Methi Paneer Chatakdaar

The other day, we were stuck with just a handful of Methi, hibernating in the fridge, and no other veggies to turn into dinner. There was Paneer, but well... the choice was between - a bunch of Methi, that was sure to see the Garbage bin before sundown the next day, and frozen Paneer, which would keep for another week. The Methi wasn't sufficient to feed three hungry souls. So we came up with this superbrainy idea of combining the two. Didnt sound right to the ears -- Methi Paneer! But then, you have seen Ratatouille the Movie, havent you? Remember, how the little Chef closes his eyes and imagines flavours, that go boom boom spark spark in the head?? I thought on similar lines about the Methi and Paneer combo...:D. The dish turned out quite well and almost close to my expectation. So, may be you can try this out on a lazy Saturday afternoon

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METHI PANEER CHATAKDAAR

Ingredients:

Fresh cleaned and chopped Methi Leaves – Two handfuls
Crushed Methi seeds – 5 /6
Soft, Cubed Paneer – 200 Gms
1 large Onion – Finely Diced
Diced Garlic – 4 cloves
Tomato puree – 2 TbSpoons
Cumin powder – 2 Teaspoons
coriander powder – 1 Teaspoon
Turmeric Powder – 1 Teaspoon
Diced green chilly – 2 Teaspoons
Garam masala – (optional) 1 Teaspoon
Oil – 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

In a skillet / kadhai, heat one Tb Sp of Oil. Add the chopped methi leaves, on high flame. As the leaves collapse by loosing moisture, keep stirring to avoid burning. When almost all the moisture is gone, sprinkle some salt and cook for a minute more. Scoop the methi off the skillet, draining the oil first. Let it sit for some time.

Let the skillet sit on fire, we have more work for it. Add crushed methi seed powder to the hot oil in the skillet, followed by diced Chilly, Diced Garlic, Diced Onion, in that order.

When the onion starts becoming transparent, add the coriander powder, cumin powder, and turmeric powder. You can add the garam masala (optional) at this stage. Cook for half a minute, and add the tomato puree. Cook for another minute.

Add the cubed paneer pieces and mix gently with the rest of the ingredients. When paneer begins to colour up with the ingredients, add the methi leaves that we kept aside. Add salt to taste, and cook on a low flame and with a closed lid for 5 – 7 minutes.

The Methi flavour goes surprisingly well with the slight tang of the tomato puree, and the green chillies with crushed garlic, accentuate the Methi taste.

The end result should be – semi dry, soft pieces of paneer, well coated with tomato puree, flaunting lovely green bits of methi leaves.

Goes really well with thick rotis.

Our Kinda Life

Hello Everyone,

Hope you guys missed me around here... But I am back after the unplanned hiatus, and this time, with (yet another) idea...:)

Well, most of my friends are single, twenty-somethings, staying in Metros, away from Mom and Dad. Their work hours are not exactly NineToFive and when they get back to their apartments (mostly shared with one or more roomies), they sometimes miss the "I am Home" feeling... that includes everything - from tidiness of the place to simple, homemade food. It happens to me all the time too...

So here is an effort from my side, to alleviate those "all I have is a place to sleep in" blues. Whenever I try something that makes my shared accomodation here, feel more like home, say nice and quick homely recipes, tips and tricks for a longer lasting neat look for the house or any other ideas related to this topic, I would share all those with you... I think it will be fun to hear from y'all on these as well...

So here we goooo