Paneer Simla Mirch

Paneer Simla Mirch(Capsicum)

Its Sunday evening and tomorrow is going to be back to office for my husband. We had good weekend meeting friends and family and after eating out most of the time this weekend, I decided to make some thing different from my normal dishes.

My husband is from Madurai(A town in South Indian state of Tamil Nadu) and he loves South Indian Spicy food and off late both of us have been craving some good vegetarian dishes. I decided to try this North Indian Spicy Paneer Simla Mirch. Paneer(Cottage Cheese) when combined with Capsicum brings out an amazing flavor to this dish.

Ingredients:

250 gms of Paneer (cottage cheese), cut into small cubes
1 green bell pepper, chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 green chillies chopped finely
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
salt, to taste

Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Then add chopped green chillies and chopped onions and fry a little until onions start to brown. Now add ginger-garlic paste and tomatoes. Cook till tomatoes are tender and start to pulp up.
Add in coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Cook for a minute or two till spices blend in. Add salt and cook for a few minutes till sauce thickens. Add water and let it come to a boil. Add paneer chunks and bell pepper and cover cook for 6-7 minutes till paneer is done.

Serve hot with chappathi, Roti or Rice.

Poondu Kozhambu

Ingredients:

10-15 peeled garlic(Smash it a little to bring out the flavour)
1/2 large onion finely chopped
2 Medium Tomato finely chopped
2 tbsp oil
1/4 cup tamarind(If using paste, then 1 tbsp in 1/4 cup water)
1 tbsp Sambar Powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning:

1 tsp Mustard
1 tsp urad dal
Little curry leaves.

Take oil in a vessel and tamper with seasoning. Now add onion and fry for a little time. Add garlic and fry till the raw smell goes away. Add Sambar powder, tomato and stir. Cook until the tomotoes are soft and can be smashed finely. Add Tamarind water and 1 cup of water. Cook until the garlic is cooked.

Goes well with hot steaming white rice.

Apple Tokku

Ingredients

3 apple(use granny smith apple for sourness).
2 tbsp oil
pinch turmeric
1 tsp red chilly powder
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
pinch of hing (asafoetida)
Salt to taste

Remove the skin from the apples and chop it into small pieces. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. While the musturd seeds pops, add hing and turmeric. Add the apple to the mixture and stir. Add salt and let it cook for sometime. Now add chilli powder and cook until apple is well done and mushable.

This goes well with Chapathi or even as a spread on the toast.

Methi and Tomato

I am going to have my first harvest from my little veggie garden. Tomato's are starting to bear fruit and Fenugreek Plant(Vendiya Keerai) is healthy enough to be harvested.

Sorakai Kurma

Sorakkai paired with Black eyed peas is a good source of Fiber, Iron and Proteins for the veggie lovers.

Ingrediants:

1 medium Bottle Gourd chopped(sorrakai)
1 cup black eyed peas
1 medium onion
1 large tomato
1/2 cup ground coconut(can use store bought coconut milk)
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp corriander powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin powder
2 small green chilli
1/2 tsp musturd
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 small strip cinammon
3 cloves
2 cardamom
Salt to taste

Soak the blackeyed pea overnight. In a pan cook blackeyed peas, turmeric, bottle gourd and salt to taste until both blackeyed peas and bottle gourd are well done and can be coarsely mushed.

Now in a separate pan, heat some oil, and add musturd seeds, cinammon, cloves, cardamom and cumin seeds. When the mustard splutters, add onion and finely chopped green chilli. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for sometime until the raw smell goes.

Now add tomato and cook for sometime until tomato is well cooked. Add red chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder and mix well. Now add the cooked and coarsely mushed peas/bottle gourd mixture. Mix well and add salt to taste. Cook well.

This kurma goes well with rice, chapathi and roti. Enjoy!!

Radish Puli Kozhambu

I got these red baby radish and wanted to try Puli Kozhambu with it. This simple curry is yummy and easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 lb Baby Radish chopped(normal white radish is also fine)
1/2 cup think tamarind juice(or 1 tsp tamarind paste)
1 tomato
1/2 onion(finely chopped)
3 garlic cloves(finely chopped)
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp rice flour
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 tsp - Urad dhal
1/2 tsp - Cumin seeds
1 sprig - Curry leaves
Pinch of Asafoetida
Oil

Heat a little oil in a pan and add chopped garlic and fry till the raw smell goes off. Now add onion and fry a little more until the onion turns golden brown. Now add chopped tomato and fry until they are soft and mushy. Now add turmeric, chili and rice flour and mix well so that they blend in. Add salt to taste. Now add radish and fry until they are tender.

Add the tamarind paste and 2 cups of water. Cook this until the radish is completely cooked and the gravy thickens.

In a separte pan heat oil and add musturd seeds. When the musturd splutters add cumin, urad dhal, curry leaves and asafotida. Pour this seasoning over the prepared curry.

Yummy Puli Kozahmbu is ready to eat. This goes well with steamed white rice.

Kale-Dhal Curry

Kale is something I wanted to try for a long time and I tired it today as a greens curry (Something like Drumstick curry or Spinach Curry).

Ingredients

1 cup - Toor dal
1 bunch - Kale, finely chopped
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
2 - Green chili
1 - Tomato
1/2 - Onion
1 tbsp store bought Sambar powder
Salt to taste

Seasoning

1 tsp - Mustard seeds
1/2 onion cut into small pieces
2 sprigs - Curry leaves
Oil

Method

1 ) Cook Dhal and Kale in enough water along with turmeric powder, green chili, Onion, Sambar powder, little salt and tomato. Cook until Dhal and Kale are well cooked or if in a pressure cooker, cook until 3 whistles on medium heat. Use only the leafy part of kale.

Now season the dhal and kale curry. Heat oil, pop mustard seeds, then add onion and curry leaves. Fry till onion is browned. Pour the seasoning on the curry and stir in.

This curry goes well with Roti, Chapathi or Rice.