Homemade Herbed Paneer

Hello Sweeties!!! In this age of food contamination, nothing is safe anymore. I have started making yogurt and paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) at home now days.

Few years ago, I had met master chef Vikas Khanna at a blogger meet in his  Junoon restaurant. He had shared his famous recipe of making herbed paneer and used it in his pakodas. I have been meaning to make it ever since. I know pondering over the thoughts for few years, but there I made it and kids loved it, so its all worth it now.

You will need;

Milk 4 cups

Distilled White Vinegar- 2 Tbspn

Herbs--Powder the indian herbs like saunf, kalonji, cumin and coriander seeds, black pepper, few leaves of mint.

Boil milk  on low heat and add the vinegar. The whey will separate from milk and the milk solids will curdle. Add all the herbs powdered and mint leaves and drain the whey. Tie up paneer in a muslin cloth and hang it up a few hours to allow excess water to drain. 

Place the muslin with the paneer under a heavy weight to ensure that all the moisture is squeezed out. This will flatten the paneer into a flat round cake when removed from the muslin. 

Cut the paneer into strips or cubes. Save in an air tight glass bowl with lid and store in the fridge. I am not sure how long it stays as we use it in a day or so.

Hariyali Matar- Peas in Spinach and Cilantro sauce

Hello Sweeties!!!! This is the time for jolly, feasts and partying. Good food, Gifts and Snow are the highlights of this month. If feasting can be done in a healthy way nothing like it.

So to keep the check on our eating and food habits in order, I bring to you this dish which was taught to me by my little sister ''S". She made it for Diwali dinner and my boys were talking about till good month.

I kind of immediately took the recipe from her, but could get to making it only now. I skipped the addition of the dry cashew paste and the cream, but we did not miss it in any way.

To make Palak Paste;

1 Bunch spinach leaves or one bag cleaned spinach

4 cups water to blanch the spinach 
Salt to taste

Boil water on high heat with salt. Once it comes to a boil, Add the washed, cleaned spinach leaves (Do not bother to chop the leaves as we will grind them in a grinder to make a fine paste), let them wilt for 2 minutes and take them out. You can dip them in ice water to stop their cooking process or grind it immediately in the grinder. Doing this helps the spinach retain their vibrant green color. You have the paste ready to use.

To make Hariyali Matar;

2 cups palak paste

1 Cup Cilantro Paste

** Grind the washed Cilantro and make a fine paste 

1+1/2 cup Frozen peas thawed

1 small onion-finely diced

1 small tomato diced fine

2-3 cloves garlic mashed

1/2 inch ginger grated

2tspn oil to make the gravy

1 tsp Garam Masala
1 Tbspn Cashew paste-Optional
** Soak 1TBspn cahsew nuts in warm wtare and grind into a fine paste
1/2 cup heavy Cream-Optional 

Salt to taste if needed.--

**Paste has salt

In a wok. heat the oil, add the onions, ginger and garlic for a minute, add the tomatoes, cashew paste and fry them till they look cooked and sweat a bit, then add the palak paste and the cilantro Paste. Then lastly add the peas, cream and the garam masala and let the mixture heat up a bit. Check for salt and add if needed.. Delicious Hariyali matar is ready to be served with any Indian bread.

Plantain Coins Curry

 Hello Sweeties!!!!! I am hogging on the Diwali treats at my end and what follows every year is a  down side to all that hogging. The jeans fit a bit snug and the tummy kind of pops out every now and then.

My mom always used plantains instead of potatoes every now and then, no we were not Jain and we did eat garlic, onion everything, but she mixed matched sometimes for health reasons sometimes just to finish stuff off the fridge.

I had brought the plantains on whim last time I went for grocery, little knowing what to do with them. Then days passed with no clue until my kiddo demanded I made the potato patties. Their demand for Ragda Pattice got changed into Pattice Curry as Donut wanted ragda pattice and Munchkin wanted egg curry.

 You will need;
For Patties's
2 medium size plantains
1 small potato
1-2 tspn corn flour
1 tspn cayenne pepper powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder
2-3 crushed cloves of garlic
1/2 inch ginger grated
salt to taste
oil or spray to shallow fry the patties's

Boil the plantains and the potato for 2-3 whistles and then 5 mins on low flame in a pressure cooker. In a bowl, mash the plantain and potato and mix in cornflour, add all the spices and mix well. 

Heat a skillet and grease the base with oil and drop little coins  of this mixture and spray them with an oil spray and fry till they get cooked. Once done, remove and keep aside.

For the curry;
 1 medium sized onion
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 tbspn ginger garlic paste
1/2 tspn haldi/turmeric
1 tspn cayenne pepper powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 tspn cumin powder
1 tspn coriander powder
1 cup water
1/3rd cup heavy cream- Optional
Salt to taste

Tempering;
2 tbspn oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tspn shahjeera/Caraway seeds-Optional

In a deep wok, heat the oil on medium. Once the oil is hot add the seeds and let them sizzle for 2-3 seconds, then add the ginger-garlic paste and onions, then add in the tomato puree and cook till the oil leaves the sides of the onion and tomato mixture, then add in the haldi, and the spices and add water and salt and cover and let it boil. Grind it into  paste if you like fine texture curry. Lastly add in the cream and stir and cook for 1-2 mins. Make the curry little thick,

 While serving,

 Take the patties in a bowl and pour the curry on the patties. Serve hot with phulka or flat bread of your choice or rice. Remember to assemble the dish when you are about to eat it. 

Keeping the patties in the curry for long will result in the patties absorbing the curry and losing the shape and everything will turn into  a mess. This will certainly not interfere with the taste, but it will not look very pleasing.

Paneer Masala/ Cottage cheese in Indian spice sauce

Hello sweeties!!!! Did you guys miss me, I am very sorry and kindly accept my apologies for being MIA for such along time.

I will skip the excuses and say that even though I was cooking regular food, there was nothing that was worth mention here. Not any more, I am back with a very easy and simple Paneer dish, that won thumbs up from Munchkin. He even asked for the gravy  sans the paneer and that's a lot coming from a 5 yr old foodie.

Another piece of news worth sharing is that Indulge-ashscorner has been nominated for the Indiblogger awards.
I will need your blessings and kind comments to find mention in the list. Please pretty please  check the link, recommend and comment to show your support for my work.

Coming back to the recipe, its fairly simple and easy to put together if you have paneer ready. I get mine from the Indian grocery store, but you can make it at home.

You will need;
 
1 large Onions
3 Tomatoes--Pureed or use 1/2 of the 8oz can
1 inch piece Ginger
3 tbspns chopped cilantro
1/4 tspnTurmeric powder
1 tspn Red chili powder
1 tspn Coriander powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 pod green Cardamom-broken with but with the skin in tact
1 tbspn Cashew Paste
** Soak Cashews in milk with 1 tspn kasuri methi for 1 hour and grind it into paste.
Salt to taste
Paneer around 200 gms.
** soak the paneer in water and milk and microwave it for 25 secs to soften it.

Peel, wash and chop onions and ginger finely. 

In a blender take the onions and tomatoes, ginger and cilantro and grind into fine paste.
Heat two tablespoons oil in a pan and add the above paste. Sauté till lightly browned. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, salt and let it cook for 2 minutes till the raw onion smell goes away Add the cashew paste, garam masala powder and the green cardamom and let that fry till it leaves the sides of the pot.

Then add little water( Water + Milk from the paneer works well) to make it gravy consistency and add diced pieces of the paneer. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, taking care that the paneer does not get mushy and the gravy does not stick to the pan.
The paneer masala is ready to be served.

Please also note that August will be vacation time for Ms. Ash and we will be back from interesting tit bits from home and  maybe an awesome giveaway around September. Stay hooked and watch this space to win some sweet notes.

Experiments with Slow Cooker-Dal Makhani with no Butter no Cream

Hello Dearies!!! I am leaving on  a 10 day vacation. Where you ask?? Watch this space for the fun travel posts later. I am visiting family on the other side of the coast, so very eager to catch the warm and sunny skies. The past few days have been stressful. The last weeks peace was invaded by the school tragedy. I have still not come to terms with what I am feeling, and What I lost!!!!

Such mental state is not doing me any good, as I am not able to focus, am more forgetful than ever. This is a forbidden topic to talk at home specially when Donut is around. He is at that age where his  beliefs and confidence in the world, people in general is shaping up. We keep talking about how we can help improve our school, our friends and most importantly how effective we are as human beings. What difference does our existences make in someones lives? He has started questioning me at an alarming rate of why some of our good friends at one time left us alone when we were facing not so great days? why Mom Why??? What he asked has more than enough answers at my end, but is it needed for him to clutter his mind with this...Live and let live is all I teach him.

Donut loves Punjabi food. This is new for us. His sudden love for spicy and such foods has taken many by surprise. Munchkin is the risk taker when food is involved. Anything with moderate spices and garlic is his forte. Sibling rivalry played  a key role I guess here, that Donut has been begging for at least 3-4 Punjabi menu items over the course of the week. At times its the Palak Cilantro parathas with a paneer gravy or punjabi chole with bhatura or this trusted Dal.  This is a classic Punjabi or north eastern dish that is very popular in most Indian restaurants. No meal in a restaurant is ever complete without this creamy and rich makhani dal. Its the Protein powerhouse. The dals/lentils kidney beans with equal amounts of fat that is essentially to break the complex protein for easy digestion. This is one dish that needs its own sweet time to cook. The slower and longer it cooks, the better it develops. Its also called Maa ki dal to signify a moms patience and love for cooking and feeding her family. Since I belong to  a age where time is always at crunch, I am looking for easy and id possible, no cook recipes.

The new toy in my kitchen(Slow Cooker) has been helping me achieve my lazy target and what pleasure it is if you walk home from work, make rice and the dinner is served. Until, I got the slow cooker, this sort of thing only happened in my dream. I try to cut the fat for everyday meals and as this cooks for 12 + hours after being soaked for 8 hours, it qualifies for a leaner version of the Dal makhani. This is the way I made it in my 1.5 Qt slow cooker.


Makes around 3 cups of dal makhani.

You will need;

1 cup split black gram dal
2 tablespoons Red kidney beans (rajma)
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
2 inch piece Ginger,chopped
1 tbspn Oil
1 tsp ghee
1 tspn Cumin seeds

3 cloves Garlic,chopped

1 Large Onion chopped

Green chillies,slit 2
2 medium Tomatoes,chopped
1 Tspn Garam masala powder
Salt to taste

Wash and soak the rajma and the urad dal in the same vessel of the slow cooker for approx 8 hours. After the dal is well soaked, drain and prepare the tomato-onion masala.

In a wok, take the oil and the ghee, add the cumin, let it sizzle, then add the ginger and the garlic, add the onions and dash of salt. Let the mixture cook for 2 minutes, then ad the tomatoes and cook till the onion and tomato gets mashed well and oil starts separating from the sides. Add this to the soaked dal. Adjust the amount of water. I added water till an inch above the mixture, adjust the salt. add in the red chili powder, Green chillies and the garam masala. Cover with the lid and start the Slow cooker on High for 2 hours. After it boils, set it on Low and forget about it for a good 10/11 hours. Baby sitting a slow cooker is  a frustrating job, you have a life; go on about it. Trust me on that, it takes FOREVER to cook. So don't waste your time thinking about checking it every 30 minutes or so. The end result awaits you in a pleasing way if you learn to ignore it. (Apply this to some people and see the fun). Serve the dal with hot steamed rice or roti or paratha with a dallop of ghee. Enjoy your ride with a winning ticket to taste-heaven.

Aloo Paratha-Spcied Potato Flat Bread

 Hello Sweeties!! Today I bring to you from my kitchen hot hot aloo paratha. My kids swear by these and till recently I heard my younger Munchkin explain his friend that his mom cannot make aloo paratha and how lucky his friend is to enjoy them at home. It is an all time favorite and  you would seriously doubt if they are born in maharashtrain homes  for all they love is spicy punjabi food. The same levels of spice bothers them and they run with open mouths on fire with marathi food, but bring on tangy chole and spicy  parathas, and there is nothing but absolute bliss on their faces. I messed up many times on aloo parathas. every few weeks I make up my mind and gather all courage to make them for my kids. I follow the recipe to the T, change the type of potatoes every now and then, to see if there is a problem with the starch, but hell no, nothing ever comes to calling it a an aloo paratha. Most often it gets changed to making patties or batata wada. I even consoled myself that not all things are easy for all, I can make most difficult dishes so not being able to roll out a simple aloo paratha does not make me less. But all these thoughts changed yesterday when I rolled out not one but 7-8 parathas with ease and no hassle. The buns for burgers were also ready  just in case I messed up and goofed again. Always have a  'Plan B' when dinner is a short notice away. Hopefully the jinx is lifted and my donuts will be able to enjoy the aloo aprathas at their homes too now.


 For the stuffing;
2 medium boiled potato mashed
1 tspn crushed garlic
1 tspn red Chili/Cayenne powder
1 tspn Cilantro chopped
salt to taste
1tspn Garam masala

Mix the potato, garlic, cilantro, garam masala, red chili/cayenne powder and salt,  to make it into a soft pliable dough. Keep aside.

 For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough

In a bowl, mix the oil and salt and water and knead into a soft pliable dough.


Making the parathas,
1. Make equal size balls of the cover and stuffing
2. Roll a small round of the cover and put the stuffing in it and fold from all sides and roll that in some flour, dust the rolling surface with some flour and
3. Roll into a small round roti or paratha.

Heat a pan/skillet/tawa and roast it on both sides applying little oil or ghee on it . When it gets cooked, serve with yogurt/pickle/ketchup or sour cream., salad or just enjoy these with hot chai.

Chole bature- Chandani Chowk to NJ

Hello Dearies!!!! Today we bring to your attention the humble dish on any Punjabi or chat menu card that reads chole and bature. Most dhabas and most udipi restaurants have taken this dish out of Chandani Chowk in Delhi and given it their own tadka and made it into a Indian dish. Like Idli sambar is not  a madrasi dish anymore, so is chole bature not a punjabi dish anymore. Pardon our ignorance, but living in Bombay for 25 yrs does that to you, you kind of divide the lower south into madrasi and upper north into punjabi. There are no individual states and cuisine in Bombay.

This dish was not a most wanted dish in Ashland until Donut tasted it at his friends lunch date. Suddenly it became the most awaited and most wanted go to food. Like I said while growing up, I always thought that my friends moms were the best chefs around and my mom had a long way to learn things. Sadly so Donut thinks the same for his old ma, and claims he never tasted  chole better than what his friends mom had prepared. Was I happy? Yes certainly so; very happy that Donut was willing to finally shed his motto that Indian food is Spicy  and try tasting and even liking Indian spicy food.

More happy that someday when he will be older, he will start liking my food better than his own, after all we all agree that Moms food is always the best.

This dish will require some planning unless you are cracking the can of chick peas open, yet give it about 2 hrs to finish off this elegant dish, that will leave you craving for more.

We will see stepwise recipes for each of the dishes prepared. First starting with Punjabi chole.

Punjabi Chole

You will need
1 14 oz can of chick peas/ Garbanzo Beans
** Alternatively soak 1.5 cups of Chickpeas overnight and drain and pressure cook the beans with the  following spices.

Wash and drain the beans and in a pot take some water till the beans get soaked, add in whole spices like cinnamon sticks, 5-6 cloves, 1 inch ginger sliced, 5-6 peppercorns, 1 black cardamom, 1 bay leaf and 2 Assam tea bags, let it boil for 10 mins. Discard the ginger and tea bags after cooking.

**If pressure cooking the beans, add in all the above spices and pressure cook till the beans turn soft but not mushy.

Masala;
2 Medium Onions
2 Medium Tomatoes
1 Tbspn Cilantro
1 Tbspn Mint-Optional
3-4 cloves Garlic
1 green chili
* The one I have on hand are really hot, adjust heat level as per your liking.

Seasoning
1 tspn Garam Masala
1 tspn Amchur/Dry Mango Powder
1 tspn Chole Masala
Salt to taste

Tempering
1 tbspn Oil
1 tspn Cumin Seeds/Jeera

In the blender jar add the masala ingredients,and blend into a fine paste.

In a wok, take the oil and add the cumin, let it sizzle, add in the blended masala and fry till the masala gets fried and oil starts leaving the sides of the wok, add in the cooked beans. cook on medium heat till the beans get cooked with the masala, add in the seasonings and adjust it to taste. Garnish with onions and cilantro and ginger. Serve with batura and rice.

Whole Wheat Batura

You will need;
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup All Purpose flour
1 cup Sour Yogurt
Salt to taste
water , ONLY if  needed to knead the dough.
1 Tspn Clarified butter to grease the dough. -Optional

Oil for Deep frying

In a bowl add in the flours and the curd, salt and mix well, Add water only if needed to knead into  soft pliable dough. Grease with clarified butter and Set aside for about an hour or so. The more you keep is better for the batura to be light. Since we had hungry kids hovering over with "is it done yet!", we kept it for an hr only. Heat the oil for deep frying in a kadai/pot, and let it smoke once, once it smokes, reduce the heat to medium. Roll out the batura or poori as big as you want or depending on the size of your fryer. Since I have  small kadai, I made small poori to fry. Be extra careful when dealing with hot oil and frying and not splash the batura and spill oil all over you. Fry one side of the batura and then turn and fry the other side to ensure a full cooking of the batura. Enjoy with spicy and tangy Chole.

Jeera Rice

You will need
1 Cup Basmati Rice
1 tbspn Cumin/Jeera
Salt to taste
2 Cups Boiling water

Wash and drain the rice. Keep aside for 30 mins. In a pot, take the water, add salt. Once it comes to a rapid boil, add in the drained rice, jeera and cover and cook on medium for 10 mins. Switch off the gas and keep it covered for another 5-7 mins.

Enjoy the meal with you loved ones and cherish the memory that this plate is offering you. You might not have the best of everything, but to make the best of what you have is everything!!!!!

Ras Wale Aloo- Potato Gravy

Today's recipe is  a very simple and staple recipe in most Indian homes. Potatoes being the most versatile vegetable is made in different forms, make into chips, deep fried, used in gravy dishes, make a Pattie, cutlet, it can be broiled, roasted, boiled or simply stir fired. We love potatoes and all the carb stories that we are told about it. Mr. Potato is offended big time and I apologize on everyone's behalf. I was invited to one dear friends home M a few days back. She had specially invited us for a Delhi style brunch of Aloo poori and kheer. At first I thought Alooporri would be like a stuffed puri with aloo mixture. I had to fight hard with the urge to search the net and do a quick Google search,  but I did not search the net and see other recipes, I wanted to be surprised. I asked her if she could finish the preparation after I reached there so I could really see what and how she did. This is not even remotely close to what she made, yet This is my take on her Aloo ki subji. My kids loved it and Mr. Ash approved it instantly. The doughnut and the munchkin have now gotten into a habit, if they like some thing they ate at some one's home, they kind of ask me to get the recipe and make it in larger portions at home.  My friend always cook more an we always get the goodie bags of the same food form them, Yet the concept of make more so we can enjoy it for many many days is stuck with them. Mr. Munchkin is fascinated with the term," For One whole Month", it's really cute when he says, I will be upset for one whole month, or I will not talk to anyone for one whole month, like it stays with him for the next five minutes before the focus or subject changes. I did not make any poori for this time, we had it with regular phulka or roti, but the Poori recipe can be found here.

You will need;
3 Medium Tomatoes
1 Medium Onion Finely chopped
5-6 boiled Potatoes, skinned and cubed
1 Tspn Ginger paste
1 TSpn Garlic Paste
 Salt to taste
1Tspn Garam Masala
Water as required

 Tempering
2 Tbspn opil
1 Tspn jeera/Sumin Seeeds
1 Tspn Shah jeera/Caraway Seeds

In a wok, heat the oil on medium heat add in the tempering, and then the onions and tomatoes, then the ginger and garlic paste, fry for few minutes, add a dash of salt and fry till the oil separates the onion tomato mixture. Then add in the boiled cubed potatoes and mix well then add the water and mash it well. Cover with the lid and let cook for few minutes. Finally add in the garam masala and adjust salt to taste. Granish with a rosemary leaf or cilantro and serve with some hot hot poori.

Spring Onion Paratha- Guest post for Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey

I am back again with  a quick lunch or  an easy lunch box menu.item. Also, I am asked to do a guest post for JCO. JagsBen as I call her is a dear blogger(Jagruti's Cooking Odyssey), who I came to know recently through FB. I was drawn to her b log due to its screen presence, awesome food and easy to make gujarati recipes. I was super thrilled when she asked me to do a a guest post for her. Being new in this game, I was lost, as to what I would do that she has not yet done ..so I came across this. As this is  A Moms day Week, I am posting a recipe that My dear mom always made. She made this Subji a lot.. But being a MOM today, I am always in search of extra time and less efforts recipes. I turned  the leftover bhaji/subji into parathas.

Peeth perun bhaji  was posted last week. Today's post is an innovation that I did when I had some leftover subji and needed some stuffing for kids lunch parathas. I have seen most kids make faces, wiggle noses when you ask them to eat roti-subji, but give them parathas with the same subji stuffed in the roti with KETCHUP and down their throats the food slides. The reason for making ketchup go bold is that all kids love ketchup, I have seen eat kids ketchup with rice too. I know weird kids, maybe they all in my family alone. But we as kdis loved varan-bhat tup mith limbu and ketchup. it was like the salt on our plate.  Must have kind of go to food.


You will need;

For the stuffing/Subji

2 bunches spring onions, after you clean them and chop them, they should fill approx 2 cups.
We get 3-4 spring onions in one bunch.
2-3 tbspn besan/chickpea flour
Again this will depend on how much water the onions give out.

Tempering;
2 tbspn Oil
1 tspn mustard/rai seeds
1/2 tspn Cumin/jeera
1/2 tspn carrom/ajwain seeds
1tspn Turmeric
1 pinch hing/aesofodita
Salt to taste
Sugar a pinch, Optional

In a wok, heat the oil till hot, then add the mustard seeds, let them splutter then add the jeera, ajwain and let that sizzle for one second, then add the turmeric, hing and the chopped onion springs, cover and let it wilt and sweat the water out, reduce the heat to low. Add in the salt, sugar and let it sweat a bit. You will need to add a bit more salt than regular as we will be adding besan. Once the salt is incorporated and the onions are wilted well, add in the besan spoon by spoon. The quantity of the besan will depend on how much water the onions have given out. Adding spoon by spoon helps in judging how much flour would be needed. Once the mixture looks wet and the onions get covered with the flour, stir it well and cover and let cook for 5 minutes, on low heat. After 5 mins, stir once and see if the flour is cooked, if not let it cook covered for anr 2 minutes. The subji will stick to the pan, use more oil if needed, or use non stick pan to cook. I like the burnt scrapping so I let it stick before scrapping it into a serving bowl. The peeth perun bhaji is ready for your loved ones.

 For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough

For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough

In a bowl, mix the oil and salt and water and knead into a soft pliable dough.

Make equal size balls of the dough and stuffing. Roll a small ball/poori and stuff the stuffing and close the ends, dust some flour and roll into  a roti/paratha of about 5-7 inches in diameter.

Heat  a skillet/tawa and roast it while applying some oil/ghee/butter on both sides. Enjoy with some ketchup/yogourt/pickle or chutney of your choice.

Sending this to Gayathris WTML event hosted by Sizzlingveggie

Muli Paratha/Radish Paratha/Flatbread

This week seems like a paratha week for me. Back today with another paratha recipe. Mr. Ash and Ms. Ash love muli/radish parathas or flat bread. The idea for any stuffed paratha is basically making a filling and stuffing it in the regular chapati/phulka dough. Some families make it whole wheat, or half wheat flour, half all purpose flour. Since I make this for my munchkins in hopes they will eat it and love it, I make any parathas with whole wheat flour.

You will need;

makes about  5-6 small parathas.

For the stuffing;

2 cups grated radish

1 tbspn oil

1 tspn cumin seeds

pinch of  hing/aesafodita

1/2 tspn turmeric

1/2 tspn garam masala

Salt and sugar to taste

In a bowl grate the radish and squeeze as much of the water out as much as possible. In a wok, heat the oil on medium, then add in the cumin seeds, grated squeezed radish, then add in the hing and turmeric and salt and sugar if you like. Cook it till the mixture is dry and gets cooked. Drying all water in this way ensures that the parathas will not break when you roll the parathas.

For cover;
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn oil
water as needed to knead into a soft dough

In a bowl, mix the oil and salt and water and knead into a soft pliable dough.

Making the parathas,

1. Make equal size balls of the cover and stuffing

2. Roll a small round of the cover and put the stuffing in it and fold from all sides and roll that in some flour, dust the rolling surface with some flour and

3. Roll into a small round roti or paratha

4. Heat a pan on medium heat and roast the paratha on both sides. After it gets cooked, grease with some oil/butter and let fry for a minute. serve hot with yogurt, pickle or any side of your choice. MY kids enjoyy with some ketchup.

Palak Paneer/ Cottage Cheese in Spicnach garvy

Palak Paneer is one of the most humble recipe for the Punjabi cuisine. IT is made with less spice and less of cream and except for Paneer/Cottage cheese which is a good fat, there is minimum fat in this dish unlike its counterparts like dal makhani, paneer mutter or such cream based gravies. The preparation for palak paneer is simple and yet it stands up to the measure to be included in grand feasts Wehn I was growing up, palak paneer was not made regularly in my home. My mom cooked a Typical Maharashtrian swaypak(cooking) and such things were for eating out.We ate out after our exams were done and vacations started. Kind of relaxation time for all. There was always that soft and yummy Nan to dunk into the subji. Subji choices were also fixed, Navratna korma that had grapes and pineapple, aloo matter and palak paneer. that and Nan basket which had only One garlic nan. End it with chickoo milkshake. The menu card got over in 2 minutes with only 2 pages on it. Wonder if such restaurants will survive in today's age. I by no means belong to ice age, but generally we had few choices and more life to be less confused than we are today. People had  more tolerance then and family time was not the time to count finances. Today the thought of visiting anyone's home for more than few days ripples our brains, we think of cost and expense they will incur to entertain us, feed us.. and like. We spent our childhood vacations at uncle, aunts, grandma's home for months and no one asked how much it cost them. It was all in one family, they kept saying.

Like me my munchkins also love Palak Paneer. Retaining the green color after cooking spinach is the key to success in this dish. The spinach leaves turn dark very soon so cooking them for couple of minutes more than required will kill the green color. The taste will not be changed significantly. Ideally i amke the palak/spinahc paste the day I get them from the grocers. This is easy on my hetcic week as the paste can be used in Parathas, cutlets and even on hot pasta like pesto. The first post this week was Palak Paratha's, so making this week an official spinach week. Popeye will kiss me only if he liked Indian food.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves 4

Cook time 10 minutes if you have the palak paste ready.

To make Palak Paste;

1 Bunch spinach leaves or one bag cleaned spinach

4 cups water to blanch the spinach

Salt to taste

Boil water on high heat with salt. Once it comes to a boil, Add the washed, cleaned spinach leaves (. Do not bother to chop the leaves as we will grind them in a grinder to make a fine paste), let them wilt for 2 minutes and take them out. You can dip them in ice water to stop their cooking process or grind it immediately in the grinder. Doing this helps the spinach retain their vibrant green color. You have the paste ready to use.

To make Palak Paneer;

2 cups palak paste

1/2 packet or 10-12 one inch cubes of paneer-- I get cubes of paneer from Indian store.

** TO freshen Up the store brought Paneer I use the tip from my friend Ansh at Spiceroots

She says use 1/2 warm water and 1/2 cup warm milk and soak the cubes in them for 10-15 minutes. Drain and use as needed.

1 small onion-finely diced

1 small tomato diced fine

2-3 cloves garlic mashed

1/2 inch ginger grated

2tspn oil to make the gravy

1tsp Garam Amasala

Salt to taste if needed.--

**Paste has salt

Spray the cubes of paneer with non stick oil spray and fry them on the hot griddle and save them for later.

In a wok. heat the oil, add the onions, ginger and garlic for a minute, add the tomatoes and fry them till they look cooked and sweat a bit, then add the palak paste and the reserved fried paneer. Then lastly add the garam masala and let the mixture heat up a bit. Check for salt and add if needed.. Delicious Palak paneer is ready to be served with any Indian bread.

 

Palak Paratha/ Spinach Flatbread

I often make spinach paste the day I get it from grocers. This paste comes handy when making palak paneer or any parathas or any cutlets/patties. Just gives the extra health factor for the mom in me. My kids are usually good eaters. By this I mean, they do not willingly try new foods, but anything old and trusted goes well down their throats. These parathas make  a quick breakfast/travel food or wrap for veggies or simple school lunch with ketchup. They make my morning easy and I am relaxed sending these as lunch for busy days. I do make another paste/pesto or green chutney with cilantro and green chili, This is basically a chutney you would make for any chat item. I religiously make these every weekend to make my week easy. These chutneys form the base for any wraps, pizza's or spread it on a buttered toast for  a quick breakfast on the days you run late.

Prep time; 15 mins

Dough resting time; 20 mins 

Serves 4, makes about 15- 6-7 inch parathas.

 You will need;

To make Palak Paste;

1 Bunch spinach leaves or one bag cleaned spinach

4 cups water to blanch the spinach

Salt to taste

Boil water on high heat with salt. Once it comes to a boil, Add the washed, cleaned spinach leaves (. Do not bother to chop the leaves as we will grind them in a grinder to make a fine paste), let them wilt for 2 minutes and take them out. You can dip them in ice water to stop their cooking process or grind it immediately in the grinder. Doing this helps the spinach retain their vibrant green color. You have the paste ready to use.

To make the Parathas;

2 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 cup palak paste

2 tbspn green chutney- Optional but highly recommended

Salt to taste

1 tsp Red chili/cayenne powder

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp coriander powder

1/2 Amchur or dry mango powder

1tsp Sugar

1 tsp Garam masala

2 tbspn oil to knead the dough

Water as needed to make the dough soft.

In a wide bowl, take the palak paste, green chutney and the dry powders and add salt and sugar, add oil and mix well, now start adding the flour and start mixing in the flour. Add teaspoon by tea spoon water till you have a soft pliable dough. Do not add water initially, as the green chutney and palak paste will have water and will help in binding the flour. Once  the dough is soft enough, cover  and let rest for 15-20 mins.

After the dough is rested, roll out the parathas like you would make roti's( make small balls  of the dough and roll out thin rounds tortillas dusting flour if the tortillas stick to the surface). Heat a griddle or tawa on medium heat and cook the partahas on one side. Flip the parathas and spray oil and cook the other side. Repeat on side one and cook both sides. Serve hot with some ketchup. or green chutney or any curry of your choice.

 

Dal Makhani

 

Dal Makhani needs no introduction. It's the most common dal found on most if not all Indian Buffets. Also popularly known as Maa ki dal, precisely so because it requires long hours on the stove for the spices and cream to mingle and sing a happy song. Makhani meaning made in butter or loaded with butter/fat, cream is also added to make it a rich and heavy dal. Today we are all concerned about the vast waist line, so we tend to eat healthy, but please do not shy away form the butter and feel free to keep the cream out. Whole Black urad/gram dal is very difficult to break down and digest by out body, so butter is essential to cut the protein and make digestion easy.

As always, I turn to my guru in cooking, Master chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Being from  a Purely Marathi home and under the influence of my mom, who adds jaggery and goda masala like adding salt to curry, I tend to take  a different guru for non Marathi food, and who else to help me on that journey, than Mr. Kapoor himself. His recipes are tried and tested and generally very simple to make. Having grown up watching him cook and whip up food on TV since 1990's, he has had an huge impact on my cooking.

 Source Master Chef Sanjeev Kapoor

You will need;

1/2 cup Whole black gram (sabut urad)

** I used 3/4 cup split black gram dal

2 tablespoons Red kidney\ beans (rajma)
Salt to taste
1 tsp Red chilli powder
2 inch piece Ginger,chopped

3 Tbspn Butter

1 tbspn Oil

1 tspn Cumin seeds 

3 cloves Garlic,chopped 

1 Large Onion chopped

Green chillies,slit 2

2 medium Tomatoes,chopped

1 Tspn Garam masala powder

Pick, wash and soak sabut urad and rajma overnight in three cups of water. Drain. Pressure cook sabut urad and rajma in three cups of water with salt and half the red chilli powder (you can add half the ginger too if you wish) for three whistles. Open the lid and see if the rajma is totally soft. If not cook on low heat till the rajma becomes totally soft. Heat butter and oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds. When they begin to change colour, add ginger, garlic and onion and sauté till golden. Add slit green chillies, tomatoes and sauté on high heat. Add the remaining red chilli powder and sauté till the tomatoes are reduced to a pulp. Add the cooked dal and rajma along with the cooking liquid. Add some water if the mixture is too thick. Add garam masala powder and adjust salt. Simmer on low heat till the dals are totally soft and well blended. Serve hot.

Serve hot with some steaming white rice with a dollop of ghee or some hot phulka's or paratha's. This tastes better the next day as well.

Shahi Matar Paneer- Cottage Cheese and Peas Gravy

When I was a kid, eating out called for only special occasions, and Matar Paneer was staple on our menu with garlic Naan and ending it with some chickoo milkshake, we were so predictable that we never ever saw the menu and the waiter got our order without even ordering. My mom's home even being in suburban Mumbai is still very much like a village, where everyone knows everyone. There was only one cinema theatre, and 2 restaurants till the early 2000. Although all that has changed now and it is taking shape of being a very busy town in Suburban Mumbai. The old charm is still there but dying sooner than I am ready to accept it.

Times change, things change and most importantly people change. Eating out is a every weekend affair for me now. Sadly, as much as I love to cook, some days it's impossible to get my lazy self in the kitchen and make fresh food. Eating out in the Indian restaurants is also not a favourite option for me, I tend to worry about few things more than enjoying the food, like how spicy, what oil do they use, how old is the paneer ..so on....if you are like me, you will tend to eat out at Subways; it is my all time go to, but it tends to get boring for others, so we go the semi homemade way..frozen parathas or nans that we stock for such nites and a quick gravy based curry, with some steamed rice. a complete meal is on the table under 30 minutes. I am huge fan of Master chef Sanjeev Kapoor and follow his recipes to the T, this is one such treasure tweaked to my family's liking, hope you will like this also.

Green peas and paneer cooked together into a delicious gravy.


You will need;

To Make Paneer--at home( or Use store brought)
Milk 4 cups
Lemon 1

** I used the store brought paneer as I was low on time and somehow I am yet to master the art of making chunky paneer at home, I always get the paneer mashed or in crumbs when I make at home. Maybe will start using Whole or full fat milk, 2% does not seem to work for me.


For the gravy;
Green peas 400 grams
Oil 2 tablespoons + to deep fry
2 large Onions
2 Tomatoes--Pureed or use 1/4th of the 8oz can
1 inch piece Ginger
1/4 tspnTurmeric powder
1 tspnRed chili powder
1 tspn Coriander powder
1 tspn Garam masala powder
1 pod green Cardamom-broken with but with the skin in tact
1 tbspn Cashew Paste
** Soak Cashews in milk for 1 hour and grind it into paste.
Salt to taste

Making paneer;
Boil milk twice on high heat and add juice of one lemon. The whey will separate from paneer. Drain the whey, tie up paneer in a muslin cloth and hang it up all day to allow excess water to drain away. Place the muslin with the paneer under a heavy weight to ensure that all the moisture is squeezed out. This will flatten the paneer into a flat round cake when removed from the muslin.

Cut the paneer into strips or cubes. Heat sufficient oil in a kadai and deep-fry till light brown. Drain onto an absorbent paper.

Making Gravy;
Peel and chop onions and ginger finely.
 Heat two tablespoons oil in a pan and add chopped onions and ginger  and tomato puree and the broken cardamom pod. Breaking the pod is simply making a slit in the pod but not separating the seeds from the skin.Sauté till lightly browned. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, salt and peas and cook, adding a little water, till the peas are tender and a little gravy remains. Add the cashew paste, fried paneer, garam masala powder and boil for five minutes. Serve hot with chappatis.

** Note; You can substitute paneer with potato, cauliflower or button mushroom, cubed into large pieces, steamed or fried and added to the gravy in the last.

This can be made  a very high calorie dish by adding cashew paste and/or heavy cream. It can be totally left out, which I often do when cooking for the only four of us, it's only when I am entertaining that I add the nuts and cream. I believe in moderation, so the fat from paneer and the cashew paste is enough to make me feel guilty, I left out heavy cream.The choice as always is yours.

I am sending this dish to Tickling PalatesLet’s Cook ~ Mughal Cuisine, Winter Carnival and Paris Only Curries event  hosted by Kamalika

Hope to see more entries at all these events.

Love Ash.