Tag Archive | recipe

how to make paneer

The other day when i posted the blog my friends called up asking if i really made paneer at home… affirmative answer later they screamed on the phone why i didnt invite them!!

hello… i was making something special for my husband! 😛
and here is the paneer recipe.
i got some really fatty milk from a local shepherd here. she works part time at my mom’s place too. she got a heavy cream buffalo milk fresh in the morning. the kind of milk usually used in making ice creams at home.
stir it well and strain it (in case u got it from the shepherd too)
keep it on room temperature so its easier to cook.
next step- add a little sugar! sounds strange but since the milk wiil get boiled up some amount is sugar is needed to give it a lil taste plus to keep it moist within.

grease a pan or thali with oil so that the paneer doesn’t stick to it.
pour in the milk content. and on a double boiler cook it the way you cook dhokla or steam idli.

close the lid for about 5 to 7 minutes and u are ready with fresh white paneer 🙂

dont wait for it to cool down, slice it while it warm to get clean smooth sides.
scrap out the little bits stuck on the thali and re-use it for paneer sabzi the way i did here

cheers!
try it ans lemme know soonish how it tasted!

heyyy, have u entered my march giveaway yet??
click here to enter
aavjo 🙂
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cookin with paneer

Mar13

I have been a lot lazier than i thought i would be, even with all the time in the world i spent useless hours watching ‘packed to the rafters’ on tv rather than blogging…

on the other hand i have been exercising regularly (pat on my back) and going for regular doc visits n tests…
while waiting for my baby to hatch (sometime soon now) i often chat with my mom how ahmedabad is different from rajkot even though both are filled with gujjus and heat and food joints.

i once told her i dont find good paneer near my place, the one i get is not so soft n tender that i enjoy enjoy cooking with.
and here was the masterchef of the kitchen boiling some hot water in a kadhai and teaching me how to make paneer…
woaaahhh!! this was something i would never miss and thought it would be nice sharing it with u.

packed some of the good looking pieces in a container and gifted it to my mommy’s music tutor.
and let the shreds be treated for an afternoon meal.

PG was visiting me that day so i made something with bell peppers (his favorite), chopped all of it with a huge tomato and some garlic petals and green onion stalks.

got them sizzling in a pan of hot oil and some great gujju spices- the usual red chilli powder, salt, turmeric, dhana-jeeru and a lil bit of hing!

added the paneer to add some drama…

and voila! here was my home cooked paneer and bell pepper sabzi with the perfect combination of spices n tangy flavor!

PG loved it and so did i 🙂
all thanks to mommy for the cooking lesson- paneer made from extremely fatty milk in just 20 minutes.
cheers!
aavjo 🙂
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stuffed bellpeppers- recipe

Feb11

sounds simple…. just stuff the filling and show fry it!
it tastes even yummier.. if you are fond of gram flour stuffing like i do!

i am not sure if this is a typical gujju dish but we make it a lot more often at home and everyone loves it!

for the stuffing you will need:
gram flour (1 cup) roasted.
red chilli powder – 3 tspns (more if you like your veggies spicy)
turmeric- 1 tspn
salt- 1.5 tspn (or acc to taste)
coriander-jeera powder- 3 tspns
lemon juice – freshly squeezed 2 tspns
sugar- 1tspn (avoid if u want to… this is to balance the taste)
vegetable oil – 2 tspns.

directions:
wash n dry green bell peppers, and pull a vertical cut into each (for the stuffing). i suggest buying small to medium sized bell peppers as they are easier to cook and also serve. bigger portions might create wastage on the plates. (something i really hate).

keeping them aside, roast the gram flour on slow heat.
mix it with all the spices and lemon juice. a semi-dry like paste will form.

fill this paste/stuffing into the bell peppers… through the vertical cut. DO NOT CHOP OFF THE STALK OR HEAD of the bell peppers. if you do so, u will have to deep fry the bell peppers. a vertical cut ensures less oil (shallow fry) and a better taste as well.

heat oil in a kadhai/shallow frying pan while you stuff all the bell peppers.

done with the stuffing?? add one or two of the stuffed bell peppers into the oil and fry them till you see the skin peeling off or the color changing.

remove and let it cool, add other two and fry them.

this picture has been taken to show you how the stuffing would be filled n fried by the heat of the bell peppers. do not cut them open… eating this would become messy n not so delicious. see how little oil i have used to fry these?? less oil=fitter you!

once the last of the bell pepper is done with frying, add to the kadhai/pan the already fried ones and top it with all the remaining stuffing/paste/gram flour masala.

stir the bell peppers in that paste for about 2-3 minutes on slow to medium flame. no high flame as the gram flour might just burn into black… burnt taste!

scoop it all out in a bowl… serve with kebabs or with roti/paratha or even biryani.

glutten-free sandwiches: recipe

Feb2

learned this recipe from a preggy friend of mine…. preggy at that moment… shruti now has delivered a beautiful baby boy as adorable as her!
congrats to her n and those pretty P101 ladies who recently delivered…

now for this colorful healthy brown bread sandwich recipe.

it was easy to make… like any other vegetable sandwich… and since it involves a lot of yogurt and green fibres it makes the perfect large meal for all those health n calorie conscious humans out here…

looks easy in the pics?? its easier to make it too.

glutten-free sandwiches:

ingredients-

hung curd (a medium bowl)

bell peppers (chopped)

carrots and cucumber (shredded n drained off the water)

cheese (loose or spread)

pepper n salt to taste

preparation–
mix the hung curd and veggies
add in salt n pepper to taste
you may try adding some herbs too if you like it
apply green chutney on one bread, apply butter on the other one,
lovingly apply a huge chunk of the mixture to the bread
and make yourself a sandwich

you may try adding in more veggies like peas or onions,
try different breads for a flavor (oats/multigrains)
in short lot can differ and you may experiment a new flavor everytime.
PG loved it, we had this in the car as a carry off on our way to a friend’s place for a midnight bday celebration.

we picked this cake from star india bazaar near my place…
its moist, soft n lovely in flavor!!
everyone in ahm should try these some day… they have a good bakery in there at the end of the store.
lots of other food also sold there… havent tried that yet.
some other day maybe…
its time to devour my glutten free sandwiches n a piece of that lovely strawberry.

cheers!
aavjo:)
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bidding good bye

Dec26

yea, so the doc finally said the words- ‘no more junk food! no more breads n biscuits! no more cakes… not even a slice of plum cake on christmas; forget cheese cakes and no more spicy meals at fancy restaurants! atleast not for three more months!’
omg!!! how can she expect me to resist the breads n cakes n restaurants?
i just cannot cannot do it.
or maybe…
i can take that as a challenge and show it to her… after all she says this coz she is worried for me. and now that i know that the world is not ending i can certainly wait for a few more months before my next binge!

so how do i bid a good bye? with a final round of bruschettas!

made two batches- one with corn on wheat bread and one with bell peppers on multigrain… its a simple recipe. anyone can make it and the best part is it isnt very messy to make at home, doesnt require a lotta preparation and quick to make. perfect for unexpected guests.
i guess this will keep me stuffed for 3 more months.
if not, i shall visit this blog again n make myself believe i gotta stay away from all this baked crap for now.
anything that u crave for and have been discouraged to have it ??
cheers!
aavjo 🙂
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The Okra Show

Nov2

Hahahaaa… the other day a friend at P101 told me how she began learning kitchen rules and cooking after her wedding date was fixed. she thought she knew it all until on the 3rd day after wedding she was asked to cook bhindi aka okra aka ladies finger. she chopped ’em into pieces and dumped them in a pressure cooker with water and spices! whooopss!! it surely is something you will laugh at a lot in future. but for now it was such a gigantic mistake!!
she isnt the only one who told me about such a blunder. a few other friends also tried cooking bhindi the similar way. freak! how can you even think of it??

well, i in that matter didnt make that mistake. (doesnt mean i never made a cooking blunder… remember this?? )
but for now, i make perfect gujju bhindi sabzi and i hereby declare the recipe open to use. just mention my name/blog url in case u are referring it to others. feels nice when ppl appreciate it u see.

i diced the bhindi and added a medium sized potato (i thought the quantity wasn’t just enough… cooking intuition )

add 5 tsps of vegetable oil in a kadhai or a deep cooking vessel and let it heat at a medium flame. once its evenly heated.. add 2 huge spoons of garlic paste *optional* (garlic petals smashed into paste with salt and red chili powder), saute it for a few seconds.

next- add the bhindi (and potato) into the vessel and mix well, put a lid over the container and let the lid be a little deep (i use a thali / dish as a lid) so that you can pour in half a glass of water over the lid. that means no water inside the vessel but over the lid. let it cook for a minute.

next- drag the lid carefully aside. the water filled lid still needs to used. add in the spices – chili powder, coriander-jeera powder, and salt. use it as per the taste you or your family likes. gujju food is normally very spicy. you may prefer to vary according to your taste buds.

mix it well and notice it getting sticky. put on the lid again… if the water has evaporated, fill it again.

let it cook for 7 mins. (varies according to quantity,… plz keep on checking it)

once cooked, garnish it with coriander (i dont do with mine… )

serve it with chappati or parantha.

things to take care of :

1. do not dice the veggies very thin… these are not french fries.. if tastes better if kept bigger.

2. be careful with the chili powder in case you are adding garlic paste. you dont want the burning sensation later.

3. heat it again in case it still feels sticky.

4. do NOT add water in the vessel.

5. do NOT cook it at high flame. low to medium is just perfect.

6. let the bhindi cook a little in oil/garlic paste before adding the spices. let the oil seep in for a better taste.

7. do NOT overdo the quantity of oil… you dont want others to typecast gujju recipe as oily and unhealthy. its NOT^^

lemme know if you tried it… lemme know if you have a yummy okra recipe too.

would love to read or share with my readers.

cheers!

aavjo 🙂

band-aids to disaster cooking!

Oct30

So last night i was so excited to cook a cheesecake. i found the recipe on a cooking blog !!! (hell, i am never gonna do this to my readers)

i took pictures of all the ingredients and mixes and stages so i could paste it here and share with you but it was a massive disaster!!

the crust came out in crumbles and it didnt taste like a cheese cake at all. 🙁
i cried in frustration… well, i was sad the rest of the day!

and today morning the bright juicy breakfast sweet lime gave me a signal something good was to happen –

tada! a teeny parcel arrived in the mail with a sample to try on.. i have always loved testing samples of products i plan to buy ahead in future! this helps me plan a budget and also whether to spend on the product or is it really worthless! this time its the Acuvue contact lens.

something more wonderful happened in the later part of the day.

Rita had planned some goodies for us. plus …

…and Parmita (oh what a swweeet girl ) got us this ! yay!

one more Dungeedums apple pie to hog on! what does one do when they see this shining yummy baked baby ?

dump the fork, screw the spoon, i have my fingers dug right into the huge chunk without weighing its calorie content! (calorie?? whats that?)

wowww! truely deliccious. this is my second try on dangeedums product. will have to visit this store soonish!

as of now, i m going to keep the rest of the day fruitilicious and simple.

the disaster that happened last night has been covered in such ~~a pretty~~ delicious way.

do u have a better and simple (already experimented on) cheesecake recipe?

5 steps to Pici Pasta

Oct16

PG and i are big pasta fans. we can have it for breakfast or even a mid night supper. at times i feel the 2nd biggest reason we are still together is ‘love for food’ . he demands it any day and i always stock the ingredients.
this time i wanted to experiment with pici pasta after i saw lynn chen talk about it. definitely its nothing different than spaghetti in looks. and its super easy to make. if… u buy some outside help. like i did… and my pasta were ready in 5mins.

5 steps to Pici Pasta

1. boil the pasta in water (with a pinch of salt)

2. chop some veggies in the meanwhile, any you like. i added bellpeppers(green+red), tomatoes, and carrots.

3. in a non-stick pan~ 1.5 tablespoons of oil, and saute the veggies. let it simmer for 2 mins and add this ching’s noodle/rice schezwan masala.

4. add the pici pasta (drained out of the water)

5. mix well. let it get moist in the masala n veggies, add a pinch of more salt and serve hot.

guess who i rescued later in the night?? it was dying in a cold freezer and needed some warmth.

saving the poor kid wasnt a good idea… it wasnt my favorite flavor 🙁 this is one place where i and PG differ… he has always loved chocolate.

mocha brownie fudge – for me- doesnt taste as good as it sounds.

went to a spl place for burritos on sunday night! will talk about it in the next blog.
what do u add to ur home made pasta to make it delicious ?

cheers!
aavjo 🙂

chick-pea quick recipe

Oct4

yesterday I told you about my chick pea- bell pepper salad! and promised you a recipe… was going to had my network not tried committing suicide. well, i did save it from dying… and thought of giving it a nice rest for the whole day.

so did ya boil around 200 grams of chick peas (kabuli chana) in boiled water overnight? did ya buy those colorful red green n yellow bell peppers?
lol… waiting for the recipe and then deciding whether to invest in the ingredients or not?? i m the same crazy thinker la…

after the over night boiling, clean the chick peas in fresh running water and steam them in a pressure cooker or rice boiler. they will turn out hot, soft and aromatic!

how to check if the chick peas have been boiled/steamed perfectly?
take a single pea and insert your fork in it, if it easily makes a dent, they are perfect. if it seems a little hard… pressure cook them again for 2 minutes on high gas.

meanwhile chop down all three bell peppers (avoiding the nerves and seeds) and crush some black pepper corns (about 5-6).

drain the peas…

in a mixing bowl put together the chick peas, the bell pepper, squeezeeee in a full lemon, the black pepper crushed, a lil salt to taste, vinegar(optional- i didnt use it) and lots of tomato ketchup. use finely chopped fresh red tomato if you are preggers/unwell and dont want to have bottled chemically treated food product.

voila !!!

you will love the taste! my guarantee 🙂

its full of proteins and vitamin C and fatless composition.
it can be easily replaced with a meal when u aren’t feeling like cooking much,
a great filler and can be tossed in 5 minutes in case you have all the ingredients handy/frozen in advance. (put the ingredients in a zip lock bag and you shall thank me for a quick recipe when super hungry or unexpected guests)

try it out and lemme know if you really liked it.
PG and everyone else at my home loved it 🙂

p.s this is a recipe i learned from one of my cousins… went at her place for a lunch and ended up having more of only this than other items on the course menu.

cheers!
aavjo 🙂

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