Paneer – Peas Curry

It’s been a long time since I sat down to write a post about this and that. I’ve been busy at work and busy preparing for our upcoming trip to India. But the pressure is mounting.. My mom told me the other day that our neighbor in India asked her why I haven’t blogged any recipes lately. Well, I have been actually clicking away as and when I think I have made something that looks good and something that I think others would like to try.
We at home love Paneer. It a favorite amongst my kids and my husband really likes Palak Paneer. The other day my friend N gave my tastebuds a jolt with a fiery curry she had made – Paneer Peas curry which she brought for lunch in her lunchbox. I just loved it and had to try her recipe at home. What’s best was that this recipe was ever so simple!

Paneer Peas Curry If you have pre-made Paneer at home then that’s great. If not store bought frozen paneer will also do the trick. I usually like to use dried, soaked Peas for this recipe. The Frozen peas that we get here are so sweet that I don’t like using an abundance of them in any dish. It just makes the dish too sweet. I usually soak a whole bunch of dried Peas (or Vatana) overnight. Drain and put them in a freezer safe box or a Ziploc bag and stash them away in the freezer. And as and when I need, I just thaw a bunch of them and use them in whatever dish I’m making.

Paneer – Chop into cubes – 2 cups
Soaked and drained dried peas – 2 cups
1 big onion – Chopped into cubes
1 big tomato – Chopped into cubes
3 cloves garlic – Peeled
1 tbsp Ginger – Washed and peeled
½ tsp Peppercorns
2 sprigs Coriander or Cilantro leaves
2 cloves
1 inch cinnamon
½ cup homemade curds
½ tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
2 tsp Dhaniya Powder
¼ tsp Garam Masala powder
½ cup Oil
Salt to taste

Method:
Cook the soaked peas with enough water in an open pan until well cooked. Drain and keep aside.
In a pan, heat 2 tsp Oil. Add the cloves, cinnamon, pepper, ginger and garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Then add the chopped onion and sauté until light brown. Then add the chopped Tomato and sauté until mushy. Add the washed cilantro and mix. Turn off stove and cool this mixture. Then blend this mixture in a blender or a mixer until smooth.
In a pan, heat the remaining oil. Add the ground paste and sauté for about 5 to 10 minutes on medium heat stirring continuously. Add all the dry powders and mix well. Beat the curds with a fork and then add the curds to this. Saute for another 5 minutes. Then add salt to taste, the cooked peas, chopped paneer and mix well but gently. Add some more chopped cilantro to garnish. Serve hot with chapathis or Puris.

Paneer Peas Curry with Parathas

Happy Diwali

A very Happy and Prosperous Diwali to all my readers and dear blogger friends. Diwali brings back many memories for me. Before I go into a story about my past let me start with the present. Today, I was kind off low and was upset about the fact that I am not at home with my folks back in India to celebrate this festival that is so dear to my heart. To add to this sinking feeling was the fact that I had 3 loads of unfolded laundry sitting at home. Laundry I couldn’t get to in time over the weekend. I hate it when my home is cluttered and time is such a factor. By the end of the evening I am exhausted and even though my mind is racing, physically I am unable to cope. So anyways, all this and more to add to my list of woes. As I came into the house with my kids, I plonked myself on the couch and told my daughters that “I’m really sad and I want to see my Mom and Dad and want to be home in India for Diwali”. To this my 4 ½ year old chirped “That’s ok mom. You have your children, you can be happy!” What can I say!
I picked my spirits up and decided that it’s all in our minds. I had to get going and make it special for my family. And drawing inspiration from all my blogger friends who had started posting their delicious creations, I ventured into the kitchen to try my hand at making the stuff that I suck at… Sweets!
I was going to make Saffron's Besan Burfi, but one thing led to another and it ended up being Besan Ladoo!

Delicious Besan Ladoo - A Diwali TreatTo make the Besan ladoos:
Besan or Chick Pea Flour - 4 cups
Sugar - 2.5 cups
Ghee - 2 cups
Some raisins and cashew halves - Roasted in ghee
Cardamom powder - a pinch

In a heavy bottomed pan, roast the besan with about 1/2 cup of ghee on a low flame. Keep stirring and make sure you roast the besan well. Almost golden brown. A wonderful aroma will waft through when you roast the besan. Then add the sugar, a pinch of cardamom powder, the roasted nuts and the remaining ghee. Mix well to ensure that there are no lumps. Turn off the stove and set aside to cool slightly. When the mixture is still lukewarm, take a small quantity and roll into golf ball sized rounds. Store on a plate and allow to cool completely. Delicious Besan Ladoos are ready.

Delicious Besan Ladoo
I remember many a Diwali at home back in India where we would wake up at 3:00 a.m in the morning, unable to contain the excitement of the festival ahead. Diwali mornings always started at our home in the wee hours of the morning where mom would wake us up, and we would wake up to the strains of Nadaswaram music. The kids in our street would always compete at who would be the first to burst the first set of fireworks!
Our morning started with Nalugu (or Nalangu in Tamil) where mom would have us sit in a row in front of the God’s room (Alter as we know it here). She would have two bowls, one with a paste of turmeric and another with a paste of kumkum. And another bowl would contain warm Sesame Oil. She would first smear our feet with turmeric paste and then make a design on our feet with the red kumkum paste. Then would be a warm oil massage. We would then go out to burst a few fireworks just before our long and laborious baths. Then mom would do a long pooja, meanwhile my grandma and aunt would toil in the kitchen to make a scrumptious breakfast of idli, vada, chutney and sambar. Then it would be some more toiling to make a hearty meal for lunch. After pooja and Naivedyam we would get to taste all the goodies, wear our new clothes and go off to play and burst fireworks on the street. My favorites were the sparklers, flower pots and chakras or little spinning wheels. Oh, how I miss those times.
Evenings, we would go to a close by temple in all our grandeur and spend the later part lighting up some serious fireworks.
I wish that some day I can take my kids to India to experience the charm and festivities of Diwali. The food, the people, the clothes and the sound and smell of fireworks mingled with the aroma of all the goodies! A thought and an aroma never to be forgotten!
For now, the besan ladoo's will do :-) Once again, happy Diwali to all.
This is my entry to the Jihva for Diwali Treats event hosted by Vee of Past,Present and Me.

Weekend Culinary Experiments

I have been busy this weekend. After a really long time I had some friends over for dinner last night. Seems like I have lost touch with cooking for a big group. I was unable to whip up everything like I usually do. I spent a good part of yesterday in the kitchen and at the end of it I felt like ... "Thats it! This is all I made ?". Maybe because it was that all the recipes I cooked were new to me. So I spent time reading the recipe and following exact directions. So here goes .. a gist of all what I made.

First, I must start with this... On Wednesday night last week, we came back from school/work and we were really hungry and cold. And Isha my older one suggested "How about we have some soup?" If you know me, then you would know that I am not the kind who stocks up on soups. I dont like the canned soups as much. They are too high in sodium and am not sure what preservatives go into them. Nothing like a bowl of good old homemade soup. I quickly logged on and started looking for some different soups that I could make. I looked at Asha's recent soup fair. But unfortunately I did not have most of the ingredients needed for her soups. Then I looked at Saffron's Minestrone Soup. I quickly went down to my pantry and refrigerator and dished out most what I needed. I did not have any spinach.. thanks to the E-coli scare, but I thought it would be fine without the spinach. And so I got started... And boy what a delicious soup it made. And so quickly.. It was yumm, except that I made it a tad bit spicier with all the chilli flakes I threw in there and my daughter was slurping it up even with her nose leaking because of the spice!

Ingredients for Saffron's Minestrone Soup

Saffron's Minestrone Soup
And then, for yesterday's appetizer I made Sailu's Ulli Pakoda's. But unfortunately, my guests started arriving right when I was finishing up make the Pakoda's and they were so delicious that they cheesed them off even before I could get to taking some pictures! Thanks Sailu for teaching me to make the exact version of pakoda's ..the kind available in the streets of India! Spicy and Delicious.

And then, my main course consisted of Pooris, Asha's Masala Eggs ,Prema's Delicious Potatoes ,My Vegetable Pulav , Cucumber Raita, White Rice, Indira's Red Bell Pepper Chutney , Tomato Rasam and Fresh Homemade Curds. For desert my dear friend S made delicious Oriental Fruit Salad and my friend R was kind enough to bring us some yummy Frozen Custard from Sheridans Frozen Custard. Want to see how the experiments looked ? Delicious! See for yourself :-)

Asha's Masala Eggs

Prema's Potato Curry

Indira's Red Bell Pepper Chutney
Thank you dear blogger friends for all those delicious and innovative recipes. That's all folks! Hope you guys had a good time reading about my culinary experiments!

Quick and Spicy Egg Biryani

This dish is an easy rice and egg recipe that can be made when you are in a hurry. I invariably make this for our lunch boxes when I am out of ideas, out of vegetables, out of time.... So anyways, this is a wholesome and tasty meal for lunch boxes. It has a wonderful blend of spices that gives it a delicious aroma.

Spicy Egg Biryani
Ingredients:
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 3 Eggs
• 1 big Onion - chopped lengthwise
• 1/2 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 3 tbsp oil

For the masala:
• 3 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick (dal chini)
• 1 tbsp cilantro (coriander leaves - chopped)
• 1/2 in number onion (chopped into rough cubes)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup mint leaves (washed) - optional

Method:
Cook the basmati rice in a rice cooker. I use the ratio 1 cup rice: 1.5 cup water. Boil the eggs until well cooked. Cool, peel and chop into cubes and keep aside.
Grind all the ingredients for the masala into a smooth paste by adding a little water.
In a pan, heat the oil. Then add cumin seeds, chopped onion. Sauté the onions until they are golden brown. Then add ground masala paste and sauté until the mixture is cooked and oil leaves sides. Then add the boiled rice and salt and mix. Chop the boiled eggs into cubes and add to the rice. Mix well. Serve Hot.

Spicy Egg Biryani
Hope you guys enjoy yet another simple and easy recipe!

Snippets of Life!

Yet another snippet of life? You guys must be thinking that I am off my bonkers! But you know, more than anything I love reflecting on conversations I have had with my kids, my husband or just anyone. I love analyzing conversations, analyzing people etc. Don’t get me wrong! I just like reading between the lines..its just me :-)
Anyways, yesterday my husband had an early morning meeting and it was decided that I would drop the kids off to their school. So I woke up early and got things ready..lunches packed, clothes set aside, kitchen counter scrubbed etc. Had my shower and then like my husband does, hand lifted my kids from their warm cozy beds and plonked them on the carpet right outside the bathroom door to get them out of their lazy, sleepy state! Isn’t this a really mean thing to do? I don’t like it, but hey it works like a charm. The 15 minutes I spend getting dressed and picking up stuff and straightening the beds, my kids are fully awake and usually whining by then, but awake neverthless!
So anyway, yesterday’s 15 minutes I spent lighting the God’s lamp and praying (No I am not that prompt and religious, but I had it down that it was Vijayadashami and I had to start the day good!). And then I popped the Sri Venkateshwara Suprabhatam CD by M.S Subbalaksmi into the player and turned my attention to my kids scrunched up outside the bathroom door. I picked up my 41/2 year old and took her inside the bathroom to brush her teeth. Have I told u about her? She’s a talker! Oh man, we spent the first 2 years of her life teaching her to talk and now we think - That was not such a great idea! She can take off with her stories from the minute she wakes up till the time she drops asleep late at night!
So anyway, as typical as she is, the moment I put the brush in her mouth she signaled for me to stop. I am like “What now! I don’t have time for this” And she goes “Mom, I have to tell u something”…I’m like “What is it Isha? Fast..” And she said “I here my friend singing, where is she?” And I had to laugh! Since when did M.S Subbalakshmi become her friend?
Another Snippet! Both my kids are obsessed with the movie Kal Ho Na Ho and the song Pretty Woman in the movie! Its constantly Pretty Woman in the car. And at home that’s their favourite DVD. I am so sick of that movie! So anyway, Aman – Shah Rukh’s character in the movie is Isha’s favorite. She got really upset when she saw him die in the movie. And she’s watched that scene only once. I usually turn off the TV at that point and she kept pestering me and calling me mean for not letting her watch the whole movie. So finally, one day I said “Ok Isha u can watch it!” And she sat through the scene of Aman in the hospital and came crying up to me … she said “I don’t want Aman to die, why isn’t Anna (she calls Naina (Preity’s character) – Anna) protecting him? She is his mom so she has to protect him!” For her ..every woman to someone relationship is a mom relationship. And every Man to someone relationship is a Dad relationship! Whew! She is slowly beginning to understand the concept of other relationships! And then she said “I don’t want Aman to die! I love him” :-) Then I had to explain to her that it was all pretend just like her silly games and that he was just acting. And then one day she saw him in one of the Ads – I think the Santro Car Ad and was happy that it was all pretend and he was fine! Now she never asks to watch the whole movie! But she talks about Aman, Rohit and Naina (oops Anna) all the time, just like they were our neighbours!
Hope that made you smile!

This weekend and a few days before that I tried a couple of recipes from my blogger friends but did not get a chance to blog about them, thanks to Navratri and other things... So here goes:

I tried Butter Murukku from Radhi's Kitchen. It was delicious and my kids loved it. Thanks Radhika.

Radhika's Butter Murukku
And then, I also tried Besan Dosa with Cilantro Chutney from Chandrika's Akshayapatra . It was quick and delicious and we loved it. Thanks Chandrika.

Chandrika's Besan Dosa and Coriander Chutney
Chandrika's Coriander Chutney
And then finally, I tried the Mooghambat fromAshwini's Food for Thought. It was delicious and tasted great with both rice and Chapathis. Thanks Ashwini.


Ashwini's Mooghambat