Palak Panneer

This has been a long pending one as I keep forgetting to take a picture. Palak panneer is an absolute favorite especially with rotis and the punjabi papad. Now, there are many ways of making palak panneer and I prefer the method which prevents max loss of nutrients. At least I hope that is the case. (wink).

Love the greeeeen in the picture.

Difficulty level : Medium
Equipment required :  Food processor/blender/mixie

Ingredients :

1. 1 large bunch of spinach
2. 4 green chillies - this will make it spicy so adjust accordingly. Also, adjust if the bunch is small.
3. 1 large onion finely sliced
4. 1 large tomato
5. 1/4 cup fresh cream/milk or coconut milk - this is my new find
6. 1 cup panneer cubes
7. 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
8. 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
9. 1 tbsp + 1tsp  oil
10. 1 stick of cinnamon
11. Salt to taste

How I made it :

1. In a pressure cooker, add washed spinach and green chillies. 
2. Give one whistle. There is no need to add extra water as the spinach leaves water while it cooks. 
3. In another pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry the onions till pink.
4. Add the ginger garlic paste and let the raw smell go away. You could also use fresh pieces of garlic and ginger this will anyway be blitzed in the food processor/blender/mixie.
5. Now add the tomatoes and cook till they go soft.
6. Once the onion-tomato mixture cools down, add the spinach mix and blitz the whole thing in the blender/food processor.
7. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan. 
8. Add the cinnamon stick. 
9. Add the paste and panneer cubes.
10. Mix well. Add the fresh cream or coconut milk. If using milk, check for consistency required. 
11. Adjust salt and add garam masala.
12. Cover and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.
13. Serve hot with rotis and punjabi/sindhi papad.

Myth or fact : A papad takes 14 days to completely digest and get out of the system?

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Panneer Stuffed Snake Gourd recipe

Well, I did not want to make the same usual stuff with the snake gourd that I'd got at hand and so decided to try and stuff it. I do remember seeing related recipes a very long time back but when I did google for "stuffed snake gourd" I was shocked to see that most of them were stuffed with meat or aloo. I decided to do it with panneer as I had in mind while returning from work.

I acted smart and made panneer burji. I made that in excess so that I could stuff the snake gourd with the same. It was scrumptuous.

Ingredients :

1. Medium snake gourd - peeled and deseeded
2. Enough panneer burji to stuff in
3. Salt to rub onto the snake gourd
4. 2 tbsp oil

How I made it :

1. Rub salt onto the snake gourd and cook on high in microwave for 5 minutes or until 3/4th cooked.
2. Fill it with panner burji
3. Heat oil in a wide pan.
4. Shallow fry the stuffed snake gourd pieces

Serve hot with rotis. Best had hot. As it cools, you may not like the taste of the oil - remember that shallow frying causes food to actually absorb/retain more oil.

3

Spicy Panneer Bhurji

I love Panneer, esp. home made crumbled panneer - just fresh off the heat. It has been ages since I made panneer and especially this recipe. So here goes..
Ingredients (serves 2):
For the panneer
Milk - 1 litre
Vinegar - 1 capful
Curd - 1 tablespoon

For the Bhurji

1. Panneer - made from above
2. 1 onion - finely choppped
3. 1/2 capsicum - finely chopped - I used a large one. Use a full capsicum if the size is small. (optional)
4. 1/2 cup shelled peas
5. 1 cup tomato puree
6. 1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
7. 1 tsp red chilli powder
8. 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
9. A pinch of kasuri methi
10. 1 tsp cumin/jeera seeds
11. A pinch of tumeric powder
12. salt to taste

How I made it :-

For the panneer
In a pan, bring the milk to a boil. Add the curd and vinegar. The milk will curdle. Strain out the liquid and retain it. It can be used for making extra soft rotis or for naans. Make sure to drain out as much liquid as you can from the panneer - I use a cloth and tie the panneer in that while I proceed with the rest.

For the bhurji

1. In a wok heat up oil. Throw in the jeera seeds and kasuri methi.
2. Once fragrant, add the onions and capsicum.
3. Once the onion is pink, add the ginger garlic paste and peas.
4. Fry for a minute.
5. Add the tomato puree and powders.
6. Fry till fat separates.
7. Add the panneer and salt.
8. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with rotis.

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Mom's butter panneer recipe with Methi Rotis

After all my cooking experiments, I wanted to make something the way my mom makes it. All this, only because, I really did not get to eat much of mom made food when I was at home this last time. Butter panneer used to be one of my favorites - absolutely yummy with rotis and sindhi papad. Without any further delay, here goes the recipe

Ingredients (serves 2) : 

1. 200 grams of panneer - cut into cubes
2. 1 large onion - roughly chopped
3. 1 inch stick of cinnamon
4. 3 cloves
5. 3 medium tomatoes - chopped {the key is to have the same quantity of tomato as there is onion, so adjust accordingly}
6. 15 pieces whole cashew
7. 1 tbsp khus khus - add 1 more tbsp of cashew if you do not have khus khus. Khus Khus is also known as poppy seeds. Images of khus khus
8. 1 tsp red chilli powder
9. a pinch of kasuri methi
10. salt to taste
11. water
12. 3.5 tbsp of oil
13. ginger - 1 inch piece chopped
14. garlic - 6 cloves
15. Milk for getting desired consistency

How I made it :
1. Soak the khus khus and cashew in a small quantity of water, enough to at least cover the khus khus and cashew. Heat up the water - a minute in the microwave. Watch the time as the water could over spill.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the onions. Fry till golden brown. Add the ginger and garlic. Fry for a minute and set aside to cool.

3. Heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tomatoes and red chilli powder. Fry till fat separates and set aside to cool.

4. Once cooled, add the tomato mix, onion mix and the khus khus and cashew along with the water in which they are soaking into the food processor and blend till smooth.
5. Heat a little oil and lightly fry the panneer pieces till they get a golden tinge on all sides. This step can be skipped if you are sure about the panneer. I had tried heritage panneer for the first time and hence did not want to risk it.
6.Heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the cloves and cinnamon. Put in the kasuri methi. Fry for a minute. Put in the blended mixture. Add salt. Let it bubble away (cover with lid, else your kitchen will be an absolute mess). Make sure to stir as the cashew paste will make it stick. After about 5 minutes, add some milk till you get the desired consistency. Once the fat separates, add the panneer pieces. Turn off heat after 5 minutes. Add a dollop of butter before serving.

Note : In step 4, mom's recipes requires the cashew and khus khus to be ground separately. Since I have a huge mixie jar, in which that small quantity wont get ground to a smooth paste, I add it along with the other stuff to be ground. In case you do grind it separately, add it in step 6 before adding the milk and fry for 3 minutes.

Here's a pic with naans which I made recently.

This tastes best with rotis. We had it with methi roti which tasted good too.

Methi roti recipe :
1 small bunch of methi
3 green chillies
1 tsp of cumin powder
A pinch of turmeric powder
1 handful of besan/gram flour
3 handfuls of atta/wheat flour
1 tbsp oil
Water

Grind the green chillies and cleaned methi to a paste. Add all other ingredients and make a soft dough. Roll out like chapati and roast on a hot tawa with oil/ghee/butter.

2

Methi Peas Panneer

The past week has been hectic with a wedding in the family so I hardly got to do much cooking. When my friends asked me what my weekend plans were I said I would relax and probably do some baking. For me, cooking/baking is therapeutic. I need to come home and cook my meal to feel that all is well. So, here is my first post for this weekend with methi peas panneer in a white sauce. This is a really simple recipe and is ready in a jiffy.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 10-15 minutes
Ingredients (serves 2):
1/2 cup packed fresh methi/fenugreek leaves
1/4 cup frozen shelled peas
200g panneer/cottage cheese - chopped into small cubes
1/4 cup fresh cream
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
salt to taste
1/2 tsp garam masala (optional)
To grind :
10 cashew soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
1/2 tsp khus khus/poppy seeds soaked along with cashew
1 small onion or 1/2 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
4 green chillies
1/2 inch ginger

How I made it :
1. Grind the ingredients under the "To grind" section and keep aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds.
3. Add the methi leaves - chop them up if you like.
4. Once your kitchen is filled with the aromas of the fried methi, add the panneer and green peas. Fry till there are tiny bits of brown seen on the panneer.
5. Add the ground paste.
6. Fry for about 8 minutes. Do take care as it can stick to the bottom of the pan because of the cashew and poppy seeds paste.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Add the whipped cream and milk. You may require more milk based on the consistency that you desire.
9. Finally add the garam masala. Mix well and serve hot with rotis/paratas.

I served it with plain parathas.

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