Sanket's kitchen

Palak paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach leaves - 3 cups
Minced garlic - 6 pods
Ginger - 1" piece (shredded)
Green chili - 3 small (finely chopped)
Onions - 3 small (finely chopped)
Tomatoes - 2 small (finely chopped)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Paneer/Cottage cheese - 250 grams (cut into cubes)
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1 and 1/2 tbsp
Dry whole spices - Cinnamon - 1" piece, bay leaves - 2 to 3, red chili - 1
Dry powder spices - Turmeric - 1 tsp, cumin-coriander - 2 tsp, red chili powder - 1 tsp, curry powder (shaan) - 1 tsp, garam masala - 1/2 tsp

Preparation:

Cook spinach - heat 1/2 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Saute about 2 minced garlic and 1 chopped green chili for about 30 seconds. Now add spinach leaves to it and cook till they are wilted. Close the lid and cook for 1 whistle.

Recipe: 

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp ghee in a pan. Add onions to it and saute for about 15 minutes on medium heat (onions turn brown). Now add remaining 4 minced garlic pods, 2 chopped green chili and shredded ginger to it. Saute for about 2  minutes. Now add chopped tomatoes and saute for about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to 'medium-low' and add salt & all the dry powder spices. Add cooked spinach to it and saute for 2 minutes. Let it cool down a bit, add 1/2 cup water and mix it in a food processor to make a smooth puree (it will be deep green colored).

2. Heat 1 tbsp ghee in the same pan. Add cumin seeds to it. Once cumin seeds start to splutter, add dry whole spices and saute for about 30 seconds. Now add our puree to it and saute for about 5 minutes. Now add paneer and about 1/2 cup water to it and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve hot with roti or white rice.

Enjoy!

Omelette sandwich

Ingredients:

Butter - 1/2 tbsp
Eggs - 2
Scallion - 1 finely chopped
Green chili - 1 finely chopped
Cumin-coriander powder - 1 tsp
Crushed red pepper - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - just a pinch
Salt - 1/2 tbsp (adjust as per taste)
Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp finely chopped

Whole-wheat bread - 2 toasted

Recipe:

Open two eggs in a bowl. Add all the ingredients and whip everything together.

In a wide bottom pan, heat the butter. Then add eggs to it and cook on a low-medium heat. Cook till it becomes solid, then turn upside down and cook for a couple more minutes.

Stuff it between toasted bread.

Serve hot with ketchup.

Enjoy!

Gujarati style potatoes

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 (finely chopped into square pieces)
Oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Asafetida - 1/4 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin coriander powder - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1/2 tbsp (optional)
Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

Recipe:

1. Heat oil on a high heat in a pan. Once oil is hot, add mustard seeds to it. Add asafetida and turmeric powder once mustard seeds start to splutter. Add potatoes to it after about 30 seconds.

2. Cook potatoes for about 15 minutes. Skip stirring in between.

3. Once potatoes are cooked, lower the heat to 'low-medium' and add salt, red chili powder and cumin-coriander powder.

4. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, then lower the heat to 'low' and add sugar. Turn off the heat after about a minute and squeeze lemon juice over it.

Serve with roti or chappati.

Note: To make it non-Gujarati, skip sugar and add a pinch of garam masala instead.

Enjoy! 

Pan-seared salmon with green beans and white rice

This dish is a quick-fix meal. It's very tasty, easy to cook and most importantly, its a perfect balance of proteins, vegetables, healthy fats & carbs.

Ingredients (serves 2 people):

For salmon:
Salmon - 4 fillets
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper - 1/2 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 1/2 tbsp

For green beans:
Green beans - 1/2 pound
Water - 3 cups
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Black pepper - just a pinch
Lemon juice - few drops

For rice:
Parboiled white rice - 1/4 cup
Water - 3/4 cup (parboiled rice needs more water than regular rice)

Preparation:

1. Marinade salmon - Mix all ingredients (except salmon) from the section 'for salmon'. Add salmon filets to it and coat the fillets with marinade. Leave it outside for about 15 minutes.

2. Wash and rinse white rice. Let it soak in water for about 15 minutes in a pan.

3. Wash and rinse green beans.

Recipe: 

You have to cook 3 things almost together to enjoy this dish. So its necessary to be organised and 'think on your feet'.

Step 1. Cook salmon - Heat pan on a high heat for about 2 to 3 minutes. Once pan is preheated, add marinated salmon fillets to pan and cook on one side for about 3 minutes. Now, turn over the salmon filets, and cook for 4 to 5 more minutes. Salmon becomes flaky when it is perfectly cooked. Put cooked salmon fillets on a serving plate. Note, there is some left over oil and spices in this pan. We'll use this later for green beans. So do not discard it.

Step 2. Cook green beans - This step goes hand in hand with step 1. Heat 3 cups water on a high heat in a cooking pot. Once water starts boiling (about 5 minutes), add green beans to it. Cook for 3-4 minutes till they become crisp-tender. Now, drain the hot water and replace with ice cold water and let green beans stand in ice-cold water for about 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the pan used to cook salmon. Add just green beans (no water) to pan and saute for about 3-4 minutes on a high heat. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and squeeze few drops of lemon juice on it.

Step 3. Cook rice - Heat pan used to soak rice on medium-high flame. Once water starts to simmer, close the lid and lower the heat to low-medium. Cook for about 15-20 minutes (till water evaporates and rice is cooked thoroughly).

For a good presentation, arrange two fillets on one side of dish (one on top of another); put green beans close to salmon and white rice on other side of dish.

Enjoy!

Spinach dal (Dal palak)

Ingredients: 

Oil - 2 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Spinach leaves - 3 cups
Moong dal - 1/2 cup (soak in water for 2 hours)
Onions - 2 finely chopped
Ginger-garlic-green chili paste - 2 tbsp (about 5 garlic pods, 1" ginger piece and 1 green chili)
Garlic pods - 2 and green chili - 1 (finely chopped - to cook with spinach)
Tomatoes - 2 finely chopped
Salt - 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 2 1/2 tsp
Curry powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chaat masala - 1 pinch

For tempering - cumin seeds - 1 tbsp, cinnamon stick - 1" piece, bay leaves - 2 to 3, asafetida - 1/4 tsp

Preparation: 

1. Cooking spinach: Finely chop spinach leaves. Wash and rinse in water. Now heat 1 tbsp oil in a pressure cooker. Add chopped garlic and green chili to it and saute for about 2 minutes. Now add spinach leaves to it. Saute for about a minute and close the lid. Cook for 1 whistle in pressure cooker. Once it is cooked, mash it with a food masher.

2. Cook moong dal for about 20 minutes in a cooking pot with closed lid.

Recipe: 

1. Heat remaining oil and ghee in a pan on a high heat. Once heated, add cumin seeds to it. Let it splutter, then add asafetida powder, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. After about 30 seconds, lower the heat to medium and add chopped onions. Saute till it becomes golden brown in color (about 10 to 15 minutes).

2. Now add Ginger-garlic-green chili paste and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Now add chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. By that time, tomatoes becomes mushy and oil starts to ooze from curry.

4. Now add salt, turmeric powder, red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder, curry powder, garam masala and chaat masala. Mix well and saute for about 2 minutes.

5. Now add spinach and cooked moong dal (with remaining water) to it and mix well. If there is not enough water, add about 1/2 cup water to the spinach dal curry and cook on a medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Serve with plain white rice or chapati.

Enjoy! 

Soft & hard taco

Ingredients: 

Taco shells - hard or soft (I used ready made taco shells from Taco-Bell)
Black beans - 1 cup
Guacamole - 1 cup (store bought or freshly made from 2 avocados)
Sour cream - 1/2 cup
Lettuce - 1/2 chopped
Salsa - 1/2 cup
Shredded cheese - 1/2 cup (preferably mexican four cheese blend)
Tomato - 1 chopped
Taco seasoning - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1 tbsp

Preparation: 

1. Wash and rinse a cup of black beans. Soak in 1 cup water for about an hour. Pressure cook for 3 whistles. After black beans are cooked, open the cooker and add salt and taco seasoning. Mash black beans with masher. If there's too much water in the end, heat black beans in same cooker with open lid till desired consistency is achieved.

2. Heat taco shells as per direction on the box.

3. Finely chop lettuce and tomatoes.

Recipe:

1. Stuff black beans inside a taco shell.

2. Put some guacamole over it.

3. Add a thin layer of sour cream over it.

4. Add some lettuce and tomatoes.

5. Add salsa to it.

6. Finally sprinkle some shredded cheese on to it and your taco is ready.

Enjoy! 

Kolhapuri lamb curry

Ingredients: 

For marinade -
Lamb pieces - 1.5 lbs - cut it to about 2" pieces
Garlic-ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Green chili - 1 finely chopped
Salt - 1.5 tbsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice - from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tsp)
Chopped Coriander leaves - 1 tbsp

For kolhapuri masala -
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Dry red chili - 6 crushed
Black pepper corns - 1 tbsp
Cinnamon stick - 1" piece
Green cardamom seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Cloves - 1/2 tbsp
Javantri - 1/2 tbsp
Poppy seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Coriander seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Sesame seeds - 1/2 tbsp
Bay leaves - 2 to 3
Nutmeg powder - 1/2 tsp
Dry coconut powder - 2 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp

For curry - 
Oil - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp
Black cardamom - 2
Green cardamom - 2
Bay leaves - 2 to 3
Onions - 3 finely sliced
Garlic-ginger paste - 1 tbsp
Tomatoes - 1 finely chopped
Salt - 1 tbsp
Cumin-coriander powder - 1 tsp
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chopped coriander - 1 tbsp for garnishing

Recipe:

Step 1 - Marinade: Cut lamb pieces to appropriate size and wash thoroughly under lukewarm water. Make marinade by mixing ingredients from 'Garlic-ginger paste to Chopped coriander leaves' under section 'for marinade'. Add lamb pieces to marinade mixture and leave it for about 2 hours.

Step 2 - Making kolhapuri masala: Heat pan on a medium heat. Once heated, add ingredients from 'cumin seeds to bay leaves' under section 'for kolhapuri masala'. Lower the heat and stir the ingredients continuously for about 2 to 3 minutes till all the ingredients are roasted well and starts to give nice aroma. Now add dry coconut and roast for another 2 to 3 minutes (till coconut becomes golden-brown colored). Now turn off the heat, and add salt and nutmeg powder. Let it cool down and grind it with food processor to make a fine powder.

Step 3 - Cook lamb under pressure cooker: Heat 1 tbsp ghee in a pressure cooker. Once heated, add the marinated lamb pieces to it and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add 2 cups of water and close the lid. Turn heat to medium low and let it cook for about 5 whistles (about 20 minutes). See notes for alternative if pressure cooker is unavailable.

Step 4 - Making kolhapuri curry: Heat 1 tbsp oil and remaining 1 tbsp ghee in a pan on a high flame. Once heated, add cumin seeds. Once they start to splutter, lower the heat to medium and add black cardamom, green cardamom and bay leaves. Saute for about 30 seconds, then add sliced onions. Saute onions till they turn brown (about 30 minutes on medium heat). Now add garlic-ginger paste and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes. Now add tomatoes and saute for about 5 minutes till they turn mushy and oil starts to ooze from curry. Now add kolhapuri masala (step 2), salt, cumin-coriander powder, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Saute dry spices for about 2 to 3 minutes. Now add cooked lamb with residual water (step 3) to the curry. Close the lid and let it simmer on a medium heat for about 20 to 25 minutes. If there is too much water in the end, open the lid and simmer the curry till desired consistency is achieved. Turn off the heat, and let it stand for about 10 minutes. Garnish with chopped coriander.

Serve hot with white rice or chapati.

Enjoy!

Notes: 
1. Under step 2 - do not let the ingredients burn under any circumstances; otherwise they will yeild unappetizing bitter taste.
2. You can cook lamb directly in a pan used to make curry. In that case, cook marinated lamb in curry for about 1 hour on medium heat. Lamb is well done when meat starts to seperate from bone easily.