SAAG PANEER

This is a North Indian side dish bursting with flavours. This vegetarian dish is made with spinach and paneer/cottage cheese, hence rich in calcium and iron content. Saag Paneer goes well with rice and rotis.

SAAG PANEER

Ingredients: 

• Fresh spinach 2 cups (sliced) 
• Paneer 300 gms (cubed) 
• Onion 1 no. 
• Garlic cloves 3-4 no.s 
• Ginger 1" piece 
• Green chilly 1-2 no.s 
• Turmeric 1/4 tsp
• Garam masala 1/2 tsp 
• Chilly powder a pinch 
• Ghee 2 tbsp
• Lemon juice - few drops, to serve

Preparation: 

1. Wash and drain the spinach, then pour boiling water over it just to wilt it. When it cools down, chop roughly. Make cubes of the paneer. 
2. Melt little ghee in a pan, add little turmeric & chilly powders, add the paneer cubes and toss well. Fry till the paneer cubes turn golden all over. Remove the paneer from the pan and set it aside. 
3. Crush the onion, ginger, garlic and green chilly to paste. Fry this in the same pan till it turns caramel coloured. Add the spice powders and fry till the raw smell is gone. 
4. To this, add the chopped spinach, sprinkle some water and salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes. When the flavours start releasing from the bottom of the pan, add the fried paneer cubes and stir gently. 
5. After 2-3 minutes, remove from heat, squeeze over some fresh lemon juice and serve.

Healthy and flavourful Saag Paneer is ready.

TRICOLOUR CHUTNEYS

Chutneys are an all time favourite side dish with dosas and idlis, which are very popular South Indian breakfast. Today I am sharing the recipes of Tricolour chutneys, served here with plain dosas. 

DOSA WITH TRICOLOUR CHUTNEY

RED CHILLY COCONUT CHUTNEY:

Ingredients: 

• Grated fresh coconut 1/2 cup 
• Red chillies 3-4 or Red chilli powder 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds 1/4 tsp
• Shallots 2 no.s 
• Salt to taste 
• For tempering : oil, mustard, curry leaves & dried red chillies

Preparation:

• Grind the grated coconut with the chillies, one shallot, cumin seeds in little water. Add salt to taste. The consistency should be semi-thick. 
• In a pan, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds and fry curry leaves, sliced shallots and red chilly pieces. Stir in the ground coconut mixture and remove from flame before boiling. Do stir continuously. 

Red chilly coconut Chutney is ready. 

PLAIN WHITE CHUTNEY:

Ingredients:

• Grated fresh coconut 1/2 cup
• Fried gram daal 1/5 cup 
• Ginger 1/2" piece
• Garlic 1 clove
• Green chillies 2-3 no.s 
• Salt to taste 
• To temper: oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves

Preparation:

• Grind all ingredients with little water to a thick paste. 
• Transfer to a serving bowl. 
• Prepare the tempering and pour it over the prepared Chutney.

CORIANDER MINT CHUTNEY:

Ingredients: 

• Cilantro/Coriander leaves 1 cup
• Mint leaves 1/2 cup 
• Green chillies 4-5 no.s 
• Ginger 1/2" piece
• Lemon juice 1-2 tsp
• Salt to taste 

Preparation:

• Wash, clean and drain the coriander and mint leaves. Roughly chop them. 
• Grind these with the rest of the ingredients to a smooth paste, add little water only as the leaves have enough water. 
• Check salt for taste and transfer to a serving bowl. Tempering is optional. 

PANEER TIKKA

Paneer tikka is a very popular, vegetarian Indian starter. This is made from chunks of paneer/cottage cheese marinated in spices with yoghurt, arranged on bamboo skewers along with capsicums and onions and later grilled. 

Usually this is served hot seasoned with lemon juice accompanied by mint chutney. 

Paneer Tikka

Ingredients:

• Paneer cubes 1.5 cups
• Capsicum diced (dift. colours) 1 cup
• Onion 1 no. medium sized - diced 
• Ginger paste 2 tsp
• Thick yoghurt 1/2 cup 
• Spice powders - coriander powder 1 tsp, Red chilli powder 1 tsp, Cumin/jeera powder 1/2 tsp, Garam masala 1 tsp, turmeric powder 1/2 tsp, Salt to taste, Kasuri methi (crushed) 1 tsp, Hing/Asafoetida 1 tsp 
• Lemon juice 1 tbsp

Preparation: 

1. In a bowl, take the yoghurt and whisk well with little salt. Add the spice mix and mix all these thoroughly. Add the lemon juice and ginger paste, mix well till a smooth paste is formed. 
2. Add the paneer cubes to this mixture and leave it to marinate for 10-15 minutes. 
3. Soak the bamboo skewers in cold water for a few minutes. This is to avoid them from breaking while arranging the tikka. 
4. Arrange the diced capsicum, onion and marinated paneer cubes in the bamboo skewers. You can choose to alternate the veggies and colours to make the dish attractive. 
5. Heat the grill, spray or brush some oil and place the filled bamboo skewers on it. Roast all sides properly till all sides are golden brown in colour. 

Now Paneer tikka is ready, sprinkle some lemon juice and chaat masala (optional) and serve hot with mint chutney. 

BREAD UPMA

Bread is an easily available item in the pantry of most households. It is a life saver when you need to whip up something in a jiffy. Bread Upma is one such dish that can be served as a snack with tea or as light breakfast. This is made by stir frying pieces of bread with onion and some spicy seasonings.

Bread Upma

Ingredients:

• Bread 4 slices 
• Onion 1 no. 
• Ginger chopped 1 tsp
• Capsicum 1/2 cup chopped 
• Tomato 1 no. chopped 
• Tomato sauce 2 tbsp
• Garam masala 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - pinch 
• Chilli powder 1/4 tsp 
• Chana Daal & Urid Daal 1/2 tsp each 
• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp 
• Cashew pieces 1/2 tsp 
• Mustard seeds
• Lime juice & cilantro 
• Oil, salt & water - as required

Preparation: 

1. Toast the bread slices till it turn crispy and golden. Cut these into cubes (I removed the crusts before slicing). 
2. In a pan, heat oil and splutter mustard seeds followed by the cumin seeds, channa dal and urid dal. Add the sliced onion and ginger, sauté well. Add the tomato pieces and cook till they start to disintegrate. 
3. Now add the capsicum slices, followed by the spices. Sprinkle little salt and combine well. Add the tomato sauce and cook for a minute. 
4. Add two spoons of water and wait for the mix to start thickening to saucy type. Add the bread pieces, combine well till the masala is coated evenly throughout the bread pieces. 
5. Squeeze in a few drops of lemon juice and switch off flame. Garnish with cilantro and fried cashew pieces.

Tasty Upma bread is ready, enjoy with a hot cup of tea/coffee.
(Note: Toast the bread really crispy so that they won't crumble and turn mushy while mixing. You can add green chilli if you like the flavour, optional). 

AVAL MOONG DAAL JAGGERY KHEER

This Payasam is a speciality from Tamil Nadu, South India. Usually aval/rice flakes/poha are used separately for different types of kheer. 

In this Kheer, both Moong Daal and rice flakes are cooked together in jaggery syrup and coconut milk. This is a mild flavoured Kheer. 

Aval Moong Daal Jaggery Payasam 

Ingredients:

• Rice flakes/ aval 1 cup 
• Moong daal 1/4 cup 
• Jaggery syrup 1/2 cup 
• Coconut milk 1/2 cup 
• Ghee, fried coconut pieces, cashew nuts & raisins
• Cardamom & dried ginger - powdered 1/2 tsp each 

Method of preparation:

1. Wash moong-daal well, gently roast it in little ghee and then cook in a pressure cooker with adequate water. 
2. Meanwhile, in a pan roast the coconut pieces, raisins and cashew nuts in ghee. Set it aside and roast the rice flakes till it is lightly fragrant. 
3. Melt the solid jaggery with little water and drain out impurities, keep the syrup aside. 
4. Mash the cooked moong-daal well and add the roasted rice flakes and jaggery syrup to it. Add little water if required to adjust the consistency. Stir well and add powdered cardamom and dried ginger to the mix. 
5. When this mix thickens and the rice flakes are cooked, stir in the coconut milk and remove from oven after a couple of minutes. 
6. Garnish with roasted raisins, coconut pieces and nuts. 

Serve warm, this Payasam thickens on settling. 

ALOO PALAK (POTATO SPINACH CURRY)

Aloo Palak is a combination of potatoes/aloo and spinach/palak. This side dish is mostly made in Punjab and northern Indian states. I have made this semi dry, so that it can be eaten with roti too. Aloo palak is simple to prepare and uses only a very few ingredients. 

ALOO PALAK

In the recipe shared below, I have used finely chopped spinach; in some recipes puréed spinach is used (similar to palak paneer). 

Ingredients:

• Potatoes 2 no.s 
• Spinach 2 bunches (2 cups chopped) 
• Tomato 1 no. (medium) 
• Onion 1 no. 
• Ginger paste (crushed) 1.5 tsp
• Cumin powder 1/2 tsp 
• Coriander powder 1/2 tsp
• Red chilly powder 1/2 - 3/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp
• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
• Oil, salt - as required

Method of preparation: 

1. Wash and boil the potatoes. When done, cut into cubes and keep it aside.
2. Clean the spinach bunch by washing thoroughly, chop and set aside. 
3. Heat oil in a pan, pop the cumin seeds. Add the sliced onion, ginger paste and sauté. Add the tomato pieces. 
4. When this is well sautéed and turns soft, add the spice powders and mix well. 
5. Add the potato pieces to this, sprinkle adequate salt and stir well to blend everything together. 
6. To this, add the chopped spinach and leave the pan covered for a few minutes. Cook in medium flame and remove the pan from heat when the spinach is cooked and a nice, thick gravy is formed. 

Serve hot with hot rice and/or rotis.