Paneer Makhanwala

Its a cottage cheese cubes made with milk, mild spices and cashew paste. Its a North Indian delicacy slow cooked in medium flame with lots of love and patience. I generally include this in my menu for the vegetarian lot in the group and also for my husband who is a vegetarian. This goes well with rotis and laccha paratha.

Ingredients

1) Panner - cut in cubes - 1/2 Kg ( Panner is cottage cheese, dip panner cubes in milk and keep aside for 1/2 hours)

2) Big size onions - 4 - chopped

3) Ripped tomatoes - 4 - chopped

4) Ginger garlic paste - 2-3 tbs

5) Cashew paste - 1/2 cup ( Dip cashews in milk for 1/2 hours and then make paste out of it)

6) Cloves - 2-3 , Tej Patta - 2-3 , Jeera - 1 tbs

7) Desi Ghee - 2-4 tbs

8) Coriander - fine chopped

9) Salt - to taste

10) Turmeric powder - 2 tbs

11) Refined oil - 4 big tbs


Method

1)   In a pan, put oil and add onion to cook till light brown, Add tomatoes and cook till oil separates. Cool and grind to make paste. The paste will be orange in color.

2) In a big kadai, heat oil and put all the khada masala along with jeera. Add the onion tomatoes orange paste , ginger garlic paste and cook for about 10-15 mins. Add cashew paste and some milk.

3) Once this is cooked properly, add panner cubes dipped in milk. Add the remaining milk as well.

4) Slow cook on low flame for another 15-20 mins.

5) Serve hot.

Sarsoon Ka Saag

Sarsoon Ka Saag is the authentic punjabi household food that’s eaten during winters. Sarsoon is the hindi word for mustard leaves. Sarsoon ka saag is eaten with Makki ki roti and raita. (Any type of raita). In Punjab, people make sarson ka saag in large quantity and eat when ever they want to. When ever it’s served, its tempered with fresh desi ghee and garnished with fresh makhan. This is the most authentic saroon ke saag ki recipe, straight from my mothers kitchen.

Ingredients:

1)      Sarsoon bunch – big one – 2

2)      Palak bunch – medium – 1

3)      Methi bunch – medium - half

4)      Bathuaa bunch – medium – 1

5)      Green Chilli – hot dark green – 4-5 – depends how hot you like

6)      Onion paste – out of 4 medium size

7)      Garlic flakes paste – 10-12 medium size

8)      Salt to taste

9)      Whole red chilli – for tempering – 4

10)   Desi Ghee (Clerified Butter) – for tempering – 4 big spoons

11)  Onion – 2 – Cut into Julienne for tempering

12)   Makki Ka atta – 2-3 medium spoon

Method:

1)  Wash and cut all the leafy vegetables properly. First wash and then cut, otherwise all the vitamins and minerals are also washed away with water.

2) In a pressure cooker, add all the leafy vegetables, onion paste, garlic paste, some water, salt and pressure cook for 15-20 whistles. Let the cooker cool on its own and then open the lid.

3)      Now , keep the cooker on the gas flame and stir and keep sprinkling the makki ka atta till it comes together. Don’t put the lid on the cooker. And keep mixing the saag. The maximum atta you can put in this is 2-4 medium spoons and this is just for binding the saag together. Cook this for about 35-50 mins on a slow flame.

4)      Now, tamper with cut onions, desi ghee and  whole red chilli.5)      Garnish with fresh makhan or cream6)      Serve hot with makki ki roti and raita.

Please message or email me if you want to know the recipe of Makki di roti.

Mango Cheese Cake

Mango cheese cake is made with cheese cream, gelatin and marie biscuits( You can use any biscuits). We have 3 layers in this cake. The base is made with marie biscuits, the middle layer is of cream cheese and the top layer is of mango pulp. I have not used sugar in this cake. But if you want you can add sugar. For making this cake a) You have to make the cream cheese, I make my own home made cream cheese. You can also buy this from the market. b) the base, made with biscuits and butter.c) the top layer made with mango and gelatin.

Lets discuss the ingredients,

1) Mango - 3 - pureed

2) Gelatin - 3 tbs 

3) Cream cheese made from 1 litre milk

4) Mint leaves - for garnishing

5) Marie biscuits - 175 Grams 

6) Sugar - powdered - 1 + 1/4 cup 

7) Butter - unsalted - 100 grams

Method :

1) Make the cream cheese one day prior. You can keep it in the fridge. Click here to read the recipe for CREAM CHEESE.

2) To make the base, grind the all the marie biscuits in the mixer and mix it with the butter. Spread this on a silicone mold with a spoon to make the crust of the cake. And then keep it in the fridge for 2-3 hours till it becomes hard and crusty. It will look like this and this is ready.

3) Now, take the cream cheese and mix it with powder sugar and mango puree. Blend it 2 mins. In a 1/2 cup boiling water, add 2 tbs of gelatin. Let it stay in the water for 5 mins, mix well and when cool add this to the cream cheese mix. Blend all for 2 mins again. Spread the cream cheese on the crust and freeze it for 1 hour.

4) After one hour, In a pan add mango puree and heat it for few mins. In a 1/4 cup boiling water , add 1 tbs gelatin. Mix well and let it stay for 2-3 mins. Once cool, add this to the mango puree pan. You don't have to cook mango puree for too long. And add gelatin, when its slight cool. Mix well. Put the puree mix on top of the cream cheese layer and again freeze it for another 3-4 hours.

5) Serve chill and enjoy.

Home made cream cheese

Making cream cheese at home is simple and I learned it for making mango cheese cake. You can use this for making sandwiches, salads and chocolate mousse or different types of cheese cakes. Or simple eat it with biscuits or bread. You can store in the refrigerator for 5-6 days.

Ingredients:

1) Milk - 1 litre

2) Lime juice - 1.5 tbs / or vinegar - 2 tbs

3) Curd - 1 tbs

Method: 

1) Boil milk and add vinegar to separate whey water from the cheese.

 2) Now pour this on a muslin cloth and drain the entire water. Run through under the clean water to remove all the lime/ vinegar flavor from the cheese/panner. Hang this tied in a muslin cloth for 2-3 hours so that all the water is drained completely. 

3) Grind this in a mixer along with 1 tbs curd and store it in the refrigerator. You can add fresh cream to make it more rich and creamy. Your cream cheese is ready.

Malai Kofte

Malai Kofta is cottage cheese dumplings, mixed with few herbs and spices, deep fried and made in rich onion, tomato and cashew gravy. This is a typical North Indian cuisine originated from mughlai cuisine. This goes well with roti, rice, nan, paratha's or even breads. North Indian veg food is all about milk, cream, cheese and clarified butter. Very rich and healthy.

To make 10-12 kofta's 

Ingredients:

1) Fresh panner - cottage cheese made from 1 liter milk at home ( boil milk and squeeze 1 lemon to get panner, hang it in a muslin cloth to remove all the water)

2) Onions - 2 - Large - Grated

3) Tomatoes - 2 - Large - Grated

3) Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbs

4) Salt - To taste

5) Cashew - 12-15 - grind to make a paste

6) Chilli powder - 1 tbs

7) Turmeric powder - 1 tbs

8) Coriander powder - 1 tbs

9) Fresh coriander - for garnishing

10) Khada garam masala - 1 badi ilaychi , little jeera , 2-3 cloves

11) Green chilli -2- fine chopped 

12) All purpose flour - 1 tbs

13) Corn Flour - to roll kofta's and then deep fry

Method:

1) In a large bowl mix paneer, 1 tbs maida, green chillies ( I have used red) , salt and fresh coriander. Mix till it becomes smooth to make balls. Roll balls in the corn flour powder and deep fry.

2) The kofta balls are ready now we have to make the gravy. In a big pan or a kadhai, add 2 big spoon of oil. Till the time you make the gravy, dip the kofta's into the lukewarm water to make them soft.
3) Now add the whole garam masala like badi ilayachi, cloves and jeera. Cook for 20 sec.

4) Now add grated onions and again cook till it becomes brown.

5) Add ginger garlic paste, all the dry masala and in the end grated tomatoes. Pls remember this squence. This is very important otherwise the masala is not cooked properly and the raw flavor remains which we dont want. Cook the masala till the oil separates. You can see the oil is separated from the masala.

6) After this add cashews paste and 2 cups water. Let it boil and add kofta's.

7) Garnish with coriander and clarified butter. Serve hot.
8) To enhance the taste further, garnish with the garam masala. But make sure to use the home made garam masala. Check out the garam masala recipe on my blog itself. Click here to read the Garam Masala recipe.

Khaman Dhokla

Khaman dhokla is a savory steamed cake made from gram flour or chana dal (skinned split bengal gram). khaman dhokla are soft, porous, mild tangy-sweet and a great snack anytime of the day. I tried it for the first time and the result was very good. People used to make this in a steamer or a pressure cooker. I tried in Microwave and it was easy and faster to make.

Ingredients for Dhokla Batter: 

1)     Gram flour - 1 cup
2)     Semolina – 1 spoon
3)     1 Lemon- 1 medium size – extract juice
4)     Ginger - ½ inch piece (grated)
5)     Salt – to taste
6)     Eno fruit salt - 1 tsp
7)     Turmeric – 1 small tbs
8)     Hing – A pinch
9)     Curd – ½ cup
10)   Chilli paste – 1 tbs
11)   Water - 1/2 cup
12)   Oil - 1 tbs

Ingredients for Dhokla tadka: 

1)     Green chilly – 2 – Big slits
2)     Fresh coriander – fine chopped
3)     Oil - 2 tbsp
4)     Raw coconut - 1 tbsp (optional)
5)     Black mustard seeds – 1 tsp
6)     Curry leaves- 5-6
7)     Sesame seeds - 1 tsp  (optional)
8)     Sugar – 1 tbs
9)     Grated fresh coconut – for garnish
10)   Water - 1 cup

Method for Dhokla Batter :

1) In a big bowl , add gram flour, 1 tbs oil, water, semolina, ginger and chilli paste, turmeric , hing, salt, lemon juice. Add water and mix well and keep aside for 20-15 mins. It should have a smoothie consistency.

2) After 20 mins, add eno and mix well again. Eno will help you to risen the batter and make it light and smooth. You will see the bubble in the pic as well. This helps to make the dhokla fluffy. Transfer it into the microwave bowl. I have used silicon mould.

3) Microwave for 5-6 min. It will be like a cake and check if its cooked. Put a knife in the mix and see of the knife comes clean. Let it cool down, This is ready. It will look like this after you remove from the mould / microwave bowl. Now this is ready for tadka.

For the tadka,

1) In a pan add oil and once hot add little hing, mustard seeds, curry leaves and let it cook.

Add sugar and half cup water. Let it boil and pour this on the dhokla cake.Garnish with fresh coriander. Cut and serve.

Karele Ki Sabzi

Bitter gourd vegetable made in North Indian style. I have named this “ Achari Karela” . This is the most hated vegetable and I wonder why?? But for me this is my favorite  or can I say my most favorite. Some people eat it but they do crazy things before making it like dipping karela the whole day in salt water or sun drying and what not?? ( In a way they are killing all the goodness of the vegetable) This recipe is simple easy and I bet you, you will love it. My friend used to hate karela before and after eating this style, she started loving it. I don’t throw the seeds or peel it before making. For me it’s like neem, everything is so healthy and tasty. Simply cut and cook. Enjoy and welcome to the Karela Lovers Club. Eat with roties or rice and dal!

Ingredients :

1) Karela (Bitter Gourd) - 4 - Medium size - wash and cut as shown in the pic.

2) Onions - 4 - Medium size - jullians 

( If you are using large size karela then use large size onions as well )

3) Onion seeds - 1 tbs - cut as shown in the pic

4) Sauf - 1 tbs

5) whole coriander seeds - 1 tbs - coursely grind

6) Salt - to taste

7) Red chilli powder - 1 tbs

8) Fresh lime juice - 2 tbs

Method :

1) In a pan, add 1.5 big tbp of oil.

2) First let the karela go into the pan. Cook till it becomes brown.

3) Then add chopped onions and cook till they also become tender and brown.

4) Add red chilli powder, salt, coriander powder, sauf, onion seeds.

5) Cook for another 5 mins till the masala is properly cooked. Add lime juice in the end.

6)  Serve with roti or rice/dal.