PANEER SHASHLIK PULAO

Yesterday my father turned 20 for the third time…. Its was his 60^th Birthday. I had thought for quite sometime that  I will make something new and interesting for him.

So I tried this shashlik pulao and trust me with the sheer look of the platter, my dad went gaga over it.

It’s a real eye catcher , one pot meal.

INGREDIANTS  &  METHOD:

A)     For Paneer Gravy:

250 gms – paneer  ( cut into 1” pieces)  ,   Tomatoes- 4 big – chopped roughly

Ginger – ½”piece, garlic – 7-8 flakes  ,   Clove-1,   Green cardamom- 2, green chilli -1

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp, Salt to taste

Butter – 1tbsp   ,   Honey – 1tbsp , Sugar – 1tsp, Cornflour – 1tsp (dissolved in 1/4^th cup water)

1.  Fry the paneer cubes to rich brown color and soak them in salted water.

2.  To prepare gravy, take a pan with 1 cup water and add tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chillies, clove and cardamom pods.  Boil it.

3. Remove from fire , blend in a mixer and strain.

4. Now heat the butter in a non stick pan, add the tomato puree. Add salt, red chilli, honey and sugar. Bring to boil. Now add the cornflour  paste. Simmer for 4-5 mins till the gravy is thick.

5. Now add the fried paneer to the gravy and keep aside.

B)      For Rice

1 cup – uncooked rice (soaked for 10 mins)

2- cloves,  1 Bay leaf (tej patta), 2- green cardamom,  2tsp salt and  1tsp oil

1. Boil 5 cups water with clove, bay leaf, cardamom salt and oil. Add rice and cook till done. Strain and keep aside.

C)  For Side Serving

1/4^th small cabbage- shredded, curd – 2tbsp

6-7- French beans, ½ carrot – finely chopped , steamed or boiled

1.Boil 2 cups water with 1 tsp salt. Add cabbage. Strain immediately after 10 secs. Drain the water and let it cool.

2. Mix cooled cabbage with 2 tbsp thick curd to which add salt and pepper.

TO SERVE :

Place hot rice in a serving platter.

Arrange paneer pieces along with the grave in the centre in one row.

Place cabbage in curd on one side and boiled beans & carrot on the other side.

Pomegranate Pulao

Wow look at that...Is'nt it vivacious.
I tried this simple pulao today n my father (who is a true critic) just loved it because how light it is on your stomach. Also the fact that it is a quicky and can be a fixed in no time is the reason why it is now in my list of Comfort Food.

Ingrediants:
Boiled Rice - 2 Cups
Fresh Pomegranate seeds : 1 cup
Bread slice : 2 (cut into 1/4" pieces and deep fry)
Onion :1 ( cut thin slices)
Ginger : 1 tsp (finely chopped)
Fresh corriander leaves : 1 handful
salt : to taste
garam masala: 1 tsp
red chilli powder : 1tsp

Method:
1. Heat oil in a large pan
2. Add onions and fry till golden brown
3. Add chopped ginger and fry for about 1 min
4. Reduce flame and add salt, garam masala and red chilli powder.
5. Fluff the rice and add it to the pan. Mix well
6. Add the pomegranate seeds , fried bread crumbs and chopped corriander and give rice a gentle stir

Garnish with some pomegranate seeds and corriander leaves :) 

MUFFINS (with a hint of chocolate)

As my daughter is growing, i have this feeling of treating her with something new everyday. So although i have always refrained from baking.... this is the first time i have tried my hands on muffins. I tried this simple recipe and just decorated a bit to make it more kid-friendly.

Ingrediants:

All purpose flour : 2 cups (sifted)

Sugar : 1cup

baking powder : 1 tbsp

salt: 1/4th tsp

whole milk : 1 cup

vanilla essence : 1tsp

eggs : 2 small

butter : 4 oz - at room temperature

For Frosting:

 Milk chocolate : 1 cup 

cream : 1/4th cup

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree celcius

2. Mix together - flour, baking powder and salt.

3. you can also add crushed roasted nuts (cashew or walnut)

4. In a seperate bowl, beat eggs and then add sugar, milk and vanilla essence to it. Stir well.

5. Very slowly add butter in the egg mix and keep stirring till all the butter is added.

6. Finally mix all the dry ingrediants (flour mix) to the liquid ingrediants (egg mix), for not more than 15 sec. DONT Overmix, else your muffins will turn out hard.

7. grease the miffin pan with butter or vegetable oil.

8. pour the batter in muffin tray and bake for 30 mins.

For Icing:

1. Bring the cream to one boil and mix it with the milk chocolate. (the hot cream will melt the chocolate)

2. stir well and let it cool for an hour.

3. after one hour, beat it thoroughly for one last time and generously coat each muffin.

4. you can top it with gems.

Bread Bean Treat

Oh this is truly one of my favourites!! This is a great breakfast recipe, which is filling and at the same time delicious n no points for guessing.... kids luv it too :)

Ingrediants:

White kidney beans (chawli in hindi) : 1 cup

Ripe Tomatoes : 3 (pureed)

Tomato ketchup :  4 Tbsp

Bread : 4 slices (cubed and fried)

Oil : 1Tbsp

Salt : to taste

Black pepper powder : 1 Tsp

Onion : 1 (chopped - for garnish)

Corriander leaves - 1 handful (for garnish)

Methods:

1. Soak beans overnight

2. Drain and boil beans in some water ( just enough to cover them) along with salt. Alternatively pressure cook till 1 whistle.

3.  In a pan, put some oil, heat for few sec and add tomato puree. saute till oil droplets emerge. Add some water to smoothe the paste and stir well.

4. Now add the tomato ketchup, stir and add the boiled beans , along with their little water. (keep some water seperate, just in case gravy is thick)

5. to this add black pepper powder and bring to one boil.

To serve:

1. Put 8-10 pieces of bread crumbs to each bowl. cover it with hot beans gravy.

2. Garnish with chopped onion and corriander leaves.