Kadai Paneer - Restaurant style

Hello everyone, today I have got a recipe of Kadhai Paneer, one of my favourite dishes. Whenever I am visiting any restaurant or dhabas I never ever forget to order this. 

I tried so many recipes but not at all satisfied with the results, was not getting that restaurant flavours, thus never posted its recipe too. Then one day Jaspreet Nirula ji's  recipes clicked in my mind, he is one of my foodie friend and a very awesome cook, specially in rich cuisines, was pretty sure that he might have the solution for it too. I asked him and got a brilliant recipe. Tried it and simply loved it too. Made very minimal changes and finally very happy. Its a bit time taking recipe but believe me, its worth. So today I am dedicating my post to him. Thank you sir :)))))

So lets run through the ingredients, following the method.

Video Link :

Ingredients :

• Paneer/Cottage cheese : 200gms (Click here for the homemade paneer recipe)
• Tomatoes : 3 medium, chopped
• Onion : 1 small, diced
• Capsicum/bellpeppers : 1 medium, diced
• Fried onion paste - 1 onion (Fry in oil, blend it with a little water)
• Ginger : 1/2 tsps
• Garlic : 1+1/2 tsps
• Green chillies : 2 slit
• Kashmiri red chili powder : 1 tsp
• Kadai Masala : 2 tsps (Click here for homemade Kadai Masala recipe)
• Garam Masala : 1/4 tsp
• Kasoori Methi/Dried fenugreek leaves : 1 tbsp
• Fresh Cream : 1/2 cup (optional, I didn't add)
• Oil : 3-4 tbsps 
• Salt to taste

 Method :

• Heat 1+1/2 tbsps of oil in a pan, fry the paneer cubes till light golden in colour. Once done put them in warm water with some salt.
• In the same pan fry the diced capsicum and diced onions, maintain their crunchiness. Take them out on a plate and keep aside.
• In the same pan add a oil (approx 1tbsp), add 1 tsp of garlic and saute. Now add the chopped tomatoes to it and fry until they are half done. 
• Add red chili powder with 1/2 tsp salt and cook further. When oil oozes out and the tomatoes masala is cooked properly switch off the flame and keep aside.
• In a wok/kadai add some oil, to this add 1/2 tsp of ginger and 1/2 tsp of garlic and saute. Add 1+1/2 tsps kadai masala and fry. Then add green chillies and also add the fried onion paste. Mix it well, we don't have to cook it as its already cooked.
• Now add the tomato masala with some water (amount of water depends upon the consistency of gravy you want) and cook for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the sauteed capsicum & onions and also the drained paneer cubes, mix well.
• Finally add garam masala , 1/2 tsp of kadai Masala and kasoori methi and mix well.
• If you are adding cream, add it, cover for 2-3 minutes and cook on low flame. 
• Serve with hot chapatis, Rumalis (click here for Rumali roti recipe), laccha paratha.

Enjoy!!!!!!

Please do share your experiences and feedback with me in the below section of comments or on my Facebook page. I too have a You Tube channel please do visit for all the video recipes. All the links mentioned below :) 

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/cookwithpriyanka

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/cookwithpriyanka

Thanks & Happy Cooking
Priyanka

Braided bread stuffed with Paneer (Cottage cheese)

Hello everyone, today I have a very interesting and beautiful looking bread recipe. It was an experiment in my kitchen last night and yes I did it :). I would say that it might look very difficult to you but believe me I found it to be easiest of all. 

These days in CAL we are just talking about the yeast behaviors and variety of breads that can be made. In this regard we planned for an event for 3 days, in which every interested person would submit his/her thoughts, pics, recipes and many more in it. Hence I was fully motivated to start up with this beauty. Second comes the filling part, this is the most adjustable part of the recipe as you can stuff any thing weather sweet or savoury. I planned to make it a vegetarian savoury version and for me Paneer with colourful bell peppers was the best option. It has a nice crunchy crust and inside its quite soft and have all the flavours. So here is the ingredient list following the method :)

Ingredients for the dough :

• All purpose flour/Maida - 2 cups
• Active dry yeast - 1 + 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Water - 1/2 cup (Luke warm)
• Milk - 1/4 cup (Luke warm)
• Oil - 2 tbsp
• Egg + 1 tbsp of milk for glazing (You can use only milk as well and omit egg)

Ingredients for paneer filling :

• Paneer/Cottage cheese - 300 gms 
• Bell peppers/capsicum - 1 cup chopped finely (If possible use multicolour)
• Onions - 1/2 cup
• Tomatoes - 3/4 cup (finely chopped)
• Ginger/Garlic - 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
• Fresh Coriander - 3 tbsps
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp (or as per the taste)
• Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - as per the taste
• Oil - 2 tbsps

Method :

Preparing the Filling :

• In a pan take oil, add ginger garlic and saute, when done add onions and saute till light brown. Now add the bell peppers, tomatoes, dry spices, salt and mix well. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes and then add crumbled or grated paneer, mix well cook for a minute more, add chopped coriander and let it cool.

For the Dough & bread :

• Starting up with the dough, combine together yeast, Lukewarm water and sugar in a bowl, stir and keep aside for 10-15 minutes or until it starts to froth. Once you see a frothy texture that means the yeast is ready to use. Now in a bowl take all purpose flour and salt, mix and knead the dough with yeast mixture and milk as well. Try to knead a soft dough. the quantity of milk can be adjusted. When the dough is almost done apply oil and again knead. Knead the dough for approximately 8-10 minutes or unless you get a nice soft and smooth dough.
• Place the dough in a large greased bowl and brush the top with oil, cover with a kitchen towel and leave aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume. The best place I find is my oven keeping its light on (for about 1-1 1/2 hours).
• Once risen, punch down the dough and divide this into 2 equal parts and shape them into smooth flat balls. 
• Now with the help of a rolling pin roll them to a rectangle with 1/4 " of thickness and place the filling in the center (just spreading it in appx 2" of an area. 
• Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut each side into strips about 1" wide down each side, leaving the center with filling uncut.
• Fold strips of dough into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side. 
• Lightly press ends to seal, and straighten out the braid with your hands, if necessary, to straighten.
• I was in a hurry last night so forgot to take the process pics. Hence found same kind on Google and sharing it with you all. 

Note : the picture shown below is not at all mine, but its just for your reference, Courtesy : Google images

• Beat an egg with milk and apply gently with a brush on the top of the braid. Also you can sprinkle some sesame seeds if you like. Transfer it to a baking sheet and bake the braid in a preheated oven at 200 ° C for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. 

Enjoy !!!!!

Note :

• Filling can be completely of your choice, weather vegetarian or non vegetarian.
• Be careful while transferring the braided bread onto the baking sheet, or you can roll the bread on a baking paper and lift it to keep on the sheet.
• If you are not an egg eater, then simply apply mil.
• The size of the bread depends on you, if you want you can make even 3 braids out of this dough.
• 50% of whole wheat flour can also be used.

Please do share your experiences and feedback with me in the below section of comments or on my Facebook page. I too have a You Tube channel please do visit for all the video recipes. All the links mentioned below :) 

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/user/cookwithpriyanka

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/cookwithpriyanka

Thanks & Happy Baking

Priyanka

Home-made Paneer (Home-made cottage cheese )

We all are very familiar with Paneer. Its the most fascinating dairy products, loved by mostly all. Every special occasion is incomplete without it. There has to be atleast one cuisine of Paneer. There are so many ways to use it, it is used in savoury dishes and also in preparing sweets. Its an Indian cheese which is prepared by coagulating milk via lemon, vinegar, yoghurt/curd or any other food acid. 

About the Nutritional part of Paneer, its is a great source of calcium, vitamin D, protein hence very much required to be included in the daily life. Its very useful in preventing cancer and also reduces the development of insulin resistance syndrome. Hence very useful for people on insulin. It is also help full in stomach disorders. 

I my home everyone loves paneer, but its difficult to find good quality of it here in London. Hence I started preparing at home. Now the time has come that I rarely purchase paneer from outside. Its very easy to prepare. So lets quickly see the ingredients.

Ingredients:

Whole milk/full fat milk - 2 litres

Lime juice/vinegar - 2-3 tbsps
Cream - 1/2 cup

Equipments:

Heavy bottom pot (to boil the milk)

Cheese cloth/muslin cloth

Colander

Method:

Boil the milk and cream in a heavy bottom pan. Stir occasionally in between so that the milk doesn't stick to the bottom (otherwise it might burn). Once the milk comes to boil turn off the stove, add first tbsp of lime juice/vinegar and stir. You will see that it has just started curdling. Now add the other tbsp of lime juice, stir. If required then add the third tbsp of lemon juice. You will see a light greenish whey separating. Now take a colander lined up with muslin cloth, pour the entire curdled milk into it. You can place a deep pan below the colander to collect the whey. Press the muslin cloth containing paneer nicely to drain the extra water, you can take the help of a tong here as it will be quite hot. Keep it hanging for 2-3 minutes over a tap. Now keep it over a colander, fill water in a pan (you can use the same pan in which it was prepared) and put it on the top of it for atleast for an hour. This will help in making the paneer into shape. You can also use any other heavy weight like mortar & pestle. Once done you can cut the paneer into cubes, and its ready to be used.

Tips:

• Always use whole milk, you can add 1 cup of fresh cream to the milk to make more soft paneer (makhani paneer).
• Never add the entire lemon juice/vinegar in one go.
• The whey collected from the curdled milk, can be used while making chapatis. This can also be used as an agent to curdle the milk next time, paneer will be more soft.
• Once the milk is boiled and acid is added to it then do not boil it further, this will harden the paneer.
• Don't keep the pan over the paneer for more than 1-2 hours, as this will make it more condensed.
• For storage, keep the paneer immersed in cold water in the refrigerator.

Few more clicks from another batch :

Bye n Happy cooking

Priyanka:)