Shahi Paneer

Shahi paneer is a North Indian curry made with tomato and cashew nut gravy. It is very rich in texture and one can find it in every menu list of a restaurant. It uses Paneer (cottage cheese) and tomato gravy laced with rich spices. But what can be more tempting if it is prepared at home to surprise everyone. It takes about 15-20 minutes to cook. So if one have the ingredients at home then giving a second thought is just waste of time.

Shahi Paneer

Ingredients used are:-

1. Paneer (200gms)
2. Tomatoes (3 for puree)
3. Onion (1 in form of paste)
4. Ginger-garlic paste (1tsp)
5. Cashew nuts (8-10 powdered)
6. Green chillies (1-2 chopped)
7. Cumin seeds (1tsp)
8. Bay leaf (1/2 leaf)
9. Yogurt/ dahi (1 cup)
10. Garam masala powder 1/2 tsp
11. Salt to taste
12. Sugar (1tsp)
13. Oil or ghee (1tsp)
14. Cream to garnish (1tsp)
15. Coriander leaf to garnish

Step by step process to cook shahi paneer:-

First of all take oil in a pan/kadhai and heat it, after it is hot add cumin seeds and bay leaf. let the seeds and bay leaf splitter.

After this add ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and also onion paste. Saute it till the paste turns golden brown.

Then blend the tomatoes and make a puree out of it and in next step add the tomato puree as shown.

Once the tomato puree starts leaving the sides of kadhai it is an indication that it has been cooked properly. Now its the time to add cashew nut powder. One can soak the cashew in water and make a paste out of it or can add it in powdered form and then add little water as per requirement.

Then yogurt/ dahi is added and it is stirred continuously to ensure it binds well with the rest of ingredients. Adding yogurt gives a tangy taste to the curry. 

After this sugar is added and also some cashew nuts and raisins are added to give it an extra flavour. Though this step is entirely optional and one can even skip it as per the taste.

Then paneer which is cut in form of cubes is added, at this stage one can turn of the stove or lower the flame to slow. Mostly uncooked paneer is used in this recipe but if one likes to fry the paneer dices one can go ahead with that. 

Lastly garam masala powder is added and stirred in to leave the aroma of all the spices which are blended.

Before serving give a final touch with cream and coriander leaf. This curry is enjoyed with most of the Indian breads like Naan, Parathas, tandoori roti and also goes well with rice or pulao.

SHAHI PANEER

Gajar Ka Halwa

Winters are about to say good bye as spring is on the way. There are many delicacies which we mostly enjoy during a particular season and keep on waiting for the time to come. Gajar ka halwa is one of the recipes which people cook in winters and is on the hit list of desserts during any party, wedding, function or any get-together in north India during winters. Now in time of globalisation , carrots are available all throughout the year but, the taste and the feeling while eating a particular dessert in a season to which it belongs is incomparable. So before winter leaves lets cook it one more time and enjoy the taste of those red and fresh carrots. In this recipe i will be sharing some replacements of Mawa as it is difficult for people to make it at home and also time consuming.

Ingredients required are:-

Gajar ka halwa

1. Carrots
2. Sugar
3. Mawa
4. Cardamom powder
5. For Garnish:- Almonds,Cashews and Raisins or (any nuts of your choice)

Looking at the step by step process:-

First of all , carrots are grated and are put in pressure cooker to boil. Boiling in pressure cooker saves a lot of time, though traditionally people use to cook the grated carrots in an open pan or khadhai which according to them enhances the taste, but who can wait for so long these days, anyways that's up to your choice , the ultimate thing is we want our carrots to cook up properly and become tender.

When the carrots become tender add the sugar according to your taste and mix well so that it incorporates well. One can see the image of boiled carrot below how the colour have changed after boiling.

As the sugar incorporates it will about to leave water as shown in the picture below. We need to make sure that the water is fully evaporated and need to cook on medium flame. 

After the water gets evaporated the volume of the carrots will reduce and at this stage add the nuts of your choice, i added cashew, almonds and raisins. Cardamom powder is also added to enhances the taste. 

The last stage comes when mawa is added to the carrot mixture. So if one does not have mawa then one can work out with other options like:- 

• Milk powder and add it according to the desired consistency. 
• One can also add cream or malai which is readily available in Indian kitchen.
• One can skip the step of mixing the mawa altogether and add little ghee and cook the carrot mixture but if one is adding only ghee then one need to make sure that they use a bit less quantity of sugar in the beginning.

If one needs to preserve halwa for a longer time and increase the self life then option of cooking in ghee  works well.

Now the final product is ready .

Gajar ka halwa

Benefits of carrot:-

1. They help in reducing the risk of lung cancer, breast cancer and colon cancer.
2. Carrots have beta-carotene which have anti aging property.
3. They help in improving the vision of eyes.
4. Since it is rich in vitamin-A which prevents premature wrinkling, acne, uneven skin tone, dry skin, blemishes and pigmentation.
5. It also assists the liver in flushing out the toxins from the body.