MATTAR PANEER

MY MATTAR PANEER : Cheese is one of the best food in this world. And Indian cottage cheese is definitely very yummy! The best thing is that you cook in the delicious masala and yet when just the paneer cube moves around in your mouth....mmmm....heavenly!!!! I LOVE PANEER!!!!!!!

It goes well with hot chapattis or nan (butter nan...perfect!)

Even though I love paneer so much, I have never been great cooking it. Even yesterday when I started cooking it...I didn't think it would turn out great...yippee!!!!!!! I did it!!! I thought of cooking in so many different ways yesterday and ultimately my first attempt at Mattar Paneer was successful. So posting the recipe for you...

INGREDIENTS:

Paneer – 250 gms

Green peas – 1 cup

Red Onion – 2

Tomato - 1

Garlic cloves – 2

Ginger – 1” piece

Fennel seeds – ½ tablespoon

Chilli Powder – 2 tablespoon

Coriander powder – 1 table spoon

Turmeric powder - about ¼ tablespoon

Garam Masala – 1 tablespoon

Water

Oil – 2 to 3 tablespoon

Salt

Coriander leaves for garnishing

METHOD:

Take the paneer out of your freezer around 30 minutes before and put it in a bowl of normal water to defrost it.

I have used dry green peas. So I had soaked it for around 4 hours. Pressure cook with a bit of salt and water. If not, you may use fresh green peas or frozen peas.

In the mean time, slice the onions and coriander leaves. Dice the tomatoes.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the paneer till golden brown. This is done so that the paneer cubes would not crumble while mixing or cooking. Put aside the fried cubes.

To the same oil, add the fennel seeds. As soon as they turn brown add the onions. Sweat the onions. Add the ginger garlic paste. Sauté till the onions turn light brown. Add the diced tomatoes and cook well.

 Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder and sauté till raw smell goes. Add the cooked green peas and enough water. Check the spice and salt and adjust.

Boil the mixture or cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the paneer cube and cook for another 2 minutes.  Turn the stove off and garnish with coriander leaves.

All the best with your paneer!!!!

NB: When frying the paneer cubes, be careful as it is wet and you are putting it in hot oil. So be careful not to burn yourself. Make sure the flame is on the lowest. Make sure there are no kids around the stove.

AVAL UPMA or BEATEN RICE UPMA

AVAL UPMA / BEATEN RICE UPMA: The best thing about this is it can be used as an evening snack and breakfast. It is very healthy and tasty.  This can be made with white or red beaten rice. I prefer red because it is healthier as it has vitamin B. This is a simple one and you should definitely try it.

INGREDIENTS:

Aval – 1 cup

Red Onion – 1 medium

Mustard seeds – 1 tablespoon

Whole dried red chillies – 2

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Ginger – 1” piece

Water to wet the aval

Salt

Oil – 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

Chop the ginger into very small pieces (otherwise you might end up biting into a ginger piece. I don’t really like the idea of it).  Slice the onion.  Wet the aval by sprinkling water to it. Do not pour water, only sprinkle. Do not add too much water or else it will start to dissolve the aval. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds.  Add the whole red chillies and curry leaves. Add ginger and sauté for less than a minute to get rid of the raw smell. Immediately add the onions and sauté. Add salt and mix well.  As soon as they sweat, add the wet aval. Mix well. It is ready to serve. Serve hot, it tastes better.

Note: Always add salt before adding the aval. Otherwise, it will not get uniformly distributed. In case, you need to add salt later, always add salt mixed with water.

BROCOLI POTATO AND CARROT STIR FRY

BROCOLI POTATO AND CARROT STIR FRY: This is the easiest stir fry one can make. It’s healthy and tasty. It can accompany with rice as a side dish. You may even have it as such as a snack.

INGREDIENTS:

BROCOLI - 1 small to medium

Potato – 1

Carrot – 1

Salt to taste

Oil – 2 teaspoon

Pepper powder – ½ tablespoon

METHOD:

Chop all the vegetables.  Keep the broccoli aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped carrots and potatoes with salt.  Cook on low flame till the potato and carrots are 3/4^th cooked. Add broccoli along with pepper and cook till done. Reduce pepper depending on your spice levels.  Serve it.

PALAK DAL CURRY or GREEN SPINACH WITH LENTILS

PALAK DAL CURRY / GREEN SPINACH CURRY WITH LENTILS:  This is a good recipe for those who do not like to have palak alone. It also gives a richer consistency to the curry and is easy to make. Palak is rich in iron and calcium which makes it the best fuel for brain and bones. The dal in the recipe makes sure that you get rid of the green leafy taste that makes the kids and most people avoid it. You can serve it with rice or chapattis.

INGREDIENTS:

Palak – a bunch chopped

Garlic cloves – 2 to 3

Yellow dal / sambar dal – 4 to 5 tablespoon

Red Onion – 1 thinly sliced

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Chilli powder – ½ tablespoon

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Salt to taste

Oil – 1 tablespoon

Water – ¼ of a cup

METHOD:

Pressure cook the yellow dal or sambar dal till nicely cooked. Heat oil in a pan and crackle the mustard seeds. Add chopped garlic cloves and wait for it to lightly brown. Add onion and sauté till light brown. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder and sauté till the raw smell goes.  Add salt to the mixture. Add the chopped spinach leaves to the pan. Mix well.  Add this to the pressure cooked dal along with water. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and wait for a whistle (on medium heat). Turn off the stove and wait for the pressure to be released completely. Mix well. Serve it.

EGG BURJI or SCRAMBLED BOILED EGG - MY STYLE

EGG BURJI - MY STYLE: Normally Egg burji is the other name for scrambled egg. But the one I am going to pen down is made with boiled eggs. It is simple, healthy and tasty.  It can be served hot with rice or chapattis. For kids, you may even toss them between their dosas or chapattis and take them as a roll or put them between bread slices and you have a good egg sandwich.

INGREDIENTS:

Egg - 3 whole (I have used chicken eggs)

Red Onion – 1

Mustard seeds – ½ tablespoon

Chilli powder – 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder – a pinch

Fennel Seeds – around 10 nos.

Oil - 2 teaspoon

Coriander leaves to garnish

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Boil the 3 eggs and slice them. Slice the onions. Take a pan and heat the oil. Splutter the mustard seeds. Add fennel seeds. Once they turn brown add onions and sauté till light brown. Add chilli powder and turmeric powder. Sauté till the raw smell goes. Add the egg slices. Mix the eggs into the onion masala. Add coriander leaves for garnishing. Serve hot.

Chicken Dry Roast or Chicken Varattiyathu

CHICKEN VARRATIYATHU : Chicken cooked in rich spicy masala with almost dry gravy. Its an authentic kerala dish. It tastes best with rice, tapioca, plain bread, chappati , poori. It tastes good even with dosa or idili. I can eat it with almost anything. Yum!

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken – 1100 gm ( I have used fresh chicken)

Red Onion – 5

Ginger – 1” piece

Garlic clove – 3 to 4

Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Mustard seeds – 1 tablespoon

Chilli Powder – 3 tablespoon

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tablespoon

Pepper – ½ tablespoon

Corriander Powder – 5 tablespoons

Garam masala powder –  1 tablespoon

Fennel seed powder or crushed – ½  tablespoon

Oil – 2 teaspoon

Salt to taste

METHOD:

Clean and cut the chicken into small pieces. Make a paste of garlic and Ginger. Add half of the paste to the chicken along with salt and marinate for an hour or so (minimum 20 minutes). Place the marinated chicken in a heavy bottomed pan and cook till done. The water will ooze out from the chicken, so do not add any water while cooking.  In the mean time slice the onions. Take a heavy bottomed pan and place it over the stove. Heat the oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add the onions and sweat them. Add the rest of the ginger garlic paste and curry leaves and sauté. Sauté the mixture till the onions become light brown. Add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, Fennel seed powder and garam masala powder and sauté for 2-3 minutes on low flame.  Add the chicken along with the water that has oozed out from the chicken. Mix it well and add pepper powder. Cook the chicken in the gravy till it becomes dry. If you want to have gravy, you may stop cooking before it gets fully dry. Make sure you check the chicken and keep mixing so that the chicken would not get burned.  You may also garnish the chicken with roasted coconut pieces.

Happy Cooking!!!

Fascination to cook!

I have always loved food.  Especially the twist and turns it creates with the spices. And hence my love for cooking. Even though i have cooked every now and then, i was never really intrested in cooking till i got married. Till then i cooked, only when i was in a mood for it. After marriage, although i started it because of the 'no other option available thing', i started loving the idea of cooking for my loved ones. Eh..Probably that is why my mom always cook. We hardly have had food from out. I mean like may be once a week maximum. Her food was awesome and the best thing about my mom's food was variety, tasty and healthy.

Now that i had to start cooking after my marriage ( after marriage we came abroad) my only assets were the few cookery practices at my mom's kitchen and the abundant cooking materials available on the internet. I really can't imagine a life without internet. Thanks to all those superb cooks and recipies available on the net. I should specially thank few of them being sanjeev kapoor and lakshmi's  kitchen.

I guess it has become a fashion for everyone to have a cookery blog. I mean i guess so many of my friends have. So here i am creating this one not for the trend but to help those people like me who are in the starting to medium grade of cooks.

One thing that i have noticed with the one year of exclusive cooking experience is - Do not blindly follow any cooking recipie. You know what your or your family's taste are, so adjust accordingly. I am not a person who follows exact measurements. I prefer to cook with my idea of smell and taste and i adjust everything based on these two elements exclusively. I think that's the best way! One more thing - enjoy what you do!