Spinach with Cottage Cheese (Palak Paneer)

Yet another Spinach recipe! Do I like spinach so much? Not really. It’s just a little coincidental (and a small manifestation of my wish to eat more of healthy green vegetables!)

This recipe of Palak Paneer (Spinach with Cottage Cheese) comes from the Punjabi cuisine. A cuisine that’s full of - healthy, rich and heavy preparations - because it was made for the men-women doing exhaustive physical work in the farms (mostly wheat laden!). They wanted a diet that can help them keep up their energy levels in the farms or other places which required great amount of physical efforts. Most of the recipes in Punjabi cuisine make a generous use of white butter, ghee(Indian clarified butter) and paneer. The farms also gave them access to fresh ingredients all the time - eating mostly seasonal and fresh produce.

This recipe balances the salty-bitterness of Spinach with near-bland-to-lactic taste of Indian Cottage Cheese aka Paneer. The Spinach is a powerhouse packed with a lot of iron, calcium and good amount of dietary fibers. Spinach has a cooling effect on the body and makes a good vegetable for the hot summer in India. It should be definitely on the diet of people suffering from constipation, anemia, urinary diseases and night blindness. Paneer is packed with lot of proteins, minerals, carbs, and calcium and phosphorous.

I have cooked this recipe in a heavy bottom copper-clad narrow opening pan known as Handi in India. The narrow opening makes sure the flavors don’t escape and the heavy bottom helps in slow cooking. I am sure the cooking technique makes the different in how the recipe tastes!

For folks out there with lactose intolerance, substitute paneer with tofu.

OK let’s get busy cooking it!

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Ingredients:

• A bowl of cooked spinach (blanched)
• 100gm Indian cottage cheese (more if you like)
• 10-15 garlic cloves
• 3-4 red chilies
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• A pinch of asafetida
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• A pinch of nutmeg powder
• 2 tbsp white butter

Steps:

1. Heat oil in the pan
2. When the oil is real hot lower the heat
3. Add a pinch of asafetida and mustard seeds
4. When mustard seeds pop add the cumin seeds
5. Add the garlic cloves and fry them till they turn light brown
6. Then add the cubed paneer, turmeric powder, chili powder and the ginger garlic paste
7. Fry the paneer till it becomes a little golden brown on the edges
8. Stir in the pre-cooked spinach and mix it well with the other ingredients in the pan
9. Add white butter and mix it well
10. Cover and cook for 10 minutes
11. Turn of the heat - add the fresh cream, garam masala and pinch of nutmeg powder. Stir well and keep it covered till served.

Serve with Indian bread (makke di roti - corn flat bread or chapati - wheat flat bread). Add a little water during cooking to serve with rice.

Bon Appétit!

Salad for soul

I love salads (all my posts usually start with this line, cause' I really love to eat what I make or I make what I love to eat!). They can make the meal a healthy experience. A colorful salad bowl adds to the charm of the dining table. It makes the whole thing look so good.

And there are so many of them around. Veg salads, fruit salads, salads with meat & fish. So many different types of dressings - French, Italian, Thai and the list goes one. Or you can top-up the salad with anything that you like. I will be posting more of salads to be just with the variety thats available.

If you are having a plate full of meat the salad can still make it lighter. Or having salad with bread can make you feel healthier. Salads can be munched on any time. They are a good substitute to many sugary and oily snacks.

India has a wide variety of salads with so many ingredients available. However today the salad that I am presenting to you is a mix of Moroccan style salads (I have mixed ingredients from 2-3 different types of Moroccan salads!).

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Ingredients:

- One orange peeled and sliced
- Small bunch of mint leaves, cleaned and stranded (chopped or left whole)
- A cup full of chopped scallions
- One onion chopped
- One red radish grated
- 2-3 tbsp crumbled walnut

Ingredients for the dressing:

- 8-10 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp fresh & coarsely crushed black pepper
- A pinch of salt
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil


Steps:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl
2. Use garlic crushed to get finely chopped garlic
3. In a small bowl mix the ingredients for the dressing - finely chopped garlic, lemon juice, crushed ground pepper, dried & crushed basil leaves, vinegar, salt and olive oil. Stir them well



4. Spread the dressing over the salad nicely and evenly. Stir it to mix the dressing with the salad.
5. Place the salad bowl in the refrigerator. Take out just before serving.





Happy eating!

Batter Dipped Crispy Fried Spinach

Now that's the kind of title I was trying to work out for some time. Something that not just sounds different but tests different as well :)

One of the vegetable sellers near my house sells only leafy vegetables. I saw fresh bunches of Spinach on sell this evening and started to wonder what new recipe I can try out with it (something quick!). This idea of crisp frying the spinach was in my head since sometime now (cooking there!).

Here comes a recipe which is inspired from traditional Indian snack recipe - Bhajji or Pakoda. While the batter may be the same, it's unusual to crisp fry the spinach leaves. Traditionally the Spinach leaves will be shredded/chopped and added to a thick batter. And thick balls made from the batter mix would be fried. Instead of chopping the leaves, I have tried to use it whole!

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Ingredients:

* Fresh spinach leaves cleaned & washed (retain the stems )



* Batter:

• Gram flour
  
• Chilly powder
• Turmeric powder ( a pinch of)
• Asafoetida (a pinch of)
• Coriander and cumin seed powder
• Cumin seeds
• Salt to taste

* Oil for frying

Steps:

1. Wash and clean the spinach leaves. Retain the long stems, which can be used to hold the crispy hot leaves when served. It also makes the dish look great and different.
   
   
   
   
2. Mix the ingredients for the batter. Add a little water and stir it nicely. Make sure no lumps are formed. Taste the batter and adjust the ingredients accordingly. Maintain a semi-thick consistency.
   
   
   
   
3. Heat oil in a pan.
4. Dip the spinach leaf in the batter one at a time. Make sure the leaf is coated on the both sides with the batter.
   
   
   
   
5. Release the coated leaf in the hot oil for a crispy fry. Fry on both the sides for 20-30 seconds (depending on the temperature of the oil). If you fry in a small pan you can manage the leaf using the stem itself.
   
6. Set aside on a paper tissue for 3-4 minutes to soak the excess oil.
   
   
   
   
7. Serve with mint chutney or any sauce that you like.

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This recipe makes a good choice as a tea time snack or quick recipe for sudden guests!

Enjoy!

Chilly Stir Fry

This is one of the simplest recipes and goes well will most of the meals as a great side dish. The chilly used for making this recipe is on the lower side of Scoville scale. My mom makes this whenever she finds fresh chillies in the market. My grandmother makes similar salted-stir-fried recipes with vegetables like brinjal and bitter gourd. Stir frying with just a little bit of salt out the natural flavors of the vegetables very well. You can try it with the veggies that you like!

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Ingredients:

* 2-3 Chilies (the long ones)
* Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
* Pinch of salt




Steps:

1. Cut the chillies in 1" long strips or squares or whatever shape you like. You can also choose to half them along the length.
2. Heat oil in a pan.
   
3. When oil heats up, add the cumin seeds and fry them till they are golden brown.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the cut chilly and fry it for 4-5 minutes (or till the chilly is a little tender). Usually when the chilly is done the skin will get a little wrinkly.
   
   
   
   
5. Chilly stir fry is ready.
6. Serve it with any meal as a side dish. (I like it with rice and dal.)
   
   
   
   

Enjoy!

Juicy Watermelon - Munch on!

Fresh & Juicy Watermelon, originally uploaded by Sunil Kashikar.

Nice fresh, juicy and crispy melons. A summer fruit in India.

Pomfret and Pink Perch Fry

Fish fry makes a great side dish for any meal. Some like it crispy and some like it soft. No matter how, it just makes the meal complete. It also adds a great deal of nutritional value to the meal. For brainy people fish is a must have thing in regular diet.

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Ingredients:

* 1 Pomfret and 1 Pink Perch (or any other fish that you like)
* 1 Banana leaf
* 4 tbsp oil

Ingredients for marinade:

* Dry Red chillies - 2 tsp
* Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
* Aniseed - 1 tsp
* Cinnamon - 1 " piece
* Cloves - 5
* Black Pepper -8
* Bengal gram - 1 tbsp
* Ginger & paste - 1 tbsp

Steps:

1. Except ginger and garlic, dry roast all the ingredients for marinade
2. Grind the dry roasted ingredients and mix with ginger garlic paste (maintain thick consistency)
3. Wash the fish under running water and slit them.
   
   
   
   
4. Apply the marinade to the fish and keep aside for 1-2 hours
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Cut the banana leaf in size enough to wrap a fish
6. Treat this leaf over heat to tenderize it, so its easy to wrap
7. Wrap the fish completely in this leaf and tie it with a cotton thread
   
   
   
   
8. Heat oil in a nonstick pan
9. When the oil is hot (you can see fumes), place the wrapped fish in the pan
   
   
   
   
10. Fry on both the sides for 8-10 minutes based on whether you like it crispy or soft. The frying time also varies from fish to fish.
    
    
    
    
11. Remove the fish from the pan and carefully open it as the wrapped leaf may have some oil in it.
    
    
    
    
12. Ready to be served with any meal as a side dish. Enjoy!
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Happy eating!
    

Stir fried Raw Banana (Vazhaikkai Vadhakal)

Yet another simple and yummy recipe from Tamil cuisine.

A stir-fried vegetable made with raw banana. Most of the Indian houses in old days had a banana tree planted in the back yard, so the banana's were readily available (and they were easy to cook!).

In the Indian culture the banana tree symbolizes the 'fertility'. Every part of the tree is useful. The ripe banana is one of the best sources of calcium and dietary fibers. Raw banana, banana flower and stem are used in cooking. The banana leafs are used in religious ceremonies as well as to serve food traditionally. Isnt that quite impressive?

Okay's, lets move on to the recipe.

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Ingredients:

* Raw banana - 1
* Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp
* Split black gram - 1-2 tsp
* Asafoetida - a pinch full of
* Curry leaves - as much as you like!
* Chilly powder - 1 tsp (more if you like it hot!)
* Salt to taste




Steps:

1. Cut the raw banana into small cubes and soak it in salted water so they dont turn black




2. In a nonstick pan heat vegetable oil and add mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds pop




3. Add the split black gram and fry it till it turns light brown or golden.



4. Add the curry leaves and fry for a minute (more if you like them crispy, be careful not to burn them!)



5. Add the cut raw banana and stir fry it for a 1-2 minutes.




6. Cover and cook till the raw banana turns tender (usually 5-7 minutes)




7. Add chilly powder & asafoetida and mix well



8. Stir fry for 2 minutes and the stir-fried raw banana is ready! Serve with Indian bread or rice & dal.





Happy cooking and eating!