theme: Indian

Posted on » by Dana & Nancy » Theme:

Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese

Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese

recipe from foodnetwork.com, courtesy of Aarti Sequeira

Ingredients:

  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 12 ounces paneer, (Indian cheese, either store-bought or made from my recipe, recipe follows), cut into 1-inch cubes, see Cook’s Note*
  • 1 (16-ounce package) frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
  • 1 (1-inch thumb) ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 large green serrano chile, finely chopped (seeds removed if you don’t like it spicy!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon store-bought or homemade garam masala
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 cup plain yogurt, stirred until smooth

Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together the turmeric, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil. Gently, drop in the cubes of paneer and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes if you’re using the homemade kind. Let the cubes marinate while you get the rest of your ingredients together and prepped.

Thaw the spinach in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish, 5 minutes on high, then puree in a food processor until smooth. Alternatively, you can chop it up very finely with your knife.

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add the paneer as the pan warms. In a couple of minutes give the pan a toss; each piece of paneer should be browned on one side. Fry another minute or so, and then remove the paneer from the pan onto a plate.

Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the pan. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and chile. Now here’s the important part: saute the mixture until it’s evenly toffee-coloured, which should take about 15 minutes. Don’t skip this step – this is the foundation of the dish! If you feel like the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.

Add the garam masala, coriander and cumin. If you haven’t already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spices from burning. Cook, stirring often, until the raw scent of the spices cook out, and it all smells a bit more melodious, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the spinach and stir well, incorporating the spiced onion mixture into the spinach. Add a little salt and 1/2 cup of water, stir, and cook about 5 minutes with the lid off.

Turn the heat off. Add the yogurt, a little at a time to keep it from curdling. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the paneer. Turn the heat back on, cover and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve.

*Cook’s Note: Paneer is very easy to make at home, and my recipe is quick, easy, and delicious. I also think homemade has a better texture than anything store-bought. If you’d like to buy it, this cheese is available in better supermarkets as well as specialty Asian markets.

Paneer: Homemade Indian Cheese:
Cheesecloth
8 cups whole milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, plus more as needed, see Cook’s Note*

Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink.

In a large wide pot, bring the milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom (a nonstick pot works really well for this purpose). This will take a little while so be patient!

Add the lemon juice and turn the heat down to low. Stirring gently, you should almost immediately see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) separate. Don’t fret, this is perfect!

*Cook’s Note: If the milk doesn’t separate juice some more lemons and add another tablespoon or two. Boost the heat again and the milk should separate. Stir in a motion that gathers the curds together rather than breaks them up.

Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour the contents into the cheesecloth-lined colander. Gently rinse with cool water to get rid of the lemon flavor. At this point, you could squeeze out some of the liquid, and serve with some honey and some nuts, almost like a fresh ricotta!

Grab the ends of the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese to squeeze out the excess whey. Tie the cheesecloth to your kitchen faucet and allow the cheese to drain for about 5 minutes.

Twisting the ball to compact the cheese into a block, place it on a plate with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side (this will ensure your block of cheese is nice and smooth!) and set another plate on top. Weigh the second plate down with cans of beans or a heavy pot. Move to the refrigerator and let it sit about 20 minutes.

Yield: Makes 12 ounces of cheese.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Aloo Paratha (Potato-stuffed Indian bread)

The following recipe makes about 4 paratha’s and feeds 2 people.
Method:

Step I – Making the dough – You will need:

Wheat Flour

Wheat Flour
* 2 cups wheat flour

* 1 cup warm water
* 3-4 tablespoons full-cream milk
*1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
– Take a large, deep bowl and put all the flour, oil, milk & salt in it. Mix coarsely with your fingers.

Mix the flour, oil, mil and salt mixture coarsely with fingers

Mix the flour, oil, milk and salt mixture coarsely with fingers

– Now slowly add the water, 4-5 tablespoons at a time, while mixing well with your fingers. Keep adding water till the flour and water have mixed to form a soft, but firm mass. In case you add too much water by mistake (It happens!), add flour to the bowl, little by little, continuously mixing the dough, till it reaches a soft consistency.
– Now pummel the dough with your fist into the bowl for about 2-3 minutes.

Pummell the dough

Pummell the dough

– Once done, keep the dough aside for about 1/2 hour before making the paratha’s.
Step II – For the potato stuffing:
* 3 medium sized potatoes washed, boiled and peeled
* 4-5 tablespoons chopped onion
* a handful of chopped coriander
* 6-7 leaves of mint, finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
* 1 teaspoon Dhania – Jeera powder (available ready in Indian stores)
* 1 teaspoon Chaat masala (available in Indian stores)
* Juice of 1/2 lemon
– Mash the potatoes well, in a large bowl. Add Onion, chopped Coriander & Mint and all the dry spices along with the lemon juice. Mix everything well together.
Assembling the Paratha: You will need –

* A rolling pin and a rolling stone – if you don’t have a rolling stone, roll out the paratha on your clean kitchen counter
* Some dry flour in a flat, large bowl or box
Method:
– Take a small quantity of dough (about double the size of a golf ball) and knead it into a ball with both your palms.
– On a rolling stone, flatten the ball of dough with your fingers. Cover it with some dry flour, on both sides
– Start rolling the pin across the ball of dough, with some pressure, so that it the dough now looks like a flat oval
– Turn the oval around, so that it is now horizontally lying in front of you on the rolling stone, and roll the pin from top to bottom, toward you, to flatten out the dough in the other direction, to make a circle

Flattening out the dough

Flattening out the dough

– Once you have a roughly circular, fairly thick piece of dough, you can begin the stuffing.
– Hold the rolled out dough in the palm of your left hand, and take a spoonful of the potato mixture. Place it between the circular piece of flattened dough

Place the potato mixture in the middle of the dough

Place the potato mixture in the middle of the dough

– Now, carefully, close the dough around the potato mixture, and seal the stuffed ball of dough.

Seal the ball of stuffed dough

Seal the ball of stuffed dough

– Put 1/2 a tsp of ghee / Oil to heat on a non-stick pan on medium high, at this point
– Put the stuffed dough back on the rolling stone and gently roll out the dough in a circle, flattening it out, in one direction at a time

Roll out the stuffed dough

Roll out the stuffed dough

– Continue to gently roll out the dough till you can see a very thin layer of dough covering the potato stuffing inside.

The rolled out stuffed paratha

The rolled out stuffed paratha

– Check if the pan is hot enough, and place the paratha to cook. Allow to cook on medium heat, for at least 2 mins on each side, or till the dough is cooked golden-brown.

Cook the paratha till it is golden-brown on each side

Cook the paratha till it is golden-brown on each side

– Enjoy the paratha fresh off the pan, with some spiced yogurt, or Mango pickle.