Paneer Kulcha

Paneer Kulcha

The first time I tried this out I baked it in the oven and it was a big disaster. It was already lunch time and I had promised my husband something new for lunch. So I decided to fry it like a normal parantha. But when it went on the tava it swelled up beautifully and it was so tender that I had trouble flipping it over. 
It was a hit. It was ever so soft, so fingerlicking good. We had friends over for dinner the next day and I served this again. By this time I had tweaked and perfected the recipe for tava cooking. Everyone loved it. In fact most of my rice went untouched because the Paneer Kulcha won hands down. 

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
¾ cup curd
Water to knead
For the filling
400 gm paneer
Salt to taste

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. Now add the curd and mix well. Slowly add water and knead into a pliable dough. It will be a little soft. Cover and keep for 4 hours. 
Crumble the paneer and add salt. 
Make medium balls of the dough. You will make approximately 10 kulchas. Roll out each ball. Put a good amount of filling and close the dough. Roll it out again. 
Heat a tava. Put the rolled out kulcha on the tava. Cook on one side for a minute and then flip over. Apply oil and fry both sides well. 

Rangili Kofta

Rangili Kofta

Why rangili? Because it is rangili or multi coloured with white paneer, red carrots, green peas and amber raisins. And to be honest I gobbled up a few while frying the koftas. 

Ingredients

For the kofta

3 potatoes, boiled and mashed

½ cup green peas

2 carrots, grated

½ cup paneer, crumbled

2 green chillies, chopped

3 tbsp raisins

½ cup Breadcrumbs

For the gravy

2 green cardamoms

1” cinnamon

1 bay leaf

2 whole red chillies

1 tbsp ginger paste

2 onions, minced

1 tomato, pureed

2 tbsp readymade tomato puree

Few cashews, soaked and made into a paste

2 tbsp kasuri methi

1 tbsp coriander powder

 1 tsp cumin powder

1 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric powder

 1 tbsp red chilli powder

Salt to taste

Pinch of sugar

For the koftas

Mix together mashed potato, peas, grated carrots, crumbled paneer, chopped chilli and salt. 

Add the breadcrumbs so that the koftas do not break during frying. Make kofta shapes, round or cylindrical. Deep fry. 

For the gravy

Heat some oil. Add the green cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf and red chilies. 

Add the ginger paste and fry for a few seconds. 

Add the minced onion and sauté till the onions turn golden brown.

 Now add the pureed tomato and the readymade tomato puree. Add the dry masala powders. 

Cook on low heat till the oil starts leaving the sides.

 Add the cashew paste and kasuri methi and fry for a minute. Add some water to make a thick gravy. Add salt and a pinch of sugar. 

Simmer till the gravy is ready. Keep it aside till serving time. Add the koftas just before serving. 

Peanut Rice

Peanut Rice

This is not the traditional Peanut Rice. I do not have any curry leaves so I decided to infuse a different flavor to the dish. With all the other typical ingredients used in Peanut rice I added some Khus Khus or poppy seeds. Khus Khus is an ingredient used in many Bengali dises. i wanted to see how it would taste in a South Indian dish. The fusion worked out great. 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 cups cooked rice
2 cups peanuts
3 dry red chillies
1/2 cup chana dal
4 tbsp khus khus
2 onions, chopped fine
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp urad dal
a pinch asefoetida
1/2 cup grated coconut (optional)

Roast the peanuts, dry red chillies, chana dal and khus khus together. Dry grind them along with the grated coconut to a rough powder. 

Heat some ghee. Add the mustard seeds, urad dal and asefoetida. 
Saute the onions and then add the peanut paste. Fry for a minute or two. Add the cooked rice and salt. Fry on medium heat for five minutes till the rice and peanut masala are well mixed. 

Laal Murg

Laal Murg

Laal Maans is a famous dish of Rajasthan. It is spicy and the name comes from the typical red chili found in the region. The dish has some very basic spices and the flavour comes from a combination of these spices and curd. The meat is slowly simmered in the curd gravy till it is soft and succulent. 
This dish  is an adaptation of the mutton dish that is a highlight of Rajasthani cuisine. The chicken cooks faster than mutton and is very easy to make. 

Ingredients

500 gm chicken
6 dry red chilly
3 black cardamoms
1” cinnamon
3 cloves
3 onions, chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 cup dahi
1 tbsp red chili powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste

Heat some ghee or oil. Add the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Add the ginger garlic paste and the onions. Saute till the onions are cooked.
 Add the chicken and fry on high heat for 5 minutes. Beat the dahi well with red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and turmeric powder. Add it to the chicken in the pan. Fry some more. Add salt. Cover and cook till done. 

Homemade Tandoori masala

Homemade Tandoori masala

When life gives you lemons make lemonades. When life does not give you tandoori masala make some on your own. Geez that’s bad rhyming. However the sentiment is true.
 It all started a few days back when I badly wanted to have paw bhaji. I searched all over the tiny little market here but couldn’t find any paw bhaji masala. Staying in big cities we take so many things for granted. For example our neighbourhood grocery store caters to all our needs..and if it doesn’t then we can always go to malls.
 So when I couldn’t find any pawbhaji masala I decided not to be dependent anymore on the local market. Generally we have all the ingredients required to make the masalas. I am starting with Tandoori masala which can be used with chicken and mutton dishes. 

Ingredients

10 dry red chillies
5 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fenugreel seeds
5 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms, seeds removed
2 tsp peppercorns
6 cloves
2” cinnamon
1 tsp saunth
1 tsp dry garlic
1 tsp nutmeg powder
2 tsp mace
2 tsp kasuri methi
1 tsp turmeric powder
Dry roast all the ingredients and grind them. 

Ghee Roast Chicken

Ghee Roast Chicken

We are a travel crazy family. We just need an excuse to load up the car and head out. One of our most memorable trips was to Madikeri or Coorg as it is more commonly called. The mountains, the coffee plantations, the rains..what is there not to love. The foggy mornings, the crisp wind, the lush green countryside..we fell in love with the place. There I tried the Ghee Roast Chicken for the first time. Though it was extremely spicy we couldn't stop ourselves from gorging. 
Even after coming back from holidays I just couldn't forget the taste. However I couldn’t make something so fiery hot. So I reduced the quantity of chillies a bit.   Here is the rich and spicy Ghee Roast Chicken

Ingredients

700 gms chicken
½ cup curd
1 tsp turmeric powder
 Salt to taste
10 long dry red chillies
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp peppercorns
½ tsp feugreek seeds
10 flakes garlic
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 cup ghee
2 tsp sugar

Marinate the chicken with curd, turmeric and salt for 2 hours. 
Dry roast the red chillies, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns and fenugreek seeds. 

Grind along with garlic and tamarind. 

Heat the ghee. Pour the paste and fry till the oil separates. Add the chicken and saute on a high flame. Add ½ cup water, cover and cook till done. You can adjust the gravy as per your taste. 

Lahori Chciken Chargha

Lahori Chciken Chargha

This recipe is from across the border. It reminds me of the song form the film Refugee..Panchi, nadiya, pawan ke jhonke..koi sarhad kya unhe roke..These are lines made on the map that have etched themselves in the hearts and minds of people. 

The sun, sand, wind knows no borders. Neither does food. A shared cuisine still exists. The way of cooking, the spices used, the names of the food..are still the same. I am sure when they cook over there the smell wafts to our side as well.

Ingredients

800 gm chicken

4 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup curd

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tsp green chilli paste

1 tsp turmeric paste

2 tbsp tandoori masala ( I used homemade tandoori masala)

Marinate the chicken with lemon juice, curd, turmeric powder, ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste, tandoori masala and salt overnight or for at least 6 hours. Bring back to room temperature. Steam the chicken pieces for 25 minutes. I did it in a momo steamer.

 Your chicken is cooked. However the masalas may still have a raw taste. So heat some oil in a pan. Saute the chicken pieces well on both sides. Serve with onion rings..

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

I had seen amazing pics of this Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread a while ago and ever since then I wanted to bake it. The golden brown bread had stacks of slices that seemed like a deck of cards. It was a visual treat and I was sure it would be a gastronomical treat too.

Joy the Baker has an amazing pictorial description of the recipe. I really had fun during the whole process. Cutting, slicing and stacking. The bitter cold was a problem. However keeping in a heated room overnight helped the dough double beautifully. I swathed and cradled the bowl of dough like a baby. The time and effort was totally worth it. The bread was as I had imagined it would be. The slices were thin and soft, sugary and cinnamon, and so much more. 

Recipe source : Joythebaker.com

Ingredients

For the dough
2 ¾ cups+2 tbsp flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 ¼ tsp yeast
½ tsp salt
60 gm butter
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup water
2 eggs

For the filling
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon powder
50 gm butter, softened

Mix together 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk the eggs and keep aside.
Heat the butter and milk till the butter has melted. 
Pour the milk mix into the dry ingredients and mix gently with a spatula. 
Add the eggs and stir again. Start kneading slowly adding the ¾ cup of flour and water. 
Knead for 10 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and keep till it doubles in size. 

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon powder for the filling. 
Punch back the risen dough.
 Flour the working surface.
 Roll out the dough into a large rectangular shape. 

Spread the melted butter on the dough. Sprinkle the sugar-cinnamon mix on the dough. 

Cut the dough into six strips.

Stack the strips on top of each other.

Cut the strips into six slices so that you end up with six set of squares. 

Stack the squares sideways into a greased loaf tin. 

Cover and keep the loaf tin for half an hour. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees. Bake for 35 minutes.