Home Style Paneer Tikka Masala

Last few days have been full of frenzy. Husband sprained his ankle while playing tennis and isn't allowed to move his leg for a few weeks. It's been crazy running a one man show. While he spent most of the week sitting in one place under a 'house arrest' (in his words), I've been managing all the 'man' activities on top of my regular chores. Hubs feels guilty making me run around to get things done, but I'm mostly worried about his recovery. He is bored out of mind sitting around not doing anything. And I realize how many things I don't have to worry about when he's taking care of them. I thought a nice meal would add some excitement to his boring schedule. Our new patio furniture was delivered just in time for this lovely meal. Hubby quite enjoyed eating out in the yard, admiring all the plants I've been taking care of in his absence :). 

I made a nice paneer gravy for hubs - my usual choice for a 'special' meal. While most tomato-based paneer gravies taste similar, I chose to make Paneer Tikka Masala this time. Paneer Tikka, which is grilled paneer marinated in yogurt and spices, is loved widely. This dish turns the dry grilled paneer dish into a gravy. The curry base is pretty generic, but grilled paneer adds a more robust flavor. My favorite part of the gravy is karusi methi (dried fenugreek leaves) which adds plenty of fragrance and slight bitterness that balances all the tang really well. My version didn't turn that deep red color you see at the restaurants. There is nothing fancy about it - restaurants use food color which I don't care for much. We ate the Paneer Tikka Masala with parathas. I turned the leftovers into a pizza - a great way to use up all that goodness. 

Paneer Tikka Masala

Marinade:
8oz. Paneer - cut into ~ 3/4' cubes
1/2 Cup yogurt
1 Teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
1 Teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 Teaspoon chaat masala/aamchur
1 Teaspoon ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste

Gravy:
2 Large tomatoes (or 1/4 cup tomato paste)
1/2 Small onion
2 Teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
1 Tablespoons  kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1/4 Cup green peas (alternatively, you can add chopped green bell peppers)
1/2 Teaspoon (or to taste) garam masala
Red chili powder to taste
1 Teaspoon sugar
Salt to taste
Cream/butter - optional
Water as needed

Tempering:
1 Tablespoon oil
1/2 Teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Large bay leaf
1 Inch stick of cinnamon
1 Star anise
1/4 Teaspoon turmeric powder
Pinch of asafoetida

• Whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade and marinate paneer cubes for ~30 mins.
• Puree onions and tomatoes while paneer marinates. If you don't want to puree onions, chop them finely.
• Once paneer is marinated, heat a shallow pan and drizzle some oil. Remove excess marinade from the paneer cubes and shallow fry them (keep the extra yogurt). Turn the paneer so all the sides turn golden brown. If you have a small grill or a griddle pan, you can grill the paneer cubes for a nice charred flavor. Keep the paneer aside. 
• Heat a tablespoon of oil in a kadhai and add cumin seeds. Once they splutter, add bay leaf, cinnamon and star anise. Let the spices get fragrant. 
• Add asafoetida, turmeric, and ginger-garlic paste and fry for a few seconds. 
• Add tomato-onion puree, garam masala, red chili powder (I suggest adding very little at the beginning since paneer also has some), and sugar to the tempering. Sugar will balance the tang of tomatoes. Roast this paste on medium for a good 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly. 
• Stir in the leftover yogurt marinade, kasuri methi, peas or green bell pepper, and paneer cubes, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. The yogurt will add creaminess.
• You can add more spices and salt if you like at this point. Add some water to the gravy to get the desired consistency. 
• Stir in a splash of cream or a pat of butter to round up all the flavors nicely. Turn the heat low and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

Paneer tikka masala goes well with hot naan. Some lemon juice sprinkled on top and sliced raw onion on the side taste great. 

Submitting this recipe to Know Your Dairy - Paneer event hosted by Motions and Emotions for Jagruti's Know Your series.

Holi Hai Bhai Holi Hai!

Hello everyone!! Hope you all had a great Holi! As I mentioned last year, the celebration doesn't end for us until 5 days after. So if you haven't played color to your heart's content, do so until you can't rub the it off your face.

I've been completely MIA in the blogosphere for a very long time now. Sometimes life throws things at you and you need to take care of one thing at a time. That is what's been happening with me lately. But you didn't think I had abandoned my blog, did you?? I certainly missed out on many events in the last 2.5 months. Most important of all, my blog's one year b'day! I'm so thankful to all the wonderful readers and fellow bloggers I've had the fortune of 'meeting'. It's been long - but what better occasion than Holi to get back in action? This festival announces the onset of spring and brings new colors and new hopes to our lives. It has certainly renewed my enthusiasm and I'm bringing you a recipe for a very colorful dish.

I had bookmarked Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe for Shaam-Savera a while ago, and I finally had a chance to make it. They say you eat with your eyes first. This recipe for palak-paneer koftas in a rich, creamy tomato sauce is a perfect example of how beautiful and colorful a dish can be. My version of the dish is somewhat simplified - mainly the koftas, which I made with rice flour. I love using rice flour in koftas/fritters since it makes them light and crispy. The other advantage of rice flour over corn flour is it doesn't get chewy after sitting for some time. The gravy recipe is pretty standard. A couple of changes I made were adding onion paste and some more whole spices for full bodied flavor. I had run out of heavy cream so I ended up making a paste out of some cashews. It made for a perfect substitute, adding creaminess and sweetness to the dish.

Shaam Savera: Palak-Paneer Kofta in Rich Tomato Gravy

Ingredients:

Kofta:

1 Bunch fresh spinach

1 Cup rice flour (use as needed)

2 Teaspoons cumin-coriander powder

2 Teaspoons red chili powder (adjust spices per your liking)

Salt to taste

Paneer

Vegetable oil for frying

Gravy:

1 Can (6 oz) tomato paste or 4-5 tomatoes finely chopped

1 Tbsp butter

3-4 Garlic cloves crushed and finely chopped

1/2 Small onion - paste or finely chopped (optional)

Khada Masala/Whole spices (3-4 cardamom cloves, 1 bay leaf, 1 inch cinnamon stick)

1 Teaspoon cumin-coriander powder

1 Teaspoon red powder (or to taste)

Salt to taste

Heavy cream/Cashew paste 

To make koftas: 

• Clean spinach leaves and blanch in hot water for 2-3 minutes until soft. Drain well and chop finely. 
• Add cumin-coriander powder, red chili powder and salt to chopped spinach and then start adding rice flour little by little until you have just enough to bind spinach together. 
• Cut paneer into 3/4 inch cubes or, like I did, make small rounds with a melon baller! 
• Take spinach mixture a little less than a golf-ball size, place a ball/cube of paneer at the center and make round koftas. Fry them until koftas are golden brown on the outside. 

Gravy:

• Heat a wok on medium and add butter. Butter can overheat easily so don't keep the stove on high. 
• Add the whole spices. Once they are fragrant (20-30 secs), add garlic paste and onion paste and slow roast until golden brown. 
• I used tomato paste instead of fresh tomatoes for this recipe since it is much smoother. Add tomato paste, Garam masala, red chili powder and salt to taste and cook for 10-15 mins until all the flavors come together. Add some water if the gravy starts getting too thick.  
• Once cooked, turn the heat to low and add 1/4 cup (or more if you like) heavy cream. Cook for 5 more mins and turn the heat off. Or to make cashew paste, simply soak them in warm water for 5 mins and grind to paste.

Now to put it all together, serve the gravy in a rather flat serving bowl. Cut koftas in half and place them on the gravy. Serve with some roti, naan or jeera rice.

Submitting this recipe to the Know Your Dairy event hosted by Motions and Emotions for Jagruti's Know Your series.

Lights Off

All hell broke lose as a massive power outage left San Diego in complete darkness last Thursday night. No electricity...what? Is the world really coming to an end?? What used to be an ordinary event in India wasn't so ordinary here. We somehow made it home through the crawling traffic with all the traffic lights out. A painful drive, a torturous hot day without a fan, no cell phone service and a lottt of pending work for a big event I had on the weekend - not the kind of Thursday night I look forward to. To add to all of this, I had not really prepared for a power outage (since, you know, that's not the first thing on my mind every morning) and my fridge and pantry were essentially empty - at least as far as cooked foods were concerned. 

I have never really been thrilled about the electric stoves in my kitchen. A power outage just reinforced the feeling! How would I cook and what would we eat?? No one was going to keep the grocery store or any restaurant open for me. I looked at the slab of paneer I had intended to grill on the labor day, but never got around to doing it. Uncooked paneer, and the fridge out of work - perfect! It would just get spoiled. Oh... but...wait. Paneer (a light bulb went off in my head) - that WAS perfect. How did I not think of my lovely grill??? Grill & paneer - that was all I needed to save the dinner. 

Luckily, my fridge is always stocked with some simple everyday ingredients. A fresh green bunch of cilantro was just the ingredient to create a bright and light dish fit for a warm summer night. I turned to my trusted mortar-pestle to grind up some ginger-garlic-chili-cilantro, created a yummy yogurt marinade with the paste and the paneer was ready to roll. Yogurt is always a great base to marinate paneer. It keeps the paneer extremely moist and adds a great tang. 

We got out in the patio and saw the hoards of people, getting some fresh air and soaking in the bright moon light. With dinner on my plate and some outside fresh air, I soon started appreciating the beauty of that night and forgot all about the million unfinished tasks for the weekend event. I'm not foolish to pass an opportunity of an unexpected break, after all. We enjoyed the delicious paneer tikka, played cards in candle light, went out for a walk and cooled off near the pool. The moon light had never seemed so  bright before - it was such a beautiful night! That bright green, juicy paneer tikka was quite the picker upper. 

Hara Bhara Paneer Tikka

Ingredients:
12-14 Oz Paneer - cut in 1" cubes
1 Small green bell pepper - cut in bite size pieces
3/4 Cup yogurt
1 Small bunch cilantro
1 Serrano chili
2-3 Garlic cloves
1" Ginger piece
1 Teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
Salt to taste
Lime juice
Cooking spray/oil

• Grind ginger-garlic-chili-cilantro into a fine paste. I always find that using a mortar-pestle brings out some oils and flavors a mixie just can't! But go by whatever is convenient for you.
• Mix the paste with yogurt, cumin-coriander powder (for some smokiness) and salt to taste. Remember that grilling will tone the flavors way down, so your marinade should be a little strong. 
• Toss the cubed paneer and green bell peppers into this marinade and let it sit for 30 minutes or so. It really doesn't take a long time for paneer to soak up flavors. 
• For the best results, lay a piece of aluminum foil on your grill, poke some holes in it and spray some cooking oil on it. 
• Put the paneer/bell peppers on skewers, spray some more oil on them and grill. The foil keeps paneer from sticking to the grill and the holes allow just the right amount of heat and flame to get the perfect charring. 
• Once grilled, sprinkle some lime juice and enjoy the unbelievably moist, bright and smoky paneer tikka!

Setting New Trends..Breaking Some Old

Brace yourself for a long 50th post!

Boy, what an exciting week it's been! New creations, new acts of bravery and some new friends - all packed in one fraction of a month.
The week started off with the same old Monday blues with a bit of a drama at work...never hurts to have some spice in life, eh? I thought it would be just an ordinary week, only to find myself going routes I would have either avoided or not expected myself to be.

1. The (not-so) big purchase of a measuring cup: Yes! I now own an actual measuring cup that's not a 'katori' (small bowl) or a ramekin used to eyeball ingredients. It was a big commitment for a person like me who swears by 'a pinchful of this and a palmful of that'. But I was quick to realize what a whole new world of opportunities it has opned for me. All that baking I steered away from, well..not anymore! Of course, I want to stay true to myself and enjoy what I do. Nevertheless, with all the inspiration from my fellow bloggers and a little bit of rethinking, I've realized what I'll love making and eating.

To begin with - Whole Wheat Banana Loaf! I had two bananas too ripe for my taste. I thought of making Kelyachi Puri (Indian Fried Banana Flat Bread) but frying is always at the bottom of my cooking techniques list. Last year I made a whole wheat banana bread/cake/loaf/whatever using barely any oil and no eggs. It turned out yummy but this was a good opportunity to make it the right way. I stumbled upon this recipe through Elise's blog. I followed the recipe exactly except replacing nuts with chopped dates. So rustic and earthy with the whole wheat, dates and honey! This is breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner all in one. Two thumbs up!

The loaf..and a slice with a drizzle of honey that wasn't supposed to get soaked up :D

2. Food Bloggers Round Table 1: I feel so lucky to have met some of the best food bloggers from San Diego through the Bake Sale. Our ever-so-gracious host Marie along with Amanda initiated the San Diego Food Bloggers Round Table meetings starting this weekend. This will be a platform for some veteran bloggers and small time bloggers like me to get together and discuss various blogging related topics. The topic for our first meeting was Social Media - how to leverage the various social networking sites to our advantage. It pushed me to be a little tech savvy, the result of which was my blog's Facebook Page! Yay! Thanks to Kathy and the rest of the group for their valuable input. We met up over a potluck brunch. You can only imagine how delicious the food was!

I wanted to bring a taste of India to the table without serving something completely foreign. And you'll all agree there's nothing more popular than Samosas! To make it extra special, the filling was made of Paneer. It was my random experiment that went right thankfully. Here's the recipe:

Cilantro-Mint chutney

Baked Samosa

Paneer Samosa

Ingredients:
1 Cup All purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Ghee/clarified butter
12 Oz. Paneer - grated
1 Medium potato - boiled and mashed
1/2 Cup green peas - coarsely ground
1/2 Small Onion - finely chopped
3 Cloves garlic
1 Inch Ginger
3-4 Mint leaves
1 Small green chili
1/2 Teaspoon cumin seeds
Garam Masala
Chaat Masala
Cumin-coriander powder
Red chili powder - if needed
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

• Mix a cup of all purpose flour, a pinch of salt and warm ghee and add water little by little to form a firm, thick dough. Cover and keep aside.
• Grind ginger, garlic, green chili and mint to a paste.
• Heat about a couple of teaspoons of oil in a saute pan and add cumin seeds to it. Once the seeds roast, add onions and let them sweat just for a couple of minutes. I didn't want to add raw onion hence I added this step. 
• Take it off the heat, add grated paneer, mashed potato, peas, salt to taste, some garam masala and chaat masala and some red chili powder if needed. I was doing a trial and error with the spices since my Indian taste buds are biased and I wanted it to appeal any palete. This is the stuffing.
• To make the samosa, take a small ball of the dough (smaller than a golf ball) and roll it out thinly. Cut it in the center forming two half moons. Form a cone from each half, add the stuffing and close the open side with a little bit of water to help the dough stick together.

I fried one batch for the meeting and baked one for us at home (350F ~15-20 minutes turning every 5 minutes). As always, I loved the baked version a lot better - much less oil and the crust was much crispier. The fried one tasted good no doubt - but my vote always goes for baking. I must thank my lovely husband for helping me fry the samosa as I waited to make them at the last minute so they'd be fresh.

To accompany the samosa, I made a quick green chutney with 2 bunches of cilantro, some mint, a couple of small cloves of garlic, green chili and cumin seeds and salt ground finely.

3. Into the ocean: Now for the most exciting, somewhat scary, adrenaline rushing experience of the week - Kayaking!! This may sound like a regular activity to any San Diegan - not to me. I am not scared of water..hell no...I'm TERRIFIED! Ocean especially freaks me out, for that matter any body of water where I can not touch the ground (which ain't too deep) or hold onto something. This was the bravest thing I've done in a long time. Hubby gave me all the support and kept me calm throughout and brought me back to the shore safe. Although every nerve and muscle in my body was cringing with fear, I managed to stay afloat for a little more than an hour and landed back without tipping over. Am I a superwoman or what?! Go ahead - laugh at me. I have no shame though. Floating over big waves in the ocean may not be my idea of fun, but I can finally check this off my list!

On the way to La Jolla Cove

With that and hoping everyone had a very happy father's day...I bid you adieu till the next time.

ILOVENY

4 years away from this hodgepodge of cultures, I still miss NY dearly. There's no other place that has the spirit and the vibe of this ever alive city. Most of all, I miss grabbing a 'meal' from one of the roadside carts or a hole-in-the-wall pizzerias and walking down the street munching on food. And yes, everyone around you thinks it's perfectly normal to eat as you run to catch the bus or the train or whatever other 'emergency' you may have. From those $1 bagel and creamcheese carts to falafel kiosks to the famous Chicken n Rice on 53th street, people in NY have grab-and-go meals available from the morning office hours, lunchtime rush to the wee hours after clubbing. The city truly never sleeps along with the hundreds of vendors serving street foods from around the world!

One of my favorite places is the Kati Roll Company serving what they call 'a spicy mixture of meat and vegetables rolled in Indian flat-bread'. The menu is simple but the food more than makes up for the shabby appearance of the place and the bare-looking menu card. My favorite on the menu is the Paneer Kati Roll (makes me drool even as I type this).

Well, how do I get to have Paneer Kati Roll without flying all the way across the country? I make it in my own kitchen. I have come up with my own version of this spicy-savory dish. I don't know what all goes in the original kati roll, but my creation keeps me satisfied between my visits to NY :D.

Paneer Kati Roll

Paneer Kati Roll

Ingredients:

Parathas (Indian flat-bread - slightly thicker than a tortilla) for wrapping
1/4 lbs Paneer - cut into ~1 inch cubes
1/2 Medium onion - sliced
1/2 Small red bell pepper - sliced
1 Teaspoon cumin-coriander powder
1-2 Teaspoons red chili powder - adjust per your liking
1 1/2 - 2 Teaspoons frankie masala/chaat masala
Lemon juice
Salt to taste
2 Teaspoons oil

• Heat a saute pan on medium and sear the paneer cubes on all sides until golden brown. Let the paneer cook in its own oil, you won't need to add any oil. Remove and keep aside.
• Add oil to the same pan and saute the onions and bell peppers on high heat for 30-45 seconds. Don't overcook.
• Lower the heat to medium and toss in the paneer cubes, cumin-coriander powder, red chili powder, frankie and/or chaat masala (I use these for the tangy-salty taste that comes from the dried mango powder and black salt) and salt to taste.
• Mix everything well and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Take it off the heat and sprinkle some lemon juice.
• Sprinkle some more chaat masala/chili powder if desired, roll the paneer-onion-bell pepper mixture in a paratha and enjoy the kati roll!  

A few notes:

• This is typically made with a maida paratha, but I went for home-made whole wheat paratha. You can get plain parathas/Malaysian parathas from the store.
• This is my no-marination, no-grilling recipe. You can also make this dish by marinating paneer in the spices and a little bit of oil and grilling it.
• Different colored bell peppers taste and look good. Feel free to add them or any other veggies you like.
• You can add some green chutney (cilantro/mint chutney) to the roll.

Hot Off the Grill

I love paneer! For those who have never tried paneer – it’s soft Indian cheese you must try. And here’s a great paneer recipe that never fails you. No matter how you change it up, it’s bound to taste good (unless you put too much salt, or not enough spices, or burn the paneer – Okay, I see how you can mess it up :D). The original recipe was in one of Sanjeev Kapoor’s (a celebrity Chef from India) cookbooks. I have given this recipe many variations and this is the easiest way to make it.   

Paneer Tikka

Ingredients:

Paneer

Green & Red Bell Peppers

Onions

Yogurt

Ginger-Garlic Paste

Cumin-Coriander Powder

Red chili powder

Chaat masala

Fennel Seed powder

Salt

Lemon juice

• Cut paneer into one inch thick cubes.
• Cut the bell peppers and onions in bite size pieces.
• Mix the ginger-garlic paste, the spices and salt with yogurt. Grilling mellows down the flavors, so add just a bit extra than you usually would.
• The star ingredient in this recipe, which I haven’t changed from the original one, is the fennel seeds powder. Grind roasted fennel seeds into a fine powder and mix with the yogurt-spices marinate. The fennel seeds powder gives a very refreshing sweet, toasty taste. 
• Marinate the paneer cubes and the veggies for an hour or so.
• Put the veggies and paneer alternating on a skewer and grill until nice and brown. 
• Sprinkle some lemon juice when just off the grill. 

All I can say as the closing line: Oh-So-Yum!