Will post pics soon. But now onto today's recipe. So heres one of my own creations which I know is appreciated by a lot of my friends. I have been asked for this recipe everytime I share it with them and so finally here it is. This is my take on Chinese fried rice with extra spice to it.

Ingredients:
1 Small Cabbage (Shredded thickly)
2 Carrots (Shredded Thickly)
1 Green Bell Pepper (Cut in long thin strips)
1 Bunch Green Onions (Cut in 1 inch pieces)
1 Pack Button Mushrooms (Quartered)
4 Green Chillies (Slit)
6 Cloves Garlic
1 inch piece Ginger
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Chilli Bean Sauce (See pic)
1 Tbsp Distilled White Vinegar
1 Tbsp Lime Juice
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
1 cup Rice

Heat oil in a pan at medium high heat. When the oil heats up add the slit green chillies.


Shred or chop the cabbage and carrots into long strips. Add these to the pan.


Mix well. After 2 minutes add the bell pepper strips. At this point you can cook rice in another pan. Cook the rice until it is 80% done. Once cooked remove the pan from heat.


For the ginger-garlic paste, I use a handheld cheese shredder to shred the ginger and garlic. The resultant texture resembles the bottled ginger-garlic paste (which I loathe!!!). Add the fresh ginger-garlic paste to the veggies.


Add salt to draw the moisture out from the veggies. Cover and let the veggies cook at medium heat. Mix the veggies about every 5 mins until cooked. Now you can leave the veggies a little crisp or cook them till well done. The choice is yours. I like mine a little crisp. At this point add the green onions including the greens and the mushrooms.


Add the soy sauce, chilli bean paste, vinegar and lemon juice. Mix everything well. Cover and let the flavors mix for about 15 mins.


Fold in the cooked rice to the stir-fried veggies. Mix and serve hot.


This dish is both spicy and hot (warm). Keep something sweet handy in case the heat is too much to handle. Hope you enjoy this recipe. Be back soon.

Paneer Subz Kabab

Hello everyone,

The last few days have been very refreshing in terms of the weather here in CA. Perfect time for barbeque and grills. I got home last Friday and had a lot of half used veggies in the fridge along with long forgotten paneer. I have always been a big fan of appetizers especially paneer-based ones and wanted to put all these to use. That was the inspiration for this recipe. Now this was the first time I was preparing this recipe and the only image I had in mind is the smooth Paneer Tikka Kabab I had at my favorite North Indian restaurant (Urban Tadka in Mumbai).

Ingredients:
1 Medium Onion
1 Large Tomato
1 Medium Green Bell Pepper
1 Medium Zucchini
Paneer (0.5 lb, roughly half a pack of paneer found in Indian grocery stores)

For the marinade:
1 cup Yogurt
1 Green Chilli - finely chopped
1tsp Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek Leaves)
8-10 Mint leaves - finely chopped
3 pods Garlic - Minced
1/2 inch Ginger - Minced
1/2tsp Black Salt
1/2tsp Chaat Masala
1/2tsp Cajun Seasoning
1/2tsp Red Chilli Powder
A few strands of saffron

Start by chopping the veggies. Big chunks of bell pepper, thick slices of tomatoes and zucchini. For the onion, peel and cut it into half. Then remove the layers and chop the layers into large uniform chunks. Cut the paneer into 1 inch by 1 inch cubes


For the marinade, blend the yogurt to get a smooth mixture. Add all the other ingredients for the marinade to the yogurt. Mix well.


In a large bowl spread out the veggies and paneer. Add the marinade to it and toss well so all the solids are covered in the marinade. I was debating whether I should marinate it for 3-4 hour or overnight. Went ahead and marinated it overnight in the fridge and was I glad with the outcome!


The next day, a bright Saturday morning was perfect for enjoying the kababs. You can use either steel or wooden skewers for these. But if you are using wooden skewers make sure to soak them in cold water for 10 minutes to prevent them from burning.

Be creative and arrange the veggies and paneer on the skewers. Add some of the leftover marinade on them. Brush a little oil or spray some PAM. Broil them in the oven for about 25 minutes alternating the sides.


Was really happy to have tried out this recipe. I made little variations from the traditional recipe. Zucchinis were a very refreshing addition. I always prefer the taste of Black Salt over regular salt and that did not disappoint! Traditionally orange food coloring is added to the marinade. However, I decided to go with saffron and that blended very well with the creamy marinade. Of late, I'm going a little overboard with the use of Cajun seasoning and no complaints there either. Enjoy the kababs with leftover marinade or pudina chutney or just sprinkle some chaat masala and lime juice!

Hara Bhara Paratha

This is for all the paratha fans out there (including myself). I would refuse to eat chapati and sabzi if the latter was not of my choice. So my mom started stuffing the veggies in a paratha and transformed a simple roti sabzi into a mouth-watering stuffed paratha. So here's a paratha with a little twist and the nutrients of a wholesome meal in itself. I use minimal oil in this recipe so this makes for a delicious, guilt-free meal.

Ingredients:
For Stuffing
1 1/2 cups French beans (chopped)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen tuver (See pic below)
1 big onion (chopped)
1 potato (boiled & mashed)
1/2 bunch coriander (chopped)
2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
2 green chillies
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp pomegranate seed powder (Anardana powder)
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt, according to taste
1 tbsp oil

For the dough:
2 cups atta (whole wheat flour)
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/4 cup milk
Water to knead

To prepare the stuffing:
1.) Bring to boil in a pan the chopped beans and a potato. When the beans seem to soften add the peas and tuver.




2.) In a saucepan add the oil and heat to medium high. When the oil is heated enough, add the cumin seeds and chillies. Make a slit through the center of the chillies. Add the onions and saute till onions are golden brown.











3.) Drain and add the boiled veggies to the saucepan. At this point add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, anardana powder and garam masala. Mix with the masher itself. Mash this mixture till the veggies retain about half of their texture.


4.) Add chopped coriander and mix thoroughly.


5.) Remove the saucepan from heat and keep aside.

6.) Prepare the dough while the stuffing is cooling. It becomes difficult to make stuffed parathas if the stuffing is too hot.

7.) Mix all ingredients for the dough except water and mix well. Add little water at a time and keep mixing till the dough is the right consistency. You can gauge this by seeing if the dough does not stick to your hands while kneading.


8.) Make approximately 1.5 inch balls. Roll these out to half the size of the actual paratha. Place 1 heaped tsp of stuffing in the paratha. Close and seal the edges.











9.) Roll out the paratha. Heat on medium heat on a gridle by applying about 1/4 tsp oil to each side.


These parathas can be enjoyed with dahi (yogurt), raita, chutney or pickles. It does take some time and effort to make these. But I'm sure you will be happy with the results.