Nawabi Paneer

Today I’m sharing a recipe, which made my husbands taste buds dance. Oh yah! In my house I’m the one who always talk about eating healthy & the exact opposite version is my husband. He loves recipes filled with ghee, cheese & all the dishes filled with lots of fat. Now with opposites we try to maintain a very good balance in our food habits. Most of the time it runs my way with healthy food but sometimes it’s his way too.

So coming to the dish it is his way of having healthy dish & he just loved it. This recipe is filled with richness of cashew, sesame & peanuts at the same time with creaminess of paneer.

Ingredients

2 Cups diced paneer (Square/Triangle)

1 cup sliced onions

3 Tbs tomato paste

½ Cup green peas

½ Cup coconut milk

¼ Tsp turmeric

2 Tsp red chili powder

Salt

1 Tbs ghee

Coriander leaves for garnish

For masala paste

2 Tomatoes chopped

1 Tsp jeera seeds

1 Tbs coriander seeds

2 Tbs peanuts

8 to 10 Tbs cashew nuts

1 Tsp sesame seeds

1 Tsp poppy seeds

2 Cloves

2 Cardamoms

1 inch cinnamon piece

1 Inch ginger

4 Garlic pods

1 Tbs ghee

Heat pan with ghee. To that add all the masala paste ingredients other than tomatoes & cashew nuts. Fry them for couple of mins. (Don’t over fry them) Switch off heat & allow them to cool. In a mixer add the roasted ingredients along with tomatoes & cashew nuts. Grind it to smooth paste.

Heat pan with1 tbs ghee  & add paneer cubes to pan. Fry them till they are well fried both sides. Remove them & keep aside. To the same pan add 1 tbs ghee & add the onions. Fry them till they are translucent. To that add the ground masala, peas, coconut milk, tomato paste, turmeric, red chili powder & salt. Bring them to boil on low heat. If desired add 1 cup water to get the gravy consistency. Last add the paneer cubes to gravy & cook it with closed lid for 10mins. Garnish it with the coriander leaves & it’s ready to serve.

Serve warm with chapati or roti.

Note: 

For little healthier version you can replace paneer with tofu.

I added tomato paste to get the color. You can totally exclude it if you don't have it.

Check my other Blogging Marathon friends here.

Bisi Bele Bath

Bisi bele bath is one of my hubby's favorite dishes. Mostly I make it on lazy weekends to wind up my cooking section fast. I love replacing Indian rice with Korean rice, as it is sticky & flavorful. There is nothing much to say about this recipe as almost everyone would have made & tasted it.

Ingredients 

3 Cups cooked rice

½ Cup toor dal

1 Big onion sliced

3 Big tomatoes chopped

3 Carrots grated

½ cup green peas

1 Tbs tamarind pulp (Adjust accordingly)

2 Tsp red chili powder (Adjust accordingly)

¼ Tsp turmeric

1 Tbs bisi bele bath powder / sambar powder

½ Cup coconut cream / coconut milk

¼ Tsp sugar

1 Tbs olive oil

Salt

Seasoning

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs peanuts

1 Tbs channa dal

1 Tbs urad dal

1 Tbs mustard & jeera

5 Red chilis
1Tsp hing

Few Curry leaves

For Bisi bele bath powder 

1/2 Tbs chana dal

1/2 Tbs urad dal

2 Tbs dhaniya (Coriander seeds)

¼ Tsp methi (Fenugreek seeds)

4 Red chilis

3 Cloves

2 Elachi

1 Inch cinnamon stick

2 Marathi mogga

¼ Cup curry leaves

Heat a pan with one-tablespoon oil. Add onions to pan & fry them till they turn translucent. To that add tomatoes, carrots & peas & sauté them for 5 mins. Switch off heat & allow it to cool. (Sautéing the veggies enhances the taste) Now pressure-cook toor dal & sautéed veggies for 2 whistles.Heat a pan & dry roast the powder ingredients. Switch off heat & let them cool before grinding.

Take a wide pan or a bigger vessel to mix the rice & toor dal.  Heat the pan with two tablespoons of oil & to that channa dal, urad dal & peanuts. Fry them well & last add mustard & jeera, redchillis, curry leaves & hing. To that add the toor dal mixture along with 4 cups water. Now add the tamarind, turmeric, red chilli powder, bisi bele bath powder, coconut cream or coconut milk, sugar & Salt. Mix them well & taste it for the flavors. Now slowly mix the cooked rice to the gravy. If necessary add another 2cups water & bring it boil. Allow it cook on low heat for 10mins & switch off heat.

Serve warm with papad or boondi. 
Check my other Blogging Marathon friends here.

Tofu Omelette | Vegan Omelette

Breakfast is made very simple at my home. We have 2 slices of bread along with fresh juice. So there is never a big preparation for it. Most of the time the south indian tiffins end up becoming our dinner.
I came across this vegan omelette recipe & decided making it as a lunch side. I'm not vegan, I love eggs & love anything made with them. I can never imagine replacing egg omelette with anything. But this recipe just won my heart & undoubtedly with no hesitation I loved it. I did a lot of googling for a perfect recipe & in process of making it made a lot of blunders too. The taste was similar to omelette & was just yum. All I want to say is that give it a try you will love it.

Ingredients

½ Pack silken tofu

3 Tbs chickpea flour / Besan

2 Tbs coconut milk

1 Tbs cornstarch

½ Tsp minced garlic

2 Tsp red chili

1 Tbs soya sauce 

2 Tsp sesame oil

Pinch of turmeric

Salt

Filling 

Few sundried tomatoes

½ Cup grilled onions

1 Tbs basil leaves

In a bowl mix all the ingredients to a smooth batter leaving few chunks of tofu. Leave the filling behind which we will use it later.

Heat a non-stick pan with oil. First pour the batter on the skillet & in circular motion spread the batter. Let it cook in medium heat. You can see some small hole in between. Once the edges starts browning carefully lift the omelet & reverse it.

Check for the edges to be brown. Now spread the filling one by one on the omelet & close it half way. Cook it in low heat for 2mins to 3mins & switch off heat. Serve it warm.

Below is the tofu scramble. Buy adding another ½ cup of tofu to the above recipe you can get a scramble. I avoided tomatoes to the dish & went a head with onions & basil for scramble.

Enjoy this healthy dish as a breakfast or along with lunch as a side dish.

Soya Kheema Muttur Curry

I'm a vegetarian who loves eggs & dairy. So I like to call myself as a Ovo-lacto vegetarian (as defined by wiki). Now there are days when I jumped to being a vegan & tried very hard to maintain it too. Very soon I learnt that I could never do that so left it to woods. Life was easy being a vegetarian because we do have lots of supplements for meat products & also creates a perception that we are eating healthy.

Coming to the recipe I made a kheema mutter curry-replacing meat with soya chunks. It tasted awe some & was a good combo for roti.

Ingredients

1 Cup dry soya chunks/ meal maker

1 Cup green peas

1 Tbs Ginger garlic paste

1 Medium onion chopped

2 Medium ripe tomatoes chopped (Replacement for lemon juice)

1 Tbs cumin coriander powder

1 Tbs red chili powder (Adjust acc.)

3 Tbs sesame oil

1 Tsp garam masala powder

3 Tbs fresh coriander leaves

Salt 

Heat a big pot of water. Bring water to boil. To that add soya chunks & cook them for 5mins. Switch off heat & be careful while handling it. Filter the soya chunks & let them cool for some time. Now cut them in to small pieces which just looks like a mince of meat or a little larger than that is also fine.. Now the soya kheema is ready

Heat a wide pan with oil. To that add onions & fry them till they are light brown. Add ginger garlic paste & tomatoes to pan. Stir fry them & add then add soya kheema, peas, garam masala, salt, coriander leaves, cumin coriander & red chili powder. Sautee them for few seconds & to that add coconut cream along with ½ cup of water. Cook on low heat with closed lid for 10mins.

Mix well the ingredients & check if the peas are done. Cook on a low heat with lid open for 5mins & switch off heat.

Serve it warm & it's just yum. 
Check my other Blogging Marathon friends here.