Cholar Dal Paneer (Chana Dal with Paneer)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chana dal

1/2 cup water

1oo gms paneer

1 medium sized onion, finely grated

1 tomato, finely grated

3 cloves of garlic, finely grated

1" ginger, finely grated

1 green cardamom (elaichi)

1" cinnamon (dalchini)

2 cloves (laung)

1/2 tsp coriander Powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder

1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

3/4 tsp haldi powder

2 1/2 tsp oil

1/2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

for garnish

pinch of cardamom powder

pinch of cinnamon powder

Method:

• Wash chana dal and soak it in water, keep aside.
• In a pressure cooker, add chana dal, water, haldi and salt, cover with the lid and light the flame to high. Take one whistle on high flame and three on medium whistle. Turn the gas off and let the pressure drop by itself.
• Cut paneer into cubes.
• Heat a kadai add 1 1/2 tsp of oil add the paneer pieces and shallow fry the paneer pieces till light golden in colour. Transfer on a tissue paper.
• Heat 1 tsp of oil in a kadai, add elaichi, dalchini and laung, when they crackle add onion, ginger and garlic. Let the onion cook till it changes colour.
• Add grated tomato and stir well. Let the tomato cook well. Add jeera powder, coriander powder, salt, kashmiri red chilli powder and mix well.
• Once the masala is cooked add sugar and the cooked dal. Mix gently.
• Add the paneer pieces and garnish with cinnamon powder and cardamom powder.

Tips:

• You can use ghee in this recipe instead of oil, it gives a very distinct and good flavour.
• Paneer pieces can be deep fried.
• Raw paneer pieces can be added, but I prefer to fry the paneer.
• Once the paneer is fried , it can be drained on a tissue paper. Paneer pieces can also be soaked in water (or salt water), it helps keep the paneer soft.
• The chana dal for this recipe should not lose its shape. It should hold its shape hence do not overcook.
• If you soak the dal the cooking time of the dal would be reduced.
• Instead of grated onion you can grind the onion in the mixie. The same applies to tomato, ginger and garlic.
• Ready-made ginger garlic paste can be used instead of fresh ginger and garlic, however, I feel fresh paste give better taste...its healthy too!
• The consistency of this dal is quite thick, it does not have a very thin consistency.
• The recipe given above gives two servings! its a treat for those who love paneer.
• This recipe taste good with any type of roti...you can also have it with rice!!!

Sitaphal Tarkari (Pumpkin Vegetable)

Ingredients:

200 gms sitaphal (pumpkin),cut into big cubes

2 tbsp raw rice

3 tbsp grated fresh coconut

1 tsp oil

1/4 tsp panch phoren

1/4 tsp jeera powder

1/4 tsp coriander powder

1/4 tsp haldi

1/2 tsp sugar

1 green chilli

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

salt to taste

water

Method:

• Wash and soak rice in 5 tbsp of water.
• Soak mustard seeds and green chilli in water for 5-7 mins. Drain and grind to a paste.
• Heat a kadai. Add oil and heat it on a medium low heat, add panch phoren. When the panch phoren crackles add the sitaphal and mix well. Add rice (after draining the water) and mix well.
• Add haldi powder, jeera powder, coriander powder, sugar and salt and mix well.
• Add 3 tbsp of water, cover the kadai with the lid and let it cook on sim. Occasionally stir and keep adding 1 tbsp of water at a time so that the rice is done. Approximately 4-5 tbsp of water would be required.
• Once the rice is almost done, add grated coconut and stir. Cover and cook for 2 mins. Add the mustard and chilli paste. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
• Garnish with eliachi powder and cinnamon powder and serve.

Tips:

• Panch phoren is a mixture of equal quantity of 5 seeds viz: rai (mustard seeds), methi (fenugreek seeds), saunf (fennel seeds), kalonji (nigella seeds) and jeera (cumin seeds).
• In Bengali cuisine rai (mustard seeds) are replaced with radhuni. Radhuni has a peculiar fragrance and imparts its distinct taste and flavour to the food its added to. Since the above recipe is Bengali, you can also add radhuni.
• Mustard paste/ sauce can also be added instead of ground mustard.
• You can grind the mustard in a mortar and pastle.
• The sitaphal should not be peeled, the skin should be retained.
• Do not add all the water together, add the water in parts and cooked covered on sim. Sitaphal (pumpkin) should retain its shape.
• The quantity of green chilli can be altered according to taste.
• The above recipe is for two servings.
• This is an everyday recipe hence is prepared in less quantity of oil, you can increase the quantity of oil if you so desire.

Mushroom Matar

Ingredients:

5 button mushrooms cut into 6 pieces each

1/4 cup fresh green peas

1 medium sized onion

1 large tomato

1 " ginger

3 cloves of garlic

1tsp tomato ketchup

2 cloves

1 cardamom

1/2 tsp dry coriander powder

1/2 tsp kashmiri mirch powder

1/2 tsp jeera powder

pinch of garam masala

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp oil

salt to taste

1/2 tsp kasuri methi

1 tbsp cream

Method:

• Grind ginger, garlic and onion into a fine paste and keep aside.
• Grind the tomatoes into a puree.
• Heat a kadai on a medium flame, add oil, add cloves and whole cardamom. Stir and add the onion paste. Simmer the gas and cover the kadai with a lid. Let the onion cook well. Stir occasionally.
• Once the onions turn dark pink in colour, add the tomato paste. Stir. Cover the kadai and let it cook on sim. Stir, Add salt and green peas. Cover and let the masala cook.
• Once the tomatoes are cooked add coriander powder, jeera powder and kashmiri mirch powder. Add 2 tbsp of water. Mix well and let the masala cook well.
• Once the masala is cooked, add tomato ketchup, 1/2 cup of water and mushrooms. Let the gravy come to a good boil. Once the mushrooms are cooked, discard the cloves and cardamom and add kasuri methi, garam masala and sugar. Simmer for a minute and turn the flame off.
• Add the cream, mix and serve.

Tips:

• The onion paste should be cooked well, otherwise it will give a raw smell to the gravy.
• At any stage if the gravy sticks to the kadai keep adding 1 tsp of water at a time.
• If using frozen peas then add them along with the mushrooms as it need less time to cook.
• Peas can separately boiled and added to this recipe. In such a case just add 1/2 tsp of sugar and salt while boiling the peas, sugar will help the peas retain its green colour.
• Fresh peas can also be microwaved. Just add salt and microwave covered for 4 mins.
• Mushrooms take very less time to cook, hence add it after the masala is cooked.
• Once the tomato puree leaves the sides of the kadai, it indicated that it is cooked.
• If using readymade tomato puree, reduce the quantity to half.
• Sugar enhances the other flavours in this preparation.
• Add the cream only after turning off the flame or else it may cuddle.
• Best way to store kasuri methi is to put it in an airtight box and keep it in the freezer.
• You can retain the cloves and cardomom in the recipe given above, i discard them cause it may get difficult for the guest to eat and in any case the flavour are already absorbed in the gravy before discarding.
• I normally use less oil in my recipes, you may increase the quantity or even use mixture of ghee and oil to enhance the flavour.
• Cream can be avoided, but i feel it gives a very good flavour, colour and texture to this preparation.
• You can even replace the mushroom with paneer to get matar paneer!!!!
• The above recipe gives two servings.
• Serve mushroom matar with roti or any rice preparation.