Cooking for vegetarians....

If you have vegetarians coming for a meal you can be sure that Paneer/cottage cheese will be a part of the main course. More so if they are from the Northern part of India where paneer is eaten as curry dishes. When I think of paneer I am reminded of my early Chemistry class, " takes the form of whatever it is added to" or the popular Hindi song( from my era) which goes: "Jisme milao tu usi ke jaisa". Paneer can take any shape or form and therefore the list of paneer dishes is really endless. In fact there are cookbooks dedicated entirely to Paneer. You have the regular Palak Paneer/Methi Paneer/Butter Paneer/Malai Paneer which jostle for space among their "international counterparts" like Chilli Paneer, Paneer Manchurian( Yes, the Chinese have taken over our lives in more ways than one, I am told Mandarin will now be introduced as a language in our schools), grilled paneer, paneer in white sauce, paneer moussaka etc.

In the East the use of paneer(referred to as chhena) was earlier restricted to sweets.When making sweets, Paneer is drained but not pressed, so that some moisture is retained, which makes for a soft malleable consistency. Now of course Paneer curry dishes know no boundaries. All pervasive.

While some vegetarians I know are tired of being served Paneer this one I promise is a little different. It uses very few ingredients and gets done real quick( under 10 minutes).

Achari Paneer

Ingredients

Paneer: 200 grams

Onion: 3 Medium sized onions, sliced fine

Panch Phoron: 2/3 tsps( saunf, mustard, nigella, jeera, methi in equal proportion)

Hing: A pinch

Oil: 1 tsp

Curd: 3/4th cup

Maida: 1 tbsp

Chilli powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric powder:1/2 tsp

Black salt powder: 1 tsp(I used Roopak Shikanji Masala instead of black salt)

Salt to taste( go easy on the salt as you are also using black salt)

Corriander leaves: 1/2 cup

Sugar:1/4 tsp

Method

Cut the paneer into cubes and soak for sometime in luke warm water(this helps soften the Paneer, a must if using Paneer that has been stored in the refrigerator for a few days).

Heat the oil, add the Hing once the oil heats up. Then add the Panchphoran and let it sputter. Add the onions and fry till they are glassy. Add the paneer, chilli powder, turmeric powder and black salt. Mix the spices. Next beat the curd with 1 tbsp of Maida( to be on the safe side I add a pinch of sugar, prevents the curd from curdling). Add to the dish. Mix together taking care not to mash the paneer.

Add finely chopped corriander leaves and serve hot.

Goes best with hot rotis.

With leftover Achari Paneer you can make paneer parathas. They taste yumm!

Bon Apetit and Happy cooking!

Kahani thodi filmi hai....

I was reminded of a really old ketchup ad when I was making these Mini Pizzas. The ad goes something like this....there is this grown up kid who walks in and tells his Mom in an anglicized voice: Aaj khane main kya hai( what's cooking today)? And wrinkles up his nose when he finds his Mom making Parathas(read traditional food, not " so cool"). So the smart Mom takes the paratha, smears tomato ketchup over it, layers it up with some cooked veggies, grated cheese and in the same tone says : Pizza..Paratha Pizza! And the kid gobbles up the food.

Kids are taken in by the overall presentation and one needs to package the dish to them( Calvin eats up his greens because his Mom tells him that he will turn into a mutant if he does so- Moms are always so smart :-), they know just how to get things done).

Pizzas offer an easy ways to slip a lot of vegetables into your child's food. And for once he does not grumble, yes mummy/tummy dono khush.

Desi Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza bases: 6

Tomato ketchup: 6 tbsp

Vegetables: Any leftover vegetables will do, try and use beans, carrots, mushrooms, peas etc.

Oregano: 3 tsp

Mozarella Cheese

Capsicum: 1/2, cut into thin strips

Onion: 1, chopped fine(optional)

Method

Quite like the ketchup ad Mom. Smear tomato ketchup on the Pizza bases, add the vegetables, top with onion, capsicum, oregano and finally the grated cheese. Bake for about 5/10 minutes

Serve HOT.

Adults seem to love these Pizzas too. That reminds me of another ad line Bache to bache, Baap re baap.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Do it sweet.....

Chutneys help spice up an otherwise boring meal. There is no limit to the number of chutneys and they can be made from any vegetable/fruit/herb/spices or a combination of them. My Mom recently made a chutney where she combined some sweet grated mango chutney with some hung curd and a handful of fresh mint( from my kitchen garden). Possibilities are endless really(like everything else) and most chutneys also double up as sandwich spreads, dips. I have even added leftover pudina/dhania chutneys into gravies to spice them up.

Tomato chutney or Chatni as it referred to is the most common form of Chutney in the

Eastern part of the country. A quintessential part of Bengali wedding menus. The elaborate wedding menu usually finishes with tomato Chutney and papad. You literally lick your fingers to the finish. The best way to enjoy this chutney is to savour it bit by bit, to let the sweetness with a tinge of sour pervade through your senses.

Adding Aaam Papad( or Aaam Shato as it is called in Bengali) or Khajur makes the chutney more flavorsome. Aam Papad adds body to the chutney and gives it a nice sweet and sour taste.

Tomato Aaam Papad Chutney

Ingredients

Tomato: 1/2 kilo, medium size tomato

Aam papad: 5/6 cubes, chopped into small bits

Sugar: 4/5 tbsp

Salt: To taste

Panch Phoran: 1 tsp(Panch phoran is cumin, fennel, nigella, fenugreek, mustard seeds mixed in equal quantity)

Oil: 1 tsp

Whole Jeera: 2 tsp

Method

Heat oil in a kadhai. Once the oil heats up add the panchphoran and let it sputter. Next add the tomatoes and cook till they soften. Add the sugar and let it dissolve completely. Add the salt. Finally add the aam papad. Dry roast the Jeera seeds and coarsely grind them. Sprinkle it over the chutney. Let the Chutney cool. Store in the refrigerator.

Serve cold.

Chutneys stay well for days and are healthier than pickles( which tend to be high on oil, that killer salt and spices). Ideal when you are entertaining as you can make it a day or two early.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!

Luck of the pot.....

Pot luck dinners are quite popular with some of our friends. While writing this post I found out that the etymology of the word pot-luck appears in 16th century England, and was used to mean "food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest, the luck of the pot". Interestingly to the Irish, a potluck was a meal with no particular menu. Everyone participating brought a dish for all to share. The term comes from a time when groups of Irish women would gather together and cook dinner. They only had one pot so they cooked the meal together with whatever ingredients they happened to have that day.

For me and my friends Potluck is a convenient way to have a lot of fun. Each one of us gets a dish or two so that the hostess does not have to spend all her time in the kitchen cooking/managing refrigerator space/managing household help motivation etc. I also find that when each one of us gets a dish, everything tastes really nice. A lot of effort goes into every individual dish unlike the case where you are preparing an entire meal and your attention gets divided among several dishes. Then you are a little partial to some of the dishes as compared to the others. At the end of the potluck everybody carries back a little bit of the leftovers (other one's dish) for the next day so as the host you don't end up eating the same food over the next three days.

I was at one such dinner last weekend and had made some dhaniya chicken. It is a really easy, no oil dish. Goes well with Roti/Paratha as well as Pulaos. You can make this dry or a leave a little gravy depending on your own individual preference.

I had first sampled Dhaniya Chicken at Barbeque, Calcutta. In fact a friend of ours always ordered this dish. I never got around to getting the recipe from the chef, later discovered this version in a cookbook.

Dhaniya Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken: 1 kilo

Tomato Puree: 1 cup( use 1 tetrapack if using the bought one)

Dhania powder: 1/2 cup, this is the predominant ingredient

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Garam Masala: 1 tsp( I use the Roopak Garam Masala which is coarsely ground)

Salt: 1 tsp or to taste

Sugar:1/2 tsp

Ginger garlic paste: 2 tsp

Sugar: a pinch

Corriander leaves: 1 cup, finely chopped

Method

This is the part I like the best. It is just one step. Almost like baking with the additional advantage of tinkering with the dish half way through.

Mix all the ingredients( except the corriander leaves) together, add a cup of water. Bring the gravy to a boil and let it then simmer covered for about 20 minutes/till done( stir occasionally). Switch off the stove, open the lid and add the corriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot.

There was so much of food going during the pot luck dinner that we did not end up eating most of the main course. My friend tells me that the chicken tasted good and I shall shamelessly take her word for it. Inspired me to blog about it.

Bon Apetit and Happy Cooking!