Paneer Parathas

The kids are home. It is the summer vacation - One is sick, the other volunteering and the third chilling with me! I am on FB and checking out my updates as I hear "amma, what's for dinner" queries brewing in the background. I lay my eyes on some mouth watering paneer parathas that our blogger friend Divya or ChefinYou has posted. She is a versatile chef and has many interesting tips on her page, as I did find out clicking on to her blog. I was making karela subzi anyway and I thought this would make a great combo! It does not take beyond 15 minutes for prep time (she was not kidding) and beyond 20 to make about 10 of these delightful parathas. My kids, mother-in-law and hubby loved it. Will be blogging the Karela subzi next.

For about 10 partathas

Ingredients

2 cups of chakki atta (stone ground wheat flour)

11/4 cups of warm water

1 tsp of salt

2 tsp of oil

(I used my mixer to make the dough)

For the stuffing

1 cup of cubed paneer

3 green chilies finely chopped

1tbsp of fresh cilantro

Method

I did as Divya suggested

I Soaked store bought paneer in hot water, drain after a few minutes and proceeded to crumble it 

Knead or use mixer to make the dough soft, yet firm 

Keep covered until you get the paneer crumbled, salted, and chilies and cilantro added

Make lemon sized balls of the dough

Roll out into rounds bigger than your palm, as Divya puts it

Make a smaller ball of the paneer and place in the center of the rolled out dough

Fold the dough over the paneer ball and pinch out any extra dough

Dust the rolling area with flour and roll out the paratha to the size of a tea saucer

Heat pan and add a smidgen of butter

Place the paratha on the melting butter and cook - repeat on both sides and with each

Serve hot with sides of your choice - In my case I made some incredibly tasty Bitter gourd masala subzi - heavenly!!!

Sneak peak of next post

Enjoy and thanks Divya :)

I will leave you also with this wonderful declaration made by my little one

Jalapeño -Paneer in Orange Juice

There are few Indians and non Indians who dislike Paneer - Not only is it a favorite cheese, but is also versatile in its ability to soak in any and all flavors that it's infused with. Of course, I would like to try something different with it. So I decide I will marinade in deliciously sweet and sour tangerine juice - I proceed to make fresh juice, dice up some onions, tomatoes, some paneer, and fresh jalapeños. Using a small amount of oil (olive or mazola) I stir fry the tomatoes, onions and jalapeños. I drizzle a tad bit of oil on the paneer and take a table spoon of bread crumbs in a plate and roll the oiled paneer in it, just to keep it from crumbling (ironic to use crumbs to prevent crumbling lol)  Anyhow, I add the paneer to the  stir fry along with salt. Then when everything is browning, I add the orange juice and allow the sizzling to happen. The bread crumbs facilitates the soaking of the juice.
Garnish with cilantro and fresh cut jalapeños  - Voila and Ta-dah!  This takes all of 15 minutes to make, cutting veggies included. Enjoy the tantalizing flavors of this dish - they dance on your tongue long after you're done eating - And that is a promise :)

Your ingredients

Orange Juice

Brussel Sprouts and Peanut Stir Fry

Sometimes, we can underestimate the quantity a certain vegetable can shrink to when steamed/cooked - Such shrinkage happened with the Brussel Sprouts that made the other day - Not enough to feed 2 adults and two perpetually hungry teens - So I did the next best thing - got creative and decided to boil some peanuts and bung it in. Could've well created the best combo ever with the baby cabbages. Enjoy this simple and simply delicious curry by itlsef or with some rasam or even chapatis.

Ingredients

• Brussel Sprouts
• 1 cup of  raw peanuts boiled
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds
• 2 red chilies
• 2tsp of olive/sesame oil
• cheese optional

Method

1. Dice into 4 and steam brussel sprouts for about 10 minutes
2. Boil peanuts simultaneously
3. In a frying pan, add the oil and splutter the sesame and red chilies
4. Add the sprouts and the peanuts along with some salt
5. Sprinkle a tsp of water and keep closed and cook for a couple of minutes
6. Serve as is or as side
7. As an Entree this could be served with freshly grated Cheddar  (extra Sharp) and /or Mozzarella melted or plain

Enjoy the goodness of this curry with the greatest relish

Marmalade with Tangerines - The best evah!

Gotta have the spoon shot!

What does one do when you have a child in Orchestra in school. They sell stuff to sponsor trips and they make money of their parents primarily - This is how I got suckered into getting 2 BIG crates of oranges and tangerines all the way from Florida. They tasted like nectar, that's for sure and truth to tell, it did not take much arm twisting for me to agree to buy grapefruits, navel oranges, tangerines and oh-so fresh strawberries. I made strawberry coulis, and jam and I ventured for the first time to make some marmalade. The oranges - I want to say about 12-14 yielded 3 16 ounce jars, two of which vanished before i could say Jack Robinson (an old expression of my dad - which I still use often if only to keep him in my thoughts on a daily basis.

So easy to make and so delicious you've got to try this and feel the rush and the power of making your very own, homemade, marmalade -

Ingredients

• 12-14 good sized tangerines, pitted (see how to below)
• 1 cup of White Sugar
• 1cup of sugar in the raw
• 3/4 -1  cup of orange blossom honey
• A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1tsp orange essence

Method

1. Wash tangerines thoroughly and dab dry with paper towel or kitchen towel
2. Soak in the honey for about 30 minutes
3. Peel them in such a way that you get some big pieces that can then later be cut
4. Cut the orange sideways to reveal the wheel. For pitting it, I took a blunt knife and simply ferreted out the seeds
5. Chop the tangerines slices roughly. 
6. Strain the juice and keep separate
7. In a large 5 or 6 quart pot, add the sugars and the juice and allow it to thin 
8. Once it gets a syrupy consistency, add the tangerine pieces and honey and the rinds
9. Allow this to simmer for about 20-40 minutes or until you see the jam thickening to the preferred consistency. This would be the time to grate the nutmeg into the pot and stir
10. 
    
11. Cool and store in Jars. (you can see how to sterilize the jars here)

The best orange peeler by tupperware, almost as old as my hubby! 

Combos that are da bomb with this delicious marmalade are - yogurt (Mama Mia) hot toast, english muffins (Mama Mia) Hot butter and marmalade over croissants (Mama Mia) and over crumpets -

For the well-adjusted Indian, this is a super combo with dosais and better yet with adais!
Enjoy until the next recipe!

Sweet Potato and Hazelnut Soup

Mama Mia - Looking for a gourmet soup to put together for a wonderful evening together with friends, here is a fabulous soup - The hazelnuts gives this soup a creamy and delicious finish and for sweet potato lovers like me, this was a match made in heaven. 

Ingredients

• 5-6 medium sized sweet potatoes washed and steamed
• 1/2 medium red onion chopped
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup hazle nuts
• 2-3 green chilies (optional)
• 1tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan
2. Add the green chilies and the onions and sautee until onions are golden
3. Mash the sweet potatoes and add to the pan
4. In a pan, roast the hazelnuts for a minute, no more
5. Add to the curry and stir in
6. Add salt and cilantro and stir like a dry curry for a couple of minutes
7. Now add the water and cook until the water boils
8. Remove fro  flame
9. Cool a bit and grind

I stuck a tortilla for the picture, but actually served it with delicious olive bread (a house favorite) from Trader Joe's

Enjoy

Garnish with cilantro and olive oil or as desired

Cheers, Until next time - this will go to Avant Garde Cookies soup de mois!

Deviled Eggs for Easter

Here we go again - One more Avant Garde recipe for the cookies  and this one is a simple yet delicious picnic, breakfast or anytime snack idea ..... if you like eggs - Deviled eggs are taking boiled eggs to the next level of yum with some Mayonnaise, at the risk of be redundant - egg on egg - iykwim!
Add some pepper to it and voila - a perfect pop-into-your-mouth hors d'oeuvre! The idea presented itself when my little one came back home with some painted boiled eggs she made at school.

Method

1. Boil the eggs hard
2. Cut in two halves
3. smear with Mayo
4. Top with freshly ground pepper 

Eat

Happy Happy Easter to all and safe Spring Break

Will be back with some jams soon

Potatoes in Peanut & Onion gravy (Urulai Thiratal)

Let me start by saying this is was a runaway hit with my family. We are blog hopping for Avant Garde Cookies and I was delighted that my first hop in this category was to my blogger bestie, Priya Sreeram's  blog, Bon Appetite - First thing that struck me as i keep flipping web pages is - How did I miss this? My sweet friend is so -- because she is a dessert junkie! She has cakes, and brownies, and all kinds of delicious bakes and scattered in between are her savory/spicy dishes... I loved browsing and rereading some of her wonderfully written posts.

I had made a peanut and onion chutney not too long ago which was a super hit too and I thought, hmm, the potato monsters I have in my son, hubby and daughters would love this.  But for adding a few of my favorite tastes, I stayed pretty true to my soul sister's recipe and we enjoyed this to the last lick with chappatis- Thanks PS for enriching my repertoire with this fab dish. And to really confess, I am not big on potatoes at ll - clearly prefer sweet potatoes to the regular kinds and even I loved it

Off to the recipe now

Ingredients

• 8-10 medium sized red potatoes
• 1/2 can of diced tomatoes (or 1 big beef tomato)
• 1 huge red onion (or 2 medium sized ones)
• 1/2 cup of roasted peanuts (without husk)
• 4-5 of your spicy-est red chilies
• A pinch of turmeric
• A pinch of asafetida
• 2 tsp of olive or other oil
• Curry leaves, mustard seeds for tempering

Method

1. Boil Potatoes in pressure cooker or steamer
2. Peel, cube and keep.
3. In a kadai or deep pan,(nonstick to save on oil) add oil and heat
4. Throw in the asafetida, red chilies and sauté
5. Roughly chop the onions, and peanuts since they are to ground anyway
6. Let it tenderize
7. Add the tomatoes
8. Cook until the water is evaporated
9. Cool, grind and set aside

1. In the pan now add 1 tsp of oil and temper the mustards and the curry leaves. 
2. Add the cubed potatoes and some turmeric (optional)
3. Add some salt and cook for a few minutes until the potatoes absorb the salt - I also used 1tsp of rasam powder (you can use curry powder)  and cook for a minute longer
4. Now add the onion and peanut paste and let it simmer along with the potatoes

Transfer into a serving dish and go hung-ho at it with chapatis/naan/pooris or even rice

Enjoy this recipe until the next time I am coming back with some Jams and Tangerine Marmalade - so stay tuned!