Methi Paneer

Cooking this will be a very special memory.
A memory i'd cherish for the rest of my life.

My girlfriend KP came to home for a sleep over.
I was sooooooooo excited.
We cooked together, watched a movie , gossip, makeup :-)

I remember when i was a kid; 11 years and back in town.
A friend of mine - best friend at that time - came over to our home. And it was decided she'd sleep over at our place. I was so excited , happy and all glee. Made bed for her in my room - i've been so mad and happy - i've running down stairs to my mom in the kitchen, grand parents and then to my siblings. Run up to my room again. Like a little puppy. I do remember this huge doberman in my room was confused to seem me running around hahaha. Ah! My childhood home - miss it. Was one of the best houses.

I did nothing less on this weekend when KP was here.
Have been whistling , singing, dancing :)

Most of her life she spend in North.
Loved her palak paneer :)
She is a strict veg and hence paneer.

Cooking together is fun.
I've cut all the vegetables.
She did the initial preparation.
KP used lots of oil - variety is spice of life :)
Seasoning and addendum i've done.

Paneer - i am not sure why is it made complex.
In the sense - whenever i utter paneer - people say its lot of work. One got to make kaju paste/ khus khus paste. Why complicate?
I've stuck to the basics. All i did was add the leftover milk to the curry. It added loooots of flavor. We were like lets get away with dinner preparation. We've made paneer - rotis all in 45 mins and we're done! We then microwaved frozen aloo patties, took diet cokes(as if it'd matter) watched a movie. No huge effort - it was effortless cute and a "bonding-dinner" :-)

Ingredients:

• Oil - 5 Tb SP
• Ghee - 2 Tb SP
• Paneer - Chopped into cubes 200 gm
• Green Chillies - Slit - 6
• Finely Chopped Curry Leave - As per your choice
• Methi Leaves - Finely Chopped - Two Fistful
• Onion - Medium Size - Finely Chopped - 2
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 Tb Sp
• Tomato - Medium - Finely Chopped - 2
• Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tb Sp
• Salt - Acc to taste
• Milk - 1 Peg
• Fresh Chopped Coriander
• Coriander Powder - 1 Tb Sp
• Garam Masala Powder - 1 Tea Sp

Spices:

• Shahjeera - 1 Tea Sp
• Bay Leaf - 1
• Clove - 1
• Cinamon - 1/2 inch

Method :

Roast Paneer:

• Take a pan.
• Add a 1 tea sp oil/ghee/butter.
• Roast the paneer cubes - till they are slightly brown.
• Keep aside.

For Curry:

• Heat a wok - add oil
• Once hot - add spices
• They splutter - add curry leaves, green chillies, onion.
• Let onion turn pink - add turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, salt
• Add methi leaves, tomato, red chilly powder.
• Cover with a lid - wait till tomatoes turn mushy.
• Add paneer - stir
• Add milk - Stir.
• You may add little water to achieve the required consistency.
• Cook for another 3 minutes.
• Add freshly chopped coriander, coriander powder, garam masala powder.
• Stir well.

Serve hot with roti.
We've totally relished it. Somehow it tasted better the next day :-)

Chukka Kura Pappu

Chukkakura is also called as katti palak in Hindi and Garden Sorrel in English. Whatever is the name it looks cute, fresh, naughty and its really sour. I'm not a very sour-crazy person - but my husband is. Since i'm not using much of tamarind to satiate his appetite for sour food - why not i go healthy way. The first time i had this was at one of my pedhamma's homes(My mother has 6 sisters ). Hot noon, hot rice, ghee, appadams and this fresh soury pachadi. I customized with a dollop of ghee, freshly chopped onions & this pachadi. Yummy!!! Its mout-watering now also - even after 3 years :-) . Though i took out these cute fellas was to make pachadi - damn! i got sucha a flickering mind - i've decided to go for dal.

Somehow i did'nt wanted to go for my usual way of preparing dal.
The usual way is i dump onion, garlic, tampering in the cooker and i'm done. Quickest way right!!! I decided to do it a lil different. Different way of tampering that i've learnt from my rayalaseema sis-in-law :-) On Holi Day - she prepared tomato dal with this "seema-style" of tampering.
Its something like dal tadka sans tomatoes and with south spices.

Fresssshhh curry leaves and coriander is great in tamperings.
As alwayz overdid the garlic part :-)
This is sour , tangy, i liked the texture of these leaves.
Yumm! Yummy!

Ingredients:

• Chukka Kura - 10 Kattas
• Toor Dal - 2 Cups
• Water - 4 Cups
• Green Chillies - 6 - Finely Chopped
• Onion - Medium Size - 1
• Garlic - Finely Chopped - 5
• Curry Leaves - Finely Chopped - Fisful
• Coriander - Finely Chopped - 5 Tbsp
• Turmeric - 1 Tea Sp
• Salt - Acc to taste

Tampering:

• Mustard Seeds - 2 Tea Sp
• Jeera - 2 Tea Sp
• Oil - 1 TbSp
• Ghee - 2 Tea sp
• Broken Red Chillies - 2

Method:

• Add washed dal, chopped chukka kura , salt, turmeric to the cooker.
• Add enough water and put on stove.
• Cook until dal is done.
• Take a pan - add oil+ghee.
• Once hot - add mustard, jeera, broken red chillies minced garlic, curry leaves
• Once they splutter - add green chillies,onions.
• Wait until onions turn pink.
• Add turmeric and stir.
• Adjust salt & Chilly.
• Add finely chopped coriander.
• Add this to the cooker.
• Bring to a boil.

You can adjust your consistency.
I usually like loose dal - kind of soupy - so i add more water.
You may use 3 cups of water to boil to 2 cups of dal.

Serve with hot piping rice or rotis :-)

Nutritional Values :

Sorrel leaves nutritional value; Sorrel leaves or plant comprise many essential vitamins, namely Vitamin B9, Provitamin A, Vitamin C, and consists of carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, proteins, and Iron, magnesium, sodium, potassium, calcium, also contains essential flavanoid antioxidants. In addition to these, it posses antibacterial, anticancer and astringent properties, all contribute to prevent ill health and improve general health.

Reference : http://ideas4health.in/health-ideas/vegetables/sorrel-leaves-nutritional-facts/

Capsicum Palak Khadi

I love this one.
Its the easiest, yummy, feels fresh.
Irony is that this has to be made out of almost fermented curd.
The older & sour the curd is the yummy it turns out.

I do manage to intentionally ignore one bowl of curd in the fridge.
I pull it out on its lucky day - actually my laziest day.
Thats a different debate i'm lazy at any given point of time :)

Well! Again; somehow the sweltering heat got over me.
Capsicum does make me feel fresh and cool.
Since husband is a die-hard fan of capsicum - i thot let me try it.
Went back to fridge - pulled out two capsicums.
Hmm; saw that beautiful and graceful spinach.
Green color is so pleasant right :-)

Pulled out spinach too - i must 10 leaves.

This was my first time with addendums to khadi other than onion and tomato.
I was pretty sure - i'd add capsicum at the end while i bring khadi to a boil.
That would ensure capsicum to remain fresh, green and soothing in this hot summer.

This time the curd - sour,old curd had a little story.
I bought two 200gm each curd sachets on the next day of holi.
As both my huband and brother were Bang infected.
Heavy head; unable to open eyes - Oh! They did entertain us a lil bit on holi night :-)
Hence buttermilk is a age-old remedy for hangovers.
I've bought those curds. To no avail - both of the refused to have it.
Hence they were there in the fridge lying since almost 10 days.
Perfect curds for this Khadi - Baang khadi :-)

Ingredients:

Sour Curd - 200 Gm
Besan / Chan Dal Powder - 5 Tb Sp
Green Chillies - Slit - 4
Onion - Medium - Finely Chopped - 2
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 Tea Sp
Turmerc - 1 Tea Sp
Salt - Acc to Taste
Red Chilly Powder - 1 Tea Sp
Capcicum - Medium - Finely Chopped - 2
Palk - Finely Chopped - 10 Stalks
Tomato - Medium - Finely Chopped - 2
Finely Chopped Coriander
Coriander Powder - 1 Tb Sp

Tampering :

Oil - 2 TbSp
Ghee - 2 Tea Sp
Jeera - 2 Tea Sp
Garlic - Minced - 5
Curry Leaves - Finely Minced - 10


Method:

Heat a wok - add oil
Once hot - add jeera, garlic, curry leaves.
Add green chillies, onions.
Once onions are pink/translucent - add turmeric powder, salt, ginger garlic paste.
Stir well.
Add chopped spinach, tomato.
Add red chilly powder.

NOTE : The whole idea of this to remain fresh and taste fresh.
Hence i am not going to over cook either spinach or tomato.
I'm not going to cover the wok with a lid and wait till tomato turns mush.

Wait for a minute - but dont cover the wok.
Meanwhile beat the curd with a fork - add water.
Time to turn the flame to as high as possible.
Pour this beaten curd(butter milk) to the wok.
Take basin in a bowl - add little water - user your beautiful fingers - make it into a paste.
This excercise is done to avoid any lumps.
Add this paste to the wok.
Bring to boil for another 2 minutes.
Add finely chopped coriander, chopped capcicum, coriander powder.

Boil till you get the required consistency.
You may add more water if you'd want it to be like rasam.
Or boil more - if you'd like to bring it to a semi-solid state.

I had this with roti - it was awesome!!!
Goes well with rice too .
I usually have Haldiram's Bhujiya Sev or Aloo Bhujia as an accompaniment.