Paneer Tawa Masala

If you have a set of unexpected guests are you want to make something which is quick, but delicious, this recipe is solely dedicated to you.. This semi dry preparation of paneer can be had not only with indian flat breads, but also with simple bread toasts, brown bread or even with dinner rolls. 

This is a one pot recipe, which is made in tawa, which is used to prepare Indian flat breads or even dosa. The entire recipe is made in the tawa, which makes it unique in taste from other paneer dishes, eventhough the ingredients and preparation methods are same. 

For preparing this Tawa Paneer Masala, you will need Paneer, Onion, Tomato, Capsicum, chillies, Curd, Fresh cream, Kasuri Metghi, some spice powders and coriander leaves. This recipe can be prepared in less than 20 minutes. Make sure you use a medium or large size tawa, so that the gravy won't spill out while cooking. 

You must definitely prepare this in a tawa for its taste and consistency (tawa is shown below with step by step pics). You must not use any other pan to prepare this tawa paneer masala recipe. 

You can add or skip the cream and curd part. But I feel it tastes better when we add some cream and curd. You can even add either of these.

I have a few recipes in this blog, which are made in tawa. They are;

Whole Wheat Tawa Naan
Mushroom Tawa Masala
Tawa Idli

Serve this with any Indian flat bread or just with plain bread or buns. Garnish it with some coriander leaves and squeeze the fresh lime juice before serving. Accompany some onion rings and serve hot!!

Ingredients

• Paneer - 1 big bowl, cubed
• Butter - 1 tablespoon
• Ginger - 1 inch, grated
• Garlic - 2, grated
• Onion - 2 nos, finely chopped
• Tomato - 1 no, finely chopped
• Capsicum - 1 no, medium sized, finely chopped
• Kasuri Methi/ Dry fenugreek leaves - 1 tsp, crushed
• Yogurt - 1 tsp
• Fresh Cream - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - To garnish, finely chopped.
• Salt - to taste
• Turmeric powder - a pinch

Spice powders:

• Coriander Powder - 2 tsp
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala/ Kitchen king masala - 1 tsp
• Pav Bhaji masala- 1 tsp
• Aamchur powder / Dry Mango powder - 1 tsp

Method

• Heat Butter in a tawa and add the onions.

• Now add the green chillies, ginger, garlic, salt and turmeric powder. Cook until the onions are transparent and raw smell of the ginger and garlic disappears.

• Add the finely chopped capsicums. saute until the capsicum is well cooked

• Add in the tomatoes and and keep sauteing until the tomatoes are really mushy.

• Add all the spice powders one by one and mix well.

• Take a potato masher (Or use the back of a tumbler) and mash the gravy well.

• Add curd. Mix well. I had some paneer crumbs, I added even that in this stage and gave it a good mix.

• Now pour a teaspoon of fresh cream to this.

• Finally, add the paneer pieces and gently mix in the gravy. If you feel the gravy is becoming too thick, sprinkle some water. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes and then turn off the heat

• While serving, squeeze some lime juice, garnish with coriander leaves and onion rings. 

• Serve hot with any Indian flat breads. I served with Whole Wheat Tawa Naan

Mushroom peas pulao

Mushrooms, as  I said in my earlier posts, are my favorite and I can't resist cooking with it at least once in a week.And this time, I prepared this for my best friend who was invited for the lunch. This is such an easy to follow recipe, which you will never go wrong. On a busy morning, when you are running out of time, this is a perfect recipe to make for your kids and hubby for their lunch boxes. 
There is no any special ingredient added nor any special way to prepare this recipe. You must have the correct measurement and that's all about it..

Also, if you are also a fan of mushrooms, like me, check my other mushroom recipes.

Kadai Mushroom Masala
Mushroom Rolls

Here's the recipe...

Ingredients

• Mushrooms - 200 gms
• Boiled green peas - 1 cup (I used frozen)
• Long grained basmati rice - 2 cups
• Ghee - 2 tblspn
• Cinnamon - 1 inch stick
• Bay leaf - 1, broken
• Cardamom - 2 nos
• Cloves - 4 nos
• Star anise - 1 no
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste - 1 tblspn
• Green chillies - 2 (Or according to taste)
• Onion - 1 no, thinly sliced
• Tomato - 1, cubed
• Curd - 1 tblspn
• Mint leaves -1/2 cup, chopped finely (avoid stems)
• Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup, chopped finely (include stems)

Spice Powders

• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Biriyani masala powder - 1 tsp (Optional)

Method

• Wash and soak basmati rice in water for about 15 - 20 minutes
• Wash your mushrooms well and cut in to medium size pieces
• In a pressure cooker, heat some ghee and fry bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds and cumin seeds. 
• When it releases its nice aroma, add ginger garlic paste, green chillies and onions. Saute for a minute and then add tomatoes and mushrooms, green peas and sprinkle some salt.
• Cook for 1 more minute. Add all the spice powders and give it a mix. 
• Now add curd, coriander leaves and mint leaves.
• Drain water from the soaked rice completely and add into the pressure cooker. Give it a very good mix until everything is combined. But make sure not to break the rice.
• Add 2 cups of water and mix again. Check for seasoning by tasting the water and adjust accordingly. The ratio between rice and water should be 1:1, so that you will get a fluffy, separate grains of rice when cooked.
• Close the pressure cooker lid without the weight. When you see the smoke coming out, put the weight on.
• Let it cook for 1 whistle and then turn off the heat.
• Let the presure subside by itself, and then open the pressure cooker lid.
• Fluff it with a fork. Allow it to slightly cook down. 
• Transfer it to your serving dish, garnished with coriander leaves.
• Serve with raitha. Enjoy!!!

 

Pizza Dosa

Hiiii everybody!!!

Pizza Dosa!! The name itself sounds very interesting, right?? And I am sure kids will love this. If your kids are not fond of any veggies, but if they love pizzas, just try this for them. They will surely come back for this healthy, crispy and tasty dosa again.

Here, I have my own version of tomato chutney to apply on the base. If you feel it is more spicy for kids, you can reduce the red chillies used for this preparation. Not only kids will enjoy this, every 1 will love this flavorful dosa.

Ingredients

• Dosa Batter - 1 ladle full 
• Oil / Butter - 1 tsp
• Carrot - 1 small, grated
• Onion - 1/2, sliced
• Capsicum - 1/4, thinly cut lengthwise
• Tomato - 1/4 , thinly cut lengthwise
• Grated processed cheese - 1 tblspn
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - Few, finely chopped

For Tomato chutney 

Also called pizza sauce is a preparation using onion, tomato and garlic. I have slightly indiansed it by adding red chillies to enhance the spice level (as my hubby likes this very much). You can add or omit it according to your preference. This is how you make a simple pizza sauce / tomato chutney for this pizza dosa. You need ;

• Onion - 1, roughly chopped (preferably red onions)
• Tomato - 2, roughly chopped
• Garlic - 8 cloves
• Red chillies - 5 (or according to your spice preference)
• Salt -   to taste
• Tomato sauce - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tsp

Method

• Heat oil in a pan and add garlic, red chillies and onion. Season them with salt and cook until onions become transparent. 
• Add the tomatoes and cook till tomatoes are mushy. Switch off the heat and allow it to cool
• Blend it to a smooth paste adding little water. Transfer to a bowl and mix tomato ketch up. Your pizza sauce is now ready.

Method to prepare dosa

• Heat your tawa and grease it with little oil. Change the heat to medium and spread a ladle full of dosa batter on the tawa. Spread it to a thick dosa. You can even spread it thin in order to get a crispy dosa base. But should consider the risk of getting burnt. Always keep the heat low in that case. Smear some oil to the dosa. Cover and cook for few seconds.

• Change the heat from medium to low and spread a spoon full of pizza sauce / tomato chutney all over the dosa. 

• Now add all the veggies and coriander leaves (Tomato, onion, capsicum, carrot, sweet corn, etc. Any veggies of your choice)

 

• Cover and cook it for another 2 - 3 minutes.

• Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top

• Finally, add some grated cheese. Cover again and cook for 2 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

• Gently remove the dosa using a spatula to a serving plate.

• Cut your pizza dosa in to pies, using a knife or pizza cutter and serve (or serve as it is ;) )

Madras Sambar / Small Onion Sambar

Hiiii,

Sambar - a lentil based preparation, which is an important dish of South India and now it is prepared most of the states of India. They are usually made using the combination of different kinds of vegetables, lentils and tamarind which gives a spicy, tangy flavor to it. This is one of the dish I grew up with, because my mom makes it at least thrice a week.
Here I am going to show you how to prepare tiffin sambar / madras sambar / small onion sambar, however you may call it. Out of different kinds of sambar my mom prepares, this is the favorite one for me. It tastes heavenly delicious with any south indian tiffin items, especially with idli. The use of small onions gives the unique flavor to this dish.

I should have posted this recipe much earlier..but I believe, its not too late. ;)

I will post the sambar powder recipe soon.

 Ingredients

•  Small onions/ shallots - 1 cups
• Tomato - 1 no, diced
• Tamarind - 1 small lemon size (pulp extracted)
• Toor dal / Pigeon peas - 1 cup
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Sambar powder -1 tblspn
• Fennel powder - 1 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1 tsp
• Curry leaves - 1 spring
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Green chillies - 2 nos , slit
• Garlic - 5 nos
• Coriander leaves - 1/2 cup, chopped
• Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
• Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
• Urad dal - 1 tsp
• Jaggery - 2 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Method

•  In a pressure cooker, add toor dal, green chillies, cumin seeds, 2 garlic, 4 small onions / shallots and few chopped coriander leaves. Add 2 cups of water and close the pressure cooker lid. Let it cook for 5 to 6 whistles or until the lentil is cooked to mashed consistency.
• Heat oil in a pan / vessel. When it is really hot, add mustard seeds and switch off the heat. Now add urad dal and asafoetida. Switch on the heat again and add the shallots and salt and fry till translucent.
• Add tomato and tamarind pulp. Let it come to boil. Cook until the raw smell of tamarind is gone. Add Sambar powder, pepper powder and fennel powder
• Now, add the cooked toor dal and mix well. Allow it to boil. 
• Add jaggery and cook for 2 minutes. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly. Switch off the heat.
• Sprinkle a lot of chopped coriander leaves.
• Keep the lid closed until ready to serve. 

If I do not have sambar powder with me, I add the following spice powders instead.
1. Coriander powder - 3 tsp
2. Chilli powder - 2 tsp
3. Cumin powder - 1 tsp
4. Dry roast 1/2 tsp urad dal, 1/4 tsp channa dal and 1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds and powder them.

When I run out of sambar powder, I just add all these.