Shahi Paneer

Ingredients:
250 gms. paneer (cottge cheese)
3 tbsp. ghee or butter
1 onion chopped into strips
1/2" piece ginger chopped fine
2 green chillies chopped fine
4 tomatoes chopped fine
2 cardamoms crushed
1/4 cup beaten curd
1/2 tsp. red chilli powder
1/2 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp. tomato sauce
To garnish:
2 tbsp. grated paneer
1 tbsp. chopped coriander
Method:
Chop the paneer into 2" fingers.
Heat half the ghee. Add onion,ginger, green chilli and cardamom. Fry for 3-4 minutes.
Add tomatoes and cook for 7-8 minutes, covered.
Add curd and cook for 5 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup water and cool.
Blend in a mixie till smooth.
Heat remaining ghee, add gravy and other ingredients except milk and paneer.
Boil to get a very thick gravy.
Just before serving, heat gravy, add milk and paneer fingers and boil for 3-4 minutes.
Garnish with chopped coriander and grated paneer.

Gobi Manchurian

Ingrediants:
1 medium cauliflower cleaned and broken into big florettes.
1 small bunch spring onion finely chopped
2 tsp. ginger finely chopped
1 tsp. garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup plain flour
3 tbsp. cornflour
1/4 tsp. red chilli powder
2 red chillies, dry
3 tbsp. oil
1 1/2 cups water
1 tbsp. milk

1sp red chilli sauce

1/4 sp ajinomoto
METHOD:
Boil the florettes for 3-4 minutes in plenty of water, to which a tbsp. of milk has been added.
Drain and pat dry on a clean cloth.
Make thin batter out of flour and 2 tbsp.cornflour, adding 1/4 tsp. each of ginger and garlic,ajinomoto,chilli sauce and red chilli powder and salt to taste.
Dip the florettes in the batter one by one and deep fry in hot oil. Keep aside.
In the remaining oil, add remaining ginger, garlic and crushed red chilli and fry for a minute.
Add the salt and spring onions.
Stir fry for a minute. Add 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil.
Add 1 tbsp. cornflour to 1/4 cup water and dissolve well.
Gradually add to the gravy and stir continuously till it resumes boiling.
Boil till the gravy becomes transparent. Add florettes and soya sauce.
Boil for two more minutes and remove.
Serve hot with noodles or rice.
Variations:
Dry manchurian can be made by omitting the gravy.
Make florettes as above and instead of adding water as above, add fried florettes, spring onions and soya sauce at this stage.
Sprinkle 1 tsp. cornflour on the florettes and stirfry for 2 minutes.
Serve piping hot with toothpicks or miniforks and chilligarlic sauce or tomato sauce.
Same procedure for veg. manchurian (with gravy or dry), but instead of using only cauliflower, use finely chopped minced vegetables and bind with some cornflour or bread crumbs and make small lumps the size of a pingpong ball.
Fry as above and proceed as above.

Bisi Bele Bhath

I completly forgot this recipe until my colleague reminded me of it yesterday,thanks to him.

What other recipe can be more authentic and originally Karnataka than the now world famous Bisi Bele Bhath? Bisi Bele Bhath in Kannada means hot dal and rice. It is simply that. Perhaps originally it was only hot rice and dal. Now it has progressed to a complete filling meal with dal, rice and all sorts of vegetables. I got to taste the delicious homemade bisi bele bhath from my aunt who is a bangalorian and ever since it has become one of my favourite .I remember once my friend saying ,"bisi bele bhath served at the hotels is so spicy, your bisi bele bhath is very tasty”.

Ingredients
1 1/2cups Rice
1/2cup Turdal
2 Small brinjals
1 Fresh Carrot
2 Fresh Drumsticks (optional)

1 potato
A handful of small onions
A pinch of Turmeric powder
6 Red chillies (lessen if you prefer less spicy)
4 Green chillies
2 tsp Mustard seeds
20 gm of Cashew nut
Curry leaves few
Coriander leaves few
lime sized tamarind
Ghee/oil for frying
Salt to taste
For Powdering
1tsp Fenugreek seeds
1tsp Coriander seeds
4-6 Red chillies
Grated coconut
For Masala
4-5 Cardamoms
4-5 Cloves
½ tsp Aniseeds
1tsp Poppy seeds
A small piece Cinnamon
Method
Peel onions.
Peel and cut vegetables into 1 inch pieces.
Wash rice and dal thoroughly. Place it in a container with 2 1/2 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric powder and chopped vegetables.cook it in a cooker for 2 whistles.
Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the ingredients for powdering until fenugreek turns golden brown in colour. Powder and keep aside.
Heat some more oil and fry poppy seeds, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, aniseeds. Powder and keep aside.
Soak tamarind in a little water and extract juice.
Heat oil, add red and green chillies, mustard and curry leaves. When mustard crackles, add to rice and mix well. Add tamarind juice, salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
Heat a little ghee and fry cashew nuts until golden brown in colour.
Add to rice along with powdered ingredients and masala powder. Mix well. Remove from fire.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves .
Serve it hot with pure ghee and papad/chips.

Variation:Masala powder may be prepared in advance and kept in air tight jars so that bisi bele bhath can be prepared in a jiffy any time.or we can also cook this with the instant bisi bele bhath mix found in any of the super markets.MTR mix is the best.

Carrot Halwa

Ingrediants:
1 kg juicy orange carrots
1 1/2 litre milk
400-500 gm sugar
elaichi powder (cardomom)
saffron few flakes
few drops of orange colour (optional)
1 tbsp ghee
Method:
Peel and grate carrots
Put milk and carrots in a heavy saucepan. Boil till thick, stirring occassionally. Once it starts thickening, stir
continuously. Add sugar and cook further till it thickens. Add ghee, elaichi, saffron and colour. Stir on low heat till the mixture collects in a soft ball or the ghee oozes out.

Serve hot, decorated with a chopped almonds/cashew or pista.

Bobbattu/Puranpoli

Mere mention of ‘Bobbattu’ , the famed Andhra ethnic sweet and an integral dish of a sumptuous meal for festive occasions, is enough to tickle the tastebuds.
But then making a ‘Bobbattu’ has almost become a vanishing art calling for a certain skill as well as time and patience. Thankfully traditional ‘Bobbattu’ made a comeback into urban households thanks to our ‘Home Food’ outlets . I just love the bobbattu prepared by my mom..here iam posting the recipe shared by her,go ahead and njoy the recipe.

Ingrediants:
300gms. channa (yellowgram) dal
300 gms. jaggery
1 tsp. cardamom powder
150 gms. plain flour
1 tbsp. ghee
warm water to knead dough
ghee to serve

Method:
Boil dal in plenty of water till soft but not broken.
Drain water.
Mash jaggery till lumps break. Gring jaggery and dal ,till a soft lump is formed ,add cardamom powder to it and Keep aside.
Mix ghee, flour, add enough water to make a soft pliable dough.
Take a small sized ball of dough, roll into a 4" round.
Place same sized ball of filling in centre, cover all round and seal.
Reroll carefully to a 6" diameter round.(Like paratha's)
Roast on warm griddle till golden brown.
Repeat other side.
Take on serving plate. Apply a tsp. of ghee all over top.

OR
Shallow fry on griddle like a paratha for a better flavour.
But this method will consume more ghee and therefore calories.

Vermicelli Masala Vada

Ingredients:

Vermicelli 1 cup
Yogurt 1 cup
Red chillies 8
Ginger a small piece grated
Garlic 2-4 flakes finely chopped
Cloves 4
Salt 1/2 t.spoon
Onions chopped
Curry leaves a few
Cilantro a small bunch washed and finely chopped
Cooking Oil for frying

Method:
Soak vermicelli in yogurt for one hour. Grind ginger, garlic, red chillies, cloves, and salt finely. Mix this with the soaked vermicilli. Add chopped onions, curry leaves, and cilantro to this. Make this mixture to small balls and deep fry in oil.garnish with coriander.serve hot with your favorite chutney.

Palak Paneer

While posting this recipe i got reminded of those Fridays where we went out and tried out many varieties in dhaba's around my office,as my office was to the outskirts of the city.all my friends used to agree that dishes served in dhaba's definetly had a different taste compared to any other varieties served in restaurants.Hope you all enjoy this recipe...!

Ingredients:

· 3 bunches spinach
· 1 onion
· 25 mm (1") piece ginger
· 3 green chillies
· ½ teaspoon turmeric powder,1/4 sp zeera powder,1/4 t spoon garam masala powder(Optional)
· 225 grams (8 oz.) paneer
· 2 tablespoons ghee
· Ghee for deep frying
· A pinch soda bi-carb
· Salt to taste

Method:
· Chop, ginger and chillies finely.
· Chop spinach finely, add ¼ teacup of water to it and a pinch of soda bi-carb and boil
· When cooked, blend in a liquidiser
· Cut paneer into small pieces and deep fry in hot ghee
· Heat ghee in a vessel, fry onions.
· Add ginger, green chillies,zeera powder and turmeric powder and fry for 5min.
· Add spinach paste & paneer to it .
Add salt, and garam masala powder to it.cook for 2min.garnish with sliced onion and serve hot with roti's or parathas.

Chole

Ingredients:
· 1 teacup kabuli channas
· 2 chopped onions
· 2 potatoes
· 2 tomatoes
· 2 tablespoons dhana-jira powder
· 2 tablespoons chilli powder
· 1 tablespoon amchur power
· 1 tablespoon garam masala
· ½ teaspoon soda bi-carb
· ½ teaspoon black pepper powder
· 3 tablespoons ghee
· salt to taste
· Slices of tomatoes and ginger, chopped coriander and a few whole green chillies for garnishing

Method:

· Soak the channas for at least 6 hours
· Add ½ teaspoon of soda bi-carb and cook in a pressure cooker
· Cut the potatoes and tomatoes into big pieces
· Heat the ghee in a vessel and fry the potatoes until soft
· Remove the potatoes. In the same ghee add the onions and cook for a little time.
· Add the dhana-jira and chilli powder and fry again.
· Add the boiled channas and salt.
· After 5 minutes, add the garam masala, amchur and black pepper powder and cook for 2 minutes.
· Add the potatoes and tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes.
· Garnish with coriander, chillies and slices of tomatoes .

Kaju Barfi

Ingrediants:
150 gm cashewnuts
400 gm sugar
elaichi powdered
silver foil (optional)
500 gm khoya

Method:
Dry grind the cashew
Mix khoya (grated) and sugar
Heat in a heavy pan, stirring continuously.
Once the sugar dissolves, add the cashew (powdered) and elaichi
constantly stir till soft lump is formed and does not stick to sides
Roll on a flat surface to desired thickness and apply silver foil.
serve chilled.

All-Purpose Chutney

Ingredients:
15 green chillies
1/2 cup coriander
1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. sev or potato wafers crushed
1/2 tsp. jaggery
salt to taste
1 tsp oil
1 clove garlic

Method:
Put all the ingredients , except oil and asafoetida ,grind it to a smooth mixture
Heat the oil and add the asafoetida add this to the mixture and grind again.
Try using no water or as little as possible to make the chutney keep longer.
Add water as and when required.
Store in a clean glass bottle.