Cooking like my mother

Quick recipe to turn paneer into something 'kid-delicious' (this is when my kids find something delicious) using ingredients usually available in my pantry. Paneer Makhani (पनीर मखानी) literal translation means paneer with butter. There is no real butter in this recipe but i am still going with the name. The recipe is inspired by paneer makhani recipe here in the winning collection of Reader's potluck recipes published here .  Usually I make modifications based on what is available in my kitchen. Here I have added fresh parsley to the onion, garlic mixture and add spices per our taste. I am also using half and half instead of heavy cream. Paneer Pantry wala with dal-onion paratha To further read about dal paratha, please read  here .

Comfort food at its best - arhar dal, rice and karela! All leftovers enjoyed for a quick lunch. I was talking to my sister in India and she mentioned she had prepared Karela (करेला ) that day. Karela is a summer season vegetable and since this is the beginning of the summer in India, my sister told me that fresh karela was available in the market. I could picture tender green karela piled up in the vegetable markets in India. As I talked to her more, I started to crave karela and wanted to make it. Lucky for me, I had bought karela just few days ago at the Indian store. I could hardly wait to make it. I would not have had this reaction 20 years ago. As a kid, I thought of karela as a bitter vegetable grownups ate just because of its health benefits (and it is an impressive list, read here to get a sense). As I got interested in cooking, I was definitely fascinated by the elaborate steps, time and care my mother and others took to prepare and I wanted to learn to make it bu...

Roasted eggplants & preparation Baigun bharta is my 'go to' vegetable dish for all sorts of occasions. It is a great accompaniment in any Indian meal and can also be served as a dip/topping with crackers, bread. I prepare it for parties, picnics, potlucks and camping trips. Here I am preparing it as part of a vegetarian dinner meal I offered as an auction item to support my neighborhood school.  Eggplant is first roasted, usually directly on top of the gas flame, and then cooked with garlic, onion, ginger, tomatoes and spices. Since I don't have gas stove at home, i end up roasting the eggplant in the oven. Overall flavors are not as smoky but still very good. Eggplant pulp and juices after removing the skin Final dish prepared and ready to go in a takeout container Recipe Heat the oven in broil position. Cut couple of 1 to 2 inch slits in the eggplants and broil till skin burns on all sides. This usually takes...

Bhindi, also referred to as Ladies finger in India, is the Hindi name for okra. It is one of the beloved vegetables in India. I remember liking it from a very young age. Not that I ask everybody I meet, but  I am yet to meet an Indian who did not like bhindi growing up. In my house, my mother prepared it dry (no gravy) style. The technique for making this type of bhindi is similar to cooking other dry vegetable sides. For chaunk (a technique of tempering spices in oil used in Indian cooking and described here ), my mother used fenugreek seeds and then added onion and other spices, Bhindi in the wok, right after it is done Recipe Heat oil in a heavy bottom (2 tbsp) wok or skillet. When hot sizzle 1 tsp of fenugreek seeds. Add chopped onions and fry till slightly brown. Add coriander powder (1tbsp), garam masala (1tsp), red or chopped green chilli, salt, turmeric and chopped okra. Mix and cover and let it cook on medium to high heat. Stir every 5 minutes till done and not...

Prep One of the weeknights this week, i returned from work craving something steaming hot and flavorful. Coconut milk based curries have become a recent favorite for me because it can be prepared rather quickly with produce and ingredients usually available in the house. Richness and creaminess provided by the coconut milk makes the coconut milk vegetable curry extremely satisfying. This makes it almost perfect weeknight food on a cold night except my son is not so fond of anything coconut. It was only fair I made something he likes as much and most logical answer was to make Mapo Tofu. Mapo tofu did not need any extra effort than what I was already going to put in for my veg curry and this way I was going end up with two dishes for the effort of one and enough leftovers for next day's lunch.  Leftovers being putaway. Coconut curry simmering on the stove. Recipes There are more elaborate recipes for Mapo Tofu and Thai coconut curry in my reperto...

If you have read my last post here , you have the background of how Nimona needs fresh peas. Now I want to fast forward 10 years. To this date, I have not made Nimona myself. I have had the urge to make Nimona with what is easily available (frozen peas) several times, but I have let it pass. But then I have been craving Nimona for some time and yesterday I decided to make it using frozen peas. After I put all the spices and closed the pressure cooker lid for nimona to get cooked, I came downstairs to do some work. As I went back upstairs after couple of minutes , right kind of nimona smells were coming out of my kitchen. I was very excited. I immediately put some rice and had a nice nimona - chawal meal the moment rice was done. In conclusion I can say that somebody who has craved nimona all this time but eaten it only couple of times in last 10 years, it was a big treat. I am sure it will be better with fresh peas. Recipe 3 cups peas 2 tbsp vegetable oil (I used musta...

When mummy spent couple of months with us 10 years ago, it was a big opportunity for me to watch and learn from her. I would ask her to cook my favorite things as kids, things that I did not eat as kid but had grown to like, and even things that you hardly ever make at home in India (like jalebi, boondi, dal ka samosa) since they are easily available in the market. She prepared everything I sked for. But every time I asked her for Nimona, a childhood favorite of mine, she asked for fresh peas. I pointed to the big frozen bag of peas in my fridge and she simply said you cant make nimona unless you have fresh peas. One time we did find shelling peas in the market and we ended up buying 1-2 lbs but the peas that came out were little and we hardly filled a cup. So she just gave me the recipe and asked me to make it with fresh peas. Nimona, a spicy green pea curry, was prepared at our house in winter months when peas are in abundance. After you buy the peas in their pods, there w...

"Mixture" was the name given to the stew like mixed vegetables mummy prepared when root vegetables are in season. I must confess that I did not like this as a kid but grew up to appreciate the simpicity of the dish and the natural flavours of the vegetables it highlighted. The combinations of the vegetables work very well together, providing different textures, flavors and color to the dish. This was also one or Papa's favorite thing. The success of this recipe is dependent on finding the freshest vegetables and adding lots of garlic and hot green chillies. This definitely deserves a trip to the farmer's market. Ingredients ------------- 1 tbsp oil (i used olive oil) 1 tsp cumin seeds 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced in small pieces 2-3 green chillies, cut in small pieces 2 tomatoes cut in small pieces 1 mooli (asian white radish) diced 1 medium size turnip diced 1 carrot diced 2 cups spinach chopped 4 small eggplants (indian eggplant) diced Recipe ---------- 1. Hea...

Mummy made bharwan shimla mirch (stuffed green bell peppers) with the stuffing made out of potatoes flavored with methi and saunf (fenugreek and fennel seeds). Since the recipes for making stuffed peppers is more elaborate, she had a simpler version that provided all the flavors with half the fuss. In this version, she cut the green peppers and potatoes and prepared it with the same masala as the one used for stuffing. When I made this last week, we ate it with parathas (pan fried bread) and plain yogurt. Ingredients ----------- 2 tbsp oil 1 small onion, finely chopped 1-2 green chilies cut in small rounds 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp turmeric powder 1 tsp red chilli powder 1 tbsp coriander powder 2 tbsp feneel seeds coarsely ground 1 tsp garam masala powder salt 3 medium size potatoes, peeled and cut in small chunks 2 green bell peppers, cut in small pieces 1 tbsp amchoor powder Method ------- 1. Heat the oil in a wok on medium heat. 2. When oil is hot, add fenugreek seeds. Let it sizz...

Mummy thought about feeding us good food that was packed with good nutrition. One time when I was little anemic, she advised me to add more palak (spinach) in my diet. 'Adding other ingredients like paneer or potatoes (as in usual spinach dishes like palak paneer and spinach with potatoes) will prevent you from eating lot of spinach' she insisted. She gave me this spinach recipe with just 3 ingredients (not counting salt and oil) that allowed me to add more spinach to my diet and hence add more iron. I did not think much of the recipe when she described it to me but once I started to make it, I got hooked. I usually ate this with roti or paratha and plain yogurt. This recipe has also become a staple for me every time I have worried about my iron intake like during my pregnancies. Ingredients 1 tbsp oil or ghee 4 cloves of garlic crushed 1 lb spinach 2-3 red chillies broken in pieces or hot green chillies sliced salt Method 1. Wash the spinach and cut it in small pieces 2. Heat ...