Pav bhaji

Pav bhaji is another dish which i grew fond of after marriage. Though I am a huge fan of chat items usually before marriage I opt for pani puri (Oh my god I just love them) or samosa chat. The ones we used to get in our NTPC township was way too delicious. However in chennai restaurants the chat quantity was bit too much and they were not up to my expectations. My hubby loves Pav bhaji so he was the one who introduced it to me. This is not very tricky dish but it may take bit time especially if you make in large quantities. After few trial and errors I found this recipe perfect for our taste buds!! Posting the same with some minor modifications. 

PaV Bhaji

Cuisine: Indian Category: Snacks Difficulty level: Medium Prep Time: 20 Cook time: 30 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Potato 3 medium sized Capsicum 1 Tomato 2 Onion 2 Ginger Garlic Paste 2 tsp Peas 1 fistfull Salt 1 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp Chilli Powder 1 Tsp Pav Bhaji Masala 1 Tsp + 1 Tsp Butter 3 Tbsp Lemon 1 Corriander leaves 1 spring Pav Buns 6

Preparation            1.     Boil the potatoes. Peel its skin and mash them nicely. Chop tomatoes, onion, capsicum finely. Method    1.     In pan add 1 Tbsp butter and once it melts add capsicum, green peas and cook them till soft. Add some water if needed. Add tomatoes, salt,turmeric, chilli powder and ginger garlic paste.     2.     Add 1/2 cup water and cook the vegetables well. Using potato masher mash them to get homogeneous mixture. Add potatoes along with 1/2 cup water and keep mashing.     3.     Finally add 1 Tsp pav bhaji masala, some more chilli powder, dhania, some chopped onions and butter. Mix well and bhaji is ready.     4.     Cut the pav bun in middle. In tawa add little butter and once it melts, add a pinch of Pav bhaji masala and spread it to the bun. Flip and toast till both sides becomes golden brown.      5.     Squeeze some lemon juice while serving.Enjoy on a rainy evening!!

Notes       ·         My hubby don't like adding carrot and cauliflower hence we skip it.All vegetables should be cooked very well. Mashing is the key part in this dish.        ·         You can boil capsicum and other vegetables also while cooking potatoes.        ·         I used kashmiri red chili to get red shade. You can add some food colour too but it's not mandatory.        ·         Adding pav masala to bun gives nice taste and highly recommended.         ·         You can make the bhaji previous day and refrigerate it. Reheat next day and add dhania, onions, butter and lemon before serving.       ·         Do not compromise with butter. In shops they add even more amount. This is very filling snack hence keep dinner very simple. We used to have buttermilk rice (mor sadham).

Completes a relaxing weekend!! 

Easy Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is one of my all time favourite dish. I love to pair it with rotis as well as jeera rice. Unfortunately my man hates both palak as well as paneer hence ultimately its one of his least favourite dish. That's one of the main reason I make it at home once in a blue moon :( . Whenever I get a chance to visit any north indian restaurant I use that opportunity to enjoy this yummy dish. I learnt this simple method from one of my IIT friend Mala. Since I have to make only for myself I justify opting to this method :P. Do try this and share your feedbacks!!

Easy Palak Paneer

Cuisine: Indian Category: Sidedish Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 10 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Palak 1 Big bunch Paneer 250 g Onion 2 big sized Tomato 2 big sized Ginger 1 inch piece Garlic 6-8 flakes Green Chili 2 medium sized Salt 1 Tsp Turmeric 1/4 Tsp Chilli Powder 1/2 Tsp Garam masala 1/2 Tsp Sugar 1 Tsp Cream 3 Tbsp Butter/Oil 2 Tbsp Jeera 1/2 Tsp Preparation     1.     If you are using frozen paneer, soak it in hot water for 10 mins. Remove the palak leaves from its stalk and chop the veggies.

Method            1.     In pan add oil and once it becomes hot add green chili, onion, ginger and garlic. Sauté till onions become translucent.     2.     Add tomatoes and saute for a minute. When the tomatoes are half cooked and the palak.     3.     Sauté in medium flame till everything gets cooked. Cool down and puree the mixture.         4.     In pan add another Tbsp of oil and when it is hot temper with jeera. Add the puree along with salt and spice powders mentioned.      5.     Sauté for few minutes and add sugar. Add Paneer along with 1/2 cup water and let the mixture boil for few minutes.       6.     Garnish with cream and serve hot with rotis or steamed basmati rice!!                                             Notes

·         Just wash the palak and add while sauting. Do not add water.       ·         While grinding also we need not add any water.       ·         You can add 1 teaspoon of ginger garlic paste instead of raw ginger + garlic.

Looks cool right ? :)    

Vada Curry

Vadacurry is one of famous side dish we use for idly and dosa. It tastes great especially with spongy dosa. I make it whenever we are bored of other usual side dish like sambhar, chutney etc. Coconut milk and mint leaves gives really nice flavour to this dish. Its very filling too . Sometimes I crumble the vadas and make this dish this time I used whole vadas. Sharing my version :)

Vada Curry

Cuisine: Indian Category: Side dish Difficulty level: Medium Prep Time: 30 mins Cook time: 30 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients For vada Channa dal 1/2 cup Green Chilli 1 Salt 1/2 Tsp Ginger 1/2 inch piece Garlic 4-5 flakes Fennel seeds 1/4 Tsp Corriander leaves 1 spring For gravy Tomatoes 2 big sized Onion 1 big sized Salt 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder 1 Tsp Garam Masala 1/2 Tsp Coconut milk 1/2 Cup Mint leaves 1 spring Corriander leaves 1 spring For Tempering Bay leaf 1 Jeera 1/4 Tsp Oil 1 tbsp Preparation     1.     Soak channa dal in hot water for 30 mins. In the mean time chop onion, tomatoes etc finely.

Method             1.     Reserve 1 tsp of channa dal and grind remaining dal coarsely without adding water. Grind ginger, garlic, fennel and green chili to a smooth paste. Add this to the dal along with salt, some onion and coriander.      2.     Mix everything to form a thick batter. Fry the vadas in medium flame and keep aside.      3.     In a pan add oil and temper with jeera and bay leaf. Saute onions and once they become translucent add tomatoes. Once they become soft add salt, spice powders along with 1/2 cup water.     4.     Boil the mixture for few minutes. Add vada along with 1/2 cup water. After few mins add coconut milk and switch off the flame.        5.     Garnish with chopped corriander and mint leaves. Serve with idly or dosa.

Notes      ·         Drain excess water and grind dal without adding water. If the batter becomes thin add some rice flour and sooji then make vada.       ·         You can use leftover masala vadas also for this recipe.       ·         You can steam the dal instead of frying.     ·         Adjust coconut milk according to your preferance. We usually add more as we like that sweet taste.        ·         Gravy thickens once it cool downs. You can boil it along with some more water.

 Tasty Vada curry ready to be served with soft dosas !!!