Vegetable-Paneer Kurma

Category:  Side dish

Preparation Time: 15 mins  

Cooking Time: 30-40 mins 

Servings: 3-4 persons

 

Vegetable-Paneer Kurma

 Ingredients:

• Mixed Vegetables, chopped - Around 2 cups (I used Rainbow carrots, Beans, Peas, Sweet corn)
• Paneer, cubed - 1/2 - 3/4 cup
• Onion, finely chopped - 1 no
• Tomato, finely chopped -1 no
• Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp heaped
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Red Chilly powder - 1 tsp (adjust as per spice level) 
• Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
• Lemon juice - 1-2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Coriander leaves - few

To Grind:

• Coconut, grated - 1/2 cup 
• Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
• Dalia / Pottukadalai - 1 tbsp
• Cashews - 5-6 nos
• Poppy seeds / Khus-Khus - 1/2 tsp
• Green chillies - 1-2 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch stick
• Cloves - 2 nos
• Cardamon seeds - 1/8 tsp

For Tadka:

• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Bay leaf - 1 no
• Mace - 1 small piece
• Star anise - 1 no
• Curry leaves - few

Method:

1. Clean and chop all the veggies into bite sized pieces; Here I used Rainbow carrots, Beans, Peas and Sweet corn
   
2. Steam cook the chopped veggies in Idly vessel / cooker / steamer for 7-8 mins till they get cooked

   

   Before Steaming

   
   

   

   Steamed Veggies

3. While it gets cooked, take all the ingredients in the "To Grind" section and grind it to a fine paste with required water
   
4. Heat oil in a pan, add the Bay leaf, Mace and Star anise, fry for 30 secs and add the curry leaves
   
5. Add the finely chopped onion and fry well with little salt until it starts browning
   
6. Now add the Ginger-Garlic paste and saute for 2 mins in medium flame till the raw smell goes off
   
7. Add the finely chopped tomato and saute till it gets cooked well
   
8. Now add the Turmeric, Coriander and Red chilly powders and saute for a min. The green chilly I used for grinding is very spicy and also since I dont want more spicy, I skipped adding chilly powder
   
9. Add the ground paste with little water and saute for 2 mins
   
10. Add required water for kurma consistency and allow to boil in medium flame for 5-6 mins
    
11. Then add the steamed veggies along with required salt and cook for 2-3 mins
    
12. Now add the paneer cubes and allow to cook in low flame for another 2 mins; We can also toast the cubes with few drops of ghee / oil until it become golden brown and then soak it in warm water for few mins, squeeze out the water and add the cubes. (Toasting gives nice flavour and soaking makes soft to absorb the gravy well)
    
13. Sprinkle Garam Masala and mix well
    
14. Once it reaches the Kurma consistency and oil gets separated,switch off the flame
15. Add the lemon juice over it and garnish with coriander leaves
16. Serve hot with Roti /Dosa / Idlies 
    

Mushroom-Egg Fried Rice

Category:  Lunch / Rice
Preparation Time: 15 mins  
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Servings: 3 Servings

I usually wont use any sauces like soy / chilly sauces in my cooking so I was bit hesitant to try any indo-chinese dish. I just want to do fried rice but without soy sauce and when I tried it really came out well:) Spring onion is the must for this recipe since this is the one which gives the flavour. We can use any veggies like carrot, beans, corn, capsicum, cabbage for the basic fried rice. If needed we can add mushrooms, eggs or even boiled chicken pieces to it to make it more flavorful. If we dont want the garlicky flavour, we can omit that alone and prepare the same way; that too will be taste good. If making for kids, we can avoid the green chillies and use only pepper powder.

Mushroom-Egg Fried Rice

 Ingredients: 

• Basmati Rice - 1 1/4 cup
• Mushroom - 1 packet (8 oz / 227 gms)
• Eggs - 2 nos
• Carrot, finely chopped - 1 no
• Beans, finely chopped - 5-6 nos
• Sweet corn - 2 tbsp (I used frozen)
• Spring Onion - 5-6 stalks
• Garlic, finely chopped - 2 tbsp
• Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
• Sugar - 3/4 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Lemon juice - 1 tsp
• Pepper powder - 1-2 tsp (adjust as per taste)
• Green chillies, finely chopped - 2-3 nos (Optional)

Method:

1. Wash and soak rice for atleast 30 mins; then drain and cook with little salt and few drops of lemon juice in such a way the grains are separate. Once its cooked, spread it over a wide plate with few drops of oil mixed and allow to cool down completely
2. Peel the outer skin of the mushrooms and cut them into thin slices; no need to wash in water
   
3. For the spring onion, remove the roots and finely chop the white and green parts separately
4. Finely chop the other veggies so that they gets cooked quicker
   
   
   
   
   
5. Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk it well, add little salt and pepper powder to it and mix well
   
6. In a small pan, add few drops of oil and scramble the eggs 
   
7. In a wide pan / wok, add oil and heat it up; once it becomes little hot add the chopped garlic pieces and saute till it turns golden brown
   
8. Add the white part of the spring onion and saute for a min
   
9. Keep the flame in medium-high and then add the chopped carrot, beans and corn, sprinkle sugar over it (to retain the colour of the veggies) and saute for 2 mins
   
10. Add the chopped mushrooms and saute for 2 mins till the veggies gets cooked (not becomes mushy); add required salt for the veggies 
    
11. Now add pepper powder; mix well and then add the scrambled egg
    
    
    
    
12. Add in the finely chopped spring onion green part, mix well
    
    
    
    
13. Add the cooled rice to the veggies, mix gently until combined
    
    
    
14. Adjust salt and spiciness at this stage; if needed add salt / pepper as required
15. Once the rice becomes little hot, switch off and drizzle lemon juice over the rice
    
16. Serve hot!