Matar Paneer

Matar Paneer or mutter paneer is one of the most popular paneer recipe amongst all the north Indian paneer recipes. Matar paneer is quite often made at home .So here is a simple and easy recipe for Matar paneer .This recipe is not restaurant style but at a simple homemade dish. Matar paneer goes well with parathas, naan and even steamed rice.

Ingredients:

• Green peas -1 cup ( Frozen )
• Sugar  - a pinch
• Paneer  -1 cup ,cubed
• Oil -2 tsp
• Ghee -2 tsp
• Cinnamon -1 inch stick
• Cloves -3
• Cardamom – 2 
• Cumin seeds – 1-1/2 tsp,whole 
• Black Peppercorns -8 -10 ,whole
• Onions -2 ,finely sliced
• Red chili powder -1/2 tsp or as per taste 
• Coriander Powder -1 tsp
• Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
• Ginger -1/2 inch ,finely chopped and crushed
• Garlic -3 cloves, finely chopped and crushed
• Green chili -3 
• Tomatoes -2 ,finely chopped
• Curd -1/2 cup
• Garam masaala powder -1 tsp 
• Cilantro leaves – chopped for garnishing (optional)
• Salt – as per taste 

Method:

Heat a pan and pour in the first part of ghee and oil .When smoking hot, deep fry the paneer pieces in oil until light golden colour. Remove from heat and keep aside. In the same oil, when very hot, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, cumin seeds and finally onions. Sauté until the onions are golden brown .Add the coriander powder, red chili powder, and turmeric powder .Remove from fire, allow it cool, and then grind the onion mixture to a smooth and thick paste .Heat the remaining ghee and oil. Add ginger, garlic and green chilies, sauté for 2 mins. Add the ground onion paste and sauté for a minute. Add the tomatoes and sauté until the oil separate from it .Add the curd, peas, paneer pieces and salt. Allow it to simmer for 10 mins.
Add the Garam masaala mixture, a minute before removing matter paneer from the heat. Garnish with coriander (cilantro leaves), and dollop of salted butter or cream on top (optional).Served with parathas, naan or rice.

Firni

Firni, a sweet milky dessert, to be eaten cold, made either with corn-flour or rice flour or sometimes both and usually flavoured with rose water, kesar and/or ground cardamom. The dish is decorated with chopped or ground almonds or pistachio nuts.

The history of firni goes back a very long way. It seems to have originated in ancient Persia or the Middle East; and to have been introduced to India by the Moghuls. It is the sweet dish after a sumptuous Biriyani meal. In north of India, it is also made during Diwali and Karwa Chauth. 

Ingredients:

1. Saffron (kesar) – a few strands

2. Milk – 1 litre

3. Basmati  Rice (soaked) -50 gm

4. Sugar – 1 cup 

5. Green Cardamom Powder  - ½ tsp 

6. Kewra  water – a few drops 

7. Pistachios and almond (chopped)

Method:

1. Bring the milk to a boil in a deep pan. 

2. Lower the heat and let it simmer till it reduces a little. Grind the soaked rice to a coarse paste.

3. Mix the paste in the boiling milk. Keep stirring continuously or else it will get lumpy.

4. Add milk soaked kesar. A little bit of kewra water and cardamom Powder (Half a spoon).

.

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Pancakes

These are those thick, spongy American pancakes that are often eaten with warm maple syrup, chocolate sauce or Ice cream. My son loves them with the maple syrup.
Ingredients  :
1. Plain Flour -100 gm 
2. Eggs – 2 large 
3. Milk – 300ml
4. Sugar   - as per taste 
5. Baking Soda – 1 tsp 
6. Vanilla Essence – 1/4 tsp

Method   :
Put the  flour, eggs, milk, sugar, baking soda  and vanilla essence into a bowl. Then whisk to a smooth   batter. Set aside for 30 mins to rest,  if you have a time, or start cooking straight away.   Set  a medium frying pan or crepe pan over a medium heat and carefully wipe it with some oiled kitchen paper. When hot, cook your pancakes for 1 min on each side until golden. Keeping them warm in a low oven as you go serve with maple syrup, chocolate sauce, fruits or ice cream.

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Kalakand

Kalakand (milk burfi) is an Indian milk fudge also known as Indian milk cakes .This sweet is soft , healthy ,tasty and one of my favourite  dessert. There are many ways to make it but this time I wanted to choose the  quickest way to make it. If you are looking for a hassle free and short cut version of Kalakand , this micro-wave recipe is perfect .

Ingredients :

1. Condensed Milk  – 1 tin
2. Milk Powder -1 cup (250gm)
3. Butter - 100gm 
4. Cardamom Powder -1/4 tsp 
5. Ground Pistachios -1/4 tsp 

Method :

Mix all the ingredients (except cardamom powder and ground Pistachios) in micro-wave proof utensil and place the bowl in micro-wave. Every  one minute take out the bowl and stir the mixture  with a spoon. After 7 minutes take out the bowl and place the mixture in a plate and put some cardamom powder  and ground Pistachios .Now, your Kalakand is ready. Keep the plate in your refrigerator and cut it into slices when it is time to serve.

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Litti Chokha

Bihar means ‘abode’ in Sanskrit. Litti Chokha the famous dish among Bihar and Jharkhand. Litti Looks like Bati (Rajasthani Bread) but a very small different. Litti is made up of roasted chickpea flour stuffed in dough. Chokha is prepared with different vegetables. It can be mashed potatoes or mashed eggplants and also mashed tomatoes. The three can be combined as well and chokha usually mixed with onions and spices. The dish is served in lunch or dinner. Litti Chokha is a very heavy dish .In Bihar Litti is also served with Tangy roasted tomato chutney along with Chokha. I learned this recipe from my mother in law. She was born and brought up in Bihar.

Ingredients   : 

For the Litti Dough

1. Atta -250 gm 
2. Besan (Gram Flour)- 100gm 
3. Ajwain -5 gm 
4. Salt –(According to taste)
5. Water 

For the Litti Filling 

1. Sattu (Roasted Gram Flour ) -250 gm 
2. Garlic -1Clove (Finally Chopped)
3. Ginger -50 gm (Finally Chopped)
4. Green Chillies -5 Piece (Finally Chopped)
5. Coriander leaves -1/2 a bunch 
6. Ajwain (Thyme) -1/2 tsp 
7. Mango or red chilli Pickle -1tsp or as per your taste 

For the Chokha

1. Brinjal -1 no (Whole)
2. Tomato- 2 nos (Whole)
3. Potato- 2 Pieces (Whole )
4. Amchur Powder -1/2 tsp 
5. Salt – (according to your taste )
6. Mustard  Oil – 1 tsp 
7. Onion -1 piece (Finally Chopped)
8. Green Chillies– 2 nos (Finally Chopped )

Method :

How to make Litti 

1. Mix atta and besan thoroughly. Add ajwain, salt and water .Knead into a soft dough and keep aside .
2. Mix sattu with onion ,garlic, lemon juice, Coriander leaves, green chillies and salt .
3. Divide dough into medium size loyias. Put a little sattu mixture inside and make a round balls .
4. Bake these balls /Litti in Tandoor or Oven .

How to make Chokha 

1. Bake Brinjal, Tomato and Potato. Peel mash and mix together .
2. Add  green chilli ,onion, salt, amchur powder and mustard oil 
3. Mix thoroughly to make chokha 
Serve with hot Litti and Desi Ghee .

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Hummus

Hummus ,that creamy dip that hails from the Middle East, has a reputation as a clean healthy food . Chick peas ,hummus main ingredient, give you protein ,good for your carbs , and fibre. Like other members of the legume family, they routinely top lists of the healthiest foods . I serve this dip with French fries, kebabs or pita bread. My son is quite obsessed with its taste. There was an incident when my son finished the entire bowl of hummus before the pita bread  were served on the dining table.

Ingredients :
1. Chick peas -1 can or Boiled Chick peas -250 g
2. Tahini -1/4 cup (Sesame Paste)
3. Garlic -1-2 cloves 
4. Olive Oil -2 table Spoons 
5. Lemon Juice -2 table spoon 

Method :
1. Combine all the ingredients and grind them (Smoothly or coarsely as prefer)
2. Add little water if the mixture is bit hard while grinding .
3. Sprinkle paprika on top with little touch of olive oil.

Tip :
You can adjust the proportions of the ingredients to taste, depending on how strong you want the flavour to be and how thick you like your hummus. Start  with less liquid than you think you might need. You can always add more as you blend it ,but if you add too much, you have got a sauce, not a dip .

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Cucumber Cup

There is a famous saying in India- "Dilli Dilwalo ki". Having spent more than a decade in the national capital, we  moved to Copenhagen. As they say, Delhi is for everyone, people from all parts of the country. It doesn’t have neither the weather nor the  culture of its own because it is a combination of all.     It is sizzling hot in summer, touching 45ºC while in winters it can be very foggy, chilly with mercury dipping to 2º C. The summers were a killer, one wouldn't feel the urge to eat, but who can stop a party animal like me. So, summers were mostly about a get together at home with least time being spent in the kitchen, for obvious reasons, but there always used to be a craving for something cool and healthy. This helped me discover my cool cool corn pomegranate cucumber cup recipe. Couldn't make it to India this time during the summers, but the European summer was around 30’s particularly for a week to ten days, but  nothing compared to the higher 40’s in Delhi. Few friends came over last week and I presented my Delhi summer speciality – the healthy appetizer or snacks. They liked it and hope you like it too.....

Servings : 3-4 persons per cucumber

Ingredients :
1. Cucumber – 1
2. Pomegranate  -2 Spoons
3. Corn – 4 spoons ( I used frozen corn )
4. Salad Dressing or Curd -1/2 Cup 
5. Salt – as per taste 

Method :

1. Wash and peel the cucumber. Cut it in to 1.5 inch long pieces. Using a small spoon or melon baller, scoop out the insides of the pieces to make a hollow cups of about 1 inch deep.
2. Sprinkle salt and cayenne pepper or paprika( mildly hot pepper )instead of cayenne on the pieces.
3. Take a bowl and mix pomegranate, corn & salad dressing. I used frozen corn. Those who are using fresh corn, should boil the corn in water till it is soft.
4. Instead of salad dressing, one can use curd also. Add chat masala and a pinch of sugar to the thick curd and mix it well to make the curd-sauce ready.
5. Place a dollop of the mixture inside the cucumber cups. It is ready to serve.
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Mango Curd (Aam Doi)

Like every other family, our summer vacation destination is our hometown and Home country India. Well, when we were in India, we used to eagerly wait for summer vacation so that we can go to our Hometown. But now times have changed, now we eagerly wait for a chance to go to India and spend time with familiar faces, friends and relatives. This year i could not visit India and it felt as though i was missing my soul. There was this sense of disappointment and regret all the time ,that if only i could be there with my family. In our Copenhagen house, its just me my husband and our son. So it does get a little bit lonely at times. We are big time foodies...we love eating..we love trying different cuisines and experimenting with recipes ourselves. WE  live to eat, we don't eat to live. And we please our taste buds to the fullest when we visit India. We start making lists mentally as to where all we will go and hog and what all we will eat from almost a year back. My In-Laws stay there. so we visit Kolkata quite frequently. And another reason to visit Kolkata is it's delicious and mouth watering food , which i am sure you all know about. and when we are talking about Kolkata, obviously one thing that comes to all our minds is the delicious Mishti Doi. So in memory of India, Kolkata and my family, today i am going to make Mishti Doi with a little bit of twist in it. So i have decided to go for mango flavoured Curd (Doi) or you can call it Mango Doi. Hope you guys like it !!

Servings :  4-5 persons

Ingredient : 

1. Condensed milk ( 1 cup ) 
2. Full cream milk (1 cup )
3. Thick Curd         (1 cup )
4. Mango pulp       (1/2 cup)

Process :

1. Pour  all the ingredients above in a microwave-proof bowl
2. Mix it properly with a big spoon 
3. Put the mixture in a microwave for 4 to 5 mins in high temperature. 
4. Take it out and keep it outside to allow it to come to room temperature
5. Once it comes to room temperature, keep it inside refrigerator for 2-3 hours
6. Take it out of refrigerator and it is ready to be served
 ...Enjoy, 

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Mango Mousse

Mango had always been my favourite. In summer vacations during childhood,we used to go to our Grand Ma’s (Dimma) place. She had large mango trees in her garden. We, all the brothers and sisters used to climb the trees,  pluck mangoes – green or ripe. In the afternoon, Dimma used to sit with all of us, slice the mangoes of our choice. Now all those days are no more. I do not have mango trees in my house now.  Now, we have to buy mangoes from the market.  But the weakness for mango has been there inside, rather it has increased. Now, I do not only eat mangoes: but try to  prepare many things with it. Summer is here, and my first recipe this summer is ‘Mango Mousse  
It is very very easy to make, not many ingredients and doesn’t take too much time too. My recipe has no gelatine. 

SERVINGS :
- 6  persons

INGREDIENTS:

1. Mango pulp (1 cup )
2. White chocolate – chopped ( 1 cup)
3. Fresh cream (1/2 cup)
4. Whipping cream (1/2 cup) with or without sugar
5. Chocolate chips or black grapes (as required) for garnishing 
6. Sugar ( ¼ cup) if whipping cream is not already mixed with sugar

METHOD :

1. Pour  fresh cream into a non-stick pan and then heat it
2. Once the fresh cream starts boiling, add it to the chopped white chocolate and mix it till all the chocolate melts. Allow it to cool.
3. While the above mixture cools down, take the whipping cream. If whipping cream has no sugar, add ¼ cup of sugar. Use a hand blender or wire whisker to whip the mixture
4. Now . add 1 cup of  mango pulp on to the cooled down mixture of fresh cream & chocolate. This needs to be mixed well slowly with the help of a spoon.
5. Add the whipped cream to the above mixture and mix it. This mixing will be like folding the cream into the mixture very slowly and carefully so that the mixture doesn’t lose the air. This whipping cream adds texture, lightness and fluffiness to the mousse.  
6. With the help of piping bags, you can now pour the above mixture into shot glasses. 
7. Now, the shot glasses need to be kept in a refrigerator for 15-20 minutes
8. Take out before serving, garnish it with chocolate chips or black grapes, as you may like.

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Potoler Dolma - Stuffed Parwal

There is a famous saying among Bengalis, "Baro Mashe Tero Parbon" which translates to 12 months 13 festivals. We are fun loving people so we need something all the while. Rath Yatra has its own significance it is the first step of our Goddess' journey to her parent's house where she is carried on a wooden Palanquin. The next in line is the Biswakarma Puja. The shopping has already started in most parts of India especially West Bengal. I think Shopping comes as the 14th festival for us. And we Bengalis earn to eat so all our festivals mean belly's delight. So I take this opportunity to share the first recipe of the festival season with a dish highly savoured by people in BENGAL -  "Potoler Dolma"

Servings: Count on no of Potols / parwals as you wish. May be 2 per serving.

Ingredients:

• Parwal : 8-10(as you need)
• Rohu or any kind of carp(Sea bass will also go) : 2-3 pieces
• Potato : 1(medium)
• Onion : 1(chopped)
• Ginger-garlic paste: 2 tbsp.
• Tomato : 1(medium)
• Green Chilli : 1 or 2(chopped finely)
• Bay leaf : 1 
• Garam masala : [Cinnamon stick : 1(1/2"),Cardamom : 2-3 pods, Cloves : 3 pods]
• Turmeric powder: 2 tsp.
• Coriander powder: 1 tsp. 
• Red chilli powder : 1-2 tsp.(optional)
• Salt to taste
• Oil: 2 tbsp.
• Fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Method:

For stuffing –

• For this recipe, take fish fillets. Cook the fish in boiled water with a tsp. of salt or pressure cook them for 3-4 minutes. Take them out, when cool, mash the fish pieces after separating the fish bones and skins. Don't throw the excess fish cooked water. Keep it.
• Cut potatoes in small chunks. Chop onion and tomato.
• Heat oil in a pan; fry the potato pieces with a pinch of salt. Keep aside. In the same oil, add bay leaf and all the whole spices under Garam masala.
• When they start to crackle, add chopped onions. When onions turn brown, add ginger-garlic paste, stir for a minute, and then add tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric, chilli and coriander powder. Add 2 tblsp. water in it and fry the masala well.
• Add fried potato pieces, mashed up fish and fish cooked water. Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Add little more water, about 1/3 cup. Season with salt and cover with a lid. 
• When potatoes are cooked and water dries up completely, give it a good stir and remove from heat. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

For gravy:

Ingredients

 Bay leaf : 1
 Whole Garam masala : 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamoms, 4 cloves 
 Onion : 2(medium, thinly sliced)
 Ginger : 1" piece
 Green chilli : 1 
 Tomato : 1(big) or 2(small)
 Turmeric powder: 2 tsp.
 Red chilli powder: 2 tsp.
 Cumin powder: 1 tsp.
 Coriander Powder: 1 tsp.
 Garam masala powder : 1 tsp.( grounded powder of cardamom, cinnamon & cloves)
 Salt to taste
 Oil : 2 tbsp.(for gravy) + 1 tbsp ( for frying the parwal/pointed gourds)

Method:

 Wash and clean the parwals. First scrape the whole skin of the parwals with a knife. cut one tip a little, right from the edge and the other tip little big, so that we can enter back of a spoon to scoop out the seeds from inside. Rub with a pinch of salt and keep aside for 5-10 minutes.
 In the meantime, you can prepare the filling. Recipe is given above.
 Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a pan, fry the parwals or Potols until lightly brown from all sides, keep aside. When parwals are cooled, stuff each one with the prepared filling. Carefully fill the parwals using your finger and try not to break them. Keep aside.
 To prepare the gravy, in the same pan, add little more oil for the gravy, when hot add bay leaf first, then cardamom, cinnamon & cloves together, when aroma comes out, add sliced onions and sauté them until they change colour, then ginger-green chilli paste and again sauté for 1 minute, then add chopped tomatoes and sauté until tomatoes turn soft. Then add turmeric, chilli and cumin-coriander powder and 2 tblsp. water and mix well with onion-tomatoes. Stir well until oil separates. 
 Now add stuffed parwal/Potols in the gravy and add 1 cup water. Season with salt and let it cook covered for 7-8 minutes or gravy has thickened and parwals are cooked. Lastly add powdered Garam masala powder, mix well in the gravy and remove from fire. 
 Potoler Dolma or Stuffed parwal is ready to serve. Enjoy this with plain rice or light Pulao.

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Mango Lassi

Life is like a story, and we are all a character in it. Everyone that comes in our life just plays their part of the role and move on.
On this thought, I would like to share few lines of one of my favourite movie :
Babu Moshai, Zindagi aur maut Upar waale ke haath hai ... 
Usse na toh aap badal sakte hai. na main ... hum sab to rangmanch ki kathputliyan hai, jinki dor upar waale ki ungliyon mein bandhi hai.

Anyways won't get into too much of philosophy.
So today I am gonna talk about my new recipe which is mango lassi.
Well Lassi is not such a popular drink in Assam or even Kolkata for that matter as it's mainly a North Indian Drink.
After my marriage I shifted to Delhi with my husband. I was born and brough up in Assam, and for those of you who don't know, It's never too hot in Assam. If the temperature is high for consecutive 2 days, the next day you can surely expect some rain. So, 45 degree celsius temperature of Delhi was something I was finding very hard to adjust to. So my coping mechanism was Coca-cola that time. One fine day, me and my husband went to Old Delhi to explore that part of Delhi which we hadn't visited till then. There I had ‘malai wala lassi for the first time’, which was served in a huge tall steel glass. I still remember the taste. It was so amazing and  since then I have been a huge fan of lassi. Apart from the awesome taste, there is one more reason to remember the malai wala lassi  and that is....MOOCHE HO TO NATTHULAL JAISE  

CUISINE: North indian

Servings : 3-4 persons

Ingredients 

(measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)
• 2 cups of freshly chopped mango pieces, about 3 to 4 medium sized mangoes. I used alphonso mangoes, but you could use any good variety of mango. You could also use mango pulp.
• 2 cups chilled full fat fresh curd/yoghurt,
• 2 to 3 tbsp cream 25% to 30% fat or malai (optional)
• ½ tsp cardamom powder or ½ tbsp rose water or a pinch of saffron strands
• 4 to 5 tbsp sugar or honey or add as required. this also can be skipped if the mangoes are very sweet
• few mint leaves for garnish or mango cubes or sliced dry fruits

Method 

1. Peel the mangoes and chop them.
2. In a blender or mixer, puree the mangoes with sugar or honey and cardamom powder or saffron or rose water.
3. Now add the chilled curd/yogurt and cream. 
4. Add some ice cubes.
5. Blend for some seconds till the everything is mixed well and the yogurt has become smooth.
6. Pour mango lassi in glasses and serve garnished with cubes of mango or mint leaves 
7. If you want a slightly thin consistency, then add some milk to the mango lassi while blending.

Note :  instead of sugar you can also add jaggery or honey. 

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Shoshur Barir Sarshe Ilish (Mustard Hilsa – Bengali style)

Today I am going to talk about My silver beauty. I was born and brought up in Silchar, Assam. A place named Karimganj lied in the outskirts of the city which was walking distance from the Bangladesh border. May things come through the border, vegetables, PEOPLE and my very own famous silver beauty, PADMAR HILSHA ( for who doesn’t know, Padma is the branch of Ganges which flows through Bangladesh). The smell and taste of this species of HILSHA cannot be compared to any of its other siblings, if you haven't indulged yourself in this then believe me you have missed out on something in your life. Moving on, now we get into the part of how to make a delicious dish from the silver beauty. BANGAL (as people primarily of EAST Bengal, now most part in Bangladesh are called) cook it with onions whereas the people from WEST Bengal (are called Ghoti, it actually means metal water glass of a particular shape) do so without onions. Bengalis from West Bengal believe that  if they we add onion to the dish, the taste won't be that great, but the dish from EAST Bengal cannot start without onions. I belong to the onion clan (EAST Bengal), so from my childhood I have always had it with onions. And I got married into a family with origins in West Bengal. So the first time I saw the cooking of famous ILISH Bhapa (steamed Hilsa) from West Bengal, I was in a bit of a cultural shock, but it turned out to be a delightful  surprise, ate two pieces in no time. The taste made me forget about the etiquettes of a newly married woman. The taste is a bit different between the two but I am not the one to judge. I leave the verdict up to you. The recipe I am sharing with you today is the one without onions and i have named it "SHOSHUR BARIR SHORSHE ILISH"

Servings : 4 persons 

Ingredients :

• Mustard Oil
• Pachphoron ( 5 spices)
• Turmeric  powder
• Salt
• Chilli Powder
• Hilsa – 4 pieces

Method  :
The Hilsa fish is always washed first and then cut into pieces. This is done so that no aroma is lost. So take the 4 pieces and rub them with salt and turmeric. Keep aside for 10 minutes.

Mix the mustard paste to ¾ cup water and set side.

( How to make mustard paste ?  
Just pour the desired amount of mustard seeds (6-7 tea spoons ) , pour little water (to cover). Use your mixie to  make  paste. Do not over mix or else it will turn slightly bitter. You can add some green chilly ( without seeds) to neutralise the bitterness. I generally make that and store the remaining in an airtight container in a refrigerator. It stays good for upto 2 weeks)

Heat the mustard oil in a pan or kadhai and lightly fry the fish pieces (1-2 minutes). Drain and keep aside. In the same oil, add the slit green chillies and ‘pachphoron’ or 5 spices ( pachforon is Bengali name of 5 spices mixture - the green of fennel seed, black-mustard and nigella seeds, golden fenugreek and buff-coloured cumin seeds). Once they splutter, carefully pour the mustard mix into the pan. Be careful not to add the black husk of the seeds. Add salt and turmeric and let it come to a boil.

Carefully place the Hilsa pieces so that the gravy covers them. Cover with a lid and let it simmer on medium flame.

Turn after 3-4 minutes and let the gravy thicken. Check the seasoning and if needed add more slit green chillies. (If  the green chillies are not very hot, add little red chilli powder. If you face the same problem add chilli powder but traditionally this is meant to be cooked only with fresh green chillies. This literally brings out the delicate flavour of Hilsa combined with the mustard paste. Alternatively if the chillies are very hot then don’t cut them, rather with a heavy knife smash the chillies and add to the gravy. This gives a very good flavour without making it hot).

Once the water is absorbed and you have very thick gravy, pour the 1 tsp oil over it. Mix well and serve hot over a bed of steamed white rice.

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