BUTTER CHICKEN

For marinating:
Boneless chicken – 1 lb, cut into cubes
Yogurt – ¼ cup
Garam masala – 2 tsp
Everest meat masala – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Lemon juice - ½ lemon

For gravy:
Onion – 1 big, minced
Tomatoes – 2
Cashew nuts – 3-4
Ginger – 1”
Garlic – 3-4 cloves
Kasoori methi* – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Red chili paste – 1 tsp (optional)
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Fresh cream – ¼ cup
Salt

Cooking Procedure:
Whip the yogurt till smooth. Add the garam masala, meat masala, cumin powder and lemon juice. Mix everything very well. Then add the chicken and mix well. Cover and keep in refrigerator to marinate overnight.
For gravy, blanch the tomatoes and make the puree. Soak the cashew nuts in warm water for ½ hour. Then make ginger garlic and cashew nuts paste. Add little water if required. Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan. Then add the marinated chicken and fry on high heat for 10 mins, stirring continuously. Remove the chicken from pan and keep aside. In the same pan add little oil, add onion and fry till golden brown. Then add ginger garlic paste. Fry for 2 mins on low flame. Then add the tomato puree and fry till oil separates. Then add red chili powder, red chili paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix well and add a ladle full of boiling water and continue cooking till oil separates. This helps the spices to cook and remove the raw flavor. Blend this gravy using a hand blender to form smooth gravy. Add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil. Then add the chicken to the gravy, cover and let cook till the chicken becomes tender. Finally add kasoori methi and cream. Continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Serve hot with naan/ paratha/ rice.

* dried fenugreek leaves

HOW TO BLANCH TOMATO

Heat some water in a pot, sufficient enough to cover 2-3 tomatoes. Wash the tomatoes and remove the core using the tip of the paring knife. Cross cut on the opposite side as shown in the picture.

When the water starts boiling, drop the tomatoes and cook till the skin starts to split. I cooked them on medium high heat for 15 mins. Then remove from water and keep aside to cool.

After they cool off remove the skin with hands. The skin slips right off.

Tomatoes are now ready to be pureed for using in gravy and sauces recipe. I blanch the tomatoes in bulk and puree them, put them in 1 cup containers and store in freezer.

SAVORY ZUCCHINI PANCAKES

Ingredients:
Zucchini – 2 small, grated
Besan/ chickpea flour – 1 ½ cup or as required
Semolina – 2 tbsp
Green chili – 2, finely chopped
Sesame seeds – 1 tbsp
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Asafoetida – a pinch
Fresh chopped coriander leaves – ¼ cup
Salt


Cooking Procedure:
Place the grated zucchini in a big bowl. Then add green chilies, sesame seeds, garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, asafetida, coriander leaves and salt. Mix everything well and keep aside for 5 mins. Now add semolina and mix well. Then add besan as required to form a pancake like batter. Don’t add water. Mix well and keep aside for 10-15 mins.

Now heat a griddle and put ladle full of batter on hot griddle and spread inside out, using the back of the spoon to form a 4-5 inch diameter pancake.

Drizzle with some oil and let cook on medium heat.

Using a spatula slightly lift the pancake and see if the bottom is nice brown color.

Then flip it and again drizzle with some oil. Cook the other side till it becomes brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

FRESH MOZZARELLA AND TOMATO PANINI

Ingredients:
Sesame seeds buns – 2 nos
Fresh mozzarella cheese – 7-8 slices
Tomato – 2-3, sliced
Baby spinach – 12-15 leaves
Crushed red pepper – 1 tsp
Dry basil – 1tsp
Crushed black pepper – ½ tsp
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil


Cooking Procedure:
Brush the outer sides of the buns with olive oil and place them on a sheet of aluminium foil. I use the sheet for easy cleanup.

On the bottom slice of the bun, place the tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Then place the baby spinach over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper.

Then top it with fresh mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with some basil and salt.

Place the top slice. Place the buns on the Panini press and grill for 4-5 mind until the cheese melts.

Serve hot. I did not have fresh basil, so I used dry basil. You can use fresh basil.

PANEER CHILI

Ingredients:
Paneer – ½ lb, cut into cubes
Onion – 1 big, cut into sqaures
Green bell pepper – 1, cut into squares
Carrot – 2, diced
Ginger – 1 tsp, grated
Garlic – 1 tsp, chopped
Red chili flakes – ¼ tsp
Green chilies – 2-3 cut lengthwise
Crushed black pepper – ¼ tsp
Dark soy sauce – 1 tbsp
Chili sauce – ½ tsp
Vinegar – ¼ tsp
Corn flour – 1 tbsp
Water – ¼ cup
Salt as required

Cooking Procedure:
Marinate the paneer in half of garlic, ginger and soy sauce for 15-20 mins. Mix the cornflour in water and keep aside. Heat some oil in a pan, add the marinated paneer and stir fry on high heat, stirring continuously. When the paneer gets a brown color, remove it from the pan and keep aside. In the same pan heat some oil and add the remaining garlic and ginger. Fry for a minute, then add the onion. Fry for a minute, then add the green chilies, green bell pepper, carrot, red chili flakes and fry for 2 mins on high heat. Then add the soy sauce, chili sauce, vinegar and black pepper. Mix well then add the paneer. Mix well then add the corn flour water, make sure to stir the paste before adding. Mix well and continue cooking for a minute or two, then finally add the salt. Serve hot with steamed rice. This recipe will be little spicy, if you want less spicy, reduce the amount of green chilies and red chili flakes.

PANEER PARATHA

Ingredients:
Wheat flour – 2 cups
Salt – 1 ½ tsp
Oil – 2-3 tbsp
Water as required

For stuffing:
Grated Paneer – 1 ½ cup
Onion – 1, medium finely chopped
Coriander leaves – 1-2 tbsp, finely chopped
Green chilies – 3-4, chopped
Red chili flakes – ½ tsp
Cumin powder – ¼ tsp, coarsely crushed
Salt

Cooking Procedure:

Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and keep aside. Take the flour in a big bowl and add the oil and salt. Mix well with your hands then add water and kneed to form dough. Dough should not be too hard or too soft. Apply little oil to the dough, cover and keep aside for 15-20 mins. Then divide the dough into small balls. Take two balls and roll them into 3-4 inch diameter roti. Put the stuffing on one roti and top it with other roti. While putting the other roti over make sure to press gently from inside out, so that there are no air pockets left when you roll the paratha. Secure by pressing the ends of both rotis properly, so that the stuffing doesn’t come out easily. Sprinkle some flour on the paratha and start rolling. After two rolls, flip sides and roll again. If you roll from one side, the upper roti becomes thin and stuffing tends to ooze out. Place the paratha on the heated griddle and roast on both sides, by applying little oil/ghee while roasting. When the paratha becomes golden brown, its ready to serve. Serve with pickle.

IDLI SAMBAR AND CHUTNEY

For Idli:
Ingredients:
Rice – 4 cups
Udad dal – 2 cups

Procedure:
Use different containers for rice and udad dal. Wash them with water till the water runs clear. Fill the containers with water, 2-3 inch above the rice and dal. Let them soak over night. Then next day grind the rice and dal to form a batter. Add little water while grinding. I grind the dal first and then the rice. Mix all the batter well and cover the container and keep aside to ferment in a warm place. I keep the batter in oven and keep the light ON. And when the batter doubles in size, its ready to use.

For Sambar:
Toor dal – 2/3 cups
Onion – 1, medium chopped
Lauki (bottle gourd) – ½ cut into chunks
Small eggplant – 3, cut into pieces
Potato – 1, small chopped
Bhendi (Okra) – 3-4 chopped
Tomato – 1, medium chopped
Garlic – 2-3 cloves, chopped
Curry leaves – 4-5
Tamarind pulp – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – ¼ tsp
Hing – a pinch
Red chili powder – ½ tsp
Garam masala – ½ tsp
Sambar masala – 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves
Salt

Cooking Procedure:
Wash the dal, till the water runs clear. Pressure cook the dal with 3 cups of water, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp oil.

Cut the vegetables as shown in picture below

In a big pot, heat some oil. Add mustard seeds, when the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the fenugreek seeds. Then add the onion. Fry the onion till translucent. Then add the garlic and curry leaves and fry for a minute. Then add all the vegetables except the bhendi. Fry for two mins on medium high heat, stirring continuously. Reduce the flame then add the turmeric powder, hing, red chili powder, garam masala and salt. Stir to combine all the vegetables with masala. Then add the dal and sambar masala. Bring everything to a boil. Now add the tamarind paste and bhendi. Continue cooking till the vegetables become tender. Finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
You can substitute the vegetables with other vegetables like pumpkin, drumsticks, cauliflower. You can use these vegetables in combination. If you don’t have all the vegetables mentioned above, you can also make sambar with 2 vegetables.

For Chutney:
Roasted peanuts – 1 cup
Green chilies – 3-4
Garlic – 2-3
Chopped Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp
Salt
Mustard seeds – ¼ tsp
Cumin seeds – ¼ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/8 tsp
Hing – a pinch

Cooking procedure:
Combine roasted peanuts, green chilies, garlic, coriander leaves and salt. Blend this mixture to make a fine paste. Add little water if required. In a non stick pot, heat some oil. Then add the mustard seeds, when they start to splutter, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves, hing and turmeric powder. Then add the peanut paste and mix well. Add water if required. Bring the chutney to a boil and continue cooking for 2-3 mins. Now the chutney is ready to serve. This chutney taste good when served hot. We like our chutney little watery. You can adjust the amount of water as per your taste. Also this chutney becomes thick as it cools. This chutney tastes good with idli, dosa, uttapam and also in sandwiches.