Recipe 1Mutter Paneer – Peas and CottageCheese CurryMutter Paneer is perhaps the mostcommonly ordered vegetables curry in the Indian restaurants. It is an amazingside dish in a non -vegetarian meal and can also be the ideal main dish in avegetarian one.
Prep Time: 15 MinutesCook Time: 30 MinutesTotal Time: 45 MinutesServings: 4 to 6Ingredients:Fresh coriander leaves sliced fine togarnish – 1/3 cupHot water -1 and 1/2 cupsFinely sliced 2 green chilies Quarterly sliced 3 medium sizedtomatoes Quarterly sliced 2 large onionsShelled peas – 200 gmspaneer cube – 500 gmsDouble/thickened/ heavy cream – 3tbspsVegetable/ sunflower / canola cookingoil – 6 tbspsTurmeric powder -1/2 tspGaram masala -2 tspsCumin powder -1 tspCoriander powder -2 tspsGarlic paste -2 tbspsGinger paste -1 tbspSalt Step by step instructions:1. Crushed tomatoes into a fine paste and keep aside.2. Crushed the onions into a fine paste and Keep aside.
3. Put 2 to 3 tbsps of cooking oil in a deep pan or kadhai and heat it.After a while, add the cubes of paneer and fry till it gets golden. Then take out the paneer and keep it aside onpaper towels.
4. Add the remaining cooking oil in the same pan and put the onion paste.Fry the paste till it gets a little browned.
5. Next, add the garlic, ginger, and tomato paste and fry for another 2minutes. 6. After that put the finely chopped green chilies as well as the cumin,coriander, turmeric and garam masala powders into the pan.
Mix it continuouslyand cook until the cooking oil starts to discrete from the spice mixture.7. Now add the peas to the masala and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.8.
Finally, add salt, hot water, and the fried paneer. Reduce the heat andcook as long as the gravy gets thicken. 9. Once the gravy gets as thick asyou would like, turn the heat off and mix the cream.Your dish is now ready to serve.Before serving decorate it with coriander leaves and serve it with Naan,Paratha, Chapati, or even Jeera or plain Basmati rice. Recipe 2Navratan Korma Navratan means nine gems. Thiswonderful Mughlai dish gets its name for the uses of nine different veggies,nuts, and fruits in it.
This delicious vegetable curry is amazing with hotnaans (tandoor-baked Indian bread). Preparation time: 10 minutesCooking time: 25 minutesTotal time: 40 minutesServings: 4 – 6Ingredients:Pineapple cubes – 1 cup Cauliflower florets, parboiled – 1 cupPeeled, cubed, parboiled potato – 1cupGreen peas, parboiled – 1/2 cupPaneer (cottage cheese) cubes (1″cubes) – 1 cupCashews, broken into bits – 1/2 cup 1 medium-sized green bell pepper, cutinto 1″ squares and seeds removed2 medium carrots, parboiled andchopped into small cubes 2 medium-sized onions sliced andcrushed to a fine paste3 tomatoes sliced and crushed to afine paste12-15 French beans, parboiled, tops,and tails removed Double/thickened/ heavy cream – 3tbspsGaram masala powder -1 tspRed chili powder -1/2 tspTurmeric powder – 1/2 tspCumin powder – 1/2 tspCoriander powder – 1 tspGinger paste – 1 tspGarlic paste -2 tspsVegetable/ sunflower / canola cookingoil – 4 tbspsSalt Step by step instructions:1. Take a deep pan and add 1 tsp of cooking oil to it and heat. After awhile, add the cashews and fry till it gets a little darker.
Then take out thecashews and keep it aside on paper towels. 2. Repeat the same procedure for the paneer cubes and keep them aside touse later. 3. Add the remaining cooking oil in the same pan and heat it. After thatput the onion paste and fry till it gets a little browned.4. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and cook for 1 minute.
Then put thetomato paste and cook for another 1 minute.5. Put all the spice powders and fry till the oil starts to discrete fromit. To keep the masala from burning and sticking to the pan, you need to stirit frequently.6. Put 1 cup of warm water to this masala and stir well for 1 minute.
7. Now put all the vegetables, paneer, pineapple, and previously friedcashews. Stir well with a soft hand to make sure not to break or mash thepieces of the vegetable and paneer cubes. Cook around 15 minutes. 8. Finally, add salt and cream, mix it well and turn off heat.9. The dish is now ready to serve.
Recipe 3Country Captain Chicken CurryThis delicious and easy to prepareIndian Chicken dish is a tried and tested well-rounded meal. This chicken currycan be as mild or hot as you like it. You can make it hotter by adding crushedgreen chilies than just putting whole or chop ones. You can freeze it for weeksand when you wish to eat, simply reheat and decorate with fresh slicescoriander and it’ll be ready to go.
Prep Time: 45 MinutesCook Time: 45 MinutesTotal Time: 90 MinutesServings: 4Ingredients:Chicken on the bone, cut into 3″pieces – 1 kg/ 2.2 lbsUnsalted chicken stock/ broth – 1/2cupSliced fresh coriander to garnish- 1/4cup2 fresh green chilies3 large onions sliced thinlyJuice of 1 limeVegetable/sunflower/ canola cookingoil -5 tbspsRed chili powder -1/2 tspFreshly crushed black pepper -1/2 tspTurmeric powder -1/2 tspGinger paste -1 tspGarlic paste -1 tbspSalt Step by step instructions:1. Take lime juice, turmeric, pepper and chili powder, ginger and garlicpaste, salt, and chicken in a bowl. Mix all the ingredients well so the chickenis evenly layered and keep it for at least 40 minutes to marinate. Keep in mindthat the longer you marinate the better.
2. Take 3 tbsps of cooking oil in a deep, heavy-bottomed pan and heat witha medium temperature. When oil gets hot, put the chopped onions into the panand fry till they get a little brown in color. Take half of the fried onionsout of the oil and keep it aside on paper towels.3. Now add another 2 tbsps of cooking oil with the marinated chicken andgreen chilies.
Cook as long as the chicken gets golden or brown in color. Youneed to turn/stir often so the chicken does not get burned or attached to thebottom of the pan. 4. When the chicken gets browned put the chicken stock/broth and mix themwell. Cover the pan and cook until most of the gravy/liquid gets dried.
5. Once most of the gravy gets dried, turn the heat off. Your dish is nowready to serve, Finally, serve the curry with thechopped coriander and reserved fried onions. Recipe 4Sweet dessert Recipe: Rice KheerThis Indian traditional dessert isrich, creamy and a pleasure for the taste bud. At the end of any dinner orlunch, serving rice kheer makes the whole experience celestial. It is easy tocook but needs time and patience. Slow cooking is the key issue here to give alovely texture to it. Here is a simple and easy rice kheer recipe for you.
Prep Time: 25 MinutesCook Time: 25 MinutesTotal Time: 60 to 90 MinutesServings: 4Ingredients:Fragranced Basmati rice – 1/4 CupFull cream milk – 6 cupsSugar – 1/4 CupCondensed Milk – 3/4 CupSilvered Almonds – 10 GramGreen cardamom powder – 1/2 TSPFor garnishing:Whole Pistachio nuts – 30 Gram Slivered Almonds – 20 Gram Step by step instructions:1. Take the rice, wash and soak it for 20 minutes and set aside. 2. In a heavy bottomed pan, boil milk and then add the washed and whackedrice. 3. Stir it continuously and rumble for 20 to 25 minutes. 4. Add condensed milk and mix it well.
5. Add silvered almonds, cardamom powder, sugar, and mix them from top tobottom. 6. Finally, serve them hot or chilled decorated with roasted wholepistachio nuts and slivered almonds. You can add any nuts you like – raisins,walnuts, pista, cashew nuts, or even dates. Notes: if you want more flavor, youcan add rose water or/and broiled saffron.
You also need to make it sure thatyou use a heavy bottomed pan to avoid sticking or burning of the milk to thebottom of the pan. Recipe 5Turmeric The most visually recognizable Indianspice, turmeric gives many Indian dishes their characteristic color. This vividyellow spice is the key coloring agent in most of the Indian dishes. The insideof turmeric is deep orange-yellow and gives the food a yellowish color.
It isslightly bitter in flavor. Turmeric is not only known as a keyadditive of color and flavor in curries but also popular for its healthbenefits. Many a time raw turmeric is crushed into a paste and used on the skinto have a better complexion. It also has great medicinal properties, especiallywith regards to anti-cancer and anti-inflammation effects. Usually dried powdered form ofturmeric is sold in the grocery stores or shops and commonly used incooking.