PANEER BIRIYANI

Recipe source : Mariasmenu.com,You can find the original recipe here

Ingredients

For Paneer masala

1. Panner cubed- 250 gms
2. Cinnamon-1" piece
3. Cloves-3 nos
4. Cardamom- 3 nos
5. Onion sliced- 3 nos
6. Ginger paste- 1 tbsp
7. Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
8. Tomato- sliced-1 no
9. Yogurt-1/4 cup
10. Coriander leaves-3 tbsp
11. Cashewnut paste- 2 tbsp (see notes)
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil
14. Ghee

For Masala paste

1. Coriander powder-2 1/2 tsp
2. Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
3. Chili powder-2 tsp
4. Fennel seeds-1/2 tsp
5. Water- as required

For rice

1. Basmati rice- 1.5 cups
2. Ghee-2 tsp
3. Water
4. Salt to taste

For garnishing and layering

1. Onion-sliced- 1 small
2. Cashew nuts-10 to 12 nos
3. Raisins-1 to 2 tbsp
4. Coriander and mint leaves-chopped- as required
5. Ghee- as required

Method

For preparing Paneer masala

• Soak paneer cubes in hot water until required.
• Combine all the ingredients for the masala paste(i.e coriander powder,turmeric powder,chili powder and fennel seeds)and grind to form a smooth paste.Keep aside.
• Heat oil/ghee in a pan and add crushed cinnamon,cloves and cardamom.Saute for few seconds.Now add onion and salt.Cook until onion turns golden brown in color.
• Now add ginger and garlic ,cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the prepared masala paste and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.Next add sliced tomato and cook until oil starts to separate ,or it starts to leave the sides of the pan.
• Add yogurt and coriander leaves and mix until combined.Add more salt if required.
• Now add paneer cubes ,cover and cook for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Add cashew nut paste and mix well.Cook for few more minutes.Keep aside.

For preparing rice

• Wash rice until water runs clear.Heat oil and ghee in a pan and add the drained rice.Fry rice for 3 to 4 minutes,stirring continuously.
• Add salt and water.Cover and cook until it is 3/4 th done, drain the excess water.Transfer cooked rice to a large tray and allow it to cool slightly.

For Layering

• Heat oil/ghee in a pan ,fry onion,cashew nuts and raisins separately until it turns golden brown.Keep aside.
• Preheat oven to 180 Deg C.
• Lightly grease  a baking pan with ghee.Arrange prepared rice and paneer masala in layers.Sprinkle 1/8 tsp ghee,and few tsp of chopped coriander and mint leaves on each layer of rice.
• Garnish with fried cashewnuts,raisins and onion.
• Cover it with an aluminium foil and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

( for stove top method,layer rice and paneer masala in a greased heavy bottomed pan and cover it tightly..Heat a tava /dosa pan and place the biriyani vessel on top of the tava.Reduce the flame to low a cook for about 20 minutes.)

Karupatti Appam / Palm Sugar Appam & Award

I am very happy to take a part of SNC challenge which is started by Divya of You Too Can Cook. In this event two team challenge each other with their traditional and authentic dish.This month Southern team challenges us with this regional recipe Karupatti Appam by Shama of easy 2 Cook Recipes and southern team got a challenge to make Gujrat famous farsan - Khandvi from Hetal of Gujrati Zaika.

Karupatti Appam is a very popular street food in Tamilnadu. appam is made with rice and dal mixture that is a type of steamed indian pancake. I served this appam with Aloo matar sabzi and tomato sauce. After tasting this appam I just love this. Thanks a lot to Shama for this awesome challenge.

Ingredients :

Boiled rice - 1 cup
Raw rice - 1 cup
Urad dal - a handful
Palm jaggery (Karupatti) - 250 gms

Method :

Make a thick jaggery syrup. Once cool then filter it and remove all the purities by using strainer.

Soak the rice and dal for 2-3 hours. Grind it to a smooth batter no farmentation needed.

Finally mix jaggery syrup with the batter without any lumps.

Heat appam tawa, pour a small ladle of batter in the center then hold its hadle with the hands and rotate the pans, hence the ladle will spread like a dosa.

Spread a spoon of oil over it, cover with a lid and cook it slow flames till done. 

The center part will be of and edge crispy. Just roll over.

Serve hot Karupatti Appam with sabzi & tomato sauce.

Now it is award time.......

For the month of March 2013, I was awarded by Divya Pramil as "Well Presented Award" for Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biriyani. 

SNC-6 We feel proud that Northern Team Won

Sending this to Divya & Shama's SNC 7

Paneer Pasanda

Paneer pasanda is a very rich and creamy gravy which is cooked in onion, flavors of ginger-garlic, cashew paste, yogurt and delicate blend of spices. I adapted this exotic recipe from Meena of Homely Food. 

Ingredients :

For the paneer cutlets ~

Paneer, Crumble - 1 cup 
Maida - 3 tbsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Bread - 3 slices
Salt as needed
Oil as needed

For the gravy ~ 

Onion - 1 & 1/2 cup, sliced
Ginger-garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
Tomato - 1, chopped
Curd - 1/2 cup
Cashew - 8
Kashmiri red chilli powder 1 tsp
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt as needed
Oil - 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves for garnishing

Method :

In a bowl mix crumble paneer, salt, pepper, maida and bread slices. Make small cutlets of your choice of shape.

Heat a non stick pan with little oil shallow fry the cutlets till cook both side to golden brown..

For the gravy, heat oil in an another pan add onion, ginger-garlic, tomato and cashew, until onion turn golden brown. Cool and grind to a smooth paste with a little bit of water.

Heat pan with oil, fry ground paste for 3-4 mins in medium flames. Add kashmiri red chilli and garam masala powder, fry until oil separates.

Now add beaten curd, cook until oil separates from the gravy. Then add 3/4 cup water and bring to boil.

Arrange the cutlets in a serving bowl and pour the gravy over it. 

Garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with pulao and roti/naans.



Sending this recipe Indrani's "Spotlight - Show Your Best Creation" event, Jagruti's "Gain Popularity" event, Viji's "Soul food show & giveaway" and Meenu's "Try my recipes Event & Giveaway"

Avocado Loaf Cake

               Avocado is one fruit that gets ripe real fast. I buy them in a small pack to treat as snack for my little one but end up wasting as they get over ripe. Thanks to my blog - today am using the ingredients to make new things of my choice like using the over ripe avocados for making loaf cake.

            Avocados give the cake creaminess. The cake inside is light green and golden outside crunch simply melts us down. I got my outer crust a bit crunchy but inside the cake it was extremely soft. After a day the outer layer also became soft. With the flavor of avocado this was really a wonderful snack cake. They are light in sweetness and texture. I am happy that my own recipe was absolutely satisfactory.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:
All purpose flour - 1-1/2 cups
Sugar -1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1 teaspoon
Salt - 1/4 teaspooon

Wet Ingredients:
Avocado - 1 medium sized (2/3 cup when mashed)
Eggs - 2 no's
Warm Milk - 1/2 cup (i used Low fat)
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Butter - 1/8 cup(Melted)
Vanilla Extract / Almond Extract - 1/2 teaspoon
Chopped Almonds and Raisins - 1/4 cup (together)

Method: 

• Mix all the ingredients mentioned under "Dry ingredients" list above in a bowl.

• Whisk egg and vanilla extract in a bowl. Add melted butter and olive oil to this and whisk again.

• Add warm milk to the egg mixture and whisk well. Mash avocados and add to the egg mixture.

• Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir well from all sides to bring everything together. Add chopped almonds and raisins and stir well.

• Preheat oven to 350'F for 10 minutes. Grease your Loaf pan/Cake pan. Pour the mixture and let it sit for a minute.

• Place the loaf pan in the middle rack of your oven and bake them for 45 to 50 minutes(it took me exactly 50 minutes).

• Remove them and let it sit in the same loaf pan for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from your loaf pan and shift to cooling rack.

• Slice and serve them for your break fast or tea time :). 

My Notes:

• Bread flour/Almond flour/Coconut flour/Wheat flour can be substituted for All purpose flour.
• Milk can be substituted with curd / Buttermilk.
• We can add banana along with avocados. They are a perfect combination that go together. 
• We can bake them in muffin holders to make avocado muffins too.
• 1/4 teaspoon of Baking soda can be added to the above ingredients to make the muffins fluffy.
• I used Loaf pan of 8.4 in x4.4 in x 2.5 in size. This was a small loaf pan and that is also one reason that it took long time to bake. Set less time according to the size of baking pan used.

 

KERALA KADALA CURRY

Ingredients

1. Brown chickpeas/kadala- 1/2 cup
2. Grated coconut-1/4 cup ( heaped)

To pressure cook

1. Onion sliced- 1 nos
2. Shallots- sliced- 5 to 6 nos
3. Tomato sliced- 1 medium sized
4. Green chilies-cut into two- 2 nos
5. Ginger chopped- 1 tsp
6. Garlic chopped- 1 tsp
7. Kashmiri chili powder-1 1/2 tsp( or to taste)
8. Turmeric powder- 1/2 tsp
9. Coriander powder- 2 tsp
10. Garam masala powder-1/2 tsp
11. Fennel powder-1/2 tsp
12. Water-1 and 1/4 cup (or as required)
13. Curry leaves-few
14. Salt to taste

For tempering

1. Mustard seeds-1/2 tsp
2. Curry leaves- 1 sprig
3. Dried red chilies- 2 nos
4. Shallots sliced-5 to 6 nos
5. Coconut pieces- 1to 2 tbsp
6. Oil- as required

Method

• Soak chickpeas in water for 8 hours ( or overnight)
• In a pan dry roast grated coconut over medium low flame,until it turns to a reddish brown color.Allow this to cool slightly and grind  to form a smooth paste,adding very little water.(UPDATE:For a better flavor avoid using water,if you are finding it difficult to grind it into a paste ,just powder it finely .That will also work great.)Keep this aside.
• In a pressure cooker combine together drained chickpeas and rest of the ingredients listed under 'To pressure cook'.Cook until it is done( for about 15 to 20 minutes).
• Open the pressure cooker after releasing steam pressure .Add the roasted coconut paste( add more hot water,only if you require more gravy).Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.
• For tempering,heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds,let it splutter.Add curry leaves,dried red chilies,shallots and coconut pieces.Saute until it turns golden brown.Pour this over the curry.Mix well and serve hot with puttu.

Notes:

• For best results ,do not use water while grinding the roasted coconut.
• You can avoid green chilies and use 1 tbsp kashmiri chili powder instead,for a better color.

ONION TOMATO CHUTNEY

Ingredients

1. Shallots-sliced-18 to 20 nos( or use 1 small onion)
2. Tomato chopped-1 small
3. Kashmiri chili powder-3/4 to 1 tsp( according to taste)
4. Asafoetida-1small pinch
5. Mustard seeds-1/4 tsp
6. Curry leaves- few
7. Oil
8. Salt to taste

Method

• Combine together shallots/onion and tomato in a blender and grind to form a smooth paste.
• Heat oil in a pan add mustard seeds and let it splutter.Add curry leaves.Saute for few seconds.
• Add kashmiri chili powder,asafoetida , onion-tomato paste and salt to taste.
• Cook until raw smell leaves and oil separates.
• Serve with idli or dosa.

Pizza / Homemade Pizza (Made from Scratch)

                The presentation here is my second try because my food critic - my hubby did not approve my first try as the pizza was fat (used more dough than necessary). The second time around, I figured the crust had to be a bit thinner so it dint end up fat and was perfectly cooked from top to bottom. I simply loved the process of making pizza, so different from our conventional cooking style, ready to make it any number of times. Can't wait to share this whole process.

             
          I planned to use my cookie tray and bake a square pizza but my hubby dint want to compromise on the appearance, especially as I was planning to post it in my blog. So he ran to the store and got me pizza pan just minutes before baking - oh how lovely hon!

            

               Please don't forget to read the "Note" in the end of the post. I linked this recipe with my Pizza dough recipe separately to avoid the length of this post. so click on for the basic references.

Ingredients:

Pizza dough (Click for a step wise method for making pizza dough at home)
Pizza / Pasta Sauce - 1/2 cup
Tomato - 5 thin slices
Mushroom - 3 no's (Sliced thin)
Bell pepper - 5 thin slices
Onion - 3 tablespoon(roughly chopped)
Mozzarella cheese - 200 grams
Pepper powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Olive oil - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt - a pinch
Chicken - 100grams(cubed small)
For Vegetarian pizza add ingredients other than chicken. We can also buy pizza base from outside and follow the process.

Method:

• Grease the pizza tray with some olive oil and dust it with some flour and keep aside.

• Take a bowl and mix pepper, salt and olive oil together and toss the vegetables in it. (I chopped the vegetables for my little one). Take a tawa and saute chicken pieces for 5 minutes(Half cooking the chicken helps the chicken to bake fast and be tender soft).

• Divide the dough to two equal parts. Now on your counter top spread some flour and take one part and spread it well to round or square shape and place it on your greased pizza tray and let it sit for 10 minutes to set again. Use a fork and poke all over.

• Spread the Pizza sauce, arrange the toppings.

• Preheat the oven to 400`F for 5 minutes and keep this pizza tray on the middle rack and set the timer to cook for 15 minutes or until the cheese on top gets melted well and the bottom of pizza is slight brown.

• Take the pizza outside and let it rest for 10 minutes.

• Slice and serve..

My Note:

• Its very important that we pat and spread the pizza dough equally on all sides. when i tried for the first time i made the batter thick from all sides and made my pizza fat.
• Taken batter should be spreaded using hand to the maximum.
• Use less Pasta sauce to spread.
• I used bread flour because it helps in giving a crisp crust for pizza but using APF is also fine.
• The moment you take out your cooked pizza you will see some water like structure on top. That is only because of the cheese getting melted. Allow to set for 10 minutes and then serve.
• If you are using chicken, dice them to small bits. this will help chicken to cook well.
• After the step of raising the batter(letting it sit for 2 hours) take the required and store the unused remaining batter in a air tight container. It will sit for 2 weeks long.
• Amount of cheese and Toppings are absolutely our choice. There are "n" number of toppings so you can use any vegetable you like.