Paneer 65 (cottage cheese)-Indian Snack

Ingredients:-

• Paneer-500 gms-cut into pieces like in picture below
• Curry leaves- 2-3 twigs
• Ginger-2 inches
• Garlic-25-30 pods
• Green Chillies-10-12
• Kashmiri red chilli powder-1 tsp
• Black pepper powder-1 tsp
• Garam masala powder-1 tsp
• Lime Juice-1 Tbsp
• Hung curd-1 Tbsp
• Rice flour-2 tsp
• Corn Flour-2 tsp
• Salt according to taste

Procedure:-

Cut the paneer/cottage cheese like this.

Make a coarse paste from curry leaves, ginger, garlic and green chillies. Add red chilli powder, black pepper powder, garam masala powder, lime juice, hung curd, rice flour, corn flour, and salt to the curry leaves paste & make a thick batter, Add water if needed to make it thick.
Marinate the paneer pieces in this batter for 4-5hours.

Heat some oil in a pan and deep fry few curry leaves and keep it aside. Now deep fry these cottage cheese pieces 1 by one.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in a separate pan Then add chopped green chillies and garlic to the oil. Add 1-tsp of chilli garlic sauce (or) chilli sauce. You can add any leftover batter into the oil.
Finally add the fried curry leaves and fried paneer pieces into the pan and mix well for 2 minutes.
Serve Hot!

~ENJOY~

Aloo Tamatar (Potato-Tomato Curry)

Hi friends Shravan mahina is about to end. Many of you must be fasting like me on Mondays. Eating one time and preferably dishes  made out of potatoes . 

So I'm going to tell you my easy and less time consuming potato curry dish which you can prepare in a jiffy and enjoy with paratha or puri.

 Following are the ingredients:-

Boiled potato cut into pieces

Frozen green peas

                                                 3 green chilies chopped

                                                 1 tsp of cumin seeds

                                                 2 pinches of asafoetida

                                                 1 tsp of turmeric powder

                                                 1 tsp of chilly powder 

                                                 2 tsp of garam masala powder

                                                 1 tsp of clarified butter ( ghee )

4-5 tomatoes cut into pieces

PROCEDURE:-

Heat 1 tsp of refined oil in a pan, then add the cumin seeds (jeera) and hing (asafoetida) ,when the spices start spluttering add turmeric (haldi) powder and mirchi (chilli/paprika) powder. Then cook it for 1 min. Now add the tomato pieces into it and cook it for another 10 mins & also add required amount of salt in it. Now at this point add the boiled potatoes and peas and cook further so that all the spices are uniformly mixed. Then add 1 cup of water. Let the whole thing come to a proper boiling point. Then simmer the flame and add the garam masala powder and ghee. Mix it well and cover the pan. Give a standing time of 10-15 mins. Before serving sprinkle some coriander  leaves from top.

It's Done~                              

                          

~Enjoy~

Rabri-Indian Condensed Milk Dessert

This photo is of "payesham" which can be called as "Rabri" also. 

Normally payesham is made of milk & rice which I have taught you before also. This is my recipe for Rabri:- 

Ingredients:- 

• Whole milk -1 packet
• Condensed milk -1/2 tin
• Amul milk powder-7 spoons (milk-powder)
• Sugar-5 spoons
• Gobindobhog chal/ white rice -just one handful (approx. 2 tablespoon)

Procedure:- 

First Boil the milk properly. When it comes up while boiling, simmer it and add the washed rice to it. Continue boiling in a low flame till the rice gets softer and milk gets thicker and then add the sugar .Keep stirring continuously, don't stop, Otherwise there is a possibility of it getting burnt. Now add the milk powder (mixed in 500 ml of water) & Keep on stirring. Lastly add the the condensed milk to it. The whole dish should have a thicker consistency now.

Garnish with, cashew nuts, pistachio and raisins. (You can add dry-fruits of your liking, Do not boil. Only garnish)

This auspicious dessert/sweet is made during sacred occasions and festivities and celebrations like on birthdays. My earlier post related to this is given in the link below.

>> http://aspectflife.blogspot.in/2014/05/akhshay-tritiya-special-payeshamin.html

  

Pav Bhaji

Pav Bhaji  is a very popular snack all across India. I personally found this to be an excellent way to feed children lots of vegetables, which they usually refuse to eat. It is a delicious snack with as many vegetables as you can imagine! & the amount of tomatoes used is quite a lot. It makes this dish rich in vitamins, & tomatoes are a rich source of vitamin C. It's very good for the skin.

In this dish you can put in any veggies you want but we have to mix and blend them together in such a way that your child doesn't understand he's eating vegetables! Kids and adults alike love this snack! Here's the recipe:-

Ingredients:-

-4-5 medium sized potatoes.

-1 small bowl of boiled green peas

-1 big capsicum cut into small pieces.

-7-8 big tomatoes, cut into small pieces

-Few big pods of garlic ( smashed) 

-1 big onion cut into small pieces

-1 Tbsp of ginger-garlic paste 

-3 tsp of pav bhaji masala

-1 tsp of chilly powder

-Salt and sugar according to your taste.

-2 tbsp butter (I used Amul butter)

-Small Pav Buns (pav bhaji-bread)

-Onion rings and lemon pieces

Procedure:-

Take a pan & pour 2 tbsp of oil. Shallow fry the diced onions and ginger garlic paste till soft. Then add the chopped tomatoes and cook it till it becomes soft and almost like a paste. 

Add  boiled green peas and capsicum pieces and cook until more softer.

Cook it for another 10 mins & then add 3 tbsp of Pav Bhaji Masala and chilli powder then add the boiled potatoes. Mash all the vegetables together and cook for another 10 mins. Add a blob of butter on the top at this juncture. 

PS:
If you want you can also add boiled cauliflower along with boiled peas... I am allergic to cauliflower so try to avoid it..You can also cook the whole thing in clarified butter..
"Pav" means Bread !
"Bhaji" means Fried mixture!

Serve the bhaji with buttered pav (bun) and raw onions

~ENJOY~

Aloo Potol / Aloo Parwal

There are many exotic vegetables across the world, And India has a really wide range of exotic and unique vegetables at that which many people are unaware of. Each province/State in our country has its own unique cuisine.

The veggie called “parval” or ‘potol’ scientifically known as Trichosanthes dioica, is a veggie used in many Northern and Eastern cuisines of Indian cooking. One of the most popularly cooked version of parval (potol) is with potatoes called “Aloo potol” / Aloo parwal !

Aloo parwal curry is easy to make and healthy too! 

Parwal/Potol Vegetable

Ingredients:

-Potol/Parwal (trichosanthes dioica) -cut into halves

-Potatoes: diced it into pieces

-Tomatoes chopped: 4-5

-Ginger paste: 2 tsp
-Hing(asafoetida): 1 pinch
-Dhania powder(coriander powder): 1 tsp
-Haldi powder (turmeric): 1 tsp
-Mirchi powder (red chilli powder): 1 tsp
-Garam masala powder : 1 tsp
-Ghee(Indian clarified butter): 1 tsp
-Fresh coriander leaves 

-5 spices(panch phoron): cumin seeds, nigella/black caraway seeds,  fennel seeds, radhuni/wild celery seeds, mustard seeds

Procedure:-

• First shallow fry the potatoes and diced parval (separately) and kept it aside.
• Take 1 tsp of oil in the kadai (wok) and add 'panch phoron' ie a mix of 5 indian spices: (jeera,kalonji,saunf,radhuni &sarso)
• When the spices start spluttering, add the ginger paste.
• Then add the diced tomatoes and cook till the oil separates in the pan.
• Now add the spices: turmeric, coriander and chilli powder & cook for 5-10 minutes.
• Once you smell the aroma coming from the spices, that time add the fried parval and potatoes and salt and sugar according to your taste. 
• Add a cup of water and let the curry boil.
• Lastly when oil starts appearing at the top, add little ghee and 1 tsp of garam masala to it and mix it nicely.
• Sprinkle coriander leaves as a garnish and serve hot with steaming rice.

~ENJOY~

What is the spice Panch Phoron?

Here: Bengali Spice Mix (Wiki) 

Can I buy it online (as a readymade mixed packet) ?

Yes, they are available as ready packets

Buy them online here at: 

• Amazon In
• Amazon US

Potato wedges

This is something loved by everyone!! Small kids, teenagers, even old grand fathers!! Everyone likes potato wedges !!

~It is a snack that is always welcome~

Ingredients:-
-5 big potatoes
-Olive oil for frying

-Spices used are: oregano, salt, chilly flakes, and 2 tsp of mixed herbs. 

Procedure:-
First cut the potatoes into wedge shaped pieces as shown above and parboil the pieces. Take them out ... Dry them with a kitchen towel and deep fry them in oil. Then spread them over tissues so that excess oil gets soaked. Before serving mix all the spices onto them...
This can be served with tea or as a nice starter (appetizer).

~ENJOY~

PS:

For diet watchers...Instead of deep frying  the potatoes. You can also do it in the microwave.

In this case you have to add all the spices along with 3 tsp of oil on those par boiled potatoes. Mix it nicely so that all wedges gets evenly coated with spices. Then you have to microwave it in high for about 8 to 10 mins. In some microwaves you might need more time.. So just check out your micro temperature & the potatoes!

I felt like eating some Fried Noodles

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Sometimes we need to indulge in what we really love to eat :-) & for me Fried noodles is one of them.

I have used:-

-2 packets of Hakka noodles

-1 big green capsicum...cut into thin slices

-2 medium sized carrot

-Handful of boiled sweet corn

-6-7 chopped garlic pods.

-2 eggs
Procedure:-
1)Boil the raw noodles and keep it aside. Mix 2 tsp of oil in it so that it does not sticky

2)Make a fluffy omelette out of 2 eggs cut it into small pieces and keep it aside.

3)Take 2 Tsp of butter in a pan. Then add the garlic pieces, after 1 Min sautey the thin stripped veggies. 4)When almost done add 1 tablespoon of black soya sauce...cook it for few seconds...then add the boiled noodles and the omelette pieces.
5)Toss it properly and add salt and pepper according to your taste. If required add another tsp of butter to add an extra flavour.

~Your stir fried noodles is ready~

~Enjoy it with sweet and sour tomato sauce~