Vegetable Kohlapuri

Vegetable Kohlapuri

I first had this dish at my friend D’s house and remember being completely blown away by the flavors of this dish. Its spicy, hearty and delicious. It originates from a place called Kolapur in Maharashtra, India. They have a lot of unique flavors and actually this dish is made from Kohlapuri chillies.

Some versions of this recipe uses coconut and sesame seeds too in the gravy, but this is my take on it!

Ingredients

Veggies

Carrots	1-2 medium sized
Cauliflower florets	10
Beans	7-8
Potatoes	1 medium sized
Capsicum/Bell Pepper	1 medium sized
Onions	1 medium sized
Green Peas	1 cup

Gravy

Brown onion paste	1 cup ( 1 medium sized onion)
Tomatoes (pureed)	4
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 Tbsp
Green chilly Paste	1 Tbsp
Red chilly powder	1 tsp
Coriander Powder	1 tsp
Cumin powder	½ tsp
Salt	To Taste
Fenugreek Leaves	1 tsp, Crushed
Garam Masala Powder	½ tsp
Whole Garam Masala	1 inch cinnamon stick, 1 bay leaf, 3 cloves, 3 cardamom pods
Oil	3 Tbsp
Butter	1 Tbsp (Skip if you want to make this vegan)
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Minced Ginger, Garlic and Green Chillies	1 tsp each
Oil	For deep frying
Kitchen King Masala	1 tsp

Method

Cut the carrots, potatoes and beans into long strips. Also cut one capsicum and onion into cube sized pieces. Now deep fry the carrots, beans, cauliflower and the potatoes. Drain them in a paper towel. Add the Kitchen King Masala and fenugreek leaves and let it sit for a while.

In a heated pan, add oil and whole spices. Now sautee onions in till they turn deep brown in color. Add and cook the ginger garlic paste. Let it cool and grind it with 2 Tbsp of yoghurt. Puree the tomatoes.

Now add the brown onion paste.  Add the tomato puree. Once the mix comes to a boil add salt, turmeric powder and red chilly powder. Add the green chilly paste and cumin/coriander powders. Add little water and let the mix cook. Once oil starts oozing from the sides the gravy is all cooked.

 In a separate pan, add some oil, and the minced ginger, garlic and green chillies. Now add the cubed capsicum and onions.

Saute for a minute and add the cooked gravy. Add all the vegetables and a cup of cooked green peas. I added frozen green peas so cooked in in the gravy for 5 minutes. Add a little water to combine all the ingredients and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Finally add some butter and serve piping hot.

There’s something about a red fiery piping hot gravy that is absolutely awesome! Enjoy as a side for chapatis, rotis naan kulcha or even pulao!

Tips

·      Once I wanted this gravy and had no patience to individually deep fry all the veggies. I sautéed them for 15 minutes until they were completely cooked and used them for the gravy, it tastes just fine.

·      Though the ingredient list looks long and intimidating, they all serve an individual purpose that comes together and makes awesome gravy.

Quick Fix Paneer Makhni (Restaurant Style)

Quick Fix Paneer Makhni

This is one of those recipes that I absolutely love! Want to know why? Its because it is not only delicious but can be made quick. Just need a couple of ingredients that generally are my pantry essentials and you’re good to go! Its no surprise that this is one of the top selling dishes at restaurants because its so great and even kids just love it. 

Makhan in Hindi means butter, this gravy is buttery, smooth and delicious that just melts in your mouth literally! Its basically a tomato based gravy with paneer in it. You can also use this gravy as a base for Vegetable Makhni but more on that later! This makes a great dish for a potluck dinner too! You can make it in bulk, just double or even triple the recipe! Plus its perfect for busy weeknights after a long hard work day!

Ingredients

Tomato Sauce	1 can,
Paneer	200 g
Salt	To taste
Red chilly powder	1 tsp
Ginger Garlic Paste	1 Tbsp
Butter	3 Tbsp
Garam Masala Powder	1 tsp
Coriander Powder	1 tsp
Turmeric Powder	¼ tsp
Cumin Seeds	1 tsp
Green chillies	2, Julienne
Ginger	1 inch piece, Julienne
Kasoori Methi	1 tsp
Honey	1 Tbsp
Heavy cream	2 Tbsp/ ¼  cup
Whole Garam Masala	3 cloves, I bay leaf, 3 green cardamom pods

Method

Heat a pan and add some butter in it. Keep the flame low and add in the cumin seeds once the butter starts melting. Add the Whole garam Masala once the cumin seeds start crackling.

Add the ginger garlic paste now. Cook it until the raw smell goes away. Add the full can of tomato sauce. Now add salt, turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Add in less salt as the sauce already has some salt in it.

Add some water and dissolve the spice powders in it and let it cook in medium flame covered. Keep a watch and stir it occasionally. Once the oil oozes out from the sides, the mix would have cooked well with all the spices.

Add the kasoori methi leaves. Crush them with your palm to start getting the flavor out of them. Also add the garam masala powder and honey now. 

Add the paneer cubes now. I tend to just shallow fry the paneer just because I like the texture that way but you can add fresh paneer. Just add some water to thin it out to the consistency of the gravy as you like it. Let the mix simmer a little in  low flame to incorporate everything together and for the paneer to absorb all the flavors together. Stir it gently to not break the paneer.

                         

Add in fresh cream or heavy cream and give it a mix with light hands. The paneer is really soft to the touch and might break off easily.

Slit a piece of ginger into juliennes and also slit the green chillies. Heat up 1 tsp of butter and sautee the ginger and green chillies for just a minute until they soften up and add this into the gravy. Since we add the green chillies now, adjust the quantity of red chilly powder in the gravy to suit your taste. This gravy tends to be on the sweeter side generally with minimal heat.

Serve piping hot with chapatis or rotis or even any rice varieties. It goes great with some peas pulao or jeera pulao!!

Tips

• The original recipe for paneer makhni involves cooking tomatoes, making a puree. The sauce is a perfect substitute. You can alternatively use tomato puree instead or even diluted tomato paste. 
• Substitute mixed veggies like carrots, beans, potatoes, cauliflower and peas for the paneer and make it a vegetable makhni!
• Want to Make a healthy low fat version? Substitute oil in place of butter and milk for cream and you’re all set!

Lemon Pickle (South Indian style)

Homemade Lemon Pickle

This is my mother in law’s recipe. Every time she visits us, she makes a huge batch of lemon pickle and somehow it all gets over by the time she’s back next year! That’s how good it is! Its salty and acidic and the fragrance of the fresh lemons linger for a long time even after one year if properly maintained and more importantly if it lasts that long!

Lemons are just wonderfully fresh here where I live and are in season during the summer. They are just slightly sweet and fruity and incredibly juicy. Plus they are larger than Indian lemons, so I have used just 10 of them but if you are making it with smaller ones, you will need to double the quantity of lemons.

Ingredients

Lemons, large	10 approx
Salt	2 heaped Tbsp
Red chilly powder	2 Tbsp
Asafoetida	1 Tbsp
Turmeric	1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds	1.5   Tbsp
Oil	2 Ladles or ½ cup
Mustard Seeds	1 Tbsp

  Sugar                                                                    1 tsp

Method 

Chop the lemons into cube sized pieces and remove the seeds. Then add the cut lemon pieces to a large wide vessel with slit green chillies. You can omit the chillies but I like to add them for that unique flavor. If skipping the green chillies you can increase the red chilly powder slightly to get the required heat. Add all the salt.

 I actually had to stop making this at the time as it was late at night so I left the lemons marinating in the salt. It was all macerated by the morning with all the juices flowing and the lemons slightly tender. This made the cooking process too way easier.

Dry roast the fenugreek seeds in medium flame by being careful not to burn them. Trust me, this would not be ideal as fenugreek seeds by itself are slightly bitter. While switching off the flame add the turmeric in and give one stir. Grind this into a reasonably fine powder and set aside. In fact you can also add some fresh dried red chillies by roasting it the pan and then grinding it.

In a wide pan, add the oil and heat it. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to pop. Add the asafetida and let it slightly cook in the hot oil.

Then add the lemon pieces with all the juices. Give the mix and big stir and add in the red chilly powder. Now let it cook covered on medium low flame, stirring it once a while.

This is for the lemon pieces to cook together and become gel like. Once its thickened nicely, the cooking process is done. At this stage add the ground fenugreek powder and give it a mix.

Store them in clean and DRY (most important) containers once it is cool. You will need to add oil just so the mix is covered in oil. Use a clean spoon to serve pickle every time. Add the sugar in too, this is to cut the acidity of the lemons.

This pickle will get better if stored for a few days before tasting it. By then the salt and red chilly powder would have been absorbed by the lemons and will be infused to give that phenomenal taste! I have always stored this pickle in bottles in the refrigerator and have had no problems in maintaining it fresh for more than a year. It gets better with time!

I know these days most people buy pickles outside. For me I am old school who prefers home made pickles mainly because I don’t like the preservatives smell and taste in store bought pickles. Plus the salt content in them is high too so I prefer them home made. This way you can customize it the way you want plus you can make it organic!

Serve the pickle with rotis, curd rice or just plain yogurt. Need I say more? Enjoy!!

Tips

• More than making this pickle, storing it is key to prolong its shelf life. For that it is absolutely essential that it is stored in clean, dry containers as moisture aids the growth of bacteria and mould.
• Add enough oil to keep the pickle immersed in oil while storage. You can easily just add the pickle minus the oil while serving it.
• If for any reason, you see a while film over the pickle, take it out as much as possible. Then give the pickle a good stir so the surface is coated in oil again. In the rare times that this has happened to me, I end up changing the container that I stored it in.