Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer

Matar paneer is an north Indian dish consisting of paneer and peas  cooked together into a delicious gravy. It is usually served with an Indian type of bread (Naan, paratha, poori, or roti depending on taste). Some people prefer to take it with rice preparations.

 

Ingredients:

• 400 grams paneer cut into cubes
• 2 tea spoon broken cashew nuts
• 1 1/2 tea spoon chilly powder
• 2 table spoon finely chopped coriander leaves
• 50 ml cream
• 1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1 tea spoon cumin powder
• 1 1/2 tea spoon coriander powder
• 2 tea spoon ginger and garlic paste
• 5 finely chopped green chillies
• 1/2 tea spoon kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
• 4 table spoon oil
• 2 finely chopped onions
• 2 cups green peas (matar)
• salt to taste
• 2 finely chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 tea spoon turmeric
• 2 inch Cinnamon stick (dalchini)
• 4 cloves (lavang)
• 2-3 cardamom (elaichi)
• 2 bay leaves (tej patta)

Method:

Heat 2 table spoon oil in pan, add cashew nuts and saute slightly till they get light brown. Now, add chopped onions and salt, fry till it gets golden brown in colour. Add turmeric, ginger and garlic paste, fry for a minute. Add chopped tomatoes, cook till they turn soft and put all of this into a grinder and blend into a fine paste.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan, add Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves and cumin seeds. Now add the onion and tomato paste, fry for a minute.

Add 1 1/2  cups of water or as required, chopped green chillies, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chilly powder. Boil the mixture for fifteen minutes on low flame, now powder the kasuri methi and add it to the mixture. Cook for ten minutes.

Add green peas, boil for a minute then add paneer and salt (if required). Simmer for few minutes.

Add coriander, cream and simmer till you get the desired consistency of the gravy. Once done turn off the heat.

Serve hot with roti, naan, paratha or rice.

Matar Paneer

Shahi Khoya Matar

Shahi Khoya Matar

Shahi khoya Matar is another wonderful Mughlai dish. Mughlai food is the food that was eaten and relished by Indians during the Mughal Period. Mughal food is said to be an empress of the Indian range of cooking.

Ingredients:

• 150 grams khoya/khava (dried whole milk)
• 1 1/2 cups boiled peas/matar
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 2 green chillies
• 1/2 tea spoon jeera
• 1-2 table spoon cashew nuts
• 2 onions
• 2 tomatoes pureed
• salt to taste
•  1/2 -1 tea spoon red chilly powder
• 1/2 tea spoon garam masala
• 2 cups water
• 2 table spoon ghee

Method:

Grind green chillies, ginger and jeera into a fine paste by adding a bit of water. keep aside. Grind onions to make a fine paste.

Heat ghee, add onion paste and fry until onions turn light brown.

Mash khoya and add it to the onion. Cook on slow flame until khoya turns medium brown.

Add ginger paste. Cook for 1 minute.

Add cashew nuts cook for 1/2 minutes.

Add tomato puree and cook until its turns dry and is well fried.

Now add boiled peas/matar. Keep aside a few for garnishing. Stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add water, salt, red chilly powder and garam masala. Boil.

Cook on low flame, till gravy turns thick.

Serve hot garnished with cashew nuts and boiled peas.

 

Rava Upma/ Rava Uppit ( Maharashtrian Style )

Rava Upma

Upma/Uppit is a popular breakfast across India. Today, I am blogging what I call the Maharashtrian style upma/uppit.  You can also check my other post on Andhra style upma.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup rava/suji/semolina
• 1 big onion finely chopped
• 1 tea spoon finely chopped ginger
• 3 slit green chillies
• 6-8 curry leaves
• 1/2 tea spoon mustard
• 1/2 tea spoon cumin seeds
• 1/2 tea spoon urad dal
• 1/2 tea spoon hing
• salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tea spoon sugar
• 2 table spoon oil
• 2 table spoon fresh grated coconut
• 1 table spoon finely chopped coriander leaves
• 3 cups water

Method:

Heat a kadai and dry roast rava for five to eight minutes stirring continuously, till a nice aroma comes out. Don't let the rava turn brown. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Now, heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds when they splutter, add cumin seeds, urad dal, ginger, curry leaves, green chillies and hing. Fry for a minute and add chopped onion, fry till its turns transparent.

Add 3 cups water, salt and sugar.

Once the water starts boiling, add the roasted rava/semolina slowly little by little, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.

Cover and cook till the upma becomes thick. Then add grated coconut and coriander leaves. Mix well.

Now cover and let it heat through for a minute or two. Turn off the heat.

Serve hot garnished with fresh grated coconut and coriander leaves.

Rava Upma - Andhra Style

Rava Upma - Andhra Style

Upma is originally from South India and is a popular breakfast across India.

There are many ways of preparing upma. Today, I am blogging what I call the Andhra style upma recipe. I have noticed a lot of difference in the upma that is made in Maharashtra and Andhra. In Maharashtrian upma, we add sugar and the upma is a bit thick. But in Andhra most of the times, I have had upma in restaurant's which was quite different in taste, texture, and a bit liquidy. It was also served with a special chutney that adds to the taste of this upma and is called tomato pachadi which I just loved. So at Home, I make two types of upma one is the Maharashtrian style upma ...and the other one is the Andhra style upma...which I am blogging today. You can also check my other post on Upma - Maharashtrian Style.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rava/suji/semolina
• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 tea spoon finely chopped ginger
• 2 finely chopped green chillies
• 5-6 curry leaves
• 1/2 tea spoon mustard
• 1/2 tea spoon jeera
• 1 tea spoon peanuts
• 2 tea spoon cashew nuts
• 1/2 tea spoon chana dal
• 1/2 tea spoon hing
• salt to taste
• 2 table spoon oil
• 2 table spoon fresh grated coconut
• 1 table spoon finely chopped coriander leaves
• 5 cups water
• 1-2 tea spoon ghee

Method:

Heat a kadai and dry roast rava for five to eight minutes stirring continuously, till a nice aroma comes out. Don't let the rava turn brown. Remove from heat and keep aside.

Now, heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds when they splutter, add cumin seeds, peanuts, cashew nuts, chana dal, ginger, curry leaves, green chillies and hing. Fry for a minute.

Add chopped onion, fry till its turns transparent.

Now, add 5 cups water and salt. Once the water starts boiling, add grated coconut and coriander leaves. Mix well.

Add the roasted rava/semolina slowly little by little, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming.

Cover and cook till the rava absorbs the water and becomes slightly thick, thick dosa batter consistency (as shown in the picture below). Add ghee and mix. Please note that the upma gets thick once it becomes cold. So, it is better to have when it is really hot.

Now turn off the heat. Your upma is now ready to be served.

 

Serve hot with Tomato pachadi.

Tomato Chutney/ Tomato Pachadi

Tomato Chutney/ Tomato Pachadi

This is tasty and simple to prepare chutney. I basically make it with Andhra style upma, but it goes well with dosa, idli, rice etc.

Ingredients:

For Chutney/Pachadi:

• 4 finely chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 tea spoon mustard
• 1/4 tea spoon cumin
• 2 dry red chillies
• 2 tea spoon oil
• 4 garlic
• 1 tea spoon chopped ginger
• 1 table spoon cashew nuts or channa dal
• 2 inch tamarind
• 4 chopped green chillies
• 6 curry leaves
• 1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
• 1 tea spoon urad dal
• 2 tea spoon chopped mint
• 1 cup water
• a pinch hing

For Tempering:

• 1/4 tea spoon mustard
• 6 curry leaves
• 2 dry red chillies
• a pinch hing
• 1/2 tea spoon urad dal
• 1 1/2 tea spoon oil

Method:

Heat oil in pan, add mustard seeds. When they splutter, add cumin seeds, urad dal, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, curry leaves, green chillies, cashew nuts or chana dal, hing and tamarind. Fry for some time till the cashew nuts change colour.

Now add chopped tomatoes, and cook till the tomatoes turn soft.

Add 1 cup water and once it starts boiling add coconut and mint leaves.

Cook till the water is absorbed.


Cool and add it in a grinder and grind it into a fine paste with a bit of water and transfer it into a bowl.

Heat oil in a pan add mustard seed, when they splutter, add urad dal. Allow it to turn red. Now add dry red chilly, curry leaves and hing and turn off the heat.

Now pour this tempering on the chutney.

Serve with upma, dosa, idli etc...



Mooli Paratha/Radish Paratha

Mooli Paratha/Radish Paratha

 Mooli Paratha, is popular in most regions of Northern India and the Punjab.


Ingredients:

For Stuffing:

• 2 medium radish/mooli along with its leaves
• 1/2 table spoon red chilly powder
• 1/2 tea spoon cumin powder
• 1/2 tea spoon coriander powder
• 2 finely chopped green chillies
• salt to taste

For Dough:

• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 table spoon ghee
• salt to taste
• oil for frying

Method:

For Stuffing:

Grate mooli/radish and finely chop its leaves. Apply salt and mix all of it together. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Radish will leave some juice. Squeeze out the extra juice from the mooli mixture. Do not throw the juice, reserve it. It can be later used for making the dough.

Now mix in green chillies, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilly powder and salt if required.

For Dough:

Sieve atta and rub in two table spoon of ghee. Add in the reserved juice, salt and knead into a stiff dough. Add water if necessary.

For paratha:

Take a palm full of dough to form a small ball, dust the board with some wheat flour and roll the dough with a rolling pin gently to form a small chapati. Place the mooli filling in the centre of the dough.

Now close the dough from all the sides to form a small modak (Dumpling). As shown in the picture below. If there is some extra dough on top remove it and seal it properly.

Now, turn the ball upside down, dust the board with wheat flour and flatten the stuffed dough using a rolling pin, gently flatten it to form a thick round circle. Do not make the parathas very thin. Be careful not to be too hard or the filling may come out.

Heat a tawa/griddle and fry the paratha with oil or ghee from both the sides on a medium flame. When both the sides turn golden brown your paratha is ready to be served.

Serve hot with dahi, raita, pickle, butter or sauce.

Shahi Kofta Curry



Shahi Kofta Curry



"A very rich kofta curry recipe"

Potato koftas stuffed with paneer, khava (Khoya), nuts and raisins. I thought of making malai kofta curry but didnt have enough paneer so made shahi kofta curry as it doesn't require much paneer. But,very soon I will upload malai kofta curry recipe.

Ingredients:

For Kofta:

• 500 grams potatoes (4-5 potatoes)
• 4 tea spoon cornflour
• salt to taste

For Stuffing:

• 100 grams khoya/khava
• 100 paneer
• 2 table spoon chopped cashew nuts
• 1 table spoon raisins

For Gravy:

• 500 grams onions (4 -5 onions)
• 250 grams tomato ( 2-3 tomatoes)
• 40 grams cashew nuts
• 2 tea spoon ginger and garlic paste
• 2 tea spoon garam masala
• 1 tea spoon dhaniya powder/coriander powder
• 2 tea spoon red chilly powder
• 1/4 tea spoon haldi/turmeric
• 1 cup dahi/yogurt whisked
• 1/2 cup fresh malai whisked
• oil as required
• salt to taste

For Garnishing:

• 100 grams ready made fresh cream
• finely chopped coriander leaves

Method:

For koftas:

Boil potatoes, peel and grate. Add corn flour and salt, knead well and keep aside.

Mash paneer and khoya, add chopped cashew nuts, raisins and salt. Mix well.

Flatten the potato mixture in a semi thick round shape. Stuff it with khoya and paneer stuffing in the centre and cover nicely by joining all the edges. Make smooth round koftas. Repeat the same with all the remaining dough.

Heat oil in a kadai, deep fry all the koftas till golden brown and keep aside.

For gravy:

Cut and boil onions in water. Strain water and grind to make a fine paste. Keep it aside.

Boil tomatoes in water. Strain the water, peel and grind it into a nice puree. Keep it aside.

Grind cashew nuts into a powder. Keep it aside.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add in the onion paste. Fry till the colour changes slightly.

Now add ginger and garlic paste. Fry for a minute, then add coriander powder, cashew nuts powder, red chilly powder, garam masala powder and fry for another minute.

Add curd, malai and stir. Add 3 cups hot water, salt to taste and boil till the gravy slightly thickens. Now add in the koftas, stir.

Garnish it with fresh cream and coriander leaves and serve immediately. 

Note:

• If you a serving the dish later do not add the koftas earlier. Add them just before serving as they may split into halves and might get difficult to heat. Before adding the koftas boil the gravy and then add in the koftas.
• If the koftas break while frying add some more corn flour to the potato mixture.



Sabudana Thalipeeth

Sabudana Thalipeeth



Sabudana Thalipeeth (Sago pancakes) is a popular and traditional Maharashtrian dish. It is made of sago/sabudana and prepared mainly during fasting.

These crispy thalipeeth simply melts in mouth and are very filling. It can be made for breakfast or a meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sabudana
• 2 boiled, peeled and mashed potatoes
• 4-5 green chillies coarsely ground
• 3 table spoon roasted peanut powder
• 2-3 tea spoon sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 table spoon coriander leaves,finely chopped
• oil for frying

Method:

Wash the sabudana and soak in water overnight (or) for about 4-5 hours. Make sure you add enough water to cover the sabudana. The water should be just half inch above sabudana.

Mix together sabudana, mashed potato, green chilly paste, salt, sugar, roasted peanut powder and coriander leaves. Mix properly.
 

Spread 1 table spoon of oil on a tava/ kadai, (If you are using non-stick tava, no need of greasing it, you can add oil later). Take a hand full ball of dough and pat it on the tava. Using your palm and fingers flatten the dough into a round even disk of 1/2 inch thickness. Make 5 small holes to thalipeeth so that it can cook evenly.You can apply some oil on your palm and fingers to make the patting easier.

Now cover and cook on a medium flame till it gets brown and crispy. No need of flipping it over as we cover, it gets cooked by itself.

Thalipeeth is now ready. Serve it hot with thick curd.