Recipes With a Twist
Curry
Methi Malai Paneer
Aug 26th
Methi Malai Paneer
This one is for mom. While growing up paneer based dishes used to be a staple in our house and I cannot even remember how many different kinds my mom, grandmother and my aunts could make! (I grew up in a large family and shared about 12-13 wonderful years under one roof with my parents, brother, grandparents, aunts and uncles, great grandmother and most adorable cousins.
Few weeks ago we had planned a dinner with our friends and I don’t know from where I started thinking about this indulgent paneer dish my mom used to make. I thought of giving it a try, trying to remember the flavors and ingredients.
The paneer came out very flavorful and fragrant (thanks to Kasoori methi) and I think was very close to what my mom used to make. Next day I called my mom to confirm the recipe and to my surprise I was pretty close- only my version had a little extra step – she never used any onions and I did. I liked the flavor of lightly browned onions. Last week I made it again and wrote down the recipe (I did use onions again!)
You need:
3 tbsp oil (I used Canola)
1 1/2 medium/1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Kasoori Methi (dried Fenugreek leaves, I used MDH brand Kasoori Methi)
3/4 + 1/4 cup whipping cream
1 lb paneer (Indian cottage cheese), cubed – for this dish I bought the paneer form an Indian store but you can make the cottage cheese at home as well
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp MDH Kitchen King Masala
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 Water
2 tbsp Maggie Hot n Sweet Chili Sauce (optional)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
A pinch of Asafoetida powder
1/2 tsp Garam Masala
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions:
1. Heat oil in a wide wok or Karahi
2. Add Asafoetida, followed by garlic and onions
3. Cook on medium heat until onions are slightly brown, stirring every couple of minutes
4. Add tomatoes, and continue cooking on medium heat until tomatoes are soft and onions and tomatoes mixture start leaving the sides of the wok/karahi leaving oil on the sides.
5. Add salt, turmeric, MDH Kitchen King Masala, Kasoori Methi and saute for couple of seconds.
6. Add 3/4 cup cream and cook for 2-3 minutes.
7. Add water and milk and bring it to boil. Simmer on low heat for about 5 minutes.
8. Till this point the sauce is almost cooked and is very mild. At this point I took out some for my son and added few cubes of Paneer for him separately. Since he liked his version, I amalso tagging this post as ‘Toddler Friendly’
9. Take out few table spoons of sauce in a cup, Add Maggie Hot n Sweet Chili sauce and mix well. Put it back in the Karahi and mix well. This is optional – only if you like mild hot and sweet flavor. If you don’t have this chili sauce on hand you can also try regular ketchup with 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp red chilies.
10. Add paneer cubes, stir in 1/4 cup cream and simmer on low heat for about 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook the paneer as the cubes will start breaking
11. Sprinkle the garam masala and chopped cilantro
Serve hot with Naans or Roti (Indian Flatbreads)
Note: You can adjust water / milk quantities as per your liking. This recipe makes a medium consistency curry –not too dry and not too watery either
Total Preparation Time : Approximately 30 minutes
Curried Eggs
Jul 14th
By Heidemarie Swanepoel
Curried Eggs
Today I really did not feel like just a sandwich for a quick lunch. It’s raining, and cold, and I wanted to warm up from the inside. Curry is always just the thing for me. This one is quick and easy.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 chicken breast
1 small onion
½ – 1 cup boiling water
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon strong curry powder (or to taste)
1 tablespoon cornflour
1. Bring the eggs to the boil in boiling water. Boil till they are a softish hard boiled egg (approximately 7 minutes, depending on your altitude).
2. In the meantime, fry the chopped onion and the diced chicken in a little oil. Add the salt, pepper and curry powder. Fry for about 6 minutes. Add the water, and bring to the boil. Add the cornflour, and thicken the gravy.
3. Once the eggs are boiled, cool them under running water for a minute. Peel them carefully, and cut in half lengthwise.
4. Add them to the curry, and serve hot with rice or flat bread.
Karahi Paneer
Mar 3rd
Karahi Paneer
I like MDH Karahi Chicken Masala and use it pretty often when I make a chicken curry dish such as ‘Karahi Chicken’. I used the same masala this time to make a vegetarian dish – Karahi Paneer. Paneer is a form of cottage cheese that is prepared in a number of ways- scrambled, curries, stuffed and so on. It can be very easily made at home and when in a pinch can be bought from almost all Indian stores. Paneer dishes find their way in most North Indian menus.
Karahi Paneer is a mildly spiced yet a flavorful dish with undernotes of onion and coriander seeds (from MDH masala) ,green bell peppers,black cardamom and fenugreek leaves.
You need:
1 lb. Paneer, chopped in medium sized pieces
2 onions, sliced
4 medium tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped (more if you like the flavor)
3-4 tbsp cooking oil
3 tbsp MDH Karahi Chicken Masala (or more if you like spicy)
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ginger paste
2 pieces black cardamom (halved)
1-2 tsp MDH Kasoori Methi (When I buy a pack, I slightly dry roast them in a pan and store them in an airtight container)
salt to taste
1 tsp lemon juice
1 bay leaf
Heat the cooking oil in a Karahi or deep heavy bottom pat. Add black cardamom and bay leaf and fry for few seconds. Add chopped onions and garlic, reduce heat and fry until golden brown. Add ginger paste and fry for few seconds. Add MDH Karahi Chicken Masala, 1/2 tsp salt and cook for few seconds. Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are mushy, spices seem to be nicely blended and the mixture seem to leave oil. Add pepper and cook for few more minutes.
Tomatoes are cooked, peppers added, ready to add water in 5 minutes
Add Add two cups of water and bring it to boil. Add paneer and and cook for about 5 min on high heat and simmer for 5 more minutes. Sprinkle mashed leaves of Kasoori Methi and add the lemon juice. Adjust salt if needed. If needed, add more water to adjust curry (if adding more water, make sure to bring it boil). Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve with naan or rice.
Servings: 4-6
Karahi Paneer
This is not a very hot dish however you can increase the ‘hot’ factor by increasing the quantity of the masala.
Quick Curry with Rice
Nov 12th
Quick Curry with Rice
Cooking Indian curries take a long time. On weekdays it just seems impossible to spend an hour to whip up a nice curry for the little one. This is my quick version of the popular Indian ‘Butter Chicken Curry’. I use pasta sauce as a base. The pasta sauce is precooked-onions,tomatoes,garlic,etc. So saves time for preparing the base. Far far from the traditional recipe !
2 cups pasta sauce (I use First Street Mushroom as it has a mild flavor)
1/2 cup cream
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp taco seasoning /Indian spices such as powdered cumin, clove, cinnamon, coriander
1/2 cup Chicken Broth /water
few sprigs of fresh coriander/cilantro (optional)
1 tbsp butter (optional)
small pieces of roasted chicken (optional)
cooked rice
Add the pasta sauce to a sauce pan and bring to boil. Add the spices- Indian spices/taco seasoning and let it cook for couple of minutes. Add milk, water/broth and bring to boil. Add chicken pieces (if using). Add cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Adjust the water/milk depending on how thick you want the curry to be. Add butter (if using). Garnish with cilantro (toddlers don’t care about garnish though!) Serve on a bed of rice/or with flatbread (naan).
My son likes some extra curry in a cup so he can help himself by eating it like a ‘soup’
Note: Instead of chicken, you can add cubes of paneer (Indian cottage cheese)
Health tip: This is traditionally a ‘heavy’ curry and I don’t mind the calories for my son. However, you can replace cream with half and half or just milk and use soft tofu to thicken the curry.
Next time I will also try to add some chopped spinach or mustard greens