Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer

Ingredients 

1. Palak/spinach 6 oz/170g

2. Coriander leaves puree 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp

3. Paneer 200 grams 

4. Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

5. Ginger 1 small piece 

6. Garlic 6

7. Green chillies 5 slit 

8. Cashew nuts 10-12 whole

9. Sliced Onions 2 cups

10. Tomato puree 3/4 cups

11. Well beaten Yogurt 4 tbsp 

12. Garam masala 2 tsp

13. Coriander powder 1 tsp

14. Black salt 1/4 tsp

15. Lemon juice 1 tsp (optional)

16. Oil 2 tsps plus 1 tsp

Method Of Preparation 

1. Add water in a saucepan & bring it to a rolling boil & then turn off the stove. Immerse the paneer cubes in the water & let it stay there for 10 minutes. Discard the water & keep the paneer aside.

2. Rinse the palak in cold running water & clean the leaves. Put them on a chopping board & remove the hard stems & leave the tender ones as is.

3. Boil 3 cups of water in a saucepan. Let it come to a rolling boil & add the palak/spinach leaves & let it remain in the water for 2 minutes & then turn off the flame immediately. Remove from the spinach onto a colander & rinse the leaves once again in cold running water to stop the cooking process. You need to remove the spinach from water as soon as you see the spinach turn darker in color(check the 3rd pic below)

4. Add the leaves in a blender & make a fine puree out of it. There isnt any need to add water while grinding the spinach. 

5. Wash & clean the coriander leaves & make a puree out of it. 

6. Chop the tomatoes & blend them to a fine puree. Now strain the puree into a bowl & set it aside. Always strain the tomato puree before you add it in the gravy.

7. Add 2 tsps of oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot, add cumin seeds. When they splutter, add sliced onions. When they turn translucent add the ginger garlic & green chillies & sauté for 2 minutes till the onions & green chillies start changing colors. Then add the cashews & sauté for a few seconds & then turn off the gas stove. Let the mixture cool.

8. Grind it to a fine paste.

9. Add 1 tsp of oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot, add the ground paste & keep stirring this on a medium flame for a minute & then add the tomato paste & cook for 2 minutes. 

10. Then add the well beaten yogurt & mix & stir well. Make sure the yogurt is well beaten. 

11. Now add black salt, coriander powder & garam masala & mix well. 

12. Add the spinach & coriander leaves puree & cook uncovered for a minute. 

13. Add the cubed paneer & cook for a minute more.

14. Before turning off, squeeze lemon juice & turn off the gas stove. 

15. Serve hot with roti/chappati.

Notes:

1. Do not let the spinach/palak remain in the water for more than 2 minutes. Being in the water for a long time will change the color of the leaves. 

2. To give the dish a nice texture it is very important to strain the tomatoes.

3. Please note that the yogurt needs to be in room temperature before adding it to the gravy.

4. Please note that I have not added water to the dish. Adding water changes the color of the dish.

5. Do not increase the quantity of spinach leaves or any other ingredients as that may change the color of the gravy.

6. Do not cook the spinach covered or do not cook for a long time as that may make the spinach lose its color.

7. Black salt is an important ingredient here so try not to skip it.

8. Follow the above steps exactly & I am sure you will get an awesome color & texture of the dish.

Sizzling Nutella Fudge Brownies

Sizzling Nutella Fudge Brownies

Ingredients 

1. Nutella 2 cups

2. Eggs 3

3. Salt 1/4 tsp

4. Choco chips a handful 

5. Baking tray/cake pan

6. Parchment paper/baking paper

Ingredients For Plating

1. Sizzler plate

2. Ice cream

3. Chocolate syrup

Method Of Preparation 

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F

2. Line a baking tray or cake pan with baking paper/parchment paper & spray some non-stick oil on it.

3. Break eggs into a large bowl & using a beater, beat the eggs really well until they become fluffy & triple in volume & become nice & pale(lighten in color)(see pic below). This takes about 4 minutes.

4. Then pop the Nutella into the microwave for a minute so that it loosens a bit. Take it out every 20 minutes, give it a stir & again put it back into the microwave. 

5. Add the Nutella & the chocolate chips into the egg mixture & stir everything together until well combined. 

6. Pour the batter into the cake pan/baking tray & put it in the pre heated oven & bake for around 35 minutes or until fully cooked.

7. You will know your brownie is done when a skewer inserted into the middle of the brownie comes out clean.

8. Take it out of the oven & after 5 minutes, remove it from the baking tray & put it on a cooling rack.

9. Once cooked, cut it into square shaped pieces. 

Plating

1. Turn on the gas stove & place the sizzler plate on it till it becomes very hot to touch.

2. Place two brownies in the center of the plate.

3. Top it with 2 large scoops of vanilla ice cream.

4. Drizzle 2 tbsp of chocolate sauce on the ice cream & add around 1/4 cup of chocolate sauce on the sizzler plate.

5. Transfer the plate onto the wooden tray & serve immediately.

The Perfect Egg Biryani

The Perfect Egg Biryani

Recipe Type: Main

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Recipe Courtesy: Ms. Ummi Abdullah

1. Ingredients 

A. To make the omelettes 

1. Eggs 5 

2. Green chillies 2-3 finely chopped 

3. Turmeric powder a pinch 

4. Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp

5. Chopped onions 1 small

6. Oil 2 tsp

7. Salt to taste 

B. To make the rice 

1.  Rice 2 cups 

2. Cardamom 3 

3. Cloves 4

4. Cinnamon 2(1" stick)

5. Bay leaves 2

6. Mint leaves 1/2 cup

7. Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

8. Ginger paste 1 tbsp

9. Garlic paste 11/2 tbsp

10. Green chilli paste 1 tbsp

11. Salt to taste

12. Water 3 cups

13. Oil/ghee 1 tbsp

C. To make the biryani masala

1. Cardamom 3

2. Cloves 8

3. Cinnamon 2(1" sticks)

4. Bay leaves 1

5. Shahjeera 1 tsp 

6. Mace blades 6

7. Nutmeg 1/2 tsp

8. Fennel seeds 2 tsp

9. Cumin seeds 1 tsp 

10. Star anise 1

11. Dry red chillies 4(optional)

12. Coriander seeds 3 tbsp(optional)

13. Black stone flower 3(optional)

14. Black peppercorns 3(optional)

D. To make the masala 

1. Onions 21/2 cups thinly sliced

2. Tomatoes 11/4 cup finely chopped

3. Ginger paste 2 tbsp

4. Garlic paste 3 tbsp

5. Green chillies 6 slit 

6. Biryani Masala 2 tsp

7. Mint leaves 1/3 cup

8. Coriander leaves 1/2 cup

9. Juice of 1/2 lemon

10. Omelette pieces 

11. Salt 

12. Oil 2 tbsp 

E. To shallow fry the eggs

1. Boiled, peeled & halved Eggs 4

2. Pepper powder a pinch on all the egg halves

3. Salt a very tiny pinch on all the egg halves 

4. Biryani Masala a very tiny pinch on all the egg halves

2. Method Of Preparation 

1. Preparation Of Omelettes

A. Break the eggs into a bowl & beat them well. Add all the ingredients mentioned under "1A" except oil & mix everything together nicely.

B. Add oil in a pan & take a small ladleful of the mixture & make a thin omelette(check pic to see how thin the Omelettes are).

C. Repeat the above steps & make thin Omelettes till the mixture gets over.

D. Put these Omelettes on a plate & cut them into bite sized pieces & set it aside

2. Method Of Preparation Of Rice

A. Wash the rice under cold running water, drain it on a paper towel & let it dry.

B. In a heavy bottomed pan, add oil or ghee or both. 

C. Add the cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves & cinnamon. 

D. Now add the onions & sauté till it turns translucent(I have not added onions as I was super lazy to slice them :)) (you may skip it as well).

E. Add the ginger garlic green chilli paste & sauté till the raw smell goes away.

F. Add the mint & coriander leaves & sauté for a few seconds until the leaves shrink in size.

G. Now add the rice & stir on a low heat for 2 minutes. 

H. Add water & cover & cook till done.

  

3. To make the biryani masala

A. Dry roast all the ingredients mentioned under "1C" & let it cool & then grind them to a fine powder.

B. Ingredients #11, 12, 13 & 14 are completely optional in this dish. The original recipe doesn't have them. If you want your biryani to have a darker shade, then you can add them or you can skip them. I have made biryani adding those ingredients as well as omitting them too. Both of them tasted good but the one with those ingredients will had a darker shade than the one without them. 

4. To make the egg masala

A. Add oil in a pan & add the onions. Sauté till it turns translucent. 

B. Now add the ginger garlic & green chilli paste & sauté till the raw smell goes away.

C. Add the coriander & mint leaves & cook for a minute.

D. Add the chopped tomatoes & salt & cook till it gets mushy.

E. Add the bite sized omelette pieces & mix with the base.

F.  Add the biryani masala & mix everything together & cook for a minute on a medium flame. 

G. Squeeze lemon juice & turn off the flame. 

5. To shallow fry the eggs

A. Sprinkle biryani masala, salt & black pepper powder on the egg halves. 

B. Add a tsp of oil in a pan. When the oil gets hot, add the egg halves into the pan with the yolk side facing up first. Then flip & fry on the other side.

C. Shallow fry the eggs for 30 seconds on each side & remove from the pan. 

6. Layering & Final Cooking & Serving

A. Grease 2 tbsp of ghee in a heavy bottomed pan. Add half the quantity of egg masala into it & then over it, spread half the quantity of rice & sprinkle 2 pinches of biryani masala. Then add the rest of the biryani masala, rice & again sprinkle biryani masala & add 2 tbsp of ghee on it & cover it with a very tight fitting lid. If you do not have a tight fitting lid, then place a heavy pan filled with water on the lid of the biryani pot.

B. Turn on the gas stove on high flame & place a cast iron skillet/tawa on it. When the skillet gets hot, turn on the flame to the lowest & place the biryani pot on it & let it cook for 15-20 minutes & then turn off the flame. Do not open the lid now.

C. Open the lid only after 20 minutes. 

D. As soon as you open the lid, mix the biryani well & place the fried eggs on the biryani.

E. Serve hot with raita, pappad & pickle. 

Notes

1. If you don't have the time to make biryani masala, then just use store-bought masala.

2. You can replace biryani masala with garam masala & the biryani tastes equally good.

3. You can adjust the quantity of all the ingredients as per your taste. If you want less masala, then you can reduce the quantity of tomatoes & onions. You can increase or decrease the quantity of biryani masala. Increase it, if you want a darker shade, decrease the quantity if you want a lighter shade.