Rich’s paneer korma

It was difficult to get our daughter to eat at daycare.  She was raised on Indian food, and when we transitioned from home to daycare after the pandemic, she didn’t want to eat the foods she didn’t recognize.  We thought about what we could send, and we decided on one of her favorites, Paneer Butter Masala.  However, most of the packets, frozen meals, or what you get at restaurants contain nuts, which is prohibited at daycare.  So, my husband experimented and came up with this dish which is rich, buttery, creamy, and delicious.  Plus, it is 100% nut free.  

Ingredients:

5 Large Roma Tomatoes – pureed

2.5 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste 

1Tbs Cumin Power 

1Tbs Coriander Powder 

1 Tbs Kashmiri Chilli Powder 

2 tsp garam masala 

2 Tbs butter  

1 Tbs ghee 

1 medium onion- 1 finely chopped 

1 Tbsp Oil

2 tsp salt

1 tsp Dried Methi (Fenugreek Leaves)

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro 

1 14 ounce package of Paneer (Cubed) 

1 Pint of heavy whipping cream  

This recipe was made for a child.  If you wish to add some spice, you can include 1 – 2 green chilli’s ( sauté it ) 

1. Begin by washing the tomatoes, quartering them, and pureeing them in a blender.  Set aside.

2. Chop the paneer into small to medium size cubes and set aside.  

3.Heat a large pot on medium heat and add oil and butter.  Once the butter melts, add the onion.  

4. Cook the onion until it starts to turn transparent.  Add all the spices and sauté well.  Cook for about one minute.  Spices always need to be sautéed to prevent a raw tasting / bitter curry. Add ginger garlic paste and sauté for another minute.

5. Add pureed tomatoes.  Cook until the raw smell goes away.  The tomatoes will go from a pinkish color to a deep red color. Add salt. 

6. Add heavy whipping cream and stir. Turn heat to low, add ghee and paneer.  Cover and cook for about five minutes.  

7. Add dried Methi leaves and cook for a few more minutes. 

8. Add Cilantro and serve on rice or with Naan or Chapati

Poori

Poori is a deep fried flatbread popular in south India. We eat it for breakfast or dinner (anytime really). The same flatbread dough can be cooked on a skillet with minimal oil to make chapathis . Poori is eaten with - potato side dish, kurma/ korma and raita. Occasionally I eat the left over pooris by soaking it in warm milk and sprinkling sugar on them as a dessert :) 

Ingredients :

Atta flour - it is whole wheat flour - 1-2 cups ( 1 cup makes 8 medium sized pooris)

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp 

Water 

Oil for frying - 1-2 cups 

Atta flour for dusting the poori so it doesn’t stick

Instructions 

1. In a large bowl place the atta flour , add salt, 1 tbsp of oil , add water little by little and mix it until it is a soft dough rolled into a ball. Knead the dough ( consistency like bread dough ). Then you can make this into equal sizes small balls.
   
    
2. Roll this out into a medium sized flatbread . Use the atta flour to dust it so it doesn’t stick.
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Heat oil in a deep wide bottomed pan. There should be enough oil to submerge the flatbread to fry. 
   
   
   
   
   
4. Use a slotted spoon to push down the poori so that it puffs up . If you accidentally poke holes on the flatbread it will not puff up.
   
   
   
5. Place the fried pooris in a bowl lined with paper towels so as to blot any extra oil off
6. Poori is now ready to serve with kurma or raita

Paneer tikka masala pizza

Paneer Tikka Masala Pizza

Prep Time:  20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes 

Written by guest author Rich

We have been craving Indian pizza.  Unfortunately, the nearest place that we can find that serves it is in Michigan.  One day I was cruising the internet for recipes to inspire me to make it.  I found one on Green Planet by Tori Cooper (vegan Indian pizza ) that at least gave me the right combination of ingredients however, it was vegan but we both love cheese.  

Also, Cooper’s recipe doesn’t include roasting the spices, which is a must in Indian cooking otherwise it leaves you with a raw bitter taste.  I also had to make some other changes as the sauce was a bit sour.  

 

Pizza dough 

 

For the Pizza Dough, I used one can of Wal-Mart Pizza crust.  Grease a round pizza pan and roll the dough.  Set aside and allow to rise.  

 

Ingredients

 

Spices for roasting 

2 teaspoons of ground turmeric

2 teaspoons of garam masala

2 teaspoons of ground cumin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 clove

½ teaspoon ground red pepper 

3 pods Cardamom crushed

2 Tbs Sesame Oil

Mix all the spices in a magic bullet (blender) to crush the clove and cardamom and to mix the spices.

 Heat oil on a pan and add the spices to it and roast for about a minute.  Set aside 

 

For Sauce

4 cloves Garlic minced

1 thumb ginger peeled and chopped

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small white onion chopped 

1 cup green and red bell peppers

1 can tomato paste (mix with 1 can of water and set aside)

1 can chickpeas

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup of cherry tomatoes – crushed 

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 cup of plain yogurt (We prefer Desi Natural)  Don’t use Greek yogurt ( it seems more sour) 

½ cup fresh cilantro chopped

¼ cup Brown Sugar

1 bag of fried paneer (Or one block – cubed and fried in about two tablespoons of butter)

 

Toppings: 

1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese

Tamarind sauce

Red and green bell peppers chopped

Instructions

 

1) Heat oil in a pan on medium heat.  Roast the garlic, ginger, and onion until the onions are transparent. then add the bell peppers and roast them 

2) Add the ground spices and a tablespoon of of oil and roast them as well. 

3) Add tomatoes and cook until the raw smell is gone.  

4) Add chickpeas, lemon juice, tomato paste, paneer, and cook until chickpeas are tender.  

5) Add yogurt and flour and cook until sauce thickens.  

6) Taste sauce and add brown sugar a spoonful at a time until the sour taste is gone, and sauce is slightly sweet.  

7) Spread sauce evenly across the pizza crust.

8) Spread cheese, chopped bell peppers and cilantro on the top.  Bake the pizza at 425F for 15-20 min or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly 

9) Take out of the oven and drizzle with tamarind sauce. Now delicious pizza is ready to serve.

 

 

Parotta (layered flatbread)

Parotta  (malabar parotta) is a South Indian layered flatbread. It is slightly different than the paratha found in most Indian restaurants here in the US. Parotta is made from maida ( bleached all purpose flour) as opposed to paratha which is made from whole wheat flour. The way Parotta is folded and rolled out is different than how paratha is made. 

I love the flaky layered buttery goodness that is the parotta. In the US it is difficult to find in restaurants and usually I find it in the frozen section of the Indian store. Until now I have avoided making it since I always thought that this would be difficult to make. But I set out to make it and it was surprising not as difficult as I thought. 

Ingredients:

Maida flour ( bleached all purpose flour)- 1.5 cups

Rava (sooji) - 1 tbsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Sugar- 1 tsp

Ghee- 2 tbsp

Baking powder- pinch

Water 

Oil - 3 to 4 tbsp 

Instructions

1. In a large bowl add maida, salt, rava, sugar, ghee, baking powder. Add water little at a time ( ~1/3 to 1/2 cup), mix and knead the dough to soften it until a smooth ball of dough is formed.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
2. Cut the large ball of dough and make small golf ball sized balls. Place this in a bowl and add a tbsp of oil on top and let it rest for another hour
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Roll out the balls with a rolling pin into a thin almost transparent flat round disk coating with oil as you go so it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin or the board underneath 
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. This next step can be done two ways 
5. Method 1: lift up the flattened dough lifting up by one edge and then roll it into a spiral like you would if making pinwheels 
   
   
   
   
6. Method 2: cut the flattened dough into thin strips , gather up the strips and then roll into a spiral 
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Now flatted the spiral by hand and then roll it slightly to make a flat round disk yet again ( one with layers now ) 
   
   
8. Place a pan on medium heat and now add a little butter or ghee ( clarified butter) and place the parotta on it and cook until a side is golden brown making sure you flip it back and forth ( like a tortilla) so both sides are cooked. This may take 1-2 minutes total 
   
   
9. Set aside to cool on a plate and then place your hands on either side of it and crush it slightly so the layers come apart and the parotta now has many flaky layers 
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. Parotta is now ready to serve with vegetable kurma , ‘ Saravana Bhavan’ hotel style white kurma, or onion raita 
    Adapted from : https://youtu.be/47fRmufjdQ4

Indian Sloppy Joe's

 I use vegetable kurma (vegetable kurma)to make these tasty sandwiches!

Ingredients:

White bread

Mint chutney

Tamarind sauce / ketchup

Vegetable kurma

Ghee/butter

White cheese ( pepper jack/Muenster/havarti)

1. Take two pieces of white bread and spread ghee/ butter on it on the outside.
   
   
   
2. Next spread mint chutney/mint powder and tamarind sauce/ketchup on the inner side of the bread
   
   
   
3. Place cheese on the inside of the bread
   
   
   
4. Place vegetable kurma on top of the cheese
   
   
   
5. Toast the bread on pan until the cheese melts and the outside is golden brown!
   
   
   
   
   
   

This is a tasty way to use the vegetable kurma !