Tag Archives: Recipes

Recipes: Palak Paneer

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I had been craving for some Palak Paneer for a few weeks now when I chanced upon this recipe on Facebook from Chef Sanjyot Keer of Your Food Lab. The recipe was intriguing enough to tempt me and when I chanced upon some spinach over the weekend, I knew it was time to try this recipe. This is very different from the usual recipe that I make which is inspired by Chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe which is very simple. This one is slightly more complicated, but was super delicious and was a hit at home!

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

  • 2 big bunches spinach or palak, chopped
  • 1 big cup frozen paneer (soaked in hot water for 30 minutes)
  • 1 big pod of garlic, grated or chopped finely
  • 1 large onion, cut in half and then sliced vertically
  • 4-5 green chillies
  • 1 bunch of coriander leaves
  • 1/2 cup beaten yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp ghee or oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1 tsp whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp black or pink salt
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

  • Take a large pan and boil water in it. When the water is boiling, blanch the spinach in it for 2-3 minutes and remove. Soak it in a large bowl of iced water for a  few minutes before removing and draining the water. This preserves the lovely green colour of the spinach.
  • When the spinach is cool, blend it with the green chillies and coriander leaves into a smooth paste and keep aside.
  • In another pan, heat the ghee and when warm, add the cumin seeds and let it splutter.
  • Then add the chopped or grated garlic and let it saute for a few minutes.
  • Next, add the sliced onions and let the onions slightly brown.
  • When the onions start to brown, add the cumin powder, turmeric powder and red chilli powder and mix well. Then add the black or pink salt and season with salt.
  • Now add the beaten yoghurt and mix well. Let the masala cook well and the ghee start to leave the sides of the pan.
  • Then add the spinach puree and let the palak cook well. When the spinach starts to bubble, add the paneer pieces and let it cook for a few more minutes.
  • Now gently sprinkle the wholewheat flour a bit by bit and let it get absorbed into the gravy. This is to thicken the gravy.
  • Lastly, sprinkle the garam masala and the lemon juice and switch off the gas. Serve hot with Indian flatbreads or jeera rice.
  • You can also add fresh cream as the last step before adding the garam masala and the lemon juice as well as a  garnish. I didn’t have cream at home and omitted this step.

 

Recipes: Pithla

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Here’s another recipe from the heartlands of my home state of Maharashtra. This recipe is from the kitchens of the rustic, rural householder and is a staple of practically every Marathi household. I got this recipe from a book I have had for almost twenty years now, called Maharashtrian Cooking authored by Kumud Marathe.

Pithla is something you can make in a hurry and can be increased also just as easily. You can make it as thick or thin as you like

Pithla

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup sour yoghurt
  • 2 cups water
  • 3-4 tbsp chickpea flour or besan
  • 2 onions, thickly sliced
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 4-5 curry leaves
  • 1 green chilli, chopped
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida powder
  • 3-4 tbsp cooking oil
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Beat the yoghurt well and mix it with the besan to make it a nice non-lumpy paste. Add water to increase it to the quantity and thickness you want, add salt and keep aside.
  • In a pan, heat the oil and when the oil is warm, add the mustard seeds. When the seeds pop, add in the chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida.
  • Now add the onions and cook till the onions are translucent and cooked.
  • Next, add the buttermilk and chickpea flour paste and let it come to a boil.
  • The more you boil this gravy, the thicker it will become. If you want it slightly thick, let it come to a boil and then switch off the flame after checking for seasoning.
  • Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot over plain rice or even Indian flatbreads.

You can call this a Maharashtrian Kadhi. For more Kadhi recipes, see Gujarati Kadhi and South Indian Mor Kozambu

Recipe: Pasta Salad

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This recipe for Pasta Salad has been with us for a while now. I think I may have made it after seeing something similar some years back or even discovered it accidentally. Anyways, this is a go-to recipe for me when we are bored of Indian food and this makes a great lunch box idea for children and even adults when you want a no-mess lunch which you can eat on the go or at your desk.

Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 packet raw pasta
  • 2 onions, finely chopped
  • 2 bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 cup frozen paneer
  • 1/2 cup sliced black olives
  • 2 tsp red chilli powder
  • 2 tsp cumin powder
  • 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the pack. Let the pasta be al dente and not overcooked. Drain and keep aside to cool.
  • Heat up the frozen corn and when thawed, drained and keep aside.
  • Soak the paneer in hot water for 10 minutes, drain and chop into small pieces.
  • When cool, mix together the pasta, onions, bell peppers, olives, paneer and corn and mix well.
  • In a smaller dish, mix the spices, olive oil and lemon juice into a marinade.
  • Pour the marinade into the pasta salad and mix well. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves. Check for seasoning.
  • Cover and keep in the fridge for a couple of hours. Serve cool.

Recipes: Sweet Sour Potatoes

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When I was in college, I used to make a potato recipe in a tamarind sauce a lot. That was a signature dish I had discovered in a magazine, most likely Women’s Era and had written it down. I did not bring that notebook with me when I moved to Singapore and now that recipe is lost.

The other day I suddenly started thinking of that recipe and turned to Google to see if I can find it somewhere in the world wide web. Unfortunately, I could not remember most of the ingredients and hence could not verify if any of the recipes were the same.

I did read a recipe from Sanjeev Kapoor which I felt was the closest to what I remembered and so adapted this recipe to my own. So here’s my version of tangy and sweet-sour potatoes.

Sweet Sour Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup potatoes, scrubbed well and cut into long fingers with the jacket on
  • 1 lemon-sized ball of tamarind, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes and pulped and make it into 2 cups of tamarind water (or if you are using tamarind paste, use 2-3 tsp of the same)
  • 2 tbsp (more or less) Jaggery (you can alternate this with brown sugar if you don’t have access to jaggery)
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 3-4 dried red chillies
  • 1/8 tsp asafoetida
  • 1 tsp kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
  • 1 tsp oil
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • In a dry pan, dry roast the cumin seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and chillies separately till they start to emit a nice aroma. Make sure you don’t burn the spices. Keep aside, cool and blend into a fine powder.
  • Heat oil in a largish pan and when the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds and let them pop. When they pop, add the asafoetida and stir for a couple of seconds. Then add in the powdered spice mix and stir for a couple of seconds.
  • Then pour in the tamarind water and jaggery and some salt and let it come to a nice rolling boil.
  • After about five minutes, when the raw smell of the tamarind goes away, add the potatoes and let them cook. Cook the potatoes till a knife pierced through one, goes in cleanly. Don’t overcook them. Check for salt at this point and add more if needed.
  • Finish off with taking the kasuri methi in the palms of your hands and crush it to release the oils and aroma and sprinkle it over the potatoes and gravy.
  • Switch off the gas and garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with rice or rotis (Indian flatbreads)

    • Recipes: Dried Red Chilli & Raisin Chutney

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    I made dosai (a South Indian crepe) earlier this week and wanted a chutney to go with it. I was not in the mood for a coconut based chutney which is what is traditionally made with dosai, so I thought of a dried red chilli one and whipped this up in less than 20 minutes, including prep time. It also has a total of five ingredients, including spices. So let’s go.

    Dried Red Chilli and Raisin Chutney

    Ingredients:

    • 12-15 dried red Kashmiri chillies
    • 2 tbsp raisins
    • 8-10 cloves garlic
    • 1 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)
    • Salt to taste

    Method:

    • Soak the red chillies and raisins separately in hot water for 10-15 minutes until soft.
    • Drain the water and reserve it to blend.
    • Then blend all the ingredients with reserved water to a fine paste. Check for seasoning (salt and lemon juice) and adjust accordingly.

    This was wonderful with the dosai and was also very good as a spicy dip and I have also eaten this with bread and wraps and it was yummy. Enjoy and let me know how you liked it.