“Mixed Vegetable Paneer Hara Masala Curry” … a simple pudina (mint) flavoured aromatic dish that tastes best served with ghee rice, jeera rice, pulav etc. … I served it with ghee rice and it was awesome … Yummilicious …
** Paneer dishes are preapred through out the world and is always loved by almost every Indian. It is one of the frequently orders dishes by vegetarians in restuarants and there are plenty of choices to choose from be it curry, rice dishes, tikki or starter. I will not run into more details as paneer is something everybody knows of, so I don’t think there is much to write about except my adaption of this recipe.
** I prepared this recipe on my own terms making it pudina flavoured and I must say it was something different. Try it, and enjoy with your family and friends, you can adjust the spices according to your taste as here I have made it slightly spicier though not very spicy. Just see to it that you use fresh paneer from reliable source as these day duplicate ones are making rounds or prepare them at home (recipe included).
** Here is my own recipe for “Mixed Vegetable Paneer Hara Masala Curry” … my style; do try it and enjoy with your family ...
** Ingredients :
Paneer : 150- 200 gms
Tomatoes : 2
Cauliflower : one cup florets
Beetroot : one small sized
Green Peas/ Vatana : ½ cup shelled
Carrot/ Gajjar : one small sized
French Beans : 5-6
Ginger/ Alle’/ Adrak : ½ inch piece
Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 2-3
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : 2 medium sized
Curry Leaves/ Karbevu/ Kadipatta : 6-8 fresh leaves
Goda Masala or Garam Masala Powder : 1 tsp
Malwani Masala Powder : 1 tblsp
Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder/ Mirsange Pitti/ Mirchi Powder : 1 tsp
Ghee/ Toop : 2 tblsp
Oil/ Tela/ Tel : 2 tblsp
Ghee/ Toop or Butter/ Loni : 2 tblsp for topping
Salt/ Namak/ Meeta : to taste
** Red Masala to be Ground :
Coconut/ Soyi/ Nariyal : ½ to ¾ cup
Kashmiri Red Chilly/ Kumte Mirsanga/ Byadgi Mirchi : 6-8
Tamarind/ Chinchama/ Imly : a small pinch approx. ¼ tsp
** Hara Masala to be Ground :
Coriander Leaves/ Kottambari Paloo/ Dhania : one cup fresh leaves
Mint Leaves/ Pudina Pallo : ½ cup fresh leaves only
Green Chillies/ Tarni Mirsanga/ Hari Mirchi : 4-5
Curry Leaves/ Karbevu/ Kadipatta : 8-10 fresh leaves
** To be Ground to Paste :
Ginger/ Alle’/ Adrak : 1 inch piece
Garlic/ Losun/ Lehsun : 5-6
Onion/ Piyavu/ Kanda : one small sized
** Red Masala to be Ground : Fry Kashmiri chillies in a little bit of oil for a minute or two only. Cool and add into a mixer grinder along with tamarind and freshly grated coconut and grind to a fine paste with minimum water.
** Hara Masala to be Ground : Pickle, wash, dry and coarsely chop fresh coriander leaves, mint leaves and curry leaves. Roughly chop the the green chillies too and add all together into a mixer grinder and grind to a smooth paste.
** To be Ground to Paste : Wash and chop ginger into small pieces. Peel the outer skin and chop both onion and garlic into small pieces. Add all three into a mixer grinder and grind to a very fine paste adding minimum water.
** Note : Do not add much water while grinding any paste, just keep mixing in between and sprinkling little water and you will get a smooth paste. Prepare all three masala’s ground and ready before preparing the curry.
** Wash and cut tometoes into fine pieces and keep aside separately. Cut paneer into square or triangle shape and keep aside soaked in a bowl of water. Finely chop giner, garlic and one onion and keep them aside separately. Cut the other remaining onion into ½ inch sized cubes and keep it aside also separately.
** Wash and cut cauliflower into medium sized florets and keep it aside separately. Peel the outer skin of beetroot and carrot and cut them into small ½ inch sized cubes. Slice off both sides edges of french beans and cut them to 1 inch sized pieces giving a slant cut. Shell and collect green peas if using fresh ones.
** Cooking the Veggies : Add cut cauliflower into a vessel along with minimum water and cook until 80% done. Keep this aside separately. Cauliflower is cooked separately as it tends to be overcooked if cooked in pressure cooker.
** In a pressure cooker pan add carrot, beetroot, french beans pieces along with green peas, ½ cup of water and pressure cook on high to one whistle only. Allow to rest for 2-3 minutes and then immediately with the help of tongs gently lift the weight to relase the excess pressure from within, this helps in arresting overcooking of the veggies. Open the lid and keep the cooked veggies aside to cool.
** Note : Perfection in cooking veggies using pressure cooker needs a little bit of practice and I prefer this method always. However, if you are worried about overcooking them then cook them in a vessel unit done and use the same.
** To Prepare the Curry : Add Oil and ghee into a thick bottomed kadai, when hot add finely chopped ginger- garlic, and fry until lightly coloured. Now immediately add finely chopped onion and fry until evenly browned. Add the ginger- garlic- onion paste and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes. Then add the cubed onion and further fry for few minutes until transluscent, do not let the onions be browned.
** Lower the heat to minimum and add curry leaves, goda masala, malwani masala, kashmiri mirchi powders and fry on low heat fry for a minute or two only. Now add in the finely chopped tomatoes and continue frying for a few minutes sprinkling some water in between until the tomatoes are cooked and turn mushy/ soft.
** Note : Goda Masala Powder is easily available in Mumbai and is a Maharashtrian flavoured masala powder abundantly used in Maharastrian community in their home. The masala powder includes plenty of ingredients and is not easy to prepare and is best purchased from reliable sources when required in small qunatities. Again, Malwani Masala Curry Powder too falls under the same bracket and is best purchased if your usage is minimum. I have used both powders purchased from stores.
** To the above now add the ground green masala and fry for a minute or two then add in the ground red masala, mix well and cook all together stirring often to avoid being burnt until thoroughly cooked and bubble appear on surface. If too dry you can add some veggies cooked water to avoid the masala being burnt.
** Lastly add cooked cauliflower and also the pressure cooked veggies to the above and mix well. Add salt to taste and required amount of water and bring to a boil on medium heat stirring well in between to avoid it being burnt. When you see bubbles appearing on surface, lower the heat and continue simmering for few minutes.
** Drain paneer pieces and rinse if necessary gently with fresh water and then add to the simmering curry. Mix well, cover and cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes until panner has softened and absorbed flavours. Lastly add either ghee or butter, mix well, remove from heat and keep it aside covered for 15- 20 minutes for flavours to be infused. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves, I actually forgot to do so.
** Note : For the paneer to remain soft and tasty, remember to add the pieces once the curry is thoroughly cooked and done. In case you have time in serving the dish then avoid adding the same and do so just before an hour before serving as paneer hardens on resting and is best serving within an hour of addition to the curry.
** “Mixed Vegetable Paneer Hara Masala Curry” is done and ready to be served. A pudina (mint) flavored aromatic dish that tastes best served with ghee rice, jeera rice, veg. pulav or any mildly spiced rice dishes though you can serve it with naan, roti, paratha etc. if desired too. Another combo which you could serve it with is our own panpolo (neer dosa), a lacy dosa everybody loves or with rice roti another favorite of mine, though I served it this time with ghee rice for lunch and it was awesome. Paneer dishes are always loved by children and elders alike, so do try this variation of mix and match flavor dishes of mine and enjoy with family and friends.
** If you would like to prepare “Paneer at home using skimmed milk”, then please browse through the link shared below ….
** For more “Paneer” recipes, please check out the common link shared below …
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