Paneer curry!

This is my first ever try at a Paneer (Indian cheese) dish. Apparently it was paneer makanwala recipe that I tried but called it paneer curry since I did not use butter at all.:) It came out pretty rich and tasty. It was ready in 20 minutes.

You will need:

1 block paneer (store bought/or home made) cut into cubes
1 cup tomato paste
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chilli powder
salt to taste
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves(kasoori methi)
1 cup water
1 tsp olive oil
4 tbsp evaporated milk

Method

Heat oil in pan. Add cumin seeds and ginger garlic paste and mix well. To this add the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes until the oil separates from the mixture. Then add chilli powder, turmeric powder, kasoori methi and salt and mix well. Add the paneer cubes and cook for another 2 minutes. Finally add the evaporated milk and stir gently for another 2 minutes. Add water to adjust the consistency.

Paneer curry is ready to be relished!!! It goes well it nan or rotis!!

Dum aloo!!

I recently happened to purchase these very beautiful looking baby potatoes. I decided to try making dum aloo with it. It is a very quick and easy recipe and goes best with rotis.

You will need:

Baby potatoes boiled and pealed
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp fennel powder
A pinch of ginger powder
A pinch of turmeric
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp whole spice mix(cinnamon, cardamom and clove powder)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 cup yogurt
salt to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Method:

Take a bowl and mix coriander powder, chilli powder, salt,fennel powder and small amount of water and make into a smooth paste.

Heat oil in pan and add the whole spice powder and stir well. This this add cumin seeds and mix. Add chopped garlic and fry it. Then add the smooth paste mixture and stir well. To this add turmeric powder and finally add the yogurt and mix well. Cook for about 2 minutes until the sauce thickens. At the end add the boiled baby potatoes and mix well.

Dum aloo is ready to be relished!!!

Eggless chocolate cup cakes!!!

It is a great challenge for me to bake eggless cakes. This time for thanksgiving (Nov 2011) I had a bunch of friends who were vegetarians. I decided to try baking eggless cup cakes (Cup cakes I thought would be easier especially since they might hold together easier than the regular round cakes). I searched some online websites for ideas and compiled many ideas and succeeded in baking my first ever eggless cup cakes. I think my friends who tried it can vouch for it:)

You will need:

1.5 cups Pillsbury Unbleached All purpose flour
3 tbsp Baking cocoa (powder)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1.25 cups sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp white vinegar

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350 F

Mix the all the above ingredients in a container. Beat it well till it forms a smooth paste without any lumps.

Pour slowly into muffin tray and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool it before decorating it with frosting/icing.

Eggless cup cakes are ready to relish!!

Peach Cobbler!

Peach cobbler is one of the oldest American dessert recipes I think. Summer/Fall happens to be a time where you get the best peaches and I made this last fall (2011) for a small potluck get together with friends where the theme was American Cuisine. I got the recipe from one of my American friend. It was a great dessert and people loved it. It went so well with vanilla ice cream. I made it as less fat free as I probably could.

You will need:

4 cups of pealed sliced peaches
2 cups sugar
1/4 stick butter
1.5 cups of self raising flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup water
All spice mix (optional

Method:

First add in the sliced peaches, water and 1 cup sugar in a pan, bring it to boil and simmer it for 5 minutes, remove from heat and keep it aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a container, mix the self raising flour, milk and 1 cup sugar and stir it slowly and make sure there are no clumps.

Melt the butter in baking dish and spread it across the dish.

Pour the flour mixture slowly onto the melted butter. Make sure not to stir. Slowly with the help of spoon place the cooked peaches with sugar syrup on top of the flour mixture. Sprinkle small amount of all spice mixture on top if needed.

Bake it for 45 to 50 minutes.

Peach cobbler is ready to be relished. Scoop the peach cobbler with a spatula and serve it with vanilla ice cream. :)