Shyam Savera ~ Spinach and Cheese Balls in a Tomato Gravy

If you are bored of the usual paneer curries, then this curry - Shyam Savera can be a welcome change. The name literally translates to night and day as it offers. as is evident from the picture two contrast colours. Simply put, it is 'Spinach dumplings with a creamy cheese centre in a rich tomato gravy'. It is one of the favorite special curries in my household. Since, it require some time consuming preparations, it is reserved for special occasions.

I have learned preparing this dish from my MIL. However, I have tweaked the gravy recipe a bit to make a bit more spicier and creamier. If you want to try this dish please make sure you read it first fully. It will make it easier to follow the steps. Here is how I make it:

Ingredients:

200gm Spinach
1 litre whole milk
3 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp white pepper powder
2-3 tbsp corn flour
Oil for deep frying

3 large tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 green chili, slit
2 cloves
1 bay leaf
2 green cardamom pounded
1 small piece of cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp tomato paste, optional
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 -1/2 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garam masala
2-3 tbsp oil
2-3 tbsp cream
2-3 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Process:

1. Heat the milk in a deep pan and bring it to boil. When it comes to boil, add the lemon juice and stir. Remove it from it and let it sit for 2 minutes. The cheese will separate from the whey. Pour the mixture through a muslin clothe lined sieve. Squeeze out all the water out of the paneer (cheese) and let it cool to room temperature.

2. Once it it cooled down completed add the salt and pepper powder and mix thoroughly to get smooth texture to the paneer. Make 12-15 same size smooth paneer balls by rolling them in your palm. Set aside.
3. Blanch the spinach leaves by pouring very hot water over it. Drain and squeeze out any excess water. This step is very important. Then chop the blanched leaves finely. Add them in a large bowl and add salt and corn flour. Divide the spinach evenly to cover each paneer ball with it.

4. Heat oil and deep fry them. Set aside.

5. To make the gravy heat oil in a pan. Add cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cumin seeds and let it cook for a few seconds. Add garlic, green chili and onions. Saute them on medium heat until onions are slightly brown, stirring every couple of minutes.

6. Blanch tomatoes by adding them to very hot water and peel off the skin. Chop them into pieces. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and add all the spices except  garam masala and continue cooking on medium heat onions and tomatoes mixture start leaving the sides of the pan leaving oil on the sides.

7. Now take the gravy off heat and churn it in a blender into a smooth paste. Take out all the whole spices before grinding. Put it back to the pan. Add water to get the desired consistency and cook for another couple of minutes.

8. Now add  the garam masala and stir. Cook for a few minutes and then add cream and stir. Add handful of coriander. 

9. Just before serving slit the Spinach Paneer Balls in half and place them over hot tomato gravy. Serve hot with naan, chapati or paratha. Enjoy!

Shahi Paneer~ Paneer Cubes in Rich Tomato Nuts Gravy

 This recipe has been sitting in my drafts for almost 5 months! I really do not know why? I generally cook a paneer curry every weekend. Earlier I have posted Palak Paneer ( Paneer in a spinach gravy) and Paneer Methi Malai (Paneer in a spicy red gravy flavored with dried fenugreek leaves). Shahi Paneer is a  very rich curry and that's why is not that frequently made in my house. It is actually reserved for special occasions.

'Shahi' literally translates to 'Royal', meaning this gravy is rich enough for a royal palate. The richness comes from the cashew paste and cream used in making the gravy, the more you use the richer the gravy. Lets see how I make it.

 

Shahi Paneer

250 gm paneer, cut into cubes

3-4 tomatoes
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup cream
2-3 tbsp oil
1" piece cinnamon
2-3 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
2 cloves
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 green chillies slit
1/4 to1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
Chopped coriander for garnishing
1 tbsp sugar
Salt to taste

Process:

1. Blanch the tomatoes. Make a slit on the skin and put them under hot boiling water. After 5 minutes take them out and peel the tomato skin. Set aside. Microwave the quartered onion or boil them till they are soft.
2. Keep the cashews in hot water for 30 minutes, till they are soft.
3. Churn the tomatoes, boiled onions and soaked cashews into a very smooth paste. You can make separate paste for each of them. I have tried both ways and I don't see much of a difference in taste in the resultant curry.
4. Heat oil in a large pan. When heated add the whole spices and saute for a few seconds. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minutes. Then add the tomato, onion and cashew paste.Add the salt. Simmer it on a medium flame for 5-10 minutes. Add all the other spices except garam masala. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add warm water to the gravy to get the desired consistency.The raw of the spices will go away and oil will leave from the sides.
5. Add the paneer cubes and stir. Add the cream and sugar and garam masala.

6. Simmer for another 2 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve hot with roti, naan or parathas.

 

Aloo Patakha ~ Spicy Potatoes

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It was only a few days back that we were welcoming the new year and now the first month of the new year is already gone. I hope all of you are still sticking to your new year resolutions and implementing all the new plans you had in mind.

I had been trying to eat healthy as much as possible and I hope to continue the trend. When I talk of eating healthy, the first blog that comes to my mind is this. It is an amazing space with a variety of recipes and there is not a single deep fried dish. I have bookmarked and have tried a number of dishes from her space and they turned out every bit delicious! The recipe of today's post comes from there too.

Potatoes are very versatile and I make something of it very often. The day I spotted the very small variety of baby potatoes in the supermarket, I knew instantly what I had to make of them. This dish is versatile too and you can have it as a chat all by itself or as a curry with chapattis. There was a time when I didn't use garlic in my cooking because, I found the smell too overpowering and it was only slowly with time I began to appreciate the flavour it added to dishes. Still, I use it in moderation so that my dishes would have a very subtle garlic flavour. But, this one is an exception. Although I have used less garlic than stated in the original recipe, it has a predominant garlic flavour, which I actually LIKED in this dish. I have made only a few tiny changes to the original recipe, I grilled the boiled potatoes instead of baking them and I reduced the garlic and chilli to my taste and increased the tamarind. Thank you Rachana for this amazing versatile recipe.

Recipe Source: Veggi Fare

Serves 2

Ingredients 

400 grams baby potatoes, boiled and peeled

4 tbsp - sunflower oil + to grease the baking tray
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp - coriander powder  

3-4tbsp - tamarind pulp
salt  to taste

To be coarsely ground together:

 
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped  

4 pieces - whole red chillies
2-3 inches of ginger
1 tbsp - cumin seeds 

little water to help in grinding

Lemon juice and loads of finely chopped coriander leaves to garnish

Click here for the printable version

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C on grill mode. Grease the baking tray with a little oil. Place the potatoes and mix lightly so that the oil coats the potatoes. 
2. Place the tray in the upper rack of preheated oven and grill until slightly golden. It took 15 minutes in mine and I tossed them around once in between so that they were grilled uniformly.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds, bay leaves and the coarsely ground paste.
4. Saute the paste on a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the coriander powder and salt and cook for another 6-7 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. 
5. Add the baked potatoes. Mix lightly, cover the bowl and let it cook for 10 mins, stirring occasionally. 
6. Add the tamarind pulp. cover and let cook for another couple of minutes. 
7. Remove from the heat, but leave the pan covered. To enhance the taste and the flavours, prepare a few hours in advance.
8. Serve at room temperature, after garnishing with the lemon juice and coriander leaves.

Linking it to Spice Your Food and Health With Spices- Cumin seeds by Tomato Blues. It is an event started by Anu, New Year, New Dish by Nupur , This Month Potato Mania by Siri and to my Event Healthy & Hearty.

Thank you for stopping by! Cheers!

Paneer Methi Malai ~ Restaurant Style!!

While updating the list of recipes here, I found that I have posted only 2 recipes of Indian curries. Now, that is really a shame as curries are an integral part of the Indian food. In fact, I have met so many people here who perceive Indian food to consist solely of hot and spicy curries. I know that would not be a very appropriate way to describe our Indian food, but none the less it is true that Indian food is famous world wide more for it curries. Don't you agree?

On scanning my drafts, I found that a few curry recipes were lying dormant. So, here I am with one of our favorite curry of all time- Paneer Methi Malai. As I have already professed earlier here in different posts, we are a paneer loving family and every other weekend DH would pester me to prepare a weekend special paneer curry. Even when we go for dinner at restaurants, a paneer curry is a must and I think this must be the case with most Indian vegetarian families.

Lets hop to the recipe now:

Ingredients: (Click here for the printable version of the recipe)

2-3 tbsp oil
¼ cup chopped onion.
2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 tbsp tomato paste
1 garlic clove, grated
2 tbsp kasoori methi
200 gm paneer (Store bought) cubed and put them in hot water till needed.

2 cloves

Small piece cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 green cardamom pounded
pinch of asafoetida
Handful chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2-3 tbsp fresh cream.

Salt to taste.

Water as needed.

Serves 4

Process:

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add asafoetida, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamom and cumin seeds and let it cook for a few seconds. Add garlic and onions. Saute them on medium heat until onions are slightly brown, stirring every couple of minutes.

2. Blanch tomatoes by adding them to very hot water and peel off the skin. Chop them into pieces. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and add all the spices except kasoori methi and garam masala and continue cooking on medium heat onions and tomatoes mixture start leaving the sides of the pan leaving oil on the sides.

3. Now take the gravy off heat and churn it in a blender into a smooth paste. Take out all the whole spices before grinding. Put it back to the pan. Add water to get the desired consistency and cook for another couple of minutes.

4. Now add the paneer cubes and stir. Add the kasoori methi, garam masala and stir. Cook for a few minutes and then add cream and stir.

5. Add handful of coriander and use some of it to garnish.

 

Goes well with Naan, Roti or Parathas. Enjoy!

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

Channa Masala ~ Chole ki Subji ~ Chickpea Curry - For Blog Hop Wednesdays From Tickling Palates

For Blog Hop Wednesdays, this week I am assigned Radhika's Blog. Radhika is the brain behind the concept of this Blog Hop Event. To Know more about it check this.


Radhika has a beautiful blog with recipes of a wide variety. You could find recipes from South Indian Cuisine, Mughlai food, Indian Street food, Cakes and Bakes etc. I have tried a couple of recipes from her blog already. Aloo Anardana Chaat is one of the hits and also I have bookmarked a couple of her Mughlai Cuisine recipes. But, for todays' post I chose this Channa Masala as I and DH were in the mood for chickpea curry. I have tweaked the recipe a little to have more gravy than hers as I was intending to serve it with Jeera Rice.

Ingredients:

½ cup chick peas.
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, blanched, peeled and pureed.

2tbsp concentrated tomato paste,(It gives the curry a beautiful red colour).
2 green chilli chopped finely.
1 tsp grated ginger.
3 tbsp oil.
1 tsp cumin seeds.
1 tsp red chilli powder.
1/2 tsp turmeric powder.
1 tsp garam masala(or you could use whole spices, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves and cardamom)
1 tsp chole masala.
2 tsp coriander powder.
2 tsp salt or to taste.
2 tbsp tamarind paste.
2 tbsp ketchup.
A handful of coriander leaves chopped finely for garnishing.


Process:

1. Soak the chick peas for 8 hours or overnight. They will increase to twice their volume. Cook them in pressure cooker. Add 2 cups of water, ¼ tsp of turmeric powder and ½ tsp of salt and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. The chickpeas must be nice tender but not mushy.

2. Heat a heavy bottom pan. Add oil and when heated add cumin seeds such that they crack right away. Add the chopped chillies and grated ginger. Sauté it for a few seconds. Add the chopped onion and sauté till it is light golden in colour. Add the tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes. 

3. Add all the spices. Cook for 2 minutes, so that the spices are nicely roasted. Add the boiled chickpeas. Mix well. If the consistency of the gravy is too thick add ½ cup of water and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

4. When it is cooked add the tamarind paste and ketchup. Stir well. Heat for another 2 minutes and take it off the gas. Transfer in a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

Serves with Rotis, Parathas or Rice.

 Check out what other Blog Hoppers are up with . Thank You for stopping by! Cheers!