Methi Malai Paneer – Creamy Cottage Cheese with Fenugreek

Methi Malai Paneer – Creamy Cottage Cheese with Fenugreek

I'm a hard-core carnivore but give me this cottage cheese dish and I’ll happily tuck into it. Non-spicy, yet rich and delicious, this would be an ideal dish to make when you're entertaining guests who prefer vegetarian food. Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

250 grams cottage cheese/paneer
2 tablespoons oil or clarified butter
Extra oil to shallow fry
2 teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
¾ teaspoon red chili powder
2 teaspoons garam masala powder
1 teaspoon roasted cumin seed powder
A pinch of dry mango powder/amchur
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons dry fenugreek leaves/kasoori methi (retain a few for garnish)
200 mils fresh cream
200 mils milk
Salt to taste

For paste:

1 tablespoon poppy seed
1 tablespoon melon seed
2-3 green chilies
1 small onion, chopped
10 almonds
10 cashew nuts
6 tablespoons milk or water

Method:

1. Grind the paste ingredients, listed above, until smooth and keep aside.
2. Chop the paneer into squares or cubes. Shallow fry them for 2 minutes and place aside.
3. In a pan heat oil / clarified butter on low heat. Add the ginger-garlic paste. 
4. Sauté until the raw smell disappears. 
5. Add the grounded white paste. Stir well. 
6. Mix garam masala powder, roasted cumin powder, sugar and red chili powder. 
7. Combine and cook for 2 minutes. 
8. Roast the kasoori methi lightly, crush it and add it to the gravy. 
9. Take the vessel off the stove. 
10. Add the cream and milk gradually to the thick masala paste. Stir well and put back on fire on very low heat. Stir continuously till the gravy heats up and is gently bubbling. 
11. Add the shallow fried paneer. Stir gently but continuously. 
12. Add the amchur powder and salt to taste. Simmer for a few seconds. 
13. Garnish with dry-roasted fenugreek leaves. Take the pan off the hob and serve with rice, paratha or roti. 

Chef’s Notes:

1. Frying the paneer is optional. I did fry it. 
2. Please do not over-fry the cottage cheese/paneer as it toughens and becomes rubbery. 
3. Once you add the milk and cream please ensure that you keep the gravy on a very low flame and stir it continuously because not doing so may result in curdled gravy.
4. The base recipe for Methi Malai Paneer is courtesy Flavours Of Mumbai. I made various changes to the base recipe and these are my changes from the original one that i had read.
   (a) I increased the milk proportion for grinding the nuts into a paste.
   (b) I increased the quantity of cream and added milk to adjust the consistency of the gravy.
   (c) I added extra green chilies as 1 green chili was a tad bland.
   (d) I chose to roast the kasoori methi before crushing it to enhance the flavor.
   When you try the recipe please feel free to adjust the flavours and the consistency to your liking as the end result should suit to your taste buds. 
5. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 
   
   
   

Mango Kalakand-Barfi (Microwave Method)

Mango Kalakand-Barfi (Microwave)

When guests suddenly drop in on you during the mango season, there is no better way to charm them with a post-dinner sweet than this. You can also make this with canned mango pulp when mangoes are not in season. Not just quick and easy to make, it's totally yum too. Your guests will never guess, or believe, you made this at home. Wanna bet?? ;-)

Ingredients:

1 can condensed milk (400 grams)
1 Khoya (mawa)/ricotta cheese /paneer(430 grams) … I used Khoya/mawa
1 teaspoon Almond, Saffron, Cardamom, Pistachio powder 
1 cup Alphonso mango pulp
7 almonds, sliced
7 pistachios, sliced
A sheet or two of silver vark/beaten silver sheets, to decorate
Butter for greasing 

Method:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, mix khoya/mawa, mango pulp and condensed milk together, ensuring there are no lumps. (It will look similar to dosa/pancake batter, but thicker.)
   
   
2. Cook in microwave uncovered for 5 minutes. Take the bowl out mix well and keep them back in the microwave for 5 more minutes. 
3. Again take out the bowl, mix well and keep it in the microwave covered for 3 minutes. Mix them well again. 
4. Now keep the lid cross covered, so that the splatter is avoided and also there is enough space to vent the steam from the bowl out or use the splatter screen for that purpose. (I used a splatter screen with a small vent for letting out steam)
5. Now micro wave with lids cross covered and every 3 minutes take out, mix well and repeat thrice for a total of 9 minutes. It will be solidified with a grainy texture. 
6. Add the almond, saffron, cardamom, pistachio powder to this mixture and mix well.
7. Microwave covered with a splatter cover for a minute more.
   
   
8. Grease a tray with a little butter. Transfer the mixture to this prepared tray and flatten the mixture and press it evenly and firmly. Allow the mixture to cool a bit.
   
   
9. Decorate with silver vark. Sprinkle the sliced almonds and pistachios and press them lightly so that they stick well.
   
   
10. Cover the tray and let the mithai set for few hours or refrigerate for an hour till set.
11. Slice as per the desired shape. Enjoy!
    
    

Chef’s Notes:

1. The original recipe for Kalakand is courtesy Seema Hussain. The idea to give it a mango twist is courtesy Harry Punwani. 
2. IMPORTANT: The highest microwave setting for my microwave is 900 W, hence if the highest power of your microwave is 1000 W then reduce a minute from the microwave time mentioned. Alternately, if the highest power of your microwave is less than 900 W then please increase the cooking time by a minute or two depending on the wattage.
3. Pistachios can be omitted. I added pistachios to make the Barfi slightly richer.
4. If you make this with canned mango pulp, you may have to reduce the condensed milk quantity though, because canned pulp is usually sweetened a wee bit extra by the manufacturers. 
5. Silver vark too wasn’t used in the original recipe. I wanted the sweet to be visually appealing hence used it. 
6. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 
   
   

Paneer Cutlets - Cottage Cheese Cutlets

Paneer Cutlets - Cottage Cheese Cutlets

I'm the carnivore who usually steers clear off vegetarian food but show me a block of soft cottage cheese and it gets me salivating. I can have it raw with just salt and pepper sprinkled on it. Yes, I'm known to eat such crazy stuff. When my friend Zarina posted this recipe I knew I would definitely try it out in my kitchen and I did. The spices blended wonderfully with the grated cottage cheese and the sour back-notes, because of the added lime, tasted fantastic! Zarina (Zee), thank you ever so much for this one. <3

Ingredients:

250 fresh paneer/cottage cheese, grated

1 onion, chopped and fried

1½ teaspoon ground garlic/green chili/jeera (cumin) paste

½ teaspoon red chili powder

¼ teaspoon haldi/turmeric powder

1 tablespoon corn flour

2 tablespoons coriander leaves, finely chopped

Juice of ½ a lemon

A dash of Tabasco sauce

1 green chili, finely chopped

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons rawa/semolina

2 eggs, beaten

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients above in a mixing bowl, except eggs, rawa and oil.
2. Put it in the paneer mixture in the fridge for an hour or two.
3. Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan.
4. Shape the mixture into cutlets. 
5. Thinly coat in rawa, and then dip in the beaten egg and lower into the oil.
6. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Serve hot with ketchup or green chutney.

Chef’s Notes:

1. This quantity makes 10 medium sized cutlets.
2. I used a little more Tabasco for extra zing. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. 

Paneer Butter Masala - Paneer Makhanwala

Paneer Butter Masala - Paneer Makhanwala

I've been to a few restaurants that make this dish so perfectly, and that perfection is what I aimed at. I went through many recipes but none of the recipes appealed to me. I therefore mixed and matched ingredients, proportions and the method to my liking and to my utter joy what I put on the table had my family going ‘ummm’ with satisfied look on their face. It doesn't get any better than this!

Ingredients:

300 gms paneer/cottage cheese

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons butter + 1 teaspoon butter

2 medium sized onions, chopped into 8-10 pieces

1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste

3 large tomatoes

15 cashew nuts

1/3^rd cup milk

2 green chilies, slit, deseeded n cut into juliennes

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon cumin powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

1 teaspoon red Kashmiri chili powder

¼ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon garam masala powder

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon dry fenugreek leaves/kasoori methi

½ cup cream

1 cup warm water

1-2 tablespoons coriander leaves (reserve some for garnish)

1 teaspoon cream, to garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Cut cottage cheese into 1-1½ inch pieces, in desired shape.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, add the cottage cheese pieces and lightly fry them.
3. Remove when done and soak the cottage cheese pieces in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. Drain. Keep aside. (This ensures that the cottage cheese remains soft.)
4. Dry roast kasoori methi on a griddle/tava. Cool and gently crush into a powder with your fingers. Keep aside.
5. Make a cross on the top of each tomato and blanch them in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. Remove.
6. Peel and chop of the eye of the tomato. Puree in a blender. Keep aside.
7. Soak cashew nuts in milk for 10 minutes. Using the same milk, grind them to a smooth semi-thick paste. Use as much milk as needed and keep the rest aside.
8. Grind the onions and the ginger-garlic paste to a fine paste.
9. Add butter to the oil in which the cottage cheese pieces were fried and heat.
10. Splutter cumin seeds. Add juliennes of green chilies, the onion/ginger-garlic paste mix and sauté till the raw smell of the onion evaporates and the mixture begins to turn light brown.
11. Add the tomato puree and cook till the raw tomato smell evaporates. Allow the gravy to thicken till oil separates.
12. Add the cumin powder, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, sugar, salt and sauté for a minute.
13. Add one cup of warm water and cook for 6-8 minutes till gravy thickens and oil separates.
14. Remove the vessel from the stove. Cool for about 5-10 minutes.
15. Add the cashew paste (with the remaining milk, if any), kasoori methi powder, coriander leaves and give it a good stir to blend it well into the gravy. Add the drained cottage cheese pieces, put back on low flame to simmer for a couple of minutes.
16. Add cream and simmer for a minute more on very low flame.
17. Garnish with the remaining coriander leaves, 1 teaspoon butter and a wee bit of cream (optional)
18. Serve hot with naan or paratha. 

Chef Notes:

1. Feel free to soak the paneer directly in warm water, without frying it if you so wish.
2. This is a dish high in calories so make it for special occasions so that you don’t have to stint on the good stuff like cream and butter. 
3. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.