Paneer Do Pyaza

Paneer do pyaza yet another dish that I picked up in Bangalore. Really dont remember how I landed up with this dish. Must have been bored with the typical paneer butter masala or paneer mutter masala in the restaurants and picked this weird Italian sounding dish. If you knew me well in those days I didn't understand what "pyaaz" meant. So here it is from our Persian cousins where Do Pyaza literally mean a curry with 2 types of onions. It's one of those versatile curry bases that you can prepare a multitude of do pyazas - chicken, okra (bhindi)... pretty much with any chunky piece of food. 

Ingredients

1. Paneer - 250 - 300 gms
2. Red Onions - 3 large ones
3. Green chillies - 4-5
4. Tomatoes - 2-3
5. Ginger garlic paste - 2 table spoons
6. Lemon juice - 1 table spoon
7. Cumin seeds - 2 table spoons
8. Green cardamom - 4-5
9. Cinnamon sticks - 3-4 small ones
10. Cloves - 5-6
11. Bay leaves - 2
12. Cumin powder - 1 tablespoon
13. Coriander powder - 1 table spoon
14. Garam masala - 1 table spoon
15. Kasoori Methi - 1 table spoon (crushed)
16. Turmeric powder - Half teaspoon
17. Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 table spoon
18. Vegetable oil - 4-5 table spoons
19. Ghee - 2 table spoons
20. Salt to taste
21. Coriander leaves for garnish

Method

1. Chop 2 onions into fine mince and 1 onion in cubes and set aside in different containers.
2. Heat a large kadai and pour 1 tablespoon of ghee and 2 table spoons of vegetable oil.
3. Sautee the cumin seeds (1 table spoon), green cardamon pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaves until the fragrance comes out.
4. Add the finely minced onions and saute with a pinch of salt until they turn brownish.
5. While the onions are sauteed finely dice the tomatoes and set aside.
6. When the onions are brown add the ginger garlic paste and saute for 2-3 minutes until the raw paste smell clears off.
7. Add the diced tomatoes and saute for about 10 to 15 minutes along with turmeric powder, cumin powder, garam masala, kasoori methi and the kashmiri chilli powder. 
8. While the masala gets sauteed dice up the paneer into bite sized cubes - but not too thin or small.
9. Add about half a cup of water and simmer the masala adding salt to taste. By now it should result in a mushy masala gravy.
10. Once the masala has reduced to your preferred consistency remove the cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaves and transfer the content to another bowl.
11. In the same kadai pour the remaining ghee and vegetable oil and wait until it heats up.
12. Once the oil is hot add the green chillies, 1 table spoon of cumin seeds and the diced onions and sautee for about a minute or so.
13. Add the diced paneer and sautee for about 2 minutes until the ingredients mix well with the paneer.
14. Pour the masala (done in step #10) over the paneer and sautee for a minute or so with but more water as per the consistency preferred.
15. Switch off the heat and add the 2 table spoons of lemon juice and stir well. Be careful not to stir it too much else the paneer will break.
16. Garnish with chopped coriander and voila restaurant style Paneer Dopyaza is done. Serve with warm roti/chappati.

Enjoy!!

C

Shahi Bhindi Masala

Shahi Bhindi Masala - a slight variation from my usual bhindi masala to make it a bit rich, creamy and restauranty.  I remember how much I hated eating bhindi as a kid - but now with this recipe - I can have them over and over. While many spices go into the mix there's something about cashews and cardamoms that add to the texture and flavour to a curry. During these days of lock down when you can't go out and enjoy a meal from a good restaurant- why not bring the restaurant taste to your kitchen (didn't mean the take away) 😏. 

Ingredients

1. Bhindi/Okra - 1 kg
2. Red Onions - 2
3. Tomatoes - 2
4. Tomato paste - 1 table spoon
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 table spoon
6. Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon
7. Kashmiri Chilli - 1 table spoon (or less as per your level of spiciness)
8. Green Cardamom - 6-7 pods
9. Kasoori methi - 1 table spoon
10. Cashews - 7-8
11. Bay leave - 1 or 2
12. Cinnamon sticks - 2-3
13. Garam masala - 2 table spoons
14. Heavy Cream - 2 table spoons
15. Milk - 1/2 cup

Method

1. Slit the bhindi along the slides and cut the head off. 
2. Heat a large sauce pan / kadai with vegetable oil and sautee the cumin seeds for a few seconds.
3. Saute the onions until they become translucent. You can add a pinch of salt to quicken the process.
4. Add the diced up tomatoes and saute until they go soft and mushy.
5. Add cashews and cardamom and saute for a minute and set aside to cool down.
6. In the same pan heat about half a cup of oil and shallow fry the okra for about 10 minutes until they brown up on the sides, filter the oil and set aside.
7. Blend the tomato and onion mixture into a smooth paste.
8. In the same pan (remove a bit of excess oil) and saute the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks for about 30 seconds until the oil gets fragrant. 
9. Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks.
10. Add ginger garlic paste and tomato paste and saute for a few minutes.
11. Add the blended onion-tomato paste and saute for about 5 minutes.
12. Add the garam masala and crushed kasoori methi and mix it well.
13. Add the cream, milk and bit of water to required consistency and bring it to a boil.
14. Add salt to taste.
15. Add the shallow fried bhindi and mix it well for about a few minutes.

Enjoy!!

C

Bhindi Masala

Bhindi also known as Bendakkai, Vendakkai, Okra or even Ladies Finger to a few was the least preferred vegetable when I grew up. I detested it even more when I was forced to eat it as being good for your brain and for your mathematical skills!! However all that changed when I had Bhindi masala in Bangalore. If you have been following my posts I can't thank Bangalore enough for opening up my taste buds especially for North Indian food. So here is my re-creation of Bhindi Masala - hope you like it and try it.

Ingredients

1. Bhindi/Okra - 1 kg
2. Red Onions - 2
3. Tomatoes - 2
4. Tomato paste - 1 table spoon
5. Ginger garlic paste - 1 table spoon
6. Cumin seeds - 1 table spoon
7. Kashmiri Chilli - 1 table spoon (or less as per your level of spiciness)
8. Cardamom / Elaichi - 1 table spoon
9. Turmeric - 1/2 tea spoon
10. Kasoori methi - 1 table spoon
11. Cashews - 7-8
12. Garam masala - 2 table spoons
13. Milk - 1/2 cup
14. Salt - to taste
15. Coriander / Cilantro (chopped) - for garnishing
16. Any form of vegetable oil

Method

1. Slit the bhindi along the slides and cut the head off. 
2. Heat a large sauce pan / kadai with vegetable oil and sautee the cumin seeds for a few seconds.
3. Add onions and garlic and sautee until they become soft and mushy. You can add a pinch of salt to quicken the process.
4. Add cashews and cardamom and sautee for a minute and set aside to cool down.
5. In the same pan heat about half a cup of oil and shallow fry the okra for about 10 minutes until they brown up on the sides, filter the oil and set aside.
6. Blend the tomato and onion mixture into a smooth paste and filter the contents into a bowl.
7. In the same pan (remove a bit of excess oil) and saute the filtered onion tomato paste along with ginger garlic paste, tomato paste and turmeric powder.
8. As the oil separates add the garam masala and crushed kasoori methi and mix it well.
9. Add the milk and bit of water to required consistency (should not be too watery) and bring it to a boil.
10. Add the shallow fried bhindi and mix it well for about a minute.
11. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with roti / rice.

Enjoy Cooking!!

C

Paneer Makhani aka Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Makhani or Paneer Butter Masala is one of those dishes that would feature in every Indian restaurant that serves North Indian food. A paneer masala that could usually be used to trial an Indian restaurant's food quality. It is again one of those dishes that got twisted quite drastically to suit local palates. I must warn you - this version of the recipe is definitely not the westernized version. While researching for a recipe I found so many different variations each one trying to create a subtle difference to establish their style. Here is my version which is a blend of a few of them but a simpler version to prepare.

Ingredients

Wet Masala

1. Red onions - 2 
2. Tomatoes - 2 
3. Ginger - 2 inch
4. Garlic - 6 cloves
5. Raw Cashews - 6-8
6. Green chilies - 3

Dry Masala

1. Bay leaf - 1
2. Black pepper corn - 1 tablespoon
3. Kashmiri red chillies - 5-6
4. Kalonji seeds - 1 teaspoon
5. Kasuri methi (Dried fenugreek leaves) - 1 tablespoon
6. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
7. Cloves - 1 teaspoon
8. Cinnamon sticks - 2-3
9. Khus khus (poppy seeds) - 2 teaspoons

Other Ingredients

1. Paneer - 250 gms
2. Butter - 150 gms
3. Vegetable oil - 3-4 table spoons
4. Whole milk - half a cup
5. Honey - 2 table spoons
6. Amchur powder (dried mango powder) - 1 tea spoon
7. Cream - 2-3 table spoons (optional - I did not use it actually)

Method

1. Melt about 50 gms of butter in a wok and saute the wet masala ingredients until the onions and tomatoes become soft. Add the cashews towards the end - just about a minute or so before the tomatoes turn mushy. Set this aside and let it cool down to room temperature.
2. Dry roast all the ingredients under the dry masala (except the kasuri methi). Set it aside to cool down to room temperature.
3. Blend the ingredients of the wet masala with a few tablespoons of water to a smooth paste. 
4. Filter this paste using a metal sieve to remove any chunky pieces.
5. Blend the ingredients of the dry masala along with the kasuri methi leaves.
6. Cut the paneer into small pieces (about 1 inch cubes). This time I tried a triangular shape - thanks to Sanjeev Kapoor's idea.
7. In a large kadai (wok) heat the vegetable oil and 75 gms of butter.
8. Saute the wet masala for about 10 minutes until the oil separates.
9. Mix about 2-3 table spoons of the dry masala along with amchur powder for about 5 minutes until the masala is blended well.
10. Add salt to taste.
11. Add the milk and bring it to a boil.
12. Add about half a cup of water to this mixture and bring it to a boil.
13. Add the honey and mix it well.
14. Add the paneer pieces and cook it for about 5 minutes. (Add more water if needed if the curry is too thick).
15. Garnish with a dollop of the remaining butter and coriander leaves.
16. Serve hot with your preferred choice of bread - roti/naan/chapati.

Enjoy Cooking!!
C

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala (CTM) - probably the most globally well known Indian curry. I still remember being excited about finding this quintessential curry in a train from London to Edinburgh. This is one curry that I would try first in a new North Indian restaurant to assess the "repeat value" depending on how good they can make it. Some of the key characteristics of a CTM is its tangy, spicy, silky, juicy, orangy and of course yummy. Now I have a lot of vegetarian friends who've been asking for a recipe for Paneer Tikka masala. It's quite simple - just replace - yes literally replace the word Chicken with Paneer in this recipe and there you go. One needs a bit of patience with this recipe since it has a few steps involved and a variety of ingredients.

Ingredients

Boneless Chicken - either breast or thigh pieces 1/2 kg or 1 pound

Tikka Marinade

• Turmeric - 1 tea spoon
• Green Chillies - 3 or 4
• Yogurt - 2 table spoons
• Lemon juice - 1 table spoon
• Red chilli powder - 1 table spoon
• Ginger Garlic paste - 2 table spoons
• Salt - 1 tea spoon

Masala Dry Ingredients

• Raw cashews - 4 or 5 pieces
• Cumin seeds -  1 table spoon
• Bay leaf - 1
• Cinnamon sticks - 3
• Green Cardamom - 4 or 5
• Cloves - 1 tea spoon
• Kashmiri Chilli powder - 1 or 2 tea spoons
• Onions

Masala Wet Ingredients

• Tomato paste - 2 table spoons
• Ginger garlic paste - 2 table spoons
• Full cream milk - 1/2 cup

Other 

• Coriander powder - 2 table spoons
• Garam masala powder - 1 table spoon
• Kasuri methi leaves - 1 table spoon
• Coriander leaves - for garnish - a handful
• Vegetable oil - few table spoons

The Method

1. Blend all the ingredients in the Tikka Marinade ingredient list to a smooth paste.
2. Marinade the chicken either as a whole or in cubes for a few hours - preferably overnight
3. Heat a large sauce pan with vegetable oil and saute the ingredients under the "Masala Dry Ingredients" group for a few minutes until the onions turn brown. Start with the spices first and then the onions.
4. Set this aside to cool to room temperature.
5. Heat a large grill pan or tava and grill the marinaded chicken until they are almost cooked. 
   
   Spray with oil as necessary. This should probably take about 5 - 7 minutes per load. If you are using paneer just grill it for a few minutes until the masalas are browned up.
   
6. Once cooked cut it into bit size chunks in case they were not cubed up already.
7. Blend the sauteed masala into a smooth paste. 
8. Transfer the paste back into the sauce pan through a metal sieve. You may add some water as needed since the paste will not filter through easily.
9. Saute the masala paste along with ginger garlic paste on medium flame/heat for a few minutes.
10. Add the tomato paste, coriander powder, garam masala and crushed up kasuri methi.
11. Saute this mixture until oil separates.
12. Add the milk and few cups of water to required consistency.
13. Bring it to a boil and add the chicken pieces and mix evenly.
14. Let the curry come to a boil for another 5 - 6 minutes.
15. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Chicken Tikka Masala ready!! Serve hot with rotis or steamed basmati rice.

Happy Cooking!!

C

Palak Panneer - Cottage Cheese in Spinach Sauce

I have not been a big fan of spinach (or any green for that matter) for a long time until I got introduced to Palak Panneer. Every restaurant does this in different way - I like it nice and silky. It does take a few steps and a few ingredients  to make it this way. Every minute is worth the effort though. :) Of course there are various versions of the recipe across the web. I did a mix of ideas from a few and the outcome was quite good. 

Ingredients

1. Palak (Spinach) - preferably not the frozen ones - 500 gms
2. Panneer - I used about 500 gms chopped in 1/2 inch cubes
3. Onions - 2
4. Tomatoes - 1
5. Ginger Garlic paste - 2 table spoons
6. Ginger juliennes - a few for garnishing
7. Garam masala - 2-3 tablespoons
8. Green chillies - 2-3
9. Cloves - 3-4
10. Cashews - 3-4
11. Black cardamom - 1-2
12. Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
13. Cream - 1 tablespoon
14. Butter - 2 tablespoons
15. Kasoori Methi - 1 tablespoon
16. Amchur powder - 1 teaspoon

The Method

1. Heat a kadai with any vegetable oil of your choice and saute Cashews, Cardamom, Cumin, Chillies, Onions, Tomatoes and Ginger Garlic paste. Saute until the onions and tomatoes turn slightly mushy.
2. Keep this mixture aside from the stove and let it cool down.
3. Blanch the spinach in boiling water until the leaves wilt a little. Be careful not to overcook the spinach.
4. Drain the spinach (save the water) and transfer the spinach into an ice bath (a bowl filled with cold water and ice cubes). This apparently stops further cooking of the spinach and maintains its colour.
5. Blend the Onion tomato mixture into a smooth paste.
6. Drain this paste using a metal sieve or filter to get only the smooth paste to filter out the chunky bits.
7. Filter the spinach from the ice bath and blend the spinach into a smooth paste and filter the contents as above.
8. In the same kadai heat used in step 1 melt the butter and add the blended onion tomato paste.
9. Add the garam masala, kasuri methi (crushed up), salt and amchur powder and saute until oil separates.
10. Add the spinach / palak paste and saute for a few minutes until both pastes blend well and it comes to a boil. 
11. Add the spinach water (from step 4) as much as needed for the amount of sauce / gravy needed. Do not add to much to make it too watery. This is meant to be a slightly thick sauce.
12. Add the diced up panneer and leave it to cook for a about 5 minutes.
13. Add a dollop of cream and ginger juliennes as garnish and serve hot with rotis.

Enjoy Palak Panneer!!

C

Kadai Chicken a.k.a Chicken Karahi

Kadai Chicken also known as Chicken Karahi is again one of those dishes you would find in most Indian restaurants.  This is usually made almost like a stir fry - but I made it a slightly saucy version. Kadai Chicken comes with a good mix of flavours and textures. A bit of tangyness from the tomatoes, a bit of crunch from the bell peppers (capsicums), sweetness from the onions and of course a bit of kick with the ginger julienne added as a garnish. This is a fairly quick one to prepare. This came up as a last minute dinner plan with an end to end preparation time within 30 minutes. Of course there is also distant cousin Kadai Paneer which is also prepared in a similar way with Paneer. Goes very well with warm rotis (or chappatis).


Ingredients

1. Diced chicken breast 
2. Onions - cut in cubes
3. Capsicums / Bell Peppers (Green) - cut in cubes
4. Tomatoes - roughly cut
5. Tomato paste - 1 tablespoon purely for colour
6. Ginger Garlic paste - freshly ground
7. Cashews - 2/3
8. Salt
9. Red Chilli powder - preferably Kashmiri chilli for colour
10. Cumin powder
11. Coriander powder
12. Garam masala
13. Kasuri Methi - dried fenugreek leaves
14. Milk
15. Ginger julienne - for garnish
16. Coriander leaves - for garnish

Method

1. Saute the cashews, onions (3/4ths of quantity diced) and tomatoes in any vegetable based oil until the tomatoes are mushy and set aside to cool.
2. You can dice the chicken while the onions / tomato cools down.
3. Blend the sauteed cashew, onion and tomato mix into a smooth paste
4. Heat a kadai (sauce pan) with oil and saute the blended paste along with ginger garlic paste and a tomato paste.
5. Saute until the oil separates and the raw flavour is gone.
6. Add salt, garam masala, cumin powder, coriander powder, kasuri methi (crushed into a powder in your palm), chilli powder and saute for a few minutes until the spices are blended well.
7. Add the chicken pieces and cook with a closed lid for about 10 minutes.
8. Add water as much as needed for the sauce. Ideally prepared without water.
9. Add a dash of milk - whole cream version. You can substitute with cream as well.
10. Add the remaining onions and capsicums and saute for about 5 minutes. Need to stop before the capsicums 
11. Add a tea spoon of garam masala at the end.
12. Garnish with ginger julienne and coriander leaves.

Restaurant / Dhaba style Kadai Chicken ready!!

Happy Cooking

C

Chilli Cheese Corn Toast

Chilli Cheese Corn Toast - my little variation on Chilli Cheese Toast. Can't put my finger on when and where I had this for the first time. Must've been during one of my trips to Gurgaon probably. One can call it a very simple version of Indianized pizza. Saw a few recipe options around the web and created a combination with some slight twists here and there. A very quick and easy snack for a weekend evening.

Ingredients:
1) Bread slices (I used wholemeal bread - any kind would do).
2) Green Chillies - finely chopped
3) Capsicum (Bell Pepper for Americans) - Green (and Red if you like more colour) - diced.
4) Sweet Corn kernels
5) Grated Cheese - preferably mozzarella for the ooey gooey effect. (I used a 3 cheese mix - mozzarella, parmesan and tasty cheese).
6) Onions - finely diced
7) Vegetable spread (or butter if you don't mind)
8) Chat masala
9) Salt
10) Kashmiri Chilli powder


Method

1) Pre-heat oven to 150 deg C.
2) Mix all the ingredients (#2 - #10) in a bowl.
3) Apply the vegetable spread on both sides of the bread slices.
4) Place the bread slices on a tray covered with aluminium foil.
5) Spread the mixed ingredients evenly on the bread slices.
6) Pop the tray in oven for about 5-10 minutes until the cheese turns brown.
7) Cut the slices in triangles and serve hot with some tomato ketchup.

Note: If you have young kids at home you might want to pick the green chillies out of toast.

Panneer Lababdar - Panneer (Cottage Cheese) Indulgence

Here's Panneer Lababdar - a Mughal influenced Panneer curry. Google states Lababdar is some sort of strong desire or indulgence and I roughly translated this dish's name to Panneer Indulgence.I could agree with this adjective purely because of the ingredients that go in. While some recipes on the web claim to have a fat free, cholesterol free version - guess what don't bother. If you have to be diet conscious well...you might want to wait until later. ;-) My first introduction to Lababdar was actually Chicken Lababdar at Hilton Garden Inn, Gurgaon. However in the interest of my veggie friends - here's a Panneer version. If you ever wonder how to make a gravy / curry with restaurant style consistency - it's all in the paste. Of course a slight variation in ingredients can turn it into something completely different.

Ingredients:

1. Unsalted Butter - yes it all starts here :)
2. Panneer cubes
3. Cashews
4. Red onions
5. Tomatoes
6. Cardamom seeds (not the entire pod)
7. Cream 
8. Kashmiri Red Chilli powder
9. Garam Masala
10. Kasuri methi leaves (Dried Fenugreek leaves)

Method

1. Heat a pan in medium fire and melt the butter without burning it.
2. Saute the Cashews, Onions, Tomatoes and the Cardamom seeds until the onions and tomatoes get a bit mushy.
3. Let the mixture to cool for a few minutes and blend it into a smooth paste. 
4. Re-heat the same pan with a few table spoons of vegetable oil and saute the blended paste until oil separates.
5. Add Salt, Kashmiri Chilli Powder, Garam Masala and Kasuri Methi leaves while the paste sautes.
6. Once the oil separates add the Panneer cubes and mix it up carefully without breaking the cubes.
7. Add a dash of cream (not too much that it doesn't turn into a pale curry) and about a tablespoon of butter (yes again) and let it simmer for a few minutes.
8. You may add some water to get your choice of consistency (and quantity).
9. Garnish with grated Panneer, another dash of cream  and Coriander leaves.
10. Serve hot with roti or rice.

Enjoy!!

Happy Cooking 

C

Chicken Jalfrezi - Bengali Hot Chicken Curry

Chicken Jalfrezi - one of those dishes almost always found in many Indian restaurants that serves North Indian dishes. Little did I know earlier that the roots for this dish is actually from Bengal. "Jhal" meaning "Hot" in Bengali (apparently). Some websites claim that Jalfrezi has taken over Chicken Tikka as the No.1 dish for UK. This is again a dish I got introduced during my Bangalore Days. A spicy, tangy, thick, chicken curry suitable for roti or rice. There are multiple recipes available on the web, here's my version with a slight twist here and there. 

Ingredients

Ingredients for curry paste

1. Chicken
2. Onions
3. Tomatoes
4. Tomato Paste
5. Green Chillies
6. Dried Red Chillies
7. Ginger Julienne
8. Cashew
9. Poppy seeds
10. Garam Masala
11. Cumin Seeds
12. Cumin Powder
13. Ginger and Garlic paste
14. Cumin Powder
15. Red Chilli Powder (If possible both regular and Kashmiri Chilli for the colour)
16. Amchur Powder
17. Turmeric Powder
18. Vinegar
19. Tomato Ketchup
20. Ghee

Method

1) Take about half of the onions, few tomatoes, green chillies, poppy seeds, and cashews and grind it into a smooth paste.

2) Heat a large kadai and add a few tablespoons of vegetable / canola oil.

3) When oil is hot add cumin seeds and dried red chillies and saute until you get the cumin and chilli "fragrance" out.

4) Add the paste done in step #1, ginger garlic paste and saute well until oil separates.

5) Add chicken, few tablespoons of vineger, about a tea spoon of tomato paste, pinch of turmeric powder, tea spoon of cumin powder, red chilli powder, half a teaspoon of Amchur powder, garam masala and salt to taste.

6) After the chicken is say about 1/3rd cooked, add a tablespoon of tomato ketchup (or sauce depending on which part of the globe you are from), add the remaining onions, ginger julienne saute for a few minutes.

7) Add water and let the curry boil to thicken as needed. Watch out not to add too much water as this is meant to be a thick curry. Do also note that the cashew paste will assist in thickening this up later. By now you should be able to smell the tangyness in the curry.

8) Once the curry has reached the required consistency (by when the chicken must have been cooked as well), add a good dollop of ghee to give the curry a rich and creamy texture. Let it simmer for a few minutes.

9) The curry is done once you can see the oil separated and has reached the consistency you need.

10) Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/chappati or rice.

Happy Cooking!!

C

Amritsari Machi - Fish Amritsari

When it comes to fish there are not many North Indian dishes that are available. One such dish that has been stuck to my memory was Fish Amritsari. Have been looking for this dish in a few restaurants around here and haven't found in many. Upon "research" came to know that there are 2 specific ingredients that make this Amritsari - Ajwain seeds (Omam seeds) and Chat Masala. Here comes my version of Amritsari Machi. Talking about fried fish my preference is always a white fish. Became a fan of Barramundi after coming to Australia.

Ingredients

1. Fish fillets (preferably white)
2. Ajwain Seeds
3. Chat Masala
4. Amchur Powder
5. Gram (Besan) Flour
6. Corn Flour
7. Plain Flour (Maida)
8. Rice Flour
9. Salt
10. Red Chilly powder
11. Egg

Method

1. Slice the fish with an inch width and about a few inches in length.
2. Create a mixture of all the dry items. 
3. Take a few table spoons of the dry mixture on a flat plate.
4. Add water slowly in the dry mix and create a paste.
5. Beat 1 egg into the paste and add more water as required to create the batter with necessary consistency.
6. Heat a wok with vegetable oil.
7. Once the oil is hot enough (add a drop of batter in the oil to test) pat a fish slice on the dry mix and dip it in the batter.
8. Drip any excess batter out by lightly brushing it against the bowl.
9. Deep fry the battered fish fillets few at a time until golden brown.

Amritsari Machi Ready!!

Serve hot with a dash of chat masala sprinkled on top and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Enjoy Cooking!!

C

Murgh Makhani aka Butter Chicken

As they say...when it rains it pours. After a long break trying to get back into the groove and catch up on the posts. Niven - Sorry mate Chopsuey is yet to come. :-)

The very first time I "cooked" butter chicken was in Yercaud. We 3 Mustkeers wanted to experiment cooking butter chicken at THE Nanjam. I must've been in my 7th or 8th class at the most. I think we were inspired at that time by many things...can't recall exactly. But we did want to cook "Butter Chicken". We got a whole chicken but a stick through it, lit up a bon fire and started roasting it with by basting loads and loads of Amul butter.  The result of course was a few days of eating Lomotil. It was only after several years did I get to know that Butter Chicken is a staple Punjabi chicken delight. One of the dishes I normally eat to "test the waters" in any new Indian restaurant. If they get this right, they usually have a good chef in place. For a long time I've always thought this is one of those dishes that is best done by a professional. After a bit of research from a few websites was able to get to something pretty close. It does takes a bit of work, but the outcome was worth every minute spent. A word of caution to those who are calorie conscious - this definitely is not a dish for you.

What goes in:

1) Butter
2) Cream
3) Chicken
4) Tomatoes
5) Tomato paste
6) Onions
7) Red chillies
8) Ginger juliennes
9) Ginger & Garlic paste
10) Garam masala spices (Bay leaf, Cinnamon, Star aniseed, green elaichi (most important), cloves, cumin seeds
11) Coriander powder
12) Kasuri Methi. - Wonder what the magic is in that unassuming dried methi leaves.
13) Honey

The process:

Butter chicken has to be done in 2 phases.

Phase 1
1) Make a paste with the following:
   a) Ginger garlic paste
   b) Red Chilli powder
   c) Coriander powder
   d) Salt
2) Marinate the chicken in the above paste.
3) Heat up a large skillet and melt a generous amount of butter.
4) Saute the spices, chillies and ginger for a few minutes
5) Add onions and saute until translucent.
6) Add the tomatoes and saute until the mixture becomes mushy.
7) Set this mixture aside to cool down.
8) Saute the marinated chicken until they are half cooked.

You should have












9) Blend the tomato-onion mix to a fairly smooth paste.
10) Filter the blended contents using a sieve. This gives the smooth texture of a restaurant style butter chicken gravy. Of course this method can be used for any tomato based gravy.

Phase 2
1) Heat a skillet and melt butter. (Is someone counting calories already?)
2) Sautee the ginger juliennes.
3) Add tomato paste and saute until the oil (er..butter) separates.
4) Add the blended paste and bring to a simmer.
5) Add the cream and bring to a boil.
6) Add a few tea spoons of honey.
7) Add chicken and bring it to a boil.
8) Based on the required thickness of the gravy keep adding water in small quantities.
9) Add the Kasuri Methi leaves and give it a stir.
10) Garnish with coriander leaves and its ready to serve.

A  tip

Instead of doing the chicken thing as mentioned above...a better idea would be to make some tandoori chicken tikka and add it to the gravy.

Aloo Gobhi

Hello,

Finally BIA at the Kitchen after a "short" break. Aloo Gobhi has been on the agenda for quite some time. Everytime we had aloo there was no gobhi and vice versa. As with any "Northi" / Punjabi dish my memories always begin from Bangalore. In this case the Gurudwara Dhaba in Ulsoor. Can't say I came close to it, but definitely worth repeating. Until a very recently our spice rack was quite "South Indian". Thanks to some of my IGT mates I came to know of a few more tricks to make it more authentic. This time it was Amchur powder which gives the zing.

Ingredients:

1) Aloo (Potato) (1 - 1.5 inch cubes)

2) Phool Gobhi (Cauliflower) florets

3) Minced Garlic

4) Cumin seeds

5) Onions

6) Tomato wedges

7) Amchur powder 

8) Asafoetida
9) Turmeric powder
10) Garam masala (optional)
11) Red chilli powder

Method:

1) Heat a skillet with a "generous" portion of oil.

2) Sautee the garlic and cumin seeds for a quick 20 seconds.

3) Add the potatoes , asafoetida,  turmeric  and roast it. This is the part that requires utmost patience. You can try to cheat by having smaller chunks of potato, but then it may not become Aloo Gobhi!! So patience please. Potato has to be roasted until you can easily cut through it with a spoon. A better test....try to eat it and it shouldn't taste raw. :-) (Duh!!)

4) I made a mistake of adding the onions along with the potatoes. As part of the slow roasting process, the onions became almost charred and I had to fish it out. On the positive side, it gave a pretty good flavour to the potato. So if you haven't added the onions already, now is a good time.

5) Add the Cauliflower florets and most of the tomato wedges (2/3rds maybe..).

6) Stir fry this mix for about 10-15 minutes along with amchur powder, red chilli powder and garam masala  (optinal) until the Cauli is cooked. Indication - should be slightly soggy.

7) Add the remaining tomatoes and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

8) Garnish with chopped coriander (Cilantro) and serve with hot Chappatis.

Aloo Gobhi Ready!!

Kadai Panneer

Kadai Panneer - one of the few dishes that I got accustomed in Bangalore probably during the later half of 1996 - when my stipend increased from Rs. 2500 - Rs. 4500 and we started graduating into the  "high end" Sagars (Sukh Sagar, Shanti Sagar etc)  from the road side Idli stalls. A yummy dish that's fairly simple to make as well. 

Ingredients:

1. Paneer - 500 gms diced into small cubes
2. Capsicum (Bell Pepper) - 1 (diced)
3. Onions - 3 (2 roughly chopped and 1 diced in cubes)
4. Green chillies - 3 o r 4
5. Tomato paste - 2 table spoons
6. Kashmiri Red chilli powder - 1 tea spoon
7. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tea spoon
8. Cumin powder - 1  table spoon
9. Coriander powder - 1 table spoon
10. Garam masala - 1 table spoon
11. Methi Kasuri - 1 table spoon  (crushed in hand)
12. Ginger garlic paste - 2 table spoons
13. Milk - 1 cup
14. Lemon juice - 2 teaspoons
15. Vegetable oil - 3-4 table spoons
16. Salt to taste
17. Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. Grind the 2 roughly chopped onions to a paste.
2. Heat up the kadai and saute the onion paste in vegetable oil for about 4-5 minutes.
3. Add ginger garlic paste, cumin, coriander, garam masala, red chilli, turmeric powders and sautee until the oil separates from the mix.
4. Add tomato paste and saute for another 3-4 minutes.
5. Add a 1/4 cup of milk and mix it up so that the milk blends into the masala well.
6. Add salt to taste and water to required consistency. Note this dish is usually a semi-gravy style and hence water should be kept to a minimum.
7. Add the diced onions and capsicum and mix it up for a few minutes until the onions become soft.
8. Add the lemon juice and cook it for about a minute.
9. Add the crushed methi kasuri and mix it well.
10. Add paneer and let it cook for a minute or two.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy your Kadai Paneer!!

Happy Cooking
C