Paneer is Indian cottage cheese. It is one of the widely used ingredient in rich vegetarian cooking. It has got a unique flavour and many delicious dishes are made using paneer. During summer we used to eat a lot of paneer as there was a high chance of milk getting spoiled This is a very simple recipe and I make this often to go with roti’s. Incase paneer is not available, extra firm tofu is a good substitute.

Ingredients:

2 cups paneer cubed
1 cup capsicum cut in 1cm pieces
1 onion sliced
1 tomato chopped
2 tbsp cilantro
4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
4 peppercorns
1 green chili
1 tsp red chilli powder
A pinch of tumeric
2 tsp dhaniya-jeera powder (cumin-corainder powder)
salt to taste
3 tbsp + 1 tbsp oil

Method:

Saute the paneer pieces in a tbsp of oil and keep aside.

Take a vessel. Add oil and keep the flame on medium low. Add the cloves,cinnamon stick,bay leaf and peppercorns.

When they brown add the green chillies and sliced onions.

When the onions become transluscent add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for a couple of minutes till the tomatoes become soft.

Then add the salt,red chilli powder,turmeric powder and dhaniya-jeera powder. Mix well till the oil leaves the sides.

Then add the capsicum pieces and mix well. Cover and cook the capsicums.

After the capsicums are cooked add the saute’d paneer pieces and mix well. Cover for a couple of minutes. Then add the cilantro and put off the gas.

Serve hot with roti’s.

PS: I am sending this to Vandana for the ” Paneer-A delicacy” event.

Tandoori chicken has to be one of the most well-known dishes of the Indian cuisine. When I was going for my cake decorating classes, I was the only Indian and the rest of the class consisted of Asian Americans. There were 2 from China,2 from Phillipines and 1 from Japan. The 2 dishes they asked me if knew to make was tandoori chicken and chicken curry Tandoori chicken always manages to hit the spot with me. Its a must now in our weddings but the caterers fry them instead of cooking it in a tandoor. In India we didnt have an oven at home, so we too used to fry these up. That recipe consisted of very basic ingredients like yoghurt,chilli powder,salt and garam masala. The following recipe is adapted from Nabeela’s blog but it seems she has gone private :(  In the following recipe cayenne pepper and paprika can be substituted for kashmiri chilli powder.

Ingredients:

2 chicken leg quarters
1 cup yoghurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup red onions
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 green chilli chopped
1 inch piece ginger
2 cloves garlic
4 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
3 tbsp cilantro/coriander leaves
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
salt to taste

Method:

Remove the skin and clean the chicken. Make a couple of slits on the chicken and keep aside.

Grind all the ingredients except the chicken quarters in a food processor or blender.

Once finely blended,  apply the masala generously on the chicken on both sides.

Take a vessel and keep the chicken pieces in that. Pour the remaining masala and keep it in the fridge overnight. Atleast 6 hours of marination is recommended.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 1 hour prior to baking. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Take a baking tray and arrange the chicken pieces on it. Donot put any extra masala in the tray.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. In the end keep the baking tray under the broiler for about 4 to 5 minutes so that it gets the beautiful charred look.

Serve hot with lemon wedges.

PS:  I am sending this to “Eat healthy-Protein Rich” event

I first had these puri’s at my friends place. There was just a delicate hint of mint in these soft, yummy puris. I was used to having just the plain puris so this was a novelty to me. I remember my friends younger brother kept calling these ‘Colgate puri’s’  We all had a good time over these and I remember going home and praising them to the skies to my mom,till she rolled her eyes and said she would take down the recipe from my friends mom. I dont make these often at home but when I saw the Herb mania event I thought I would share the recipe with you all.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup finely cut mint leaves
1 and half tsp dhaniya-jeera powder
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp red chilli powder
salt to taste
water and oil as required for kneading
oil for deep frying

Method:

Sift the flour and add all ingredients except water and oil. Mix well by hand.

Knead the flour using water and oil alternately till it comes together as a semi soft ball.

From this stage use oil alone for kneading as you need a stiff dough for puris.

Divide into small balls.

Heat oil in a kadhai over medium high heat.Take 1 ball and roll it into approximately 5 inch circle.If the dough is kneaded perfectly,you should be able to roll it without the use of any flour. Incase you cant, you can flour the surface and roll the dough.

Slip the flattened circle gently into the hot oil.It should puff up.Fry the other side too and drain them on a paper towel.

Do the same for the remaining puris.Serve hot.

PS: I am sending this to Ammalu’s kitchen for the ‘Herb Mania’ event.

Hi All….I am back after quite a break! Unfortunately during this break I didn’t cook anything new,so I was unable to update my blog. Here is something I made during my break. Pardon me for the pic. There were just these 3 pieces remaining when I remembered to click the picture. This carrot bread is really moist and delicious and it reminds me of the rich plum cakes we used to get from Monginis!

Ingredients:

1 and half cup All purpose flour/ maida
1 tsp baking pdr
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour,baking pdr,baking soda and salt in a bowl and keep aside

In another bowl, combine oil,sugar,eggs,brown sugar, honey and vanilla with an electric mixer. Add the shredded carrot and mix.

Then add the flour mixture to the other ingredients and mix until just combined.

Then add the raisins and walnuts and mix well by hand.

Pour batter into two 8 inch loaf pans. Bake for approx 45-60 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean.