Roma's Space

Paneer Fusion in Garlic Sauce

My husband is totally into North Indian cuisine and I love to order Chinese whenever we go out. One Sunday, I decided to make something that will make both of us happy. I had paneer, which everyone at home loves and I knew how to go about making koftas out of it. I wondered how those yummy paneer dumplings would taste in a spicy hot garlic sauce. Garlic, as we know takes over the taste of any dish it enters. Thats one reason we really need to think before adding it to anything.

Well, there wasn’t much to lose so I got started on my paneer koftas and chopped out a whole lot of garlic. I didnt want to make the gravy too heavy so I decided to keep cream out of it. The end result was enjoyed by both of us. So thats how Paneer Fusion in hot garlic sauce came to being. I guess in Chinese cuisine they must be making a similar dish, with Tofu probably.

For centuries people have known the medicinal properties of Garlic. In Egypt, Garlic has been found in the tombs of ancient Pharaohs dating back to 3,200 B.C. It was used by the pyramid builders who believed that garlic gave them strength. The only slave revolt in Egypt was by laborers over lack of Garlic, one year when the Nile flooded the Garlic fields. The Greeks used garlic to bring strength to their athletes at the Olympic game. So finally we all know the secret to winning an Olympic Gold!

This is my entry to JFI – Garlic for the month of March, 2008. Thanks Mathy for chosing such a wonderful ingredient which not only has flavor but also medicinal properties.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup grated Paneer
• 1/2 tablespoon Maida
• Few Spring onions
• 10-12 Garlic pods
• 1/2 tablespoon Cornflour
• 1/2 teaspoon Vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon Soya Sauce
• 10 Pepper corns
• Puree of 3 Big ripe Tomatoes

Procedure :

1. Grate paneer. Add salt and maida. Mix well.
2. Make small balls out of the paneer mixture and deep fry in hot oil.
3. Heat Olive oil. Add finely chopped garlic and fry well.
4. Now add finely chopped spring onions and continue to fry.
5. Add some freshly roasted and ground pepper powder.
6. Once the onions appear done add tomato puree. Cook till tomatoes are done.
7. Dissolve cornflour powder in a cup of water and add to the paste. Now add salt (remember paneer also has salt!)
8. Once paste thickens slightly add vinegar, soya sauce, paneer balls and stir for few minutes.
9. Garnish with finely chopped green onion leaves and serve hot with roti or pasta.

Variation

1. If you are calorie conscious and don’t want to deep fry the paneer balls you can microwave them for 3-4 minutes and add them directly to the sauce.
2. You can used red chillie flakes instead of black pepper corns in this dish to give the gravy more fire and color.

Please NOTE :

1. Don’t microwave the paneer balls for more than a few minutes as they will turn hard.
2. Don’t boil the dish much after adding cornflour paste as the gravy will thicken and you will continuously need to add more water.

Bharwa Bhindi

This sabzi is usually prepared to take along while traveling. The masalas keep the bhindi pickled for 24 hours. I personally like it so much that often I made my mother make it even when we weren’t going anywhere.

The masalas in this case completely change the taste of bhindi. This is a must try, for those of you who dont like Bhindi or are bored of the usual style of cooking it.

Ingredients :

• 250 grams Bhindi
• 1 tablespoon Oil
• 1 teaspoon Tamarind paste
• 2 teaspoons Jaggery
• 4 teaspoons Tawa masala

Procedure :

1. Heat Oil. Add Tamarind paste. If you dont have tamarind paste you can add amchur powder.
2. Add Jaggery and mix well.
3. Put tawa masala in and turn off the heat. The consistency of the paste should be thick, like halwa.
4. Slit bhindi. Stuff the masala into it and shallow fry in hot oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the bindis (remember stuffing already has salt)
5. Once bhindi appears done, serve hot with rotis.

Please NOTE :

1. If you buy ready-made tawa masala you will need to taste and see if it contains salt or not. If it doesn’t, please add some to it.
2. If your tawa masala contains amchur or dry mango powder then please skip adding tamarind paste.

Dressed Crackers

Wheat crackers are among the most nutritious biscuits available in market today. Non-fried and high in fibre they make a perfect snack to be had with tea or to kill that hunger in-between meals.

Dress them up and they become an attractive option to be had as a side-dish. Replace your salad with these and watch them disappear from the dinner table. Even kids who usually dont eat salad will have at least one!

Ingredients :

• 2 Wheat crackers
• 1 teaspoon Cheese Spread
• Grated cheese (optional)
• 1/2 a Tomato, finely chopped
• 2 baby potatoes
• Moth Dal sprouts
• Whole green moong dal sprouts
• Freshly roasted and ground pepper powder
• Mint leaves (Garnish)

Procedure :

1. Microwave (or boil) potatoes and sprouts for about 5 mins.
2. Mix salt and pepper into tomatoes, sprouts and potatoes.
3. Spread cheese on the cracker. Place mashed boiled potatoes on it.
4. On it add tomatoes and sprouts.
5. Sprinkle grated cheese on top or dot crackers with cheese spread.
6. Decorate with a mint leaf and serve.

Please NOTE :

Spinach is extremely nutritious and should be a part of ones regular salad. Whenever you make salad you can place it on lettuce, spinach, etc; to ensure we get our greens in the most nutritious form – raw!

However, please place the crackers over a tissue paper as green leaves can make the crackers soggy.

Mangoes have started appearing again. Well, at least the raw ones have and I cant stop myself from making the dals and chutneys that I have been missing for so long.

Raw mangoes lend a sourness to the dal which is very unique. Even lime juice, tamarind or kokum can not possibly enhance the flavor of dal like kaccha aam.

Ingredients :

• 1 cup toor dal
• 1/2 raw mango
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 1 green chilly
• Few curry leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon jeera seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon rai
• 1 teaspoon dhania powder
• Pinch of hing
• Pinch of haldi powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of red chilly powder

Procudure :

1. Soak dal for 15 mins. Wash well.
2. Add chopped tomatoes and raw mango. Add Haldi powder, salt and water. Pressure cook till dal is completely done.
3. Heat oil. Add rai, jeera, hing, green chillies, curry leaves and onions. Stir till onions are done.
4. Add a pinch of red chilly powder, dhania powder and mix well.
5. Pour a tablespoon of dal into this tempering. Let it sizzle a bit. Now pour this tempered dal into the remaining dal and give it a boil.
6. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice.

© Roma Sharma 2007-2008

Instant Rasmalai

The same old flavor of your favorite rasmalai can now be got very quickly and easily. Only constraint here is that you have to be an eggetarian to enjoy this short cut. I still haven’t been able to find something that can substitute egg in this recipe and still retain the texture of the end result.

Ingredients :

• 50 g Milk powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• One egg
• 1/2 lt milk
• 1 tablespoon of Khoya
• Sugar (to taste)
• A teaspoon of Gulab jal
• Pinch of Elaichi powder
• Few strands of Kesar
• Pistas

Procedure :

1. Mix milk powder with baking powder in a dry container.
2. Beat an egg. Wet hands with the beaten egg and make a dough of the milk powder mix.
3. Mix kesar in a small quantity of milk till it releases its color.
4. Boil milk. Add sugar, kesar milk and elaichi powder to the milk and mix well.
5. Make marble-sized pedas with wet hands and drop in boiling milk.
6. Let it cook till the rasmalai bloats up and reaches the surface.
7. Add khoya to the milk and stir till milk thickens.
8. Cool and add gulab jal. Garnish with sliced pista and serve chill.

Please NOTE :

1. Although one egg is beaten in this dish we may not use the whole of it. Care should be taken to make the dough with hands wetted with the egg mix. If you pour the egg into the milk powder the dough will become a batter and things might get out of hand.
2. In any dessert, gulab jal should be added only after dish cools.
3. In the above recipe I used Amul milk powder and was satisfied with the dessert.

© Roma Sharma 2007-2008