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.