Hearty Spices

Paneer - Cut 200 gms of Paneer into bite sized pieces and dip them in warm water. Onion Paste – Bring 2-3 cups of Water to a boil and add 2 roughly chopped Onions, 3-4 Green Chillies and boil until they turn slightly soft. Drain the onions and green chillies and once they come to room temperature, grind them along with 2 tsp of Ginger-Garlic paste to a very smooth puree. Keep aside. Cashew Paste - Soak 8-10 Cashew nuts in ¼ cup of Warm Milk for 10-15 mins. Grind them along with ¼ cup / 50 gms of Paneer to a smooth and creamy paste. Keep aside. Curry - Heat a tbsp of Oil/Ghee in a pan and sauté a Bay Leaf . To it, add onion paste and fry for 2 mins. Add a small chopped Tomato and sauté for 5-7 minutes till the paste stops sticking to the pan. Add ½ tsp Red Chilli Powder, ½ tsp Garam Masala Powder, a pinch of Turmeric Powder, a tsp of Coriander Powder and ½ tsp Cumin Powder . Saute till everything comes together adding few tbsp. of Water if necessary. Remove the...

Paneer: Bring one gallon of Milk in a big, wide pot. Add limejuice from 2 Limes to the boiling milk and wait for it to curdle, while stirring continuously. When paneer separates from the whey, pour the entire contents into a muslin cloth lined pot. Twist and squeeze the cloth to strain the paneer completely whey-free. Divide the paneer into two parts - ¾ (for koftas) and ¼ (for malai sauce). Veggies: Wash and cut each of 5 Russet or Red Potato into two and pressure cook them till tender. Peel the skin and mash them. Peel and grate 2 big Carrots and keep aside. Cover cook 5 Roma Tomatoes as whole in a saucepan filled with water till the skin breaks. Remove from heat and puree it once cooled. Take it into a bowl. Peel the skin and cut 2 Red Onions to chunks. Heat a tbsp of Oil in an iron skillet. Add onion, and sauté to brown on high heat, stirring in-between. Puree onions once cooled and remove into a bowl. Koftas: In food processor, add ¾ th of the Pane...

Remove the kernels from 2 fresh Corns using the knife by running it in the line. Add Salt to taste and required Water to it and pressure cook for 3-4 whistles until the corn becomes slightly soft, alternatively you can cook it in microwave for 6-7 minutes. Once the pressure subsides, drain the excess water and when it is still hot, add a tbsp of Butter to it and mix well. Add freshly ground ¼ tsp of Pepper Powder,½ tsp of Chaat Masala, Salt as required and a juice of a Lemon ; mix well. Serve hot.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spray an 8-inch square pan with oil / butter.  Melt 1/4 cup of Butter in a bowl and add a cup of lightly packed Brown Sugar and s tir until smooth.  Stir in an Egg .  Stir in 3/4 cup of All Purpose Flour, a tsp of Baking Powder to the brown sugar mixture.  Stir in a tsp of Vanilla Extract and 1/4 cup of Chopped Pecans .  Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Dry roast a cup of Sooji until light brown and keep aside. Dry roast ¼ cup of Moong Dal in the same pan until golden brown and add 1 cup of Water along with a pinch of Turmeric Powder, a drop of Ghee and bring to boil. Lower the heat and cook until cooked.  Strain the dal and reserve the liquid. Heat a tbsp of Oil in a pan, sauté ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds, a tsp of Cumin Seeds, ½ tsp of crushed Peppercorns, ½ “ of minced Ginger, 3 slit Green Chillies, a pinch of Asafoetida and few chopped Curry Leaves.   Measure the reserved water and add more water if necessary to make it 2½ cups of Water . Add to the pan and let it come to a boil. Add the cooked moong dal, Salt to taste and boil further for a minute. Now add the roasted rava to it slowly mixing avoid the formation of lumps. Optional - In a small pan, heat a tsp of Ghee and saute few broken Cashew nuts, a tbsp of Grated Coconut and fry until golden in color. Add it to the Pongal and garnish with few Coriander Leaves ...

Boil 4 cups of Water, ½ cup of Rice and a pinch of Salt in a saucepan and covercook until rice is soft.  Simmer, add a cup of Ragi Flour over the rice mixture and cover for few minutes.  Remove the cover and using a wooden masher, stir the ragi-rice mixure thoroughly until you see no lumps adding a tbsp of Butter/Ghee . Simmer on low and cover cook for another 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let it cool and make muddhe balls.  Serve hot with spicy curry or sambhar.

Soak ½ cup of Chana dal, ½ cup of Toor dal, ½ cup of Moong dal, ½ cup of Urad dal in water in a bowl for 3-4 hrs. Drain the excess water and grind the dals to a coarse paste in whipper mode. Do not grind to a smooth paste and don’t add water. Add finely chopped 5-6 Green Chillies, a tsp of minced Ginger, finely chopped Onion, ¼ cup of finely chopped Coriander Leaves, a tsp of Curry Leaves, 2 tbsp of finely chopped Mint Leaves and mix well with the ground dal mixture. Heat a cup of Oil in a pan for deep frying the vadas. Add a pinch of Baking Soda to the mixture and mix well. Wet your hands and take a small lemon size mixture and flatten it with hands and deep fry until golden brown in color over medium heat. Serve them hot with chutney/tomato sauce. Notes: If your batter is very wet add a tbsp of rice flour to it and mix well and make vadas.