Tag: family time

CRUMBLED COTTAGE CHEESE (paneer)-पनीर का कीमा

On By lavinamehraIn Less than 10 minutes Quicker RecipesLeave a comment


Why this recipe?

GLUTEN FREE- LOADED WITH CALCIUM -QUICK TO MAKE

This is a quicker than any quick recipe.  Takes 4-5 minutes to cook and come out yum.

This recipe saves you :  your precious time and provides a nutritious option, more so if you even make the cottage cheese at home. https://fourstepsorless.com/2016/04/06/quick-home-made-cottage-cheese/

Gives you a chance to be creative -add any ingredients like nuts, raisins, peas or mushrooms.. really depends on how innovative you can be..

SERVES: 3-4
COOKING TIME: 4-5 MINUTES
INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tablespoon oil
2 green (elaichi)cardamom
2 cloves (laung)
2 strings of spring onion chopped small
2 medium tomatoes (cut in small pieces)
½ kilo paneer (cottage cheese) broken up or grated
1 teaspoon red chilly powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala
1 inch of frozen chopped green chill (optional)
10-15 craisins or raisins (optional)
Coriander leaves

STEP 1: Put cardamom and cloves in heated oil, add tomato and red chilli powder as soon as these get brown (will take 20-30 seconds) and cover the pan to simmer for 2 minutes.
STEP 2. Add spring onion, paneer (cheese), salt and turmeric powder, sauté and let it simmer for 2 minutes for flavours to permeate.
STEP 3. Add coriander leaves before you serve.

HANDY TIPS:thumb_IMG_0017_1024

Make sure you do not overcook paneer (cheese) as it tastes best when soft and moist.

You could be creative and add a few raisins, craisins or nuts of your choice to the recipe.

 

Boneless Tip-बिना हडडी की सलाह

On By lavinamehraIn TipsLeave a comment

Butter chicken comes out the best with boneless chicken. It is also easy to serve and eat when it is boneless

Frozen Advice-बर्फ़ीली सलाह

On By lavinamehraIn Tips15 Comments

In your daily cooking, consider replacing some fresh vegetables with frozen vegetables. Frozen veggies seal in more nutrition, colour and flavour as a result of quick freezing process (QFP) at the time of their packing when they are appropriately ripened and nutrition packed. Most fresh veggies are picked before they ripe, they may show signs of ripening by the time they reach the grocery shelf from the farm. They are however not as nutritious as they would have been if they were on the plant for longer.

Frozen veggies should be steamed or microwaved or pressure cooked to retain all nutrients. Never boiled or blanched.

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Browning Tender Veggies-एक सलाह – लेनी हो तो लो

On By lavinamehraIn Tips1 Comment

Some tender veggies like cauliflower breaks away in the cooking pan as soon as it softens . To get the right colour and texture of the finished recipe for such ingredients, cook at highest heat level for first 5-10 minutes. Make sure to keep turning the ingredients occasionally so that some pieces get brown even though not tender or cooked fully. After you get the right colour and burnt flavour, alternate the heat to low to let the ingredients get tender and fully cooked. You may want to add a few drops of water when putting the heat at low to help tendering process and finish up the recipe.

That Creative Streak-कुछ अलग करने की सलाह

On By lavinamehraIn Tips1 Comment

On the day you feel creative –  Give a shot to this advice.

You can change the flavour of a regular recipe, caramelize ingredients by adding 1/2 teaspoon sugar to warm oil in the pan, once sugar melts and the drops becomes brown put in vegetables or other ingredients to cook.

Green Tip-दमदार सलाह

On By lavinamehraIn Tips2 Comments

Save Earth- do your bit!

If you do not already have a regular heavy base pan and planning to buy one, consider buying a pressure cooker instead. All pressure cookers are usually made of heavy metal base as they work on a steam system. You can use the bottom part of the cooker as a pan without the cover when you are not pressure cooking. Pressure cooker of the right shape and size can serve both purposes, pan and as well a pressure cooker. Do your bit to save this planet. You save 70% fuel energy and your time and energy by using a pressure cooker.

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Quick home made cottage cheese (Paneer)-घर का पनीर

On By lavinamehraIn Less than 10 minutes Quicker Recipes1 Comment

GLUTEN FREE- LOADED WITH CALCIUM -QUICK TO MAKE

COOKING TIME: 6-8 MINUTES

How am I contributing to making this earth green by following four steps or less recipe?

Save fuel energy by covering the pan all the time while milk is reaching the boiling point. This will quicken the process and save energy.

Consider using the residue water after cheese is made, you can use it in some other recipe or make dough for cookies, bread or muffins. 

You save: 10-40% of fuel energy by covering the pan and 2-3 minutes of your time

INGREDIENTS:

1 litre full cream milk
1/2 tablespoon of lemon/lime juice or vinegar

STEP 1: Pour milk into pan and bring it close to boiling point. Continue stirring the milk so that it does not stick to the bottom.

STEP 2: Add 10-12 drops of lemon juice. Milk will start to curdle as lemon juice is put in, keep the heat on until milk curdles completely and becomes watery and transparent.

STEP 3: Pour this into a muslin cloth over a sieve and either hang the cheese or press it with heavy weight for an hour for it to form shape.

HANDY TIPS:

For the cheese to get solid  you can chose to hang it for the water to drain out. This is good if you want to grate or crumble the cheese when it is ready. However if you want it in a block to cut it into square or any other shaped pieces you can put it on a cutting board pressed by another heavy flat object or a heavy cutting board.

You can add any herb or spices of your choice like dill, rosemary, cilantro, red chilli flakes, garlic or black pepper to make flavoured cheese. Be as creative as you want to be.

Save Time for the Next Time-एक सलाह वक़्त बचाने वाली

On By lavinamehraIn Tips3 Comments


Here is a tip to get the quick cooking going and to save time on the days you are really pressed for it and yet want to make something nice and elaborate. Most sumptuous indian curries and dishes require sautéed onion and this is what takes time. So, be smart and keep some chopped sautéed onions in your refrigerator. The day you are making a recipe with onions, plan on peeling and chopping some extra onions to save them for the next time. You can also do this on a weekend or at a time when you are anyway in the kitchen cooking something else and have your hands free in between to peel the onions and drop them in a chopper. Sauté all onions together for your current recipe as well as for the next one. Save sautéed onion in small freezer bags/containers for the next time for quick use. This has been a trick that has saved me time on many occasions. For some my upcoming recipes I will be using ready sautéed onions from my fridge. It’s all about saving time, the most precious thing..efficient use of time in the kitchen this time around will save some time for the next time you are in the kitchen.

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SPICY SWEET SQUASH/PUMPKIN-खट्टा मीठा सीताफ़ल

On By lavinamehraIn 10 minutes or more recipesLeave a comment


SERVES: 3-4

GLUTEN FREE- LOADED WITH VITAMIN A,C and FIBRE -QUICK TO MAKE

COOKING TIME: 8-10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1 teaspoon oil
1 small squash/pumpkin (about 500 grams) cut into 2 inch pieces with skin
1 pinch hing (Asafoetida powder)
2 teaspoons jeera (Cumin)
2 teaspoons methi seeds (Fenugreek)
1 teaspoon crushed saunf (Fennel seeds)
1 teaspoon sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoons red chilli powder
¼ teaspoon garam masala

 

STEP 1.  Put hing (Asafoetida powder), methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds) and jeera (Cumin seeds) into heated oil, sauté for 20-30 seconds.

STEP 2.  Throw in the cut pieces of squash/pumpkin, sugar, salt, red chilli powder and ¾ cup of water.

STEP 3. Cover the pan and let everything cook until squash turns soft and turns a little dark in colour.

STEP 4.  Add garam masala and serve with coriander leaves garnish

HANDY TIP:thumb_IMG_0138_1024

Asafoetida has a very unique flavour, the recipe will still come out fine, even if you decide not to use it.

You do not have to take the skin off for most sitaphal/petha (in India)(squash/pumpkin in North America) for this recipe, however if you have already used a particular kind of pumpkin that is known for coarse skin, you may remove the skin.

 

Sarson Saag -Mustard/Rapini/Broccoli Medley – प॑जाबी शान-सरसो॑ का साग

On By lavinamehraIn 10 minutes or more recipesLeave a comment

SERVES: 4

GLUTEN FREE- LOADED WITH MINERALS AND FIBRE -QUICK TO MAKE

Why this recipe? How is it green and quick? How am I contributing to making this earth green by following this four steps or less recipe?

Using Pressure Cooker will take 10 minutes whereas it will take 15-30 minutes in a regular pan. 

Using frozen chopped spinach, fenugreek leaves, garlic, green chilli and ginger will save 10-12 minutes of your time.

By using this recipe you save: 50% of fuel energy and 15 minutes of your precious time that is about 5 to 8% of the total time you spend in kitchen on an average (assuming you spend a total of 2-3 hours in a day in the kitchen)

COOKING TIME: 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 tablespoon oil
1 cinnamon stick (dal chini)
1 star anise (chakraphool)
1 big cardamom (elaichi)
2 bay leaf (tez patta)
1 bunch of mustard (sarson) / rapini leaves (half kilo) or Broccoli florets
10 frozen spinach (palak) pellets (100 grams)
3 frozen fenugreek (methi leaves) pellets (100 grams) or 50 grams of dried fenugreek (methi) leaves
1 large onion – chopped any size
1 large tomato -chopped any size
1 inch frozen crushed green chilli
2 inch frozen garlic or 4 crushed cloves
2 inch frozen ginger or 50 grams freshly grated ginger
1 tea spoon salt
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
2 tablespoons coriander powder
1.5 teaspoons all spice (garam masala)
Butter dollop or butter oil (ghee) for topping (optional).

STEP 1. Put cinnamon stick (dal chini), star anise (chakraphool), big cardamom (eliachi) and bay leaf (tez patta) into heated oil, let them get brown

STEP 2. Add rest of the ingredients except all spice (garam masala) and cook for 2 whistles in cooker or until everything is tender in a pan (about 10-15 minutes).

STEP 3. Remove whole spices and run the hand grinder for 1 to 2 minutes right into the cooker/pan to make it smooth. You can then put the whole spices back in.

Step 4. Add garam masala and let it simmer for 5 minutes until you see that water has evaporated. Add butter or ghee, if desired.

HANDY TIPS:thumb_IMG_0232_1024
As very little oil is used to prepare this recipe, you can add a dollop of butter or butter oil (ghee) when serving.
You can replace the mustard leaves with fresh or frozen broccoli florets or rapini if the mustard leaves are not available. It will give close to the same original sarson saag (Mustard) taste.