Tag: Indian

B’s Makhani Potato Bake

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Hello all!  I’ve been so MIA lately – have been having guest and been so busy,  I made this for my so-so-lovely visitors.  They really enjoyed it 🙂  I made this as I could make the sauce before hand which would give me less stress!! It became sort of an indian butter masala and pasta bake fusion.  Vegetarians sometimes have limited fancy food.  Cheese and potatoes are always a winner.  I would definitely make this again! But I would have to hit the gym several times before that and after that!

Here’s the sauce:

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And this is how it looks like fresh out of the oven:Image

Another look at it, to simply tempt you… Yes I love making people hungry!Image

B’s Makhani Potato Bake

Ingredients:

  • Makhani Sauce
  • Baby Potatoes (I bought ready-made herb and butter)
  • Shredded 4 Cheese 
  • Some Tabasco/Dunriver Sauce

Method:

  • Prepare Baby Potatoes
  • Pour yummy sauce over it.  Top up with cheese and tabasco.
  • Bake at 200 degrees and serve while hot.

Enjoy it!  I would suggest it as a leftover whenever you try out my Makhani Paneer 🙂

xx

 

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B’s Makhani Paneer

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I love indian food in restaurants.  Home indian food usually doesn’t appeal to me much as it doesn’t have that richness.  Subsequently, at home I prefer cooking healthy stir fries (Chinese/Thai/Japanese) or simple indian lentil soup (daal).  I don’t usually try rich creamy food at home. I guess the butter content screams FAT and echoes in my kitchen.  The voices in my head do not allow this.  🙂

However, last week I really wanted Makhani Panner (Butter Tomato Sauce with Cottage Cheese cubes).  This is often accompanied with Naan Bread in restaurants.  We always order this when we are out.  Somehow the calories don’t count when eat out.  The delusional side of me believes that 😉  Since it was a meal at home,  I made wheat chapattis – healthy alternative since the butter content was already alarming.

The butter was worth it.  It was creamy – yummy and easy to make.  My husband swore it tasted like the one in the restaurant.  I had searched for a few recipes online and kind of made it to my own liking.  It was delish!!!! The creamy texture was perfect.

First – you got to mix all the ingredients together.  Always remember – if B can make it, so can you. 🙂  My mom always felt I was too busy with friends and university to ever enter the kitchen.  And now,  I’m trying different dishes all the time! Also – don’t get too alarmed by the list of ingredients.  Most of it consist of indian spices which is pretty basic for indian cooking, and once you have it at home, you can cook anything. 🙂

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After all the cooking, you end up with mouth watering Makhani Paneer!

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I loved the color!  Yum.  Here’s the recipe 🙂  Happy Cooking!

B’s Makhani Paneer

Makes: Enough for 2-3 people

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 big onion – chopped up
  • 1 big tomato – chopped up
  • 1/3 cup cashewnuts
  • 2 whole dry kashmiri red chillies
  • 2 – 3 tbsp butter (oh my!)
  • 2 pieces of: cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamons
  • 1 bayleaf
  • 4 tbsp tomato puree, 1 tsp concentrated tomato puree
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 tbsp yoghurt
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 1 cup paneer (indian cottage cheese cubes)

Method:

  1. Boil chopped tomatoes, onions, cashew nuts  chillies with 1 1/2 cup water for 10-15 minutes.  Stir constantly.
  2. Cool and blend it with a bit of concentrated tomato puree.  (just like my first picture on top!)
  3. Heat the butter – and dd the spices (cinnamon, cloves, cardamoms) with the bay leaf.
  4. Add the tomato puree, garam masala and the red gravy and saute for a few minutes. Add salt.  Mix for another 2 minutes.
  5. Add yoghurt and continue mixing to avoid any form of curdling.
  6. Add the sugar.
  7. Add some water (1/2 cup) – depending on the desired thickness.  Add the paneer to mixture.
  8. TA-DA!  Serve with hot naan or chapattis.

Note:  Many people add cream to this mixture (a few tablespoons).  However,  for me the butter was more than enough.  And it tasted just fine!  🙂

Related articles

Poha! – Flattened Rice

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Poha – an unusual name that reminds me of Po  (The Teletubbies). Eh-oh! Oh God, I feel as though I have come from a completely different era, at the thought of the song.  Yes, it is playing in my head right now.  What a drag.

Anyways,  today I tried a new dish and wanted to blog about it 🙂  I made Poha, a south-indian lunchtime dish made from flattened rice.

It’s easily available in Asian Supermarkets in the Indian section.  My sister mentioned this dish to me after her trip to South India (Kerela) and said it was very easy to make.  In addition, it’s nutritious which led me to giving it a go.  The recipe below is a rough guide as I made it up as I went along (kind of like how indian fried rice is made).  Feel free to adjust the flavours and quantities as you like.

B’s Simple Poha

Makes: Enough for 4 people

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium sized flakes Poha packet (300g or so)
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 1 green chilli
  • 1 cup of okra
  • 1 big potato
  • 1 heaped tsp Ghee/butter/oil
  • Indian Spices: Cumin seeds, Curry powder, Red Chilli Powder, Cumin Powder, Garam Masala Powder, Turmeric Powder
  • Peanuts

Method:

  1. Preparation: Put Okra in the oven for 20 mins.  And par-boil the potato.
  2. Heat ghee in pan then add 1 tsp of cumin seeds for 1 minute. Then add chopped onions.  Saute on low fire for about 8 mins until onions are cooked.
  3. Add chopped tomatoes to the onions and saute.  Add a bit of water to cook the tomatoes.  Add 1 chopped green chilli to the mixture.
  4. Cook for about 5 minutes till a mixture forms (Steps 1-3 are the same for any indian cuisine FYI).
  5. Now add all the indian spices to taste.  Stir it, allowing mixture to absorb all the flavours.
  6. Cut both the okra and potato in bite-size pieces.  Add this to the mixture.
  7. Lastly, rinse the poha and drain it slightly.  Add to the pan and mix.  If it is a bit dry and some water while mixing as it tends to absorb water like rice.  Adjust flavours according to taste.
  8. Serve hot with peanuts on top for the extra crunch.

Note:  We had this with a side portion of cucumbers and yoghurt.  Also, I made daal (indian lentil soup) to supplement the meal.

Here’s a picture of my POHA! (Yes, I’m very much entertained by the name.  As I typed it in caps it reminded me of my ALOHA! post. 🙂  hahaha POHA!)

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Cheers to Poha! Let me know if you try it out.

xx

B