Paneer-liciously Yours!!!

I know, by now the title should have suggested my love for Paneer...! So is the case with my dear hubby. As I has said in my previous post, I have started trying out different varieties with this yummy dairy product and the results are always edible!

But Paneer Bhurji was one recipe that didn't come up to my expectation. Because when I grate and add paneer, I feel that oil starts coming out of the dish, and in the end, I end up having more oil in my plate that what I had actually added. Maybe it is my mistake in the way of doing it.

So I have started chopping Paneer into fine small pieces (yes, of course a lot of work, but really worth the effort!). Now I see that it is no more oily as it used to be. And yes, the texture of the dish is too good, as the pleasure of biting into chunky paneer pieces is definitely INCREDIBLE!

Quick Paneer Bites
Indian cottage cheese snack
Serves 2
What we need:
Paneer - 150 g, chopped into small fine pieces
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Green chillies - 1 or 2, minced
Ginger - 1", grated
Garlic - 2 to 3 pods, minced
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Cumin (Jeera) powder - 1 tbsp.
Turmeric powder - 1 pinch
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tbsp.
Kasoori Methi (Dried Fenugreek) - 2 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - 1 tbsp.
Chopped Coriander - for garnishing

How to do:
1. Heat oil in a pan, and add the cumin seeds. When they start to sizzle, add onion and salt.
2. Fry till the onions turn soft. Add green chillies, ginger, garlic. (You can also use a tbsp. of ginger-garlic paste).
3. Once they are done, add the tomato and dry powders (chilli, turmeric, jeera powders). Stir and mix well till the tomatoes are soft.
4. Now half of the kasoori methi (crush gently before adding) and the paneer. Mix well, and coat the paneer pieces with the masala.
5. Reduce the flame and let this sit for 3 to 4 minutes.
6. When the paneer starts turning brown, add the remaining kasoori methi and remove fro flame.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander and serve as a snack. It also goes well with rotis and naan as a dry side dish.

Appetizers, Starters and Snacks
Masal Vadai
Quick Paneer Bites
Gobi Manchurian
Paneer Puff flowers
Pasi Paruppu Sundal
Chole Tikki
Hot and Sour Idli

Chutneys and Dips
Spicy Tangy Tomato Chutney
Thakali Thokku
Pudina Thogayal
Thakali Thayir Pachadi - Tomato Raitha
Bajji Milagai Thogaiyal
Peerkangai Thogaiyal

Rasams, Soups
Lemon Rasam
Rasam Mix - Wet
Thakali Rasam

Breakfast and Tiffins
Masala Dosai
Roesti
Peas Semiya Upma
Egg Dosa
Pori Upma
Chutney Upma
Arisi Kurunai Upma

Rice, Pasta, Noodles
Paneer Pulav
Indian Style Pasta
Baked Broccoli and Cheese Pasta
Veggie Rice
Quick Egg Biriyani
Schezwan Fried Rice
Egg Fried Rice
Mushroom Garlic Pasta
Vegetable Pulav

Indian Flat Breads
Aloo Paratha

Dals
Dal Palak
Dal Makhani
Methi Dal / Menthiya Koora pappu
Chole Masala

Vegetables, Gravies, Kootu, Sambar and Curries
Avarakkai Kootu
Palak Paneer
Paneer Butter Masala
Rajma Palak
Egg Curry
Egg Masala (Dry)
Aloo Methi
Aloo Mutter Bhaji
Dry Green Aloo Gobi
Dry Palak
Spicy Plain Palak
Thenga Pal Kurma / Veg Stew
Milagu Kozhambu
Kurma / Veg Saalna
Mutter Paneer

South Indian Brahmin Cooking
Mor Kozhambu / Plain Kadi - I
Mor Kozhambu - II The Authentic version
Beans Curry/ Poriyal
Vazhai Poo Usli (Banana Flower-Lentil Cake Stir Fry)
Red Radish Sambar
Avial

Refreshing Drinks
Panakam and Neer Mor

Sweets, Desserts
Gulab Jamun
Rava Kesari
Rava Ladoo

Podis (Powders)
Rasam Podi
Ellu Podi

Dry Palak

Dry Palak
Spinach cooked with dry spices
Serves 2

What we need:
Palak- 150 g
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Turmeric powder - 1 tbsp.
Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp.
Cumin (Jeera) seeds - 1 tbsp.
Broken Urad dal - 1 tbsp.
Red Chilli - 2 or 3, torn
Oil - 2 or 3 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed

How to do:

1. Heat oil in a pan, and add mustard. When they start to sputter, add cumin, broken urad dal and red chillies.

2. Once they are done, add the onion and fry till they are soft. Add salt.

3. Throw in the tomatoes, turmeric powder, and chopped palak. If needed, sprinkle water to cook the palak.

4. Keep stiring occasionally. In about 3 to 5 minutes, palak will turn soft and cooked. Check the seasoning and remove from flame.

Serve with sambar rice, rasam rice or as a filling in Rotis.

Egg Fried Rice and Gobi Manchurian

Of late, I have started realising the demerits of being abroad. First thing that comes screaming is "INDIAN FOOD". Oh yes, we do have a lots of Indian restaurants here, but none of them serve the dishes in their original spiced versions. (Looks like the chefs have lost the cook-books!) And whenever I order for a (read: in quotes) spicy dish, I invariably find fresh green chillies sticking out of my bowl. Phew...

So my little kitchen often transforms into Chinese, Tandoori, South-Indian restaurants, desperately trying to recreate the magics. The following is one such attempt turned quite successful. Now enough of my rambling, over to our recipe!

Egg Fried Rice
Eggs cooked with sauteed onion and rice
Serves 2

What we need:Eggs - 3 to 4
Rice - 1 Cup, cooked
Onion, medium sized - 1, sliced
Green chillies - 2 to 3, finely chopped
Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tbsp.
Pepper powder - 1 tbsp.
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - as needed
How to do:1. Cook the rice and set aside. The grains of the rice should be separate.
2. Break the eggs in a separate bowl and beat them well. Add a little salt and mix well. Set it aside.
3. Heat oil in a deep bottomed pan. Add onion, green chillies and ginger-garlic paste.
4. Fry well till the onion turns soft.Now add pepper powder, salt.
5. Slowly add the beaten eggs, and keep stirring. Scramble them and keep mixing till the eggs are cooked and broken.
6. Now add the rice and mix gently. Add soy sauce and mix well. Check and adjust the seasoning and remove from flame.

Note: You can add chopped beans, carrot to make it more colorful and nutritious.

Gobi Manchurian
Indian version of Cauliflower Manchurian
Serves 2
What we need:Cauliflower, medium sized - 1
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Tomato paste - 2 tbsp.
Tomato sauce or ketchup - 1 tbsp. Optional
Garlic - 3 to 4 pods, minced
Soya sauce - 1 tbsp.
Green onions (Spring Onions) - 3 to 4 sprigs
Green Chillies - 2 to 3, minced
Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp.
Corn flour - 2 tbsp. heaped
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Oil - 2 to 3 tbsp.
Water - as needed

For the batter:Corn flour - 5 tbsp. heaped
Chilli powder - 1 tbsp.
Oil - 6 to 7 tbsp.
Salt - as needed
Water - as needed

How to do:
Part 1:
1. Pick the cauliflower into medium sized florets and wash them well. Drain and set aside.
2. In a bowl, mix corn flour, chilli powder, salt. Add water slowly to make batter. The consistency should almost be like a dosa batter.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan. Dip the florets into the batter and drop in the oil. Fry well till they turn golden brown. Do not coat the florets with too much batter, as it will become soggy in the gravy.
4. Drain in a kitchen towel and set aside.

Part 2:1. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the onions, green chillies and garlic. Add salt and fry well till the onions turn soft.
2. Add the tomato paste, tomato ketchup (optional) and chilli powder. Mix well.
3. Add half of the spring onions, soya sauce. Now add half a cup of water.
4. Mix 2 tbsp. of corn flour with little water and make a paste. Take care that all the lumps are dissolved.
5. Add this to the boiling gravy, and keep stirring. Now the gravy will start to thicken.
6. Add the fried Cauliflower florets and coat them evenly with the mixture.

Garnish with the remaining spring onions.
Note: For dinner parties, you can make part 1 and part 2 before hand and leave them aside. When you are ready to serve, heat the mixture a little, add the florets, mix well and serve immediately.

To relish this as a gravy, in step 3, add 2 cups of water.
Serve together Egg Fried rice and Gobi Manchurian and earn a pat-on-the-shoulder from your loved ones! :)

Masal Vadai

For V, piping hot vadais and coconut chutney are inevitable favorite and he never bothers to count how many he had.

Till our marriage, I had limited my business with vadai just till the dining room. But after learning the secret to please my hubby dear, I learned to make this lip smacking snack. Now it is just a matter of hours notice, and they are ready for the evening bite with tea!

We can make many variations using the same batter like
1. Mix Pudina to make pudina vadai
2. Mix chopped banyan flowers (Vazhai poo) to make Vazhai Poo vadai
3. Use Chopped Cabbage instead of Onion to make Vadai for Neivedyam

Masala Vadai
Spicy Lentil cakes
Makes 5 to 6 vadais

What we need:
Kadalai Paruppu (Chana Dal) - 1 cup
Onion, medium sized - 1, finely chopped
Coriander - 5 tbsp., finely chopped
Red Chillies - 2 or 3
Salt - as needed
Asafetida - a pinch
Oil - for deep frying
Water - as needed

How to do:
1. Wash and soak the dal for about 1 hour.
2. Drain and grind with red chillies, salt, asafetida and very little or no water.
3. In a bowl, mix this batter with chopped onions and chopped coriander. Check for salt and adjust accordingly.
4. In a deep pan, heat oil. To check the heat, drop a small bit of batter in the oil. It should come up immediately.
5. Take some batter and using a banyan leaf/ butter paper /hand, flatten out to make the shape of vadai. Use some oil to avoid batter getting sticky.
6. Drop into the oil, and fry on both sides till golden brown.

Serve with coconut chutney or tomato sauce.