Methi Malai Paneer

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

Methi Malai Paneer is a post from: Chef

Mili Juli Sabzi-mixed vegetables medley

You need:

2 cups chopped carrots
2 medium potatoes, chopped
1 cup boiled chickpeas (you can use canned to save time)
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup peas
2-3 tbsp Canola oil
pinch of Asafoetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 whole kashmiri mirch (red chilies)
1 tsp Mango powder (Amchoor)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 tsp red pepper
2 tsp salt
3-4 tsp MDH Kitchen King masala

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wide wok or karahi.
2. Add Asafoetida powder and after couple of seconds add whole kashmiri mirch and cumin seeds.
3. After the seeds splutter add the remaining ingredients and saute on high heat for couple of minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for about 20 minutes (stirring occasionally) or until all vegetables are tender and spices are nicely blended. (You may need to add couple of teaspoons of water if vegetables seem to stick to the wok.

Serves 6

Enjoy this rainbow of vegetables with yogurt or raita with nan or rotis (Indian flatbreads).

Mili-Juli Sabzi (Mixed Vegetable medley with chickpeas) is a post from: Chef

Moong Dhuli Dal Khichdi with Mustard Greens and Spinach

You need:

3/4 cup Moong dhuli dal (Yellow Lentils)
3/4 cup uncooked white rice (or 2 cups cooked rice)
3/4 cup Mustard greens (sarson), chopped
1 cup spinach, chopped
4-5 broccoli florets, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 large tomato chopped
salt to taste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp desi ghee-unclarified butter/Canola oil
Pinch of Asafoetida

Heat ghee/oil in a pressure cooker (or a large pot). Add Asafoetida and after few seconds add garlic. Saute for few seconds and add onions. Cook until translucent or slightly browned. Add tomatoes, salt and turmeric and cook until tomatoes are little mushy. Add spinach, mustard greens and broccoli and cook for couple of minutes. Add rice and lentils, about 6 cups of water and pressure cook for about 15 minutes. After the steam vents out, open the cooker, mix well, add more water to adjust consistency. I like it neither too dry nor too runny. Adjust salt, if needed. If you use any big vegetable pieces, use a ladle to mash them-it will be effortless.

If you are not using a pressure cooker, add about 8 cups water and let the ‘khichdi’ simmer on low heat until lentild, rice and vegetables are all mushy.

Serve hot with yogurt and/or pickles. I usually add some additional ‘ghee’/butter to my son’s bowl.

Moong Dhuli Dal Khichdi with Mustard Greens and Spinach is a post from: Chef

Mint Chicken Biryani

Biryani is a rice based dish made with meat, and/or vegetables and spices and traditionally cooked on slow heat to let the flavors blend in. There are several different recipes and styles popular all over India and local variants of this dish are not only popular in South Asia but also in Arabia and within various South Asian communities in Western countries. Mint chicken biryani as the name suggests is made with chicken and rice cooked with fresh mint leaves.
I have made this biryani way too many times to remember. However, every time I throw in something extra or omit something. So as you can imagine, I would never remember what worked and what not so much . This time I decided to take notes for the blog and I am glad I did as it turn out great.

You need :

1 lb chicken pieces, I used boneless thigh meat
2 medium to large onions, sliced

Onions,bay leaf,cardamoms,cloves

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
6-7 cloves garlic, chopped
3-4 tbsp oil (I use Canola)
2 black cardamoms
1 bay leaf
1 green cardamom
3-4 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

Mint,cilantro,tomatoes

spices:MDH Chicken Curry Masala,MDH Meat Masala,Turmeric,Salt,Red Chillies,onion seeds

1. Boil 10-12 cups of water in a large pot. Add rice, half of mint leaves and chopped cilantro leaves. Boil rice until almost done-a rice grain breaks in two when pressed between two fingers. Do not over cook, drain water.
2. Heat oil in a deep pan/karahi. Add bay leaf, cardamoms, garlic and saute for few seconds.
3. Add onions and fry until golden brown(medium heat). Take out about 1/3rd of onions and keep aside.
4.Add tomatoes, all spices, salt and tomato sauce and cook on medium heat until tomatoes are mushy and the tomato-onion mixture start to leave oil.
5. Add chicken, remaining mint leaves,1/4 cup water, cover and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add 1.5 cups water, cover and cook on medium heat for another 5 minutes. Cook for another 5 minutes-uncovered.
6. Preheat oven to 350 F
7. Take a large baking dish-9*13″ or larger. Grease its base with oil. Spread a layer of rice. Dot some rice with food coloring and spread with fingers. Spread a layer of chicken (along with the curry). Sprinkle little fried onions (saved from 3rd step)

Mint Chicken Biryani-Rice layer

Mint Chicken Biryani-Chicken layer

10. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve hot with some sliced white onions on side

Serves – 3-4

Note: Please adjust seasoning/masala according to the ‘hot’ factor you can tolerate. See how you like mint flavor and improvise next time if you want it to be more minty or less. I know my dad won’t mind a few more sprigs!

Mint Chicken Biryani is a post from: Chef

Sindhi Kadhi with rice

I just came back from a trip to India. I visited my family after four years for a short vacation and to attend my brother’s wedding. Besides being excited to meet my family after such a long time, on my flight from London to New Delhi, I could not stop thinking about this flavorful dish my grandmother used to make when I was little. It used to be a family feast with my cousins, aunts and uncles all dining together to enjoy this Sindhi Kadhi with plain rice and some fried potatoes. I decided to learn it from my grandmother and together she and I spent some time to make it one more time for the family.

Mint leaves (half bunch/20-25 leaves)

Mint,Radish,Green Beans,Okra

Strain the boiled lentils

4. Heat oil in a large stock pot and add mustard and fenugreek seeds. Cook for few seconds, after the seeds splutter add radish slices and green beans. Stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

Stir fry Radish and Green Beans

Sindhi Kadhi simmering

Serve with rice. My father does not forget to suggest that to savor the flavors, take less rice and more kadhi

Sindhi Kadhi served with rice

Sindhi Kadhi (Vegetable medley simmered in tangy lentils curry) is a post from: Chef

You need:
3 cups water
1 cup split yellow lentils (Moong Dhuli Dal)
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
salt to taste
red/black pepper powder to taste (although I did not use any)
1 tbsp lemon juice (or more to taste)

For tempering:

1 tablespoon ghee/ or cooking oil (clarified butter)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 pinch asafoetida powder (hing powder)

Combine the water, lentils, turmeric, pepper powder and salt in a large pot and cook over high heat; bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Cook until the lentils are tender and water and lentils are nicely blended together, about 15 -20 minutes. Alternately, you can pressure cook the same (5 minutes!)

Heat the ghee in a medium pan (I usually use little bit more ghee than 1 tbsp for my son’s benefit). Add asafoetida powder, after few seconds add cumin seeds, and let the seeds splutter. Stir the mixture into the lentil mixture. Turn off the heat and add lemon juice.

Serving Suggestion:

1. For my son, with a dollop of sour cream. He did have few bites so I can say it is worth a try again!
2. On bed of rice, pour lentils, 2 tbsp fresh salsa, 1 tsp sour cream. Thats my tex-mex spin on a classic Indian lentil dish. Although you don’t see tortilla chips in the picture, but I am pretty sure I must have had some with this bowl!

Lemony Yellow Lentils (Moong Dhuli Dal) is a post from: Chef