Paneer Masala

 Paneer Masala is primarily a Punjabi entree. It's a dish with rich gravy which could have cream, cashew paste. I always thought it was hard and time consuming till figure out this easy recipe for it :)
Ingredients -

• Paneer
• Onion - 1 medium-sized one, chopped fine
• Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder
• Garam masala
• Red chilli powder
• Tomato paste  (or 1 tomato, pureed)
• Tomato sauce / ketchup - almost 1 tbsp
• Kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves - 1 generous pinch
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Cream - 1 cup
• Oil 
• Salt to taste

Method - Add 2 tbsp oil to a hot pan and swirl around until the base of the 
                   pan is well coated. Add in cubed paneer pieces. Lightly fry the 
                   paneer cubes until golden brown.Remove it from pan and keep  
                   aside. Drain excess oil from paneer cubes by lying them on paper 
                   napkin. 

Fried Paneer Cubes kept on paper napkin to drain excess oil

                   Add oil again to the same pan and put chopped onion. Fry it until 
                   golden brown. Then add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. 
                   Then add coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala and salt 
                   to taste. Fry it until the masala is mixed and cooked. 
                  Add tomato paste. If you don't have tomato paste ready, then puree
                  1 medium-sized tomato and add it. Then put tomato ketchup/sauce .
                  Put generous pinch of kasuri methi in it. Add milk to it and mix well. 
                  Cook for few minutes - covered - on low fire .

Curry just before adding paneer cubes

                  Once the mixture is cooked well add fried paneer to it. 
                  Finally put cream, mix well and simmer for few minutes on low fire. 

Delicious Paneer Masala

 
                  Paneer masala is ready.

Kothimbir ( Coriander ) Wadi

Coriander leaves have a unique fresh smell and taste. Hence it is used mainly to garnish dishes. Coriander could also be used as the main ingredient in a dish. Coriander Wadi is one such recipe. Sometime we bring home a whole lot of coriander when it's on a deal and we are stuck with a lot of coriander which could go waste. During such time coriander wadi is a good recipe to use up a lot of that extra coriander leaves.
Ingredients -

• Fresh Coriander/cilantro Leaves
• Ginger-garlic Paste
• Green Chili paste or Red chili powder
• Cumin powder
• Coriander powder
• Gram flour ( Besan / Chana dal flour )
• Salt
• Oil

Method -Wash coriander leaves and chop finely.

Fresh Coriander

                                             Chopped Coriander

                   Sprinkle salt on chopped coriander. Add ginger-garlic paste,

                   green chili paste (you can use red chili powder instead),

                   cumin powder, coriander powder. 

                   Mix all ingredients very well and keep aside for few minutes. 

                   This will leave some water, then add gram flour as much

                   as needed. Add 1-tsp. of oil. It makes vadi tender.

                    Grease a pot with oil and put above mixture into it. 
                    Once the mixture leveled steam it. I use pressure cooker by 
                    removing whistle and keeping water underneath the pot. 
                    Steam for about 15-20 minutes.

Steamed Coriander mix and besan

                    
                    Once it is steamed and cooled cut it into cubes.

Steamed kothimbir vadi cubes

                    Shallow fry the cubes till it gets brown color. 
                    Kothimbir wadi is ready.

Fried kothimbir wadi ready to be served

Baigan ( Eggplant / Brinjal ) Bharta

A simple recipe using Bringal or Eggplant is Baigan Bharta. It is a cold dish though initially bringal is heated to a pulp. It requires the large size brinjal.

Ingredients - 

•  1 Big Eggplant / Brinjal
• Onion
• Green chili
• Coriander Leaves Chopped
• Coconut grated
• Sugar
• Salt                       

Method - Grease brinjal with little oil and bake it. If you have gas stove then 
                    keep bringal on it and bake it. If you have oven then keep 
                    aluminum foil in a baking dish and keep brinjal on it. Bake it at 
                    400 degree F. Make sure it is cooked from all sides.

Baked Brinjal

                    Remove skin of brinjal and mash it with fork in a pot. Fork helps to 
                    make brinjal lumps free.

Mashed Brinjal/Eggplant

                    Take fine chopped onion, small pieces of green chilies, chopped
                    coriander leaves and grated coconut and mix it into mashed brinjal.
                    Add little sugar and salt to taste.

Clockwise Chopped chillies, onion , coriander , coconut

                    Baigan (Eggplant/Brinjal) Bharta is ready to serve.

Baigan Bharta ( Brinjal / Eggplant )

                    Note - You can add curd/yogurt into baigan bharta if you like.

Opo ( Doodhi ) Halwa

Kids love sweets but white sugar is not good for kids. So one day I had an idea

why not to  make the doodhi or carrot halwa with jaggery ( Gudh ) instead of white sugar. It tastes very good. Opo also goes by the name of calabash or bottle gourd. In Chinese it's called hulu or huzi.

Ingredients -

• Opo ( Doodhi )  
• Jaggery 
• Milk
• Cardamom powder
• Ghee 
• Dry fruits ( Raisins , Cashew nuts , Almonds)

Method - Grate the Opo ( Doodhi ).

Grated Opo ( Doodhi )

               Put little ghee in a hot pan. Add grated Opo ( doodhi ) in a pan. 

               Saute doodhi for few minutes till it becomes dry. Add some milk just 

               enough to mix doodhi in it. Cook for few minutes. Add jaggery, 

               cardamom powder and dry fruits into it and cook till it becomes 

               thick .

Opo Halwa ( Doodhi )

Capsicum / Bell Pepper Paneer Fry

A quick and easy recipe to do is bell pepper paneer. It has a distinct flavor of bell pepper.
Ingredients – 

• Capsicum / bell pepper
• Paneer ( Cottage Cheese )
• Turmeric 
• Red chili powder 
• Cumin seeds
• Cumin-coriander powder 
• Garam masala 
• Salt 
• Oil

Method –Cut Bell pepper into small pieces.

  

                   Cut paneer into small cubes.

                   Heat oil in a pan and add cumin. As soon as cumin seeds splutter 
                   add bell pepper pieces into it. Sprinkle little salt and let bell pepper
                   pieces cook till they become tender. 

                   Then put paneer cubes into the same pan and saute for few mins.  
                   Make sure not to over fry paneer pieces. Paneer should remain soft. 

                   Then add turmeric, red chili powder,  cumin, coriander and garam
                   masala powder. Add salt if needed. Mix it very well and cook it for 
                   few minutes.

Bell Pepper Paneer Fry

                  Bell pepper-paneer fry is ready to serve.