Watermelon Rind Kofta curry and Lachcha Paratha

I thought about making this dish for a long time and you know once it occurs to me, within a day or two or maybe a week sometime, I make it. So here is one mouthwatering kofta curry from me.

This is my own recipe and you can omit or add ingredients as you may feel like, modifications are okay with this, since the Watermelon rind has a very mild taste, anything you add will only enhance the flavor of the curry.

For the Koftas:

4 cups watermelon rind grated

Salt to taste

1/2 cup or more Bengal Gram Flour (besan)

1/2 tbsp Red Chili powder

1/4 tsp haldi

ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp

Oil to deep fry

For the gravy:

2 medium Onions

ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp

1 cup of tomato puree

1/2 tsp haldi powder

1/2 tbsp Red chili powder

2 tbsp Coriander powder

1 tsp Cumin Powder

1/2 tsp Garam masala powder

salt to taste

1 tbsp plain flour

1/4 cup milk

1 tbsp sour cream

2 tbsp Cilantro (chopped)

3 tbsp oil

Method:

Mix half-teaspoon salt in watermelon rind and keep aside for fifteen minutes. Squeeze to remove excess water. Add besan (if you think that you will need more besan you can add more) half the red chili powder, haldi, ginger-garlic paste, and mix to make dough. Make ten to twelve koftas from the dough. Heat oil in a kadhai and deep-fry the prepared koftas, in small batches for two to three minutes or until golden brown in colour and crisp from the outside. Drain and remove onto an absorbent paper.


Peel and finely chop onions. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped onions and sauté until light golden brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, stir-fry briefly. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chili powder. Continue to cook on medium heat for one minute, stirring continuously. Stir in tomato puree and cook on high heat, stirring continuously till oil begins to separate. Add two cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add salt, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes. Now mix well the 1 tbsp plain flour in 1/4 cup milk and add it to the gravy and stir so it gets incorporated in the gravy add salt and gently add the fried koftas and simmer for another three to four minutes. Sprinkle garam masala powder and when you serve gently blend the sour cream in the gravy and garnish with chopped cilantro. Phulkas, Tandoori roti, Paratha, or Naan goes really well with this. And rice too!

I served this with lachcha paratha.

Recipe follows:

This paratha are crispy and with several layers. It is the perfect accompaniment for any thick-gravied dish.

For the Lachcha Paratha:

2 cups whole wheat flour

Water to make dough

Salt to taste

1/2 cup ghee or oil

Mix the flour and salt and knead into a soft dough with a little water at a time. Keep aside. Mix 3 tbsps of ghee with 1 tbsp of flour and keep aside. Divide the dough into equal-sized ball.

Take each portion and roll in a circular

shape about six inch in diameter.

Roll the circle into a cylindrical shape

(see the picture below)

Coil the rolled circle into a spiral.

Flour a rolling surface lightly and very gently roll out the spiral into a flat circle about 6" in diameter. Grease the top surface with the ghee-flour mix. Heat a flat pan on a medium flame. Fry each paratha, turning them often and fry till crisp and golden.

Look at the pictures

I have used a shortcut to make this paratha. The original recipe suggests stacking 3-4 rolled circles applying oil on each one and then rolling it into a cylinder and then coil it into a spiral and then roll it again and then fry it.

I just rolled the circle once applied the ghee and flour and then rolled it and coiled it and then rolled it again to save all that time. The original recipe is time consuming but the parathas turns out more soft and flaky.

Palak Paneer with Pickled Jalapeño

I was making Palak Paneer today and my husband said that he would only eat if it is hot and spicy. He thinks I make the dish too bland, So I had to make him rethink that if you want you can make the dish real hot and spicy. He had to put his foot in his mouth.

When I started making the Palak Paneer, I thought I had all the ingredients, but when it came to adding spices I did not have the right ingredient. I don't like too much red chili powder I don't know why. So I looked in the fridge and I had only two small green chilies which weren't enough to add the heat my husband was looking for in the sabji.
So I looked at the pickled jalapeño jar and thought for a minute and came up with this.

Palak Paneer recipe:

1 bunch of fresh spinach washed and chopped or 1 pound of frozen spinach
1 cup of paneer cubed and fried(store bought or home made)
1 big onion chopped finely
4 garlic cloves chopped finely
1/2 inch ginger grated
salt to taste
4 tbsp oil or ghee
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp haldi
pinch of hing
1 tsp jeera
1 tbsp or more chopped pickled jalapeño


Heat half of the oil or ghee in a pan and add half of the chopped onion, saute till its golden brown, now add half of the garlic and saute for few minutes, now add the ginger and saute again.

Now add the spinach and salt and cook till it's almost done. Cool slightly.
Add the whole spinach mixture into the blender or processor and process till its smooth and pureed.

Now heat the remaining oil or ghee in a pan and add jeera, once it pops, add hing and then the rest of the onion and saute. Now add the remaining garlic and fry for another minute or so and then add all the masalas and the jalapeño and then add the spinach mixture. Add little bit of water if the mixture seems too dry. Adjust the salt and other seasonings and then add the paneer cubes. Simmer the sabji for 10 minutes and then serve with Naan or Roti or Paratha.

The jalapeño gives it a nice tangy and spicy taste, it doesn't alter the overall punjabi taste.

Verdict: Hubby dear was happy and me too!

Phudina Naan and Chole

If it weren't for Jai and Bee (Jugalbandi) , I had given up on making naan at home. It's not like I had disasters, but the results were okay. But when I saw Jugalbandi's naan, I was tempted to make it but didn't get a chance. But here it is now. I have tried to follow their recipe but with some modifications. I have used dried mint which I sprinkled on Naan. As I have always had Naan with dried mint and not fresh.

And I read in this book "The Professional Chef's Techniques of Healthy cooking" (The Culinary Institute of America) that any time you replace white flour with whole wheat flour, double the amount of yeast the recipe calls for. Ofcourse that was for the pizza dough, so I thought why can't it work for the Naans too? right?, so that was the other change I made to the original recipe. I did use the potato but in dry form (the potato flakes). See the naan for yourself!

I baked this naan in my regular oven under broiler and they came out perfect. I set the oven first at 450 degrees F and then turn the broiler and I placed the naan on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil so they don't stick and baked for about 5-7 minutes and they were done.

For the Chole recipe:

1 can of chickpeas (drained)

1 small onionn chopped finely

2 tsp of ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp kasuri methi

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil,

1/2 tbsp punjabi chole masala (any)

1/2 tsp haldi

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp dhania powder

1 tsp jeera powder

2 tomatoes chopped

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions on high heat till they are slightly brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute for few minutes and then add the kasuri methi and stir for couple of minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till the oil floats on top. Now add all the masalas except the garam masala and cook for about 2 minutes and then add the chole and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the garam masala and check the seasonings. You can adjust the salt and spices according to your taste. Sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve with Naan or Bhature, onion rings and lemon/lime wedges.

Aloo Mutter

Today I was in a mood for comfort food, and cheese or any food made with cheese tops the list of my comfort food, I was trying to stay away from the cheesy stuff and was considering the second best, third best in my food list, choley, (no preparation) khichri (out of question), aloo mutter, yes , I checked my pantry and was fully equipped with what required for aloo mutter.

So here is the good old Aloo mutter my style.

You will need

4 medium size potatoes boiled and cubed

1 cup shelled green peas (I was lucky I had fresh green peas I bought a day ago from Indian grocer, but you can use frozen peas as well)

1 cup chopped tomatoes ( I used the diced canned tomatoes, you can use fresh if you don't want the canned ones)

1 medium onion chopped

1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tsp jeera

1 tsp Dhania-jeera powder

1 tsp haldi

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp gound cumin (jeera powder)
1 tsp garam masala powder

salt to taste

3 tbsp oil or ghee

Heat ghee or oil in a pan and add jeera, once it splutters, add chopped onion and saute it for 5 minutes, till its golden brown. Now add the ginger-garlic paste. Fry for a minute or two and add haldi, chili powder, dhania-jeera powder and fry the masala for about 2 minutes. Now add the chopped tomatoes and fry the mixture till the oil floats on top. Now add the jeera powder and yogurt and again fry the mixture till the oil floats. Now add the chopped potatoes and green peas and simmer the sabji for about 5-10 mintues, now add the garam masala powder and salt and adjust the seasonings according to your taste.

Sprinkle chopped coriander/cilantro when you serve it.

I ate it with paratha, you can serve it with naan/ rice whatever suits you.

Enjoy!

Khatte Jimikand

Ya, I know I haven't been that regular in posting new recipes. But can't help it. My kids have just took over my life. But still I haven't been that irregular, right?.





Well the other day I was viewing trupti's new post and saw the list of what she craves to make and saw the name Khatte Jimikind and besanwali puri. So instantly clicked on that and came across musicals blog. Now once I saw the picture of it, I had to make it because it looked fantabulously good. So here it is. I just followed musicals recipe.
As she mentioned about using Jimikand they were
sweet potatoes, they are called
yams in the US.
I also used sweet potatoes as I had them on hand.


Here is the link to Musicalskitchen recipe for Khatte Jimikand