Palak Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese with Spinach

I still remember I have posted this recipe long back, back then also I used to like my palak paneer without tomatoes, even today it is the same, only thing that changed is the masalas/spices that I used then and now, and another thing is Paneer I used to fry, but now I like them without frying. Well I guess it is not only me, there are many who like their Palak Paneer green, I feel adding tomatoes change the color, also cooking the spinach leaves for long and covered cooking turn them to a different green color which I don't prefer. So here goes my new version now unlike the old way of palak paneer which is a family favorite since more than a year now😉

Methi matar malai

A bunch of methi (fresh fenugreek leaves) at Indian stores here, I was like I must try something special out of this. Many things started running in my mind but a curry using these leaves had an edge as I scanned through the list of items that had queued up. My kid loves chapathi/roti (Indian flat bread) and it is for sure not a daily preparation at our place as I tend to keep rice often for curries as it is kind of easy stuff to be prepared. Well, but in a week I manage once or twice to prepare rotis.

Jeegujje melogara/Breadfruit majjigehuli/Breadfruit in yogurt and coconut gravy

Seeing breadfruit here in Indian shop was a surprise to Mr. S and he brought it home few days back, asked me to prepare yogurt and coconut based curry which is his favorite, he just loves all possible vegetables in this yogurt and coconut gravy. Last Sunday we all had an awesome lunch with jeegujje(local name we use in D.K in India) majjigehuli and rice for lunch. I knew almost all other items we can prepare out of this but to my surprise I learnt a recipe of side dish from the peels of this breadfruit which also accompanied our lunch platter. Stay tuned to get the recipe of that dry side dish that I learnt from my mother in law.Here is the recipe of breadfruit peel dry side dish
To know what breadfruit is and how it looks like check out the link: BREADFRUIT
Here I share the recipe.

Paneer Butter Masala/Paneer Makhani

Days passed by, neither I have time to attend my blog, after 6 full days I get to know I missed my very first blog anniversary! Phew, no wonder I am so busy with my life that I never get to see myself like I was before, spending full time in front of system either on Facebook or on Blogger seeing the feeds and going through the same. I feel extremely sorry for not being able to, but just cant cope up with everything. I do take blog on a lighter side and not as a compulsion, so it relaxes me and lets me take all my anxiety, fear and lot more things that cannot be expressed through words.
After many days of leaving my space unattended, today I got time to open my space, still did not go through the feed yet. It is overflowing. I remember it has been more than 2-3 weeks I have not touched this space. today I am up with a quick Paneer Butter Masala / Paneer Makhani recipe, a Punjabi delicacy from Northern India. I at times love to indulge myself with delicacies that are in terms of calories on a higher side. This definitely is a dish with loads and loads of calories calling you to work out an extra hour at Gym as it involves butter in generous amount along with Paneer. Last weekend we had this Paneer Makhani for our lunch with rotis. The dish was liked by all at home and I was happy every time one took an extra serving. With no delay let me take you to my recipe of Paneer Butter Masala or Paneer Makhani.

Bell Pepper Masala/ Capsicum Masala

Capsicum is always loved for its flavor. Moreover it is very healthy too. I had tri colored paprika in my fridge and was wondering what to prepare. Had prepared it long back once, we loved it then. Now that we love it, it is often prepared too. I adapted this recipe from Swasthi's Recipes. Thanks for the wonderful recipe Swasthi. Me together with family and friends enjoyed this curry along with rotis. I adjusted according to our taste and brought in very little changes. This goes well with hot rice or rotis. The flavor of capsicum is marvellous. It adds a different flavor all over to this delicious gravy.

Cabbage Kofta in Creamy Gravy my 200th post

Have many recipes pending in my drafts, but this one lovely curry which I prepared yesterday was so so delicious that I couln't just stop myself from posting right away. I just wanted to share this recipe you would love to try and surprise your guests. I was wondering at around 7pm in the evening yesterday as what to prepare, first my plan was to prepare palak gravy and chapathis but how forgetful I could be. I had no spinach in my refrigerator. I do agree forgetfulness is a part of aging! but is not this too early for me? I had finished almost entire spinach 3-4 days back and I was believing that it is still left. Then all of a sudden I had to change my mind and prepare something else. I had an opened whipping cream pack. Had solid plans to finish that. Had a small cabbage piece with me. Something out of cabbage but with a gravy was my wish. So thought of preparing Cabbage Kofta in Creamy Gravy . I was so happy for having successfully executed my plan. Here I share happily today my 200th post. When it comes to 100th, or 200th or so on, the post is highlighted, indicating a milestone being reached. Well when I look back, I feel it had been a splendid journey till date as a blogger and hoping to continue the same way. And very happy that this is a kind of e-book for me. I often check the measurements and also few recipes which I myself have blogged to prepare it again or so. Best part is that may be it would be of great use for my kid when she grows up. By then I wish I should have blogged some 1000 recipes atleast.
Well let me move on to the recipe now.

Aloo Matar Paneer Restaurant style

The world of Blogging is so beautiful, I never knew. It gives immense pleasure to me. I enjoy cooking a lot. I really pat my back myself when I hear that a particular dish is nice from Mr. S or any one who tastes it for that matter. I had recently joined a group of bloggers SYS-W Show Your Styles to the World. I was not aware when the group started but recently Viji who announced about this event and was very happy to know the rules and regulations of the event. I just intimated her that I wanted to join and she readily included me to the group. I was little late to join hence missed the thrilling part of the event, that was choosing a pair of numbers of hidden ingredients and later knowing the ingredients. As I was late, got assigned a pair of numbers and to my surprise both the hidden ingredients were loved by me. They were Potatoes and Green Peas. As I learnt the ingredients, the very first thing that struck my brains were Aloo Matar Paneer. It is an exotic flavorful curry that involves potatoes, tender green peas and Indian cottage cheese in a mild cashew nut gravy. Here I share the exotic restaurant style Aloo Matar Paneer. 

 



Shahi Paneer restaurant style

At times I like to pamper myself by visiting restaurants especially Indian restaurants and eat tummy full of meal, starting from soups till desserts. I love the way I get hot curries to eat with Indian flatbreads, all hot. This is just because I never get to eat anything hot especially after I cook as I spend time either taking snaps or serving family. Finally I will end up eating as it is without even warming it up again. Well, not only me, I know all my co-bloggers too would be facing the same. Germany we do get Paneer in supermarkets called as 'hirtenkäse' meant for salads, but I tried it here and it worked like a wonder for me. Yesterday I prepared Shahi Paneer in restaurant style. This time I tried with store bought paneer. In  But I usually make use of home made ones. I had already shared Home made Paneer cubes recipe. Do try this recipe. I bet you would be licking your fingers for sure. I loved it and here goes the recipe.

Vegetable Makhanwala

A day of festival just stops me from using onion and garlic by default. Was just thinking what to prepare and I got a call from Mr. S telling prepare me something delicious tonight. Was bewildered when I heard this from him as I always carry a belief that adding onion and garlic brings great flavors to any curry. But with the addition of onion and garlic we often fail to get hold of the real vegetable flavor used in a dish. Well I plunged into the sea of world wide web and began a wild search for a good recipe without onion and garlic. And yes I got a very good solid recipe for vegetable makhanwala from Tarla Dalal that too without onion and garlic as it was a Jain Recipe. Checked my pantry and was happy to see that I had all what were required. With minor tweaks to original recipe I got a splendid vegetable makhanwala ready up in the serving platter for the dinner to go along with chapathis.Here goes the recipe.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Dum aloo is a very famous Kashmiri cuisine. It usually involves frying the peeled pricked normally small potatoes and then cooking them in a very low flame in a blend of spices. But to avoid little more of oil content, I steam cooked the potatoes, peeled and cut them into halves  and then pricked them and using fork all over. Then followed the normal process of cooking in low flame till the potatoes absorb the spices well. It goes well with Indian flat breads or even plain rice. We enjoyed Dum aloo with rumali rotis. Here I share the simple yet tasty recipe of Dum aloo.

Spicy Navaratan Kurma/Vegetable Kurma

Being into cooking intensely from last few months, I came across many a times a question which people tend to ask with a cook for sure. Though I love trying many new recipes and at times I do feel like laughing when some one asks me ''your signature dish?'' My list goes endless or I remain dumbstruck.!If you ask for I can proudly say yes, this is very well a signature dish of mine. After moving to Germany my venture in cooking started with this dish preparation I can say which I actually learnt from Vah re Vah chef, but Mr. S who doesn't like the sweet version of this curry had to bear with me whenever I used to prepare this curry for rotis or rice. Hence I slowly started to tweak the recipe by changing initially few ingredients and now many I could say, hence developed a new recipe which perfectly suits mine and husband's taste well.

Palak Paneer/Indian Cottage Cheese Cubes in Spinach Gravy

Much Awaited by me was this 100th post. It really feels great that just within very few months of blogging I could reach my 100th post. Wow, I am super excited for 2 reasons, One my India trip which is also a much awaited one,and secondly my 100th post I'm posting before my trip to India tomorrow. Yes this trip will be a real great trip for me with regard to learning more new authentic dishes from my mom, mother in law and few close friends and relatives. Let me not drag rather share with you my authentic Palak Paneer recipe here.

Paneer Tikka Masala

Having made paneer cubes today, thought would prepare Paneer tikka masala which will go well with phulkas. Our dinner today was Phulka with Paneer Tikka Masala.
Here I share with you restaurent style gravy dish of Paneer. Basic recipe I followed here is Vah Chef's way of making but with slight changes. His recipes are mind blowing. I brought very minor changes to suit mine and my family's tastebuds. After eating my hubby gave me the thumbs up. I was very happy.

Ingredients:
Home made Paneer cubes-15-20
Frozen cut vegetables(which included bell peppers,green peas,beans,corn,baby corn and red kidney beans)-1 cup (If not available, fresh assorted veggies of your choice could be used but needs to be parboiled before using)
Tomato Puree-1 cup
Cashews and almonds-1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste-1/2 tsp
Onions-1 big chopped
Shallots-2 chopped(If not available skip shallots)
Green chillies-1 slit lengthwise
Bay Leaves-1
Cinnamon stick-1'' piece
Cloves-2
Green cardamom-1
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder-1/2 tsp
Garam masala-1 tsp
Sugar-1/2 tsp
Milk-1 cup
Whipping cream-1 cup
Water-2 cups+ 2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil-2 tbsp+2 tbsp

Coriander leaves to garnish

For Marination of Paneer Cubes
Thick Yogurt-1/2 cup
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder-1/2 tsp
Garam masala-1/2 tsp
Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
Lemon-1/2
Ginger Garlic paste-1 tsp

Recipe:
In a bowl add cashews and almonds.to that add hot water and let it get soaked for few minutes.Grind together with 2 tsp water to form a fine paste.

1. In a bowl add the ingredients for marination and mix well.
2. To that add paneer cubes and set aside for 30-40 minutes.
3. In a pan heat 2 tbsp oil and shallow fry the marinated paneer till they are light golden
4. Set the fried paneer aside in a bowl.
5. To the same marination mixture add the frozen thawed vegetables and mix well and then toss them also on the same pan in which you shallow fried the paneer on a high heat.Do not over cook the veggies.
6. Once done in another pan add 2 tbsp oil and when hot add cumin seeds,bay leaves,cloves,cardamom,cinnamon stick and saute.
7. As the cumin seeds splatter add onions,shallots and green chillies
8. Now add ginger garlic paste.
9. Fry till onions turn translucent and the rawness of ginger and garlic paste is gone and then add turmeric powder, red chilly powder and fry again.
10. Now add tomato puree and cook for a while.
11. Now add garam masala,2 cups water and bring it to boil.
12. Now add cashew and almond paste and mix well.
13. Now add milk and simmer.Add sugar and salt to taste.
14. Add the tossed veggies and mix well
15. Add whipping cream finally and simmer.
16. Add fried paneer cubes and simmer for 2-3 minutes
17. Garnish with coriander leaves
18. Serve hot with Phulkas or rotis or any Indian flat bread or even rice.

 

 

 

Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)

Sending this to Gayathri's WTML hosted by Sowmya, Virunthu unna vaanga by Vijayalakshmi

Malai Kofta/Vegetable balls in Creamy Sauce

The word kofta is derived from Persian Language. Koftas were introduced in South Asia from the Arab countries. Early recipes of Koftas were from early Arabic cook books. Many moderations are done according to taste in different regions.In India, vegetable kofta in creamy sauce, i.e malai kofta is very famous. Usually Koftas are cigar shaped cylinders. But the shapes of koftas are solely individual preference. Here I come up with a simple tasty Malai Kofta.

Ingredients:
For Koftas:(Makes 11 koftas)
Boiled,peeled and grated potatoes-2
Cottage cheees/Paneer-grated-1/4 cup
Boiled and grated carrots-1
Tender green peas- 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves-2-3 sprigs finely chopped
Corn flour-2 tbsp or as needed to form dough of kofta depending upon the moisture in potatoes
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Redchilli powder-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil to deep fry

For sauce:
Almonds-fistful
Onion-1 chopped
Tomato puree-1/2 cup
Milk-1 cup
Whipping cream-2 tbsp
Cumin seeds- 1tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/2 tsp
Garam masala-1/2 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste- 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Water-1 1/2 cup+1/2 cup
Oil-3 tbsp

For garnish:
Coriander leaves-2-3 sprigs
Whipping cream-2 tsp

Recipe:
For Kofta Preparation:
In a bowl mix potatoes,carrots,green peas,coriander leaves,salt,turmeric powder and chilli powder.

Now add little by little corn flour to it and mix well till it forms a dough.

Now grease your palms and take out a lime sized portion of the dough and flatten it little and stuff the grated paneer in it and roll into cigar shaped cylinder. Finish off rolling all the koftas.

Heat oil in a wok and deep fry koftas in medium hot oil till golden brown.

Remove them off to kitchen towel to take away the extra oil in them.

The koftas are ready.

For Malai/Creamy sauce preparation:
Blanch the onions and almonds together with half cup of hot water for 3-4 mins.
Grind them to a smooth paste

In a pan heat 3 tbsp of oil, when hot add cumin seeds and as they splatter add the almond,onion paste prepared.

Saute well and then add ginger garlic paste,coriander powder,turmeric powder.Saute again and now when you see oil separating out add tomato puree and cook till the rawness of the puree is gone.

Add 1 1/2 cup water and let it cook for a while, now simmer and add milk else chances of the milk getting curdled is more.

Let it cook again for a while and then add garam masala and mix well.
Remove it off the stove and then add whipping cream and mix well and add the koftas prepared to the gravy. (Better would be to add them to gravy few minutes before serving)

Garnish with coriander leaves and whipping cream.

Serve hot with Chapathi,nan,roti,phulka or any Indian flat bread or even with rice.
Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)


Sending this to Jagruti's Gain Popularity event., Sumee's Culinary Bites,Foodabulous Fest Event organised by Simply TADKA and hosted by Pramitha love cooking

Plain Palak/Spinach Curry

My family mainly my hubby is a big fan of Palak/Spinach. Even I enjoy the taste of spinach.Moreover it is a stock house of vitamins and minerals.
So Spinach curries are very common every two to three days.
I prepare a plain spinach curry with gravy base of cashewnut. It goes very well with phulkas, rotis or any Indian flat bread and even rice.
Here goes my simple recipe of Plain Palak Curry

Ingredients:
Fresh Palak/Spinach- 250-300gms
Cashewnuts- 1/4 cup or handful
Onion-1 chopped fine
Green chillies-2 slit lengthwise
Ginger Garlic paste-1/2 tsp
Jeera/Cumin seeds-1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder/Haldi-1/4 tsp
Coriander powder-1 tsp
Water-2-3 cups or as required
Oil-1 tbsp
Whipping Cream-1/4 cup

Recipe:
In a big deep bottom pan add 2 cups of water and bring it to boil.
Add Palak/Spinach and blanch it for few mins say 2-3 mins.
Now drain the spinach and let it cool down.
Soak cashewnuts for 2-3 mins in warm water
Once cooled blend the spinach leaves along with the soaked cashews into fine paste and keep aside.
Now in a deep bottom pan add oil. Once hot add cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste.
Once they splatter and the rawness of the ginger garlic paste is gone, add green chillies and onion and saute till onions are translucent.
Now add turmeric powder and coriander powder. Saute well and let it cook for few mins.
Now add the Spinach puree you prepared and mix well.
Let it cook for another 5 mins well and take it off the stove. Add whipping cream to it and use little cream to garnish as well.
Enjoy this gravy hot with any flat bread or rice.

Enjoy the dish! n don't forget Eat and Eat little MORE.. :)