Paneer Masala

These days I am getting a little confident of my Indian cooking skills. The dishes turn out delicious and I have learnt to experiment with the spices too. Husband loves Indian food and simple as well without much oil and spices and as such freshly ground spices help you attain that maximum taste without adding a lot of it. Besides, nothing can beat the aroma of home ground spices. So here is a super simple Paneer recipe I experimented with some freshly ground spices. The beauty of this dish lies in this secret spicing which I am sharing with you all. 

                                 

Ingredients

250 gms paneer cubes

2 medium onion finely chopped

1" piece ginger, finely grated or made into a paste (freshly prepared paste is preferred)

3-4 cloves garlic finely grated or made into a paste (freshly prepared is preferred)

2 medium tomatoes made into a puree

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp deggi mirch (the non spicy red chilli powder)

1 tsp coriander powder

2 tsp spice mix (recipe given below)

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tbsp freshly roasted kasuri methi, crushed

Fresh coriander leaves (as per your taste for garnishing

Salt to taste

2 tbsp olive oil or any cooking oil

For the Spice Mix

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 black cardamoms

3 whole red chillies

Dry roast all the above ingredients till fragrant and let it cool. Make into a fine powder and store in a air tight container for later use. 

Direction

1. Heat oil in a pan. Fry the paneer cubes till golden on both sides. Do not fry for too long else you will end up with chewy paneer. A slight golden tinge is all you want. 

2. Soak the paneer pieces in a bowl of warm water just enough to cover them all. You can use this water later on for the gravy. 

3. In the same pan, add 1 tsp cumin seeds and bay leaves. I did not add any additional oil. You can add if you feel rhe oil is too less. Let the seeds brown and then add the chopped onions. 

4. Fry the onions till pink and translucent and then add the ginger garlic paste. Continue frying till a lovely aroma of the fried spices emerges. 

5. Now add the turmeric powder, chilli powder, sugar, salt, and coriander powder and fry. You can splash a litlle water at this point if the masala is drying up and you haven't used extra oil. 

6. Next, add the tomato puree and continue frying on a medium flame till the raw smell disappears and oil starts coming out from the sides. This step is very crucial for the beautiful color of this dish. 

7. Now add the ground spice (2 tsp) and stir well mixing all the spices well. Tip in the fried and soaked paneer pieces and stir. Take care not to break the paneer.

8. Once the masala coats the paneer well, add about 1/2 cup of the water in which the paneer was soaked. 

9. Stir and let it simmer on a medium flame. Add the crushed kasuri methi and stir. Reduce the gravy to your desired consistency. This dish is best served with just a little bit of gravy, do not make into a watery curry. 

10. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with chapatis or steamed rice. 

P.S.: Do you like this new format for writing the recipe or do you like to read it in a paragraph? Please share your feedback in the comments below.

                                    

Nolen Gurer Kalakand-- Celebrating 200th Post!!

Yayy!! 200 it is! I can't believe I have come this far. The girl who, at one point in time, never even entered the kitchen to make herself some tea is now an avid food blogger and is today celebrating her 200th post. Unbelievable, but true! You never know what future holds for you so simply enjoy your present and take life as it comes. I have always lived in my present without ever bothering about what is going to happen in the future or how better I could have done in my past. I was never too keen on cooking or to know about what goes on in the kitchen until my marriage. I believe Life is your best teacher and circumstances make you learn your toughest lessons. Life is too short to think of all these complexities and so today's post is dedicated to my this simple philosophy of life. It is an unbelievably simple two-ingredient recipe for one of the most loved Indian sweet, the Kalakand. As with all my recent recipes, here is a healthy twist as well. The kalakand is made from jaggery instead of sugar which makes it even more desirable and appealing to all the weight watchers like me as well as for people who have sugar restrictions. So indulge in this festive season starting today with Raksha Bandhan and show your love to your dear ones in a healthy way! Happy Raksha Bandhan!

Ingredients

1 cup (approx 170 gms) homemade paneer/chenna (procedure included for 1 ltr full cream milk)

5 tbsp grated Nolen Gur (you can use any other soft jaggery available with you, though nolen gur is recommended)

1 tsp cardamom powder

1/2 tbsp ghee for greasing

Procedure for homemade paneer

Boil 1 ltr full cream milk and curdle it with 1 tbsp vinegar or 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or 3 tbsp curd. Remove from heat and keep covered for 5 minutes without disturbing. Strain the liquid and hold the chenna in a muslin cloth. Lightly wash the chenna with drinking water to do away with the smell of vinegar or lemon. Now tightly tie the muslin cloth and let the water drain out completely for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Take the chenna out of the cloth once the liquid drains out completely. Use as required. 

Direction

Take the chenna or paneer and jaggery and mix well with your hands till the mixture is well blended and the chenna is completely crumbled and grainy. Transfer this to a non stick pan on medium flame and keep stirring continuously till the moisture evaporates completely and the mixture starts coming out from the sides. Now add the cardamom powder and stir for 5 more minutes. 

Grease a serving plate with ghee and transfer the mixture onto the plate. With the help of a knife or spatula, smoothen out the mixture to form a square shape of 1/2" thickness. Cut the square into equal sized smaller squares without pulling them apart. This is just to make the marks for easier serving later on. Garnish each small square with chopped pistachios and let it cool. 

Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to let it set completely. Serve cold or at room temperature. I love to eat it cold! 

Cottage Cheese Stuffed Grilled Chicken Breasts

This week has been an interesting one in the kitchen. I experimented with some new techniques of cooking some conventional dishes and the results are for all to see. The food was delicious, healthy, and interesting as well and leaves you without any craving for all those not-so-healthy sinful food which otherwise keep tempting you when you are on a controlled diet! Now that weekend is approaching and I have given myself the liberty to indulge, here is another healthy chicken grill stuffed with cottage cheese and a mix of bell peppers and spring onions. The stuffing is actually the same as the Paneer Quesadillas I made the other day with the addition of spring onions. You can use any stuffing for the chicken but try and include the paneer as it keeps the chicken juicy from inside and gives a rich taste to the entire dish.

                                  

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts washed and cleaned

A handful of toothpicks 

For the marinade

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbsp garlic chopped/grated

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp oregano

Salt to taste

For the stuffing

1/2 cup paneer roughly crumbled with your hands

1/2 medium onion chopped

1/2 small tomato chopped

1/4 cup mixed bell peppers chopped

1 sprig coriander leaves chopped

1 green chilli chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp freshly crushed black pepper powder

Salt to taste

Grated cheddar cheese (quantity depends on how cheesy you like it. I used about 1 tbsp per chicken breast)

1 tsp olive oil

Direction

For the chicken breasts' marination

Take the washed and cleaned chicken breasts and with a big edged knife, slit open the breasts from one side just until you reach the other side without slitting it apart completely. This called butterflying the breasts. Now put this chicken breast, slit folded, sandwiched between two aluminium foils or cling wrap and beat with a rolling pin to flatten it a bit, especially in the area where it is most meaty. A uniformly thick chicken breast will ensure uniform cooking and more space for the stuffing. Alternatively, you can get this done from a local butcher while buying the chicken. 

                                      

                                      

Now, mix all the ingredients listed under marinade and rub this with the chicken breasts. Keep everything (breasts and the marinade) inside a ziplock bag and keep it overnight or for a minimum of 2-3 hours.

Now prepare the filling. Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions till translucent. Add the chillies and tomato and fry till soft. Now add the bell peppers and cook till just done. Add the fresh coriander and spring onions and the spices and salt and mix well. Switch off the flame and add the crumbled paneer or cottage cheese. We do not want to cook the paneer. Let the mixture remain in the hot pan with the flame off. This heat is sufficient to soften the paneer. Let it cool on its own.

Now take the marinated chicken breasts on a plate with its wings open. Take care not to tear apart the wings. Spread half of the mixture on one of the wings and cover with cheese. Do not overload the breast with a lot of the stuffing, else the edges won't seal while folding in the other wing.

                                        

Fold in the other wing. Break a toothpick into two and start sealing the edges by pricking the toothpicks into the edges. Use as many as you want to ensure a leakproof stuffed breast. Repeat for the other breast.

                                        

Pre heat the oven at maximum temperature for 20 minutes minimum. Prepare your baking tray by lining it with aluminium foil. Now place the grill on top of the tray and place the chicken breasts.  The aluminium foil will catch whatever juices drip from the chicken and help you to keep the baking tray clean. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and grill the chicken for 10-15 minutes on one side first and then flip and another 10 minutes on the other side. The chicken will be cooked in the initial 10-15 minutes. However, it will most likely not get tanned or browned during that time. To get it browned, switch the top rod only for a few minutes on each side at maximum temperature. Keep a very close watch while doing this, else you will end up with dry burnt chicken. Also, everytime you flip, you can brush the top with a little butter or olive oil. However, if looks do not matter to you, you can just remove it from the oven once you flip the other side and bake it for 10 minutes and without going into the high temperature top rod grilling. 

Alternatively, you can also pan fry the breasts in a little olive oil till golden on both the sides. Even on the pan, cook the breasts covered on medium flame for 10-15 minutes and then increase to high for 3-4 minutes on each side. Serve hot with onion rings!