Kadhai Paneer

I've been craving to have a really spicy dinner, but without freaking out my kids. This Kadhai paneer scored on both fronts.

200 gms paneer

2 onions chopped fine

2 tomatoes chopped fine

1 green capsicum chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp dhania powder
1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp red chilli sauce
Salt to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Heat oil, add chopped onions, and saute till transparent. Add ginger garlic paste, and spices, and saute till the raw smell goes. Add tomatoes and sauté till mushy.
Allow the masala to cool, then grind it till you get a fine paste.

In the pan, add 1 tsp oil and sauté the capsicum. Add cut paneer and toss around for a minute. 

Add the masala, salt to taste and enough water to attain the desired consistency.
Bring to boil, simmer for 2 minutes and serve. 

Fried chicken

It was a rainy Sunday evening, and I wasn't really in a mood to cook anything too elaborate. The hubby said he wanted roast chicken with pasta, and even offered to make the pasta (using a premix) if I would make the chicken. To keep him away from the kitchen, I came up with this fried chicken dish.

1 chicken, curry cut

1 medium onion, sliced fine

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tsp paprika powder

Salt to taste

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp cornflour

Method:

Wash the chicken well, make slits in the leg pieces

Make a marinade with the sauces, salt and paprika powder, and let the chicken marinate for 30 mins. 

Heat the oil, fry the chicken in batches (about 5 minutes each), and keep aside. 

Fry the onions till caramelised. 

Add back the fried chicken pieces, and extra marinade. Sprinkle the cornflour. Mix well, cove and let it cook on a low flame for 15 minutes. 

Serve with pasta or with veggies on a bed of steamed rice. 

Vetalai rasam- Kerala style

After dreaming for years about having an edible garden, I'm finally close to achieving the objective. Though I don't have much in the form of  vegetable plants, I do have the scope to grow stuff.

But one thing I do have is a betel leaf plant, so I looked online to find something I could make with it. This rasam is really lovely- garlicky, with the flavour of betel.

2 medium-sized tender betel leaves

1/4 tsp of turmeric powder 

1/2 tsp of jeera powder 

6 pods of garlic

1 small onion

1 medium-sized tomato

1/4 tsp of black pepper powder 

A small lemon-ball-sized tamarind 

2 sprigs of curry leaves 

1 generous pinch of hing

1 tbsp of oil or ghee 

3 cups water

Salt to taste 

Method:

Soak the tamarind in the water for a few mins. Extract juice and discard the pulp. Keep aside. 

Roughly grind the garlic and onion in small mixer. Keep aside

Heat oil in a pan and add some mustard seeds. When they stop spluttering, add the crushed garlic-onion mixture along with the hing. Fry for about a minute. 

Add the pepper powder, turmeric powder, and jeera powder, and fry for 30 seconds. 

Add the tomatoes and fry until soft.

Add the tamarind water with some salt and the curry leaves and bring to boil. After about 5 mins of boiling, add the betel leaves, each torn into four. 

Serve hot with rice. 

Guacamol- first tryst with avocados

Hyderabad is a strange place. If you want something as simple as vegetables, you need to order it online and have it delivered to your door step. That also means you come across exotic vegetables you might otherwise not buy. Avocado is one such vegetable and it is no surprise what I made with it!

1 avocado

1 small onion

1 small tomato

4-6 pods garlic

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp paprika powder

Salt to taste

Method:

Peel and deseed the avocado. Mash it till smooth. 

Add lime juice and salt and mix well. 

Chop the onions, garlic and tomatoes give and add to the mixture. Add paprika powder and mix well. 

Refrigerate before serving. 

Gatte ki subji

We were all fed up of the same old dal, roti, subji combination, and to make it worse, there were no vegetables at home. Since I hadn't soaked the kabuli channa, I couldn't make that for dinner, and was at my wits end about what to do. Gatte ki subji to the rescue!
The recipe is a combination of my channa masala and my mother's gatte, and worked very well. The only problem is that the dog loves gatte too, and I know I have to make it in greater quantities in future.

For the gatte:

1 cup besan

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp ajwain

Salt to taste

1 tsp oil

For the masala:

1 medium onion chopped
1 medium tomato chopped fine
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
Oil
1 tsp rai
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method:

Mix all the solid ingredients under gatte well, add oil, and knead till you have a smooth dough. 

Roll into a cylinder and cut 1 1/2 inch long pieces.

Bring about 2 glasses water to a boil, drop the gatte pieces, and keep it in the water till they rise to the top. Once they do, take them out, and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp oil, add onions and saute till transparent. Add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste and cook till tomatoes turn mushy. Blend and keep aside.
Heat 1 tsp oil and splutter mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering, add onion-tomato paste and the spice powders, and saute for 2 minutes.

Add the cooked gatte and sufficient water. Mix well, bring to boil, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with chapattis.

Sepu, Spinach, Carrot Curry

Sometimes you don't want to eat the usual stuff, but are feeling too rebellious to try out a new recipe. Those are the days you throw things together, and hope something good comes out of it. Today's dinner was one such offering, and it is one I know I am going to repeat often.

1 bunch dil chopped fine

1 bunch palak chopped fine

1 medium onion chopped 

1 medium tomato chopped fine

2 tsp ginger garlic paste

Oil

1 tsp rai

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/4 cup groundnuts soaked for 1/2 hr
Salt to taste
Cooking oil

Method:

Heat oil and splutter mustard seeds. Once they stop spluttering, add onions, and saute till transparent.
Add ginger garlic paste, chopped tomatoes and the spices, and cook till mushy.
Meanwhile, blanch the spinach leaves for 2-3 minutes, and keep aside.
Add water, groundnuts and greens. Bring to boil, add salt, cover, and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Gobi-gajar-shalgam achar

One of my most vivid memories of the first week as a new bride in my marital home is of breakfast. Thankfully, those were the days before size zero brides, and I had no qualms about wolfing down steaming hot stuffed paratas with gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. Seeing their "Madrasi" bride tuck into the typically Punjabi breakfast must also have reassured my in-laws about my ability to fit into a new culture.
Unfortunately, however, that was the first and last time I got to eat gobi-gajar-shalgam achar. My mother-in-law didn't make it herself, and the stuff you got at restaurants was at best a poor attempt at replicating the classic dish.
This winter, I was determined to attempt the recipe myself, and before I could change my mind, bought the ingredients, and even cut the vegetables and kept them to dry. It was easier than I expected, and I wonder why I never attempted it all this while.

1 Kg vegetables (a mix of cauliflower florets, carrot slices, turnip cubes)
65 gms mustard seeds
65 gms salt
150 gms jaggery
150 gms mustard oil
150 gms vinegar
5 tsp Garam masala
100 gms ginger-garlic paste
25 gms red chili pwdr

Method:
Cut the vegetables, and leave them out to dry for 6 hours (I put them in a preheated oven with the heat off).
Heat the mustard oil, let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add the vegetables, fry the vegetables lightly and keep aside.
In the same oil, add ginger-garlic paste, and saute till the raw taste goes.
Meanwhile, heat the vinegar in a pan, add the jaggery, and stir on a low heat till the jaggery dissolves completely. Turn off the fire, and let it cool down.
Mix all the ingredients, including the dry masala. Pour into a sterilized jar, cover the mouth with a piece of cloth, and keep in the sun for a week.

Curly-wurly lemon pickle

I am not too fond of lemon pickle, but I fell in love with how this pickle by Renu Dheer looked, and couldn't wait to try it out myself. All the proportions are by andaz (and I am not yet sure if I need to add a bit more of something or not), but I do know that I like it a lot. I also know that had I been a fan of lemon pickles, I would like it a lot more than I actually do!

4 lemons
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp hing

Method:
Squeeze the juice into a small sterilized jar.
Turn the lemon inside out and with the thumb and forefinger, pull out the pith. With a small pair of scissors, cut out thin spirals till the centre. Put these in the jar with the lemon juice. 
Add salt to taste, and put the sealed jar in the sun for a week.
Add red chillie powder, hing, a pinch of garam masala and some sugar, and put it out in the sun again for a couple of days.
Excellent with parathas.

Radish stir fry

This is my attempt at cooking greens the Maharashtrian way. While I would normally have used a traditional 'green', these radishes looked so lovely, I had to give them a try. 

I cup radish and radish leaves, chopped fine

3 tbsp peanuts

6 pods garlic, peeled and chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

1 tsp mustard oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Heat the oil, add the garlic and sauté on a low flame till browned

Add chilli and peanuts and sauté till peanuts start browning

Add the radish and radish leaves, and sauté till done (about 2-3 minutes)

Add salt to taste, mix well, and serve hot 

Pineapple raita

I first had pineapple raita when I was a student in b-school. At time, I couldn't quite decide what to make of it, but over time I've grown to love it's combination of tastes- the sweet of pineapple with it's underlying tart complimenting the sour of curds, and all balanced with the taste of rock salt and red chilli powder. If you ask me to name a dish that is complex to comprehend, but easy to whip up, this might be the first one that springs to mind. It was, therefore, the perfect accompaniment to offer to Krishna on Janmashtami Day.

1 1/2 cups curds
1 cup pineapple chopped
1/2 tsp jeera powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (or to taste)
1/2 tsp rock salt (or to taste)

Method:
Whip the curds till smooth. Add the jeera powder, red chilli powder and rock salt and mix well.
Crush a few pieces of pineapple, and add the juice to the mixture (alternately, use a tablespoon of pineapple juice).
Add pineapple pieces, mix well, and serve chilled

Paneer in mango gravy

The moment I saw this recipe, I knew I had to make it, even though it involved making a long and hot trip to the diary to pick up the paneer. And it tasted every bit as good as I hoped it would. Definitely making it again.

300 gms paneer cut into cubes
2 onions, finely chopped
3 tomatoes
1 green chillie
1 inch ginger
1 big mango, chopped into pieces and pureed
3 tbsp cream (I replaced it with milk)
1 tsp turmeric powder
Salt as per taste
1 tsp red chilly powder
Pinch of nutmeg powder
1 tsp garam masala


Method:
Saute the onions till golden.
Puree the tomatoes with the green chilli and ginger, and add the mixture to the onions. Add turmeric powder, chilly powder and salt and saute till the oil starts leaving the masala.
Add the mango puree, cream/ milk and nutmeg powder, and let it simmer for about 5 minutes till the colour turns to orange
Add the paneer, garam masala and some water, and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Serve hot, with rotis or parathas.

Drumstick potato in khus khus gravy

Drumsticks and posto! A match made in heaven.
What more could someone like me ask for?
When I saw this recipe, I knew I just had to make it, and it was every bit as lovely as I hoped it would be.

2 large potatoes, cubed
1 drumstick, cut into 3" long pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 large tomato , chopped
5 tbsp khus khus / posto (soaked in water for 15 mins)
2-3 green chillies
2-3 flakes of garlic
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
A pinch of turmeric powder
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

Method
Grind the soaked khus khus with jeera, coriander, and garlic into a smooth paste. Add water as necessary.
Heat the oil, add onions and green chillies and fry until lightly browned. Then add the drumsticks and potato cubes. Add in 2 cups water and mix well.
When the mixture comes to a boil, add the ground khus khus paste, chilli powder, turmeric, and some salt. Mix well.
Throw in the tomatoes and mix.
The mixture should still be a bit watery for the vegetables to full cook. If it's not, add some more water. Cook covered until the potatoes are soft and the drumsticks are cooked through. Adjust salt.
Serve with rotis.

Mixed vegetable quick kootu

We Tamilians love a balanced diet at every meal, so what better than if you can combine proteins and vitamins in the same dish? Mixed vegetable kootu is a stable lunch item for my mother, and while I don't swear by it the way she does, I have to admit it makes cooking easy on hot summer days.

250 gms carrots diced
100 gms potatoes cut into small pieces
1 measure dhuli moong dal
1/3 tsp haldi powder
1 tsp sambar powder
Salt per taste

For tempering
Mustard seeds
Jeera seeds
Urad dal
A pinch of hing
Curry leaves
Cooking oil

Method
Put the cut vegetables, green gram dal and turmeric powder in a pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover the vegetables. Pressure cook for two to three whistles.
After few minutes, remove the lid from the cooker and slightly mash the vegetables.
Heat the oil, temper with mustard seeds. When it stops popping, add urad dha, jeera, hing, curry leaves and fry for about half a minute. Add sambar powder and immediately add the cooked vegetables.
Add salt and mix well.
Serve hot with chappatis.

Parupu

The best thing about Tam Bram cooking is the fact that every meal is a well balanced one, and it the main dishes don't provide all the nutrients, there will be an appropriate side dish that invariably complements it. Since her son loved rasam, my grandmother made it often, and everytime she did, there would be a big dish of Parupu for everyone to dig into. In time she realised that I loved the parupu more than many of the main dishes, so at every meal she would ensure I had my share of parupu on the side.
Despite loving the dish as much as I do, this is the first time I actually made Parupu, and it tasted every bit as good as I remember.

 

1 measure toor dal
1/2 tsp haldi powder
salt to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves


Method
Cook the toor dal with haldi powder and minimum water for 2 whistles (one whistle, and the second one on sim).
Add salt to taste, mix well, smashing the dal slightly, if required.
Heat the oil, temper with mustard seeds and curry leaves, and pour over the parupu after the seeds stop spluttering.
Serve with piping hot rice, and Vatha Kuzumbu.

Vengaya Gotsu

Vengaya Gotsu is one of the man reasons why I developed such a craving for Ven Pongal. I have very pleasant memories of digging into the pungent accompaniment,savouring every last bit of it. Naturally, it placed high on the list of traditional Tamilian dishes that I wanted recipes for. Luckily, my mother's recipe is every bit as authentic as they come, and I've followed it to the letter.

For ground masala:
1 tsp dhania
1 tsp chana dal
4 red chillis

For tempering:
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp methi seeds
a pinch of hing
2 red chillis
1 green chilli

2 onions, chopped (but not finely)
1 potato chopped into small pieces
1 lime sized tamarind ball, made into paste, and diluted with 1 and 1/2 cup water
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp haldi pwd
1 tbsp jaggary (powdered)
1 tsp rice flour, made into a paste with a tsp water
Til oil


Method:
Heat the oil, and fry the ingredients listed under 'ground masala'. Powder or grind and keep aside
Heat some oil in a pan, and add the ingredients listed under "tempering".
Once the mustard seeds stop spluttering, add the onions.
When the onions start turning translucent, add potatoes, tamarind water, salt, haldi pwd and jaggery. Mix well, cover the pan, and let it cook till the potatoes are well done.
Add rice flour mixed in a little bit of water. Once it starts thickening, add the ground masala and cook till you get the desired consistency.
Preferably, serve the following day with Ven Pongal.

Urulaikizhangu Podimas

Urulaikizhungu Podimas. I had even forgotten the dish existed, but when I saw the vengaya sambar staring at me from the fridge, the memories flooded my tastebuds. Memories of podimas eaten at my Patti's bright and airy Besant Nagar dining room, vague memories of her dining room in Deonar, and wonderful memories of eating with her in Malleshwaram. She might have moved houses every few years, but the podimas remained constant, as did her vengaya sambhar.

2 large potatoes
¾ tsp mustard seeds
a pinch of hing
1/2 inch piece ginger chopped into tiny piecces
1 green chili
10-12 curry leaves
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
1 tbsp gingerly oil
1 tbsp lemon juice or as required
salt to taste

Method
Boil the potatoes in a pressure cooker till completely cooked and of mashable consistency.
Peel and mash the potatoes coarsely
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds. After it stops spluttering, add green chillis, curry leaves, ginger, urad dal, chana dal, and hing. Stir for half a minute
Add potatoes and salt, and saute on a low flame stirring constantly.
Serve with vengaya sambhar and steamed rice.

Methi carrot subji

Life is different when you have a cook. You know that she can make only a couple of dishes, and you just rotate them as best as you can. But when decide to take over cooking responsibilities, you want to innovate as often as you can. And it is fun. Specially when you come up with something your family really likes. This was one of those.

Ingredients:

Carrot- 250 gms, diced

Methi leaves- 1/2 bunch, washed, de-stemmed and chopped

Mustard oil- 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - 4 or 5 cloves

Red chilli powder- 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Haldi pwd- 1/2 tsp

Hing- a pinch

Kasoori methi- 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat the mustard oil, and when it is really hot, reduce the flame and add the jeera. When the jeera stops spluttering, add garlic and hing and fry till the raw smell goes. Add carrots, and fry on a low flame for 2-3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients, cover and let it cook till carrots are soft.

Pudina chutney

KWhen you have guests over, and are serving kebabs, you better have pudina chutney and lots of it!
I was initially planning to make a slightly offbeat chutney, with grated apples, but by the time I was done with the rest of the cooking, had only enough energy left over to make the most conventional of pudina chutneys. And it turned out exactly the way it should!

1 measure mint leaves/ pudina (destemmed)

1 measure coriander leaves/ dhania patta
6 pods garlic
2 green chillis (or to taste)
1/2 lemon
1 tsp cumin seeds/ jeera
water, as required
salt to taste

Method
Remove the stalks from the leaves, and chop coarsely
Roast the jeera seeds
Blend the leaves, garlic, green chillis and jeera with sufficient water to get the desired consistency.

Squeeze the lemon, add salt as desired.

Serve chilled. 

Capsicum paneer

Most people, I know, don't notice the gravy that they eat, but I am particular about not serving similar dishes when I have people over for a meal. So, with Kali dal on the menu, I had to think of a non-tomato gravy dish for the paneer. A couple of days back, I had seen this "balti paneer" dish on IFF, and since I know that capsicum and paneer go together, I decided to make it.

250 gms fresh full cream paneer cut in cubes and soaked in milk
1 tsp shahi jeera
2 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp grounded kali mirch
1 large onions cut into rings
1/2 large capsicum de-seeded and cut into slices
2 green chilies diagonally cut
3-4 pinches kasoori methi
Green Corriander leaves chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
4-5 tablespoons of fresh cream

Method
Heat oil, and when heated, add the shahi jeera and let it crackle
Add onion rings , cut green chilies and slices of capsicum and sauté
Reduce heat and add kali mirch (crushed black pepper), haldi (turmeric), salt, kasoori methi
Add paneer cubes soaked in milk and mix well
Add milk and cook till the milk dries up
Add the cream and mix for 10-15 seconds
Remove from heat
Serve garnished with chopped dhaniya patta

Andhra style carrot curry

There are only so many vegetables my family eats, and life often seems like a constant struggle to escape the commonplace of recipes. This Andhra style carrot curry that was made by combining a couple of recipes from the internet is one I am definitely making again.

Carrots - 2, large cut into small pieces
Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
Asafoetida - pinch
Green chilies - 2 or 3, whole
Ginger - 1/2", grated
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Coriander powder - 1 1/2 tsps
Toasted sesame seeds - 2 tbsps, lightly crushed
Red chili flakes - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Method

Heat oil in a cooking vessel. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, and after they start to splutter, add the curry leaves, green chilies, asafoetida and ginger and saute for 5 to 6 seconds. Add the chopped carrots and mix.
Cook without lid on medium flame for 4 to 5 mts, mixing the contents once in a while. Reduce flame, add salt and cook till the carrots are soft, approx 25 mts.
Remove lid, add the coriander powder and mix. Cook for 2 to 3 mts. Add the crushed toasted sesame seeds and crushed red chili flakes and mix.
Turn off flame and remove into a serving bowl. Serve warm with rice or rotis.