Paneer Butter Masala

This dish a North Indian dish and one of the most popular dish in India. This dish stomach filler as it contains paneer, butter, etc. so diet lovers would like to avoid it but still I am sure they may not resist it.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 250 gms (cubed)

Fresh Cream - 3 tbsp

Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek Leaves) - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1 tsp

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Coriander Leaves for garnishing

For Onion paste:

Onions - 2

Garlic Cloves - 3 to 4

Ginger - 1 inch

Cumin (Jeera) Seeds - 1 tsp

Cinnamon (Taj) Stick - 1 inch

Cloves - 3

Green Cardamoms - 3

Bay Leaf - 1

Poppy Seeds (Khus-Khus) - 1/2 tbsp

For Tomato Paste:

Tomatoes - 3

Cashews - 8 to 10

Garam Masala Powder - 1 tsp

Kitchen King Masala - 1 tsp

Dry Mango (Amchur) Powder - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli Powder - 1 tsp

Method:

Grind the ingredients of onion and tomato to fine paste separately and keep aside till required.

Take 1 tbsp of ghee, heat in a pan, saute the paneer cubes in it till golden brown; now take 1 cup hot water add a pinch of salt and turmeric powder to it and immerse the paneer cubes in it for 10 to 12 mins. Then remove the pieces, drain them on a tissue paper and keep aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a same pan, add onion paste and fry it for 7 to 8 mins. Stir continuously the paste so it doesn't stick in the pan. Add crushed kasuri methi and sugar, stir for another min. Now add tomato paste and stir well, let it cook for 5 mins. Stir occasionally.

Increase the heat to medium and add a cup of water, salt to taste and mix it well. Cover with lid and cook for another 5 mins. Now add the paneer cubes and fresh cream. Simmer the gravy and let it cook uncovered for another 5 mins.

Switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Roti or Rice. Enjoy...

Vegetable Jaipuri

Vegetable Jaipuri is a North Indian dish from Rajasthan. The Indian state of Rajasthan is very famous for its colourful dressing and handicrafts and so these dish keeps on the tradition of Rajasthan . It has a perfect blend of vegetable and spices which makes it different and delicious.

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

Green Peas - 1 cup

Carrot - 3/4 cup chopped

French Beans - 1/2 cup chopped

Green Bell Pepper (Capsicum) - 1/2 cup chopped

Cauliflower florets - 1/2 cup

Potato - 1/2 cup chopped

For Paste:

Onion - 1 chopped

Tomato - 1 chopped

Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

Coriander seeds - 1 tbsp

Cashew Nuts - 10 whole

Spices:

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

Cloves - 5

Cinnamon stick - 1 (around one inch)

Other Ingredients:

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves for garnish

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Method:

Combine cumin and coriander seeds in a small skillet and dry-roast over medium heat. Now combine cumin-coriander seeds, onions, tomatoes and cashew nuts and blend into smooth paste and set aside.

Heat ghee in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add cloves and cinnamon and stir for few seconds. Now add all chopped vegetables and saute for 5 mins on medium heat. Add the paste and 1/2 cup of water, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt and mix it well. Cover with the lid and cook on medium heat until vegetables are tender. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve this dish with anykind of Indian Bread.

Paneer Bhurji

My hubby talked about his college days were he used to have paneer bhurji with Pav in canteen. So I thought to prepare it for him to make him recall his college days. He enjoyed it and so did I, hope you will enjoy too.

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1/2 Lbs. grated

Onion - 1 finely chopped

Tomato - 1 finely chopped

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped (or to taste)

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp

Coriander leaves - chopped for garnishing

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and ginger garlic paste fry till onions are translucent. Add the chillies and tomatoes fry till they are soft. Add turmeric and garam masala powder, salt and little water so that all the masalas mix well. Add the grated paneer and fry for 5 mins, till the paneer blends into the masala. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve.

Cabbage-Paneer Paratha

I love stuffed paratha because it is stomach filler as well as it contains nutritious ingredients in it. Today my mood was to have stuffed paratha but I didn't want to eat potatoes so I thought to try with cabbage and paneer and here you go with my experiment.

Ingredients:

For the dough:
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cup
Salt to taste
Oil to cover the dough

For stuffing:
Grated Cabbage - 1 & 1/2 cups
Crumbled Paneer - 3/4 cup
Ginger-Green Chilli paste - 1 tbsp (to taste)
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (to taste)
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp (to taste)
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp chopped
Salt and Lemon Juice to taste
Oil or Ghee for cooking

Method:

For the Dough:
Mix flour and salt in a bowl and use warm water to knead the dough until a pliable but non-sticky dough is formed. Cover the dough with oil and keep aside for at least 30 mins. After 30 mins divide the dough intoequal portions and make balls.

For Stuffing:
After grating the cabbage squeeze out the excess water. Put all the ingredients in another bowl and mix it well. Now divide the stuffing into equal portions and make small balls and place them aside.

For making Paratha:

Roll the dough into 3 inch diameter circles. Put the filling in the center. Seal by pulling the edges of the rolled dough together to make a ball. Proceed to make all balls. To make it easier to roll the balls, first roll them in dry whole wheat flour. Lightly press the ball on the sealed side and keep it on the top-side when rolling. Roll the ball light handle into 6 inch circles to reduce the stickiness on the rolling pin or rolling surface, sprinkle dry whole wheat flour on both side of semi-rolled paratha.

Heat the skillet on medium high, once skillet is hot place the paratha over the skillet. You will see the color change and the paratha will bubble in different places. Then turn the paratha over, it should have golden brown spots. spread oil/ghee over paratha on both sides. Flip the paratha and gently press with spatula. Flip again and press with spatula, make sure paratha is golden brown on both sides. Make all the parathas this way.

Serve hot Paratha with Plain Yogurt and Green Chutney.

Tip: If you do not want more oil in paratha you can use cooking spray oil instead.

Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is one of most popular north Indian dish and I am presenting this dish with my modification to add further taste. Palak (Spinach) is a good source of iron which helps in cleaning the blood. It is one of the healthy food items. I hope you all will like it.



Ingredients:
Spinach(Palak) - 1 bunch - chopped along with the stem
Onion - 1 big - chopped
Tomato - 1 big - chopped
Ginger - Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green Chillies -3
Butter - 1 tbsp
Paneer in pieces - as desired
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Half & half or milk - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Method:
Fry onion, ginger-garlic paste and tomatoes one after the other in a little oil for a few mins. Now add the red chilli, turmeric and garam masala powder and fry for another min. Cool and blend it nicely to a smooth paste. Meanwhile fry the chopped spinach with a tbsp of water and little salt sprinkled on it. I usually don't cover and cook spinach here to avoid sweating.

Now mix the onion - tomato paste in the cooked spinach and add milk and some water and cook on high flame for about 5 mins uncovered. Now reduce the flame and cook for another 2 mins. The gravy nicely thickens up by this time and is ready for to add paneer. Fry paneer in about 1 tbsp of butter until lightly browned on both sides and pop up them into the gravy and cook alongwith gravy for 2 mins.

Serve hot with plain Chapatis/Parathas or Jeera rice.