Palak mushroom panneer with pasta(my style)

When it's a lazy Sunday and you need to wip up something really very quick that's when I get all the crazy ideas of fusion of combining the typical Indian cuisine with the Italian pasta. Sounds really very crazy,well that's me. And my family deals with it too. :)

Palak mushroom panneer gravy

Ingredients :
1. Palak chopped - 2 cups
2. Panneer - 100 gms
3. Garam masala - 1 tsp
4. Onion 1 medium size
5. Tomato 1 medium size
6. Oil 2 tsp
7. Salt to taste
8. Red chilli powder 1 tsp
9. Jeera 1/2
10. Mushroom (button type) about 8
11. Ginger garlic paste 1/2 tsp


Method:
Blanch palak and purée it with half  a tomato.
Cut the mushroom into four pieces each.
Cube the panneer into half inch each piece.
In a heavy bottomed pan heat a tsp of oil and fry jeera and ginger garlic paste for about 30 sec , next add the diced onions and turmeric powder. Sauté until onions turn transperant. Later add the remaining half tomato diced and fry till the mushiness goes.
In a separate pan fry the cubed panneer in a tsp of oil until sides are crisp. 
Add the mushroom to the onion tomato mix and continue cooking on low flame until they are cooked.
To this add the red chilli powder , garam masala and the palak puree. Cook on low flame until the raw smell of Palak goes away.
Season with salt as needed per your taste.
Finally add the crisp panneer to the gravy and stir slowly to avoid breaking of panneer.
Optional: you can add some fresh cream to enhance the taste in the end to the gravy before serving.


Enjoy this gravy with hot phulkas or rotis.

Next note the ingredients required for pasta -my style

Pasta(my style)

Ingredients:
1. Pasta (fusili) - 75 to 100 gms
2. Capsicum - all 3 varieties (green,yellow and red) total - 1 cup diced small
3. Olive oil - 3 tsp
4. Pepper powder - 1 tsp
5. Tomato sauce - 2 tbsp
6. Pasta seasoning - 1/2 tsp (optional)
7. Onion - chopped small 


Boil the pasta in water with a pinch of salt and a tsp of oil. Once cooked run the pasta under cold water to avoid further cooking.
In a wok/pan heat oil and add the onion, capsicum . Sauté until the are crisp on the outer edges, do not overcook, keep them crunchy. Next toss in some salt and the tomato sauce.
Next pop in the cooked pasta into the pan and toss over gently adding the 2tbsp of tomato sauce.
Sprinkle a generous pinch or two of black pepper powder and some pasta seasoning powder if you have. It works well without the pasta seasoning too.

Optional : if you want that Chinese touch to this pasta add a tsp of soya sauce and a tsp of vinegar along with the tomato sauce.

Raw Mango Instant Pickle

A lip smacking pickle for the heat of summer. Its just another granny adopted recipe running down the generations.

Ingredients:

1. One raw mango
2. Oil - 3-4 tsp
3. Salt - 1 tsp
4. Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
5. Asefoetida/Hing - A pinch
6. Chilli powder - 1 tsp( If you love more spice add another 1/2 tsp)
7. Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp









Method.

1. Chop the mango to small pieces and place in a bowl.(Ensure complete dry surroundings, so that the pickle lasts longer).
2. Add chilli powder. turmeric and salt to the chopped mango.Mix well.
3. In a small pan heat oil, add mustard seeds , asefoetida and pour it to the mango mix.
4. Serve with curd rice or plain dal.

Note: You can store this for a couple of days in an air tight container.

Tofu Panneer Dry - Starter

Here is some fresh starter for your boring lunch/Dinner. One long exhausting day as I opened the refrigerator and peeped into the dairy section I saw a packet of panneer and a packet of hard tofu. I had about 20 min time to prepare something out of it and so this dish described below evolved.

Ingredients:
1, Tofu - 150 gms (cubed into 1" each piece)
2. Panneer - 150 gms (cubed into 1" each piece)
3. Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
4. Garam Masala - 1 tsp
5. Amchur/Dry Mango Powder - 1/2 tsp
6. Oil - 1 tbsp
7. Tomato sauce - 1 tsp
8. Soya sauce - 1/4 tsp
9. Salt to taste.







Method:

1. In a bowl marinate cubed tofu and Panneer with all the spices - Chilli powder, Garam Masala, Mango powder, salt and oil. Keep this aside for 10 min,

2. Heat a heavy bottomed non stick pan and transfer the marinated mix into it.(Low - medium flame). Toss the mix every minute to ensure even cooking on all sides of the cubes. Do not use a spatula as the tender panneer and tofu tend to break.

3. After about 5 min add the sauces - Tomato and soya sauce to coat all the cubes evenly. Keep tossing for another 5 min so that the caramelization of the sauces happen to give you a crisp outer layered cubes.

4. Serve hot with a sprinkle of chat masala(Optional). I actually ran out of chat masala , still the dish was yummy. You can also taste it with mint chutney.

Mango chatni

I had a couple of these half-raw mangoes. They were sweetishy tangy mangoes and so I decided to make this tangy spicy chatni that can be served as a pickle in a regular thali.

Ingredients:

1. Half -raw mangoes - 4 (Small sized)
2. Jaggery - 25 grams ( adjust it as per the sweetness required)
3. Salt to taste
4. Mustard seeds
5. Green chilli - chopped - 1 tsp
6. Curry Leaves - 8 to 10
7. Coriander leaves - 1 tsp chopped
8. Asefoetida - 1 pinch
9. Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Peel and pulp out the mangoes into a bowl. Add the jaggery to this and mix till it dissolves.You can add about 3-4 tbsp of water if the pulp is very thick.
2. In a kadai heat oil and add in the mustard seeds . Once they splatter, add the green chilli , curry leaves and asefoetida. Fry for about half a minute and pour the mango pulp.
3. Cook covered for 5 min on medium flame.
4. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Facts: This can be stored in fridge in an air tight container good to go for about a week.

Simple Drumstick - Aloo - Brinjal curry

Drumsticks are once such vegetable that people avoid cooking because of the tediousness in eating it.  I love this super vegetable that is rich in nutrients. So I love to add it into various dishes in different forms. One such curry/gravy that goes well with Chapatis/rotis/phulkas or even rotis is what I prepared last weekend.

Here is how I went about it.

Ingredients:

1. Drumsticks - 2 sticks (Medium sized)

2. Potatoes - 2 medium sized.

3. Brinjal( Green small Variety) - 3 medium sized.

4. Onion - 1 small

5. Tomato - 1 medium

6. Grated coconut - 2 tbsp

7. Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves

8. Ginger  grated - 1 tsp

9. Coriander leaves - 5 tsp chopped 

10. Oil - 1 tbsp

11. Salt to taste

12. Turmeric Powder - a pinch

13. Red Chilli powder - 1 to 2 tsp (according to your taste on spice levels)

Method:

1. Peel the hard part of the drumsticks( not completely but on a scaling level). Cut them into long pieces about 1.5 inches each.

2. Cube the Potatoes and boil them with the drumsticks for about 5 min.[ I add a little salt to the vegetables while boiling so that they absorb the right amount of salt in them. This enhances the taste of the dish.]

3.Meanwhile grind coconut, garlic coriander leaves and ginger into a fine paste.

4. Dice tomatoes, onions and cut Brinjal into almost same size of potatoes.

5. In a heavy bottomed pan heat oil and add mustard seeds, once they splutter add the onions and fry for a minute.

6. Next add the turmeric, red chilli powder and the ground paste. Fry for about 2 minutes to which yo later add the brinjal.
7. Next add in the boiled drumsticks and potatoes with the diced tomatoes.

8. Add about one cup of water and cook the curry on low flame covered for about 8 minutes or until the potatoes are until everything comes together.

9. Add salt if required.

This is an awesome dish for rotis/chapatis/phulkas . It goes well with rice too.