Mutter Paneer

Paneer is featured in a lot of my cooking as it is loved by nearly all of my family members. My son especially is a great fan of it and whenever I make any Paneer Sabzi he is sure to clean his plate and even ask for a second helping.

This is a popular paneer dish, easy to make and taste wonderful.

 

 

 

 

Methi Matar Malai

This yummy methi sabji is a favorite at our home. I have adapted Sanjeev Kapoor's recipe. This recipe comes from the Punjab region of India. This dish is made up of methi leaves, or as they call it in English, fenugreek leaves and green peas cooked in a rich cream based gravy.

Methi leaves are not always available and tend to be very costly. In the summers I sometimes grow my own in my backyard. But the other day there was some fresh methi leaves on sale here so I grabbed up as much as I could. We had methi that whole week and my son got sick of it.

I love the bitterness of the methi leaf combined with the sweetness of the plump peas. It is very easy to make and it tastes like you slaved in front of your stove for hours. As it was a weekend, I wanted to spend most of my time with my family, so I made this dish with some hot puris. Traditionally this would go very well with some hot naans, but I did not make it this time. We all sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of the TV watching a Hindi movie eating our delicious lunch.

Tamatar Ki Chutney ( Tangy Tomato Chutney )

This is a really delicious tomato chutney. It is a little different from the usual tomato- onion-green chili chutney. This has a unique nuttiness brought on by the roasted methi seeds. This is one of my favorite chutneys and I always get rave reviews whenever I make it. I hope you enjoy it as well.


Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients

7-8 medium sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
7 Thai green chilies, roughly chopped
4 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp asafoetida / hing
1 tsp fenugreek seeds / methi seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves
2 tsp cayenne powder / red chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder / haldi
salt, to taste


Method

• Blend the tomatoes and green chilies in your blender, till it becomes a nice smooth paste. Set aside.
• In a medium sized saucepan heat 1 tsp of oil and when slightly hot add the methi seeds and asafoetida to it. Stir it together and watch the color of the methi seeds change to a deep reddish brown. Remove from heat, do not over cook it or else it will spoil the whole chutney by giving of a burnt taste. Transfer the methi seeds, asafoetida and oil mixture to the mortar and using the pestle, pound it till it grinds the methi seeds into a smooth wet powdery consistency. Set aside. ( you can us a coffee grinder as well, but the small quantity makes it a little difficult to grind ).
• Wipe the saucepan clean and put it back on the fire. Heat the rest of the oil and add the mustard seeds, let them crackle and then add the chopped up curry leaves. ( Tip : I roughly chop up the curry leaves to infuses even more fragrance into the dish ). Fry for a few seconds, then add the tomato paste, chili powder and turmeric powder. Cook on medium heat stirring it occasionally. Cook till most of the water is evaporated and it is nice and thick - chutney-like. Add salt , and the hing-methi powder, stir it all up and remove from the fire.
• Cool and store in the refrigerator. Serve it with anything - fresh dosas, hot idlis, steaming rice, or just as a side dish or as a sandwich spread.

 This chutney is best served at room temperature.