Chettinad cauliflower masala!!!

For dry roast powder

Fennel seeds 2 tsp
Jeera 2 tsp
Pepper 2 tsp
Red chillies 2
Cinnamon 1 small stick,
cloves 2
Poppy seeds 2 tsp.

Saute in oil and grind together.
Onions 3 sliced,
Garlic 12 pods,
Ginger 1 inch piece
Coconut 3 tbsp.

Chop the cauliflower into florets. Put the florets in hot water and remove from the water after few minutes. Heat oil in a pan and add cauliflower florets. Let it get coated in oil. Then add the onion paste. Mix them well. After few minutes, add water. Dry roast the items given and grind it into powder. Let the cauliflower florets get cooked. Add the dry roasted powder. Close the pan and pressure cook it for 1 whistle. Garnish with coriander leaves and curry leaves.

Paneer butter masala!!

Onions 3, finely chopped
Tomatoes 5, finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp,
Turmeric powder 1 tsp,
Kashmiri chilli powder 2 tsp,
Dhaniya powder 2 tsp,
Paneer 200 gms,
Garam masala 1 tsp,
Coriander leaves,
Hot water 3 cups,
Cashews 15 soaked in water for half hour and make it into a paste.

Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute the onions till they are soft and brown. Put ginger and garlic paste and cook till the raw smell goes off. Add tomatoes and saute it. After the tomatoes got cooked, add turmeric powder, Kashmiri chilli powder, dhaniya powder. After one minute, pour 2 cups of hot water. Let the raw smell of powders goes off.
Now add salt and garam masala. Then
add cashews paste. Add paneer.  If the gravy is thick, you can add 1 cup of hot water again. Then add coriander leaves. Now add butter. Paneer butter masala is ready.

Pepper potato!!!

Ingredients

Potatoes boiled and cubed 1/2 kg
Onions 3 finely chopped
Tomatoes 5 finely chopped
Ginger and garlic paste 2 tsp
Pepper and jeera soaked 2 tsp
Chilli powder 1 tsp
Dhaniya powder 1 tsp
Curry leaves

Heat oil in a pan and add onions. Saute them till they are soft. Add ginger and garlic paste. Let it get cooked for a few minutes. Then add tomatoes. Add salt. After the tomatoes got cooked, add chilli powder and dhaniya powder. Cook till the raw smell goes off. Then add water. And add boiled potatoes. Grind the soaked pepper and jeera into a paste. Put the ground paste into the potatoes and stir well. Add curry leaves and switch off the stove. Pepper potatoes gravy is ready to serve. This goes well with Idli, dosai, poori etc.

Paneer Kurma

              Ramya and I were discussing about side dishes for chappathis . Suddenly I had this recipe in my mind which I saw in Sharmis Passion . It was a very easy to make recipe and came out very well. Paneer Kurma can be used for Chappathis, Pooris, Idiyappams, Appams etc. I just added a bit more Onions and tomatoes varying from the original recipe.

Ingredients
1. Paneer - cubed 1 cup
2.Onion - 2 finely chopped
3.Tomatoes -2 finely chopped
4.Chilli powder - 3/4 tsp
5.Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
6.Garam masala - 1 tsp
7.cinnamon - 1 stick
8.cloves - 3
9.elaichi-1
10. fresh cream - 2 tsp

For the paste
1.Freshly ground ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsp
2.Cashews 8-10
3.fennel seeds - 3/4 tsp
4.grated coconut -1/2 cup
5.green chillies - 2
6.poppy seeds - 3/4 tsp

Preparation Method
               Grind the ingredients given under the paste category. Heat oil in a pan and put cinnamon,cloves,elaichi. saute with onion and after the onions becomes sauted add tomotoes. let the tomatoes get cooked. then add the ground paste and 1 cup of water. add turmeric powder and chilli powder and let it boil for few minutes or till the oil comes out. Then add garam masala and fresh cream. garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with phulkas. 

Tawa Paneer Masala

               Its been a very long time since I posted in my blog.... time flies........ I promised myself from now on wards I will regularly post recipes... my interest was rekindled by some fantastic looking blogs and their recipes....they amaze me by their diligent and enthusiastic work . Its really great to see so many blogs which are very much a visual treat and useful. I have bookmarked nearly hundred recipes which are yet to be prepared .Hats off to all the food bloggers in the world!

               Now coming to this post , the recipe I made is paneer tawa masala which i got from  Tickling Palates . This recipe was very easy to make. I just increased some quantity of the ingredients  for more quantity of the dish.

Paneer Tawa Masala

Ingredients

Paneer – 400 gms

Onion- 3 –medium size

Tomato – 4 to 5  pureed

Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp

Green chillies – 1 or 2

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Chaat masala – 1 tsp

Red chilli powder – 2 tsp

Coriander powder-  3 to 4 tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Cumin seeds – ¾ tsp

Caraway  seeds- ¾ tsp

Kasoori methi – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil – 3 tbsp

Note: Ingredients like chilli powder , garam masala can be changed according to your taste.

Method:

       Marinade paneer with chaat masala, ¾ tsp red chilli powder , ¾ tsp of ginger garlic paste,a pinch of salt and kasoori methi and oil. Keep it aside for an hour.Keep the paneer in a silver foil and grill it in grill mode in the oven  for 10 to 15 minutes or till done. Or you can shallow fry also.

       Chop the onions finely. Heat the kadai and pour oil. Temper with cumin and caraway seeds. Then add onions and sauté it well. Add ginger garlic paste, remaining red chilli powder , coriander powder ,chopped green chillies and again sauté it till the raw smell goes. After the the mixture becomes dry add tomato puree . mix well. Let the mixture get cooked till the oil is separated. Then add garam masala , cream , salt and let it cook for some more minutes. If the gravy is thick you can add milk which will give you a gravy consistency. Then add the grilled paneer and let it get coated in the gravy. Serve hot with  phulkas , naan , Rotis etc.... 

Soy Pepper Masala

I have always wanted to do something spicy with soya chunks and my sister gave me this idea which aptly suited for phulkas, dosas etc. if you eat the chunks the spicy juice is what you will taste and not the bland soya flavor. Give it a try!




Ingredients

1. Small soya chunks - 2 cups
2. Onion -2
3. Tomatoes -3
4. Ginger garlic paste 2 tsp
5. Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
6. Chilli powder - 2 tsp
7. Coriander powder - 1 tsp
8. Cumin seeds - 1.5 tsp
9. Pepper- 1.5 tsp
10.Oil for sauteeing
11.Cinnamon stick-1,fennel seeds -1/2 tsp
12.Curry leaves .
13.Salt as per requirement.

Recipe:
Soak soy chunks in the hot water for 15 minutes.squeeze out the water from soy chunks and again wash it in normal water . squeeze out the water from soy chunks keep it aside. soak cumin seeds and pepper and grind it together.

Heat a oil in a kadai and put cinnamon ,fennel seeds. saute onion for 5 minutes. add ginger garlic paste.Add tomatoes after few minutes. Add salt and then chilli powder,coriander powder and turmeric powder.

After the raw smell goes add some water. Few minutes later add the soy chunks and let it boil for some time.Now add the ground cumin and pepper paste. Let it get boiled for few minutes and garnish it with curry leaves.

Serve hot with phulkas, dosas etc.
I am submitting this recipe to Vardhini's Kitchen 's
Dish it Out - Soy and Tomatoes event

Kathrikai (Brinjal) Bajji

I have seen so many events which had brinjal as the main component! but unfortunately I couldn't participate in those events! As I saw pooja's 'Vegetable of the week' I saw an opportunity to post our favorite kathrikai bajji!

I really dont know how this dish got this name.Its not like all deep fried bajjis.Its not at all in the bajji family itself!!!!!





Ingredients

Brinjal – ½ kg -chopped
Onion – 3 chopped
Tomato – ½ kg – chopped
Red chillies – 5 to 6
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Oil – 1 tbsp
Salt – as per the requirement


Method
This is a very nice dish which I learnt from my MIL.

Heat oil in a cooker. Put onion ,red chillies ,brinjal and tomatoes. Add enough water to cook. Then pressure cook it. It should be cooked very well. Drain the excess water.Add salt.Then smash the brinjal thoroughly and serve hot with dosais.


This is my entry to the 'Vegetable of the week'

Baby Corn Manchurian

We all know about Gobi manchurian... this one is really different! check it out! my friend asked about this.. so this recipe.

Ingredients

1. Baby corn –slitted
2. All purpose flour (Maida)-1 fistful
3. Rice flour -1 fistful
4. Corm flour – 2 fistfuls
5. lime juice -2 tsp
6. soya sauce – 2 tsp
7. salt – as per requirement
8. sugar- ½ tsp
9. green bell pepper – 1
10.onion -1 finely chopped
11. ginger garlic-chilli(1) paste



Method

Mix maida, rice flour, corn flour, salt,sugar,lime juice, soya sauce and baby corn well. Just sprinkle water to bind the ingredients . then deep fry the baby corn till it turns golden brown. Keep it aside.
You can have it as dry Manchurian also.

For the gravy
Heat oil in a wok and sauté onion, ginger – garlic-chilli paste. Add capsicum, soya sauce 1 tsp and again sauté for 2 minutes. Add salt and fried baby corn .Then add some water. Mix corn flour in water and add to the above.

Pepper Dhal

Dhal is one of the basic ingredients in south indian cooking.Dhal has amino acids which is very good for health.There are so many ways to cook dhal like just tempering it with mustard seeds,green chillies for one and so on.. This recipe is again taught to me by my MIL which is a favorite in my family.




Ingredients

Toor dhall - ¾ cup
Onion -1 chopped
Tomato - 1 chopped
Salt
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Oil
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Curry leaves

For grinding
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Black Pepper – 1 tsp
Garlic – 6 to 7 pods

Method:

Cook toor dhall with turmeric powder in pressure cooker. Heat pan and put oil in it. Put mustard seeds in oil. let it splutter. Then add chopped onion, curry leaves and sauté it. After one or two minutes add tomato.
After the tomatoes are sautéed then pour the dhall in the pan .then put the ground mixture into the pan. Then add salt .
Serve with hot rice or rotis!