Palak Paneer | Indian Curry Recipes

Paneer based dishes are loved very much at my home. Especially curries with paneer are hands down winners against regular curries. I believe one could tell that seeing the array of paneer dishes I have in my menu. This palak paneer is delicious and is also low-fat since I have not used cream. This recipe here sure makes a big pot of the curry. I used half of the curry to go with our chapathi for dinner and Jeera rice for lunch. I froze the remaining half of the batch in a freezer-safe container for another day when I cannot get to elaborate cooking. 

Ingredients:
Serves - 4-6
Spinach - 5 cups (tightly packed)
Shallots/Pearl onions - 7
Garlic - 3 cloves
Ginger - 1/2" piece
Green chilli - 1 (optional)
Paneer - 150 g - cut into 1/2" cubes
Onion - finely chopped - 1 cup
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup (I used crushed tomatoes from a can)
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Milk - 3 tbsp (Can substitute cream or half and half)
Oil -  1 tsp + 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste

Method:
Heat 1 tsp of oil in a wide pan and fry the shallots, ginger, garlic and green chilli. When the garlic is half cooked add the spinach leaves and saute until it wilts and shrinks. Allow to cool and blend to a puree. In the same wide non-stick pan, spray some oil and fry the paneer cubes in medium heat. This step is optional though. Heat 2 tbsp of oil and fry the onions until it turns light brown. Add the spice powders and salt. After a couple of minutes add the tomato puree and fry until it is cooked through. Add the spinach puree and water to get the desired consistency. Allow it to boil and then simmer for 10-15 minutes. Finally add the paneer pieces with the milk and continue to simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot with roti/naan/rice.

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Buddha's Delight | Vegan Chinese Recipes

Whenever we have tofu at home, Sunday's lunch is normally chinese or thai. It would be a simple Garlic basil tofu fried rice, Thai Green Curry or Tofu Szechwan. Last week I tried this simple Buddha's Delight, a true vegetarian Chinese dish with ample fresh vegetables and tofu on a soy based sauce. Ever since I got this Cooking Light - way to Cook Vegetarian cookbook, I have been wanting to try all the recipes in it. This recipe is my third attempt from the book. I have already tried and posted the Tofu Szechwan. I also made Vegetarian Chili for dinner one day, which was truly scrumptious, but couldn't get decent pictures since it is winter, it starts getting dark here by 4 PM.

Ingredients:
Carrots - 3 - peeled and sliced on the bias
Broccoli - 1 - cut into florets
Snow peas - a handful
Green onions / Spring onion greens - 1-1/2 cups
Ginger - grated - 1 tbsp
Garlic - 2 cloves - minced
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Extra Firm Tofu - 1 block
Sauce:
Vegatable broth - 1 cup
Corn Starch - 1 tbsp
Marinade:
Soy Sauce (Low sodium) - 3 tbsp
Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

Method:
Press the tofu to remove excess liquid. Cut into small cubes or triangles. Mix the ingredients for the marinade the toss the tofu in it. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for 1 hour, mixing once in between. Mix the broth and corn starch in another small bowl with a whisk. Drop the broccoli florets and the carrot slices into boiling water for about 90 seconds and drain and plunge immediately into an ice bath. Let it rest for a few minutes and then drain again. Heat oil in a wide non-stick skillet. Drain the tofu and reserve the marinade. Add the tofu to the skillet and fry for about 7-10 minutes in medium-high heat until all the sides are light brown. Now add the green onions, garlic, ginger and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the snowpeas and fry for a minute followed by the broccoli and carrots. After about 5 minutes, add the sauce mixture, reserved marinade and salt. Cook in medium flame until the sauce thickens a bit. Serve hot over steamed rice.
Notes: Any vegetable can be added to this dish. Baby corns, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, water chestnuts are best additions.

Linking this up to Vegan Thursdays.

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Rava Kesari / Sooji Pudding | Indian Festival Recipes

Starting December with a Sweet note! DH asked for this sweet himself. You may say "So? big deal". Actually he is not a big fan of sweets but he asked me to make this sweet on my birthday. I was happy to make it because, firstly he asked for it, secondly, I get to satisfy my sweet tooth :D. I was making this one when MIL was on phone wishing me on my birthday. She asked what I was making and I replied "Rava Kesari". "Good, that is our family's traditional sweet made during celebrations" said she. No wonder he asked me to make it. It is an easy to make sweet which gets done is less than 30 minutes, which is pretty amazing for an Indian Sweet. What do you say? Rava Kesari, anyone?

Ingredients:
Serves - 4
Rava - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Orange food color - a pinch
Cashews - 6 - halved
Ghee - 4 tbsp + 2 tsp
Water - 3 cups

Method:
Heat 1 tsp of ghee in a non-stick kadai and fry the cashews. Remove and set aside. Add another tsp of ghee and roast the rava until it is warm to the touch. Remove and spread on a plate to cool. Heat 2 cups of water in the same pan covered. Heat 1 cup of water separately in a saucepan and keep it covered. When the water in the kadai starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium, add the roasted cooled rava and mix with a wooden spoon until most of the water is absorbed. If the rava is cooked through it would appear clear. If it still appears like white grains add the other cup of water in 1/4 cup increments and cook until the rava is cooked through. When it is done, add the sugar and food color. The mixture would thin out a little and may form lumps after adding sugar. Continue stirring until there are no lumps. Add ghee little by little and continue to cook in medium heat. When all the ghee is used up add the fried cashews. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Notes: You can substitute yellow food color instead of orange.
Linking these up to Kid's Delight - Festival Treats;

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Pumpkin Cranberry Granola | Healthy Breakfast Recipes

After the success of my Pear Granola recipe, I have been making granola at home quite often with fresh fruit purees and Kavin's leftover store-bought fruit puree baby foods. Every time I try with a different nuts and sweetener combination. 
When most people love and wait eagerly for the spring season, somehow my favorite one is the autumn or the fall season. I love orange, orange everywhere starting with the falling leaves, persimmons, sweet potatoes and of course pumpkins. This pumpkin cranberry granola is another one on the line celebrating the fall season.

Ingredients:
Serves - 6
Rolled Oats - 3 cups
Roasted Pepitas - 1/2 cup
Cranberries - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon (ground) - 1 tsp
Ginger (ground) - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Pumpkin puree - 2/3 cup
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Maple Syrup - 1/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 2 tbsp (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 300 F/150 C. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, salt, oil, maple syrup and brown sugar (if using). Pour over the oats and mix well. Spread on the baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes. Pull out the baking sheet every 10 minutes and mix the oats with spoon to allow even cooking. In the last 10 minutes, fold in the pepitas and cranberries. When done, allow to cool in the baking sheet. The oats crisp up when cooled. Serve for breakfast with yogurt or milk.
Linking these up for Vegan Thursdays!

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Celebrating 3 years of blogging with an Event and a Giveaway!

Time flies. How true? This December I am completing 3 years of blogging. Though it may sound like cliche, I never thought I could make it this far. This blog has been my hobby and companion whenever I wanted to spend time usefully or just laze away. It has grown with me through my pregnancy, childbirth and my kid's first birthday. This blog has given me many friends and quite a few memories. I am celebrating this moment and always thankful for everyone in my life.
Happiness is meant to be shared, right! I am sharing in the form of a giveaway. One lucky winner will be selected at the end of the event to receive a cookbook "Dakshin - Vegetarian Cuisine from South India" by Chandra Padmanabhan. 
And now for the event details. I believe everyone will be in a holiday mood and baking away tons of cookies and cakes. To be a part of my event, just link them up. 

Rules for the event:
1. Link up all your holiday baking viz. cakes, cupcakes, muffins, scones, cookies. Eggs, no eggs anything is fine.
2. The recipe post should be linked back to this announcement page.
3. Send in any number of new entries posted from now until Jan 5th, 2014. 
4. Any one can participate, but only entries from US and India are eligible for the giveaway.
5. Non-blogger are also eligible for the giveaway, just send me your recipes with picture of the bake to krithiskitchen[at]gmail[dot]com.
6. Like my Facebook Page Krithi's Kitchen and follow me through Google Friend Connect.
7. After linking your entries leave a comment here.
8. Winner will be announced in the 2nd week of January.
Come on people, don your baking caps and link up some scrumptious entries.

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Murungakeerai Adai / Lentil Moringa Pancakes | Idli Dosa Recipes

Back home in India we had a drumstick tree in our backyard. Well, pretty much every tree in there, Mango, lime, coconut, jamun yielding a bounty of organic produce. We also had curry leaves, tulsi, hibiscus plants. The memory of eating drumstick leaves was almost forgotten, until I spotted this little pack of drumstick leaves in my Indian produce shopping last time. I picked up one thinking of making these adais which DH hearts and is a part of MIL's recipe book to him. I tweaked the recipe a little and arrived at this tasty dosa variety.

Ingredients:
Measurements in rice cooker cup - 160 ml; Makes 16 adais
Idli Rice - 3 cups
Toor dhal - 1 cup
Chana dhal - 1/4 cup
Murunga keerai / Drumstick leaves / Moringa - 1 cup - loosely packed
Dry Red chillies - 10 (see notes below)
Black Peppercorns - 1 tsp
Cumin seeds - 1-1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp
Grated Coconut - 1/2 cup - loosely packed
Salt - to taste

Method:
Wash and soak the rice and dhals together in plenty of water for 4 hours. Soak the dry red chillies in a separate bowl filled with water. Clean the murunga keerai, reserve only the leaves and discard the stems and twigs. Wash to remove any dirt. In the wet grinder, add one cup of the soaked rice-dhal mixture with chillies, peppercorns, cumin, asafoetida and coconut. Grind well, and add the rest of rice after 2 minutes. Grind coarsely into a rava like texture. Remove from the grinder and mix the salt and drumstick leaves. Heat a dosa tawa and pour about 1/2 cup of the batter and make dosas. Spray some oil and flip when the edges turn red. Cook for another minute and half and remove. Serve hot.
Linking this to Taste of the Tropics - Chilis.

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Pumpkin Waffles

You may have noticed that I am on a bit of a roll

with waffles lately. This recipe also uses my 

other obsession for fall.....pumpkin!

So today I made pumpkin waffles.
After all, it's Thanksgiving week!

 Get the three bowls prepped; dry ingredients,
milk mixture, and beaten egg whites. OK, I know
there's a little bowl of melted butter too.

 Combine the dry ingredients with the milk
mixture. Stir just until combined. Don't over mix.

 Stir in the melted butter.

 Lightly fold in the egg whites.

 A little at a time.

 Batter will look like this. A bit fluffy.

 Use about 1/2 C for each waffle.

 Bake on a preheated, sprayed baker

 Serve with butter and maple syrup on
heated plates.

 Keep waffles warm in the oven on a wire rack.
Don't stack them on top of each other or
the steam will make them too soft.
Use the rack again to cool and freeze
them for about 20 minutes.

Then pop them frozen into a bag for
later toasting. I reused a bread bag.
It's the perfect size to stack my
waffles. I have quite an assortment
now handy for those rushed mornings.
Oatmeal Cinnamon,
Apple Cider and now Pumpkin.

Pumpkin Waffles

1-1/4 C flour

2 T brown sugar

2 t baking powder

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t allspice

1/2 t ginger

pinch salt

whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In another smaller bowl or 2 C measure, whisk;

2 egg yolks

1 C milk

1/2 C pumpkin

2 T butter

In another bowl beat until stiff

2 egg whites

In a custard cup melt

2 T butter

Combine the flour mixture and milk mixture.

Stir just until incorporated. Stir in the melted 
butter. Fold in the egg whites. Bake in a preheated 
and sprayed waffle baker, using about 1/2 C batter
 per waffle. Bake until golden brown.

Makes about 10 waffles. 

Enjoy!

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