Paneer Bhurji

A simple recipe with paneer...Quick to make and delicious to have...

Paneer-1 cup(Grated/crumbled)
Onion-1/2 medium(finely chopped)
Tomato-1 medium(finely chopped)
Ginger-Garlic paste-1tsp
Curry leaves-few
Green Chili-1 no(Finely chopped)
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp
Red chili powder-1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Garam Masala-1/2 tsp
Coriander powder-3/4 tsp
Oil-1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method Of Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a wok,Fry the cumin seeds.
2. Add the onion,ginger-garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes.
3. Fry the chili,curry leaves and tomatoes till it becomes soft and pulpy. Add all the masala powders and salt and mix well and fry for a minute.
4. Add the grated paneer to this, mix well and then cook for 2 to 3 min till the spices get mixed. If needed you can add 1 to2 tbsp of water while adding paneer so that the spices are mixed properly.
5. Serve warm as side for rice.

Notes:
1. You can use your own spice mix.You can use just chaat masala,garam masala or anything.Can tweak it as you like.
2. Curry leaves can be replaced with coriander leaves.Dont cook it,use as a garnish.
3. Use fresh or store brought paneer.

Potato Masala

A quick and simple recipe which goes well  as a side with rotis and dosas...

Potato-2 big(boiled, cut to cubes)
Onion-1 medium(chopped to small pieces)
Green chillies-2 no(slit lengthwise)
Ginger-2 tsp(minced)
Curry leaves-few
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard-1 tsp
Urud dal/ Black gram-1 tsp
Oil-2 tbsp

Method Of Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a wok.Add the mustard once it sputters add  urud dal and turn golden.
2. Add onion to it along with ginger, curry leaves and green chilly. Fry them till onion turns slight pink,onion should not be over cooked.Then add the turmeric,salt and mix for a minute.
3. Add the cubed potatoes along with 2 to 3 tbsp of water.Mash a few of the cubed potatoes.Mix well and turn off the heat.
4. Serve with chapathi or as a filling for masala dosa.

Notes:
1. If you want a bit watery curry add little more water.
2. You can add carrot, green peas to this curry.

Drumstick leaves stir fry/Muringa ila Thoran

Drumstick leaves/Muringa ila-5 cup
Onion-1/2 piece(cut to small pieces)
Turmeric powder a pinch.
Garlic-2 cloves(minced)
Green chilli-1 no(minced)
Grated coconut-1/4 cup
Coconut oil-2 to 3 tsp
Salt to taste

Method Of Preparation:
1. Clean the leaves, separate it from thick stem, small stem is fine to eat. wash, drain and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok.Fry the onions till it turns light brown.
3. Add the washed leaves,turmeric and mix well along with salt.
4. Cook it closed on low till the leaves are  half cooked. Then add the garlic and mix well and cook completely.
5. Mix the coconut and green chilly nicely and keep aside.
6. Once leaf is cooked add the coconut mixture and mix well. Turn off the heat after a minute. Serve  with rice.

Notes:
1. Do not add water and cook leaf, water will be generated by leaf when cooked on low.
2. Garlic can be added by crushing it too.Also you can fry the garlic along with onion instead of adding it in between.
3. Do not overcook the leaf.It gets a bitter taste.
4. Adding turmeric is not compulsory.

Horse gram stir fry/Muthira upperi

Horse gram/ muthira-1 cup
Water to cook -approx. 3 to 4 cups
salt to taste
Turmeric-1/4 tsp
Mustard-1 tsp
Dry Red Chilli- 2 no
Coconut oil-1 tbsp
Curry leaves-few leaves
Onion-1/4 piece(cut to bits)

Method Of Preparation:
1. Pressure cook the horse gram with water, salt,turmeric.The horse gram should be cooked,but not mushy. It takes 3 to 4 whistles on low flame.
2. Heat oil in a wok, splutter the mustard, fry dry red chilly. Then add the onion and fry it till light brown.
Add curry leaves and cooked horse gram to it.
3. Mix well and let the water evaporate to get a dry stir fry. While adding the horse gram if it looks over cooked then do not add the water thats along with it.

Notes:
1. You can add grated coconut to this stir fry. In that case, at the final stage add the grated coconut and mix well.
2. While adding the coconut mix it well using your hand along with few curry leaves. That gives a nice flavor.

See What I Got!!!!

Hi Friends...
Many Of you know that I have won  the giveaway at Ria's space.And I am the luckiest person to get and taste the wonders of those hands. And trust me they are simply awesome...Hope I am not being rude but dear friends here is a visual treat for you all...:)

And Ria...Thanks for the wonderful goodies... :)

Guest Post

Few days back I got a mail asking if I can do a guest post ...I was speechless and dint react to the mail then...First of all I am a beginner  in cooking....secondly I was totally new to the whole stuff Guest Post.My hubby cleared my first doubt and the second one was cleared by Ajitha...so finally I decided to write..

The blog where I got the chance to do Guest Post is "The Saji"...A beautiful space with a variety of recipes...and lovely clicks...Do visit her space and checkout her beautiful recipes along with my Guest Post on a traditional festive sweet Modakam. 

So here are some clicks of the recipe...Do visit her space and check it out ;)

Mango Pickle

Mango is a fav fruit of many...I too am in that group...like them in any form..:) When I was a kid...dad would bring nice green mangoes that would be extremely sour....me and my sis would cut them to small cubes, mix with salt and bit of chilly powder,drizzle some coconut oil mix and finish off the whole bowl...Mom would be scolding us from one side.."you gals will get stomach ache and vomiting"...we will be acting as deaf to that...anyways we give two to three small pieces to dad as he is the one who brought us that and he is the one who is going to get scoldings from mom...Those golden days are all gone...now its just a sweet memory....which costs me some lonely smiles and sometimes which turns to huge laughter...hmmm if you think its true right ' Todays actions are tomorrows memories-some sweet...and some bitter...'.
Ok lets move on to the recipe...This is something that I can eat just like that.....

Raw mango-1 no(big)
Garlic-6 cloves(cut to bits)
Red chilli powder-1 tbsp
Asafoetida/ Hing-1/2 tsp
Fenugreek powder-1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard-1 tsp
Dry red chillies-2 no(break to halves)
Curry leaves-4 to 5 leaves
Sesame oil-1 tbsp

Method Of Preparation:
1. Wash the mango and wipe it with a dry cloth.
2. Cut it to small pieces and mix it with garlic, chilli powder, salt and keep aside.
3. Heat the oil in a wok and add mustard, curry leaves and dry red chillies. Once its done add asafoetida and fenugreek powder and turn off the heat and mix well.See that you do this process on low flame,else it gets burnt easily.
4.Once the oil mixture cools add that to the mango mixture and mix well.Check for salt.
5. keep in an air tight bottle and refrigerate after a day.

Notes:
1. See that there is no water in anything that you use,like cutting plate, bowls, curry leaves etc, else the pickle gets spoiled fast.
2. While using it see that you dont use spoons that is wet.
3. Garlic can be avoided if you dont like it. Either way it tastes good.
4. Add chilly powder according to your spice level.
5. If you mango is not sour you can add very little of vinegar to the pickle.I dont use this unless really neaded.

Potato stir fry

A simple stir fry...

Potato-1 big/4 to 5 small
Garlic chives/Garlic-1 no/3 cloves
Turmeric- 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder-1 tsp
Mustard-1 tsp
Cumin seeds-1/4 tsp
Dry red chilly-1 no
Salt to taste
Oil-2 tbsp

Method Of Preparation:
1. Clean and cut the potatoes to small cubes and the garlic chives to small pieces.
2. Heat oil in a wok, splutter mustards, cumin and dry red chilly.Then add garlic chives and fry for a second.
3. Add  the potatoes along with turmeric,salt and chilly powder and mix well. Cook on low flame with lid for 3 min.Remove the lid and mix it.Then cook open till the potatoes are soft and done.

4. Serve as a side for rice.

To know about Garlic Chives click here

Notes:

1. If you want it slightly crisp then add little more oil and do not close and cook.

Rasgulla

Hai friends...How are you all...Hope everyone had a superb long weekend..
As for me..I was at home this weekend taking so called rest..Yes..my hubby was kind enough to give me some rest and take care of the kid...eventually(and obviously) ended up  taking care of papa, son and house..:)An advantage was I dint cook...
Ok now why I am missing from blogging....As I said my son completed 1 year, he has become more interactive and I am totally enjoying moving around with him but with all these his mischief too has got doubled...I now always think the wordings 'boys are boys' and manage myself....His small pranks ..as told by his grandparents are..Climbing the sofa and trying to bend down from there..Throwing things out of the balcony...Turning the gas buttons..playing with food and drinks..All these are extras, along with  his all time mischief like working as an engineer, electrician , plumber still exists...:) So you all can imagine my situation...I am literally flying behind him..with cooking while he is asleep...which is just 30 min...:(
More over when ever I sit in front of system...his toys come flying on the keyboard and monitor...as they are on the table and he cant touch them...If after that mama doesn't get up from chair then he uses his weapons...teeth to bite the areas he can  access..:) So finally mama goes with him...seeing mama sitting simply he comes to me and gives me one of his toys and then resumes his play...so until papa comes mama is busy playing with him without even allowed to get up from the place where he has placed me...ya toys are changed by him frequently, seeing that mama is not bored with same toy..:)..So even though I am cooking regularly I am not able to write it and post...as I am not allowed to sit in front of system/read books for more than 5 mins..so I am not visiting your space regularly...sorry that's the only thing that I can say...Infact if time could be borrowed I would definitely do that to manage the stuffs...One more request...all moms there...do suggest me some methods to reduce kids dangerous pranks...like sofa climbing :). Now to the recipe..

Rasagulla is a sweet which I never liked when I ate it first time, Rubbery texture...and extreme sweetness..I was sure that this was not for me...Then after years I met my man....A lunch in the hotel...a dessert....I was all set to tell gulab jammun and the man next to me...'2 cups of rasgulla' to the waiter and turning towards me with a smile..."Thats my all time fav sweet..." he he he...I smiled thinking the law.."Unlike poles attract":)...Yes now my likes and dislikes have all changed to an extend...and I had tried this out many times at home using pressure cooker..with ok results...This time I tried using a vessel with lid and that was really good...many bloggers have done this and after searching long time..went with this process and am glad that I did.So here is the recipe..

Milk-2 cups
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Water-1 1/2 cups
Sugar-3/4 cup
Cardamom-2 no

Method Of Preparation:
1. Heat milk in a pan and bring it to boil, then add lemon juice and stir properly till milk curdles completely.
2. Take a muslin cloth and pour the curdled milk,collect the paneer by squeezing any whey water from it.
3. Wash the collected paneer properly under cold water to remove the lemon flavor from it. Squeeze the maximum amount of  water from it.
4. The paneer will be crumbly in texture. Knead it well for sometime to form a smooth dough. From that dough make small balls(I made cherry sized balls) and keep aside.
5. Heat water in a wide vessel,add sugar and cardamom pods,let sugar dissolve and then bring it to boil. Then add the balls slowly and simmer it for 3 mins. Then cook it on medium heat for 10min with a lid on vessel.After 10mins see if the balls have doubled in size.If yes its done, else place the lid back and continue cooking for some more time.(For me it got doubled in 10 mins).
6. Cool it and serve.