PALAK PANEER/SIDE DISH FOR ROTI/PANEER RECIPES

     Palak Paneer i have tried a very long back and after that i didn’t make it again. Normally we eat rotis for dinner and we dont include any variety spinach for dinner. Last week i went for vegetable shopping with my friends, they all picked the fresh palak and i am also tempted to take one bunch and i made this on a weekend  for lunch along with jeera rice.
Picture updated

INGREDIENTS:

PALAK	1 BUNCH
PANEER CUBES	1/2 CUP
ONION	2NO
TOMATO	1 NO
GARLIC	4 PODS
GINGER	1/2 INCH PIECE
GARAM MASALA POWDER	1/2 TSP
RED CHILLI POWDER	1/2 TSP
MILK	1/2 CUP
ELACHI/CLOVE/STAR ANISE	1 NO EACH
OIL	2 TSP
KASOORI METHI	1/4 TSP

METHOD:

• Wash the spinach nicely and microwave it for 2 mins.
• Allow it to cool and blend it finely to make a puree.

• Chop the onions roughly.
• Immerse them in water along with the tomato.
• Don’t cut the tomato.

• Allow it to cool and peel the skin of the tomato.

• In a kadai add a drop of oil and add the whole garam masala(elachi,cloves and staranise).
• Saute for few minutes and grind this along with ginger, garlic and onion and tomato.

• Add oil in a kadai, throw in the ground mixture to this and fry till the raw smell goes off and the oil leaves on the side.
• Add the redchilli powder and garam masala to this.

• Now add the palak puree .
• Add the milk to this now and boil for a minute.
• Throw in the paneer cubes.
• Switch off the flame and add the kasoori methi .

• Enjoy with roti/rice.

Note:

1. You can also boil the palak in a kadai instead of microwaving this.
2. But don’t cover it cook as you will lose the green colour if you cover it.
3. You can add green chillies while grinding ,instead of adding redchilli powder.
4. You can skip the procedure of adding tomato.
5. Fresh cream  can be added instead of milk.
6. You can fry the paneer in a tawa till it becomes nice gold in colour and add to the masala.

RIDGE GOURD THOGAIYAL

(Peerkangai Thogaiyal)

    Thogaiyals are very handy and i almost make this on weekends and my family loves this the most, especially my daughter is a big fan of thogaiyal. Always i make Thengai thogaiyal or Parrupu thogaiyal, but this thogaiyal i suddenly remembered and asked my mom for the exact recipe. We all enjoyed this with rice along with oven roasted papad.

 

INGREDIENTS:

RIDGE GOURD	1 NO
URAD DHAL	3 TBLSP
RED CHILLI	4-5NO
TAMARIND	A SMALL PIECE
ASAFOETIDA	1/4 TSP
SALT	AS NEEDED
COCONUT SCRAPPED	1 TSP(OPTIONAL)

METHOD:

• Peel the skin of the ridge gourd  and chop it roughly.

 

• In a kadai, add oil and throw in the urad dhal, redchillies, tamarind and asafoetida.
• Fry till it turns gold in colour.
• Keep it aside.

• In the same kadai, add the roughly chopped ridgegourd pieces and saute till it becomes soft and cooked nicely.

• Allow it to cool
• First grind the dal and  redchilli mixture along with the coconut(if using) .
• Then finally add the ridge gourd and grind it to a smooth paste.
• Don not add any water,as the ridge gourd will ooze out water.

• Normally we mix thogaiyal with hot rice with sesame oil mixed to it.
• We can use this as a side dish for idli/ dosa.
• I personally love to spread this on bread .

AVAL/POHA PAKODA

      Though i dont make deep fried snacks very often, sometimes when i  have  guests at my place during teatime i would love to serve tea with any deep fried snack . This pakoda i have tried many times and this time i made for my friends and they all loved this.

INGREDIENTS:

AVAL/POHA	2 CUPS
ONIONS	3 NO
REDCHILLI POWDER	1 TSP
CORIANDER LEAVES CHOPPED	1 HANDFUL
POTATOES	4 NO
OIL	TO DEEP FRY
MAIDA/CORNFLOUR	1 TBLSP
SALT	AS NEEDED

 

METHOD:

• Cut the onions into very finely.
• In a big bowl, add poha, onions, salt redchilli powder,maida and coriander leaves.
• Mix it nicely.
• Let this mixture sit for 1/2 an hour.

• Meanwhile boil the potatoes nicely.
• I pressure cooked it till 5-6 whistles.
• When it is done, peel off the skin and allow it cool.
• Now mash them nicely with the back of a fork and mix it well with the poha mixture.

• Make it into small balls .
• Do not add any water to the mixture.
• The water oozed out from the onions is enough to make balls.
• While making the balls ,do it very tightly.

• Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying the pakoda balls.
• When it is hot put the balls in batches and fry it till it turns golden brown.

• Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

BROCCOLI SOUP

   When i went to the wet market today for my vegetable shopping, without any second thought i picked up the fresh broccoli and on the way back i decided to make a soup out of this,keeping in mind the recipe i read in a magazine long back.
  It turned out really well and my son,  who never eats broccoli, loved the soup very much.

INGREDIENTS:

BROCCOLI	1 MEDIUM SIZED
ONION	2 NO
POTATO	1 NO
GARLIC	4-5 CLOVES
SALT	AS NEEDED
MILK	1/4 CUP
PEPPER	AS NEEDED

METHOD:

• Cut the broccoli into pieces and wash them.
• Cut the onions and potatoes into big cubes.
• Peel the skin of garlic .

• Keep some florets of broccoli aside .
• Pressure cook the rest with onions,potatoes and garlic till 3 whistles.

• Allow it cool. Grind it into a smooth paste.

• Add 1 cup of water and the milk to the ground mixture.
• Bring it to a nice boil and add the pepper and salt .

• Boil the few broccoli florets, which we kept aside, in 1/2 cup of water.

• Put these florets in the soup.
• You can skip this step  also.

AVAL UPMA/POHA UPMA- EASY BREAKFAST RECIPE

      This is an very easy upma  which is made with poha(rice flakes) and quite healthy too. We all love this upma and this  will be our morning breakfast during weekend.

For this upma i used the THICK POHA. You can use the thin one also.

INGREDIENTS:

AVAL/POHA	2 CUPS
GREEN CHILLI	3 NOS
ONIONS	2 NO.
CAPSICUM(CUBED)	2 TBLSP
OIL	1 TSP
PEANUTS	3 TBLSP
CORIANDER LEAVES	FEW
MUSTARD SEEDS	1/2 TSP
LEMON JUICE	1 TSP
TURMERIC POWDER	A PINCH
RED CHILLI	1 NO.
SALT	AS NEEDED

• Wash the poha in water and soak it in the water for a minute.
• Drain the water completely.

• Cut the onions and chillies  into fine pieces.

• In a kadai, add a little oil and saute the capsicum for 5 mins.
• Let this be crunchy. Do not over cook.
• I used the Green and Red colour capsicum.
• Keep it aside.

• Add oil to this kadai and throw in the mustard seeds.
• Add the green chilies  red chili and onions .
• Saute till the onion turns pink. Add salt to this.
• Add the peanuts at this stage.
• Saute for few mins .

• Add turmeric powder and mix well.
• Now add the poha and keep in a slow flame.

• Throw in the capsicum and mix well.

• Now switch off the flame and add the lemon juice and mix well.

• Garnish with coriander.

This upma we normally have very hot with any pickle as an accompaniment.

Note:

1. You  can add boiled and cubed potatoes to this upma .
2. If adding potatoes add it after sauting the peanuts.
3. This has to be served hot
4. If you are using thin poha,just skip the step of soaking in the water for a minute.

Wish all my reader, friends,visitors a very HAPPY PONGAL.

CLICK HERE FOR SAKKARAI PONGAL(SWEET PONGAL) RECIPE.