Paneer Lababdar | Cottage cheese in tomato gravy

Party season is in full bloom!!

We all require breather form our regular activities and relax with family & friends especially when the climate takes a steep dip to frigid temperatures. Well, Christmas is right here and New Year is round the corner..to party to banti hai! And what's a celebration without Family & Food. With family & food, fun follows invariably.

Indian households can never do away with a cottage cheese preparation when it comes to a celebration. Paneer is UBIQUITOUS! Here's one more spicy, luscious, creamy cottage cheese preparation straight from my mum's collection. It is incredibly easy to make and the tastes & flavors are to die for. 

"Lababdar" is a Hindi word that means very soft, creamy and having good mouth feel and indeed this recipe from my mum's kitchen qualifies to be the best lababdar gravy. The milkiness & creaminess from khoya & cashews gives a royal taste & texture while the assortment of mixed spices gives it a perfect punjabi tadka.

This family celebration my Punjabi Paneer lababdar dish tops the list of party menu for all vegetarian and meat lovers!

Quickly try it to know how this paneer delicacy from my Food Heaven tastes like.

Ingredients:-

Cottage Cheese (Paneer) - 150 gm (cut in 1/2 inch cubes)

Milk solids (Khoya) - 50 gm

Heavy cream/malai - 2 tbsp

Cashew nut paste - 1 tbsp

1 Capsicum (small sized) - cut in cubes

1 tomato - cut in cubes

Tomato puree - 1/2 cup

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Finely chopped onion - 1

Ginger julienne - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 (cut lengthwise)

Oil - 1 tbsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Coriander for garnish

Spices used:-

Turmeric - 1/4 tsp

Degi Mirch - 1/2 tsp

Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp

Kitchen King masala - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

Steps to follow:-

1. Heat oil in a wok.

2. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

3. Add chopped onion and green chillies and saute till light pink color

4. Now add ginger garlic paste and saute for another 1 minute on a low flame.

5. Add cubed capsicum and tomatoes and bhuno for 1 minute.

6. Add the spices from the 'spices used' and further add tomato puree, cashew nut paste and milk solids.

NOTE: You can alter the spice quantities as per your taste.

7. Mix all the masala vigorously on low flame and then add paneer pieces.

8. Very softly toss the paneer in the gravy and then add butter, heavy cream and let it simmer on low flame for 2-3 minutes till the gravy thickens a bit.

9.  Lid the pan and turn off the gas.

10. Garnish with ginger julienne and chopped coriander and serve hot with tandoori roti or hot phulkas.

Tomato & Beetroot Soup...a healthy, zero cornflour version

Winter is officially here. It's the season of long nights and short days, of reflection and looking inward, and of thinking of ways to keep warm: scarves, gloves, fireplaces, cuddling... and warm food. Winter brings with it some icy, snowy, and gray days.  

At this point, you don’t want to do anything but stay in and curl up in a blanket with a nice bowl of warm food. Temperatures are dropping, which means that it’s the perfect time to heat things up with a warm bowl of soup. A piping hot bowl of soup is the ultimate comfort food during the winter months. Soup doesn’t have to be rich and creamy to be satisfying, though.

When I want to remedy that "cold to the bone" wintertime feeling, a delicious steaming bowl of soup before any meal often comes to my mind. Aaah! Soup...

Today i finally welcomed the approaching Winters in my home with my homemade winter warmth.This light, healthy broth has an absolute fuss-free recipe and is loaded with goodness of nutritious veggies! The sweet earthiness of the beet grounds the subtle notes of the tomatoes and carrots, adding depth without overpowering the flavor but renders a lovely valentine red color to the soup.

If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it with my version of "good-for-you" soup. This soup is brimming with beautiful colors and flavors that boost your immunities through the cold and flu season. 

A hearty bowl of warm soup on a cold day makes winter seem worth it, Isn't it?

Ingredients:-

For the Broth
5-6 Ripe tomatoes (cut in halves)
1 beet root (cut in halves)
4-5 Carrots (peeled and cut in halves)
1 inch peeled ginger knob (1 piece)
5-6 garlic cloves (big in size - peeled and whole)
1 Bay leaf
4-5 pepper corns
3-4 clove
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp sugar

For Tempering
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp cumin seeds
Chopped coriander (very finely chopped)

Steps to follow:-

1. Pressure cook all the items under 'For the Broth' with two cups of water up to 3 whistles (Simmer the flame to low after 1st whistle)
2. Pass the mixture through a seive and remove the bay leaf

NOTE: Do not throw away the water. You will need it in the last stage of cooking the soup.

3. Let the sieved vegetables cool down for sometime and then blend in a mixer. 
4. Strain this through a metal strainer to remove the seeds and any tomato skin left. 
5.  Add slight water if needed

NOTE: Use the same water which was sieved initially.

6. Heat a wok and add butter to it.
7. Throw in some cumin seeds and let it splutter
8. Pour in the soup and some coriander leaves and let it boil for 3-4 minutes. Boil until water and soup do not appear as separated in the mix.
9. Season generously with black pepper, adjust salt and add sugar.
10. Stir and give a final boil and transfer in individual soup mugs.
11. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve piping hot!

Savor this warm thin, light soup while snuggled under layers of cozy blankets. 
Have a comfortable winter night!
Good night. :)

Charred Tomato Harissa

Life..Huh..the only word that has no definite meaning. At times, its sweet..sometimes bitter..I have come to see that there is a sweetness to life that can only be tasted in the wake of the bitterness - a depth carved from the bitterness that drops us into another level of sweetness.

If you’re like most people, you’ll tend to appreciate the sweet life experiences much more so than the bitter ones. You’ll  tend to gravitate towards the sweeter foods rather than the edibles that are bitter to the tongue. 

Being the hopeful humans that so many of us are, we often await the sweeter times that follow the bitter ones. It’s natural and necessary to believe that the more pleasant tasting moments in life are right around the corner. But in every moment, we can access pleasure or pain, bitter or sweet, hope or despair, fear or love. Life is often hurled at us as a climax of feelings, sensations, details and decisions. 

Today, in my Kitchen, i have attempted to dish out a condiment from the Middle East. Harissa is super super spicy, little bitter & mildly tangy & sweet dip. This fiercely (Trust me on this, it is) hot relish has a slight bitterness to it with sweet aftertaste on our palate. Just as the experiences of life, isn't it? No wonder, these are two natural and complementary opposites in life. Monotony seeps in if either of them goes missing.

Its so aptly said that "Holding the paradox of life, being with the bitter and the sweet, resisting nothing. Allowing the totality of the experience, this is FIERCE LIVING!"

This version of Harissa is just like our lives. Incredibly spicy with a twist of slight bitterness & a remarkably soothing sweetness which lingers on the taste buds for sometime. 

Ingredients:-

4 big ripened tomatoes 
4 cloves garlic
6 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (shahi jeera)
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
3/4 cup fresh coriander
1/4 teaspoon sugar
Juice of half lemon
1 tbsp EVOO
Salt as per taste

Steps to Follow:-

1. Roast all the tomatoes on the naked gas flame.Keep turning with the tong until the tomatoes emanate a smoky aroma.
2. Once the tomatoes are roasted well, keep them aside to cool.
3. In a pan roast the following separately - garlic cloves, cumin, caraway seeds and coriander seeds
4. In a pan heat some water and add the dried red chillies to it once it starts to boil. Let the chillies stay in there for 20 mins.
5. Now in the meantime, peel off the charred skin of the tomatoes and dice them into cubes. Remove the excess pulp of the tomatoes (if needed. I have removed them in mine)
6. In a blender,roughly blitz roasted garlic, cumin, caraway seeds and coriander seeds along with tomatoes & coriander.
7. Add sugar and salt and squeeze in some lemon juice.
8. Add EVOO to it in the end.
9. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

NOTE: Harissa paste will keep for up to months. Topping off with more oil after each use. This can be used as a relish for a main course or as a marinade too. To make further best use of it, is your creativity!

I have a jar filled with my bitter sweet Harissa sauce, soon to be used in my meals. How about you? Believe me, you cannot choose to miss to savor all the flavors of delightfulness.