PALAK PANEER

Ingredients

serves 2

Paneer - 1 cup

Spinach/Palak - 4 cups, shredded

Onions - 1 medium, chopped

Ripe tomatoes - 2 big, pureed

Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp

Green chillies - 2, slit

Cumin - 1 tsp

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Coriander powder - 2 tbsp

Curry masala - 1 tsp (optional)

Cream/malai - 1 tbsp (optional)

Ghee - 1 tbsp

How to make it

Heat ghee in a pan and fry the paneer cubes lightly. Drain and set aside.

Add cumin seeds to the leftover ghee and let them splutter. Then add the onions and green chillies, frying lightly.

Add ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder, coriander and curry masala and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomato puree and let this paste cook for a good 10 minutes. It will splutter and fall all over your cook top so reduce flame to sim. Stir occasionally. Add the finely shredded and boiled spinach and drain the water.

Add the boiled spinach to the above paste and cook for another 10 minutes or so. The ghee will start separating at this point.

Add the fried paneer and required water with salt. I added very little water since I like a thick gravy for this dish. Combine and cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on how much water you have added.

Finally blend in the cream and stir in well before removing from fire.

CHINESE VEG FRIED RICE

This is one of the easiest and simplest dish. The preparation time would be less than 15 mins.

Ingredients

serves 2

1 tsp ching's dark soy sauce

1 tsp ching's green chilli sauce

1 tsp garlic chopped

2 carrots diced

5 french beans, blanched

1/2 cup green peas, blanched

1 spring onion finely chopped

1 tsp oil

salt to taste

How to make it

Heat oil in a wok(frying pan) on high flame.

Add garlic and stir fry

Add vegetables, sauce and stir fry for 2 mins

Add the rice, spring onions and stir fry for 2 mins

Serve hot with Gobi manchurian or chilli paneer masala

VEGETABLE FRIED RICE

Ingredients

serves 2

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Carrots - 2

Beans - 8-10

Peas - 1/4 cup

Onion - 1 medium

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tbsp

Jeera - 1/2 tsp

cinnamon - 1 stick

cloves - 4

pulao powder - 1/2 tsp

Salt - to taste

How to make it

Wash and drain the rice and soak in water for 30 mins.

Fry cloves, cinnamon, jeera, chopped onions and ginger garlic paste in oil.

When onions turn transparent, Fry for another minute.

Add the vegetables and mix well. Then add the rice, salt and fry for 2 mins.

Add 1 cup water, wait for a whistle, remove cooker from fire and wait till the pressure leaves.

When warm itself, add the pulao powder and mix well. Garnish with spring onions.

SPICY BABY POTATOES

Ingredients

serves 2

Baby potatoes /new potatoes – 15 nos

Onions - 2 medium sized ones, chopped (optional)

Sambar powder - 2 tbsp (or 2 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp jeera, 1/8 tsp fenugreek seeds, 2 tsp red chilli powder)

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Urad dal - 1 tsp

Oil - 2 tbsps

Salt - to taste

How to make it

Wash the potatoes. Pressure cook for 3 whistles (or put in a heavy-bottomed pan with sufficient water and let cook on a medium fire). Cool, peel and set aside.

Add sambar powder, salt and turmeric to the potatoes with very little water and leave to marinate for half hour.

Heat oil and temper mustard seeds. Fry the urad dal next until golden brown and then add the onions. Fry well till the onions turn a dark brown (I like mine just short of burnt so that's how I made it).

Add the curry leaves and the potatoes. Add about 4 tbsp water and toss well.

Cook open for about 25 mins until the potatoes look yummy and you can't wait a single second longer to serve it already!

Serve hot with rice and curry of choice.

AVAL UPMA

I love breakfast! Especially when its served for dinner. Upma was never a favourite while growing up. I like my upma dry (or rather, drier) and not sticky. I also like to add any vegetables in hand to it and make it wholesome. Here is my super simple Aval upma recipe that we have never had for breakfast yet, always just for dinner :D

Aval upma recipe

serves 2

Ingredients

4 cups of Aval/poha

1 onion, finely chopped

1/4 cup peas (fresh or frozen)

1 cup potatoes finely chopped

2 red chillies (adjust to taste)

1" piece ginger, grated

A few curry leaves

1/2 tsp urad dal / uluntham paruppu / uzhunnu parippu

1/4 tsp mustard seeds / kaduku

A few roasted groundnuts to garnish (optional)

Coriander leaves, chopped, for garnish (didn't have any this time)

1/2 tsp sambhar powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp oil

Salt to taste

How to make

Soak aval in water for 15 minutes

Heat oil in a pan and sautee the chopped potatoes. Once they are cooked, keep aside and in the same pan add the mustard seeds, urad dal, red chillies and curry leaves. When the dal turns golden brown and the mustard seeds splutter, add the onions and ginger.

Fry for 4-5 mins until the onions turns golden brown.

Drain water in the soaked aval and add it to the pan. Add peas, cooked potatoes, turmeric powder, sambhar powder and salt.

Mix well and continue to cook for 5-10 mins.

Serve hot with a spicy hot pickle.

PANEER BURJI

This is one of the tastiest and the fastest dish. The most compromising part is that any masala (say garam masala or pav bhaji masala) can be used and it tastes accordingly.

Well! here comes the recipe for my most favourite paneer dish.

Paneer Burji

serves 2

Ingredients

1.5 cups of crumbled paneer

1 medium sized onion finely chopped

1 big green ball pepper/capsicum cut into not-too-big pieces

A pinch of turmeric

1/2 tsp of jeera

1/2 tsp of garam masala

1/2 tsp of pav bhaji masala

2 tsp of oil

salt to taste

How I made it

Heat oil in a pan. Add jeera and fry for 10 seconds.

Add the onions and fry till it becomes transparent.

Now, add the crumbled paneer and a pinch of turmeric powder and toss. Add your favourite masala powder.

Add the cut capsicum. Note that the capsicum should not be fored too much and it has to have the crunchiness.

So, its better to fry the paneer for some time and then add the capsicum. Add salt to taste.

Wow! The aroma it creates.....you want to smell it in your kitchen too. Now, don't you?

ENSALADA ESPECIAL

When the clock shows 4 in the evening, it has become my routine to ponder "What's for SNACK?" and set to discover the refrigerator. I was bored by the usual routine stuffs, though I intend to post them soon. And then struck the idea of this all-healthy-salsa-kind-of-snack!

Ensalada Especial Recipe

serves 2

Ingredients

1 cup of finely chopped tomatoes

2 shallots of onions finely chopped

1/2 green ball peppers/capsicum finely chopped

2 small green chillies finely chopped

1 big cucumber

How I made it

Cut the cucumber in the circular shape, neither too thick nor too thin into desired amount.

Mix the rest of the veggie ingredients in the bowl.

Place the cucumbers decoratively and place the mixed veggies finely on the top of them.

Thats it!!! Ready to eat?

One can also add chaat masala powder or any spicy, tangy powder to the mixed veggies. Let me know if you try something new with this.

SPINACH DELIGHT

In the recent weeks, my hubby VJ is very determined to avoid oily junks and have healthy, nutritious food instead. Thanks to him! I tried this Spinach fry as an appetizer :)

Spinach Delight Recipe

serves 2

Ingredients

2 cups of tightly chopped spinach leaves

1/2 cup of grated coconut

1 medium size onion finely chopped

1/4 tsp of mustard seeds

1/4 tsp of urad dal

2 small green chilli finely chopped

2 dry red chillies

a pinch of turmeric powder

a pinch of sambhar / vegetable curry powder

salt to taste

How to make it

Clean and chop the spinach. Dry it well

Heat the oil in a pan. Throw in the mustard seeds, urad dal and dry red chillies. Sauté the onion. Add grated coconut, turmeric powder and fry for 10-25 secs. Add the chopped spinach once its completely dried. Add curry powder and salt to taste and let it be fried to desired taste.

Though I made it for evening snack, it can also be served hot with Rotis and Rice