Restaurant style paneer 65 l பன்னீர் 65

      Paneer 65 is like chicken 65 for vegetarians. It can be prepared either with sauce or without. Today I prepared paneer 65 using sauce like prepared in restaurants. The gravy or sauce which coats the paneee will be tangy and spicy. The fried paneer as is,will be yummy when fried only for 5 minute,where you will get soft paneer inside and crispy on outside which can be served with just fried curry leaves or tossed just in tadka. To make it more yummy, I tossed it in masala mixed in curd sauce,which is so yummy to have hot hot. 

Ingredients:

Paneer marination:

Paneer - 300 gms/ 0.6 lb 

Maida- 3 tbsp

Corn flour - 3 tbsp

Kashmiri red chili powder - 1 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp/ as per taste

Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Curry leaves- few chopped (for flavor)

Crushed black pepper- 1 tsp 

Paneer 65:

Oil- 1 tbsp

Ginger chopped - 2 tbsp

Garlic chopped - 2 tbsp

Big onion-1/2 

Green chili- 3 slit

Red chili- whole 5

Curry leaves- few sprigs 

Coriander powder/தனியா தூள் - 3/4 tsp

Jeera powder/சீரக தூள் - 1/2 tsp

Garam masala/ கரம் மசாலா- 1/2 tsp

Kashmiri red Chili powder/ காஸ்மீர் மிளகாய் தூள்- 1 tsp

Red chili sauce- 1 tsp

Ketchup- 1 tsp

Curd/ yogurt/தயிர் - 1/2 cup

Coriander leaves/cilantro- few chopped

Recipe:

* chopped ginger and garlic into fine pieces

* cut paneer in cubes and add in warm water to make it soft.

Step 1: Paneer marination:

        In a bowl add all the ingredients under marination section and mix first and then sprinkle water little by little. The marination should not like that for manchurian(thick outer coating) or like fritter/bajji( very thin runny coating) ,it needn’t to be fully covered,as we are again going to toss in sauce.(no need to marinate for long)

Step 2:  Paneer frying

         Heat a pan with oil(add less oil ,as the red color from Kashmiri chili powder discolor the oil) once it is warm,add marinated paneer one by one.  Fry just for 5 minutes,else the paneer lose its soft texture inside.

Step 3: Paneer 65 preparation

        In a kadai or skillet,add oil followed by chopped garlic ,ginger,onion and curry leaves. Sauté it till the onion and all cooked well.

        Add the masala powder mentioned under paneer 65 preparation,(note: flame should be low always when adding dry masala powder,else it get burnt easily and it will be infused in the dish),once the masala is mixed,add the sauces and sauté few more minutes.

       Switch off the flame and add curd.( Adding curd/yogurt in hot pan will led to curdle ,so switch of the flame and add.Mix with masala powder and sauce ). Then switch on the flame, cook in low flame for 2 minutes and turn high, add fried paneer and toss in high flame for just 2 minutes to retain the soft paneer and the sauce are all dried and coated on paneer. Finally add chopped cilantro /coriander leaves and serve it with fried rice or serve as starter with hot soup.

Note:

* Can also be served just fried paneer and fried curry leaves or Fried paneer and normal tadka or this way.

*Vegans,can avoid yogurt.

*Can also be fried in airfryer by marinating with oil with other ingredients and fry in airfryer in fries mode.

* Always keep in mind,the longer the paneer in flame,harder they become so fry just for 5 minutes and toss fried paneer in high flame just 2 minutes.

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Kat vada in Tamil

 Kat vada is a Maharashtra traditional recipe. Potato vada is served on a masala gravy. Traditionally it is served with a slice of bread on side. The gravy is called kat ,which is hot and spicy which goes well with potato vada. For a rainy day, this kat vada is a perfect snack with hot tea and also can be served as breakfast along with bread .

Kat masala:

Oil - 1 tbsp

Big onion - 1 chopped

Copra coconut - 1/4 cup

Ginger - 2 inch piece

Garlic -3

Poppy seed- 1 tsp

Jeera- 1 tsp

Coriander seed- 1 tbsp

Cinnamon -  1 piece

Cardamom-2

Black stone flower- small piece

Star anise- 1

Black pepper -10-15

Cloves - 4-5

Tomato- 1 big 

Kat gravy:

Oil- 4 tbsp

Asafetida-  1/8 th tsp

Turmeric -1/4 tsp

Kashmiri red chili powder-1 tbsp

Grinder gravy

Salt- as required

Water- 4 cup

Potato filling:

Oil- 1 tbsp

Onion-1

Curry leaf- few sprigs

Crushed garlic,ginger,green chili- 1 tbsp

Turmeric - 1/2 tsp

Salt- as per taste

Boiled potato -3

Cilantro - few chopped

Vada batter:

Besan/kadala maavu- 2 cup

Rice flour- 2 tbsp

Asafetida- a pinch

Turmeric- 1/4 tsp

Salt- as per taste

Baking soda- a pinch

Water- 1-2 cup

Recipe:

Step 1.Masala for gravy preparation:

   1. In a kadai,add oil followed by chopped onion,chopped ginger and garlic.Add all the ingredients under masala preparation and sauté in low flame for few minutes and grind it with little water to thick paste.

Step 2:Gravy preparation:

   1. In kadai,add oil(usually for this gravy more oil is used to cook the gravy) and add turmeric,kashmiri chili powder and grinder gravy. 

   2. once the gravy is well cooked and oil separates out,add enough salt and add water to the gravy ,bring to boil.

   3. Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.

   4. After 15 minutes, once oil floats on top .switch off the flame.(The longer the gravy sits on counter,the taste of the gravy will more good)( so prepare this gravy 1 or 2 hrs before serving).

Step 3: Potato filling for vada

  1. In a kadai,add oil,mustard,jeera,asafedita,chopped curry leafs,crushed ginger,garlic and green chili.once the raw smell of ginger n garlic, add turmeric and salt.Finally add boiled and smashed potato followed by chopped coriander leafs. Sauté for 2-3 minutes and transfer to a bowl to cool down.

Step4 : Vada batter preparation 

   1. In a bowl,add besan,rice flour,salt,asafetida,turmeric for color ,mix well and then slowly add water to the mix. Prepare a semi thick batter which will coat the potato filling for potato vada.(Baking soda is added for plush and crispy vada)

Step 5: Potato vada preparation 

    1. Take small portion of potato filling and flatten it.Dip it in vada batter and place it hot oil. Fry both side till golden brown and crispy.

Step 6: Serving kat vada

    On a plate, pour the kat(gravy) and place two potato vada on top. Garnish with chopped onion,coriander leaves and sev. 

 

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Homemade pav

                           Next to masala pori,i love pav bhaji. I miss masala pori in US but i am satisfied that  i am getting pav bhaji in chat shops here. Intially i used to buy ready made pav in shops and will make bhaji in home. But recent days, i like to prepare pav too in home. If i make pav, i will use it for pav bajji, vada pav and misal pav. My son have it as bread and sauce or bread and jam. For his sake, nowadays i either prepare it in home or buy it and keep it in stock. The ingredients needed for this pav is very less and easy to make.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/Maida - 3 cup
Yeast -  1 1/2 tbsp
Sugar - 3 tbsp
Salt - 1/2 tbsp
Butter - 1 1/2 tbsp
Milk - 1 1/2 cup
Warm water - 2 tbsp

Recipe:

1.Take a small bowl,add 2 tbsp water and add yeast and sugar.Mix well and leave it for 10 minutes.
2.After 10 minutes, check whether yeast is foamy.Mix one more time.
3.Take a large bowl,add all purpose flour,Salt,warm milk,proof yeast and mix well. If needed,add some warm water to it.
4.Knead the dough very softly.Don't knead like chappathi dough(hard)..
5.Transfer the kneaded dough in a glass bowl, apply melted butter on top and cover the dough with damp cloth and rest it in a warm place like conventional oven.

6.Leave it there till the quantity of dough doubles its volume.

7.Once again knead the dough and divide it into equal portion and roll it into balls.

8.Place the rolled balls on a baking pan and cover it with damp cloth and allow to rest for 1 hour.
9.After 1 hour,check whether the rolled balls double the size.

10.Pre heat the conventional oven for 400 F for 5 minutes.Meantime, apply milk as coating on top of rolled balls. If needed, sprinkle some sesame seed on top.

11.Place the pan inside the oven and bake it for 20 minutes.Check the pav by piercing a tooth pick inside,if it comes out clean without sticking any dough,then pav is ready.
12.After 20 minutes, remove the pav and leave it for 2 minutes inside pan.

13.After 2 minutes,transfer the pav to a drying rack.Apply butter on top when it is warm.
14.Once the pav cool down, cut the partitions and remove individual pav buns.

Note:

*.Don't baked the bun so long,it will make the bun hard.
* Place the pan in middle rack in oven,so that bottom part won't get burned soon.
* Don't cut the pav immediately after removing from oven.
* Adjust sugar and salt according to taste.

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Chatshop kaalan

                             This is one of the famous chat item specially prepared in and around coimbatore area,India. The main ingredient in this dish is mushroom. My husband and my brother who are staying out of coimbatore city, likes to have it whenever they come to hometown.From my childhood i don't eat mushroom,So i am not fond of this dish but the craziness about this dish by youngsters made me to prepare it at home. After coming to US, my husband missed it so much. Through net, i learned this recipe and tried it. I didn't taste this dish but the aroma indirectly tells me ,it is perfect.Without tasting , i can't give a good feedback, so i prepared this dish using cauliflower too . Finally tasted it, i can feel the taste of the aroma which i felt in kaalan in this dish too.Happy that i could recreate the famous chat food in my kitchen.

Ingredients:

For mushroom bhajji:
Mushroom - 1 pack( I used button mushroom)
All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Maida - 1/2 cup
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp
Food color - a pinch( Use orange color, i don't have so mixed red and yellow color)
Egg - 1 (Veg can use baking soda)
Salt - as per taste
Oil - 1 tbsp( for mixing)
Oil - For frying

For powder:
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon - 1
Cardamon - 1
Cloves - 2
Anise - 1/2
Saunf - 1 tsp
Coriander seed - 1 tbsp
Black peppercorn - 1 tsp
Nutmeg powder - a pinch
Jeera - 1/4 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Other:
Onion - 1 big
Oil - 2 tbsp
Chilli powder - 2 tbsp
Spice powder - 2 tbsp( Garam masala or chicken masala )
Salt - as per taste
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 tbsp

Recipe:
* Chop onion into fine pieces.

For powder:
1.Grind all the ingredients into fine powder.

For kaalan liquid:
1.In kadai,add oil and fry 1/4 th of chopped oinion and fry till they are soft. Now add ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell fades away.
2.Now add 4 cups of water , 2 tsp of prepared powder and salt.Bring to boil. Once it boiled for 10 mintues,switch off the stove and Cover the kadai and keep aside.

For kaalan bhajji:
1.Chop kaalan lengthwise into thin slices.
2.In a bowl, mix all purpose flour,corn flour,ginger garlic paste,food color,salt and egg.If needed add little water and mix.The batter should be thin so that the bhajji coating should't be too thick.
3.Fry all the bhajji and keep aside.

Final preparation:
(* Heat the liquid which was prepared using powder, before starting this process)
1.In big wok or kadai, add oil . Once it is hot ,add kaalan bhajji .Fry for 3 minutes.
2.Add 1 1/2 cup of liquid (Prepared earlier) and cover the wok and cook for 10 minutes in slow flame.
3.After 10 minutes, add chilli powder,chicken masala powder or garam masala,salt.Smash the bhajji along with added powder and bring to gravy consistency. Now add 1 more cup and cover the lid and cook for 5 more minutes.
4.After 5 mintutes,check the consistency.Add more liquid according to the consistency needed. The final consistency should be little bit thick and mushy.
5.Finally add chopped onion and coriander leaves and mix well.

While serving,serve it in a small wide plate topped with onion and crushed poori's.

Note:

* I have used salt in different levels,so be cautious while adding.
* Same way we can prepare using cauliflower,
     Boil the cauliflower in salt water ,drain and keep it in a plate. Marinate using same mixer and fry it in oil. Follow same procedure.But before tasting it ,i just poured some pani poori water on top and little bit of lemon juice . It gives a awesome taste. You can prepare gobi 65 and prepare this dish. (who don't like the raw smell of cauliflower in the dish).
* You can prepare the powder and store it in refrigerator for long time.
* Prepare this dish in a thick pan,else the kaalan will stick to it's bottom.
* This dish is prepared in four steps.Powder preparation,Liquid preparation,kaalan bhajji preparation and final mixing.It sounds difficult, if we prepare this powder and store it in fridge. We can prepare liquid and bhajji simultaneously.Just half and hour before serving, we can finally mix it.
* We can add any masala powder at last. Garam masala or chicken masala or muttun masala.

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