Palak Paneer
Palak Paneer one of the common dish of Punjabi Cuisine, retaining the green colour of the palak is a tough, if you do so, it is half - way through.
My Son is a big fan of paneer, he likes it in any dish, say it is masala or tikka or fry. But not very fond of palak paneer, so occasionally I make palak paneer.
Cuisine: Punjabi
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Yields: Serves 4 persons
Ingredients:
Palak: 1 cup tightly packed
Onion: 1 no
Green Chilli: 3 nos
Ginger: 1 1/2 inch piece
Garlic: 6 to 7 pods
Tomato: 1 no
Cashew: 7 to 8 nos
Shahi jeera: 1/2 teaspoon
Paneer: 150 gms (Cubed)
Fresh Cream: 1 table spoon (Optional)
Oil as needed
Method:
1. Boil water in wide vessel, add the palak into it and leave it for 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Take it out and wash it in the ice cold water. Keep it aside.
3. In the same water which is boiling, add onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, green chilli and cashews and leave it for 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Take it out and cool it down completely. Then grind it in a mixie jar to a fine smooth paste.
5. In the same mixie jar grind the palak to a fine smooth paste.
6. Place a pan on the stove, add 3 tea spoons of oil, when the oil is hot, add shahi jeera and wait till it splutters.
7. Then add the onion tomato paste and cook well till the raw smell of ginger and garlic goes off.
8. Add the palak puree and cook well till oil float on the top.
9. Cut paneer into cubes and add it to palak gravy and cook for few more minutes, till the gravy thickens. Switch off the stove and transfer it serving bowl.
10. Serve it with chapathi or naan.
Note:
1. Choose greens with thick leaves, in Tamil they call it "Pasala Keerai or Paruppu Keerai".
2. Do not forget to wash it immediately with ice cold water after blanching. This is done to reduce the temperature of palak, so that it may not cook further and change colour.
Pesarattu
A staple breakfast of Andhra Pradesh, it is somewhat similar to adai, but involves only 3 ingredients for making batter. This dish is served along with upma and is called as MLA pesarattu. Like masala dosa, upma is smeared over the pesarattu and served along with spicy onion or tomato chutney or thokkku.
Cuisine: South Indian
Preparation Time: 10 minutes Ratio
Soaking Time: Overnight Moong dhal : Raw rice : Boiled rice
Cooking Time: 10 minutes 1 : 1/2 : 1/2
Ingredients:
Green Moong dhal: 1 cup
Raw rice: 1/2 cup
Boiled rice/ Idli rice: 1/2 cup
Green chillies: 4 nos
Ginger: 1 1/2 inch piece
Asofotedia: 1/2 teaspoon
Onion: 1 no
Salt as needed
Oil as needed
Method:
1. Put the dhal and rice in a wide bowl and pour water till it immerses. Let it soak overnight.
2. Add the soaked dhal and rice, green chillies, ginger and sliced onions in a mixie jar and grind it to a fine paste.
3. Take the batter in a bowl, add salt and asofotedia and mix well.
4. The batter should be thick, like idli batter.
5. Place a tawa on the stove over medium flame.
6. When it is hot, pour a ladle full of batter and in circular motion, make dosa of medium thickness or as thin as possible, drizzle some oil over it.
7. When it is cooked, flip to the otherside and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Take it out and serve hot with tomato thokku or ginger thokku.
Note:
1. Use the batter immediately after grinding, you need not ferment the batter.
Tomato Thokku
This is more like a pickle, stays well for a long period of time. This goes well with idli, dosa, pesarattu, adai, even with upma and pongal. Use byadagi chilli to achieve bright red colour.
Cuisine: South Indian
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 1/2 an hour
Ingredients:
Ripe Tomato: 1/4 kg
Onion: 1 no
Garlic: 8 to 10 pods (Optional)
Byadagi Chilli: 15 to 17 ( It is less spicy)
Salt as needed
Refined Oil: 100 ml
Seasoning:
Mustard seeds: 1/2 teaspoon
Curry leaves: A few numbers
Asofotedia: 1 teaspoon
Oil as needed or 2 teaspoon
Method:
1. Peel the onions, garlic and cut it into thin slices.
2. Take a mixie jar, add onion, garlic and byadagi chilli into it. Make it into a fine paste and keep it aside.
3. Boil 1 litre of water in a wide bowl, add the tomatoes and leave it for 3 to 5 minutes, take it out and cool it. Peel off the skin and cut it into fine small pieces.
4. Place a pan on the stove over medium flame, add half of the oil and add in the onion, garlic paste. Stir well.
5. Now in the same mixie jar, add the tomatoes and make it into a fine paste.
6. Now add the tomato paste to the pan and stir well till the onions and tomato paste mixes well. Add salt and mix well.
7. Simmer the flame and pour the remaining oil and close the pan with a lid. Leave it for 20 minutes or till the oil oozes out on the top.
8. Place a small pan or seasoning pan on the stove over a high flame, add 2 teaspoons of oil, when the oil is hot, add mustard seeds. Wait till it splutters, now add curry leaves and asofotedia.Put off the flame.
9. Add this seasoning to thee tomato thokku and mix well.
10. When it becomes cool ie, room temperature, store it in a clean dry airtight container.
11. It stays well for 10 days when refrigerated.
Panner Tikka Mirchi Masala
When we visited Mahabalipuram recently, we went to Mamalla heritage for lunch .There my son ordered this panner tikka mirchi masala, the taste of which he liked very much. They had used Jalapeños, the chillies used for making bajji in South India . Since i couldn't get that chilli, I replaced it with Simla mirchi -capsicum. The gravy turned out to be very tasty similar to the one at the restaurant. Here I am posting the recipe.
Cuisine: Punjabi
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Resting Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Yields: Serves 4 to 5 persons
Ingredients:
Panner: 200 gms
Curd: 50 ml
Onion: 1 no
Tomato: 2 nos
Green Chilli: 2 nos
Ginger Garlic Paste: 1 teaspoon
Broken Cashew: A handful
Chilli Powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Garam Masala: 1/4 teaspoon
Kasuri Methi: 1/4 teaspoon (Optional)
Finely chopped coriander leaves: 1/2 teaspoon
Fresh Cream: 1 table spoon (Optional)
Capsicum: 1/2 no
Water as needed
Oil as needed ( 2 to 3 table spoons)
Method:
1. Cut panner into cubes and out it in a bowl, add whipped curd, salt, garam masala, 1/4 tea spoon chilli powder, a pinch of kasuri methi and marinate it for 20 minutes.
2. Place a tawa on the stove top. Cook the marinated panner over it on a medium flame, toss it occasionally till it turns golden colour. Keep it aside.
3. Cut onions, tomatoes and dice the capsicums.
4. Make a smooth paste of tomato, onion, garlic and ginger and keep it ready.
5. Soak cashews in hot water for 10 minutes and make it into fine paste.
6. Place a wide pan on the stove over high flame, pour 2 table spoons of oil, add the diced capsicum and saute it for 2 minutes and take it out.
7. Now in the same pan, add slit green chilli fry it for a minute, add onion paste and cook it till the raw smell goes off and the oil comes out.
8. Now add 1/2 cup of water and bring it to boil, when it is boiling add in panner and simmer it for 3 minutes.
9. Add in the cashew paste and cook it for 5 to 8 minutes till the gravy becomes thick.
10. Put off the flame and add fresh cream. Transfer it to a serving bowl and garnish with coriander. Serve it with roti or naan.
Note:
1. The Jalapeños can be used in place of the Simla mirchies in the recipe.
Naan
Naan was a long-time contender in my to-do list. Recently I tried out making naan, which was an instant success. Earlier, when I used to make naan, I added curd to the dough, which gave a sour taste to the naan and became rubber-like on cooling. So I replaced curd with yeast in this recipe.
Cuisine: North Indian
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Resting Time: 3 hours
Cooking Time: 5 minutes per Naan
Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour or Maida: 2 cups
Salt to taste
Sugar: 1/2 teaspoon
Dried Active Yeast: 1/4 teaspoon
Water as needed
Method:
1. Take maida in a bowl, add sugar, salt and mix well.
2. Put the yeast crystals in a tumbler, add half cup warm water and leave it for 3 to 5 minutes. The yeast completely dissolves, now stir well the liquid and add this to the flour.
3. Add some more water to the flour and knead well to a soft dough.
4. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and keep it aside. Let it rest for 2 to 3 hours.
5. The yeast would have fermented and the dough will have raised (ie, it will be more in volume).
6. Now knead the dough and make into roundels.
7. Roll the roundels flat into large discs (about a hand span) of even thickness.
8. Place a tawa on the stove over medium flame.
9. When it is hot, put the prepared naan and cook it over high flame, flipping it occasionally till golden brown spots form.
10. Smear oil on both sides of naan and take it out of the tawa.
11. Similarly make all the naans and serve it hot with subzi of your choice.
Note:
1. Adding yeast gives a soft texture to the naan.
Salem Thattu Vada Set
Few months back I happened to taste Thattu vada set at Thattu Kadai, in K.K.Nagar, Chennai near Amman Koil. It was very different, crunchy, tangy, juicy and simply tasty. Thattu vada set is a sandwich of thattu vada, a generous heap of veggies, like carrot, beetroot, onions is kept in - between 2 thattu vada.
In my last year Deepavali post, I have given the recipe of Thattu Vadai. So moving on to the recipe of Thattu Vada Set.
Cuisine: South Indian Fusion
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
Thattu vadai or Nippet: 20 nos ( Preferably small ones)
Grated Carrot: 1 no
Grated Beetroot: 1 no
Thinly sliced onion : 1 no
Thinly sliced tomato: 1 no (Optional)
Finely chopped green chillies: 1no
Chilli powder: A pinch
Lemon Juice: One Whole Lemon or 1/2 depending on its sourness and juice
Pepper powder: A pinch
Green chutney and Tomato chutney ( Recipes are in the note)
Method:
1. Grate carrots and Beetroot, thinly slice the other veggies and finely chop green chillies.
2. Take all the vegetables in a bowl and mix it well, adding chilli powder, pepper powder, lemon juice and adjust salt as per your taste..
3. Now arranging the thattu vada set, place a thattu on a plate and smear green chutney over the thattu vada, place a generous heap of the prepared vegetables over the thattu, take another thattu and smear red chutney over it. Now place this thattu over the vegetables with red chutney downwards resembling a sandwich.
4. Similarly arrange all thattu vadai like sandwich which is called as Thattu Vada Set.
Note:
Green Chutney:
Ingredients:
Pudina: 1/2 cup tightly packed
Coriander: 1/2 cup loosely packed
Green Chilli: 2 nos
Onion: 1/2 no
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Grind the above ingredients in a mixie jar using little water to a smooth paste. Now Green Chutney is ready.
Red Chutney or Tomato Chutney:
Ingredients:
Tomato: 2 nos
Onion: 1/2 no
Bydagi Chilli: 2 to 3 nos (as it is less spicy, but gives bright red colour)
Garlic: 2 to 3 pods (Optional)
Salt to taste
Method:
1. Grind the above ingredients in a mixie jar into a fine smooth paste as raw or you can saute it in a pan before grinding.
Macaroni in White Sauce
Elbow macaroni is a variant of pasta, which my son likes. He feels it is very soft and easy to eat. So I make pasta dishes out of this variety.
Cuisine: Indo Italian
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Elbow macaroni: 1 cup
Sliced Onion: 1/2 no
Sliced Capsicum: 1/2 no
Sliced Tomato: 1/2 no
Italian Herbs: 1/2 teaspoon
Milk: 1/4 cup
Salt to taste
Oil as needed
Fresh Cream: 1 table spoon
Slit Green Chillies: 2 nos
Method:
1. Boil 1/2 litre of water in a pan, add macaroni to it and 1/2 teaspoon of oil.
2. Let it boil for 20 minutes, till the macaroni becomes soft.
3. Drain the water and rinse the macaroni in cold water well. Keep it aside.
4. Place another pan on the stove top and add oil to it.
5. When the oil is hot add slit green chillies, onions, tomatoes and capsicum. Sauté it well for a few minutes.
6. Add milk to the pan into it and add in the macaroni. Mix well.
7. Add salt to taste and Italian spices. Mix thoroughly.
8. Add fresh cream and reduce the flame. Close the pan with a lid.
9. After 5 minutes put off the flame and transfer it to serving bowl.
10. Now the creamy pasta is ready to eat.
