Posts Tagged ‘Side Dish’

I am sure paneer dishes are favorite among children.  Relish the kadai paneer  recipe which I have detailed below.

Ingredients

Paneer – 250 grams ( cut into into medium sized cubes)

Onion – 2 cups (finely chopped)

Tomato – 2 cups (cut into small cubes)

Dahi – 1 cup

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tps

Capsicum – 1/2 cup

Baby corn – 1/2 cup (cut into small pieces)

Butter – 1 Tsp

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Garam masala powder – 2 tsp

Dhania  powder -1 tsp

Turmeric powder -1 tsp

Jeera – 1 tsp

kasuri methi – 1 tsp

Chopped coriander – 1 tsp ( for garnishing)

Ads By CbproAds

Procedure

- Use  a thick bottomed  pan for this preparation.  For any kadai preparations use thick bottomed pan to avoid burning)

-Heat the pan,  add 1 tsp of  butter and season jeera in it.  Once the spluttering is over add the finely chopped onion and fry till it is golden brown.

-Then add the ginger garlic paste and fry till the raw flavor vanishes.  Now add 1 tsp chilli powder, 1 tsp dhania powder,  2 tsp garam masala powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder  and cook till the raw flavor vanishes.

-Add 2 cups of chopped tomato and cook for 5 minutes.  After that add 1 cup of  dahi,  1/2 cup capsicum,  1/2 baby corn , the required amount of salt , 1/2 tsp sugar and the 1/2 cup of water .  Let this mix boil for about 5 minutes.  The baby corn and capsicum will get half cooked by this time.

-Add paneer cubes and leave the vessel closed for 2 minutes.  At last add kasuri methi .  Bring it to boil.  Switch off the stove.  Garnish it with coriander before serving.

It is an excellent side dish for roti , naan  chapathi  & kulcha.

Why go to restaurant to have punjabi chole ? Give a try at home.

Ingredients

Boiled chick peas – 1 cup( 250 gms appx)

Onion – 1 no (large in size)

Tomatoes – 4 nos (large in size)

Bay leaves – 2 nos

Green chilies – 2-nos

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Jeera powder – 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder -1 tsp

Red chilly powder – 1 tsp

Sugar -1 tsp

Aamchur ( Mango powder) – 1/2 tsp

Chenna masala powder  – 1 tbl spoon

Lemon and chopped coriander -  for garnishing purpose

Ads By CbproAds

Procedure

-Soak the channa over night for about 8 hours. Pressure cook it by adding salt and Tea bags. Once it is cooked the colour of the channa would have changed to little bit brown.

-Chop the onion into small pieces. Talk half of the minced onion and grind with half of the boiled channa and 2 green chillies. Make this paste before putting the pan on the stove.

- Now take a wide thick bottomed pan. Add 3 tbl spoons of oil. Saute the bay leaves, add the remaining minced onion, ginger garlic paste and fry till the onion is golden brown. Add little salt for the onion to get cooked faster. Once the onion is cooked add the channa paste and fry it for 5 to 7 minutes. Be little careful so that it doesn’t get burned at the bottom.

-In the mean time grind the tomatoes into fine paste.

-Now add coriander powder – 1 tsp, jeera powder – 1/2 tsp, turmeric powder -1 tsp, red chilly powder – 1 tsp, sugar -1 tsp, aam chur – 1/2 tsp and channa masala powder – 1 tbl spoon. Cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomato paste and cook for about 5- 7 minutes or till the raw flavor of tomato vanishes.

-Add the remaining chole and required amount of salt and allow the mix to boil for about 5 minutes. Switch off the stove. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.

-Serve it with a piece of lime and chopped raw onion.

This is an excellent side dish for roti, naan and kulcha.

My last post was roti. So I thought of posting the all time favourite side dish “GOBI MANCHURIAN”

Ingredients

Gobi (cauliflower )  – 1 medium size

Maida (all purpose flour) – 3/4 cup

Corn flour – 1 tbl spoon

Chilli powder – 1 tsp

Salt – to taste

Vinegar 1/2 tsp

Chopped green chillies – 1tsp

Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbl spoon

finely chopped onion and bell pepper – 1 cup

Ajinomoto – 1/4 tsp

Soya sauce – 2 tbl spoon

Tomato sauce – 2-3 tbl spoon

Oil- for deep frying gobi

Ads By CbproAds


Procedure

-Cut Gobi into small petals .  soak it in salt water for 10 minutes.  Drain the water and half cook the gobi by adding a small amount of water and salt.

-Make a thick paste using maida, corn flour, salt, 1/2 tbl spoon ginger garlic paste, 1/2 tsp viniger, 1 tsp chilli powder.  Toss the gobi in the paste and deep fry.  Drain the oil and set aside.

- Now in a pan   apply 2 tbl spoon of oil.  Saute chopped onion, capsicum, ginger garlic paste for few minutes.  Once the onion becomes tender add 2-3 tbl spoon tomato sauce, 2 tbl spoon soya sauce and ajinomoto.

-Now add the fried gobi and saute it for few minutes till it becomes dry.  Garnish it with coriander  and spring onions.

If you are going to make it in large quantities,  keep the fried gobi  separate and the gravy portion separate.  Just saute it before serving.  This the preparation I do at home which gives the typical taste as that of hotel.

I am sure roti is a all time favourite breakfast,  especially  with a perfect side dish.  It is very simple to make soft and delicious rotis.

Ingredients

Whole wheat flour – 2 cups

Water ( luke warm) – 3/4 cup

Salt – 1/4 tsp (to taste)

Ads By CbproAds

Procedure

Preparation of the dough

-Mix the wheat flour and salt together in fairly a large and broad bowl.  Make a well in the middle and add the water little by little and keep mixing it until the dough is moist enough to be gathered into a rough mass.

-Continue mixing the flour until  it becomes a  non sticky kneadable  dough. Keep kneading the dough until it becomes  smooth, silky and elastic in nature ( if you press the dough lightly in the finger tip it will bounce back).

-Allow the dough to rest for atleast 1/2 an hour.  Cover it with a wet cloth to avoid drying of the upper layer.

Preparation of Roti

-Divide the dough into small balls of lemon size.  Using rolling pins flatten the dough evenly in round shape.

-Preheat a cast-iron tawa over medium heat.  Place the rolled dough on the palm of one hand and flip it over on the tawa.  When the colour changes on the top and bubbles appear,  turn it over.  When both sides are done,  use kitchen tongs to remove the chapati from the skillet.

-Hold the chapathi over the medium flame and it will puff up immediately.  Turn quickly to flame- bake the other side.  Do this several times,  till the edges are well cooked.

-Remove the roti from the flames.  Also remove the steam from the roti using both the hands to prevent hardening of roti.  To keep the rotis warm as they are cooked,  place them in a towel-lined bowl and and fold over the sides of the bowl.  Serve hot,  either completely dry or topped with a small amount of ghee or butter

This is a very simple variety of kootu made out of cucumber and  chenna dhal.

INGREDIENTS

Cucumber – 2 cups ( chopped into small pieces in the form of cubes)

Chenna Dhal – 2 tbl spoons

Grated coconut – 2 tbl spoons

Cumin(jeera) seeds – 1 tsp

Red chillies – 2 nos (to taste)

Salt – 1/2 tsp ( to taste)

Raw rice – 1/2 tsp

Ads By CbproAds

PROCEDURE

-Pressure cook the chenna dhal and cucumber by adding 1/2 cup of water, salt and one pinch of turmeric powder.  Just allow three whistles and lower the flame for 2 minutes.

-Grind the coconut, jeera , raw rice and red chillies into a fine paste,  by adding little water.

- Add this paste to the cooked cucumber and allow it to boil for 2 minutes.

-Season it with 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/4 spoon asafoetida and fresh curry leaves.

This a very tasty kootu.  Because of its mild nature kids will like it.  It also serves as a side dish to chapathi.

( We all know that cucumber is a watery vegetable. When cooked by adding water it becomes all the more watery.  Don’t drain the excess water.  Instead use it for grinding the coconut paste.  Its nutritious value will be preserved. As far as possible never drain the water used for cooking the vegetables.  All the nutrients will be lost)

It is a mixture of vegetables and a variety of legumes  like chenna(konda kadalai) , whole mung dhal( pachai payaru) and  lobia (karamani).

INGREDIENTS

Chopped  Vegetables – 1 cup

Soaked legumes – 1 cup

Small lemon size tamarind

Vegetables used for this preparation are ash gourd (pooshanikai), red pumpkin (parangikari) carrot,  bringal, plantain, mochai parrupu.   Cut all these vegetables into small square pieces.

Soak the legumes overnight.

TO FRY AND GRIND

Chenna dhal – 1 tsp

Urud dhal – 1 tsp

Pepper – 1/4 tsp

Red Chillies – 6 nos

Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp

Edible oil – 1 tsp

Grated coconut – 2 tbl spoon

FOR SEASONING

Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Broken urud dhal -1/2 tps

Fresh curry leaves – 10 – 15 nos

Grated coconut – 1 tsp

Ads By CbproAds

PROCEDURE

-Strain the tamarind with a cup of water.  Cook the vegetables in the tamarind water.  Pressure cook the legumes by adding salt to it.

-Add 1 tsp of  of oil to the pan and fry all the ingredients to be ground except coconut, till they are golden brown. Allow it to cool and grind into  a smooth paste along with coconut.

-Add this paste to the tamarind – vegetable mixture and bring it to boil.  Let it boil for about 2 minutes.  Keep stirring  it continuously to avoid burning at the bottom.  Season it with mustard, urud dhal, curry leaves.  Dry fry the coconut and sprinkle over it.

Very tasty and spicy kadalai kootu  is ready.  It can be had with plain rice.  It is also an excellent side dish for chapathi and dosa.

Tomato is a vegetable which we use in our day to day food. Now let me tell you how to make a pickle  out of it.  This is also called thakali thokku.  It taste very good with plain rice.  It can also be used as a side dish for idli, dosa ,  chapathi etc.

INGREDIENTS

Ripe Tomatoes – 1 kg

Sesame oil – 100 ml (1/2 cup)  ( if you don’t prefer seasma oil then any cooking oil can be used)

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Chilli Powder – 2 Tbl spoon ( to  taste )

Salt – 2 tsp ( to taste)

Methi powder – 1/4  tsp

Asafoetida – 1/2 tsp

Ads By CbproAds

PROCEDURE

-Wash the tomato and make it into a paste by grinding it in a food processor.

-Take a thick bottom pan and add the sesame oil. Keep it on a medium flame. Once the oil starts fuming add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter completely. Only when the mustard seeds splutters completely the shelf life of thokku  will last long.

-Add the tomato paste and bring it to boil. Once it starts boiling, add  salt, chilli powder  one pinch of  turmeric powder and a small piece of jaggery for added taste.

-When the pulp gets thick, oil will come up on the sides & the gravy will get deposited at the bottom. This indicates that thokku is done.  Add the prepared methi powder , stir it for 2 minutes, thin the asafoetida (hing powder), mix it well.  Cook for another minute and switch off the stove and and transfer it to another clean , sterile c0ntainer to avoid further thickening. Allow it to cool and only then close the container.

This thokku can be stored outside the fridge for 3 to 4 days.  If you are going to store it for  a longer period then refrigerate it.

While serving any pickle,  use dry spoon only.

To prepare methi powder

Dry fry methi in a pan till it is golden brown and make it into a fine  powder.  In fact this methi powder can be used while preparing sambar instead of using whole methi  during seasoning.

If Bangalore tomato is used which is less sour in taste,  we can add lime size tamarind (soak it in hot water and strain it into a thick pulp )  along with tomato paste.

Usually desi tomatoes ( nattu thakali) is preferable to make this pickle.

KEERAI KOOTU  - Many of us don’t prefer to eat keerai (greens)  when done as ordinary masial or keerai sundal.

Here is a very easy way to make even the greens( keerai)  more delicious.

Ingredients

Urud dhal – 1 tsp

Chenna dhal – 1 tsp

Red Chillies – 2 nos (to taste)

Coconut – 1 tbl spoon

Jeera – 1/2 tsp

Greens – 2 cups (finely chopped)

Mung dhal – 2 tbl spoon

Mustard – 1/2 tsp

Curry leaves – 1/2 tsp

Oil -1tsp ( for seasoning)

Procedure

-Cook the greens along with mung dhal by adding little amount of salt.

-Apply 1 tsp of oil in kadai and fry urud dhal, chenna dhal, red chillies till golden brown.   Allow it to cool and grind it along with fresh grated coconut, jeera  and a pinch of asafoetida to make a smooth paste.

-Add the paste to the cooked greens  and boil it for 2 minutes.  Season it with mustard, broken urud dhal and fresh curry leaves.

Very tasty keerai kootu is ready. This can be served with hot rice.  It is a also a perfect side dish for roti.

Preffered greens are arai keerai,   mulai keerai,  pasalai keerai, palak,  thoodhuvalai,  murangai keerai,  mani thakali keerai,  thandu keerai ( both red and green).

Kootu by its name says, combine together.  So kootu is a healthy South Indian side dish which is  a combination of vegetables, dhal and spices.

Let me begin with simple milagu or pepper kootu

MILAGU (PEPPER) KOOTU

Ingredients

> To fry and grind

Pepper – 1/2 tsp
Chena Dhal  - 1 tsp
Urud dhal – 1/2 tsp
Dhaniya – 1/2 tsp
Red Chillies – 4 nos (to taste)
Grated Coconut – 2 tbl spoons
Jeera – 1 pinch

> To cook

Preferred vegetable – 2 cups
Mung dhal – 1/2 cup
Salt – 3/4 tsp (to taste)
The vegetables usually used for milagu kootu are Chow Chow, Snake gourd( pudalangai), cabbage, brinjal, cucumber , double beans(Avaraikai), curry beans.

Procedure 


-Pressure cook the desired vegetable along with mung dhal  , salt and a pinch of turmeric powder.
-Add a tsp of oil to the pan and fry the ingredients (except coconut & jeera) given for frying till they are golden brown.
-Grind the fried ingredients along with coconut and jeera into a paste by adding little water.
- Add this paste to the cooked dhal-vegetable mix and allow it to boil for 2minutes.
- Switch off the stove and add a pinch of asafoetida .  Season it with mustard, broken urud dhal and fresh curry leaves.
You can also add fresh finely chopped coriander. This is optional.

Any snacks lover would never say no to hot and spicy pakora. It is one of the easiest preparations of all the snacks variety and also takes very less time. It a perfect tea time snacks and also serves as a side dish in the absence of vegetables.

First let me tell you the basic ingredients of the Pakora

Ingredients

Besan or kadalaimavu -2 cups
Rice flour – 1 cup
Salt – 1 Tsp
Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Sonuf (optional) – 1/2 tsp crushed
Butter of Ghee – 2 tsp
Chili powder – 1 tsp
Green Chilies – 4 nos finely chopped
Curry leaves – 10-15
Coriander – 1/2 cup finely chopped
Baking Powder – 1 pinch (optional)
Oil- for deep frying

The above mentioned are the basic ingredients of pakora. We can make different types of pakora by adding different types of vegetables and nuts to the above ingredients.

1. ONION PAKORA

- Take a large bowl. Mix the above mentioned ingredients first without adding water.

- Finely chop 2 big onion and add to the above mixture.

- Sprinkle some water and make it into a thick batter.

-Deep fry till it is golden brown. Thoroughly drain the oil with the help of a slit ladle.

-Spread it on a thick tissue paper so that extra oil will be absorbed.

Serve it hot with tomato Ketchup.

To make your pakora more crispy before sprinkling water, just add 1 ladle full of hot boiling oil to the flour mix. Mix it well and then add the required amount of water.

2. CASHEW WITH MINT PAKORA

The procedure for this remains the same for this pakora also. Instead of onion you are going to add 1 cup broken cashew nuts and 1 cup of chopped mint.

Remember while adding cashew make into half and then mix it with the flour. If you try it with full cashew, some time it may not get fried properly. The pakora will not be very crispy.

At the same time you should not break into very small pieces. It will be over fried, it will blemish your pakora’s taste.

3. PALAK PAKORA

Children may not prefer to eat palak in ordinary cooked form. So we have to modify the greens in such a way that children prefer to have them. Here is one way. Make it into pakora, garnish it and just give them as evening snacks, without telling that it is made out of palak or any other greens. Within few minutes the plate will be empty and they will be asking for more pakoras.

The procedure is same as that of onion pakora , the only change you have make is instead of using 2 big onions use one and 1 cup full of finely chopped palak or any other greens ( usually the prefered greens are palak, methileaves, arai keerai, mulaikeerai, murangai elai or drumstick leaves).

4. MIXED VEGETABLE PAKORA

The addition to the base ingrediants are 1/ 4 a cup each of finely chopped onion, carrot , capsicum, cauliflower, baby corn, fresh pees, potato & grated paneer. Then the procedure remains the same. You have to be careful while frying, otherwise it will be over fried. Also increase the quantity of chilie powder by 1/2 a tsp because you are adding more vegetables.

5 ALOO PAKORA

Use only besan for aloo pakora. Don’t add rice flour to it. Aloo itself is full of starch.

Add 1 cup of grated aloo and 1 cup of finely chopped onion and repeat the same procedure as that of onion pakora. You can also make as separate aloo pakora without adding onion.

The above mentioned varieties are the ones which I tried personally at home and was relished by me & my family. You also try it out and post your comments. Bye.