Saturday, 4 October 2014

Yum

Shahi Paneer
















Ingredients:

Indian Cottage Cheese (Paneer)      - 1/2 kgs  (approx. 1-1/2 cups cubed)
Cream                                              - 1/2 cup (Full Fat or Skimmed)
Milk                                                 - 1/2 cup (Full Fat or Skimmed)
Cashewnuts                                     - 10 + 4 roasted
Tomatoes                                         - 2 Pureed
Onion                                               - 1 Pureed
Garlic                                               - 2 cloves
Green chili                                       - 1
Ginger                                              - 1/4 inch size
Oil                                                    - 4 tablespoons
Cumin seeds (jeera)                         - 1 teaspoon
Asafetida (hing)                               - a Pinch
Coriander powder (dhania)              - 1 tbspoon
Turmeric (haldi)                               - 1 tspoon
Red chili powder                              - 1 tspoon or to taste
Garam masala                                   - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                                    - to taste
Coriander (hara Dhania)                   - 1 tbspoon finely chopped for garnishing


Method:

Grind cashews into powder-like consistency. Keep aside.
Puree Onion,Tomatoes,Garlic,Green chili and Ginger. Keep aside.
Add oil in a pan, Increase heat to medium-high. Add cumin seeds to the oil and as they crack, add asafetida. Stir for a few seconds.
Add Puree mix, Coriander powder, Turmeric and Red chili powder. Cook the mixture, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes. It will reduce to half its volume and start separating from the oil.
Add Cashew powder and Cream. Cook for another minute then add 1 cup of water and salt and bring to boil.
Add paneer cubes and cover the pan. Simmer for a few minutes over medium-low heat, till gravy is slightly thick in consistency.
Remove from heat, add garam masala and chopped corianderb. Mix gently, cover the pan and let it sit for a couple of minutes.
Shahi paneer tastes best if it is served hot with Rice and Parantha.
Yum

Palak Puri






















Ingredients:

Spinach (Palak)           -1 cup washed and finely chopped
Wheat flour (Atta)       -2 cups
Salt                              - To taste
Chilli powder              - 1 tsp
Water                           - ( to knead the dough)
Oil                               - 1 tsp + for deep frying


Method:

Then heat a spoonful of oil in a pan and fry the palak until it is somewhat cooked. Do not drain off the water of palak that it leaves while frying.
Mix atta, chilli powder and salt. When the palak cools down add it to the atta mixture and mix start to knead it into a dough. Mix some water if you need thought Palak leaves a lot of water. Keep the dough for 5 minutes and then roll them out into 2? diameter puris and deep fry them in oil.
Palak puris are ready. I serve them in breakfast or sometimes with Paneer Sabzi but you can serve them with Sabzi aur condiments of you choice.

Yum

Matar Pulao

















Ingredients:

Frozen green peas             - 1 cup, thawed
Basmati rice                      - 2 cups, rinsed and drained
Vegetable oil                     - 2 tablespoons
Cloves                                - 4 whole
Black cardamom                - 1 Whole
Black peppercorns             - 6 whole
Cinnamon sticks                - 1
Bay Leaf                            - 1
Water                                 - 2 tbspoons + 4 Cups
Salt                                    - to taste


Method:

Heat the oil in a deep heavy skillet / saucepan over low heat. Add the cloves, cardamom seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
Cook for a few minutes to bring out the aroma of the spices.
Add the green peas and 2 tbspoon of water to the pan, cover and cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the remaining 4 cups of water and rice to the pan. Season with a little salt.
Bring to a boil, then cover, and cook for about 15 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water has been absorbed.
Mix it gently so that you do not break the rice grains.
Matar Pulao is ready to serve with curries and daal. I served Matar Pulao with Shahi Paneer and Raita.

Note: If your kids do not like to crunch the whole spices in between eating, take these whole spices out of the oil once the aroma starts to get stronger.
If you are cooking in Pressure cooker do not use 4 cups of water , use only 2 1/2 cup of water as when we cook rice in pressure cooker  it doesn't need  much water. Switch off the flame after 1 whistle.

Friday, 3 October 2014

Yum

Gobhi Aloo
















Ingredients:

cauliflower                                       - 2 cups of cut into small florets
potatoes                                            - 2 medium sliced into thin wedges
Onion                                               - 1 Medium
Garlic Cloves                                   - 4
Tomatoes                                          - 2 Medium
Ginger                                              - 1/2 inch shredded / finely chopped
Green chili                                       - 1 shredded / finely chopped
coriander powder (dhania)              - 2 tspoons
Turmeric (haldi)                              - 1/2 tspoon
Red Chili (lal mirch)                       - 1/2 tspoon
Oil                                                   - 3 tbspoons
Asafetida (Hing)                             - a Pinch
cumin seeds (jeera)                         - 1/2 tspoon
Salt                                                  - to taste
Mango powder (amchoor)             - 1 tspoon
Coriender (hara Dhania)                - 1 tbspoon finely chopped for garnishing
Water                                             - As required

Method:

In a small bowl, mix the Ginger, Green Chili, Coriander powder, Red Chili Powder, Turmeric, and 2 tablespoons of water to make a paste.
Grind Onion, Garlic and Tomatoes and set aside.
Heat the oil in a pan. Add Hing and Cumin seeds to the oil.
Now add Onion, Garlic and tomato paste, stir it for 5 minutes.
Now add the spice paste and stir until the paste starts to leave the oil.
Add cauliflower, potatoes, 3 tablespoons of water and salt. Mix well.
Cover the pan and let it cook on medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Make sure to stir gently every 5 minutes.
Once veggies are tender, add the mango powder and fresh coriander. Mix everything gently and cover for a minute. Adjust the salt to your taste.
Gobhi Aloo is ready. Garnish with fresh coriander and serve with Puri or Parantha.

Yum

Aaloo Puri


















Ingredients:

for Aloo

potatoes                                      -4 medium size Boiled and cubed
Mustard Oil                                -2 tablespoons
Cumin seeds                               -1 teaspoon
Asafetida                                    -1 Pinch
Turmeric                                     -1/4 teaspoon
Coriander powder                       -2 teaspoon
Red chili powder                         -1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala                              -1/4 teaspoon
Salt                                               -To Taste
Lemon Juice                                 -1 tbspoon
Ginger chopped                            -1 tbspoon
Green chili chopped                     -1
Fresh Coriander (hara dhania)      -2 tbspoon finely chopped


for Puri:

Whole wheat flour                         -2 cup
Soji / semolina                               -2 tablespoon
Salt                                                 -1/2 teaspoon
Water                                             -To knead the dough
Oil                                                  -To deep Fry

Method

For Aloo:

In a small bowl, mix the Coriander, Turmeric, Chili powder, Salt, Ginger, and Green chili with about 2 tablespoons of water and Set aside. This mixing of the spices with water enhances the flavour of spices.
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the mustard oil starts to change its colour from golden to yellow Add Cumin seeds, and Asafetida, as Cumin seeds starts to crackle add the spice mix and stir fry for about 10 seconds.
Add Potatoes into spice mix, lower the heat to low, cover the pan and let it cook for about three to four minutes stirring once in between.
Now remove the cover of the pan and fry the potatoes well into the same pan as the oil from spice mix will be separated and potatoes can be fried very well into it.
Add Lemon juice, Garam masala and half of the fresh Coriander. Mix it well turn off the heat and cover the pan.
Remove the cooked aloo into a serving dish and garnish with rest of the fresh Coriander.
Aloo is ready to serve hot with Puries.

For Aloo with Gravy:
If you want to make this aloo sabzi with gravy, all you need to do is to add water to it. The water will be added after cooking them for four minutes before frying. After approximately 10 minutes cooking with water. Mix the potatoes and mash some potatoes while mixing the potatoes, this will thicken to gravy. Adjust the water in gravy to your liking; gravy will thicken as it will cools down.

For Puri:
In a bowl mix whole-wheat flour, soji, 1 tbspoon oil and salt. Add water as needed to make firm dough (not very soft).
Oil your palm and knead the dough until it is pliable. Dough for puri should be firm but smooth.
Set the dough aside and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes.
Divide the dough in into small ping pong ball size or the size you want your puri to be.
Take couple of drops of oil on your palm and roll the balls and press them in between your palms.
Roll the dough into about 3-5 inch diameter. If the dough sticks to the rolling pin or rolling surface, put couple of drops of oil on the rolling pin and a couple of drops of oil on the surface.
Roll few purees before you start frying, but do not roll all the puries at once or they will begin to dry and will not puff, when you fry them.
Heat about one inch of oil in Karahi on medium high heat. To check if oil is hot enough place a small piece of dough in oil and dough should float to the top right away.
Put the puri in the Karahi and press it with a skimmer, puri should puff right away.
Turn puri over. Puri should be light golden brown from both sides. Take the puri out and place it on paper towels to absorb the excess oil.
Serve puri with Aloo. You can store the puries in covered container after they cool to room temperature.

Puris can be served with Kheer, Halwa aur Aloo. I served them with Chana, Aloo and Soji Halwa. I hope you will enjoy these recipes.