Saturday, July 4, 2015

Badami Paneer



All you need

Paneer
1 Onion sliced
2-3 cloves Garlic
3/4 inch of Ginger
3 small Tomatoes
Handful blanched Almonds
1 tsp Cumin Powder
1 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
3/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chili Powder
1 pinch Cumin Seeds
Salt
Red Food Color
Oil
Water


Method

  • Make a paste of onion, ginger and garlic. Keep aside.

  • Cut paneer into cubes. Keep aside.

  • In a small frying pan, pour 1 tsp oil and put the tomatoes stem side down, cover and roast on low heat for 15 minutes. Turning the tomatoes in middle.
  • Grind blanched almonds to a fine powder, then add the roasted tomatoes to it and grind to a paste. When taking out the tomatoes, use a fork to separate the skin and take out the pulp. Use left over liquid from the pan too.
  • Heat oil in a deep bottom pan, add cumin seeds. Add onion-ginger-garlic paste. Fry till oil separates from the mixture.
  • Add tomato-almond paste. Add a little water and stir and cook for 3 minutes. Since the tomatoes are cooked, there is no need to cook them.
  • Add salt, turmeric, cumin powder, coriander powder and red chili powder. Mix well.
  • Add water. Pour 3-4 drops of Red Food color until the gravy turns orange. Bring to a boil.
  • Add paneer, lower heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes, till paneer is cooked through.
  • Open lid, turn flame to high and reduce water until you get your preferred consistency. Done!

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Pot Roast Chicken

This is my mom's recipe. It is a clear winner every time I put it on my party table.

All you need

One chicken cut into small pieces
6-7 cloves of Garlic
1 1/2 inch piece of Ginger
2 Onions ground to a paste
1 cup of Vinegar
1/2 cup Oil
2-3 Whole Dried Red Chilies
1 pinch whole cumin seeds
Salt


Method

  • Make a paste of ginger and garlic.

  • Wash chicken and pat dry chicken, there should not be any water left.

  • Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste and vinegar for at least 30 minutes. Longer the better.
  • Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add cumin seeds and whole red chilies. Add onion paste.
  • After the onion is fried, add chicken along with its marinade.
  • Add salt, mix and cook in the pressure cooker till chicken is done. DO NOT ADD WATER.
  • Open the pressure cooker lid, and there will a lot of water all released by the chicken.
  • Turn on heat to high flame and reduce water till there is none left. Then the trick is to keep on frying and stirring often and burning up the chicken a little to bring out the taste. In Bengali, it is called "char charano". Done!