Poori with Aalu palak paneer

Its been ages that I made poori or Puri-the deep fried bread from India. Whenever I made poori before I always made it with Aalu Chooley (Potatoes with Chick Peas) but today I am in no mood for chickpeas. And I have Paneer at hand.
                   So...I started my search for Paneer recipes and I found the same old, same old recipes ever where aka palak paneer, mutter paneer, butter paneer and all. I am soooooooo bored with these recipes. So I kind of combined two recipes and came up with my own paneer recipe and let me tell you, it was finger licking good. Even my 10 month old little guy liked it.

Poori (Deep fried Indian wheat bread)

Puri

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups wheat flower
2. 3/4-1 teaspoon salt
3. water for making dough
4. Oil for deep frying

Sift the flour with salt and mix it into dough with water a little at a time. Add a tablespoon of oil to it, mix well and set aside for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into about 12 equal parts. If you have poori maker or a tortilla maker make pooris in them or roll it the old fashoned way into puris the size of your palm, roughly 6-7 inches in diameter.
                 Heat the oil in a pan and deep fry the pooris one at a time till golden brown. Serve immediately with your favourite potato curry or the Aalu Palak Paneer

Aalu Palak Paneer (Potatos and Cottage Cheese in a Spinach gravy)

Aalu palak paneer

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups 1 cm cubes of paneer
2. 1 medium large potato cubed to the same size as paneer
3. 1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed
4. 1 medium tomato chopped
5. 1 green chilly
6. 1 medium onion chopped
7. 1/4 cup milk
8. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric
9. 1 inch ginger peeled
10. 3 tablespoons oil divided

Here is how to make Fresh Paneer
Microwave on high the potatos, covered for 3 minutes and set aside. Heat 2 tablespoons oil and fry the paneer pieces till they start changing color. Drain and set aside. Add the potato pieces to the pan and fry till they get a nice golden crust, drain and set aside. Grind the onion along with ginger and green chilly. Add the remaining oil to the pan and fry the onion paste till it starts to become brown. In the mean while grind the spinach, tomato to paste and set aside. When the onion paste become brown add the spinach paste and stir to combine and fry for 5-7 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients, add 1/2 cup of water, stir to combine and simmer on a low flame for 10 minutes. Stir ocassionally. Serve hot or at room temparature with Poori or Roti or rice

Mutter Paneer and Dal Makhani

This is another of those dishes that my brother likes. So I made it and I also made Dal makhani which is my favourite and it may be a little different version from the original...hmmm to be frank with so many websites out there with the recipes for dishes you want, what can you call original? I donno!!!

Anyway, I made the above two dishes and I made cabbage roti with that. This particular roti is not a paratha i.e cabbage stuffed in between the dough but cabbage mixed in with the flour to make dough for the roti. So here comes...

Patta Gobi Roti (Indian bread with cabbage)

Cabbage roti

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups wheat flour
2. 1 cup finely shredded cabbage
3. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
4. water for makeing dough
5. oil for frying roti

In a microwave safe bowl microwave the cabbage covered for 3 minutes with a little bit of water. Set aside to cool.
            When the cabbage gets to room temperature add it to the flor and salt and mix the dough with  little water at a time. Form the dough into a ball, apply a tablespoon of oil to your palm and roll the dough. Cover and set aside for 20-30 minutes.
            Make about 8-9 equals parts of the dough and roll it into roti 1/6 inch thick. Heat the griddle and fry the roti till it gets dark brown spots. Apply canola oil or ghee (clarified butter) and fry for 1 more minute on each side. Enjoy hot with Dal makhani and Matter Paneer

Matter Paneer (Peas and cottage cheese curry)

Matter Paneer (Peas with cottage cheese)

Ingredients:

1. 2 cup of paneer ( 1 cm cubes)
2. 1 cup fresh or frozen green peas thawed
3. 1/2 cup fienly chopped onions
4. 1/2 cup finely chopped tomatoes or 2 tablespoons tomato paste
5. 3 tablespoons oil
6. 2 small or 1 big green chilly chopped
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt, turmeric, red chilly powder
8. cilantro for garnishing

Here is How to make fresh Paneer
In a pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil and fry the paneer pieces till they start changing color. Drain and set aside. Add the rest of the oil and fry the onions till they become translucent. Add the green chillies and tomatoes (if using fresh) and cook till they become pulpy. Add the rest of the ingredients (if using tomato paste add it here) , add 1/2 cup of water, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add cilantro and simmer it for 5 more minutes. Serve with roti or rice

Dal Makhani (Lentils in buttery gravy)



Dal Makhani

 Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup whole Urad dal with skins (Black gram) soaked in water over night
2. 1/2 cup kidney or pinto beans soaked over night
3. 1/2 cup chopped onions
4. 1/2 cup finey chopped tomatoes
5. 1/2 cup milk
6. 1 big or 2 small green chillies chopped
7. 1/2 teaspoon cumin, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, finely chopped ginger
8. 1 teaspoon coriander powder, mango powder (optional), butter, plain yougurt
9. 2 tablespoons oil

In a pressure cooker, cook the drained black gram and beans with turmeric and 1/2 cup of water for 2 whistles. In a pan heat the oil fry the cumin for a couple of minutes. Add onions and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillie and ginger a fry for a couple of minutes more. Add tomatoes and fry till they become pulpy. Add the beans and lentil mixture from the cooker and mash them a little. Add the rest of the ingredients stir to combine and simmer for 10 minutes covered, stirring occasionally. Top it with butter if using, garnish with cilantro and enjoy hot Dal makhani with roti