Paneer Bhujiya.

This is one blanch dish....perfect when you are on a diet and have a craving for a paneer dish....no butter, cream based gravy...a truly guilt free curry ..... excellent with roti....and one of the easiest dish ...if you have paneer ready....it takes not more than 5 to 7 min to prepare this dish....that's awesome right? in today's time conscious world....I usually make this with homemade paneer....the best part is if you are making paneer especially for this dish... then all it takes is anywhere around 15-18 min....thats pretty cool isn't it???. A true treat for those unexpected guests.....

Boil 1 litre milk (I used semi skimmed milk)...when it boiling simmer the fire and pour juice of one lemon and 1/2 tsp of salt into it....stir it well ...it will start curdling and then stir again...switch off fire....and pour this into a sieve....let the paneer rest in the sieve for 5 to 10 min.....DO NOT PUT WEIGHT ON TOP.....we need the paneer a little soggy, mushy, and watery for this dish.....not the hard paneer....that's why I mentioned that I make this dish with homemade paneer.....you should get around 200 to 250 gms of paneer.

As this is a very blanch preparation.....the taste of paneer stands out with no gravy or cream or mattar or spices.....a true tribute to all paneer lovers!!

So lets get cooking!!!

How I make Paneer Bhujiya:


Paneer: 200 gm.
Onion: 1 big or 2 medium ones.
Tomato: 2 medium ones.
Green chilly: 4 to 5, trust me on this.
Salt to taste.
1 tbsp oil.






Method:

1. Crumble the paneer with your fingertips. (Cheriyan helped me in this....)

2. The moist and majestic beauty is ready to be attacked!!

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick pan/kadai. Put in the chopped onion, chopped green chillies, salt,  and fry for a min or two.(onion just needs to be transparent not browned).

4. Than add the chopped tomatoes. Again fry for a min or two....

5. Put in the crumbled paneer. Mix well and mix it nicely for 2 min on low flame and thats all friends...Switch off fire.

Paneer bhujiya is READY!!See I warned you...this is EASY!!!.

Wrapped in roti.

Enjoy!!!

P.S: I had some left over from which I made a bread paneer sandwich ....oh!! but with generous  topping of tomato sauce.

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Bread Rolls/cutlets......step-by-step.

We always observe Lent ....and abstain from meat and fish till Easter...for full 50 days....so you will see more of vegetarian cooking here till Easter.

Amma used to prepare these bread rolls as an easy snack....I really don't know whether to call it rolls or cutlets.....all you need is some bread slices, some filling, little milk, and oil for frying...since it is Lent I prepared a vegetable filling which is same as my vegetable cutlet....you can even fill it with beef or chicken.

Ingredients:
One packet bread.
About 1/2 cup milk.
Any vegetable filling.
Oil to deep fry.

Method:
1. Prepare a filling with potatoes or see my vegetable cutlets filling.....here I just fried some onions with ginger and green chillies...added garam masala, pepper powder, vinegar and salt to it....then mixed it well with mashed potatoes and carrots.

2. Take a flat plate and pour little cold milk preferably from the fridge into it and dip the bread (both sides) in the milk....you don't have to trim the bread sides.

3. Gently press with your fingers to squeeze out the milk

4. Put a teaspoon of the filling in the bread.

5. Now close the bread gently.

5. But tightly and firmly shape into an oval shaped ball....or round shape...amma always used to make into oval shape...so I sticked on to that....if there are cracks just simply press them and again shape them.

6. Likewise make rolls the similar way with as much as bread slices you want or till the filling finishes. Let it sit on a plate for a few min....so that the bread absorbs all the excess moisture. The brown color are the browned sides of the bread....it does not matter.....we are now going to deep fry them......(I hate wasting the brown sides).

7. Heat oil in a frying pan....and deep fry them.

8. When it is browned on all sides......strain on a paper napkin....this is one of the crunchiest rolls you will ever come across.

It taste YUM! with tomato sauce.

This is one of the easiest rolls....no dipping in eggs and bread crumbs...I hope you will try this weekend.

Enjoy!! will be back soon.
Sharing with vegolicious, made from scratch tuesday.

Mango Mint Sherbet......A cooling raw mango drink.

Summer has set in.....that means mangoes....jackfruits....watermelons....YUM!!..I got some raw mangoes from a neighbor with which I made mango pickles and kept just two mangoes to make this drink.....the mint gives an instant cooling.....

Ingredients:
Raw mango: 2.
Water: 2 cups.
Sugar: 1 cup.
Lemon: 1. (can add citic acid also).
A few drops of green food color.
A handful of chopped mint leaves.
A few leaves to garnish.

Method:
1. Wash and peel the raw mangoes, chop them and keep aside.
2. Boil sugar and water and add the chopped mango and boil until the mangoes are very soft about 10 min. Allow it to cool
3. Put the mango juice into the blender with the chopped mint leaves and run the blender for 30 seconds.
4. Pass this through a seive to extract the juice.
5. Add juice of one lemon, few drops of green color and mix well. Bottle and store in refrigerator as there are no preservatives.

To serve, mix the juice with chilled water and garnish with mint leaves.

Sharing with what's cookin in the kitchen, Friday favorites, Thrilling thursday, full plate thursday.

Whole wheat Indian flat bread/phulka/roti/chapathi.........step-by-step method.

Yay!!I have 101 followers..I am taking this opportunity to thank all my followers, blogger friends, email subscribers, and guests for visiting my space and for the immense support and encouragement....Thank you all

I got a few mails asking me how to make a roti/phulka....my Indian friends who are experts in roti making please excuse this post.....most days dinner for my family will be roti with some curry.....to compensate my kids indulgence in sinful treats, I always make roti without even a wee bit of ghee or oil.....I usually don't buy whole wheat flour, I always grind wheat in the local mill and store it.....

Phulka is usually made by warming up the roti on both sides in an iron tawa and put on hot coal to puff up....since hot coal is not available, I usually put on gas to puff up, sometimes makes them with just cooking them on the tawa only....that depends on my mood.

Ofcourse, you can knead the dough with ghee/butter/oil to get extra softness....but I just knead the dough with plenty of love till my hands ache to get a smooth dough. Since this is almost a staple food....I try to make it as healthy as possible to compensate on the cakes, cookies, parathas, samosas....

I am giving a detailed explanation on how to puff up the roti......it does not require much expertise....it is just all about the right heating of the roti on the tawa....the 1st side which is put on the tawa must have less spots and the 2nd side must be on the tawa for a few more seconds more to get  more brown spots.......and only the 1st side should be put on the flame.....so lets get cooking!!!

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour/Atta: 2 cups.
Salt: 1/2 tsp.
Water enough to knead the dough.

Method:
1. Put the wheat flour in a bowl, mix with salt, and make a well in the middle, pour about half cup of water and simply mix with your hand adding more water to make it into a dough.

2. Put the dough on the kitchen counter and knead it again preferably with both hands till you get a smooth dough.

3. Pinch off from the dough into equal sized balls and put it back into the same bowl and toss it in flour...so that it does not stick.

4. Simply roll out into a round disc with your rolling pin, dust with a little flour to avoid sticking.

5. Meanwhile heat the tawa to medium heat and put the rolled out roti on to it.

6. Cook till small brown spots appear on it...about 30 seconds.

7. Again turn over and cook the other side, it should have a few more brown spots than the 1st side...about 30-40 seconds.

8. Now put the 1st side (the side which has less brown spots or the side which was first put on the tawa) directly into the flame with the help of a tong....the roti will puff up instantly.

9. Then cook the other side too.

Your phulka is ready.....likewise do the same method with the remaining dough.

Now to make chapathi after both sides are cooked gently press each side with a flat spoon.

or press with a clean kitchen towel

Serve hot with any Veg curry, Channa masala,  or Butter chicken....or can store in a casserole for later use.

Enjoy.....will be back soon.
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Spinach/Palak Samosas......Whole Wheat Flour...step-by-step.

I have a dilemma. Most of the snacks which I share here are often made as an after school snack for my kids. The reason?. Ugly clicks. Kids will be so hungry that they would pounce on them....and will disappear by the time I get my cam....When I made Nithyas breadcups.....I couldn't click them....and Nidhi declared better luck next time Amma!!!. She is so cool to say....why worry Amma ....make again and click them....

Samosa is stuffed pastry and a popular Indian snack...it is generally triangular in shape and deep fried, usually with a potato based vegetarian filling.

The pastry is made with all purpose flour or maida mixed with warm oil/ghee/vegetable shortening and made into a soft pliable dough with enough water.

I usually avoid all purpose flour and use whole wheat flour as much as I can....so the pastry here is made with whole wheat flour....I had a bunch of spinach/palak leaves and used them as a filling for the samosa.....I also did not use soda powder....remember I try to make as healthy as possible for kids after school snack.

You can make it entirely with all purpose flour and soda powder (the reason why all street food samosas are crunchy) or half flour and wheat flour.....

Ingredients:
For the pastry dough:
Whole wheat flour: 2 cups.
Salt: 1/2 tsp.
Ghee/veg shortening/Oil: 2 or 3 tbsp, warmed.
Ajawain seeds: A fat pinch (optional).
Water as needed.

For the filling:
Boiled potatoes: 3 or 4.
Spinach leaves: 1 small bunch, chopped.
Onion: 1, chopped.
Ginger: A small piece, finely grated.
Green chilly: 1 or 2 chopped.
Lemon juice: Half lemon.
Salt.
Oil: 1 tbsp.
Oil for deep frying the samosas.

Method
1. Mash the potatoes, in a pan heat oil and fry the chopped onions, green chillies, and ginger lightly. Put in the chopped spinach leaves and fry till the water evaporates. Add salt and the mashed potatoes, mix well. Switch off fire and squeeze half a lemon and mix well. The filling is ready.

2. Rub warm oil into the whole wheat flour with your fingertips, add salt, ajwain seeds; make it into a soft dough using enough water. Knead it nicely on your kitchen counter.

3. Pinch off from the dough and make equal sized balls. Roll them with a rolling pin into small round shape(dust little flour if it is sticky). Slice it into half and put a tbsp of filling on one end.

4. Simply fold it over and press the sides with your fingertips.

5. You can even do some decorations with the tines of fork. Thats it!!....heat oil and deep fry them. You can even brush oil on both sides and bake them.

Kids enjoyed with tomato sauce as usual

YUM!

Enjoy!!!Will be back soon.
Linking with Made from scratch Tuesday, Wandering Wednesdayz, Its a blog party, Full plate thursday, Paisley Passions,  Its a keeper Thursday.