Sunday, November 23, 2008

Aloo Methi


Ingredients (for 2 people) :

1) A small bunch of Methi leaves
2) 2 medium-sized onions
3) 2 medium-sized tomatoes
4) 2 medium-sized potatoes
5) Sugar to taste
6) Salt to taste
7) Red chilli powder to taste
8) Oil
9) Hing to taste
10) Turmeric powder to taste
11) Mustard seeds

Method:

1) Clean and chop the methi leaves into small pieces. Chop the onions, tomatoes and potatoes into small pieces and keep each of them separately.
2) Heat some oil in a pressure cooker and add mustard seeds. Allow them to splutter and then add hing.
3) Then add the onion and cook for some time.
4) Add the tomatoes and cook till they are soft.
5) Then add the potatoes and the chopped methi leaves. Add salt, sugar, red chilli powder and turmeric powder to taste. Add water and pressure cook for a while. That's it!

Tastes good with chappatis.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Pani Poori


Ingredients (for 2 people):

Pooris

For the stuffing:

1) 3 large-sized potatoes
2) Salt to taste
3) Panipoori masala
4) Coriander leaves
5) A handful of red chana, soaked for more than 12 hours

For the sweet Pani:

1) A fairly large-sized ball of tamarind
2) Jaggery to taste
3) Jeera to taste
4) Water as per requirement

For the green Pani:

1) A bunch of pudina
2) A bunch of coriander leaves
3) Panipoori masala
4) Salt
5) 1 lemon
6) 2 green chillies
7) Water as per requirement

Method:

1) Soak the tamarind in water and keep aside.
2) Next is the preparation of the stuffing. Boil the red chana and potatoes in cooker. Chop the coriander into fine pieces and keep aside.
3) Make preparations for the green Pani. Chop the green chillies, pudina and coriander leaves and grind together to a paste in mixer. Take this paste in a vessel and add water as per requirement. Add salt and panipoori masala to taste. Add the juice of the lemon (more if required). Stir well and keep aside. Green Pani is ready.
4) Now prepare the sweet Pani. Extract the pulp from the soaked tamarind, adding water whenever necessary. Add more water and heat it in a kadhai. Heat till the raw smell goes away, and then add jaggery to taste. While it is simmering, dry grind some jeera in the mixer and add it to the kadhai. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Sweet Pani is ready.
5) Now prepare the stuffing. Peel the boiled potatoes and mash them. Cut the coriander meant for the stuffing finely. In a vessel, add the finely chopped coriander to the mashed potatoes. Add the boiled red channa, salt and panipoori masala. Mix well. The stuffing is ready.

Note:

1) Tastes awesome when the Pani is chilled for a while before serving.
2) This recipe is customised to meet individual tastes.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Palak Paneer


Ingredients: (for 2 people)

1) 250 g palak leaves
2) 100 g paneer
3) 2-3 medium-sized onions
4) 2-3 medium-sized tomatoes
5) A small piece of ginger
6) A few cloves of garlic
7) 2-3 green chillies
8) Oil
9) Salt to taste
10) Sugar to taste
11) Mustard seeds
12) A pinch of hing
13) A bit of turmeric powder
14) 1 tablespoon milk
15) 2 tablespoons curd
16) A bunch of coriander

Method:

1) Wash and cut palak leaves into small pieces. Boil the palak and keep aside.
2) Cut the paneer into small cubes. Heat a little oil and a kadhai and fry the paneer pieces. Keep aside.
3) Cut the tomatoes and green chillies into medium-sized pieces. Take the skin off the garlic and ginger and cut into pieces. Chop the coriander. In a mixer, first grind the ginger, green chillies and garlic to a coarse paste. Then add the chopped coriander (keeping aside a small part for garnishing), tomatoes and onions and grind to a fine paste. Keep aside.
4) Heat the left-over oil after frying the paneer and add some mustard seeds and a pinch of hing. Let the mustard splutter.
5) Add the ginger-garlic-tomato-onion-chilly-coriander paste and cook for a while till the raw smell goes away.
6) Add the boiled palak and mix well.
7) Add salt, sugar and turmeric to taste. Mix well.
8) Add the milk and curd and mix well.
9) Add the fried paneer cubes and mix well. Let it cook for some time and then take off heat.
10) Decorate with chopped coriander leaves.

Note: 1) Highly customised to suit individual tastes :)
2) Ideal for serving
with chappatis.