Sprouted Navaratna dal with Paneer Curry | Paneer Navaratna Lentil Curry

Today's lunch box recipe is about sprouted Navaratna dal which also featured Paneer. This makes a great side dish along with Chapatis for carrying to work and is really hassle free. Adding sprouted dals makes this even more healthy.

Here's for a quick post today as it's been a hectic day and couldn't find time to do anything else.

Sprouted Navaratna dal with Paneer Curry | Paneer Navaratna Lentil Curry

Ingredients Needed:

Paneer, cubed and roasted in ghee - 100 gms
Sprouted Navarathna dals - 1 cups
Onions, puree - 1 cup
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Tomato, blanched - 2 medium
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Ghee - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves for garnish.

How to make Sprouted Navarathna dal with Paneer Curry

Make paneer, cube and roast in ghee. Keep it aside.

Wash and sprout the navaratna dals. Once ready to cook, wash again. Pressure cook for couple of whistles and keep it aside.

Heat a non stick pan, saute with onion puree, when it turns colour add ginger garlic paste and saute well. 

Blanch the tomatoes, remove skin, crush or puree depending on your style. 

When the onions are done, add the tomatoes, simmer for 5 mins. Add all the spice powders, salt mix everything well.

Then add the cooked dals, saute well. Finally add the paneer and simmer for 5 mins. Add water as required. Bring to boil and simmer till thick, which might take about 5 -7 mins.

When ready garnish with coriander leaves.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 11

Paneer Cake | Eggless Cake with Indian Cottage Cheese with Step by Step Recipe

One of the things that I often wanted to experiment in making cakes was Paneer. I know it's been an oft beat ingredient off late, can't really help it nor let it go waste. I think it's always good if we come around with a recipe that makes the best of a worse situation.

Coming back to the topic, I wanted to know if I could use paneer in making cakes. I have used buttermilk, curds, milk so far, so assuming that Paneer can also be used was only the next thought, naturally. A while ago when Champa posted a cake made with tofu, I naturally thought back to using Paneer. Then something somewhere led me to Nandita's post on Paneer cake. Only then I remembered that I had bookmarked the recipe.

I set out to make it the moment I could and infact ended up making it twice. Meaning the first time there was so much commotion at home the morning I made this, that something went wrong and the cake got burnt. I saved it before it got worse, still I felt so bad for the overlook. Though I must confess that the burnt cake tasted extremely good..:)

The second time I made I made sure I checked how much of baking powder I was adding, as I realized this was the cause for the quick rise. I was very patient and careful to make sure I don't burn this, in the end I must have spent lot of time just trying to see how it rose. Coming to the verdict, this isn't your typical soft and spongy cake that you get when you do with eggs, it's more dense and more like a brownie, if you can accept a non chocolaty brownie, then this is surely tops!

I was happy that Peddu liked it very much and almost eat it without prompting.

Step by Step Picture Recipe:

Paneer Cake | Sponge Cake with Indian Cottage Cheese

Ingredients Needed:

To make Paneer

Milk - 1/2 litre 1 tbsp white vinegar / 1 Lemon

To make the Cake

Whole Wheat Flour / Atta - 1.5 cups

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Sugar - 1 cup, or slightly less, ground with seeds from 2 cardamoms

Condensed Milk - 4 tbsp

Oil - 2 tbsp

Vinegar - 1 tbsp

Milk - 1/4 cup, as required

How to make the Paneer Cake:

Check this to know how to make Paneer

If you are making the paneer just before making this cake, save some of the whey water. Else you can use milk for a loose batter.

Preheat oven at 180 C.

First time I used aluminum foil packs. Second time used a non stick loaf tin. Grease with butter/oil
 

Powder the sugar along with the cardamom. Keep it aside.
 

Dry Ingredients:

In a wide bowl, sieve the flour along with the baking soda and baking powder.

Wet Ingredients:

In a large bowl, mash the paneer well with the oil, condensed milk. Add 1 tbsp vinegar, Sugar to this and half the whey water/ Milk. Second time I blended the paneer with half the milk to get a pouring liquid, mixed the rest of the wet ingredients.

Then add the flour in batches into the whisked wet ingredients. Use the reserved whey water and extra milk if required to get a batter consistency.

Pour into the greased baking tray, pat it on the floor so that the batter spreads evenly.

If you are using two small tins, bake for 30 minutes or 45-50 minutes for loaf at 180 C reducing the temperature after 20 minutes to 160 or so in case of square tins to prevent excessive browning of the tops.

Remove, cool in the tin itself for 15 minutes and remove out with the foil. Slice and serve warm.

Notes: The second time it took more time for baking as I reduced the temperature to 125 and baked for 30 mins. So totally it took me about an hour for the cake to be baked.

The result was not the spongy one you get when you use egg, as I said it was more dense and brownie type.

Next time I will be reducing the sugar, maybe use all purpose flour and more of baking soda instead of powder. Though using wheat flour is healthy I want to see how it might turn with flour.

Enjoy your piece cake for a evening snack.

Paneer Fingers Recipe - Low Calorie Indian Cottage Cheese Finger Fry | Easy and Quick Snack for Kids with Step by Step Recipe

It almost feels like years since I have last written here! Some thought I was on vacation, cheese far from it. I have had too many things on my plate the whole of last week and after completing the Blogging Marathon, really felt like a heavy relief. Not that I don't enjoy doing the marathon, I enjoy it immensely but the fact that it so happened that last week, I was clueless with the recipe for the theme, which made it hard. Plus the fact that I have teach the boys and get them complete their homework, seems to occupy so much time.

Well I am not complaining nor is this a rant. I simply wanted to make it clear to myself that I need to prioritize things to myself. I wouldn't want to miss spending the time with my kids. Last night when I was feeding the boys, they wanted to eat the rolled up chapattis themselves. Suddenly Peddu told me about one of their classmates. This boy brings these rolled chapatis everyday and never eats but throws it into the dustbin. Peddu told me, with his cherubic expression and a voice so sweet, that it's bad because his mummy makes these with so much efforts and this boy throws it away. Chinnu joined in saying, yes this happens daily, even the sandwich that he brings faces the same fate.

After all that talk last night, when I asked them if they will want Poori for their breakfast, they both nodded yes. Imagine my frustration when they both didn't eat a bit because of "pre departure to school syndrome" sets in! I decided never to again venture into stressful tasks in the morning. And also have a cozy talk with them.

Coming to these Paneer Fingers, these are Konda's favorite when we eat at the restaurant in the club. She will order this invariably and enjoys it so much. So I thought I must make it for her at home. In the process, I decided to make it low calorie by  pan frying it. Not for her sake but more for my own sake..:) Both Konda and Peddu enjoyed this, while Chinnu is yet to have a liking to these snacks.

Low calorie Paneer Finger Fry

For Paneer

Crumbled Paneer - 1 cup
Corn flour - 3 tsp
Red chili powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt to taste
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder a pinch

For outer layer

All purpose flour / Maida - 3 tsp
Corn flour -1  tsp
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cooking Soda a pinch
bread crumbs as required

How to make Paneer Fingers

For the stuffing:

Crumble paneer or grate it into fine powder. Add all the spice powders and corn flour. Mix into a fine mix. It will turn very soft on blending. Divide the paneer mix into small balls, shape them into fingers, keep it aside.

For the Batter:

Make a batter of flour with the other ingredients, except bread crumbs.

To make the fingers:

Dip the fingers in flour batter, roll over the bread crumbs. Pan fry in a non stick pan. Make sure it gets cooked to golden colour on all sides.

Enjoy with ketchup

You can deep fry but this low calorie fingers were also very tasty.

Paneer 65 Recipe | Indian Cottage Cheese Golden Fries | Easy and Quick Snack for Kids

Guess I need not say how much we love Paneer at home. By we I meant Konda, Peddu and myself. I can surely trust them to finish off anything paneer. While Chinnu loves to eat the paneer in PBM, he doesn't like it otherwise. Of course in most times when I make this snack there is hardly anything left for the elders at home. I simply added my name to the list to say they get the liking from me..:)

We have our club restaurant making something called as Andhra Paneer, a dish that is very spicy and super delicious (I know my dad will be furious reading the word super, but I guess it's now part of the language) Anyway they also have something called Paneer 65. We always order only paneer starters and of course paneer gravy for the meal. We never can get tired I tell you!

Those were those days, these days with the paneer being made at home so often, I am really tired of making just the same old menu. And it's cumbersome to make everybody eat that every week. So we resorted to making these different starters, which disappear the moment it's made. Remember Paneer Bonda? Well this is another batch that got done. 

Ingredients Needed:

Paneer / Indian Cottage Cheese - 400 gms, cubed into big pieces.

All purpose flour / Maida - 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Corn Flour - 1 tbsp
Chat Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:

I used homemade paneer. 

Take all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix together so that all the ingredients coat the paneer pieces well. Sprinkle some water to make sure the flour sticks to the paneer. 

Heat a pan with oil. Once it's hot, gently drop in the paneer pieces and fry on all sides.

Drain on a kitchen towel. 

Enjoy with ketchup

Paneer 65 ver 1 on Cooking 4 all seasons

Other Easy and Quick snacks for Kids

Paneer Bonda | Easy and Quick Snack for Kids

As I may have said many times, Paneer in any form is most sought out at home. Off late with the frequent power offs, we run the risk of getting the milk spoilt. So we end up with loads of paneer all the time. And of course given the fact that Konda and Peddu love Paneer dishes we always try to make different snacks with it. Hubby dear has strictly asked me not to serve him PBM, with the frequency I ended up making it. 

So the next best thing we decided to do are these snacks for the kids. Konda loves all the varieties we make. This crumble paneer was what I had ready to make those Mini Cinnamon rolls. I ended up having more than I needed, so made these bondas for them. It disappeared quicker than I made them!

Sending this to Champa for Kid's Delight themed on Mini Bites

Ingredients Needed:

For the batter

Gram flour / Besan - 1/2 cup
Maida/ all purpose flour - 2 tbsp
Chilli pw - 1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Cooking Soda a pinch

For paneer balls

Crumbled panner - 1 cup
Corn flour - 1 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tsp
Garam masala - 1/4 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp
Chat masala - 1/4 tsp
Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

Method to prepare:

Crumble the paneer and mix in all the ingredients. Divide into small tight balls.

For the batter, take the ingredients in a bowl, slowly add water and make a semi thick batter.

Heat a kadai with oil. Roll the paneer balls in the batter and deep fry them in hot oil

Cook on all sides and remove to a kitchen towel.

Enjoy as such or with sauce!

Tandoori Paneer Tikka on Stove Top | Making Tandoori Paneer Tikka Step by Step - Two ways

Tandoori Paneer Tikkas are my most favorite dish. I seem to be saying this so often. But then it surely is and not having a Tandoori oven never stopped me from making it. I have been doing it over Stove Top over many years. Last time when I did, I couldn't find the skewers, so I ended up using those tongs. 

I finally found the skewers and didn't want to miss showing how I make it. I made the recipe the same way as how I did the microwave method.

Marinade the Paneer Cubes along with the Vegetables.

Sorry for the messy picture but I had to show how much mess can happen..:) Arrange the Tomato Cubes, Onion, Capsicum in between the Paneer Cubes on the skewer.

Light up your stove, and take it right over it.

Pour drops of oil over the Paneer. When the oil comes in contact with the masala and the flame you get that smoky effect and taste as how it is made in a Tandoori Oven.

Turn over all sides to make sure the chunks get equally burnt and cooked on all sides.

Ok finally I was able to capture the flame with a night shot. Ensure to keep a safe distance when you hold it over the flame.

Once done on all sides, Tikkas are ready to serve!

In the second method I do, I cook the paneer pieces along with capsicum and onions. Leave out Tomato as it will get soft.

Cook on both sides for couple of mins, even more if you want the masala to be well cooked.

Then arrange on the skewers once it cools down.

Quickly cook over the stove, the same method while you sprinkle some oil over it.

Once done, remove to serve with onion julienne and lemon wedges. 

When Konda saw me making it, she couldn't believe we could make it so tasty as how we get it from restaurant. She still says this is the best she had.

Another entry for Kid's Delight themed on Holiday Specials.

Microwave Paneer Tikka | Baked Paneer Tikka | Indian Microwave Recipes | Indian Microwave Convection Recipe

Paneer Tikka has always been one dish that I never fail to order when we eat out. Infact if I remember right I have tried to experience how differently Paneer Tikka tastes in as many different places. Best have been in the ones I have enjoyed in Tandoor, which were really huge pieces yet so succulent, juicy and soft! In other places, it used to be real spicy and yet soft still.

So I always used to related to soft Paneer Tikkas whenever I eat this. Yet there have been occasions when it was served quite hard. I was delighted that my daughter shared my passion for Paneer Tikkas. And trust me, spicy in Tikkas are not spicy for her. She can easily eat couple of those real spicy ones, still claim them not being so spicy.

I already have a recipe for Paneer Tikka, that I had done on stove top without a Tandoor Oven the recipe is completely different from this recipe, which was shared by the MW Chef. And the fact that I prepared this Paneer Tikka in both "Only Micro Mode" and in Combo Mode of Convection + Micro Mode.

The difference between these two modes was that the Tikkas made in the Combo Mode came out soft and crisp on the top, while the Tikkas in the only Micro Mode, came out a bit harder. Of course if you ask me, I won't mind either ways.

This serves as a delicious starter and a great dish for Kids.

The below picture is made in Microwave Mode:

Mix the Paneer cubes along with Onion, Capsicum, Tomato pieces with the marinade and keep it aside for 15 mins.

 Then Micro the marinade for 2 mins for the masala to get cooked.

 Then using toothpicks, cube the paneer cubes along with tomato, onion and capsicum and micro for 1 - 2 mins in micro mode.

This is done in combo mode, where the same marinade is used and using toothpicks, club the paneer and rest. Pre- heat the oven for 210 degree and then in Combo mode using Convection + Microwave mode, cook the Tikkas for 15 mins.

Microwave Paneer Tikka in Microwave Mode:

Paneer - 250 gms
Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder / Jeera - 1/2 tsp
Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
Chili powder - 1 tsp
Curds/ Yogurt - 1 cup, hung
Salt to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Kesar colour a pinch (opt)

For Garnish

Capsicum - 1/2
Tomatoes - 1
Onions - 2

Method to prepare:

Wash and cube Paneer pieces into 2 inch squares.

Cut Onions, Tomatoes and capsicum into 2 inch square pieces.

Made a marinade of hung curds, ginger garlic paste, corn flour, garam masala, red chili powder, salt, cumin powder along with oil. Add kesar powder if you are using. Mix the paneer, onion, tomato and capsicum into this marinade. Keep it aside for 15 - 20 mins.

In Microwave Mode:

In a microwave safe bowl, cook the marinade for 2 mins.

Then using tooth picks, insert the onions, capsicum, tomato with the paneer in between.

Micro for 1 -2 mins.


Baked Paneer Tikka | Paneer Tikka in Convection Microwave Mode:

Pre Heat the oven at 210 degree, then switch off the oven

Follow the same process of marinade the Tikkas.

In a microwave bowl, micro the marinade for 1-2 mins.

Arrange the Tikkas in a Tooth pick.

Then switch to Combo mode by choosing Conv + Micro Mode, arrange the Tikkas on the tray and cook for 15  to 20 mins.

Sending this to Monika, who is hosting the Microwave Easy Cooking themed on Savory Snacks. And also for Kid's Delight themed on Holiday Specials.

Hope you have already sent in your Microwave Entries.