Paneer patty sandwich

Paneer:
Boil ½ litre milk, curdle it by adding 1tbspn curd, keep stirring all the while. Keep it on low flame. Once the milk curdles, strain the water out and compress the fresh paneer in the sieve. Keep it on a large plate, crumple it nicely, add salt and pepper to taste.
Spread the coriander chutney on one slice of brown bread, the tomato chutney on the other; load the fresh paneer in between the two (see image). Then toast the sandwich in the sandwich maker.Can make about 4 such sandwiches with ½ ltr milked paneer.
Our all time “happy meal” is ready in a jiffy. Tastes best with a glass of cold coffee.

- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 2
- Self Appraisal –9/10

Chana daal khichdi,Coriander chutney,fresh tomato chutney

Chana daal khichdi:
ash 1 ½ cups of chana daal. Pressure cook it with split green chilli, salt to taste,1/2 tsp haldi powder.
Pressure cook this only to mildly cook the daal. Not in entirety.
In a non stick pan, add finely sliced onions-lamba lamba(3 in number).Dry roast them nicely. Add finely chopped tomatoes. (4 in number). Mix nicely .add salt to taste, 1/2 tsp dhania pwdr,1/2 tsp red chilli pwdr,1/2 tsp garam masala. Cook the mixture for 5 mins, transfer to the partially cooked daal in the cooker.add 3 cups of water, lots of finely chopped coriander and pressure cook it all.
Serve with chilled curd.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 8/10

Coriander chutney
Wash about 2 cups of fresh coriander and transfer it to a chopper. Add 2 washed and grossly split green onions, ½ a green chilli, 4-5 garlic pods, a pinch of sugar, salt to taste, 1/2 tsp bhuna jeera pwdr, a pinch of amchur and 2 tspns of curd.
Let the blender do its magic….and you are ready to take the credit.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 9/10

The fresher the coriander, the tastier the chutney.If the onions can be substituted with spring onions, even better. Thoda pudhina add kiya jaye to baat hi kuch aur haiJ
This green chutney is an all time favourite of ours….very little to go wrong with:).Its also a very healthy alternative to any achar.

Fresh Tomato chutney
Microwave 4-5 tomatoes till the skin becomes soft. Once cool, remove the skin. Mash them nicely –remove any big pieces that might hinder with the tongue. Finely chop about 2 onions with a lot of fresh coriander in the chopper.
Mix this with the mashed tomatoes, add a pinch of salt and you are done.

- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 7/10

The tomato chutney came out nice but may not have been a great idea for the khichdi. Alternative use could be in a sandwich or modified to make salsa.

Arhar daal, Aloo subzi

Arhar daal: Serves 8
Wash cups of Arhar daal nicely. Transfer to the pressure cooker. Add salt to taste, a split green chilli,1/2 tsp haldi. Add water about ¾ an inch above the level of daal. Close the lid and pressure cook it .
For tadka ,in a non stick pan, add little ghee, let it heat, add some mustard seeds, a split green chilli and some kadi patta. Once the mustard splutters, add red chilli powder and put it on the hot daal.
Its ready to eat….South Indian style.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 8
- Self Appraisal – 8/10

Aloo subzi
Wash nicely and peel 5 big potatoes. Cut them into small, very fine pieces. In a non stick frying pan, add little oil, transfer the cut potatoes, mix them nicely in the oil and let them roast for some time. Add salt to taste, 1 tsp haldi, and 1 tsp red chilli powder. Mix nicely, sprinkle some drops of water on the potatoes, and cover with a lid. The entire process on a slow flame. Let it cook for a good 15-20 mins….stirring in between to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 8
- Self Appraisal – 9/10

This was a meal made for some special guests from Shringeri. The aim was to get something simple with less masalas. Whether they liked it or not, we for sure enjoyed the change :)

We somehow have managed to misplace the pictures. Shall put them up the next time we cook the same..

Mixed Dal, Baingan ka Bharta, Rotis

Baingan ka Bharta:
Wash 2 medium sized brinjals and poke with a knife all over to leave visible wounds on its surface. Then roast the brinjal over the flame directly and separate the skin once it is done. To know if it is roasted, try poking the knife into the brinjal. Once roasted, the knife enters effortlessly, and the brinjal would have become pulpy. Keep the brinjals aside.

In a non stick pan, take 4 medium sized finely chopped onions, half a green chilli, also finely chopped, crushed ginger – approx. 1” in size and dry roast all together till the onions turn brown. Add 4 medium sized finely cut tomatoes, 1 ½ tsp. salt, ½ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp bhoona jeera powder (bhoona jeera powder is made by dry roasting the jeera till it turns deep brown and then ground to a powder), ½ tsp coriander powder and sauté for around 5 mts. Then add 1 cup green peas and the mashed brinjal. Mix everything nicely and cook on low flame for the next ten minutes.
- Level of difficulty: Medium
- Serves 4
- Self Appraisal – 8/10

The mixed dal is the fortunate result of an accidental mixing of the pulses when they were being transported to our place. Like a proprietary recipe, we now have no clue of the ratios in which they have been mixed. The dal though quite faithfully, turns out deliciously well every time it has been made. The mixture of pulses is soaked overnight and then cooked in a manner similar to the moong dhuli dal.

Capsicum Paneer, Moong Dhuli Dal, Rotis, Jeera Rice

Capsicum Paneer:
Make the paneer from ½ ltr milk. To make the paneer, boil ½ ltr milk, lower the flame after it comes to a boil, squeeze the juice of ½ a lemon, and keep stirring until the paneer separates. Then sieve this mixture, so that the paneer stays in the sieve. Compress the paneer, so that it hardens and make cubes in the sieve itself.
Take 3 capsicums and chop them finely. Also finely chop 2 small sized onions. Add the onions to a non stick frying pan and dry roast them. Add a little olive oil so that the onions do not stick to the pan. Add half a split green chilli, the onions need not turn brown. Sauté, then add capsicum and mix for another 2 – 3 mts. Add salt to taste, a little pepper and keep the mixture covered on low flame. Keep stirring in between.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 9/10
- A little more paneer in case you are fond of them.

Moong Dhuli Dal:
Take 1 ½ cups of moong dhuli dal, wash nicely and transfer to a pressure cooker. Add some water. The water can be approx. ¾” above the level of dal in the cooker. Add a little salt (approx. 1 tsp), ½ tsp turmeric powder, one split green chilli and let the mixture pressure cook.
For the tadka, take a little ghee in a frying pan, add some jeera and let it splutter, add ½ tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, and ½ tsp garam masala. Add this mixture to the dal in the cooker and mix nicely. Add water if necessary. Add alt to taste or compensate.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 9/10

Layer Paratha, Ghiya Koftas, Salad

Layer Parathas: Made with a single ingredient – a huge helping of skill ! We tried saving on the oil used, and ended up with parathas minus the layers ..

Ghiya Koftas:
Take one long ghiya, wash it nicely, peel the skin off and grate. Take 2 cups of this grated ghiya and add 2 tbsp of besan, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, ½ tsp green chilli paste, one boiled and mashed potato. Knead all this together and make into small balls. Steam these balls in a pressure cooker for about 20 mts, so that the balls harden.
For the gravy, take 2 medium sized onions finely chopped, some ginger (approx. ½” in size), a little green chilli finely chopped and sauté this mixture. Make a tomato puree out of 3 tomatoes and add the same. Add salt, ½ tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp garam masala, around 1½ cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the previously prepared koftas to this paste and let it cook on low flame for about 5 – 10 mts.
- Level of difficulty: Difficult
- Serves 5
- Self Appraisal – 5/10
- Too much water in the gravy, distinct tomato taste in the mouth
- Tip I got to know later: – The tomato must be pureed after removing the skin (another tip: put the tomatoes in hot water, to simplify this)

Poha

Poha
Take 3 cups of beaten rice, wash nicely and keep it aside. Take a frying pan, add some mustard seeds and let it splutter, add 2 small sized onions finely chopped, one split green chilli, grated ginger (approx. ½ “ in size), curry leaves, let the onions turn brown. Then add 1 small sized potato cut into small pieces, 1 cup green peas, some turmeric powder and shut the pan until the potatoes and the green peas become soft. Then add the beaten rice and some salt to taste. Mix well, sprinkle some water, shut the pan and let it cook on low flame for about 15 mts.
Once it is done, add finely chopped coriander leaves and mix well, Squeeze a lime over the poha for that tangy taste.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 2
- Self Appraisal – 7/10
- The mixture turned out a little dry, the curry leaves was not a good idea and we could have gone a little easy on the mustard.

Aaloo Beans Subzi, Dahi kadi Boondiwala & Jeera Rice

Aaloo Beans:
Take 3 medium sized potatoes and cut into small pieces, finely chop around 250 gms of beans and wash it well. Put some oil in the non stick frying pan, add jeera, wait for it to splutter, and then add the potatoes. Mix nicely, then add the beans, mix and add salt, ½ tsp red chilli powder, and a pinch of turmeric powder for the yellow colour. Shut the pan and let it cook on low flame for 15 – 20 mts.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 8/10

Dahi kadi:
Take 2 table spoons of besan and mix it in half a litre of curd. Add 1 cup of water to this mixture and mix nicely. Take 1 tsp oil in a pan and add some mustard seeds after the oil is hot. Once the mustard splutters, add two dried red chillies, some curry leaves, 2 medium sized onions which have been diced, salt to taste, 1 tsp turmeric powder, pepper, aamchur id the curd is not that tangy, and sauté this mixture till the onions turn brown. Add the besan/curd mix and the mixture should be brought to a boil. Add water if the mixture turns too thick. The mixture should be left boiling on a low flame for about 10 – 15 mts. Check the taste, once it is done, the dahi kadi should not retain astrong taste of the curd.
- Level of difficulty: Medium
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 5/10
- Might be a little more of curd, maybe we should have stuck to ¼ - ½ ltr., or have added a little more water.

Jeera rice:
Take some ghee in a pan, add a lot of jeera and let it splutter, add this mixture to the vessel in which the rice is going to be prepared, add some salt, 3 cups of water & 1.5 cups of rice which has been washed well. Let it cook on medium flame and check regularly if it is done.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 2
- Self Appraisal – 8/10
- Of course more ghee, or basmati rice would make it much nicer

Yellow Arhar Dal, Cabbage Subzi, Roti & Salad

Arhar Dal:
Take 1½ cups of arhar dal (this is the dal used to make sambar), wash nicely and once it is cleaned, put the dal directly in the cooker, add water so that the level is approx. ¾” above the level of dal. Add a pinch of salt, little turmeric powder (½ tsp) and a slpit green chilli and then pressure cook the same – On a futura cooker: one long whistle, and then shifted to low flame for 5 mts before switching off.
Take a frying pan, add a little ghee (½ tsp), some jeera and once it splutters, add finely chopped onions ( big size onion – 1 no.) and sauté till the onions turn brown. Add 2 medium sized tomatoes, salt to taste, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp coriander powder, ½ tsp garam masala and sauté this paste till the raw smell disappears and then add the cooked dal along with the water to this mixture. Keep the gas on medium flame throughout. Add water if necessary & salt to taste or compensate. Switch off when the whole mixture reaches a boil. Garnish with coriander leaves.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 3
- Self Appraisal – 8/10

Cabbage Subzi:
This recipe is originally made with green peas, but as we were too lazy to go buy some, we tried out our own modified version.
Take a small sized cabbage, and chop it finely. After washing it really well, place it in the strainer to drain the water. Take a little oil in a non stick frying pan – approx. 1 tsp, add jeera and let it splutter, then add salt to taste, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp pepper and a pinch of amchur powder for that tangy taste. The entire process is on low flame. Then add the cabbage and mix nicely. Shut the pan and let it cook on low flame for about 10-15 mts.
- Level of difficulty: Easy
- Serves 2
- Self Appraisal – 7/10
- Suggestions for improvement: Buy those green peas.

Total Preparation time: 2 hours
Clearing up time: ½ an hour