Paneer Butter Masala

Category:  Gravy / Masala
Preparation Time: 15-20 mins
Cooking Time: 15-20 mins
Servings: 3-4 Servings

Paneer Butter Masala - I'm sure Kids will love this with soft rotis:). My recipe is less-spicy one which is suitable for kids. If we want more creamy, we can replace milk with evaporated milk and also we can add cream while serving.

Paneer Butter Masala

 Ingredients:

• Paneer cubes - 2 cups
• Milk - 1/3 cup (Whole Milk)*
• Butter - 1 tbsp
• Cinnamon - a small stick
• Bay leaf - 1 no
• Cloves - 2-3 nos
• Cardamon - 1 no
• Salt - to taste
• Kasoori Methi - 1/2 tbsp, crushed

To Saute & Grind:

• Butter - 1/2 tbsp
• Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped
• Garlic - 6-7 cloves
• Onion - 2 nos, chopped
• Ripe Tomato - 2 nos, chopped
• Red chillies - 1-2 nos (adjust as per spice level)
• Cashews - 10 nos
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp

Notes:

• *Evaporated milk can be used for more creamier version instead of normal milk
• Fresh Cooking cream can be used, in this case we need to add it after switching off the gravy or while serving
• If we want spicy, we can add green chilies along with ginger&garlic

Method:

1. In a pan, heat 1/2 tbsp of butter; add ginger and garlic and saute for 2 mins
   
2. Add the chopped onion and saute for few mins till they turn transparent
   
3. Add chopped tomato pieces and saute well until it becomes soft and mushy and then add the red chilly
   
4. Now add the cashews and the spice powders, give a quick mix
   
5. Switch off and add a tsp of sugar
6. Allow the mixture to cool down
   
7. Grind it to a very fine paste with enough water
   
8. Heat 1 tbsp of Butter in a pan, add the cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and cardamon; fry for a min
   
9. Then add the ground Masala and saute for 2 mins
   
10. Add required salt and bring it to boil; Allow to boil for about 5 mins in medium flame
    
11. Now add the milk and mix well
    
12. Add the crushed kasoori methi; mix well
    
13. Add in the paneer cubes and mix gently
    
14. Allow to simmer for 2-3 mins and switch off
    
15. If using fresh cream, we can drizzle it over while serving
16. Serve hot with rotis or with mild pulaos
    

Home made Paneer

Category: Kitchen Basics
Cooking Time: 20 mins

Home made Paneer

Paneer is one of the most favourite among the kids. We can use paneer in gravies, stir fries, parathas, pizza, Dosa, Stuffed Buns, Pastries, Options are endless. Also making paneer at home is not a hectic process and once we start making it we would never go back to the store brought ones.

Also if we prefer, we can add little salt and spices as per our liking to make spiced paneer cubes. We can make paneer either with curd or lemon juice. I prefer making with curd since it will give more volume and also will be so soft. While making with lemon juice, we might need to wash the paneer soon after draining it from whey to remove the lemon flavour.

Super soft!!!!

One important thing is we need to drain all water from the paneer or else it will become soft and crumbly; if we want to use for any snack items or for parathas we can use that one. For more firm paneer, we need to make sure there are no water left behind in the paneer.

Soft & Fresh Home made Paneer

Ingredients:

• Full fat Milk - 4 cups
• Curd - 1/2 cup or juice from 1 big lemon

Method:

1. Heat the milk in a wide pan and bring to boil
   
2. Once it starts to boil, reduce the flame to medium and add 1/4 cup of curd (or half of  the lemon juice) and mix well
   
3. Milk will start to curdle; then add the remaining curd (or lemon juice) and reduce the flame to low 
   
4. Gently stir until the milk solids (paneer) gets separated leaving the clear whey water 
5. Switch off once the whey water becomes clear and milk solids get separated
   
6. Place a muslin cloth or any thin white cloth over a wide bowl and pour the curdled milk over it to filter the whey water from the milk solids. We can also strain using fine holed strainer (while pouring hot, we need to use stainless steel strainer. In the pic below, I had placed the cooled paneer) and then place it in white cloth. Whey water can be used for chapathi dough. (If using lemon juice, we might need to wash the paneer after draining)
   
7. Squeeze the excess water and hang it for 1-2 hrs undisturbed
8. Then flatten it and place a heavy weight like a heavy tawa / cooker over the paneer and left undisturbed for another 2 hours
9. After 2 hrs, we can refrigerate it for minimum one hour so that we can get clean neat pieces while cutting into cubes
   
10. Then we can cut into cubes and use in our recipes
    
11. If we are not using it right way or within 1-2 days, we can also freeze them in freezer and use when needed 

    

    Home made Paneer Cubes

12. If there is any water left in paneer, it will become crumbly and in that case we can use it for recipes which needs soft / grated paneer

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 
    

Paneer stuffed Sweet Potato Paratha

Category: Chapati / Paratha   
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Waiting Time: 30 mins      
Cooking Time: 20 mins    
Servings: Yields around 10 parathas

Paneer stuffed Sweet Potato Paratha

Ingredients:

For dough:

• Wheat flour / Atta - 2 cups
• Sweet potato - 1 no
• Ghee - 1-2 tsp (Optional)
• Salt- to taste
• Warm Water - if required 

For Stuffing:

• Paneer, crumbled / grated - 1 cup (Home made Paneer)
• Roasted Cumin seed powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves, chopped - 2 tbsp 
• Kasoori Methi, crushed - 1 tsp
• Green chillies, finely chopped - 2-3 nos (can be avoided if making for kids)
• Salt - to taste

Other Ingredients:

• Wheat / Rice flour - for dusting
• Ghee / Oil - for toasting

Method:

1. Wash and cook the sweet potato in pressure cooker; can be cooked in a vessel placed inside the cooker
   
2. Once it gets cooked, peel off the skin and mash it well 
   
3. In a wide bowl, add the wheat flour, required salt, ghee (if using) and mix well
4. To this add the mashed sweet potato and knead well to form a smooth soft dough. Sprinkle water only if necessary; at times moisture in the sweet potato will be enough for kneading. Keep it aside for atleast 30 mins
   
   
   
   
5. For the stuffing, add all the ingredients in the above stuffing list in a bowl and mix well
   
6. Divide the dough into equal lemon sized balls, dust them with flour, flatten them to a circle
7. Keep a spoonful of stuffing in the center of the circle and bring the sides of the circle towards center as shown below. This way we will get square parathas; we can also do in a regular way for circular ones
   
   
   
   
8. Roll it to form a thin paratha
   
9. Heat the tawa, place the parathas and cook till bubbles started to appear on the surface
   
10. Turn over and cook the other side; spread few drops of ghee over it
11. Once it's cooked, spread a little ghee / oil on the other side of the paratha and transfer to plate or place it in hot box till you serve
    
12. These parathas are soft and can be had with curd or any gravy