Mutter Paneer!

I have an obsession with Indian food, especially Mutter Paneer. It is comfort food at it's best. Cheese, peas, cream, and tomato sauce come together to form my favorite Indian dish. I have such fond memories of making this, it was the last meal I made for David before he left for his 6 months of Air Force training. Miriam and I took a trip to the Indian grocery store yesterday, so I decided to make it again on this cold and rainy spring day.

Here are the cast of characters. Onions, garlic, ginger, tomato sauce, paneer, peas, heavy cream, bay leaves, garam masala, cumin seeds, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper (cilantro didn't make it to the picture)  YUM! When Miriam and I started cooking Indian food together, I did a lot of research on cookbooks to purchase. I found one that I love! It is 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer and I have attached the link to purchase it on Amazon 660 Curries . It is brilliant, large, and full of delicious recipes. I want everyone to own it. 

My recipe is inspired by the Mutter Paneer recipe in 660 Curries but I had to make some adjustments based on ingredients and spices I had/enjoy. 

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 chunk of ginger, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf 

1 can of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes and pan-fried (so worth it!)

Chopped Cilantro to taste

(I do not measure my spices, but I think this is about what I put in, so adjust to your spice preference and tolerance as needed)

First, I chopped up the onion, garlic, and ginger. These will all be going into the food processor so don't worry about finely chopping. 

Pulse to combine. I wait until there are no visible chunks. 

Heat oil at medium heat. Add cumin seeds and bay leaf and cook until the cumin seeds start to crackle, about 10 seconds. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger mixture and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes. This smells amazing!

Add the peas and about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of water. Cover and simmer until the peas are tender and turn darker green. This may take 10-15 minutes. Test a pea!

Fold in cream, pan-fried paneer, and cilantro and heat through. This is a good time to test the spices and see if there is anything else you'd like to add. 5 minutes. 

Then you get to eat this! This is bliss. 

Meena's Kitchen - 5/2/12

Emily and I went to Meena's Kitchen for lunch today. This hidden treasure of a restaurant is what inspired us to take our cooking skills to a new level. Meena's Kitchen is an incredible South Indian dining experience complete with a six course meal and as many servings as you would like for each dish served! So affordable and out of this world delicious, we just had to share. If you are ever in the area then you should definitely stop by if you have a passion for Indian food.

Today’s Six Course Menu at Meena's Vegetarian South Indian Restaurant in Nashua, NH (descriptions taken from Meena's Kitchen website.)

Munakkadala Charu
Flavorful drumstick Soup made in a South Indian style.

Aloo Bajji
Sliced Potatoes dipped in chick pea batter and deep fried.

Spinach Dosa
Chef’s special. Crepe made of sour dough ground with spinach. Served with chutney

The remainder of the meal is served all at once - descriptions starts from the center and then works clockwise from the center left of the plate of last picture.

Chapatti - Handmade whole wheat flat bread

Avial - Mixed vegetables cooked with coconut and topped with yoghurt. This is a delicious dish from the state of Kerala.

Channa Masala - Chick Peas cooked in a spicy gravy made with tomatoes, onions and Cashews

Peas Rice -Basmati rice cooked with green peas and spices and served with Raita (following rice)

Sabudana Payasam - Desert made of Tapioca pearls and milk with a touch of Cardamom

Yuki-urui & Quinoa

What is Yuki-urui?

You have most likely seen them planted around people houses as ornamental plants and like most ornamental plants, you have most likely never thought of putting it in a frying pan with some garlic and olive oil, cooked just like you would spinach, which is what I did tonight! More familiarly this plant is called Hosta and they're everywhere! My husband, the gardener, informed me of this discovery and has planted a perennial bed in our ever growing vegetable garden.The taste is ridiculously delicious for something that before a couple of months ago I would never have thought of eating. Think Asparagus, slightly sweet, and aromatic. You can buy them packaged in an Asian grocery store, yet they are very easy to grow if you are willing and able to garden. From what I have read they are eaten commonly in Japan, something I have asked about in my last letter to my Japanese pen pal. Maybe she will send a recipe in her next letter!

So Simple to make, and quick. I will definitely be making this again and again. I'm sure there are countless ways to prepare this but here is what I did tonight. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this plant!


big ol' handful of young hosta leaves, stemmed and washed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T fresh thyme 
1 t red pepper flakes
sprinkling of good organic all purpose seasoning
olive oil
pinch of salt
1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cup water

Cook quinoa - boil water and add quinoa, cover and lower heat, simmer 15 minutes

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat, when heated add garlic, thyme, red pepper and salt, cook until just golden .

Add hosta and sautee until wilted to desired wiltyness, just a minute or 3. Move it around while it's cooking to coat all the leaves and to make sure they don't crisp and stick to the pan. (oops!) - Miriam

   Serve with Quinoa, I added a dollop of butter at the end. This was seriously and unexpectedly delicious!

Cilantro Chutney for a Masala Omelette

Currently I am enamored with a certain cookbook which I have owned for some time now but have yet to make any recipes from. This is this the first I have tried. In preparation for an omelette that I am *planning* on making tomorrow morning - from the same cookbook - I made this lovely bright green cilantro chutney.

said book, said chutney

The book is Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson. I bought it used from Amazon.com and I have been thumbing the pages for who knows how many months. Time to put some recipes to the test. From searching the net it seems that a cilantro chutney is for the most part comprised of these basic ingredients - cilantro, jalapenos, ginger, garlic, lime and salt. What I love about this recipe is that it calls for coconut milk and in my humble opinion anything which contains coconut is divine and worth trying.

1 - 5 jalapenos, seeded and roughly chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3-4 garlic cloves
1/3 cup creamed coconut or coconut milk
1 large bunch of cilantro
4 sprigs of mint
1/2 t salt
pinch of sugar
juice of 2 1/2 - 3 limes

 such a lovely green!

In a food processor blitz the jalapenos, ginger, garlic, and coconut milk.

Add cilantro and mint and mix everything until it's well blended.

Add salt and sugar and - while the food processor is on - pour the lime juice in slowly.

 my own additions (since I am not able to let my spice cabinet alone when I am in the kitchen) - about 1/2 tsp of cumin and coriander and 1 tsp of garam masala. I loved the final taste of the ingredients above but I couldn't stop thinking about eating this herby spicy chutney with something sweet. I kept wishing for tamarind and thought maybe the sweetness of garam masala would lend itself nicely to its flavor, which it did!

After everything was mixed and poured into a jar I added my spices and stirred it with a spoon. I thought to myself how much I will enjoy making this in the summer when the garden is in full swing. Cilantro grows so quickly, it's almost impossible to use it all up before it goes to seed. This recipe will come in handy for those bolting cilantro plants!

Now let's see if I can actually get up before work and make the Masala Omelette that accompanies this chutney in the book! If not the chutney will keep for a month, so no rush! - Miriam

"The success of a recipe does not depend on a religious devotion to instructions; it springs from the heart and requires enthusiasm and a genuine love of food." Anna Venturi Secrets of an Italian Kitchen

Soup-ah

I made some ridiculously awesome soup from scratch. I winged the recipe and it came out delicious! My "used to be a chef" husband gave it unreserved approval while helping himself to seconds. This was inspired by leftover ingredients from making potato leek soup and a fond memory of mixing corn kernels into mashed potatoes on my plate as a kid, which I still love. Now I can get my fix with a little more spice and sophistication. - Miriam

INGREDIENTS (T = Tablespoon, t = teaspoon) 

1 stick salted butter
1 red onion, chopped
some chopped up herbs, about 1 T each - thyme, oregano, chives and/or whatever else you like :D
about 1 T red pepper flakes or 1 t cayenne powder (or none at all if you don't like hots)
5-7 drops of "liquid smoke" ... the best bottled stuff ever.
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T organic all purpose seasoning
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1-2 cups light cream (depending on how creamy you like it)
2 15 oz. cans of sweet corn
2.5 lbs potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 49 oz can of chicken broth

DIRECTIONS!!!

In a medium to large pot -  melt butter over Medium/High heat.
When melted add minced garlic, chopped red onion, herbs, 1 15 oz can sweet corn, herbs, liquid smoke, and pepper flakes.

Cook on medium high heat stirring occasionally. Cook as long as it takes you to peel and chop potatoes. The mixture should have some burning appearance going on, this is all flavor that will add to the soup. I would say about 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so.

When that is finished cooking add all of the chicken broth, potato, salt, seasoning, pepper, cream, and other can of corn.

Bring to a boil. After boil reduce to Medium low heat and simmer 25 minutes.

Use and immersion blender to smooth out the soup of any chucks. If you don't have an immersion blender you can just transfer the soup in batches to a blender and smooth it out that way. I usually don't blend it completely because I like some texture, but whatever suits your tastes.

Enjoy!

First Post - Hello!

This blog is something of a mystery. Its intentions, those of two friends brought together by the love of food, are to explore and share our adventures through the world of cooking, eating, and dining.  We are not yet sure of how it will all pan out, only that we are excited to add our take to the melting pot of food blogs. Thus far we have explored the tastes of India, trying our very best to recreate some of the meals of our favorite Indian vegetarian restaurant, Meena's Kitchen. Like Channa Masala and Mutter Paneer, the favorite go-to meals when confronted with mystifying menus. Or Carrot Halwah with its quirky combination of veg and spices. We cook on our own and together, we read cookbooks like novels and find our conversation always gravitating towards food. We get together about once a week and try our best to imitate the dishes that we love and this is the place where we will share those adventures and misadventures, both together and on our own. We hope to share, and also to learn, about the satisfaction of making an awesome and sharing it with those you love. Cheers!