Matar Paneer Methi Maar ke !

Winter vegetables give me childhood nostalgia. The crispy Mooli paranthas, aromatic Methi malai, tender Gobhi aloo. Of course now these vegetables are perennial in Bangalore, but their aroma still give me the winter warmth.

Dad gifted me these uber cool storage bags which keep the leaves and fruits fresh for days together! So I wanted to use this Methi for as long as I could.

As my dear friend T was coming home for lunch and I made this!

The major components of the dish were ; home made malai paneer, green peas, methi (fenugreek) leaves.

Serves : 4 

Ingredients:

Onion - 2 big ones

Tomato - 3 big ones

Ginger garlic paste

Fresh/ Dried Methi (fenugreek) leaves

Dry Red Chillies

Set Curd - 3 heaped spoons

Green Peas - 1 cup full

Cottage cheese - 200 gms

Procedure

1. Saute onions till golden brown, add salt, chili powder, turmeric.

Add chopped methi leaves and tomatoes. Cover with a lid and cook til they turn orange-ish. 

 2. Take this off the flame. Use a blender and make this gravy into a coarse paste (this is purely optional).
Add set curd to this and mix to give a smooth creamy texture.

3. Add a little oil to the pressure pan. Temper some red chillies (for that lip-smacking red color) and add cottage cheese to this. Add green peas and the gravy made earlier. 

Close the lid and steam cook for 2 whistles. Your Matar Paneer Methi Maar ke is ready!

 Since I went all the way on the food festivities, I topped it with Ajwain (Carom seeds) puris! 

( A little fun with the dough meanwhile )

Droolicious!

No food shall be wasted!

I'm sure every house has some kid (or fussy adult) who's a waster. I'm not implying anything if my dear husband is reading this post.

So, I was left with 3 paranthas from  Prasad's untouched packed lunch. So Tada, here's the crunchy hot solution to these. Roti ke Pakodey.

Ingredients:
Left-over roti / parantha, cut into small piecesBesan / Gram Flour - 1 cup
1 medium-sized onion chopped
Coriander leaves chopped (optional)
Salt, Chilli, Jeera ( Cumin seeds) to taste
Oil to deep fry

Procedure:
1. Mix the gram flour and all the spices.
2. Start pouring water and churning the mixed gram flour into a batter. It should remain thick enough to be a smooth fluid. Don't fret, in case you dilute it a bit more, you can always add more besan or just add a spoon of ghee to it.
3. Mix the roti , coriander and the chopped onions to the besan batter.
4. Deep fry these on medium flame.

So the same people who disowned this poor Roti will now be begging for more!

Done! Droolicious. 

Hot, Humid, Humble Mangalore

Our lovely little trip to Mangalore had us wiping our foreheads in its scorching 30 degrees.








It was Prasad's father's sixtieth birthday celebration. I wore this for the Satyanarayan Puja. Prasad himself was in the Mund and Shawl (picture that he gladly deleted :( ).

Our ritualistic trip to Village Restaurant kept to its image especially with the Paneer Ghee Roast. Must Try! When the ghee of the previous night had us tossing and turning with guilt all night, Prasad and I headed to the serene beach at Sultan Battery. Its just a 10 minute walk from our home there. The early morning ferry to the beach put a smile on our sleepy faces.

Pabbas helped reduce our gut temperatures for sure. Not just that, Naturals ice cream is now at Mangalore! I could gorge on that Tender coconut flavor shamelessly.

Tonnes of home made food, heat, repeated baths and superior quality clean fresh air; that's what Mangalore is all about. All you people, when you need a breath of fresh air, head to this little town where roads are as small and twisted as the minds of politicians. But, the whiff of coconut shell fumes among palm trees will give you a new lease of  your tired city mind.

Banana Vanilla Cupcakes

So I was gifted the cupcakes molds and the natural justice came to it when I made these beauties.
Simple, pretty and instantly consumed.
I did some basic icing that I learnt from the net, but honestly Prasad loves the ugly sibling of the cupcakes, the muffins with no icing at all. So, depending on your liking you can choose.

Also, don't fret if you can't go all fancy with cupcakes. Use the same batter for making a spongy cake!

Ingredients:

Dry components
--------------
1.5 cups maida
1.25 cups ground sugar
1 3/4th teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of cooking soda
3 spoons of cocoa powder (optional if making chocolate cake)

Wet Components ( ensure all of them are at room temperature)
--------------
1 cup milk
3/4th cup cream / cooking butter ( if not this, add 1 egg and whatever cream you have)
1 mashed banana ( optional, use a ripe one)
Few drops of any essence

Procedure:
----------
1. Grease the cupcake wax papers.
2. If you're using an oven, preheat it and keep it ready to bake at 180 degrees.
3. First, mix all the dry components together with a fork. Ensure everything is consistently mixed.
4. Blend all the wet components in a separate bowl. You can use a blender for this as well.
5. Keep the dry components down and start pouring the wet mixture over this slowly and steadily. Keep stirring with the fork in 'same direction' while doing this. Ensure no lumps are formed.
6. Whip the mix now softly with the fork itself and you'll see tiny air bubbles forming on the top.
7. Immediately Lay the batter into the cupcake paper molds and place these into the cupcake holding tray.
Note: Always fill only 2/3rd of any mold with cake / cupcake batter.
8. Shove it into the preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 mins. Or 15 minutes in the microwave should do as well!

Tips:
1. Do not Whip too hard. Whip the batter softly to ensure trapping air into it.
2. Do not Whip too long.
3. Do not Use cold components
4. Whip in same direction
5. Whip immediately after mixing as the baking powder has come into action. There is no time to waste
6. Do not open the oven/ microwave door in between as the cake won't lift.

Red Crispies Meatballs

(Image courtesy simplyrecipes.com)

I'm back after a LONG hiatus! I decided that at least I should start with posting all my drafted recipes!

I realized I had never experimented on making meat-balls. It is so easy, its unbelievable!
And the beautiful aroma of warm creamy curry fills up your senses in these winters; you'll be one happy person.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
Minced Chicken - 3 cups
Garlic paste - 3 spoonful
Ginger paste - 3 spoonful
Coriander leaves
1 large Onion - chopped
2 large Tomatoes
2 slices of bread
1 cup milk (optional)
Salt, Pepper, cumin seeds, chilly powder, chicken tandoori masala/ any curry masala (optional)

Procedure

Meatballs I prefer making these separately as it gives them a chance to get all roasted on the outside.
- Mix the clean minced chicken, salt, pepper and bread slices (crushed). The bread is to get them all crispy and give a good binding.
- Grease your hands and make small balls out of this minced meat. Ensure that the balls are about the size of 1 tablespoon full.
- Lay these on a flat greased vessel (non-stick preferably) on medium heat. Cover with lid.
- You'll see a beautiful creamy white color on these followed by a brownish roasted tinge. They will cook in their own chicken stock.

*Let me say that once these are ready, you'll be almost inclined to gobble them down right at this stage.

Gravy
- Pour some oil in a cooking vessel. Put the cumin seeds and let them splutter.
- Add the chopped onions in this and let them turn golden brown.
- Add the ginger, garlic, salt, chilly now. You may add market-ready Chicken Tandoori Masala, Chole Masala etc. Give it 2 minutes on low flame.
- Add roughly cut tomatoes and cover with lid. You'll notice in 5 minutes that they turn orangish red.
- Add 1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 cup of water and let it boil. (optional step for getting a creamy gravy).
- Pour this curry on the meatballs, add a cup of water and let it simmer for about 5 mins.

Tada!! You're ready with Red Crispies Meatballs!
Droolicious.