Paneer Mattar Masala

 

Today was a wet day for us felt like cuddling under a warm blanket with a hot cuppa of chai with a good book :) but it was dinner time so I decided to make some thing a little more heavy and fulfilling as the weather was so calling  for it .
I usually have a block of paneer or in American terms 'cottage cheese'
 sitting in my freezer and staring at me along with that was the Malaysian parathas just side by side that made my dinner decision easy .Now Malaysian parathas are very similar to the maida rotis in India but not as hardy as the naan a little more on the soft and flakier side these are pre rolled frozen all that needs to be done is to cook on a non stick pan, but just make sure these are made right before you eat as these rotis do not taste that good if they sit for long time again easily found in Indian and also Asian stores. These rotis go great with any kind of gravy my kiddos love to have them rolled with honey too YUM ;0

What u need  for Paneer mattar masala
Paneer- 1 block cut in to cub sizes
small green peas-1/4 cup
onion - 1 cup paste form
tomato -1 finely chopped
ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoon
green chillies- 3 chopped fine optional
cilantro-1/4 cup chopped
half n half -1 tablespoon optional
oil-2 tablespoon
salt- as needed
turmeric- 1 teaspoon
jeera - 1 teaspoon full
tikka masala or garam masala- 1/2 tablespoon

Heat non stick pan add the oil let it heat add the jeera when they start to spurt, add the onion paste cook well till the raw taste goes away and the oil separates. Add the ginger garlic paste to this paste cook for 5- 10 mins till the raw smell diminishes, add the chopped  tomatoes let this mixture cook for a few mins on low flame.
Meanwhile fry the paneer cubes in pan till all the sides are brown keep them separate in a  bowl after done with the frying. Add the garam masala or the tikka masala, turmeric  and salt to the tomato- onion paste by now this turns into a thick consistency ,add the Green chillies again this part is optional or u can substitute with paprika too. More color less spice :)
Add the fried paneer pieces and the small peas to this mix also add a little water if the mixture is too thick, last add the half n half as needed u can add more if needed. Make sure when u add the half n half the pan is on low flame so the the cream does not curdle.The consistency u should be looking for  of the gravy that is not too watery or not too thick .
Garnish with the chopped cilantro and have with Rice or rotis!
Njoy!

Pad thai

Coming to the US and in the first month we went to Thai restaurant according to all my newly acquired pals this was very close to Chinese food and good too. So as usual playing on the safe side we ordered some fried rice and ginger chicken or something like that not very clear on the details since it has been close to 10 year now ;0

Then later I came across the ever popular Thai dish called Pad Thai which I instantly fell in love with for years it stuck to be the favourite dish to be ordered  any Thai restaurant then later I started to venture into making this one from scratch. well after a few attempts i nailed it now it is a regular at our place .

 The only catch is that u cannot make it ahead of it just make it before u plan to eat.

the recipe I followed is all thanks to an other blogger whose link is posted below .

Try u wont be disappointed

http://chezpim.com/cook/pad_thai_for_beginners

Njoy!