Paneer Jalfrezi - An Exotic Indian Curry With Cottage Cheese

Certain food brings back the memories associated with it, the person who cooked it, the people we ate with, and the occasion it was cooked for. When Alicia Cowan of My Dish contacted me to write about food which makes me nostalgic, it took me a while to zero down to just one recipe! Oh yes... this cottage cheese in exotic gravy mom prepared for almost all the parties we used to host at home is a nostalgic recipe. Though not for the flavors and the recipe itself but for the fun & frolic we had during those parties with friends. And mom was quite famous for this Paneer Jalfrzi with her hot Kulchas. Even now whenever (read rarely) I cook this recipe I make sure to call at least one childhood friend to talk about those wonderful childhood days of yesteryear.

Preparation time
20 minutes

Cooking time
20 minutes

Serves
2 persons

Ingredients

200 gm Cottage cheese or Paneer

50 gms fresh sweet corn kernels

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1/2 tsp. sugar

Salt as desired

Water 1 cup or more

Ground to paste

1 large onion

2 large tomato/1 cup tomato puree

2 tbsp. grated coconut

8-10 cashew nuts

1 small green chilli

1 inch ginger

Spices;

2 cardamon pods

2 cloves

1 tsp. red chili powder

1/4 tsp. turmeric powder

1 tsp. coriander powder

Garnish;

Shredded fresh coriander leaves

4-5 strands of saffron (optional)

2 tbsp. cream (optional)

Preparation

Peel and chop onion. Slice tomato and onion and grind it along with rest of the ingredients (ground to paste). Slice the cottage cheese into small pieces.

Heat oil in a kadai/wok and crackle cumin seeds add cardamom pods & clove followed by the ground paste. Add all the spices mentioned. Saute' well till for about 7-8 minutes till the raw smell of the ground paste disappear and the oil starts floating over the masala.

You can fry the cottage cheese cubes into the oil before making the gravy or just use them as it is.

Boil 1 cup of water or more if you require more gravy. Pour the boiled water into the cooked gravy and simmer well for another 5 minutes.

Serve the exotic Cottage cheese in nutty gravy - Paneer Jalfrezi with Indian flat breads, or Kulchas.

Notes;

I used tomato paste in the recipe, since I had an open packet of the same in my refrigerator.You can avoid coconut and cashew altogether and still get a rich gravy for the recipe.Slightly deep fry the Cottage cheese cubes for much better texture ad taste.Add fresh green peas instead of sweet corn for much better color contrast in the dish.Use Tofu in place of cottage cheese for much healthier option.

Yes, I got my credits when hubby ashed me, "Did you get it from somewhere", as I rarely cook such rich and heavy dishes on normal days. Recreate the magic of a restaurant at your home, make your weekends special and surprise your guests with this delightful recipe.

Lite recipes for right health. Quick-to-cook, easy and healthy recipes for busy couples, bachelors and all those for whom time is precious. Articles on health and eating right will help you combine nutritional benefits of various food in your cooking.

http://www.litebite.in/

In case you like to indulge on food, do visit my other site for exotic and grand recipes, or read about places to visit in India;

http://sanjeetakk.blogspot.com/

Original article

Minty Cottage Cheese and Spicy Garlic Indian Flat Breads

Time flies when you are enjoying what you are doing and doing what you enjoy the most. And I thoroughly enjoyed my vacation at my native Udaipur. Learned to cook a few authentic recipes from mom, visited all the historical places which were in my wish list for long and most important met many of my schoolmates after almost 30 years!

Mom made these two versions of Stuffed flat breads or Parathas for my travel food. My kids dislike air travel and given a choice would always prefer trains over flights. They love to watch green fields, rivers, animals and villages over the dull and gray clouds. So I booked for the flight for one way and came back by train.

These stuffed flat breads were the perfect accompaniment in the journey along with some ready-to-eat food that I packed along. I had them for my breakfast, lunch and the dinner as well. The breads are extremely easy to make and are scrumptious to snack upon with a hot cup of tea.

Preparation time:

20 minutes

Cooking time:

15 minutes

Serves:

2 persons

Ingredients:

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 tbsp of dry mint leaves

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp chilly powder

1/4 tsp. Turmeric powder

Salt as desired

1/2 tsp dry mango powder (optional)

1/2 cup Water

vegetable oil

Preparation:

Take a large vessel and add the wholewheat flour, salt and 1 tbsp of oil in it and rub the dry flour with finger. Add water and knead the dough. Quantity of water may vary according to the flour, if the flour is coarse of home ground it will need more water while a fine ground flour will need a little less.

In another bowl and add the fresh cottage cheese, chilly powder, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, salt, crushed dry mint leaves in it. Mix all the spices and the cottage cheese well.

Take a small ball of dough make a perfect round by rolling it in the palm. Dust it with dry flour and flatten it on a board using a rolling pin into a small circular disc. Spread a teaspoon of oil over it and add about a tablespoon of the above cottage cheese mix and spread it thoroughly.

Make a cut along the radius of the circle as shown in the picture below and start folding the rolled dough in a circular motion till it makes a single long tubular shape. Flatten the dough as shown in the picture below and roll it again into a large circle using dry flour. Make all the flat breads in the similar manner and keep them aside.

Cooking:

Heat a girdle and put the rolled out flat bread on it. Turn to the other side and add 1/2 tsp. oil to the sides of the flat bread. Fry both the sides for 2 minute and cook till golden spots appear on it.

Serve hot with tomato sauce or any spread of your choice. Pack them in an aluminum foil for a great travel and picnic food.

Lite recipes for right health. Quick-to-cook, easy and healthy recipes for busy couples, bachelors and all those for whom time is precious. Articles on health and eating right will help you combine nutritional benefits of various food in your cooking.

http://www.litebite.in/

In case you like to indulge on food, do visit my other site for exotic and grand recipes, or read about places to visit in India;

http://sanjeetakk.blogspot.com/

Original article