Yummy Paneer Tikka

The name refreshes the memory of your favorite restaurant and the taste of chunky paneer pieces marinated with yogurt and served on skewers along with grilled and delicious veggies. This recipe is sure to recall all your memories and make you crave for more and more. I was motivated to try this recipe as I love paneer and anything made with it and while surfing through Sanjeev Kapoor’s website is when I realized that this is such a simple dish and even an amateur like me can make it in no time with minimum efforts and the best results.

I made this recipe in the oven, and it could be made on a grill pan as well or even on a non stick pan and it gives the same result.

Ingredients:

1 cup of diced paneer pieces (medium sized paneer pieces as it helps to skew them)
1 tbsp besan or gram flour
1 cup hung yogurt or Greek yogurt
1 tsp dry fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi)
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp cumin powder
Salt to taste
1 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp lemon juice
Oil to grease the paneer and veggie skewers
Water as required.

1/2 onion (diced similar to the paneer pieces)
2 tbsp capsicum (diced similar to paneer pieces)
1 tomato (diced similar to paneer pieces)

To serve:

Chopped coriander leaves
Lemon juice
Mint and coriander chutney

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F or 180 degree Celsius. In a bowl, mix together besan , yogurt, methi leaves, ginger paste, garlic paste, cumin, amchur, salt and lemon juice and mix well. Add the paneer pieces and let it marinate in the mixture for 30 mins.

Now add the veggies (onion, capsicum and tomato) to the marinade as well and mix well. Arrange the skewers with onion, followed by capsicum, then tomato and finally the paneer pieces. Repeat the same order to fill the skewer to three-fourth its length. You can prepare individual small portions of the skewers as well. Repeat the above mentioned procedure with the remaining marinated pieces as well.

Grease the baking sheet and place the skewers on the sheet and bake it for 15 mins. Now turn the skewers and bake for 10 mins as well till you get a golden brown color on both the sides.

Serve hot with green chutney and squeeze of lemon juice and garnished with coriander leaves.

All time favorite Pav Bhaji

The photograph for this recipe did not come clear, but the pav bhaji tasted awesome. Here is the recipe.

1 large onion finely chopped
3-4 green chilies
2 carrots (roughly chopped)
4 potatoes (roughly chopped)
3-4 cauliflower florets
½ cup green peas
2 tbsp chopped green capsicum
5-6 large cloves of garlic roughly chopped
6-7 large tomatoes (pureed)
2 tsp lime juice
1 tbsp chopped coriander
1 tbsp cooking oil
Salt to taste
2 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp pav bhaji masala powder

To serve:
Butter cubes
Pav
Chopped onion
Chopped coriander leaves
Lime juice

Method:

In a pressure cooker, add potatoes, carrots, capsicum, cauliflower, green chilies, green peas and garlic and pressure cook with 1 cup of water on a medium flame for 15 – 20 mins or till the potatoes are boiled.

Transfer to a large bowl and mash all the ingredients well and keep aside. In a large pan, heat oil and fry the onions till they turn their color to slight pink. Add the tomato puree to the pan and mix well. Add salt, red chili powder and pav bhaji masala. Now add the mashed vegetables to the pan and mix all the ingredients well. Let it cook for 15 -20 mins. Adjust the consistency by adding water as required. Add lime juice and chopped coriander leaves.

To serve, heat the pav with butter on a non stick pan or tava (griddle) and serve along side with the bhaji. Add butter, chopped coriander, lime and chopped onions to the bhaji and enjoy this roadside treat in your own home with as much delight as you would in a neighboring fast food or pav bhaji joint.

Gobi ke paranthe

Gobi ke paranthe.... hmmmm the name itself makes the mouth water. This recipe is again gifted to me by my mother in law as she makes these awesome gobi ke paranthe with loads of love in each parantha she serves. It is usually a regular at my house and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner served along side with aam ka aachar and yogurt or with a glass full of buttermilk. Yummmmmmmmmmm!!!!

Ingredients:

1 cup grated cauliflower
1 medium onion (finely chopped)- Optional
5-6 chopped green leaves
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp amchur or dry mango powder
Oil to fry the parantha
Whole wheat flour dough to stuff the cauliflower filling

Method:

In a mixing bowl add the grated gobi, coriander, green chilies, salt, cumin powder, amchur powder and mix well. You can add onions to the mixture as well, but I don't include them as my husband doesn't like them in his parantha.

From the whole wheat flour dough, take a small portion of the dough and shape it to a ball. Now roll the dough with the rolling pin, squeeze the water from the gobi filling as it would make the parantha wet and mushy and place in the the center of the rolled dough. Fold it from all sides and roll it between your palms again. Toss it in the dry flour and roll again to a round parantha. Heat the tava and when hot put the parantha to the tava and cook from both sides. Apply oil to both the sides of the parantha, press the parantha with a spatula so that it gets crisp and brown from both sides. Serve hot with a tea spoon of butter, acchar and dahi, or eat just like that with a glass of buttermilk.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Baked Shell Pasta

On a cool chilly night nothing is more comforting as hot and yummy food and to add to it my baked pasta shells are healthy and comfortable dish that you can enjoy in less than 30 mins while you sit with a cozy blanket wrapped around you enjoying a good movie and glass of wine on the side.



Ingredients:

1 cup large shell shaped pasta
1/2 cup marinara sauce
2 tbsp part skim grated mozzarella cheese
1 tsp chopped coriander or basil leaves
garlic salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp corn


Method:

Pre- heat the oven to 400 degree F. Boil the pasta shells with salt till they are al dente. Drain and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add 2 tbsp marinara sauce to the shells along with corn, garlic salt and pepper. Now take a baking dish and add 2-3 table spoons of shell mixture to the bottom of the dish. Now add some of the remaining marinara sauce over the shell mixture. Add grated mozarella cheese and chopped coriander or basil leaves. Repeat the layering process with shell mixture followed by marinara sauce, mozarella cheese and basil leaves. Cover the top with the remaining mozarella cheese. Bake it in the oven for 15 mins till you get a golden brown color to the top layer of the cheese. Serve hot.

Tip:
Add some bread crumbs along with the mozarella cheese to get a crusty baked topping over the shell pasta. Yummmmmmmmm