Something old, something borrowed, something green

Palak Paneer (Cottage cheese in Spinach curry)

How do you come back after more than a month of hiatus? First order of business: Update 359 Days of DSM, which had been gathering cobwebs since I decided to hang up my blogging gloves and pick up US Government and History books. DSM is almost updated. It took almost two weeks to update a month and a half of clicks. As of today, only three days remain to be uploaded. Fruits of procrastination are not sweet, believe me!
Next, to figure out blogger in draft and revamp DSM to look all spiffy and hi-tech like, err... the other spiffy and hi-tech blogs.
While in the midst of updating a daily blog (yes, I am aware it is an oxymoron) and revamping the original blog, I decided to do a quick Google search for Kothimbir Vadi (roughly translated, steamed cilantro pudding?) and landed on Nupur’s One Hot Stove and almost sizzled with excitement over her The Adaptation Edition. A perfect come back for yours truly who has a hard time following a recipe to a T.
Besides, the way I look at it, Indian cooking is versatile enough to substitute chole masala instead of garam masala and add cream cheese instead of heavy cream in a restaurant-style curry. The result is unpredictable but rarely, if ever, undesirable.

Take note all those Nay-Sayers who think Indian cooking is too involved. Most of the time, a teaspoon or two of garam masala, some turmeric, red chili and mustard and/or cumin seeds is all you need in your pantry to cook up Indian food.

Easy Breezy Palak Paneer

After a lot of trials and error, I find this is the easiest way to make delicious Palak Paneer. I use a lot of garlic cloves but trust me, it will not overpower the dish.

Ingredients:

1 Onion chopped
1 large tomato or ¼ cup tomato puree from a can
10-12 garlic cloves, mashed
2 tsp ginger, grated
12-16 oz packet of frozen spinach
4 tsp Garam masala powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
½ slab of frozen paneer, chopped into cubes
Cumin seeds for tempering

Sauté the chopped onions in oil and add the ginger and garlic once the onions start to soften. Cook the ginger and garlic till the raw smell goes away.
Add the garam masala at this point and roast it with the onions for a few seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes or the puree.
Cover and put the heat on med-low for 5 min. If you have added the puree, it will start to release oil. The chopped tomatoes will take a little longer to soften and cook through.
At this point add the frozen spinach and again cover the pot. The spinach will begin to thaw and wilt in the steam. It’ll take about 15 min to cook through. Once the spinach has wilted, cook it with the onion-tomato mixture for another 5 min and then turn the heat off. Once the mix has cooled a little, grind it all in the blender to a smooth paste.
Transfer to the pan and add the salt and check for spice. Heat oil in a little wok and add cumin seeds to it. At this point you can add more masala or chili powder if the palak is not spicy enough. Add the paneer cubes and heat the palak through till the paneer is soft.
Palak Paneer is ready to eat with rotis, parathas or rice.

Tri Color Bell Pepper and Paneer stirfry

I don’t remember how I started making this recipe but it must have been because at our local “Sprouts farmers market” bell peppers (red, orange, yellow and green) are always cheaper than even at Walmart. A couple of months ago Tushar got me “Everest Sabzi Masala” from the grocery store and I love it for my stirfrys and dry sabzi’s. If you want to use garam masala instead that’s fine too. For that matter any other masala of your choice will do. This is a foolproof recipe.
Tip: It is a good idea to precut all the bell peppers and onion before you start cooking since the gas is always on high to medium high for a stirfry.

1 large onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Cup cubed Paneer
1 small tomato
2-3 cloves of garlic

For Tadka
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
½ tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 – 2 tsp Everest Sabzi masala

Chop the onions and the bell peppers lengthwise. Chop the tomato and mash the garlic cloves.
Heat oil in a non stick karahi or wok and add the cumin seeds. Add the onions and mashed garlic when the cumin has stopped spluttering. Wait for ½ min before adding in the chopped bell peppers. Stir and add the sabzi masala, red chilli pwdr and salt. Keep stir and cooking on med high heat for about 5 min.
Add the cubed Paneer and cook for another 3 min. Now add the chopped tomato and cook for another 5 min befor turning the heat off. Garnish with cilantro.
I like my bell peppers crunchy but if you like them fully cooked you can increase the cooking time.
I added peas instead of green bell pepper the last time I cooked this dish.

Mattar Paneer Under 30

In the eight years that I have been married I have come up with some of my very own recipes and I intend to post them here. If I may say so, some of them are rather clever too cause they are semi-homemade and nobody knows the difference. For example, the finger-licking paneer-mattar masala that I make is made using store bought pasta sauce and cream which I add to sauted oninons and garam masala.


1 big onion chopped fine
1 tbsp ginger-garlic green chilli paste
1 cup of your favourite pasta sauce (I like Newman’s Best brand)
½ pint of full cream
Paneer cubes
1 cup mattar
1 tsp Jeera
1 - ½ tbsp garam masala
½ tbsp Dhana Jeera pwdr
1 tsp cardamom-cinnamon pwdr

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add jeera.
Sauté the chopped onions and once they turn a little pink add the ginger-garlic paste. Add the garam masala and dhana jeera pwdr once the smell or raw ginger garlic goes away.
Sauté for a few mints till you smell the aromas of garam masala wafting up your nose. Add the pasta sauce and let it cook till the oil starts separating and the kitchen starts smelling like a dhaba.
Add the cream and stir. At this point your red pasta sauce will start turning pinkish in color. If the sauce is fully cooked when you add cream it will not curdle.
Add the peas and paneer cubes and boil till the peas are done. I don’t like to deep fry paneer before I put it in the gravy. But if you prefer to do that I am not going to stop you. It is a personal preference and none of my business.
Last but not the least, add the cinnamon-cardamom pwdr and turn the heat off. Garnish with coriander before serving.