okra and baby potatoes with butter garlic sauce

This okra (bhindi) and baby potatoes with butter garlic kept ringing in my head until I made it at home the very next day after meeting Bridget White Kumar. This Anglo Indian recipe is being served at the J W Marriot Aerocity right now where she has curated a menu around this cuisine, I loved it so much that I had to share it with you all too.

Note that this version of okra in butter garlic is my recreation after tasting it at the festival and not the authentic way Bridget makes it, there might be a minor variation in her original recipe of okra in butter garlic.

ingredients
(2 servings)

300 gm tender okra (bhindi), caps removed and cut in one inch pieces diagonally
300 gm baby potatoes, boiled, peeled and halved
100 gm or a large onion sliced
one large tomato chopped finely
50 gm butter
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk (optional) 

preparation

Heat a pan and add the butter and garlic together, let them sizzle while stirring till the garlic gets aromatic.

Add the sliced onions and baby potatoes and toss well to coat evenly. Keep cooking for a couple of minutes.

Add the chopped okra, salt and pepper and toss well to coat. Keep tossing or stirring lightly for 5 minutes, add the tomatoes, mix well and cover to cook for 5-7 minutes on medium heat. The okra should be cooked by now, the onions a nice shade of pink and the tomatoes completely mushy.

Cook a few minutes more if the okra is not cooked well. Add milk, stir and cover to cook for a minute, adjust consistency by adding a little more milk if you wish. Check and adjust seasoning.

Serve hot with soft rotis or bread rolls.

sooran ki subzi for diwali : the tradition of eating sooran on diwali

Sooran is also called Zamikand or Zimikand in Hindi, Oal or Ol in Bengal or Elephant foot yam in English. There are many names in other Indian languages you can check here as I don't have a picture of the whole raw yam. This is an ugly looking tuber (actually corm) that doesn't look very appealing on supermarket shelves or even at the neighborhood subziwala, but if you have had a good curry cooked with it, you would hunt this vegetable like crazy. I have seen many people including my dad hunting for sooran whenever they don't get it. We had once grown a lot of sooran in our backyard long back but that variety was the one that causes itch. Although it was edible and super tasty when cooked rightly.

Yes, sooran or suran as we call it, itches a lot if it is the desi variety. Desi sooran has many small bulbous outgrowths from the surface while the other variety is called 'bambaiyya' (meaning Bombay sooran) which has minor itchiness, bambaiyya sooran has a smooth outer skin. The itchiness in this tuber is due to a high concentration of oxalic acid that can be neutralized by washing it well, boiling it and marinating it with lime juice or tamarind juice. One needs to wear gloves or apply mustard oil while cutting sooran as it itches really bad when it does. If the itchiness is not treated well even the cooked curry causes a bad itch in the throat but I am not telling you to scare you, this information is just to let you know that this vegetable needs to be treated well before cooking. Especially if you are using the desi sooran.

There is a tradition involved with sooran and it is considered auspicious on the day of Diwali. Sooran ki subzi was a must on Diwali at my parents place and I saw the same with Arvind's family as well. They probably had adopted the tradition of Banaras to eat sooran on the day of Diwali. Sooran is considered auspicious because it is a vegetable that grows by corms and some small corms remain in the Earth even after harvest and it grows in the next season by itself and spreads really fast. Diwali is a festival to grow and preserve wealth and this quality of sooran is considered auspicious, hence the tradition of eating sooran on Diwali.

This sooran ki subzi is exactly like the one that was made at my parents' home. I sometimes cook the sooran ke shami kabab or sooran ka chokha when I am not in a mood for a spicy curry but this curry is one of the best recipes that has not changed a bit even in my hyper experimental kitchen. This sooran ki subzi has survived the test of time and enthusiasm of a mad experimenting cook. Some tastes are so comforting you want to bring back from past repeatedly. This is one of those.

My mom and dadi (grandmother) used to treat sooran differently depending on what variety of sooran was brought from the local market. The desi one needed a longer marination in lime juice and sometimes they used a paste of Harad (a dry herb, a seed) or even a mix of amchoor, lime juice and tamarind sometimes. Some varieties of sooran are that dangerously itchy. But those who love this vegetable do anything to get the taste.

Luckily now we get the bambaiyya variety of sooran more, but the bad thing is that the desi variety might get lost. Anyway, sooran would survive as the Diwali tradition ensures. Eating a particular green or vegetable on a certain festival has ensured many native varieties to survive and be available at least in the designated time.

Coming to the recipe, this recipe is for the bambaiyya sooran that is not itchy at all. You would get the idea while chopping the corm if it is itchy so add lime juice, tamarind juice or a little vinegar after chopping the sooran and let it sit for a day before cooking if it is too itchy. Or an hour's marination is good. Harad is used in the form of spice paste and is ground along with the spices (1 harad for about 250 gm sooran), and gives the curry a darker hue. But the taste is great in any case.

This recipe is a Jain recipe (without onion garlic), was made after the Diwali puja and we have always liked it this way. But I cooked this curry with some onion and garlic paste added and it tasted great that way too. Feel free to adapt the recipe if you are not looking for the real eastern UP version.

ingredients
(5-6 servings along with other side dishes)

sooran cleaned and cubed 250 gm

for masala paste

chopped ginger 2 inch piece
whole coriander seeds 2 tbsp
whole cumin seeds 1 tbsp
whole black peppercorns 2 tsp or a bit more
tejpatta scissor cut 3-4
whole dry red chillies 3-5 as per taste
black cardamom 2
green cardamoms 5
cloves 6
cinnamon sticks 2 inch piece broken in small bits

large ripe tomatoes 3 (or tamarind pulp 2 tbsp)
salt to taste
home made amchoor powder 1 tsp (use 2 tsp if store bought)
mustard oil 3-4 tbsp

procedure

My mom used to deep fry the sooran cubes and I tried it that way a few times, it takes longer to get softened in the curry I noticed. Later I saw sooran being cooked straight away in watery medium (gravy) in some Kerala style curries and adapted my recipe to be cooked directly and not deep frying and it worked well. Though you can deep fry and proceed as per this recipe.

I used the soorna cubes raw, added them after bhunoing the masala paste nicely before adding water and simmering it for a long time. Slow cooking is the best for such curries so don't be in a hurry for this please. Although pressure cooker gives close results but you never know how long the avaialble variety of sooran would take to cook.

Make a wet paste of all the spices listed for paste, adding about 1/4 cup of water. Make a paste of tomatoes too in the same blender. Keep aside.

Heat the oil in a deep and thick bottom pan and tip in the 1 tsp cumin seeds. Pour the masala paste as soon as the cumin splutters and stir to let it cook. Keep stirring and bhunoing on medium flame till the oil separates. Now add the salt and tomato paste and bhuno again till oil separates.

Now add the cubed sooran, mix well, add about 2.5 cups of water and let the curry simmer for about 35-40 minutes on very low flame. The gravy would become thick and will be of coating consistency. Add amchoor powder and mix well. Garnish with dhaniya patta if you wish but I like this curry in it's own flavours and aromas.

Serve hot but this curry tastes great even on room temperature. This sooran ki subzi keeps well in the fridge for a week, make it a large batch if you like it. It can also be frozen successfully without changing the texture or taste. Note that if you find this sooran ki subzi itchy in the throat after cooking it, you just let the subzi rest for a couple of days in the fridge. It will get better as the souring agents used in the recipe will get time to work on sooran..

We enjoyed this subzi for 3 meals along with other green vegetables and salads but this subzi is not heavy on the tummy at all, it was not itchy sooran luckily. Sooran is considered very good for GI tract and for many other health conditions. Will write about that aspect some other time as this sooran ki subzi significance on Diwali write up has already become quite long.

Don't wait till the next Diwali to make this sooran ki subzi, get some sooran and cook it this weekend and enjoy the  subzi whole week if you like this. I am going to get more sooran for sure. I have already made a chutney this season and have to experiment with a sooran ki subzi I tasted in Mysore. Will definitely share those too. Enjoy this recipe and others form this blog till then.

easy paneer makhni recipe...

Paneer makhni, paneer butter masala or butter paneer masala is more of a restaurant style curry whose roots lie in the dhaba food. Many highway dhabas serve a nice and thick tomato gravy with large chunks of paneer with a generous slathering of butter, served with hot tandoori rotis this Punjabi staple has quenched our hunger many times while traveling. Most of us order paneer makhni and kaali daal or daal makhni on highway dhabas just because these are fast moving items on their menu and good quality and freshness is assured. Same goes with restaurants as well, most of them make nice makhni paneer and makhni daal even if other vegetarian curries are screwed up big time on their menu. 

Makhni paneer is always great at highway dhabas more because they get very good quality raw milk from local sources and make their own paneer fresh. This makes a whole lot of difference to how the fat cubes of paneer behave in a rich curry. 

On second thoughts, the highway dhabas even have access to fresh local tomatoes too while we in the urban jungles depend on roma tomatoes and dry cardboard type tomato varieties most of the times. Good quality fresh tomatoes too would make a difference to the final flavor of this curry. 

Here is how I make this curry at home. This is the most convenient curry as one doesn't need to chop many things and saute or fry anything at all. Just pressure cook a few things together, puree using a hand blender and simmer with added spices and butter. Fresh home made paneer can be done on the other side of the gas stove if you wish. I always do that so it is a melt in your mouth type paneer makhni for us each time it is made. Although I feel the tartness or the creaminess of the gravy differs sometimes if I use different varieties of tomatoes. We get different varieties of tomatoes in different seasons but choose the freshest, deep red, fully ripe tomatoes to get the best flavors possible.

ingredients...

For pressure cooking..
fresh fully ripe tomatoes roughly chopped 300 gm
red onions sliced 100 gm
peeled garlic pods 3-4
ginger root roughly chopped 1 tbsp
dry red kashmiri chilies 5-6 or to taste (you can use kashmiri chilly powder too)
salt to taste

Other ingredients..
freshly home made paneer (or store bought if you wish) 200-250 gm
garam masala 1/2 tsp (special garam masala which doesn't have coriander, cumin and peppers)
dry kasoori methi crushed 1 tbsp or to taste
butter 50 gm or more to taste
fresh cream 50 ml (optional, I didn't use it this time)
sugar 1 tsp to balance the tartness sof tomatoes

I use a homemade tomato paste or sun dried tomatoes mostly to make the curry quicker, otherwise you need to reduce the gravy a bit on the gas stove. Works nicely either ways. Add about 2 tbsp tomato paste or sun dried tomato paste while pressure cooking if using.

procedure...

Pressure cook everything in the first list. Cooking till the first whistle blows is enough. Cool down the pressure cooker and then blend the mixture with the help of an immersion blender or using your food processor. Sieve the liquid if required. I don't sieve it ever.

Return to the pressure cooker pan, the liquid will be cooked without the pressure lid now. Reduce the gravy to a desired consistency and then add the fresh paneer cubes, crushed kasoori methi and garam masala powder. Add cream if using and simmer for about 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning, add sugar if required, add the butter and transfer the curry in the serving bowl.

Serve hot with your choice of flat bread. Roti, naan, kulcha or roomali roti goes well with this curry.

dahi wale achari tindey and another quick recipe of tinda...

Dahi wale tindey or achari tindey as we call this curry, loved by both of us when cooked using baby tindey. What? You can't figure out what tindey is?

Tinda (pl. Tindey) is a gourd family vegetable which can be called an Indian summer squash as it comes in summers along with sponge gourds and ridge gourds. Called Apple gourd in English, it is shaped like apples, but the similarity ends here. This is one of those watery vegetables that gets squishy when cooked and most people dislike it for precisely this reason. If made into a hot spicy curry some people like it but we don't like much spices in summers so I go for a lentil based curry or a yogurt based curry for cooking this squash.

The squishy texture is taken care of if you cook it with firm lentils like chane ki daal (split chickpeas) or green peas. This recipe is simple, just boil some chane ki daal with salt and turmeric powder till done but not pasty. Stir fry some chopped red onions in ghee along with cumin seeds, add cubed tindey and tomatoes and stir fry till slightly mushy. Add minced ginger and chilly powder or chopped green chilies, a little bit of garam masala and mix everything well. Add this mixture to the cooked chane ki daal and simmer for a couple of minutes. Keep the consistency thicker than usual daals and have it like a subzi side dish. It can make a meal too if you add a few cubes of paneer to it.

But the achari tindey or dahi wale tindey is a recipe that requires a bit of accuracy in cooking procedure. Firstly, you need baby tindas for this, secondly they need to be cooked just till they get a bit translucent but retain a bite. Not making it completely mush. It takes about 15 minutes to cook if you are doing 2-4 servings, but take care about the serving size as folks will be helping themselves 2-3 times with this flavorful curry. The consistency of the curry here is laga lipta type as we say in Hindi. That means a coating consistency of the gravy.

ingredients...
(for 2 large servings)

baby tindas (apple gourds) 300 gmm
yogurt 1 cup
one small red onion about 60-70 gm weight
minced ginger 2 tsp or to taste
ginger powder 1/2 tsp (optional)
red chilly powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
yellow mustard powder 1/2 tsp
salt to taste
chopped green chilies for garnish, you can add chopped coriander greens too
mustard oil 1 tbsp or a little bit more

spices to coarsely pound.. (achari spices)
cumin 1 tsp
fenugreek seeds 1/2 tsp
fennel seeds 2 tsp
nigella seeds 1/2 tsp
ajwain seeds 1/2 tsp

procedure...

Clean the tindas, discard the seeded ones. Quarter them all and keep aside. No need to peel the tindas as the baby gourds have very tender skin anyways.

Pound the spices listed under 'spices to coarsely pound' and keep aside.

Make a paste of the red onion and then blend in the yogurt. Keep aside. This can be done while the tindas will be stir fried for a while. Do as convenient.

Heat the mustard oil in a shallow pan or kadhai (I used a copper handi, tinned inside) and tip in the minced ginger. Fry for a few seconds or till it gets aromatic and then add the quartered tindas. Add salt and red chilly powder and stir fry till a few pinkish spots appear.

Now add the blended yogurt and onion, mix well and tip in the pounded spices, yellow mustard powder and the ginger powder if using. Mix again, bring the heat to lowest, cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. It may get ready sooner if the tindas are really tender. Keep an eye and remove from the stove once it looks like this.

The curry looks nice with a coating consistency of a dahi gravy when served. Roti, parathas or any Indian flat breads go really well with this curry. You might like this with a daal on the side or a meat dish may be. Slightly sour in taste, this curry gets a nice aroma of the pickling spices used. The bland taste of tinda gets a new makeover with yogurt and pickling spices. You can make this curry thinner in consistency if you like.

rasse wali paneer bhurji | a curried paneer scramble that can be your dinner soup...

Paneer bhurji is a scramble cooked quickly using paneer and some onion, tomatoes and herbs. I have done Amritsari paneer bhurji from a cookbook and keep scrambling paneer all the time for convenience.

Basically a quick fix meal or a side dish or even a sandwich filling. Every home has it's own recipe of paneer bhurji with additives like bell peppers, spinach, green peas  or sometimes kasoori methi or fresh methi greens thrown in. I myself depend on such combinations many times when I have to stir up a simple and quick lunch box for the husband.

The dry version can be made using regular store bought paneer or homemade fresh paneer that just gets ready while you are chopping and stir frying your onion and tomatoes etc. It is the gravy version of paneer bhurji that requires a little different approach. The paneer in this case, is not sieved like home made paneer, but just collected from the whey and directly put into the cooking bhurji. The result is a perfectly creamy half curdled paneer into a rich and flavorful curry.

Read on, this is a pictorial step by step recipe so you would know how to go about it exactly the way I did...

ingredients...

full cream milk 1 Liter (to make paneer)
yogurt 1 heaped tbsp to curdle the milk

diced red onions 1 cup
sliced ripe tomatoes (preferably desi tomatoes) 2.5 cup
finely chopped garlic 1 tbsp
finely chopped ginger 1 tbsp
finely chopped green chilies to taste
kashmiri red chilly powder 1 tsp or to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
coriander powder 1 tsp
black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
ghee 1.5 tbsp

procedure...

Heat the milk till it reaches just about to the boiling point, add the yogurt and stir. Take the pan off the flame and let it stand. The milk curdles partially and keep curdling till you prep up the other ingredients.

Now heat the ghee in a deep pan (kadhai) and tip in the chopped ginger, garlic, green chilies and red onions ...

Stir fry these till the onions get translucent, add the powder spices and salt to taste and mix well for about a minute. Then add the sliced tomatoes ..

Cook till the mixture looks like this...

Now sieve the curdled paneer and add to the cooking mixture, without waiting for the whey to drip, this way some of the whey is also added to the curry ..

The curry turns a little watery, mix well and simmer till it reaches the consistency you like...

Garnish with freshly chopped coriander greens...

Serve hot with chapati and some salad...We had this mooli ka acchar with this meal...

This rasse wali bhurji makes a truly soulful food, it can be served with plain parathas or like a hearty soup if you wish. I would love some garlic bread with this bhurji as well.

It makes a good curry for a large crowd too, in that case you would like to use freshly made regular paneer, crumbled nicely and added to the curry along with some fresh milk to make it soft while it cooks further.

Add some green peas if you have them fresh and nice. No frozen peas please.
You could add some kasoori methi as well if you love it that way.
It is the melt in the mouth type paneer that makes this recipe special  seasoning and other flavors can be adjusted to suit your taste.

alu dum with chicken keema | keema alu dum..

Winter potatoes are something we relish for the texture and taste they have. The best time to make potato salads and alu paratha is her now. Arvind loves potatoes in all it's forms, it's me who keeps stuffing our plates with all possible kinds of greens. Not that potatoes are bad for us but hey do not let us eat other seasonal bounties of nature. Potatoes should be enjoyed only in winters in my opinion, no I am not forcing you to follow it :-)

The fact is, the new potatoes of winters are the best suited in Alu methi that I normally make like Kela methi, Alu saag and so many other winter subzis like alu sem and alu gobi. A bengali style Alur dom (aloo dum) is a favorite too and goes well with the motorshuttir kachuri (green peas kachori).

I make a keema wala gobi musallam too. It is a much loved recipe in my home.This keema aloo dum is another way to enjoy the wonderful taste and texture of winter potatoes with a spicy meat mince gravy. Very much a winter dinner when accompanied with hot chapatis.

ingredients...
boiled, cooled and peeled baby potatoes 12 (halved)
chicken mince 250 gm
chopped coriander greens 1/2 cup
mustard oil 2 tbsp + 2 tbsp
cumin seeds 1 tsp
salt to taste

to make a rough paste..
roughly chopped onion 1/4 cup
5 cloves of garlic
2 inch piece of ginger chopped


to make a smooth paste..
coriander seeds 1 tbsp
cumin seeds 2 tsp
black pepper corns 1 tsp
black cardamom 1
green cardamom 1
cinnamon stick broken 1 inch piece
cloves 3-4
scissor cut tejpatta 2
dry red chilies 3-4 or to taste
turmeric powder 1tsp

to make another rough paste ...
2 large tomatoes chopped roughly

procedure...

Heat the oil and tip in the cumin seeds and wait till they crackle. Slide in the halved potatoes, sprinkle a little salt, just for the potatoes, and stir fry them on medium heat. The potatoes being used should be boiled and cooled down as mentioned in the ingredients list, as these will be cooked for a long time, along with the mince meat too, and you don't want them to disintegrate. If you use them hot or warm, they would start breaking in this step itself. So be careful about this.

Low flame, added salt and frequent turning will ensure slow frying of the potato halves in a less quantity of oil.

While you stir fry the potatoes, making them golden brown from almost all sides, make the first paste.

Drain the fried potatoes from the oil and keep aside. Add the remaining oil into the same pan and pour the first paste into the hot oil. Add salt to taste and keep stirring till the paste starts getting pinkish. Make the second paste meanwhile and add at this stage. Now is the time to bhuno the mixture on medium flame by scraping the pan and mixing the masala various times. The masala paste gets brown in color, aromatic and shining in appearance when it is ready.

Now is the time to add the chicken mince (or mutton mince if using) and bhuno again. The mince starts getting white and cooked. Let it cook for about 5 minutes, stirring all this while  make the tomato paste alongside and add in the last. Bhuno again for about 45 minutes and add 2 cups of water and the fried potatoes.

Simmer on low flame, covered for about 20 minutes or till the desired consistency is reached.

Add the chopped coriander to finish and serve hot with hot chapatis or naan.

A deep spicy flavor with warmth of mustard oil, perfect winter baby potatoes and some mince is all one needs after a day's work. Coriander greens make it really refreshing.

Baingan ki kalonji or Bharwa Baingan: masala stuffed Brinjals UP style..

Baingan ki kalonji or bharwa baingan was a regular at home when we were growing up. It must have been a convenient recipe for my mother and grandmother both because they would make an assortment of kalojis one day and that would last a week or so in the fridge to provide variety on the table every day. They used to make Bhindi, Parval, Aloo and Mirchi ki kalonjee regularly. This Baingan ki kalonjee was integral to each such kalonjee cooking spree for them. Interestingly, although I used to like it at that time, I never made it myself after the first few trials after marriage. Arvind didn't like them much and we remained contented with the Bhartas, Caponata, Japanese style grilled aubergines, Baba ganoush, Grilled eggplant salad and Sarson waala baingan fry...

I have been harvesting some long green Brinjals from the garden for quite some time and kept planning to make those Kalonji of my growing up years, but somehow it never happened. Then one day a reader Surekha comes to my blog and says she wants this recipe. I found her request very sweet and wanted to post it ASAP. More because she had whined about her MIL who hails from Banaras, cooks great food but never shares recipes with Surekha. That is mean. I am glad this blog helps people like this eager DIL a lot. I hope this recipe is closer to the one your MIL makes Surekha, knowing every family has their own ways to make the same recipe, you might need to do some changes after giving it a trial.

These green long brinjals are from my garden, you can use the purple ones as well. The white egg shapes brinjals are the best suited for this Baingan ki Kalonji. Go with whatever is available to you. Just those round variety cannot be stuffed with masala this way.

A mix of five spices, called Panchphoran is used liberally in this masala stuffing. Dry roasted and then mixed with a bhuna masala...

 ingredients...
(for 6 long Brinjals and two halves of a large potato)
2 tsp whole fennel seeds (moti saunf)
1 tsp of Ajwain seeds
1 tsp of  fenugreek (methi) seeds
1 tsp of Nigella seeds
2 tsp of powdered yellow mustard
2 tablespoonfuls of Bhuna masala

procedure..

Dry roast the first four whole spices, these are a part of panchphoran. The mustard powder is used raw.

Powder the roasted panchphoran (minus the powdered mustard) in a mortar and pestle. Coarse powder is not a problem. If making a bigger batch you can use your food processor to make a powder.

Add the yellow mustard powder and the freshly pounded spice powder to the bhuna masala. Mix with 2 tbsp of Bhuna masala like this.

Now is the time to slit each one of the brinjals ans stuff about 1.5 tsp of masala paste into them.

Heat 1 tbsp pf mustard oil in a flat base frying pan and arrange all the long stuffed brinjals into it. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes one side. Turn and cook five minutes on the other side as well.

Check with a pointed knife if cooked through, take off the pan and serve hot or at room temperature. Or refrigerate for later use.

Tastes great as a side dish with daal chawal meals or even with rotis.There is a good mix of spiciness and a sweetish buttery texture of grilled Brinjal in this Kalonjee. The making of this kalonjee transported me back to my childhood as the aromas were all familiar from those times. More of my grandmother's cooking.

As it happens always, or it is intended most of the times, some of the masala mix is leftover. So we peel a potato, cut it into two flat halves, make multiple slits in it so it looks like fingers of a palm, and stuff the masala paste between the fingers.

The Baingan ki Kalonjee doesn't soak the oil and it gets drained into the pan when you fish out all the Kalonjee carefully after cooking. Arrange the potato halves in the same pan and cook covered on low flame for about 10 minutes both sides. Lower the flame, more the cooking time, better the taste. Saundha swad as we call it, a nice grilled burnt kinda taste of potatoes and these spices is what Arvind likes.

The same spice mix can be used to stuff Okra (bhindi) or even Parval or Tinda. I liked the Baingan ki Kalonji after a long time. Enjoyed making them for you Surekha. Hope you like them.

And hoping some of my other readers would find this useful too.

Amritsari Paneer bhurjee ...

This recipe is supposed to be from the book Chakh Le India by Aditya Bal who hosts the TV show by the same name. The book was sent to us so we can read and try something from it before we meet the author and the host of the TV show. I tried this Amritsari Paneer bhurji the first thing form the book and was planning on Malabar prawns.

Paneer bhurji is a recipe which cannot go wrong and any one staying in a hostel can make it for a quick meal. Toss anything that you like with Paneer and a nice bhurji that you love would be ready in a few minutes.

Still we look out for more variations so there is a recipe for every mood and requirement. That's how we enjoy the same food a renewed interest every time. You don't expect to go wrong with a simple recipe right?

I realised when I started assembling things for the bhurji, having made my paneer freshly., the ingredient list looked just sufficient for my 200 gms of paneer while it was listed for 400 gm. Was proven right later.

The recipe...

ingredients..
200 gm fresh paneer
1 tbsp butter ( Aditya's recipe uses 1 tsp refined oil too, I omitted)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/4" cassia bark (daalchini)
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion( his recipe says1 medium sized onion)
1/2: ginger chopped fine
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp everyday curry powder (his recipe says coriander powder)
salt to taste
1 large ripe tomato chopped fine
1/4 tsp sugar
2 green chillies chopped
1/2 tsp dried mango powder or Amchoor
(I omitted)

To finish the dish...juice of 1/2 lime, 3 tsp chopped coriander greens ( I didn't have) and 1 tbsp butter.

procedure...

Crumble the paneer and set aside.

Heat butter in a pan and add cumin seeds,dalchini and chopped onions all at once. Fry till onions gets golden brown. Add the chopped ginger too. Cook for a minute with the powdered spices added at this step.

Add salt and sprinkle water and bhuno the masala while scraping the pan from sides. Add chopped tomatoes and cook them till they turn mushy. Add sugar to balance the sourness  and keep cooking till a glaze appears.

Add the green chillies, crumbled paneer and the amchoor powder (if using). Mix well to combine. Mash the paneer with the back of the ladle if you wish.

Finish with some more butter, lime juice if required and chopped coriander greens if using.

Served with plain chapatis or parathas this paneer bhurji is great as all of us know :-)

The recipe was tweaked at some places like using my own spice blend and using only butter instead of a little refined oil in the original recipe too. The amount of paneer reduced to half and the dish was actually yummy.

The recipe as written in the book would have left the freshly made paneer (a valuable commodity as I had worked on it) bland and under seasoned.

Did I forget about telling you all about Malabar Prawn curry that I was about to try from this book? When I saw the recipe and the ingredient list, I got worried about the future of the frozen Prawns I had bought thinking of making a yummy dinner for ourselves.  I made this Cashew and Prawns stir fry instead. Couldn't afford to risk a packet of precious Prawns and even pricier Coconut milk.

And then we all at Cal blogger's table went to Veda at CP. To chat with the TV show host and the author of this book. What happened there will be posted just next. Stay tuned in...

Stuffed Kakode with poppy seed paste...

Kakode or Kakrol as it is called in North India is a gourd family vegetable that grows wild in whatever urban jungles are left around our cities. Many tribesmen living in the outskirts of the cities collect these little gourds (called Teal Gourd in English) and bring them to the urban markets. I have not seen these gourds in the fancier super markets yet. They can only be sourced from the roadside markets or the weekly vegetables market around my locality. I m not complaining as long as this beautiful vegetable is available to me.

A gentleman fro Bombay wrote a comment on my last Kakode post that he buys this vegetables from the tribal people in some suburban area and that was so heartening to know. We should always buy goods from these small road side vendors and tribals so they keep earning some money through local products and such vegetables never go extinct.

This is called Kheksa in Banaras.

This Poppy seeds stuffed Kakode recipe was reminded by a bong friend of mine and then I asked my mother casually over phone about this. She told me how she used to make it as I had very little memory of it. This vegetable was rarely seen even in those days and we all liked the bhujia ( stirfried kakode) more so that was the preferred preparation with Kakode.

You need to halve the little gourds first and then empty the innards well. Just making a sharp incision along the white periphery and then scooping out the pith works well.Do not discard the pith as it will be used for the stuffing masala.

Then the masala is stuffed inside each of these halves and shallow fried on both sides.

Looks easy? It actually is easy as you just have to make a Poppy seeds paste quickly in your trusted mixie (using the chutney jar) or the coffee grinder to make a fine powder of it.

Recipe of the poppy seeds stuffing...

ingredients...
{For 4-6 large Kakode (teal gourds)}
poppy seeds 3 tbsp
finely chopped Onions 1 tbsp
finely chopped Green chillies 1 tbsp or more if you like
finely chopped ginger 2 tsp
Black pepper powder 1 tsp
all the inner pith of the vegetable chopped up in small bits
salt to taste
Mustard oil 1 tsp
Nigella (kalonji) seeds 1/2 tsp
More mustard oil to shallow fry the stuffed vegetable, in my case about 1 tbsp was used

procedure...

Rub salt over the Kakode halves and let it rest till you prepare the masala paste.

Make a paste of poppy seeds. You would like to powder it dry initially and then adding some water and blend again to make a smooth paste. Adding 2 whole Cashew nuts right before the powdering step helps in making a smooth paste. The paste should be thick like good yogurt

Heat oil in a Kadhai (round bottom pan) and sprinkle the Nigella seeds in it. Wait till they sizzle.

Add in the chopped green chillies, onions and ginger. Fry till everything is softened. Add the chopped up kakode pith, sprinkle salt to taste and stir fry till softened.

Add pepper powder, mix well and then add the poppy paste and mix quickly so it gets homogenised with everything else and a bit thickened.

Take off heat and take out spoonfuls to fill in the Kakode halves. There is no need to cool the masala paste down but there is no problem even if it is cold. Actually this can be made a day in advance and proceeded as and when required. The leftover masala paste can be used to make other dry stir fries interesting too.

Heat a tbsp of mustard oil in  a flat pan. Non stick surface will good so use you Cast iron or whatever pan you use for such purpose.

Lay out the stuffed Kakode masala side up and let it fry till the base gets browned lightly. Keep the lid on for 5 minutes, flame medium.

Turn all the Kakode by flipping them, so the stuffing side gets browned too.

Serve hot as a side dish or a starter.

You would love to pop them in your mouth. The flavors are subtle as there is minimal spicing. The amount of green chillies might look more than you want but poppy seeds paste tastes great with green chillies. So keep them a bit on higher side than you normally do. Black pepper may be avoided if you want a richer Poppy taste. The poppy flavor is preserved well just because of minimal spicing.

Kakode greets Poppy seeds well , as much as it complements the Ridge gourd.

Have you tasted Jhingey Posto?

The leftover Poppy seeds masala paste was added to a simple Okra stir fry.

Just plain stir fried Okra in Ghee and some salt n pepper and then this paste is added to finish and mixed well. Tastes great with chapatis and daal or Rice and daal.


You would like all these kakode, Ridge gourd or even Okra with poppy seeds if you love this miniature nut. It is a tiny seed but is nutty is taste. Fragrant too.

Many other recipes with poppy seeds are waiting in my drafts as I have been quite lazy with posting on this blog of mine. You would get to see some Prawns in poppy seeds gravy very soon. And how a raw paste of Poppy can be had with just plain boiled rice.

Stay tuned.

Kathal ka dopyaza | an aromatic dry stew of raw jackfruit

Kathal is Jackfruit, a giant fruit that grows anywhere on the tree, even closer to the roots.The fruit is edible in all phases. The baby Jackfruits are prized for the meaty texture they have and are cooked like meat in UP homes. I have a recipe with pictures ready for that and hope I get to post it soon.

The medium and large sized ones are cooked in this kind of Kathal dopyaza. The ones with large seeds are always preferred for Kathal ka dopyaza as the seeds taste very good in this kind of spices and almost caramelised onions in the finished dopyaza.

This kind of curry is actually a dum cooked (cooked on low heat in a sealed pot) stir fry where the firm textured jack fruit pieces and onions get cooked in their own juices. The whole spices infuse their aroma in a very delicate manner. Some people prefer adding a few pieces of potatoes in it. I make it with just the Jackfruit which I prefer peeling and cutting myself.

It's always advisable to buy a piece of jackfruit with the skin attached, flesh milky white and a gummy white sap oozing.  It stays in the fridge for a couple of days and you are sure it has not been peeled and stored for long before being sold to you. Buying a whole jackfruit will always be good if you need that amount.

To make this dopyaza, peel the thorny skin, slice in rounds or wedges and remove the inner pith. Then cube the flesh and then remove the hard plastic like coat of the seeds as this part is not edible. The hard plastic like seed coat is formed only in mature jackfruits, the one I used was a medium sized fruit so the seeds are just half mature. No hard seed coat to be removed in this case.

ingredients...
(3-5 servings)

Jackfruit, peeled and cubed 250 gm
sliced onions 250 gm approximately
ginger julienne one heaped tbsp
garlic cloves sliced 1 tbsp
whole dry red chillies 2-4 as per taste
tejpatta 3-4
black cardamom 2
green cardamom 2
cloves 5-6
cinnamon stick 1 inch long broken
whole black peppercorns 2 tsp
cumin 2 tsp
turmeric powder 1 tsp
mustard oil or ghee 2 tbsp


procedure...

Normally in the authentic way, the dopyaza is cooked in a round bottom Haandi pan. I have one, but that is not used frequently and is stashed in some deep corner in my small much cluttered kitchen so I cooked it in a kadai. If you are also using a kadai, choose a lid that is smaller so it just covers the cooking vegetables and not fits the rim of the kadai. It keeps the steam inside to make a dum-cooking setting.

Heat the oil in the chosen (thick base) kadai and tip in all the whole spices and tejpatta in it. Let it all sizzle for just a second and add the red chillies and the ginger garlic slivers as well. Wait for them to cook for a minute and then add all the other chopped vegetables and turmeric powder, salt in one go. Mix well.

Now cover the cooking vegetables mix with a smaller lid as I suggested earlier. Keeping all the steam inside to cook the veggies almost without water.


Remember to cook on low flame.

Check the contents after 5-8 minutes, the onions and a few jackfruit cubes would have become brownish and might be sticking to the bottom. At this time you would be required to add about half a cup of water. Mix well.

Cover again and cook for about 8-10 minutes.

The end product looks like this, some sticky brown mass in the bottom of the kadai indicates the dopyaza has been caramelised well. Take care to prevent burning in the last few minutes.

Check the jackfruit pieces if cooked. They give in to pressure and get flat.

Serve hot or at room temperature. No garnish is required. Those cooked red chilies look good enough and may be the tejpatta too adds to the rustic charm.



This kathal ka dopyaza is normally served with chapatis, actually more preferably with plain thin flaky crisp parathas. You can serve it with any kind of thin flat bread. Or as a part of a formal extended menu.

The vegetable is meaty in texture and is much in demand when one needs a special meal for vegetarians. Paneer and mushrooms are other meat substitutes for vegetarians but if you consider the capability to absorb the spices, there is no match to Jackfruit.

I cooked this dopyaza after a couple of years I remember. The last time was when I cooked it for about 30 people when the whole family was together for a wedding.

No wonder this dopyaza is suitable for bulk cooking with wonderful results as it involves dum-cooking. Also the fact that there is not much preparation with spice powders and ginger garlic paste etc.

You might like to remove some of the whole spices before serving. Some people do not like the whole spices interrupting in between. They can give a bitter taste if chewed on accidentally. Just retain a few as garnish.

How many of you have had this UP style Kathal ka dopyaza?

Two recipes with okra... a dahi wali bhindi (okra in a curds tomato gravy) and a ginger okra stir fried ....

Some of my favorite recipes never see the light of the day on this blog unfortunately. My being lazy and sometimes the pictures being unsatisfactory are few of the reasons. But my long time readers and friends would know that I never bother much about the pictures as long as the recipe is represented well and it tastes good. So when Shail Mohan asked for a few okra recipes on facebook I just checked and saw two terrific recipes with okra in my drafts folder , this dahi wali bhindi was written completely and the adraki bhindi or ginger okra stir fried had just a dark picture and the ingredient list.

I have also posted a Kashmiri masale ki sookhi bhindi (okra stir fried with a Kashmir style fennel spice mix)
and a Ghee fried peppery okra on my other blog.

Many times I make some recipe for dinner and take pictures anyways hoping they will turn up good or mediocre or I will brighten them up on picasa. I never bothered about even cropping and brightening my pictures back then, so these pictures come to you straight out of the camera, the recipes are both terrific and all okra lovers will be glad to try these.

The dahi wali bhindi is richer and can be served as a standalone subzi for your dinner chapati , I never tried it with rice but many of you might find it good with rice too. I can eat this subzi on it's own too ...I do that with many vegetables anyways :-)


ingredients...

Bhindi / okra 250 gm (tipped and cut into inch long pieces)
fresh curds 1 cup

fennel powder 2 tsp
black pepper powder 1 tsp
finely chopped ginger 1 tbsp
tomatoes chopped lengthwise 1 cup
green chillies slit lengthwise 2-3 nos.
2 cloves
2-3 petals of star anise
1 small black cardamom or half a fat one

salt to taste
mustard oil 1 tbsp

procedure..

Heat the oil in a kadai or pan and tip in the whole spices , wait till they crackle and then tip in the chopped ginger and green chillies .

Wait for a few seconds till the chillies change color and the ginger is fried , throw in the cut bhindi ( okra ) and fry till the bhindi pieces are slightly browned in the corners..

Add the tomatoes and salt to taste and fry till the tomatoes wilt ..

Whip the curds ( at room temperature ) with powdered spices ( fennel and pepper powders ) and some red chilly powder if you like it hot . Pour this mixture over the cooking bhindi , mix well and allow a gentle boil .

Take off heat and keep covered for a couple of minutes for the flavors to blend.

Serve hot with chapatis or as a side dish ...

The spice level can be adjusted if you like it mild or hot , it is a great blend of sour hot and spicy with dominant aromas of black cardamom , star anise and fennel .... curds and tomatoes as a base are great together .

The okra doesn't get slimy if you fry it well till the surface is almost dry ( so that the juices are sealed in ). There is no turmeric powder used in this curry so the color remains a nice creamy red , although the pictures look yellowish because it was cooked for dinner and clicked in artificial light...

adraki bhindi or ginger okra stir fried...


ingredients...
okra cut in two pieces and slit lengthwise taking care not to slit all the way 400 gm
ginger julienne 2-3 tbsp or more if you like ginger the way I do
5-6 garlic cloves peeled and slit into two halves
turmeric powder 1 tsp (optional)
black pepper powder 2 tsp or more if you like
amchoor powder 1/2 tsp or to taste
salt to taste
mustard oil or any other oil of your choice 2 tbsp

There are no chillies in the recipe as the heat from ginger and black pepper is quite high, you can throw in a few slit green chillies if you like. Sometimes I use the less hot varieties of green chillies for this stir fry as the flavor of the green chillies enhances the overall taste.

procedure...


Heat oil in  a kadai and tip in the ginger and garlic first. Let the ginger get a little cooked and almost caremalised , the garlic is cut in bigger chunks so it doesn't get browned before the ginger cooks. The ginger just needs to release some flavor in the oil and get fried.

Add the cut okra and toss to fry . Cooking is done on high heat in this case and you have to keep tossing or stirring with a spatula. Do not brown the okra, just a few brownish specks here and there and about 3/4th done okra is what we are aiming for.

Sprinkle the salt and turmeric powder if using, mix in to cook then sprinkle the black pepper powder and toss well to mix. In these 2 minutes the okra cooks some more. Take off heat.

Sprinkle the amchoor powder , mix well and serve hot. You can choose to sprinkle some chaat masala over it  if you like. Its a hot tangy dish and makes a nice side dish for traditional Indian lunch or dinner.

For me it can be a salad too ...Yes, I told you I do that :-)


cheers...

A cheat's version of matar paneer | a quick and low fat matar paneer recipe

A quick matar paneer recipe, a cheat's version.

Not only to save time but to make the dish low on fats too. I used butter and ghee to make this matar paneer and if that can be done in the lowest possible amount and the results are nice and aromatic, you would prefer this cheat's version whenever you want to cook matar paneer. Note that I usually don't cook low fat but if a curry is being served with paratha or other fatty sides, it makes sense to lower the fats in the curry.

Before sharing the recipe I have to share an exciting thing with you all. I am counting down the last few days before my biking expedition. A group of 100 women is biking through the most grueling passes in the Himalayas to reach the highest motorable road to Khardung La. I am a part of this wonderful group and will be cycling with them, starting from Kullu, going up to Khardung La and then back to Leh. It is a 600km ride to be covered in 17 days. I just can't wait to be at the base camp at Kullu to start this ride of my life time.

Now you must understand the reason for a quick curry to be posted quickly too.

The usual fare of Banaras ka khana will be back after a break of about 3 weeks. This matar paneer was made in huge quantity and was frozen to last a few days in my absence. You understand that :-)


ingredients...
( 4-6 servings)
paneer 400 gm
green peas 250 gm ( i used frozen)
red ripe tomatoes 500 gm
onion 200 gm
garlic pods 4-5 nos.
ginger 1 inch piece chopped roughly
red chilly powder 2 tsp
cinnamon 2 pieces on an inch each
bay leaves 2-3 nos.
black cardamom 1 large
everyday curry powder 1 tbsp
turmeric powder 2 tsp
salt to taste
butter 2 tsp
ghee 2 tsp
freshly milled black pepper as per taste
fresh cream or malai to finish

procedure...

In a pressure cooker boil the roughly chopped tomatoes, onions, garlic pods, roughly chopped ginger, red chilly powder, cinnamon and thrashed black cardamom. Boil these ingredients just till the whistle blows and then let the cooker cool down and release the pressure.

I do this step in microwave and cook all the ingredients covered for 8-10 minutes and proceed after cooling them a bit so they are safe to handle. They are going to be pureed.

Remove the bay leaves,whole cinnamon and black cardamom and bland everything fine, like a soup. The skin of tomatoes can be removed before blending.

Meanwhile cook the peas in microwave too for 3 minutes. If not doing this add the peas in the pan after powdered spices and cook them with a sprinkling of water before adding the puree.

Now heat the ghee and butter in a pan and tip in the powders of  turmeric and everyday curry powder. Just let it get roasted and get aromatic, taking utmost care not to burn the powders. It will be wise to remove the pan from heat after heating the ghee n butter and then add the powders.

Pour in the pureed mixture, tip in the paneer cubes, the cooked peas and give it a good boil.

Add a tbsp of fresh cream or malai to finish .

It actually took more time to write the recipe than cooking it. The pictures are night time snapshots and I could not take any pictures of the leftovers too as the extra curry was promptly frozen.

This is one curry which you would love to cook for it's easy foolproof procedure and the ease of making a creamy looking curry without much cream and butter.

Which one would you like? A rich matar paneer or the cheat's version?

malai paalak paneer ...

It's no ordinary paalak paneer so don't be disillusioned by the name . It is a malai (fresh cream) paneer paalak where the paneer plays the protagonist adorned with malai . Paalak remains in the background , giving subtle hints of a greeny freshness infused with garlic .

Sinful is the word . Paalak ( spinach) is not just for cosmetic purpose in this silken stir fry and it will be great of you get some baby spinach or the very tender variety of spinach ...leaves only. The garlic infused spinach has it's own charm , a mild sweetness brought by the sauteed onions. And there is just enough heat brought in by chopped green chillies and some red chilly flakes thrown in .

Fresh paneer has it's own charm and i would suggest using as fresh as you can . If using the packaged paneer , it better to let it boil submerged in water first and then use for this curry .

ingredients...
(for 3-4 servings depending on weather it is served as a main or side dish)
paneer cubed 200 gm

baby spinach or tender spinach leaves 2 cups (i used fresh from my garden)
sliced onions 1 cup
finely chopped garlic 2 tsp
chopped green chillies 1 tsp
red chilly flakes 1 tsp
freshly grated nutmeg 1/5 tsp
ghee or butter 1 tbsp
whole cumin seeds 1 tsp
freshly milled peppercorns 1 tsp
salt to taste
fresh cream 2 tbsp

preparation...

There is no paste to be made and no extensive peeling chopping done , so the dish gets ready within 15 minutes once the ingredients are ready .

Heat ghee or butter in a pan and thrown in the cumin seeds first and then the garlic . Let the garlic brown and then add the sliced onions and green chillies.
Add salt and freshly milled pepper and saute the onions just enough to make them sweat.

Add the paneer and roughly chopped spinach , mix well to coat and let the spinach wilt . Add red chilly powder and keep stirring to let the flavors seep in . Keep the flame low after adding paneer as it may stick to the base .

Add the cream and grated nutmeg , mix well and cook covered on very low flame for about 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with chapatis or naan..

This dish is a creamy satiny curry with very soft and fresh paneer . The sauce is just enough to coat the paneer cubes and the vegetables bits are soft cooked but not gooey . The onion and spinach both retain their individuality and yet mingle with the subtle spicing .

Red chilly flakes , green chillies and black peppercorns make the dish quite hot too which hits the palate instantly . The heat becomes lesser when the dish is consumed the next day . It reheats very well in the microwave and freezes well too .

Adjust heat to your preference and add lesser red chilly flakes if you want it mild and if you are serving it immediately after cooking. If serving the next day you could go liberal with chilly or peppercorns...

Roomali roti or thin chapatis are the best accompaniments . A greens salad could make a great meal along with it...

Enjoy...