Just for the party: Shimla Mirch and Paneer :).

Yeah, there is an actual new post here :). Gone are the days (months?) of being greeted by the same old batata-vada, in case you happened to visit this blog in the past year ;). I'll be honest, it's not been an easy post to write-there is more than year's worth of laziness to shrug off :).

But, the occasion demands it. A Mad Tea Party has been organized and our gracious hostess has been kind enough to allow late comers to be a part of the fun fiesta. After having two crazy parties which involved lots of frying, she has chosen the theme of instant gastronomic gratification, desi ishtyle. Make something quick, easy, delicious. Something that does not exotify Indian cooking, but rather highlights the vast variety that Indian food boasts of, with the myriad regional twists and flavors.

I debated a lot on what to prepare for this event. It had to be simple, amenable to adaptations and quick to make. I chose a simple combination of bell peppers and Indian cottage cheese, the two ingredients i had available at hand. The dish is very quick and easy, and you can play any number of combinations on it. The main reason, though, is that this was one of the first few dishes I ever prepared :). Besides, there is a lot of nostalgia factor involved. This is also the dish that a dear teacher of mine fondly mentioned in several conversation.


Trivia: Since this recipe involves paneer, it has some Punjabi flair. This is a slightly unusual combination for a Punjabi meal though. Bell peppers in Punjab are a summer vegetable, while paneer dishes are usually either reserved for special occasions or winter/autumn/spring season. So this is not something you would typically find in rural Punjabi homes for an everyday meal, though it does make an popular choice for special occasions. However, where I currently live, bell peppers are available all year round and the weather is usually mild, making this an appropriate everyday dish for my kitchen.


As for versatility, the bell peppers and onions combination is one of my favorites. I have tried this dish replacing paneer with tofu, eggplants, zucchini and crook-neck squash, and replacing cumin with mustard seeds/nigella/panch-phoron and the results have always been delightful! Sometimes I've just used ground Sichuan-peppers/Teppal and enjoyed it immensely. I recommend each of these variations.


Here is how we prepare this dish:

Key ingredients:

1 onion,sliced thin
2 bell peppers, diced
20-25 bite size (1") cubes of fresh paneer
Seasonings: 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, salt to taste
1-2 tsp. oil

Optional ingredients: Kashmiri red chilli powder (for color), 1/4 tsp. amchoor or one tomato (cubed) for a tangy twist, crushed garlic/garlic salt or garam masala for a different flavor.


Preparation: Let's begin with the stereotypical "heat oil in a pan". While the oil is heating, we cut the onion into two halves and chop each half into thin slices. Next, we splutter the cumin in hot oil, saute' the onions for 2-4 minutes. During this time, we chop the bell peppers and prepare paneer cubes. Add the paneer cubes and pan fry them next on medium to high heat. They should turn golden. Next, we add the bell peppers and stir-fry some more (4-5 minutes). We then add salt and turmeric, reduce the heat, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes (or till the bell pepper pieces are tender). This is the basic version of the recipe and can be jazzed up with additional seasonings mentioned in "optional ingredients". Total time involved in preparing this dish was close to 25 minutes or so. This is a great everyday and party dish. I enjoyed this dish along with a simple matar kadhi and plain rice, for dinner with my friend Ms. AK and sent some over to buddy MD via pictures. My friends loved it, and that's what counts :). I hope you will love it too.

Here's to fun-times! Thank you, Anita!

Salad, sabzi, or both and a weekend brunch idea :)

I am sure you are all familiar with the days, when you get back home tired and really hungry: the times when you don't have much energy to do some elaborate cooking, but would still love to have some yummy food! On one such day last week, i felt really lazy to cook much, yet craved something spicy and filling. In this bus, i had been dreaming about making some baked vegetables in some cilantro based marinade. When i got home, i checked out the vegetables in the fridge and wondered what all to use. Finally, i decided to go for some bell peppers, some mushrooms, a lil' paneer and some spring onions and marinate them in a cilantro based marinade. The cilantro chutney/marinade was made by simply blending together cilantro, green chillies, ginger, garlic salt, salt and lime juice. I mixed the marinade with the veggies in the baking dish and the whole thing looked really appetizing. I then wondered, if i should go for a salad, a sabzi or both :-D. I decided to take some in a bowl as a salad, which was yummy! and put the rest in the oven. As i feasted myself upon the lip-smacking chutney-vegetables combo, i simultaneously had been making some baked vegetables, which turned out to be equally delicious, if not more :-D. I am sure you all have your own variations on this theme, here's my version:

Baked vegetables in cilantro marinade:

We need:

• 1 big bell pepper (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
• 2 Roma tomatoes (sliced)
  
• 20 or so bite sized pieces of paneer
• 1/2 cup sliced crimini or baby bella mushrooms
• 1 bunch spring onions (chopped)

For marinade:

• 1 small bunch/3/4 th cup equivalent chopped cilantro
• 1 serrano pepper or 2 green chillies (adjust chillies to your taste)
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 tsp. lime/lemon juice
• 1 tsp. garlic salt
• Salt to taste

Grind together the ingredients for the marinade. Mix these with the chopped vegetables. In case you are making the salad, leave the spring onions and chill the salad in the fridge. Mix the chopped spring onions before serving.

The salad :)

For making baked vegetables, mix the marinade with all the chopped vegetables and let rest for 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 F meanwhile. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, mixing once in between (or till the bell peppers are tender-rest of the stuff doesn't take long to cook). The end result should have slightly crisped paneer and well done bell peppers, with some thick gravy. If you want grilled vegetables, add less marinade, and bake a lil' longer. Enjoy the baked vegetables with crispy toast :).

The sabzi :)

As i was having the salad, i wondered about all those laments that one gets to hear from time to time, as to how Indian food doesn't have much to do with salads! Indian cuisine boast of such an enormous variety of salads, from the lovely koshimbirs, to kosumbari, to the sundals, raitas and pachidis and the regular kheera-tamatar with lime, salt an pepper and many many more. Just that we don't label them as "salad" :-D.

Oh, and here's a quick weekend brunch idea. i am sure again that many of you make this in your own way as well. i am talking about the sandwich made with (aloo ki) sabzi :-D. i use left over aloo sabzi (dry) or any dry sabzi, stuff it in the sourdough or rye bread, along with a lil' skim mozzarella or five cheese blend and toast it on tava/griddle. i'll be honest with you, i use a lil' ghee (just a cpl. of drops) to toast :-D. It gives such a heavenly aroma!



Here's a quick aloo ki sabzi-a zero oil version:

We need:

• 1-2 potatoes (boiled/microwaved and mashed)
• 1/2 tsp jeera/cumin
• 1 ripe tomato
• 1 bunch spring onions (optional)
  
• 1 tsp. grated ginger
• 1 clove garlic (chopped fine, optional)
  
• 1 chopped green chilli
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp. lime juice or 1 tsp. sour curds
• Chopped cilantro for garnish
  

Wash the potatoes and keep them in the microwave for cooking. It takes about 4 minutes per potato, and 7 minutes for two potatoes in my micrwave. Alternatively you can boil the potatoes. Meanwhile, heat a pan and dry roast the cumin seeds till they release the aroma. Add the tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the grated ginger and onions and garlic, if using. Stir and cook for a cpl. of minutes. (By now the potatoes should be done. Quickly peel them and mash them roughly). Add the microwaved/boiled and mashed potatoes to the pan and mix. Add the salt and souring agent of your choice (lime juice or curds) and mix well. If the mixture is getting too dry or sticking to the pan, drizzle some water. Cook for another 5 minutes with occasional stirring. Add the green chillies and cilantro.

Enjoy as a sabzi/side dish or as a sandwich/parantha stuffing :). Don't go by the picture, it tastes really good :).

Majjige huli and beans palya: a simple, homestyle meal :).

It happens to me a lot! You know how, sometimes we meet other people of Indian origin and the question comes up, "Which city are you from?" :). I usually answer after a lil' pause, for i can not single out just one city! I feel i belong equally to Amritsar, New Delhi and Bangalore (and all the other cities here i have lived in) :-D. But many a time, i just end up saying "Bangalore", because thats the city where i had my first taste of independent (well, almost) living :-D. I simply love the city!

When Ashakka announced RCI-Karnataka, i was really thrilled! For, here was my chance to write about some of my ever favorite comfort foods :). That brought back fond memories of my time in Bangalore.....Back in New Delhi, i had a few Kannadiga friends in the college and like it usually happens, we sampled each others lunch boxes quite often ;). I got even closer to the delicious Karnataka cuisine when i moved to Bangalore for my graduate school. It was here that i learnt about the myriad sub-regional varieties of Karnataka cuisine. The A-mess in IISc provided decent food most of the times and included a lot of preparations from our theme cuisine. I learnt more from my friends and colleagues, about the preparations, the Kannada names for spices and vegetables etc etc. :). Most of my "recipe learning" was from tasting good food and asking "so how do we make this" :-D. This usually left me with a decent idea, though not the exact proportions. I stored all this information in my mind and once i moved to the US and began cooking myself, i tried out many of these recipe ideas.....surprisingly, they turned out decent enough :-D. A senior colleague in my lab in Bangalore, Mrs. R, would often treat us, the graduate students, with yummy home cooked meals. Courtesy her, we sampled great food, and i had many of my "how to" queries answered. Her face would have this really nice glow as she watched us eat.....and ofcourse the lil' tid-bits from many friends.....

So in a way, this lovely cuisine is my own.....the yummy goodness that nurtured me through those years :). Ooh, the thoughts of good food.....the fiesta is on!


For RCI, i decided that first and foremost, i should share one of my most favorite comfort meals with you.....its my everyday kind of food.....a combination of majjige huli, beans palya and rice.....So, here is to yummy food :-D.


Majjige huli:

Majjige huli takes its name from majjige (buttermilk) and is one of the best ways to enjoy the flavor of a single vegetable! With the warm aroma and smooth texture from coconut and the tangy taste from buttermilk, this one is surely a comfort food! Traditionally, the vegetables chosen are: Ash-gourd (kumbalakayi), chayote squash (seemebadnekayi), bottle gourd (sorekayi), bell-pepper (dodda-mensinakayi; the big pepper) and long eggplants (badnekayi).....but hey, nothing should stop you from trying this out with other vegetables. I especially recommend the squashes and gourds! This is surely one the best ways to enjoy them! For RCI, i have prepared majjige huli with dodda-mensinakayi and another one with the pretty looking patty pan squashes.



So pick your vegetable of choice and lets start :-D.

We need:

• 1 big bell-pepper or 4-5 pieces patty pan squash (chopped into bite-size pieces)
  
• 3/4 cup grated coconut (fresh/frozen)
• 1 tbsp. soaked bengal gram/chana daal
  
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 small green chillies
• Turmeric (just a pinch)
• 1 cup sour buttermilk (or sour curds, diluted to 1 cup)
• Salt to taste
• A pinch or two of sugar (~ 1/4 tsp., almost mandatory)
  
• For seasoning: 1 tsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds, a lil' asfoetida, 5-6 curry leaves and 1-2 dried red chillies (broken)

Lets first cook the chopped vegetables by boiling in water, till tender. While this goes on, we grind the coconut, daal, cumin seeds, green chillies and turmeric into a smooth paste (add a lil' water if needed). Once the vegetable pieces are done, we add the coconut paste, salt and simmer for another 5-10 minutes for the flavors to blend in. Now, remove it from the flame and slowly add the buttermilk/curds (which should be at room temperature, to prevent curdling). Prepare the seasoning by heating the oil and spluttering the mustard seeds, followed by adding the asfoetida, curry leaves and red chillies. Add the seasoning to the prepared huli, stir in and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Enjoy this delicious goodness with rice :). Or just drink it up (like i do) :-D.



After i prepared this for RCI, i just wanted to cross check if i had gotten my stuff right (given that i had no written down recipe). So, i set about searching on Google. There were a lot of recipes, most of them with a long list of ingredients that i wasn't sure i had ever tasted in the homemade authentic majjige huli. I finally found a recipe, that i bet is authentic and is really simple and it eased my worries as my recipe was quite like this recipe, and that recipe is from our very own Supriya :-D. Thank you, sweetie for letting me know that i was on the right path all along.....it means a lot to me.....I usually have this with regular Sona Masuri rice, but i listened to Sia and tried it with Basmati! It was just delicious!
Over to beans palya :-D.

Beans palya:

This is another must eat! A simple dish with a vegetable and coconut, a total delight! I love this preparation the most with french beans, cluster beans, carrots, beets and cabbage! Squashes are good to, i especially enjoy this preparation with zucchini. Kohlrabi also makes yummy palya. Here's the recipe with cluster beans:

We need:

• 2 cups chopped vegetable (i used cluster beans)
• 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. urad daal (uddina bele)
• 1-2 broken dried red chillies
• 5-6 curry leaves
• Salt to taste
• A pinch of both turmeric and sugar
• 2-3 tbsp. grated coconut
• 1 tsp. oil

Heat oil and splutter the mustard seeds, add the urad daal and allow it to lightly brown, followed by turmeric, curry leaves and red chillies. Stir for a cpl. of minutes and add the chopped vegetables. Drizzle with lil' water, add the salt and cook on low heat after covering the pan till the vegetable is done. Top it with grated coconut and sugar. Stir and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Enjoy the palya with rice and huli or as a fabulous sandwich stuffing!


This recipe at Payaswini's cookbook adds kadlabele too, but i didn't. Also i normally use more coconut than the recipe in the link. This site seems to have a decent recipe collection and sounds authentic (from the recipes i checked out).

This is my contribution for RCI-Karnataka, an being hosted by our dearAshakka :). RCI is an event celebrating the yummy regional Indian cuisines,coneptualized by dear Lakshmi at Veggie Cuisine. Thanks Ashakka, for hosting this, despite your Lasik plans.....and for the Benne Biscattu post :-D.

L for Lobia-Shimla :)

Hey friends, time to head for Nupur's A-Z meetup. I am packing some L for Lobia-Shimla and lots of love :). Lobia or Raungi or Roongi or Roong or Chawli (or Black-eyed beans) as its known, is one of my recent favorites. The regular white colored lobia is also called chitta (Punjabi-White) lobia and the pink/red lobia is called lal lobia. and recent favorite?? you ask-yes! there was a time when i ate them but didn't enjoy 'em as much. He he, quite a childhood thing :)). It changed slowly.....Usually i would demand Rajma-Chawal for any special occassion, like the last day of exams :). On one such occassion, i.e. after the exams were over, Mom decided to make raungi instead.....and boy! did i make a face.....Rajmas can not be replaced with anything else :)). But somehow, that day, when i had the first byte, i fell in love with this marvellous bean :). Our hostess, Nupur beautifully describes these beans when she says that to her "they look like beans wearing kohl" :).


Over the time, i realized that most people who don't enjoy lobia as much, feel that it needs something more.....it needs to have a fuller flavor. In simpler words, it needs to be spiced up a bit :)). I usually make lobia as a daal, sometimes with potatoes (yes, we Punjabis add aloo to everything: so you have stuff like Rajma aloo, aloo chhole etc). Another favorite of mine is to make lobia with eggplants. But today, we'll try out lobia with bell peppers i.e. Shimla mirch :). Shimla adds that special something to this lovely legume :).

So lets say Love to Lobia and get ready :)

We need:

• Black eyed beans (1 cup)
• 1 bell pepper (cut long)
• 1/4 tsp. shah jeera
• 1 onion (chopped long)
• 1 tbsp. chopped ginger
  
• 2-3 big, ripe tomatoes (cubed)
• Turmeric (about a pinch) and red chilli powder (to taste)
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp. amchur
• 1 tsp. melted ghee
• Kasoori methi or chopped cilantro for garnishing

Soak the lobia for half an hour or so in warm water. Pressure cook it with just a lil' bit of water (4-5 whistles) and allow to cool (consistency should be like the picture above). Meanwhile, lets prepare the tadka/masala. In hot ghee, spluttershah-jeera and then saute' onions till golden brown. Add chopped ginger and saute'. You may add a lil' garlic paste also. Add the chopped bell peppers/capsicum and stir. Cook for 4-5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes, stir and cook on low till a thick masala is made. Add just a pinch of turmeric (adding less turmeric allows for the red hues of tomatoes to take over) and red chilli powder. Now add the amchur and stir. Add just a lil' bit of water to make a thick gravy and add the cooked beans to this. Cover and cook on low heat for the beans to absorb all the flavors and spices. Add chopped cilantro or dried methi leaves (take your pick-i used methi leaves). Serve hot with bread or rice of your choice.

I served this with bhatura :). I adapted this style of serving from a Dhaba in Amritsar, where they used to serve the chhole on top of the kulche and bhature.....



Notes: Add more water to get a suitable consistency of the gravy for it to go with rice :).

Enjoy the lovable lobia enhanced by the delectable shimla mirch :)