Friday, July 25, 2008

Crazy BZ!

Hey Everyone,
Sorry, I know it is sometime since I stepped into my blog world to share with you all what I've been cooking in my kitchen. My work has been crazy since couple of weeks now. I have some recipes in my bag, but haven't found the time to pen those down and share it with you all.
Just decided to check in and see how everyone is doing. See you very soon.
Cheers!

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Quick PBM

Hello Everyone!
Hope all of you had a fantastic 4th of July. We had a really nice time. We finally managed to get some organizing done, met some old friends and just had a quiet time.
Over the weekend, B's friends visited us. I decided to cook at home. Just something quick and delicious. B was in no mood for South India. So, I chucked the idea of Microwave Paruppu Usili and decided to try my hand at his favorite north indian dish-Paneer Butter Masala.
I searched online for a quick recipe and I found a fantastic one here: PBM in minutes!. I leveraged this recipe and added a twist of my own.
Here you go, enjoy!
Ingredients:

For Gravy:
1. Corriander powder - 1.5 tsp
2. Garam Masala - 1 tsp
3. Chilli Pwder - 1 tsp
4. Kasoori Methi - half tsp
5. Tomato Paste - 2 tsp
6. Milk - 1 cup

For Veggies
1. Onions - 1 medium, chopped finely
2. Capsicum - 1 medium, chopped
3. Peas - 1 small cup
4. Paneer - chopped into cubes
5. Butter - as required
6. Salt - to taste

Method de Preparation:
1. Make the gravy by adding corriander, garam masala, chilli powder, kasoori methi, tomato paste and whisk it all with half cup of milk. In the video, he does advice to add tomato ketchup. I don't like the taste of ketchup in PBM, hence, I avoided it. But I added enough of tomato paste instead.
2. On a hot pan, add some butter and fry the onions and capsicum in the butter. You need to get the butter aroma rise up while frying. You can also add cashews/raisins to this and fry them along. I prefer PBM not too sweet. Hence, I just added some cashews for richness
3. Once the onions and capsicum is well fried, add the peas and gravy that has been sitting out. Add a little of food color (optional) and salt. Cover it for 5 mins and let it boil.
4. Once the gravy is boiling well, add the paneer cubes. The paneer cubes need not be fried before adding.
5. Toss it around couple of times till all the paneer is soaked well in the gravy. Let it boil well for another 6 mins.
6. Your dish is ready to be served and enjoyed!
Garnish with corriander and serve

Tip 1:Paneer can be broiled in the oven too, instead of frying. But you need to keep a constant eye on the oven
Tip 2: If you would like your PBM even more richer, you can grind a handful of cashews with onions. Make it into a paste and add it to the gravy while boiling.

Bon App!

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Thanks for all the awards!


Sailaja from Sailaja's Recipes. gave me a giant bear hug! Thanks for the hug, Sailu.



I would like to pass on this bear hug to
Sagari from Indian Cooking
Mitr from Mitr's Ideas from Bay Area
Smitha Karthik fromSpiced for Life!

Sailaja also gave me another award.


I would like to pass on this award to
Sailu from Sailu's Food

Maheswari from Beyond The Usual awarded me Yum Yum Blog :).

I would like to pass this award to
Sailaja from Sailaja's Recipes for her delicious and simple Dates Burfi with Nuts
Sagari from Indian Cooking for her healthy palak puri
Kalai from Samaithu Parkalam for her lovely Green Sprouts adai

Congratulations! Enjoy Ladies!

Swamped!

I know, I am long due to write back a lot on this blog. But I have been swamped. I am greatly looking forward to this long weekend to do some cooking, some blogging and some writing :).
Have a wonderful July 4th everyone!
Enjoy the fireworks and the sunshine!