Brinjal paneer and Khatti Dal

RI am always on the cook out for new recipes using the available ingredients. Once upon a time I used to love paneer or Cottage Cheese but then I got bored with it and didn't make any dishes with it for the longest time but now again I like it. So pretty much I have it on hand.

                So this is my latest dish with Paneer. Paneer and Eggplant. I also made Khatti Dal to go with it

Brinjal Paneer Curry (Cottage cheese and Eggplant curry

Brinjal Paneer

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups cubed eggplant (use either American or Japanese or Indian Eggplants)
2. 1 cup cubed paneer
3. 1/2 cup chopped onions
4. 1 garlic pod chopped fine
5. 1 green chilly chopped
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric, chilly powder (or more to make it spicy)
7. 3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 2-3 tablespoons oil

Here is how to make fresh Paneer
In a pan heat 2 tablespoons oil and fry the paneer pieces till they start becoming brown. Drain and set aside. Add more oil if needed and fry onions till tender. Add garlic and green chilly and fry for a minute. Add all the powder ingredients and stir to combine. Add eggplant cover and cook for 10 minute. Add about 1/2 cup water and simmer till the eggplants become pulpy. Add paneer stir to combine and simmer for 5 minutes. Garnish with a generous amount of cilantro and serve with roti or with rice and Khatti Dal

Try these Other Paneer Dishes

1. Cabbage Paneer Fry
2. Kadhai Paneer
3. Tanduri Paneer
4. Rajma Paneer
5. Aalu Palak Paneer
6. Mutter Paneer
7. Palak Paneer

Italian Broad beans with shrimp curry

In the frozen section of the grocery store there are two items I always pick up everytime I go shopping. One is French cut green beans and another is Italian Broad beans. I substitute this Italian broad beans for Indian broad beans sometimes. And today I made thee Italian Broad bean curry with shrimp Indian style. And served it with Kalonji Roti

Italian Broad beans with Shrimp Curry

Italian Broad Beans with Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 1 package frozen Italian Broad beans thawed 12 oz
2. 1/2 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
3. 1 medium onion sliced
4. 2 tablespoons oil
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder
6. 
   
   
   
   3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a couple of minutes. Add all the powdered ingredients and stir well to combine. Add the broad beans and fry for 5 minutes. Cover and cook with a little bit of water till they get tender. Add shrimp stir to combine and cook for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Kalonji Roti 

Sem ki phalli Baingan

I can't believe how long it has been that I had this curry. Long ago when I was a little kid my Daadi Ammi used to plant this in my backyard and in the season we ould have loads of Sem ki Phalli or Chikudu kaaya in Telugu i.e Indian Broad beans and its seeds or the "beeng" were me and my father's favourite.

              Even later on when we moved to another city my mom would make this curry with brinjal and it used to be my favourite. But after coming to USA finding fresh Sem ki Phalli in the Indian stores is a rarity. And this time I did and even though they costed like 4 times that of frozen sem I still got it and definetely there is no surpassing the taste of a fresh veggie over frozen

Sem ki Phalli Baingan (Indian broad beans with eggplant curry)

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb Sem ki Phalli ends removed and cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 4-5 indian eggplants or about 2 cups cut any eggplant
3. 1 medium tomato (optional)
4. 1 medium small onion sliced thin
5. 2 green chillies slit
6. 2 tablespoons oil
7. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, turmeric

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till tender. Add green chillies and fry for a couple of minutes. Add brinjal or eggplant and tomato if using and fry for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, 1/4 cup water and cook for 2 whistles or cook in a covered pot for 15-20 minutes until the veggies get cooked. Open the cooker and simmer till excess water evaporates and garnish with cilantro and serve with Any Indian Roti

or serve with Rice and Tomato Rasam

Sukha aalu masaledar aur Tawa Machli Kaddu Khatti dal

It was a busy Sunday and we were out most of the morning and we came home in the afternoon and just slept the whole afternoon. But the time I got back onto my feet and start thinking about dinner it was already 7 PM and I had to whip up a quick, and by quick I mean quick, dinner.

                    The one thing I had on hand was bottle gourd (Hara Kaddu) and ofcourse the ever standby vegetable-the old faithful Mr.Potato. And I had some fish. So the dinner items ready in 30 minutes along with rice in the rice cooker.

Sukha Aalu Masaledar (Shallow fried potatoes with Spices)

Sukha Aalu Masaledar

Ingredients:

1. 2 medium large potatoes peeled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
2. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric, dried mango, chaat masala
3. 2-3 tablespoons oil

Heat oil in a pan and add the potato pieces and cover and fry till you get a nice golden crust and the potatoes get tender. Add all the powdered ingredients except dried mango and chat masala and fry for 5 minutes. Don't forget to switch on your exhaust.Cut the heat and add mango powder and chaat masala and stir well to combine. Serve as is, as a snack or with rice and dal

Tavva Machili (Pan fried fish with spices)

Tavva Machli

Ingredients:

1. 6 steaks swai or tilapia or any other mild fish
2. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder
4. oil of shallow frying

Wash and pat dry the fish. Mix all the ingredients except fish and oil in a boil and apply it to both sides of the fish and set aside for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a pan or griddle (tavva) and fry the fish covered 10 minutes-12 minutes on each side on medium heat. Don't touch the fish for these 10-12 minutes. Turn and fry for 10-12 minutes on the other side. Serve as is or with rice

Kaddu Khatti Dal (Lentils and bottle gourd in sour tamarind juice)

Kaddu Khatti Dal

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups bottle gourd pieces
2. 1 cup toor dal
3. 1/4 cup chopped onions
4. 3 cups juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
5. 1 tablespoons oil
6. 1/2 teaspoons each of cumin, mustard seeds, chilly powder, turmeric
7. 1 teaspoon salt
8. 2 green chillies
9. few curry leaves
10. 1 garlic pod chopped

In a pressure cooker cook the dal with kaddu and turmeric and 2 cups water for 3-4 whistles. After the steam escapes, open the cooker and mash the dal a bit. Add tamarind juice and onions and salt and chilly powder and bring to a boil and boil for medium for 10 minutes. In a pan heat the oil and fry the rest of the ingredients and add thie tempering to the dal and boil for 5 more minutes. And serve with hot steaming rice

Ulli Kaaram Beerakaaya (Turai Pyaz wali)

I might have mentioned this before but I am mentioning it again...Turai or Beerakaaya or Ridge Gourd is one of my favourite vegetables. But it has so much water content in it, that it actually makes sense to make it into a soup like some of the other Asian cuisines (Other than Indian Ofcourse) make it. But in India we usually simmer it till that point that its almost dry, nonetheless delicious

                The following recipe is from one of the vegetarian cook books I got from my mom. And this recipe is one of the most flavourful ridge gourd recipe I have ever tasted. Serve it with Roti or with Rice and Coriander Rasam

                

Ulli Kaaram Beerakaaya (Ridge gourd curry with onions and spices)

Ingredients:

1. 2 large ridge gourd (about 2 lbs) (the ridge gourd I got was super big...it was 2 feet long and weighed in at a whooping 2.12 lbs)
2. 1 medium onion sliced
3. 1 teaspoon chilly powder (or reduce to reduce the spicyness)
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric
5. 1 teaspoon salt
6. 2 tablespoons oil
7. 1 large garlic pod or about 1/4 teaspoon grated gralic

Peel the ridge gourd (and save the peel to make amazing Chutney or Dal )

Give it a taste test (cut a small piece from the ends and chew it, if it is bitter cut about 1 inch piece and discard and repeat. Spit the chewed piece :D  )

Cut the ridge gourd into 2 inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 30 minutes. Squeeze as much water as possible.

In a pan heat the oil and add the onion and fry till tender. Add garlic and fry for a minute. Add all the spices and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the ridge gourd pieces cover and cook till it gets cooked. Simmer till the gravy thickens to your liking. Garnish with cilantro and serve with roti or rice

Tindora moongfali and Turai Chilka dal

Tindora or Kanduri or Dondakaaya or Ivygourd is one of those vegetables which takes forever to cut and prepare for cooking. Ofcourse there is the frozen Tindora but it doesn't even come close in the yummy taste to the fresh Ivygourd cut. And again there are two ways of cuttin it. Into round circles or into vertical julienne cut. My mom was a firm believer in the later and so am I. This fry I made today is the most simple and the most delicious one

              To go with this dry curry and rice I made Dal with Turai or Beerakaaya or Peerkaay or Ridgegourd peel.

Tindora Moongfali Tallan (Ivy Gourd Shallow Fried with ground peanuts)

Dondakaaya Fry

Ingredients:

1. 1/2-3/4 lb Ivy gourd ends cut and julienned into about 6-8 pieces
2. 3 tablespoons oil
3. 1/2-3/4 each of teaspoon salt. chilly powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
5. 2 tablespoons peanut powder (recipe follows)
6. 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Ingredients for peanut powder*:

1. 1/2 cup peanuts dry roasted
2. 1 tablespoons sesame seeds dry roasted
3. 1 teaspoon cumin dry roasted

Grind all the ingredients for peanut powder and set aside

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for 3 minutes. Add the Ivygourd cover and fry for 10-15 minutes. Add the spices and the peanut powder stir to combine, and continue to fry without cover for 5 more minutes. garnish with Cilantro and enjoy

*The peanut powder can be made into a big batch and stored in a air tight container in the refridgerator can used when needed. It gives amazing taste to any fry

Turai Chilka Dal (Ridge gourd peel with lentils in Tamarind juice)

Beerakaaya tokku Pappu

Ingredients:

1. Peel about 2 medium sized ridge gourds (discard the hard peel) save the rest
2. 1 cup toor dal dry roasted
3. 3 cups juice from a small lemon sized tamarind
4. 1 tablespoons oil
5. 1 garlic chopped fine
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric
7. 3 dried red chillies broken
8. few curry leaves
9. 1 teaspoon salt

Chop the ridge gourd peel roughly and wash well. In a pressure cooker cook the dal with the peel and turai and 2 cups of water for 4-5 whistles. Let it cool and grind to a fine paste. In a pan heat the oil and add cumin and mustard seeds and dried red chillies and curry leaves for 3 minutes. Add garlic and fry for a couple of more minutes. Add the ground dal and all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Continue to boil for 10 minutes. Serve

Also try Ridge gourd peel chutney 

Cilantro meatballs in North African style sauce and Egyptian Palace Bread

I wanted to make meatballs and spagetti but its soooooo old and I didn't want to eat Spagetti nor am I big fan of Penne pasta. So the search began and I ended up on the food network website with melissa-darabian 's north african meatballs recipe and I changed it to my convenience and it turned out to be great.
           I served the meat balls on a simple garlic couscous and the dinner was just finger-licking good.

And I also made Egptian Palace bread as a dessert to complete my north African dinner from one of the website I came across and ofcourse changed it a bit

Cilantro Meatballs (Turkey meatballs with cilantro and spices)

Cilantro meatballs

Ingredients

1. 1. 1 package ground turkey (1-1/4 lb) thawed
   2. 1 egg
   3. 1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
   4. 1 teaspoon each of minced fresh ginger , cumin powder, salt
   5. 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
   6. 1/3 cup finely ground rolled oats or fine bread crumbs (I used 1 package of quaker regular oats ground)
   7. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all the ingredients together with a light hand and make into 20-24 1 inch balls. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Turn midway. Keep warm

North African style Tomato sauce (Marinara sauce with North African touch)

North African style Marinara sauce

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1/2cup sliced onion,
3. 1 leek cliced
4. 2 cloves garlic grated
5. 1/2 cup pitted and chopped black olives
6. 1/2 cup Marsala wine
7. 1/2 cup chicken stock
8. 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of dried red pepper flakes, Salt lemon pepper

In a large saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onion, leeks and garlic until soft but not brown. Add olives and cook for 1 more minute. Add the canned tomatoes cover and cook for 5 minutes and mash the tomatoes a little. Add the red pepper flakes and salt. Add the marsala wine, and let it boil for a 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the stock, simmer for 5 minutes.

         Add the meatballs to the sauce, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve with pasta or couscous

Garlic Couscous (Simple Couscous with garlic)

Garlic Couscous with raisins

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups couscous
2. 4 cups chicken stock
3. 1 teaspoon minced garlic
4. 2 teaspoons butter or oliveoil
5. 1/4 cup raisins (optional)

In a pot heat the oil or butter and fry the garlic for a coupld of minutes. Add the raisins and fry for a minute if using. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cut the heat and add the couscous cover and set aside for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and serve

Egyptian Palace Bread (Baked sweet white

bread)

Egyptian Palace Bread

Ingredients

1. 8 slices white or wheat bread crust removed
2. 1/2 cup each of honey, sugar-free pancake syrup (the original recipe calls for 2 cups honey for 10 slices of bread)

Soak the bread pieces in the honey and syrup for 30 minutes. Turn midway

Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes until the bread becomes crisp. Chill

Serve with heavy cream