Paneer dishes are always favorite at home. So when I decided to make something special this time decided to try my hands on matar paneer. It turned out delicious and with paneer and matar it is nutritious too. Here is how I prepared it.
Ingredients required:
Onion -1
Tomato – 3
Ginger – small piece
Garlic – 8-10 cloves
Green chilli – 2
Coriander leaves
Fresh green peas – half cup
Paneer cubes – 1 cup
Milk – half cup
MTR matar paneer powder
Oil – 4tsp
Method of preparation:
First cut the onion, green chilli, ginger, garlic and coriander leaves as shown in the pic.
Puree the tomatoes
Take a kadai, add oil. Once it is hot add ginger, garlic, green chilli. You can use ginger garlic paste as well.
Once they are fried well, add the onion.
Once onion turns golden brown, add the tomato puree, little water from cleaning the mixie.
Mix well, bring it to boil. Then simmer the gas and cook for about 5min till it thickens.
Then add the salt, matar paneer masala, milk and mix very well.
Again cover and cook for 2-3min on medium flame till flavors are combined.
Now add fresh green peas, paneer cubes and mix.
Cook for another 2min and finally add coriander leaves.
I like it when the Mangalore buns is dry and pillowy with slight sweetness from sugar and hint of sourness from mysore banana and curd. Even though baking soda is essentially added to it, if it is not in right amount buns tends to become oily and taste salty. So quality and quality of the ingredients play an important role in making the buns perfect.
And how people like to eat buns also varies. Some relish it as it is for evening snack. Some prefer chutney with buns. And others like Sambar to be paired with buns. As I write this I remember the buns and kurma from Hotel Triveni in Udupi which has been consistent in taste n texture over the time.
Few days back when mom prepared and gave me buns dough, I utilized the extra time I got in making an elaborate Sambar which makes one of the best and fulfilling combo. The Sambar recipe here is my moms recipe which I have been following and it never fails. Here is how we prepare it.
Ingredients required-
For Buns :
Banana – 3-4 ( preferably mysore variety)
Sugar – about 5 tsp( can increase if you like it sweet)
Curd – about 10 tsp( I used nandini, if using home made it maybe slightly sour)
Baking soda – 1/4tsp
Salt – a pinch
Maida – about 2-2.5 cup
Gram flour- 3tsp
Jeera – 1/2tsp
Oil – for frying
For Sambar :
Coriander seeds- 1tsp
Jeera – 1 tsp
Chana dal – 2tsp
Urad dal – 2tsp
Red chilly – about 5
Grated Coconut – about 5 tsp
Pepper – 1tsp
Tamarind – gooseberry size
Turmeric – 1/2tsp
Hing – 1/4tsp
MTR sambar powder – 2tsp
Toor dal – 1/2 cup
Onion – 1
Tomato – 1
Potato – 1
Beans – about 10
Carrot – 1
Green chilly -3
Vegetables such as ladies finger, brinjal, drumstick etc
Coriander leaves
Salt to taste
Oil -2 tsp
Mustard – 1 tsp
Curry leaves- 1+1 strand
Method of preparation –
Buns :
In a wide vessel take the peeled banana n mash it well.
To this add sugar, salt, curd and baking soda. Mix well.
Now add the gram flour and mix.
Then add the maida and keep mixing till you get the dough consistency.
Kneed it well for about 10min to make a soft dough.
Finally sprinkle jeera and keep it covered over night.
Next morning you can see the dough will be double in size.
Make small balls and roll like poori by dusting maida
Deep fry in oil.
For Sambar :
Roast the coriander, jeera, urad dal, chana dal, red chilly, pepper, turmeric, hing, 1 strand curry leave with a tsp of oil.
Once it turns aromatic add coconut and tamarind.
Grind to prepare a fine paste by adding MTR sambar powder
Cut onion, tomato, potato, beans and carrot into big pieces. Also slit the green chilly.
Wash the toor dal and add to pressure cooker.
Also add the above cut vegetables except onion to the cooker. Add enough water n pressure cook for 3 whistle.
Once pressure is released open the lid, add salt and onion. Also add vegetables such as ladies finger/brinjal/drumstick.
Cook for about 5min and then add the prepared masala along with water to adjust the consistency.
Mix well and allow to boil for about 10min.
Prepare a tadka of mustard and curry leaves in oil or ghee and add at the end.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Note :
You can skip preparing the masala and increase the quantity of sambar powder. This method above makes thick sambar which can be had as a side dish for breakfast and can be paired with rice/roti as well.
In last couple of weeks there were 2 instances where milk got spoilt. In the first case I made butter milk out of it. But then next week again when milk was spoilt, I had a good stock of buttermilk since we were sick n did not consume buttermilk regularly! There was about half ltr of milk and looking at the work I had, decided to throw it with heavy heart. But did not do it immediately.
After sometime when I returned to kitchen got this idea of preparing paneer from this milk. I went through couple of blogs, which spoke about making paneer from scratch. Since I was already halfway through the process and the milk was warm, took a thin cloth and strained the milk. Discarded all the water. Poured some cold water on it to remove any traces of milk that might have remained. Tied it and hung/rested for about 2hr for any water to come out. After that when I opened the knot n transfered to a bowl n refrigerared for a day. I was still in doubt about using this. Next day I could see crumbled texture and was very happy. Decided to use it in paneer burji the following morning n results were very satisfying.
Hone made Paneer
Finally I am happy for not wasting food and making best use of it n discovering something new(only to myself). If you want to know how I made burji here is the recipe.
Ingredients required:
Onion – 1
Tomato- 1
Capsicum- 1
Coriander leaves – few
Green chilly- 2
Oil – 3tsp
Cumin- 1/4tsp
Chilly powder- 1tsp
Salt to taste
Garam masala- 1tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/2tsp
Paneer Burji
Method of preparation-
Firstly chop onion, tomato, capsicum into small pieces. I have taken all of them big sized ones. If you want you can use more or less
Also chop green chilly n coriander leaves into tiny pieces
Take a pan, add oil, jeera. Once spluttered add onion and fry till golden brown.
Next add tomatoes n continue to fry. Once tomatoes turn mushy add salt, garam masala n chilly powder, turmeric powder.
Fry for few min. Then add capsicum, cover n cook for 5min.
Once done add crumbled paneer and coriander leaves. Cook for 2min.
Rainy season has started and also demand for fried food for lunch/snacks. Ladies finger is in season and we get tender short ones which are very good for making pakodas. It is important to select tender ones as fully grown ones will be more fibrous and difficult to eat. It is a simple no fuss recipe when made with correct proportions yields crispy pakodas which can be a good accomplishment for lunch/dinner or even a tea time snack. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients required-
Tender ladies finger/okra/bende – 10-15
Besan/gram flour- 8-10tsp
Bombay rawa – 4tsp
Salt to taste
Chilly powder- 3tsp
Asafoetida/hing – 1/2tsp
Ajwain/oma – 1tsp
Water – 1/4 glass
Oil for deep frying
Curry leaves – 2strands
Method of preparation-
Clean and dry the ladies finger and then cut them into 4 pieces by making a horizontal and vertical cut.
Prepare a batter by adding salt, chilly powder, ajwain, hing, rawa. To this add water and mix well.
Now add besan and prepare a thick batter.
Cut curry leaves into pieces and add
Just before frying Sprinkle a pinch of salt on ladies finger pieces and mix well. This is to make sure the inside pieces also get the salt.
Now heat the oil. Dip the pieces in the batter and deep fry.
Once they turn crisp remove and serve hot.
Note –
Add rawa before besan to make sure it does not form lumps and mixes well with other ingredients. It makes the pakodas crispy
Adding curry leaves is optional but it gives a very good taste n texture to the pakodas.
A pickle which has sweet, salt, bitterness, sourness, crunchiness combined together. A very good way to include Bittergourd even if you don’t like it much. This one is my husband’s favorite as it is prepared in temple for samaradhan. This is the 2nd time I prepared it and throughout the process I was amazed to observe how every taste combines with other and becomes one to be this wonderful dish! Below is the recipe of this pickle.
Ingredients required-
Bittergourd- 2 (small)
Jaggery- 1/2 cup
Tamarind- lemon sized
Coriander seeds – 2tsp
Urad dal – 2tsp+1tsp
Methi seeds- 1/2tsp
Red chilly- 5-6
Salt to taste
Oil- 3tsp
Mustard seeds-1tsp
Curry leaves-1 strand
Method of preparation-
Wash the Bittergourd and cut it into tiny pieces
Cook it in a pan with very little water till it turns soft
Now add the jaggery and continue to cook. Cook 9n medium flame till jaggery melts and starts thickening.
Now extract the tamarind juice by adding very little water and add it to the pan.
Continue cooking till raw smell of tamarind vanishes.
I had roasted coriander seeds, urad dal and methi seeds with little oil in the beggining itself in the same pan before cooking the Bittergourd.
Now to the cooled mixture add roasted red chilles or you can simply add them at the end while roasting other things if you don’t have roasted chilly.
Powder them all in a mixie jar. Let it be fine powder.
Now add this powder and salt to taste to the Bittergourd mixture.
Mix everything very well and cook for 2-3min more. Make sure to have flame on medium throughout the process.
Cool and store it in air tight container for couple of days.
