How to make Paneer / Cottage Cheese at home

Paneer / Cottage Cheese, the most versatile ingredient in Indian, especially vegetarian cooking is easily available in all Indian grocery stores. So, why bother making it at home??! Well, there are a couple of good reasons, at least for me. First of all, the ones that you get in stores has this rubbery texture to it. Even though you can live with it, the homemade paneer has a different fresh texture and taste and absorbs the flavour better than the store bought ones. Now especially with paneer, which doesn't have any particular taste to it, this is a very important factor. Second is the cost factor – you will easily spend 6-7 bucks for a block of paneer where as a similar quantity can be made at home with about a gallon of milk which is anywhere between 2-3 $. I know, I know its not a HUGE difference. But don't you feel good when you get better quality and better tasting product for lesser price and the best thing is the satisfaction of making paneer at home! Hope at least some of you agree with me :)

You will need:

1/2 gallon 2% milk – whole milk will be better 2 oz (1/4 cup) distilled white vinegar ( you can use equal amount lime/lemon juice also) A heavy bottomed pan a colander cheese cloth, to strain heavy pans/canned food/other heavy things as weights

Heat the milk in a heavy bottomed pan/cast iron pan on medium heat. Keep stirring so that the milk doesnt stick to the bottom of the pan. Just when the milk starts steaming and just before it comes to a boil, add the vinegar to it. The milk will curdle and you will see something like whats shown in the photo below.

Now strain this on a cheese cloth spread over a colander. If you want you can collect the whey (the liquid part) for later use.

Wait for sometime till the water drains out completely and then take out the cheese cloth. Place a plate or a chopping board in the sink, place the cheesecloth folded on top it. Place another plate and put some cans of food or a heavy pan on top of it as weights. After about an hour – hour and a half, remove the plates and weights and take out the block of paneer. Chop into small pieces and store or store as it is in the refrigerator for later use. Here are some recipes using paneer :
Paneer Makhani / Paneer Butter Masala – An Easier Version
Paneer Butter Masala on a Pizza
Palak Paneer
Paneer Pulao

Read more...

Holiday Cookies : Gingerbread Spiced Cookie with a Caramel Marshmallow Center

The holidays are here, the lights are up everywhere, beautiful holiday decorations adorn most front yards, candy-spiced, peppermint-spiced and gingerbread lattes are there in coffee shops ( those are one of my personal favorites about the holiday season) and you hear “ Its the most wonderful time..”, “Rudolf the red nose reindeer..” on the radio and it makes you happy :) But what is holidays without some cookies??!! Of course you have gotta have some holiday cookies sipping some nice hot chocolate or cider on the side..

It just suddenly hit me last Friday that I haven't baked any cookies yet!! I really wanted to indulge this time and made these delicious spiced cookies with the most awesomest filling.

Gingerbread Spiced Cookie with a Caramel Marshmallow Center 2 cups all purpose flour + extra for dusting 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp all spice 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1 stick butter, softened 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/4 cup maple syrup 2 eggs some marshmallow pieces and caramel, for the filling

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix together in a medium sized bowl, all ingredients from flour to salt. In a another bigger bowl, mix well the sugars and the butter with a spatula. Add the vanilla and maple syrup and mix again. Add the eggs one by one and mix well. Now, add the dry ingredients mix to this and combine well.

Flour your hands well and take a small lemon sized ball of the cookie mix and flatten it in the palm of your hands. Make a small depression in the center, place a small marshmallow piece and spoon about 1/2 tsp of caramel. Take some more of the cookie mix and cover the marshmallow-caramel well and blend the sides with the cookie base. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 mins till the base gets slightly browned and the rest of cookie looks baked.  Take them out with a flat spatula and cool on wire racks.

Enjoy with some nice hot chocolate with floating marshmallows on it :)

This is my entry to the Cake and Cookies event at Sara’s Corner. Also, the Sunday Snacks:Cheese event is currently going on here. Rush in your entries for that! :) Happy Holidays!!

Read more...

Chow Chow (Bangalore Kathrikkai) Kootu ~ Chayote Squash in a Lentil–Coconut Gravy

I always thought chow chow was a funny name for a vegetable and it is the main reason why I liked anything made with this vegetable when I was a kid. Stupid reason, Yes, but it was easy for Amma to make me eat vegetables, not that I was a very fussy kid. Once we moved out of Kerala to Bangalore and later to Chennai is when I knew that this vegetable had a better name – Bangalore Kathrikkai ( Kathrikkai means Brinjal/Eggplant in Tamil). But still the name chow chow stuck! Amma makes spicy stir fries as well as this kootu with Chayote squash and sometimes even adds it to Sambar. But this was our favourite preparation. The perfect combo is hot rice, chow chow kootu, ghee, parippu thogayal (ground spiced lentils, black pepper and coconut – a thick chutney) and fried pappadams – yum!. That was our Sunday lunch most of the time, just that the vegetable for the kootu keeps changing from chayote to cucumbers to cabbage to mixed vegetables.

Chow Chow Kootu ~ Chayote Squash in a Lentil-Coconut Gravy

1 chayote squash , seed removed and diced 1/2 cup yellow split lentils and pigeon peas (toor dal) 1/2 tsp turmeric powder salt, to taste To grind: 1/2 cup grated coconut 2 thai green chillies 3 dried red chillies 1/2 tsp cumin seeds For the seasoning: 1 tsp coconut oil 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1/2 tsp chana dal a few curry leaves 2-3 dried red chillies

Pressure cook the squash, lentils, turmeric powder and salt with 1 cup of water. It depends from pressure cooker to pressure cooker, but in mine I wait for 3 whistles to go and open after all the pressure has been released.

Grind together the coconut, chillies and cumin seeds with a little water to a smooth paste. Open the pressure cooker and keep the heat on medium. Add the ground paste to it and add a little water, if necessary to make it less thick. Add more salt if necessary.

In a small seasoning pan, heat the oil and add the other ingredients for seasoning. As soon as the mustard seeds splutter, add them to the squash gravy. Mix well and serve hot with rice and some pappadams!

Read more...

Brunchtime Seattle! – 5 Spot

If you want a brunch that is not just French toast or eggs Benedict or scrambled eggs with bacon, then 5 Spot is the place to go. This is the brunch place we went to on the day of our 2nd wedding anniversary. Remember I said, it was a no cooking day for me…aaahh a great day it was!! I was looking for a good brunch place in the west side, I came across 5 Spot on UrbanSpoon and totally loved the menu. Every few months or so, they choose a theme based on a specific geographical area. The basics remain the same and they have a special section on the menu reflecting the current theme. This time is was St.Louis and I was very sure that AJ would love the chili on almost everything! I've heard that the Oregon one was also pretty good!

We found 5 Spot right at the corner of Queen Anne Ave and found street side parking a little ahead very easily. Probably it was because of a weekday morning that we were able to find parking, but that didn't mean 5 Spot wasn't crowded. A table just got empty as we walked in and we were promptly seated. We saw a lot of people waiting outside as we were leaving, so don't be fooled thinking its just a weekday!

As usual, I first ordered my coffee and AJ his orange juice. Ordering the food was a little tough – both of us wanted to try out many things and narrowing it down to just one for each was difficult. Finally we decided on the Foragers Forest Scramble for me, The Soulard Slinger for AJ from the special theme menu and a Gooey Butter Cake to share. Our beverages came along with water which was served in these cute little jars..

The food did not take long and I was very happy to see a big plate with my scrambled eggs, toast and nice crispy hash browns. Inspite of not being a big fan of mushrooms, I loved the spinach, cheese and wild mushrooms with the scrambled eggs. It had a very subtle earthy flavour of the mushrooms all throughout without overpowering the dish too much. I finished off all my hash browns, which i normally do not do – they were very crispy, not just the top layer but all of it!

 FORAGERS FOREST SCRAMBLE - Wild & not-so-wild mushrooms sautéed with jack cheese & spinach. ($9.50)

AJs breakfast was even better with all the chili and sausage along with tasty eggs. He totally loved it and for the first time found a brunch plate that was totally filling. We were very happy that we decided to order just one dish each.

 The Soulard Slinger - A bed of hash browns, a ladle of chili, a ration of sausage & a couple of eggs served up with cheddar cheese & green onion. “It’s dirt cheap, damn good, and a drunk’s dream.” ($8.75)

 

The gooey butter cake lived up to its name and was very tasty. But it was also pretty heavy and a little too sweet for the morning. That did not stop us from devouring it though ;)

 Gooey Butter Cake - Ma Gantner's famous recipe...topped with a sour apple compote. ($5.75)

 

Altogether it was a good and reasonably priced dining experience. Great service and kid friendly too. I still have lot more things from the menu that I want to try out and Im sure we will be making a trip soon!

Read more...

Cheesy Spinach Nuggets

I am right now in a phase of extended post vacation laziness and i really really had to push myself to post this. Its been a week since we came back from our east coast trip and only by the weekend did i finally manage to finish all the laundry and stow away the luggage. The weather wasn't helping either ( yeah, blaming it on the weather is always safe ;) ) It still is not helping, but i just had to post today.

As you all know, the Sunday Snacks – Cheese event is currently going on here. So I made this quick snack on one of the cold rainy days and it will be my first entry to this event as well. I made it extra healthy by adding ground flax seeds, soy chunks and wheat germ and had these healthy cheesy delicious bites with one of current favourites – Mighty Leaf’s Organic African Nectar tea.

Cheesy Spinach Nuggets

10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and drained 1 cup low fat cheddar cheese 2 tbsp flax seeds 1/4 cup soy chunks (nutrella brand) 1/4 cup panko 1/4 cup organic bread crumbs 1 tbsp wheat germ 2 thai green chillies, chopped finely 2 eggs salt, to taste

Grind the flax seeds and the soy chunks to a fine powder. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, mix in the spinach, cheese,ground flax seeds and soy chunks, panko, bread crumbs, wheat germ, chillies and salt. Break in the eggs and mix in those as well. Make tiny balls out of the mixture and flatten them out a little between the palms of your hands. Place them on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20 mins or so, till they are all crispy. Enjoy with your favourite hot beverage.

Read more...