Garlic Paneer aur Ambada Dal Chawal

Ambada which is red Sorrel leaves in hindi is one of those sour tart leafy greens which either people love or not so much. I happen to be one of those people, who just loveeeees it. I never miss a chance to get it whenever I find it in the Indian stores. There is another version of the Sorrel leaf rice or Gongura Pulihora which is make quite often. The version I made today is different and its equally delicious.

I served it with Garlic Paneer which can be easily changed to Garlic chilli paneer by adding finely chopped green chillies and bell pepper

Garlic paneer (Indian cottage cheese spicy stir fry)

Garlic Paneer

Ingredients:

1. 1 500 gms block of Paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes
2. 2 tablespoons oil
3. 1 tablespoon each of soya sauce, Chinese chilli garlic paste, white vinegar
4. 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
5. 1 small onion chopped into 1 inch pieces
6. 1/2 teaspoon cumin
7. 1 teaspoon or more finely chopped garlic
8. green onions and cilantro to garnish
9. Few curry leaves and few red chillies

For Marinade:

1. 2 tablespoons corn starch
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, red chilli flakes, ginger garlic paste

Mix the paneer pieces with the marinade items and set it aside for atleast 15 minutes.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry the paneer until it starts getting slightly browned. Drain and set aside. add the rest of the oil and add the cumin, curry leaves and red chillies. Add the onions and the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.

mix soya sauce+ketchup+chilli garlic paste+vinegar+1/4 cup water

Add this mixture to the pan along with paneer and stir to combine. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and enjoy

Ambada Dal Chawal (Rice with Sorrel leaves and split peas)

Ambada Dal chaval

Ingredients:

For Sorrel rice

1. 2 cups rice cooked and set aside to cool

3. 1 teaspoon each of salt, aseofotida, sesame seeds

4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric

5. 2 tablespoons oil

6. 1/2 cup chopped onions

7. 2 cups sorrel leaves

8. 1/3 cup chana dal

9. 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger

For tempering

1.1 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal (black gram),

2. 3 dried red chillies

3. few curry leaves

For Sorrel leaves paste

1. In a pressure cooker cook the sorrel leaves and chana dal with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric for 4-6 whistles and let cool.

2. Grind to a fine paste

In a pan heat the oil and fry  urad dal, cumin, mustard seeds and dried chilli and curry leaves till the seeds start to crackle. Add ginger and onions and fry for a few minutes. Add sesame seeds, turmeric salt and hing and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add the sorrel leaves paste and cook for five minutes. Add the cooked rice and mix well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with cilantro. Let it cool a bit and enjoy

Rajma paneer with Onion rasam

Its been a long time since I made something with chickpeas and I wanted to make it. But a thorough search of my pantry reveled that I didn't have any garbanzo beans at hand. So I started seaching for some other legumes and found the kidneys beans calling my attention.
               Then, I started seaching for some Indian recipe with kidney beans and all I could find is Rajma...kidney beans in tomato gravy (Will make it and post it some other day) and I didn't want to make it. Then I thought why I can't make Kidney beans along with Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) and let me tell you it turned out Deeelicious.
              And to go with it, I am making Onion Chaaru from the Vegetarian recipe book my mom gave me when I got married. This is so nice and spicy, I can just sip it all by itself

Rajma Paneer (Kidney beans and cottage cheese curry)

Rajma Paneer

Ingredients:

1. 1 can kidney beans (I used red kidney beans in chilli gravy)
2. 1 cup paneer rectangles 3/4 cm x 3/4 inch (Basically trying to keep the paneer the same size as the kidney beans)
3. 1 medium onion
4. 1 inch ginger piece
5. 1 medium tomato chopped
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of chilly powder, salt, cumin, coriander powder, turmeric
7. 3 tablespoons oil divided
8. 1/2 cup water

Here is How to make fresh Paneer
Grind the onions and ginger to a fine paste and set aside. Fry the paneer pieces in oil till they turn golden brown. Drain and set aside. Add the cumin to the oil and let them crackle. Add the onion paste and fry till it starts changing color. Add chopped tomatoes and cook covered for 5 minutes. Add kidney bean to it and all the other ingredients except paneer, stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes. Add paneer stir well and simmer for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Zeera rice or white rice and onion rasam

Onion Rasam (Onions and tomato in Tamarind juice)

Onion Rasam

Ingredients:

1. 2 tablespoons each of chopped onions, chopped tomato
2. 1 teaspoon grated jaggery or brown sugar
3. 1 big or 2 small green chillies sliced
4. 4 cups of water
5. 1 cup thick juice from a lime sized tamarind
6. 1/2 tablespoons oil
7. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 1/2 teaspoon asafoetida(Hing)

Bring the water to a boil and add chopped onions and boil for a couple of minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients and boil for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and add hing to it. Let it cook for 2 minutes. Add it to the rasam and boil for 5 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy

Palak Paneer and Sorakaaya pulusu

I got paneer from the Indian store the other day and today I am ready to cook it. So the Palak paneer and sorakaaya pulusu

Palak Paneer (Cottage cheese cooked with Spinach)

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 lb or about 2 cups of paneer cubed
2. 3 cups frozen or 1 big bunch of chopped spinach
3. 1/2 teaspoon cumin, turmeric powder
4. 1 teaspoon salt, chilly powder, tomato paste, coriander powder
5. 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
6. 2 tablespoons oil
7. 1 medium garlic chopped fine (don't grate it)

Here is how to make fresh paneer
Put the chopped spinach in a microwave safe bowl, cover it and cook for 3 minutes . (This step is entirely optional and it is just to speed up the cooking time)

In a pan heat 1 tablespoon of oil and fry the paneer pieces for about 5 minutes. Take out the paneer pieces and take about 3 or 4 cubes and crumble them and set them all aside.
In a pan heat the remaining oil and add the cumin and fry for a couple of minutes. Now add onions and fry till they become tender. Add spinach and all the other ingredients, stir to combine and simmer for 6-8 minutes. Add paneer pieces back to the pot and simmer futher for 6 more minutes. Garnish with cilantro, serve with roti or serve with rice along with bottle gourd sour curry

Kaddu ka khatta (Bottle gourd cooked in Tamarind juice)

Kaddu ka khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium small bottle gourd peeled and cut into1/2 inch pieces
2. 3 cups juice from 1 small lime sized tamarind
3. 1 green chilly chopped and 2 red chillies
4. 1/4 cup finely chopped onions
5. 1/2 teaspoon cumin, mustard seeds, urad dal, finely chopped garlic
6. 1 heaped teaspoon besan
7. 2 tablespoons oil divided
8. few curry leaves

In a pressure cooker add 1 tablespoon oil and fry the onions till tender. Add the gourd pieces and fry for 5 minutes. Add salt and turmeric and the tamarind juice and cook for 2 whistles or else cook in a pot till the gourd pieces become tender. In a pan heat the remaining oil and fry the cumin, urad dal, mustard seeds, red and green chilly pieces and the curry leaves and fry till they start spluttering. Add the cooked sorakaya pieces, juices and all to this.Add the besan if your are using it. Simmer till oil separates. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy