[Ekadesi] Kadai Paneer

Paneer always takes priority in our list. My Prabhu and my daughter love them even if I give every day. It has a magic that whatever and however you cook, it turns to a delicious recipe. That gives me all the courage to experiment the new recipes. I love paneer butter masala, a rich creamy sabji that goes well with rice and roti, and this is a all time keeper recipe for ekadesi too. Quinoa with paneer butter masala.. yum :) Yesterday I came across a blog post for kadai paneer, that too our version of no onion and garlic, I modified the recipe little bit though. I couldn’t wait to try it, so today our lunch is roti with kadai paneer. It is really really delicious. More than anything it is an easy recipe. That’s what I always need ;)

I always use paneer from Sharma’s kitchen. It is good in texture and softer than the other brands I tried.

Ingredients:

Paneer – 1 packet

Green Capsicum – 1

Tomatoes – 3 or 4

Butter – 1 tbsp

Grated ginger – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp(adjust to your taste)

Cumin coriander powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala – 1 tsp (Skip it on Ekadesi days)

Kasuri methi – 2 tsp (Skip it on Ekadesi days)

Method:

1. Cut the paneer into fingers, chop the capsicum, slit the green chillies and finely chop the tomatoes

2. Add paneer into warm water in a separate bowl. This is to soften the paneer.

3. Heat a kadai, add butter

4. Add grated ginger and green chillies and fry them till the raw smell goes off

5. Add the tomatoes and cook till it becomes mushy

6. Now add red chilli powder, cumin coriander powder and garam masala(if adding) and keep stirring     till the oil separates. This is very important otherwise you will get the smell of tomatoes in the             sabji.

7. Once it reaches the right consistency and capsicum and cook for few minutes

8. Drain the water from the paneer and add it to the sabji and add kasuri methi(if adding)

9. Cook for few minutes and switch off the stove

10. Kadai Paneer is ready to be offered to the Lord

[Ekadesi] Poori

This Poori is very very special to me. I made this for the first time for Guru Maharaj’s Vyasa Pooja celebrations. I made palm size pooris that time. After that I made two or three times only as it takes long time. You need lot of patience to roll it out and especially to take it out of the rolling pan :) I am very busy to do that(FYI I renamed the term lazy as busy ;)) Things you need to know before making this are,

1. Don’t make sticky or gooey dough. Then you will never ever make the poori
2. Try to make small pooris. It will make your work simple
3. Don’t add buckwheat flour if the dough is not in right consistency. It gives an odd taste. Better add     either singoda or rajgira flour

4. Oil should be hot enough to fry. Otherwise it will becoe like a papad

Now it is recipe time :)

Ingredients:

Kuttu(Buckwheat) flour – 1 Cup

Singoda(Water Chestnut) flour – 1 Cup

Rajgira(Amarnath) flour – 1 Cup

Salt as required

Water as required

Method:

1. Make a smooth dough out of the above flours with salt and water

2. Roll it to a poori

3. Deep fry in hot oil

4. Offer the pooris with potato or paneer sabji to the Lord and enjoy the prasadam

[Ekadesi] Quinoa Pulao

When I first tried quinoa, I was pregnant and I did not like its smell when it was cooked due to my nausea. Then I started using moriyo and tried to make different dishes using that. Later I came to know moriyo has more carbs, but quinoa is really a good and healthy choice. That time I was out of those initial pregnancy blues :) From then on I mostly cook quinoa only on Ekadesi days. I made quiona briyani, pulao and then ended up in cooking it like rice, mix it with yogurt and have it with broccoli stir fry. Those are really a yummy combo. Last time Ekadesi fell on Sunday and I had to cook for the Bhakthi Vriksha class. I made quinoa pulao after long time and it got me so much of appreciations :) Now I have all the courage to post my recipe :D

Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:

Quinoa – 2 cups

Water – 2 cups

Thin coconut milk – 2 cups (Please don’t use store bought as it contains preservatives)

Butter – 2 tbsp

Cashew nuts – few

Peanuts – 2 tbsp

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Green chillies – 2

Ginger(grated) – 2 tsp

Cabbage(shredded) – 1 cup

Mint – 1 handful

Coriander leaves – few strands

Method:

1. Wash and soak the quinoa and peanuts in water
2. In a pressure cooker add butter, once it becomes hot add cashew nuts and fry till they turn golden brown
3. Add cumin seeds. Once it splutters, add green chillies and grated ginger and fry nicely
4. Add shredded cabbage and fry for few minutes
5. Now grind mint and coriander leaves to a paste, add it to the cooker and stir them till its colour changed
6. Add quinoa and peanuts, water and coconut milk
7. Add salt and close the lid
8. Pressure cook it for 3 whistles
9. Pulao is ready now to be offered to the Lord