PANEER TIKKA (The Healthy Way)

Hi,

I know I promised to be more regular however certain bad things happened as I got delayed in posting my recipes. My mum suffered from a heart attack on 20th of December 2014 which shocked me to the core. Later on as the medical investigations were carried out we found out she had high creatinine and uric acid levels, due to which she had gout attacks. The last gout attack kept her bed ridden for 3 weeks. Now, just as she was improving my maternal grandfather passed away on 23rd January 2015. This was a huge setback for me as he was a father figure to me and had practically raised me and was a huge source of strength and support for me.

So anyways inspite of the bad times life goes on and in order to make my mum's life style healthy I have decided to give some yummy recipes a little healthy twist :) So I decided to make Paneer or cottage cheese Tikkas in the oven in a healthy and less oil method. The key to this recipe is marination, the longer the better.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 LARGE GREEN BELL PEPPER
• 3 RED ONIONS 
• 2 TOMATOES
• 150g FRESH PANEER OR COTTAGE CHEESE 
• 11/2 TBSP OF SHEEKH KEBAB MASALA 
• 2 TBSP YOGURT
• 1/2 TBSP VEGETABLE OIL
• JUICE OF 1 LIME 

PROCEDURE:

• Put the sheekh kebab masala in the yogurt and mix well. as I was pressed for time I used store bought masala. If you are using store bought masala then you will not require any extra salt.
• Dice the vegetables and paneer in to big pieces and put them in a large bowl.
• Now marinate them with the yogurt spice mix, oil and lime jiuce. You can use olive oil instead of vegetable oil.Key to this recipe is marination. Since a tiny amount of oil is used the longer you marinate the better the flavours. You can marinate this overnight if you can or for at least half an hour to an hour.

• Preheat the oven for 10 mins. Line a baking pan with aluminium foil. this eases the process of cleaning. Then put the vegetables and paneer in wooden skewers and put them in the pan.
• Put it in the oven at 200 degree centigrade for 25 -30 mins, do check in between to achieve the amount of char you desire. 

• Remove them gently from the skewers when done and garnish them with onion rings and slit green chillis. Serve with mint chutney :)

Do try this recipe , as its a healthy alternative to the kebabs we get from restaurants. 

P.S. Sorry for the quality of the pictures as they were taken by my phone camera :)

CHICKEN DO-PYAZA

I am always on the lookout for new chicken recipes. This is a very famous dish and I am sure we have all had this dish at least once in our lives. I always had this dish in restaurants. So I decided to try this recipe out for our sunday lunch.

INGREDIENTS:

• 500 grams chicken
• 1 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 2 medium onions chopped
• 2 medium onions diced into big pieces
• 3 medium tomatoes pureed
• 2+1 tbsp yogurt
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1+1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tsp garam masala powder
• Salt to taste
• Water as required
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves for garnish
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2-3 green chillis

For the Garam Masala:

Grind together

• 2-3 green cardamom pods
• 1 big black cardamom pod
• 1/4th stick cinnamon
• 3-4 cloves
• 1 tsp mace

PROCEDURE:

• Marinate the chicken with ginger- garlic paste, 1 tbsp yogurt,salt and 1 tbsp red chilli powder for 15-30 minutes. The dish will turn out fine if you marinate for a few minutes.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic paste, the chopped onions and cook till the onions turn translucent.
• Then add the tomato puree (i used fresh tomato puree but you can use any store-bought tomato puree) and cook till the oil separates.
• Mix the tumeric powder, chilli powder and cumin powder with the yogurt and add to the pan. Stir well.
• Then add the chicken and the diced onions and mix well so that the masala coats the chicken and onions well.

• Now add water as required (if you want more gravy then add more water) and cook the chicken on a low flame till it cooks.
• Now add the garam masala and mix it well.
• Chicken Do-Pyaza is done :) 

You can serve this with rice and some freshly made salad or with rotis, as you please :)

 

Please do give me feedback :)

VERMICELLI KHEER (SEMIYA PAYEESH)

A simple yet traditional sweet dish. This is an easy to make Indian dessert which requires a few steps and produces a lip-smacking result. :) :)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2  Tsp ghee (clarified butter)
• 250 grams vermicelli
• 500 ml milk (you can use double toned milk )
• 200 grams sugar 
• 2-3 cardamom pods
• Raisins
• Chopped cashew nuts 

PROCEDURE:

• Put the clarified butter (ghee) in a pan and add the vermicelli once the ghee is slightly hot. Fry the vermicelli on a low flame till it turns golden brown.

The Fried Vermicelli

• In a separate pan bring the milk to a boil and add the sugar and add the cardamom pods. Then on a low flame slowly boil the milk till it reduces to half its volume. (You can use artificial sweeteners if you want to substitute the sugar)
• Let the cool down to room temperature. Then add the fried vermicelli and cook on a low flame for 6-7 minutes. Add the raisins and cashew nuts but keep aside a few for garnish.
• Do not dry the milk out completely because as the dish cools down it will soak up the milk.

 

Add caption

• Serve in a bowl (I tried to serve it in a different way - in a glass).
• Garnish with raisins and cashews :)

Vermicelli Kheer

The Final Product :) :)