Paneer Thikka Masala

Ingredients:
 250 gm cottage cheese (paneer)
100 gm curd (dahi)
2 onion (pyaj)
2 tomato (tamatar)
1 tsp ginger (adrak), garlic (lahsun) paste
2 green chilly (hari mirch) paste
50 gm cashew nut (kaju) paste
1 tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp chat masala
1 tsp chana masala
salt to taste

Method:
Cut round slices of tamatar and pyaj and keep them aside.Cut paneer in cubes.Mix tandoori,chat and chana masala along with half of the ginger garlic paste with dahi.

Now add paneer cubes and mix well.Fix paneer cubes in a toothpick and put tomato and onion slices around paneer.Then cook them in a preheated oven and keep aside.Heat oil in a pan and put ginger garlic paste and green chilly in it.

Cook for 5 minutes. Thereafter, add finely chopped onion and fry.Add finely chopped tomato and cook until oil floats on the surface.Then add kaju paste and cook for 5-10 minutes.Then add all the spices and cook for 2 minutes. Lastly add paneer cooked in oven and cook for 5 minutes.

Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

Pulihora/Tamarind Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups raw rice (cook such that each grain is separate, spread to cool)

1/2 tsp turmeric/haldi/pasupu

15-20 fresh curry leaves

salt to taste

large lemon sized tamarind (soak in a cup of hot water and extract pulp)

1 tsp jaggery or brown sugar

1 tbsp channa dal (split bengal gram)

1 tbsp urad dal/minappapu/split black gram

1 tsp teaspoon mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

3-4 medium dry red chilli

4-5 green chillis slit length wise

1 1/2 tsps finely chopped ginger

1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida/inguva

1 1/2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds pwd

2 fistfuls roasted peanuts

3 tbsps oil

Method:

1 Sprinkle turmeric pwd, salt, a tbsp of oil and few fresh curry leaves to the cooked and cooled rice and keep aside.
2 Heat the remaining oil in a cooking vessel, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add dry red chillis, cumin seeds, channa dal, urad dal and fry for a minute till light brown. Next add the slit green chillis, ginger, asafoetida and few curry leaves and fry for a few seconds.
2 Add the tamarind extract and jaggery and cook till the raw smell of tamarind disappears, approx 5-7 mts. It will be a like a thick but flowing paste. Remove from heat.
3 Add the cooked tamarind mix and combine well such that its spread all over the rice. Adjust salt. Finally sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds pwd and roasted peanuts and combine well. Let it sit for at least 3-4 hours for the flavors to set in.
4 Serve with appadam/chips, majjiga mirapakaayalu (sun dried chillis) and yogurt. Makes a complete meal.

Note:

Pulihora tastes best after sitting for a couple of hours from the time of preparation. Another version is to replace sesame seeds pwd with a tsp of black mustard seeds pwd (ava podi or paste).

Palak Paneer

Ingredients

6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
2 dried red chile peppers
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 cup sour cream
3 pounds fresh spinach, torn
1 large tomato, quartered
4 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves
8 ounces ricotta cheese
coarse sea salt to taste

Directions

   1. In a large saucepan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil and saute garlic, 1/2 tablespoon of ginger, red chilies (optional ingredient) and onion until brown. Mix in the cumin, coriander, turmeric and sour cream (add more or less to achieve desired creaminess). Add the spinach, handfuls at a time until it is cooked down, about 15 minutes total. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
   2. Pour spinach mixture into a blender or food processor and add the tomato, the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of ginger, and cilantro (add more or less according to taste). Blend for 15 to 30 seconds, or until the spinach is finely chopped. Pour back into the saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
   3. In a medium frying pan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, and fry cheese until browned; drain and add to spinach. Cook for 10 minutes on low heat. Season with salt to taste.

Chilli Paneer Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups cubed paneer
1 bell pepper / capsicum
2 large onions
4 green chillies, slit
1 tsp ginger garlic paste (use freshly ground paste if possible)
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tsp green chilli sauce
1 tsp tomato paste / ketchup
2 tbsp + 1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp cornflour + 3tbsp water (make a smooth paste)
Salt to taste

For the Marinade:

3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp corn flour / corn starch
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp minced garlic
A pinch of salt
Water

Method:
Make a thick-ish paste with the ingredients for marinade. Dunk the paneer pieces in and let them soak in the marinade.Add 3-4 tbsp oil in a pan and shallow fry the paneer pieces, turning them over when the cooked sides are brown.

Drain and set aside.In the same pan, add chopped onions, green chillies, and capsicum. Cook until the onions turn transparent - 2-3 mins. Next, turn the flame to high and add soya sauce, green chilli sauce, sugar and tomato paste.

Stir-fry on high for about 30 seconds until well blended and turn the flame to medium-low. Add the fried paneer cubes and the cornflour-water paste. Taste and adjust salt (since the sauces will have salt). Stir and cook for another 3-4 mins until the sauce comes around and thickens due to the cornflour.

Serve steaming hot as an appetizer!

Bread Paneer Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup crumbled paneer
1 small onion, chopped fine (I should have added this!)
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/4 tsp powdered cumin / jeera
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste
A small bunch of coriander, chopped fine
1 tsp or a bit more tomato sauce / ketchup
4 slices of bread
Butter to toast
Salt to taste

Method:
Place the crumbled paneer in a nice bowl Add the red chilli powder, garam masala, salt, chopped coriander, chopped onion, and jeera to this.Mix lightly with your finger tips.

Then add the tomato sauce or ketchup and the ginger garlic paste. Blend again with finger tips. Set aside while you prep the bread.Remove the crusts from your bread.
Use the regular white commercial variety. Roll out each slice as thin as you can.

Commercial bread will have tons of leaveners in it so you get to do this quite easily. Place about 1 tsp or so of filling on one end of the rolled out bread slice. Gently roll in from one end, making sure that the filling stays well within the first turn of the roll. Go ahead and roll it all up.

Repeat with the remaining bread slices. Wrap up the tightly rolled bread slices with filling in a clean, damp kitchen towel or cheese cloth, folded over twice for enough thickness. Set aside for about 15 mins.Now, butter up the rolls well on all sides.

Lightly roast in a pan until all sides are browned. Cut up and serve with tomato sauce.

Paneer Butter Masala

Ingredients:

Paneer/tofu - 1 block, approx. 2 cups of cubes

Onion - 1 medium-sized one, chopped fine

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Dhania powder/malli podi/Coriander powder - 1 tbsp

Garam masala - 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Tomato paste- 1 tbsp (or 1 tomato, pureed)

Tomato sauce/ketchup - almost 1 tbsp

Kasuri methi/dried fenugreek leaves - 1 generous pinch

Milk - 1/2 cup

Cream - 1 cup

Oil - 3 tbsp

Salt - to taste

 

Method

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and fry the paneer/tofu cubes until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

2. In the same pan, add 1 more tbsp oil and fry the onions until golden brown.

3. Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute.

4. Next, add the dhania, garam masala, chilli powder and some salt. Fry for 30 seconds.

5. To this, add the tomato paste/puree, tomato sauce and kasuri methi. Mix well and add the milk.

6. Lower fire and cook covered for 5 mins.

7. Open lid, add the fried paneer/tofu and the cream. Mix well and simmer for 3-4 mins.

8. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves if you have any.

Red Chilli Fish

Ingredients:

½ kg Fish cubes
½ tsp Red chilly powder
½ tsp Garam masala
½ tsp Ginger-minced
½ tsp Garlic-minced
A dash Red colour
30 gm Corn flour
1 tsp Refined flour
1 Egg
A dash MSG
8 slit Green chillies
1 sprig Curry leaves
3 tsp Lemon juice
1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
3 tbsp Vegetable oil

Method:

 1.Wipe the fish cubes with a clean cloth.
 2.In a bowl, mix the ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, MSG,garam masala, salt, and red colour and set aside for 20 minutes.
 3.Add the above ingredients with the corn flour, refined flour and beaten egg, mix well.
 4.Lightly fry the fish and coat the above ingredients in it.
  5.Heat oil, add chopped ginger, garlic, slit green chillies, curry leaves with the fried fish and toss it well.
 6.Finish with chopped coriander and lemon juice.

Pomfret Fry Recipe

This is one of the tasty and easy to make fish fry recipe from Mangalore, Karnataka.

Ingredients

4 pomfrets (slice into 3/4 " pieces

3 tbsp red chilli powder

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp asafoetida

1/2 cup rice flour

Salt to taste

Directions
 
Mix all the dry ingredients.
Add water little by little and make a thick paste.
Apply it to the pomfret slices making sure to coat it well. Keep it aside for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a pan.
Dredge the pomfret in rice flour and deep fry till crisp.
You can fry 4-5 slices at a time.
Serve hot as a side dish with rice and curry or as appetizer. (you can apply the same masala to any fish)
(Usually this paste is prepared by grinding the red chillies along with salt and asafoetida which you can store it for a month in refrigerator in an air tight container. You can apply this masala to potatoes or sweet potatoes and fry it the same way as you fry the fish).
 

Chicken Tikka Masala

Ingredients:

Marinating the Chicken:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts, skins removed and cut into bite-sized pieces
250g thick natural yogurt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoon chili powder
2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Salt

Skewers, If using wooden skewers completely submerge them in water for approx. 30 minutes. This will hinder them from catching fire while grilling.

Tomato Gravy:

250g canned cocktail tomatoes
250g heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red chilies, finely chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika powder
1 tablespoon ghee or clarified butter
Handful of coriander leaves/cilantro, chopped
Salt and pepper

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients for the marination in a large bowl. Thoroughly mix until the chicken is nicely coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

On the next day, either prepare your charcoal grill or heat up the grill function of your oven to high.

Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, discarding the marinade. Grill the chicken evenly on all sides, until juices run clear – approx. 5-6 minutes.

To prepare the gravy, heat a large skillet to medium and melt the ghee/clarified butter. Sauté the garlic and chopped chilies until fragrant. Sprinkle the ground cumin, paprika powder and a pinch of salt. Sauté for a further minute or two until the mixture turns into a paste-like texture.

Pour in the canned tomatoes, scraping the bottom of the skillet to deglaze it and to release any bits stuck to the pan. Simmer uncovered for approx. 10-15 minutes on low heat until the sauces begins to thicken, then add the grilled chicken pieces and cream. Simmer for a further 10 minutes, thickening the sauce further and to heat the chicken and cream through.

Serve sprinkled with fresh chopped coriander leaves and with steamed Basmati rice, fresh naans and pickles.