Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A year older... more naughtiness :-)

So last week my son turned 2... not that he cared. For him, it was any usual day to continue with his karnama that he had left behind on previous night! The excitement was more for us - dad, mom, didi, dada, nana... and every grown up who knew him. Birthdays of course means lots and lots of good food. And that's what I did... churned out dishes for my baby ... again not that he cared ! There had to be Paneer - he so loves it : - )

Anyways, as I was slogging it out in the kitchen, a box was delivered at my door. It was time for second season of being in t Lock n Lock supporter program. And what do you know, they sent a perfect pan for making paneer tawa masala, preparing urad dal mix and meatless meat balls (aka soyabean) one after another effortlessly........wait a second ..........there was effort involved but not for scrubbing the pan. Not that I didn't have other pans but who wants to deal with a pile of dishes after all that cooking. Enough rambling..........the pan I am talking about is Lock & Lock Cookplus Vitamin Frying Pan. 11.8-Inch size and blue in color with black coating. 
I am loving the colors in the kitchen. Remember Yellow Ceramic Frying Pan - that was  10.2 inches. And guess what...... Lock n Lock has also launched stainless steel cookware in color. No points for guessing the series name - Cookplus Fruits !!! They are so darned cute! I am definitely going to invest in these after the big shift.

They also sent a double walled tumbler - great for iced tea, a living box - great for taking care of chaos factor in your house and a lunch bag - right in time for school season. You might want to check out their Back to School event going on at their website - tonnes of ways to save. Btw, they also have a buy one get one free bottle going on currently. More on these items in another post, I want to talk about paneer tawa masala now.

Prashad-Cooking with Indian Masters

Its a super simple yet delish dish - paneer coated in makhni gravy with a strong flavor of ajwain. And I have found a perfect recipe for makhni gravy - closest authentic taste I have achieved till now from all different permutations and combinations! I found the recipe in Prashad-Cooking with Indian Masters. One of best cookbook I own - its by Jiggs Kalra, he had a show on TV called Dawaat when only Doordarshan existed. It has some awesome non-vegetarian recipes. I will write his recipe verbatim and make notes on the side whereever I made changes.

Paneer Tawa Masala: 

Ingredients

1 2/3 lb Paneer (750 gms)
2/3 cup ghee ( no no ........I just used 1 tbsp ; - D )
2 tsp Ajwain
1 1/4 cup Onions chopped
1 tbsp Ginger chopped
4 Green chillies ( You might want to think bout that because makhni gravy is spicy too )
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
11 oz Makhni gravy ( about 300 ml - recipe below )
2 tsp Garam masala
1/3 cup green coriander, finely chopped

Get Cooking

Heat ghee in a tawa/pan, add ajwain seeds until it begins to crackle.
Add onions, ginger and green chillies and saute for a couple of minutes.

Add spice powders and stir for minute.

Add paneer and gently turn it around for a minute.

Add makhni gravy and bhuno until gravy becomes thick and coats the paneer.Notice how gravy starts coating paneer as it thickens............oooo laa laaa laaa - yes I am singing like those chefs on TV!!
Sprinkle garam masala and green coriander. 

Thats it - not time consuming  process at all, just need a bit of preparation ahead of time. And delicious. Check out notes at the bottom about things I did and noted for future reference.

Makhni gravy:

Ingredients
1 kg tomatoes chopped ( 2 1/4 lbs )
1 3/4 tsp Ginger paste
1 3/4 tsp Garlic paste
6 Green chillies ( I added 3 and that was sufficient heat for me )
2 tsp Red chilli powder ( I added 1 1/2 tsp )
10 Cloves
8 Green cardamoms
2/3 cup Butter  ( I added 1/3 cup  )
2/3 cup Cream  ( I would suggest starting with 1/2 cup and adding more if you prefer )
2 1/2 Kastoori methi
1 tbsp ginger juliennes
Salt to taste

Get Cooking
Put chopped tomatoes, 4 cups of water, ginger-garlic paste, chillies (green and red ), spices and salt in a pan and cook it down to sauce consistency over low heat. It should take about 20 minutes or so. The raw smell of tomatoes should be gone. Strain and return to vessel and bring to boil. Add cream and butter and simmer for couple of minutes. Add kastoori methi nd ginger juliennes ( I didnt! Because I didnt want to LOL!!!!! ) Thats it simple enough. The book suggests adding honey if the gravy is excessively sour - about 4 1/2 tsp.

Notes
  1. I had prepared makhni a day ahead, so it had thickened a little. Add water or cream to loosen it up a little - I added some water to it.
  2. If you are eating right away, good. If not, I would suggest keeping some gravy aside to add to dish later just before serving - paneer soaks it all up.
  3. It tasted even better next day with garam garam roti.
Sending this to Vardhini's Dish It Out event  -Tomato and Chilli hosted by Reva Kaarasaaram

7 comments:

  1. Must be as yummyyy as the pics look... just like ur son, me too love paneer a lot :D & what I loved about ur blog and this recipe is that U have explained the steps with photos.. With each step forward, my urge to try out this recipe kept growing :D :D
    I wl surely try this one out very soon (though I don't have a Lock & Lock Cookplus Vitamin Frying Pan :P :D)
    Btw, Belated birthday wishes for ur son, Lots of God Blesses for him :))

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  2. My mouth started watering seeing and reading this recipe...looks yummy :)
    First time to you blog and you have a very lovely space here...following you dear...do visit my space when u find time... http://pran-oriya-recipies.blogspot.com/

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  3. Hearty belated birthday wishes to your kiddo ~ lots of love n God bless!
    I am a paneer fanatic n both the makhani n tawa paneer tops my chart - liked your version here :)
    USMasala

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  4. Definitely a great combo for Roti!! Love your lock and lock pan too...
    Krithi's Kitchen
    Event: Serve It - Steamed

    ReplyDelete
  5. First time here,loved ur recipes...
    Well explained and neat presentation...

    Do visit my blog if time permits...

    www.premascook.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. First time here,lovely space you have..do visit my blog when time permits..
    http://maayeka.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete