Paneer Makhani

Courtesy khanakhazana.com :)

Ingredients

• I kg ripe tomatos. (I used 1 can of tomato puree )
• 1/2 kg paneer
• 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 1tsp red chilly powder
• 1/2 tsp bhuna jeera powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
• 5 flowers of mace (known as javitri.)
• 10 green cardamom
• salt to taste
• 100 gm butter(preferably white)
• 1 cup fresh cream
• 1 tsp kasoori methi
• 1tsp sugar
• Chopped dhania

Directions

1. Boil tomatos with mace and green cardamom for 5 minutes. I boiled the tomato puree with mace and green cardamom. (Tip: Tie the mace and green cardamom in a fine muslin cloth and make a knot and drop it in the pot. This makes sure the flavour is imparted but saves you time from handpicking every cardamom and  mace flower)
2. Then take out mace and cardamom and make a puree of tomatoes.
3. In a pan heat half of butter and add ginger-garlic paste, and fry well.
4. Add tomato puree and fry. Reduce it by 1/4 th in quantity.
5. Add red chilly, garam masala. jeera powder.
6. Add salt and sugar and remaining butter and cook for a minutes.
7. Add paneer cubes and fry a little.
8. Now add fresh cream and kasuri methi.
9. Kasuri methi should be dry roasted and crushed.
10. Mix it well and cook for another 2 minutes.
11. Decorate with chopped dhania.

Sevai Kheer- Vermicelli Pudding

It was one of those days when basically you have had a rough day at work and you feel like coming home to something warm and you keep thinking "aaj kuch meetha khane ka mann kar raha hai"(Dir Trans: I feel like having something sweet)
I rumbled through the food cupboard and found a sevai (vermicelli) packet and decided to do little R&D about Vermicelli kheer. This is my version made with whatever ingredients I had in my storage.

Ingredients:

1. Around 1 litre milk
2. 1/2 cup fine vermicelli ( I dont break my vermicelli because i like the strands to be long but upto you because it is difficult frying them when they are long)
3. 1 tsp. ghee
4. 1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
5. Around 3/4 cup sugar
6. 1,2 green elaichi (green cardamom) pods
7. 10 almonds, blanched and thinly slivered. Cut another 5 and keep them aside . We will use them for garnish

I love almonds so I use only almonds. You can use any nuts that you like, cashews , pistachios etc


Preparation :
1. Heat ghee in a deep kadhai or pan.
2. Add elaichi pods and fry them for like 30 secs.
2. Add the vermicelli and slightly roast it ensuring it doesnt get too dark/burnt
3. Heat milk in a separate burner.
4. Add hot milk to the pan containing the vermicelli, stir gently to bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat and  allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
6. Add the sugar.
7. Add cardamom, cardamom, and  almonds.
8. Garnish with more almonds (you know i love almonds by now :)
9.Put in the fridge and serve it cold (You can serve it hot as well though my suggestion is to serve it chilled)

Until the next recipe , Keep cooking and smiling :)

The love affair continues- Mongolian Beef

Ingredients:

1. Beef- around 3/4th of a pound

2. Cornflour- 2 tb sp

3. ginger -3/4th piece cut into small pieces

4. Garlic - 6 cloves cut into small pieces

5. Beans- cut diagonally ( you can add brocolli, carrots)

6. Onions - 1 sliced

7. Soya sauce - 1 cup

8. Chillies- 1 Sliced

9. Canola oil ( you can use peanut oil as well.)

10. Sugar - 3 large tbsp

Preparation

For the Mongolian Sauce

1. In a pan , add 2tbsp of oil . As soon as it heats up then add the chopped ginger and garlic

2. As soon as the fragrance of the garlic and the ginger come through then add 1 cup of soya sauce and half cup of water. The ratio of soya sauce to water is 2:1. Next stir in the sugar and then let the sauce boil. Turn it off when the sauce reduces to half and reaches a thickish consistency

For the beef

1. Cut the beef into thin bite sized pieces and coat them with Corn flour.

2. Add some oil and when the oil heats up then fry the beef pieces till you see them turn golden brown

3. Take them out and then dry them in a tissue paper

4. Next in the same pan( no need to add extra oil) add the onions, chillies and beans. Stir fry for a minute or two.

5. Next add the beef and fry it for like 30 secs

6. Now add in the sauce to the beef

Serve it hot with rice.Until the next recipe , Keep cooking and smiling :)

Doi Chicken

I call this dish doi chicken because I add doi ie curd in Bengali to its marinade. Preparation time is around 40 minutes but is well worth the effort J
Ingredients:

1. Chicken breasts- I used 3 small chicken breast pieces cut into medium sized pieces
2. Onions –1 large onion chopped finely
3. Ginger Garlic paste -3 tbsp(My tablespoon is small :) so if you have a big one kindly use 2 tbsp)
4. Chicken Masala- 4 tbsp. I use Badshah Chicken Masala. Ok im not out to endorse any brand but I like this chicken masala because it has a wonderful taste. Everest Chicken Masala will also do

5. Curd- 3 tbsp
6. Sugar - 1 teaspoon
7. Tomatoes –half a tomato
8. Baby potatoes- 6-7 pieces
9. Oil- 3-4 tbsp

Preparation

1. Marinade the chicken with curd and chicken masala. Ensure that the chicken pieces are properly coated with the marinade. Let the chicken rest for some time, say about half an hour while you go about the rest of the dish. You can always keep it for more because the longer you keep the longer the chicken soaks in all the lovely marinade.

2. Next cut the baby potatoes into half. Add some oil into the pan and we shall fry them for some time till they are almost 75% cooked. This is to ensure that the potatoes get cooked because chicken hardly takes much time to cook. Once they are done take them out and set them aside.

3. Now in the same oil( add in some extra oil ) add the sugar. This is an imp step because it not only gives flavor but also colour to the dish. Ensure that the sugar does not get burnt. The moment the sugar turns little brown in the oil. Add in the onions and ginger garlic paste. Fry them for 2-3 minutes till the onions are soft.
4. Next add in the remaining chicken masala and fry them for another 2-3 minutes till the "powdery"ness of the masala goes away and you can smell the aroma of the cooked masala engulfing your kitchen

5. Now, add in the chicken and now begins the process of what is known as "kasoing" which means to keep stirring your chicken. Remember the more you Kaso the morethe flavours assimilate. You will begin to notice that the juices of the chicken begin to come out. Kaso it for a good 7-8 minutes.
6. Add in the tomatoes and the potatoes and then kaso again for another 5-6 minutes
7. Add salt to taste

8. Add chopped coriander as garnish and your doi chicken is ready. You can serve it with pulao or with roti. I hope you enjoy making this. Until the next recipe, Keep cooking and Smiling :)

Yin And Yang Chicken

This dish takes about 15-20 minutes to prepare and should be had with slightly sticky rice preferably jasmine rice for best results :)

Ingredients :
a)1 chicken breast is enough for 2 meals for me. Cut the chicken into medium to small sized pieces. Vegetarians can also use tofu
b)3-4 long stalks of celery cut into small 2 inch pieces(Damn you get good celery in Uncle Sam's).
For this dish, I put celery and chicken in a 1:1.5 ratio .

(Here's the deal with celery. You do not eat the leaves and you need to ensure that when you cut the celery, you remove some of the string'y fibres running across its length. For that cut a small piece from the back of the celery stick(not fully through and through) and break it across its front length and you will see a fibrous stringy thing coming out.

c) Sugar- 2 tbsp(either brown or white will do)
d) Salt - 1teaspoon
e) Red chillies- I choose red because it offsets the green colour of the celery and my dish is given the necessary heat and looks good as well. Red chillies cut into juliennes

f) Ginger- 1 small piece cut into juliennes
g) Onions- half an onion cut into juliennes as well
h) Soya sauce- I use Kikkoman soya sauce. It is the best soy sauce this side of the world though i think back home we believe Sing Cheung from Kolkata make the best soy sauce.

Preparation
1) Put some oil in the pan. I used olive oil so i can be generous with it though next time i am going to try with sesame oil. It will bring a nutty flavour to the dish. Avoid something strong like mustard oil( my personal opinion). Otherwise any oil will do.
2) Next add the onions, ginger, chillies and saute them for 2-3 minutes till the onions become soft and you can smell the flavours coming through

3) Next add the chicken in and saute for some 4-5 minutes till the chicken is cooked.

4) Add in the celery next and then stir fry it for another 2 minutes

5) Add in the soy sauce-2 swirls of it around the pan. Then add in the sugar and the salt. Bring it to a mini boil after 2-3 mins. This is your sauce and voila we are done :). Until next recipe, Keep cooking and smiling !!

Chicken in love with itself and a tomato and chicken broth gravy

This is the Indian version of meat balls ( i had earlier made spaghetti with meat balls). It takes about 20minutes and its a lot of fun to cook and superb to eat. I loved it !!

Ingredients:
a) Ground /minced Chicken or Beef- i used about 100gms(makes about 12 balls)
b) Everest Chicken Masala
c) Diced Onions-1
d) Diced Tomatoes- 1and half
e) Ginger garlic paste- 1teaspoon
f)Salt
g) Pepper
h) Bread crumbs or plain bread will do (i used the multigrain bread)

i) Egg -1

j) Coriander

Preparation:

1) Mix the chicken with the egg, salt ,pepper,1 teaspoon of chicken masala,1/2 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste, breadcrumbs and you can also add a little oil.

2) Put some oil in the pan(remember you are not deep frying them so add accordingly) and make small / big (your choice) balls. Fry them on both sides for 3-4 mins per side(if chicken ) and 6-7mins(if beef).

3) Erm I kinda eat as i cook so i ate some of the fried balls by squeezing some lime wedges over it.
4)Now in the same pan you can add some more oil.Add the onions and the remaining half teaspoon of ginger garlic paste and saute it till the onions are soft.
5)Now add in 2/3rd teaspoon of chicken masala powder. I also add in a dash of chilli powder because i like it lil spicy. You can choose to omit it.Sautee it till the masala gets cooked.
6)Now add in the tomato. Mash it with the back of your spatula as you cook it say for about 5-6 minutes till you get a fine paste.
7)Now add in some chicken broth / stock. You can use veg stock also. I have both but i wanted to use chicken .

8)The gravy should look something like the pic below(if not then keep trying ;))

9)Let the gravy simmer for a minute and then add in the remainin meat balls. Just cook them in medium heat for about 2-3 minutes. Garnish with coriander(i didnt have any so had to make do without them but please add it in if you do have)

 10) To be had strictly with rice and with hand. No spoon and fork business please. For the ones who have it,a dash of dalle and bamboo shoot ka achaar on the side and did I say one is in heaven.

 Leave your feedback and comments. Let me know if you added some new ingredient to it which altered the taste. Id be more than willing to try it out. Till then ,Keep cooking and smiling :)