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Paneer Babycorn Chettinadu Curry

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PaneerbabycornChettinadumasala-3
Paneer and babycorn  cooked in a curry made with flavorful roasted whole spices and coconut.

Anything with paneer is a definite win. The texture of paneer is similar to Greek feta/cottage cheese which is prepared in a similar manner. I used the tin baby corn instead of boiling some. I have seen that paneer a part of most Indian restaurants menu. This goes well with steamed rice, Pulao, naan or roti. Paneer can be replaced with tofu also. Don’t add lots of cashews to make it rich, it will spoil the originality of the taste. I cut my paneer in this manner, but you can always cut in the way you fancy.

I made these for my office last week and took them. I usually take time to edit and post. I will do them once in a while. I have so many recipes and pictures on my camera that needs to be edited and posted. I am just going to post them all that I had before I click any new ones. Like any other human being, when I am held up with work or due to personal reasons, I just put them away and it’s not the right time for all these I think. However, now I feel I will never have the right time. If this makes me happy and going, I will do this. I really want to post all the pictures and recipes in drafts at least rather than just they die in my drafts. After all, it is all my hard work!

I was thinking what to make with paneer, and what will go with paneer well, then thought of potato or babycorn. Luckily I had babycorn tin in my fridge for a long time, so was just happy with the plan. The combo really worked out! The roasted whole spices does give a different taste and flavor. Try the spices according to your taste.

I have a collection of paneer recipes to look and my other favorite paneer recipes: Butter paneer curry, paneer sandwich, and paneer dumplings

Other favorite baby corn recipes: Baby corn makhani

Vegan note: Use tofu instead of paneer and almond milk instead of creamPaneerbabycornChettinadumasala-3

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Paneer Babycorn Chettinadu Curry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 3 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Blend:
  • Cardamom – 2
  • Cloves – 2
  • Cinnamon – 2
  • Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
  • Garlic – 4 pods
  • Ginger – 1 inch piece
  • Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 2 tsp
  • Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
  • Coriander seeds – 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Freshly grated coconut/ desiccated coconut - 1 tbsp.
  • Dry methi leaves/ Fenugreek leaves – 1 tbsp.
  • Cashews – 5 whole
  • Poppy seeds/ kasa kasa – 1 tbsp.

    For the gravy:
  • Paneer – 300 gms, fancy chop as you like
  • Babycorn – 100 gms, fancy chop as you like
  • Onion – 1 cup, chopped very finely or blends it
  • Tomato – 1 cup, chopped
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped/slit
  • Oil – 1 tbsp. / unsalted butter - 1 tbsp.
  • Cream/almond milk – 1.5 tbsp.
  • Coriander – 1 tbsp., chopped finely (to garnish)
Instructions
  1. Take 1 tbsp. of butter in a pan, place the paneer cubes and fry for a minute in each side till they become crispy golden. Keep it aside. (Optional step)
  2. Take 1 tbsp. of oil in a pan, add the chopped onions/blended onions and green chillies and sauté till they become translucent. Now add the tomatoes, and salt.

  3. Cook for about 6 minutes on a medium flame till everything gets cooked, turns mushy and oozes out little oil. Add the blended paste and sauté in low flame for 5- 8 minutes till it oozes out little oil on top. Allow this to cool.

  4. Add ½ cup of water, allow it to boil and add washed baby corn, paneer, cream/almond milk, sugar, and boil for five minutes and switch off.

  5. Garnish with chopped coriander or grated paneer, grated ginger or cream.

Notes
1. Frying the paneer is an optional step.
2. It’s better to close the vessel with a lid when we add the blended masala as it may spilt up some outside as it boils
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Punjabi Kadhi Pakora/ Fritters in yogurt gravy

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PunjabiPakoraKadi-19Crispy onion pakoras simmered in yogurt besan gravy. Perfect Comfort food!

Kadhi is yogurt besan based gravy and pakoras are fritters. It is very quick to make surprisingly. I thought it might take quite a lot  time, I tasted this few times in restaurants and wanted to try it. So asked one of my friends who does it well, tried and now I just love it more than the restaurants ;).  After having at restaurants, I realized that many states of India has their own version of kadhi like gujarati kadhi, maharashtrian kadhi, Punjabi kadhi and so on. And this here is my version ;)! I am sure everyone has their own version with a few tweaks here and there like any other food. Some add veggies to it, but I heard the authentic recipe is just plain pakoras in besan yogurt gravy. Make sure to simmer the kadhi for 2-3 minutes, so it soaks up some gravy and flavors. I have heard adding ghee making a lot of difference to the gravy 😉 and I always love ghee (Indian clarified butter) so I would say yes. Try and let me know! Even oil tasted perfect to me. I had this for my lunch with some parathas, plain hot rice and spicy potato roast.

Vegan note: Replace yogurt with coconut milk or vegan yogurt

Other Favorite North Indian curry: Pepper Paneer Do Pyaza, Trevti Dal/Three Lentil Dal, Mushroom Peas Spring Onions masala, Roasted bell pepper gravy, Paneer Makhanwala

 PunjabiPakoraKadi-15




5.0 from 1 reviews
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Punjabi Kadhi Pakora/ Fritters in yogurt gravy
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • • For Pakora: (yields 7-8 pakoras)
  • Besan flour/ Gram Flour/ Chcikpeas flour/ Kadalai maavu – ½ cup
  • Baking powder – a pinch
  • Chilli Powder – ¼ tsp
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped finely
  • Ajwain/ Carom seeds – a pinch
  • Onions – 1, thinly sliced (approx. ½ cup)
  • Cilantro/ Coriander leaves – 2tbsp (finely chopped)
  • Curry leaves – 1 Sprig (finely chopped)
  • Salt – to taste
  • Water – ⅛ - ¼ cup as needed
  • Oil – to deep fry


    For Kadhi:
  • Yogurt – 1.5 cups (preferably sour)
  • Besan flour – 2-3 tbsp
  • Oil/ghee – 1 tbsp
  • Asafetida - pinch
  • Red Whole dry Chillies - 2
  • Methi seeds – ½ tsp
  • Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
  • Curry leaves – few
  • Ginger – 1 tsp (finely chopped)
  • Garlic – 2 (finely chopped)
  • Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
  • Chilli Powder – ½ tsp
  • Cilantro – 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
Instructions
  1. For Pakora/Fritters:
  2. Mix the chickpea flour, ajwain seeds, baking powder, onion, chilli powder, green chillies, salt, curry leaves and coriander leaves. Make sure to add righta mount fo salt, as it is going to absorb jucies and flavor from the kadhi gravy later.

  3. Add water slowly by whisking the batter, so that there are no lumps in the batter. It should be light, thick and smoother than a pancake batter I would say.
  4. Heat oil in a pan and drop small portions of the mixture into the hot oil and deep-fry till golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper and set aside.


    For kadhi:
  5. Take a bowl, whisk together yogurt and besan flour until its smooth. Authentic kadhi is thick, but if you want to thin it out, add some water and set aside. I added 1 cup of water as I was going to simmer for some time.

  6. Heat oil in a big wide pan in medium low heat, add methi seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, red chillies, ginger, garlic, and asafetida. When the red chilli turns color, add the besan yogurt mixture, salt ( as per your taste) and turmeric.
  7. Turn the heat to low, bring to a boil and cook on low heat for about fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.

  8. Heat 1 tsp of oil/ghee in a small pan,add the red chilli powder and sauté for few seconds.
  9. Add this to the gravy , add also the fried pakora, and continue to simmer for two to three minutes.
  10. Switch off and garnish with coriander leaves.
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Serve with hot plain rice or ghee rice or Peas pulao or paratha or phulka or naan.

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Spinach with Lentils/ Keerai Molagootal

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KeeraiMolagootal-7name

Simple and flavorful dish with spinach, lentils and coconut!

Spinach as we all know is really rich in iron, vitamin A, B and C and very healthy so I try to include them as much as I can. I like them even raw :D! But I can’t have a whole cup raw. But surely I can have half a cup.I used the normal spinach, but I guess the authentic recipe includes manathakali keerai. So, if you could get it, you could use that. In India, We have so much of varieties of spinach like mulai keerai, paruppu keearai, thandu keerai, aria keerai and the list goes on. I always wanted to cook with that. When I went to India, I wanted to make some recipes there, click pictures and come. But I never got some time for that. I mainly wanted to make recipes with spinach and tender coconut. Wanted to make tender coconut kheer ( elaneer payasam), tender coconut idli and so on.

KeeraiMolagootal-9

Molagootal is a dish form kerala, I made them long back before 3 years, wanted to make it again last month.  It is very simple and flavorful dish, full of nutrients. It is great food for both yound and old. This way we can include both lentils and spinach into our food. Molagootal can be even made with mixed vegetables like winter melon, pumpkin and even broccoli.  Most kerala recipes include coconut. Some say it is good for health and some say it is not. So, I try not including coconut always into my recipes. But some dishes it is a must 😉 and I do include them. This recipe is very easy to make. It is just the name 😉 which sounds difficult. I made this with some spicy baked cauliflower bites and steamed rice. You can use any kind of lentils.

I used this vessel of mine to place and take pictures, where my mom got this from India in October, but she taped it with keeping some pot or something inside. So, I have this brown tape everywhere. Do not think 😉 it’s my food that it is all over my vessel.\

Vegan Note: avoid ghee!

 

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Spinach with Lentils/ Keerai Molagootal
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • Oil – 4 tsp
  • Mustard – 1 tsp
  • Curry leaves - 5
  • Spinach – 3 cups, firmly packed
  • Moong Dal (split green gram) – ½ cup
  • Turmeric powder – a pinch
  • Water – 3 cups
  • Ghee – 1 tbsp
  • Salt – 1.5 tbsp


    To blend:
  • Coconut – 4 tbsp, (fresh blended coconut or dessicated coconut)
  • Urad dal – 1 tbsp
  • Red chili – 5
  • Cumin Seeds – 2 tsp
Instructions
  1. Pressure cook moong dal with 2 cups with a pinch of turmeric powder for 3 whistles. Once the pressure subsides, open the cooker and mash the dal well.
  2. In a wide pan, add 1 tsp of oil in medium flame, sauté the cumin seeds, red chilli, urad dal and when it is sautéed for few seconds, now add the coconut and sauté till they are light golden brown. Switch off and blend them without water.
  3. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp of oil in medium flame, add the mustard seeds and wait till it crackles, and then add the curry leaves and sauté well. Now add the blended coconut paste and sauté nicely for few seconds. But make sure you don’t burn them.
  4. Add the washed spinach and cooked dal, sauté them for a minute till they blend into the coconut paste well.

  5. Add 1 cup of water to this and add salt, mix well and close the pan with a lid and keep in medium to low flame. Let the flavor get into spinach and dal well.

  6. After 5 -6 minutes, open the lid, it should be in a consistency not watery and not dry.
  7. Top it a tbsp of ghee(Indian clarified butter)/ butter.
Notes
1. Add more red chillies if you want to make it more spicy.
2. You can use any kind of lentils.
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Taste great with steamed rice and potato roast, or raw banana roast.

KeeraiMolagootal-9

Vazhakkai Fry/ Raw Banana Fry

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VazhakaiFry_namePerfectly roasted plantain with curry leaves and spices.

I usually prepare the raw banana in two other different styles. One is by chopping them in circles, marinate in the masala and pan roasting them. Other is by grinding few masala with coconut and cooking raw banana with the masalas. And the one I am doing now is a classic recipe at my house 🙂 My mom does this for some rice and rasam. Because this one is crispy, it tastes great with any rice. My dad actually makes this at my place. My mom makes raw banana podimas by boiling it and mixing with few masalas. OMG! I am drooling! Even if I cook the best recipe of mine or have my favorite food in my favorite restaurant, my vote and my option is for my Moms food at any day. I guess it is the same for most of us. 🙂 I was raised having this comfort food and I love them.

I noticed that there are no raw banana recipes in my site. I noted 😉 in my list to add few more.

VazhakaiFry-3

VazhakaiFry-2

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Vazhakkai Fry/ Raw Banana Fry
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • • Raw banana/ vazhakkai – 2 medium sized( 2 cups), thinly sliced into circles
  • • Oil - 2 tbsp
  • • Mustard seeds - ¾ tbsp
  • • Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1 tsp
  • • Urad dal - 2 tsp
  • • Curry leaves - 5
  • • Turmeric powder - 2 tsp
  • • Sambhar powder - 1 tbsp
  • • Chilli Powder - 1 tbsp
  • • Sugar - 1 tsp
Instructions
  1. Wash raw banana and peel the outer layer. Chop them finely into small cubes. Soak them in water till you use them.

  2. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan in medium heat, add mustard, after it crackles, add urad dal,curry leaves and jeera.
  3. Bring the heat to low, and add turmeric powder, sambar powder, chilli powder,salt and asafetida Stir well. But make sure not to burn them, so keep it in low heat.
  4. Now add the chopped raw banana and bring the heat to medium. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of water, close the lid and cook for 5-7 minutes.

  5. Add 1 tsp of sugar and keep frying until the raw banana gets roasted here and there in color. Takes around 5-7 minutes again. Switch off the flame.
Notes
Adding sugar makes retain the color and turns it crispy.
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Taste great with rice and sambar or rasam or milagu kuzhambu or vengaya kuzhambu or dal fry. You can have them plain as snacks 🙂

VazhakaiFry-4

Cauliflower Potato Peas Masala / Aloo Gobi Matar Masala

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AlooGobiMatar-2Simple stir fry of potatoes, peas and cauliflower flavoured with aromatic Indian spices.

The thought of cooking curry from scratch probably scares many of us, but it’s really easy when you know the flavor combinations of the different spices. This recipe is for those days where you literally want to dump everything on the pot and return to your dent in the couch. This isn’t tricky to make at the best of times. You just need one pan and one spoon to make this and you may as well have cooked the whole meal on your one stovetop. I made this long back and drafted it, but posting it now. I have a lot of recipes in my draft, it is just sometimes I take some break and it slips out from my mind.  

AlooGobiMatar

There are many ways of making aloo gobi and here is my favourite version from my kitchen. This recipe is warm and hearty. This is a dry version and this curry ought not to be too soupy, as you want the potatoes to absorb all the flavors in the dish. The potatoes should be juicy from the cauliflower and onion tomato juices but not mushy. Gobi means cauliflower and aloo means potato. Peas are optional here and I just wanted to add it for more flavors. This will take some time to cook but you don’t have any job in the kitchen, just simmer to the point where there is moisture left in the pan for the consistency that you find is signature to this dish. 

 

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Cauliflower Potato Peas Masala / Aloo Gobi Matar Masala
Author: 
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Potato – 2, about 2 cups, scrubbed, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
  • Cauliflower – 1, small, 2 cups, cut into mediym sized florets
  • Peas – ½ cup, boiled or frozen
  • Hing – a pinch
  • Cumin seeds (jeera) – 2 tsp
  • Onion – ½ cup, chopped finely
  • Tomato – ¼ cup, finely chopped
  • Green chilli – 1, chopped finely
  • Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp
  • Chilli powder – 1 tbsp
  • Garam masala – 1 tsp
  • Coriander powder – 1 tbsp
  • Cumin powder – 1 tbsp
  • Oil – 2 tbsp
  • Salt – as needed
  • Kasuri Methi/ Dried fenugreek leaves – ½ tbsp
  • Lime juice – 2 tsp- for garnishing
  • Corainder leaves – 2 tbsp ,finely chopped for garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed non-stick skillet over medium heat, add hing, cumin seeds, and add the onions, chillies and fry until they are translucent. Then add the ginger garlic paste. Give it a stir till raw smell disappears for a minute.
  2. Add chopped tomatoes and turmeric powder. Saute for a minute till it becomes mushy.
  3. Now add the potatoes, and give a good stir for 2 minute. Now add the cauliflower florets and peas and Mix well.
  4. Now add the chilli powder,garam masala, coriander powder and cumin powder. Add 2 tbsp of water; mix well and make sure each piece is coated with the spice powder and simmer it for 7-10 minutes
  5. Stir in the mixture a few handfuls at a time. Add crushed methi leaves to it and mix well. The potatoes and cauliflower should be little roasted and have the flavors deep in it.
  6. Garnish with coriander leaves and squeeze in some lime.
Notes
1. Be careful when adding water, it might become mushy if you add more water.
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You can serve this delicious Aloo Gobi with any Indian flat breads ( Paratha, Parotta, naan)

Or with plain/ flavored Basmati rice.

Or in a wrap topped with few salad leaves and Greek yogurt or sour cream! 🙂

AlooGobiMatar-3

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