Handi paneer

Yet another paneer dish for you all..i simply cant seem to do without paneer ..this delicious dish is made like this..!
Ingredients:

1. onions - 2 (chopped)
2. ginger - 1/2 " piece (grated)
3. turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
4. chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
5. garam masala - 1/4 tsp
6. tomato - 1 (chopped)
7. green chilly - 1 (chopped)
8. bay leaf - 1
9. Yoghurt - 1/2 cup (beaten)
10. Paneer - 100 gms
11. coriander leaves - 1 tbsp (chopped)
12. salt to taste
13. fresh ground pepper

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. Saute onions till golden brown. Simmer flame & add ginger, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, garam masala & stir fry for a minute.

Add tomato, green chilly and bay leaf. Stir fry. Allow to cook on low flame for 7-8 mts.

Add curd & cook till it becomes dry. Now pour 1/2 cup water & bring the contents to boil. Add paneer & coriander leaves & stir. Cook till the spices coat the paneer pieces.

Finally add salt & pepper to taste.

Rajma paratha with matar mushroom

isnt that yummm!!!!..

Matar mushroom

For matar mushroom u need:

button mushroom - (cut in quarters) - 12-15
frozen peas - 1 cup
onion - 1 large
tomato - 2
ginger garlic paste- 2 tbsp
red chilly powder - 1 tsp
turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
garam masala - 1 tsp
cardamom - 2 pods
cinnamon - 1 small piece
fresh ground pepper
salt to taste
oil - 2 tbsp

method:
Heat oil in a pan.

Fry cardamom & cinnamon.

Add onion, ginger-garlic paste, tomato one after another sauteing each for about a minute or 2.

Now add the powders. Fry again till the raw smell goes.
Finally mushrooms & matar with salt & 1 cup of water.Let it cook well .

Add fresh ground pepper.
Garnish with coriander leaves if u like.

Rajma paratha

i tried this from my collection of Sanjeev Kapoor's books..made slight variations in it .that is to say i omitted a few ingredients 'cos i didnt have them at home ..Rajma is red kidney beans ;the one in the picture !
To make this :
You will need to soak about 1/3 cup rajma for 10-12 hrs. Cook it in a pressure cooker for at least 1/2 hr. Rajma takes a long time to cook. Mash the cooked rajma well using potato masher. Reserve the cooking liquid.

Now to the mashed rajma add 1 cup wheat flour, 1 tsp red chilly powder, 2 tbsp tomato puree, about 8-10 finely chopped mint leaves, 2 tbsp oil & salt. Add the cooking liquid if required instead of water. Knead well to make a soft pliable dough.

Make balls out of the dough .Roll using a rolling pin & make parathas drizzling a little oil on each side .

ingredients i omitted - 1 tsp dry pomegranate powder- 1 tbsp soyabean flour

u can add them if u have at home.

I served this with matar mushroom.

Mango cake

This dish has come out of dire necessity..we were going out of town & i still had about a kilo of mangoes lying in the fruit basket ..not knowing what to do i looked into the internet & got this recipe for mango cake ..sounds weird isnt it ..its hard to believe but it tasted great ..the reason why i chose a mango cake to finish my supply of mangoes was that firstly it needed 2 cups of mangoes ..which is a good quantity & secondly i had recently bought a heart shaped cake tin & badly wanted to bake a cake in it..!!!
how i made it:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Sift together 2 cups of flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda &
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder.
• Make a well in the center & add
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup grated coconut
• 2 cups of finely chopped mangoes
• 1/2 cup veg oil
• 3 eggs &
• 1 tsp vanilla.


• Mix together .


• Pour onto the cake tin (my heart shaped tin!!).. let it rest for 20 mts .. the batter will rise a little. then bake in the oven for about an hour..

Saree painting

Vellayappam and potato stew

This is a breakfast dish. It does require a little bit of preparation but its definitley worth it! This was our breakfast this weekend .Hubby simply loves it & wanted me to make it for dinner as well !The recipe goes like this

Ingredients:

for vellayappam:

1. Rice (i use raw rice) - 2 cups
2. grated coconut - 3/4 cup
3. boiled rice - 2 tbsp
4. yeast - 1/2 tsp
5. sugar - 2 tbsp
6. salt to taste

Grind all the ingredients together & keep it overnight to ferment.Next morning stir the batter well check for salt & add little water if required.

Heat an appam chatty or any deep pan. Pour one ladle of batter . Hold the edges of the pan & swirl it only once slowly so that a lacy layer forms on the edges & thicker batter settles at the bottom centre. close lid & let it cook .this takes about 3 - 4 minutes. Appams are done..

Ingredients for potato stew:

1. potatoes - 3 chopped
2. ginger - 1/2 inch piece
3. onoin - 1 chopped
4. green chillies - 2 -3
5. few curry leaves
6. coconut milk - 2 cups
7. fresh ground pepper
8. coconut oil - 1 tbsp
9. salt to taste

Boil potatoes. keep aside. Heat oil in a pan. Throw in chopped onions, green chillies, ginger & curry leaves. Saute for a few mintes. Add boiled potatoes & coconut milk. add salt . Bring to boil & let it simmer for few more minutes. Finally just before you remove from fire add fresh ground pepper.

You can add other veggies as well to this stew like carrots , beans , green peas ...only in that case it becomes vegetable stew,..!!

Puli inji

Puli inji is something you can make & keep for days in the refrigerator. This tangy chutney is quite well known in Kerala & is a must in any wedding platter.

Ingredients:

1. ginger - 4 tbsp (finely chopped)
2. green chillies - 1 1/2 tbsp (finely chopped)
3. tamarind paste - 3/4 cup
4. jaggery shavings - 1/2 cup
5. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
6. chilly powder - 1 tsp
7. mustard seeds - 1 tsp
8. red chillies whole - 2 to 3
9. curry leaves - few
10. salt to taste
11. coconut oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds & let it splutter. Add whole red chillies & curry leaves. Stir fry.


• Add finely chopped ginger & green chillies. Saute for few minutes till the raw smell goes.


• Add about 3/4 cup of water to tamarind paste. Pour tamarind water to the sizzling ginger- green chillies.


• Add jaggery ,red chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt. Let it come to a boil. Simmer it for a few more minutes & puli inji is ready!


• this dish tastes good as it is ,but if you like to make it a little more thicker what you can do is dry roast 1 or 2 tsp of rice with a pinch of fenugreek seeds. make a powder of it .add this powder to the simmering puli inji. Enjoy !!

Lahsuni dal

A daily dish..

Ingredients:

1. Masoor dal(red lentils) - 1 cup
2. onion - 1 chopped
3. tomato - 1 chopped
4. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
5. chilly powder - 1 tsp
6. coriander powder 1/2 tsp
7. hing (asafoetida) - 2 pinches
8. garlic - 9-10 (peeled & whole)
9. garlic - 2 chopped
10. ghee - 2 tbsp
11. mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
12. cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
13. curry leaves - few
14. salt to taste

Method:

• Wash & cook dal with onion, tomato, turmeric powder ,chilly powder ,hing , salt & about 21/2 cups of water in a pressure cooker until 1 whistle.


• Let the cooker cool by itself. remove dal & keep aside.


• Heat ghee in a pan. Add mustard, cumin seeds. let it splutter. Add curry leaves & garlic( both chopped & whole). Saute till garlic turns light brown. Add this to the hot dal.


• Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.