Paneer Butter Masala..

Paneer butter masala or cottage cheese in butter gravy is a North Indian vegetarian delicacy. The name itself carries lot of baggage, but its rather easy to cook. Lets get started.

Ingredients:
1. Paneer/cottage cheese (200grm, cut in to cube pieces )
2. Butter (2 tablespoon)
3. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
4. Ginger & Garlic paste (1 teaspoon each)
5. Cashew nuts (10-12)
6. Tomato (1 medium size, chopped)
7. Bay leaf (1)
8. Clove (3-4)
9. Cinnamon stick (1 )
10. Turmeric powder (1 tsp)
11. Red chili powder (1 -2 tsp as per the spice you want)
12. Coriander powder (1 tsp)
13. Cumin powder (1/2 tsp)
14. Salt to taste
15. Cream (2 Teaspoon)
16. Garam masala (1-1/2 tsp)
17. Roasted dry fenugreek leaves (1/3 tsp)

Method:
Part 1. Prepare the Masala
1. Take a  hot pan add 1 table spoon of butter , let it melt.
2. Add  sliced onions and fry  them for 1 minuet
3. Add ginger garlic paste to this and keep frying
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, cashew nuts; give a good mix and cook it  for 1 minuet
5. Remove it form flame and let the masala cool down
6. Blend the masala and make a smooth paste; if  it is too thick you can add a little bit of water.

Part 2: Get cooking the gravy
1. Heat up a pan (you may use the same pan) and add one table-spoon of butter and let the butter melt
2. Add bay leaf, cinnamon stick and cloves
3. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt
4. Add the masala paste we prepared in step 1 and give it a good mix. Put the lid on and cook this for 5-7 minutes in low flame.
5. Add coriander, cumin powder
6. Add 2 teaspoon of cooking cream and mix the cream well with the gravy
7. Add the paneer cubes and cook for 5 minutes with the lid on.
8. Add garam masala powder and roasted dry fenugreek leaves; let it cook uncovered for 1 minute and turn off the flame

Your Paneer Butter Masala is ready. Serve it with roti, paratha ,naan.

Tip: In paneer butter masala you can add panner directly but I prefer fried panner. You can fry the paneer cubes for 1-2 minutes (till the paneer cubes become golden brown on all sides) and put them in a bowl of mildly salted water. Keeping the paneer submerged in water will make it super soft and really tasty.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

 

Palak Dal (Spinach Lentil soup)

Palak dal is a tasty and nutritious lentil preparation. I have used five different types of lentil, but you can use 1-2 types of lentil as per your choice. You can easily make this  dish with a few drops of oil.

Ingredients:

1. Spinach (coarsely chopped)
2. Lentils (soak the lentils for one hour before cooking)
   a. Split Red Lentil/ Masoor Dal
   b. Yellow Moong Dal
   c. Split Bengal gram/ Chana Dal
   d. Split Red gram/ Tuvar Dal/ Arhar Dal
   e. Matar Dal/Split green pea
3. Onion (1 medium size sliced)
4. Garlic (3 clove)
5. Ginger julienne
6. Green chilies (2 sliced)
7. Dry red chili (1)
8. Dry spices
   a. Cumin powder-1/2 tsp
   b. Coriander powder-1/2 tsp
   c. Turmeric powder-1 tsp
9. Cumin seeds (1/2 tsp)
10. Salt to taste
11. Oil (1/2 tsp)
12. Tomato (1 medium size  cut in to cubes)

Method:

1. Boil the soaked lentils till they become soft; if you are using pressure cooker, cook it till 5 whistle. Add a pinch of salt to the water at time of boiling the lentils.
2. In a heated pan add oil. When the oil heats up, add the dry red chili, garlic and cumin seeds.
3. Add the sliced onion and sprinkle a bit of salt. Fry it for 1 minute.
4. Add the cubed tomatoes, mix it well and fry it for 1 minute. If the masala becomes too dry, add a cup of water.
5. Add all the dry spices. You may add a bit of salt if needed. Add half a cup of water.
6. Add the  chopped spinach and give it a good mix.
7. Add the  boiled lentils and green chilies. Mix everything well.
8. Add water as per the thickness you prefer.
9. Put the lid on and cook it for 3-4 minutes.

This is my kind of Palak dal. You can enjoy it with rice or roti; you can even have it as a soup. If you want you can add Ghee (clarified butter) or butter for a richer taste; I did not add any though. To make it spicier, you can add a teaspoon of  paprika.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

Traditional Sweet Bengali Chutney

Mishti Chutney or Sweet Chutney is an authentic Bengali dish. Usually we have it after finishing the main course and before consuming dessert; but there is no hard and fast rule for this. The recipe is very simple and requires easily available ingredients. I have used raw mango because this is summer time and Tomatoes which are easily available everywhere throughout the year. If you don’t get mangoes, you can make this with tomato only. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:
1. Tomato (3 medium size, cut into cubes)
2. Raw mango (1 cut into slices)
3. Dates (5-6 cut into small pieces)
4. Raisin & cashew nuts
5. Jaggery (2 tablespoon)
6. Green chili (2 sliced)
7. Mustard seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
8. Cumin seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
9. Fennel seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
10. Pinch of salt.
11. Mustard oil or any other oil (1 teaspoon)

Method:
1. In a heated pan, add a tsp of oil.
2. When the oil heats up, add the mustard, cumin and fennel seeds. Let the spices splutter.
3. Add the mangoes and tomatoes; sprinkle a bit of salt. Mix everything well so that the pulps absorbed the flavor of the spices.
4. Add a cup of water, mix everything well.
5. Add the jaggery and let it melt.
6. Add the dates, dry fruits and green chilies. Give it a good mix.
7. Add one cup of water and put the lid on. Keep the flame in low and let it cook for 7-8 mint. (Adjust the water as per the thickness you prefer)
8. Turn off the flame and let it cool down.

Enjoy.

Mo

Bread Upma

Bread Upma is a very simple recipe which you can have for breakfast, brunch or evening snacks. Variation in regular breakfast menu makes us happy, and this will bring the much-needed variation. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:
1. Bread (5 slice of breads cut in to small pieces)
2. Curry leaves (2-3 springs)
3. Butter (1/3 teaspoon; I have used salted butter)
4. Green chilies (2, sliced)
5. Tomato (1 medium size, chopped)
6. Cumin powder (1/2 teaspoon)
7. Coriander powder (1/2 teaspoon)
8. Salt as per your taste.
9. A pinch of asafoetida or Hing
10. Garlic (3 cloves, sliced)
11. Ginger (A ¼-inch piece of ginger, crushed)
12. Onion (1 medium size, sliced)
13. Mustard seeds (1/3 teaspoon)
14. Cumin seeds (1/3 teaspoon)

Method:
1. In a heated pan add the butter and let the butter melt.
2. Add the Mustard and Cumin seeds.
3. Add the garlic, curry leaves, green chilies, sliced onions and ginger and fry for a minute. Don’t let the onions become brown.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes and give a quick mix. Cook it for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add salt to taste. (Since I have used salted butter, I have added very little bit of salt; if you use unsalted butter, you can adjust it accordingly)
6. Add all the dry spices and give it a good mix
7. Add half a cup of water and cook for a minute
8. Add the pieces of bread and mix everything properly so that the spice mix is fully coating all the bread pieces.

Bread Upma is ready.

Enjoy.

Mo

Dalia pulao (Broken wheat pulao)

Are you looking for a healthy dish with full of nutrition, perfect for breakfast or brunch, good to eat and easy to cook? Your wait is over. Let’s cook Dalia Pulao.

Ingredients:
1. Dalia (1 cup)
2. Ghee or clarified butter (2tsp)
3. Cinnamon stick (1-2)
4. Cardamom (2-3)
5. Clove (2-3)
6. Salt to taste
7. Green peas (2tbsp)
8. Raisins & Cashew nuts (As per your preference)
9. Green chill (2)
10. Olive oil (1/2 tsp)
11. Bay leaf (1)
12. Water (2 cup)

Method:
In a pressure cooker, heat up the oil. Add cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and the dalia. Fry the mixture for a minute or two in low flame. Add salt, green peas, chilies, raisins, cashew nuts. Mix everything properly and add the ghee. To this, add 2 cups of water (For 1 cup of dalia, you need to add 2 cups of water). Close the lid and let it cook for two whistles. Your Dalia pulao is ready.

I have used only green peas; you can use any vegetables; small pieces of potatoes, carrots, cauliflower etc. You can make Dalia pulao once in a while for breakfast and mix and match your vegetables.

Enjoy.

Mo

Pakhala Bhat with various side dishes

Pakhala is the a traditional Oriya dish; in Bengali it is called Pantha Bhat (পান্তা ভাত). It is prepared by soaking leftover rice in water overnight. There are so many side dishes that goes well with this, both vegetarian and non vegetarian. I have paired it with Fried potatoes, fried bitter gourd and Red Lentil Dal.

You can get more information about Pakhala from this Wikipedia article. 20th March is declared as Pakhala Dibasa (Universal Pakhala Day) by Oriya community. And being a Bengali foodie, I celebrate it too, in my own way.

Ingredients:
1. One cup of cooked rice
2. Potato(1 big size)
3. Bitter gourd (5 small size)
4. Tomatoes (2 medium size)
5. Fenugreek seeds(1/4 tsp)
6. Green chilies (5)
7. Salt to taste
8. Mustard oil 3 tsp
9. Lemon leaf (2-3)
10. Masoor Dal(Red lentils)
11. Turmeric powder
12. Nigella seeds (1/4tsp)
13. Flour(1/3 tsp)
14. Cumin powder (1/2 tsp)

Menu and  Method:
1. Pakhala (Rice dish): Take a cup of cooked rice (you can use leftover rice) and add 2 cups of cold water to it. Many people add cumin seeds or curry leaves to this; but I want my Pakhala to be pristine; so I didn’t add anything. Leave the rice soaked in water overnight and your Pakhala will be ready in the morning.

2. Potato fry: Peel the potatoes and cut them into flat long pieces as done for french fries. In a heated pan add 1 teaspoon of oil. Add nigella seeds. Add the potatoes, salt, turmeric powder and 2 green chilies. Fry everything in high flame for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water on top. Cover the lid and let it cook in low flame. Keep checking the potatoes in between and cook it until the potatoes become soft.

3. Bitter gourd fry: Bitter gourd is bitter I know; but it is really really great for your health. Cut the bitter gourds into disc like pieces. Add some salt, turmeric powder, flour and a pinch of water. Mix everything well and fry in 1 teaspoon of oil for 1-2 minutes in high flame. Cover it up with lid and let it cook in low flame until the bitter gourds become soft.

4. Masoor Dal (Red lentils soup): Masoor dal is the quintessential dal on a Bengali dining table. We eat it everyday; a regular Bengali meal is unthinkable without this. Take a half cup of  red lentil and add 1.5 cup of water to it. Boil it with salt and turmeric powder. In a pan add 1 teaspoon of oil. Let the oil heat up and then add fenugreek seeds and tomatoes. Saute it for 1 minute. Add cumin powder, green chilies and mix it well. Finally, pour the boiled dal in to the pan. Mix the masala with the cooked dal well and cook it for 3-4 mints. If it becomes too thick to your preference, add some water. I have added 0ne cup of water, because I wanted my dal to be a bit runny. Add the lemon leaves, mix it well and switch off the flame.

I like to add some cucumber to all my meals, it helps to control the amount of carbohydrate intake. There are some unbelievable health benefits which you will find in green chilies, no calories only Vitamins; and it adds a lovely aroma to the whole meal.

All the dishes which I have just described are just perfect for hot Summer, do try it out.

Enjoy.

Mo.

 

 

 

 

Fried potatoes and more…

There are very few who don’t like potatoes; I love potatoes. Today i m going to share a simple recipe with you guys. I will be truthful here. My intention was to fry potatoes with some spices, but a little bit of improvisation turned it into something else. It turned up absolutely fantastic.

Ingredients:
1. Potatoes (2,big size)
2. Curry leaves (2-3 springs)
3. Salt to taste
4. Dry mango powder or Aamchur powder (1 teaspoon)
5. Turmeric (1 teaspoon)
6. Dry red chili (2 pieces)
7. Mustard seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
8. Cumin seeds (1/2 teaspoon)
9. Tomato (1, medium size)
10. Cumin powder (1/2 teaspoon)
11. Pinch of Asafoetida
12. Oil (2 tablespoon)

Method:
Cut the potatoes in to cubes, put in water for  1-2 hour.

In a heated pan add the oil, let the oil heat up. Add dry red chilies, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and asafoetida and let them splutter. Add the potato cubes and mix well. One by one add turmeric powder, cumin powder, dry mango powder. Add salt to taste. Mix everything properly. Add the chopped tomatoes and mix it well. Add a little bit of water, lower the flame and let it cover for sometime until the potatoes get cooked properly. Serve it with chapati.

Enjoy.

Mo

 

 

Palak paneer(Cottage Cheese in Spinach Gravy)

Palak Paneer or Cottage cheese in spinach gravy is delicious and surprisingly easy to cook. This is a traditional North Indian dish, variations of the recipe can be found all over the county and even outside of India. It’s one of the most recognized India dish and easily available in Indian restaurants in India and abroad. Its easy to make, very healthy and absolutely delightful.

Ingredients:
1. Spinach (4 cups, washed)
2. Paneer (250 grams)
3. Green Chilies (4 pieces)
4. Mustard oil (4 tbsp)
5. Cinnamon Stick  (1 inch piece)
6. Onions (2, medium size, sliced)
7. Ginger paste (½ tbsp)
8. Garlic paste (1 tbsp)
9. Tomatoes (1 , medium size, chopped)
10. Coriander Powder (2 teaspoons)
11. Cumin Powder (2 teaspoons)
12. Turmeric Powder (½ teaspoon)
13. Red Chili Powder (1 teaspoon)
14. Garam Masala (1 teaspoon)
15. Salt to taste
16. Dry Mango Powder (½ teaspoon)
17. Milk or Cooking Cream (1 cup)
18. Dried Fenugreek Leaves (1 teaspoon)

Method:

Step 1:
Boil the washed spinach leaves with 2 chilies without lid on top. It will take 2-3 minutes. Remove the spinach from heat, drain the excess water and allow it to cool down. We will blend this and make a thick paste which will be used for gravy. For that, we will blend this in pulse mode so that there is some solid pieces or bits of spinach in the gravy.

Step 2:
In a pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Stir fry the paneer cubes until they become light golden brown on all sides. While frying, I have added pinch of salt and turmeric to give it a yellowish color; this is absolutely optional skip this if you want our paneer to be pristine. Add half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl of water and throw in all the fried paneer cubes in it. Once the paneer cubes are fried, they become a bit harder and it adversely affects the texture of the dish; if we put the paneer cubes into water, they will stay soft when we will use them later.

Step 3:
Heat the pan. Add 3 tablespoons of oil. In the heated oil, add the cinnamon stick, onions and a teaspoon of salt. Cook until Onions become translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste. Fry this until they become a bit brownish. Add chopped tomatoes and keep stirring the mix and make sure it doesn’t burn. Sprinkle some water if required. Mix properly until the oil comes out from the mixture and the tomatoes get caramelized. Add all the dry spices (Coriander Powder, Cumin Powder, Turmeric Powder, Red Chili Powder, Garam Masala, Dry Mango Powder). Mix everything well; add salt as per your taste. Your masala is ready.

Step 4:
Since our masala is ready, now it’s time to add the goodness of spinach.  Add the blended spinach to the masala. If the gravy becomes very thick, add a bit of water as per your preference. Cook it for 2-3 mints without the lid. Add a cup of full fat milk. In restaurants  they use cream, but i have used full fat milk. Give it a good mix. Crusg some dried fenugreek leavesand add to the mix. And sliced green chilies. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Your gravy is ready.

Step 5:
Now it’s time to add the king of the dish, the paneer cubes. Add the fried paneer cubes and mix them gently with the gravy.

Palak paneer is ready. Serve it with hot chapati, roti or nan.

Enjoy.

Mo

Aloo Matar paneer (Bengali style)

Aloo matar paneer or Gravy with cottage cheese, potatoes and green peas is a very simple and tasty vegetarian preparation. There are many variation of this throughout India; we will do it the Bengali way. Let’s get started.

Ingredients:
1. Paneer (Cottage Cheese) -250grm
2. Potato/Aloo-1 Medium size
3. Panch-Phoron*- 1 tsp
4. Green chili-2
5. Tomato-1 Medium size
6. Cumin powder-1 tsp
7. Red chili powder-1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder-1 tsp
9. Salt to taste.
10. Mustard oil-3tbsp.
11. Pinch of Asafoetida
12. Ginger-1tsp
13. Kashmiri red chili powder-1 tsp
14. Green pea -Boiled 1 cup or you can use frozen also.

*Panch-Phoron is an authentic Bengali spice mix used in most of the Bengali vegetarian dishes. It includes Cumin seeds, nigella seeds, fenugreek seeds, fennel Seeds, mustard seeds. All of these are mixed together together to make panch-phoron mix.

Method:
Cut the paneer and potatoes into cubes. Take a hot pan and fry the potatoes and paneer in a tbsp oil. Keep it aside for future use. Fried paneer becomes a bit harder and it adversely affects the texture of the dish. Add half a teaspoon of salt in a bowl of water and throw in all the fried paneer cubes, they will stay soft.

In a pan  pour one tbsp of mustard oil. Once the oil hot, add panch-phoron. Wait till the seeds crackle and add a pinch of asafoetida and ginger. Keep stirring the masala and make sure it doesn’t burn. Add the chopped tomatoes and give it a gentle stir. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes.

In the meantime, mix all the spices (cumin powder,red chili powder, kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric) with 2 tablespoons of water in a small bowl and add this to the masala. Cook this in low flame for 1 minute; add salt as per your preference.

Finally add the fried potatoes, fried paneer cubes and green peas. Give it a gentle stir; make sure you don’t break the paneer cubes. Add a cup or two cup of water, depending on how thick you want the gravy to be. I have added 2 cups of water. Cook it for 5 mints in high flame. Break the green chilies into two parts and add them to the mix.

Aloo matar paneer is ready, serve it with hot rice or chapati.

Enjoy.

Mo

Lemon Rice

Lemon rice is a very common rice preparation in Southern part of India. It’s very easy to cook, good to eat and very healthy. Although it is called lemon rice, I have used lime instead of lemon. You can use either of them. I really  like the punchy bitterness of lime. Many people use tamarind also. This super easy dish can be your breakfast or brunch depending upon when you are eating. It will take just 5-7 mints if you have rice ready at hand; you can use left over rice from last night too.

Ingredients:
1. Boiled rice (3 cup)
2. Rai or mustard seeds (1/4 teaspoon)
3. Red chili or Green chili (2, sliced)
4.Curry leaves (2 springs)
5.Turmeric powder (1/4 teaspoon)
6.Salt to taste
7.Peanuts (1/4 cup, fried)
8.Lime Juice (one half of a small size lime or lemon)
9.Split Bengal gram or Chana-Dal (1/2 tablespoon, soaked for 10 min or boiled for 5 min)
10.Onion (1/2, medium size)
11.Oil (2 tablespoon)

Note: Black gram  or Urad-dal  is one of the important ingredients but its very difficult to find here in Thailand, so i did not use it. If you have it you can use 1/2 tablespoon along with the other ingredients.

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds to the hot oil. When mustard seeds start spluttering, add sliced onions, split Bengal gram or Chana-dal, curry leaves. Saute it for a minute or two; and then add salt, turmeric powder, chilies and lime juice. Add the boiled rice and give it a mix. Make sure the rice doesn’t break while stirring. Add some fried peanuts and serve it hot.

Enjoy.

Mo