Paneer korma: Method: Start with grinding onions (3 small), ginger (1 inch long) and green chillies (23)

in a mixer. Then cook them in clarified butter (2 tbsp) till the oil begins to separate. Add grated mava (1 cup) and cream (1 cup) to it. Cook it on a low flame for two minutes. Next, add salt (to taste), red chilli powder (1/2 tsp), turmeric (1/4 tsp) and garam masala (1/2 tsp) in the paste. At last, put paneer (cut into one-inch dices) with water (1/2 cup). Let it cook till the gravy thickens. Serve it hot with paratha or chappatti. less palak paneer
Preparation Time: 10 minutesCooking Time: 20 minutesServes: 2 servings Ingredients: 1 large bunch or 4 cups chopped Spinach (Palak) 1/2 cup Paneer (cubed into 1/2-inch pieces) 4-5 cloves crushed Garlic 1/2 inch Ginger, finely chopped 1-2 small Green Chillies, seeded and chopped 1 large Onion, finely chopped 3 tablespoons Fresh Cream 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala (optional) 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice 1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek Leaves) 1/3 cup + 1/4 cup Water 2 tablespoons + for deep frying Oil or Ghee Salt Directions: step-1Clean and wash spinach in water to remove any soil or impurities. Blanch the spinach by boiling it in salted water for 2 minutes. step-2Drain it using big perforated spoon or strainer. step-3Immediately transfer drained spinach in to cold water for a minute. step-4Drain water and blend blanched spinach with ginger, green chillies and 1/4 cup water using mixer and make a puree.

step-5Heat oil or ghee in pan. Deep fry paneer cubes over medium heat until they turn light brown. Transfer them to a plate and keep aside. You can remove excess ghee or oil from it by placing them on absorbent kitchen paper napkin. step-6Heat 2 tablespoons oil or ghee in another medium size pan, add finely chopped onion and saut on low heat until it turns light brown or translucent. Add crushed garlic and saut for 20-25 seconds. step-7Add spinach puree, garam masala and salt; Stir and cook for couple of minutes. step-8Add 1/3 cup water; mix well and bring it to boil over low heat. Stir occasionally in between. step-9When gravy starts to boil, add fried paneer cubes and cook for 3-4 minutes. step-10Add lemon juice, kasuri methi and mix well. Turn off the heat and mix milk cream. step-11Transfer it to serving bowl. Serve hot with tandoori roti, plain paratha or butter naan. Tips and Variations: Make best palak paneer with tofu by adding deep fried tofu cubes. If paneer cubes are not available and you still want to enjoy goodness of this Punjabi curry, then prepare it with only tofu cubes. If you want to have very soft paneer that mixes well with gravy of palak, then soak them in hot water for 10 minutes after deep frying. Add milk cream only after turning off the heat as it may curdle if added before. Add more water in step-7 and adjust seasoning according to taste to make more amount of gravy in curry. This simple and easy recipe uses deep fried paneer cubes to improve the flavor and texture of curry. However, you can avoid deep frying them to reduce the calories of a dish. Add 1/4 teaspoon crushed kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) in step 7 to give a nice flavorful punjabi touch to curry. Taste: Creamy and spicy Serving Ideas: Apart from serving tasty Punjabi palak paneer gravy with

various Indian breads, it can also be enjoyed with steamed rice or jeera rice and cucumber salad. matar paneer : Preparation Time: 10 minutes.Cooking Time: 25 minutes.Serves: 3 servings Ingredients: 1 cups Green Peas (matar) 1 cup (1/2-inch cubed) Paneer (cottage cheese) 2 medium size Tomatoes 1 Green Chilli, chopped 5 Cashew Nuts 2 medium Onions, finely chopped 2 teaspoons Crushed Ginger-Garlic 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala For deep frying + 2 tablespoons Oil or Ghee (clarified butter) Salt to taste Directions: Boil green peas in salted water for 7-8 minutes or until tender; drain them. Blanch tomatoes; crush them with green chilli in a grinder and make a tomato puree. Soak cashew nuts in 2 tablespoons water for 20 minutes and grind them along with water until smooth paste. Heat ghee or oil in a frying pan over medium flame for deep frying. Deep fry paneer cubes until golden brown and transfer to plate having kitchen paper napkin spread on it. (Kitchen paper napkin will help absorb excess oil.) Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium size pan/kadai over medium flame. Add chopped onion and saut until it turns light brown.

Add crushed ginger-garlic and saut for 30 seconds. Add tomato puree (prepared in step-2) and cook on medium flame until oil starts to separate. Add red chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala and salt; mix properly. Add cashew nut paste (prepared in step 3), mix well and cook for a minute. Add boiled peas and 1/4 cup water; let it cook for couple of minutes. Add fried paneer cubes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off flame and transfer prepared curry to a serving bowl. Matar paneer is ready. Serve it with butter kulcha, cucumber tomato onion salad and gajar halwa for a complete meal. Tips and Variations: This recipe of mutter paneer masala uses deep fried paneer cubes to improve the taste and texture. However, you can avoid deep frying and use them directly or shallow fry them to reduce calories of a dish. Curry prepared with this recipe will have a thick gravy. If you like to have thin gravy, then add 1/3 cup water along with tomato puree. You can also increase or decrease the quantity of green peas and paneer to achieve the desired texture. Taste: Mild spicy with thick tomato based gravy. Serving Ideas: It is one of the classic Indian recipes which can be paired with almost any Indian flat-breads like phulka roti, tandoori roti, paneer kulcha, butter naan, etc. for simple meal. However, make it more scrumptious meal by adding tomato basil salad and gulab jamun in the menu. PANEER BUTTER MASALA : Preparation Time: 10 minutesCooking Time: 30 minutesServes: 4 servings Ingredients: 250 gms Paneer (or Tofu), cut into 1-inch cubes 2 medium Onions, finely chopped 1 teaspoons chopped Ginger 3-4 Garlic Cloves

3 medium Tomatoes 6-8 Cashew Nuts, soaked in water for 15 minutes 1 small piece of Bay Leaf 2 Green Chillies, slit lengthwise 1/2 cup Milk 2 teaspoons Kasuri Methi (dry fenugreek leaves) 1/2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder 1 tablespoon Coriander Powder 1 teaspoon or to taste Red Chili Powder 2 tablespoons Fresh Cream 2 tablespoons Butter 2 tablespoons Oil Salt to taste Directions: If you are using frozen paneer cubes, then defrost them. step-1Grind onion, ginger and garlic in a grinder and make a onion paste. Grind soaked cashew nuts with 2 tablespoons water to make a cashew nut paste. Blanch the tomatoes (put them in hot boiling water for 8-10 minutes and cover with a lid, drain and rinse them in normal cold water and remove skin) and blend them to prepare a tomato puree. step-2Heat cooking oil and butter in a non-stick frying pan over medium flame. Add onion paste and bay leaf and saut until onion paste turns light brown for approx. 4-5 minutes. step-3Add green chilli and red chili powder and saut for 30-40 seconds. Add cashew nut paste. step-4Stir and cook for 2-minutes. step-5Add tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes or until oil starts to separate from the puree. step-6Add coriander powder and garam masala powder and mix well.

step-7Add 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water and salt; mix and cook until oil comes on the surface or for approx. 4-5 minutes. step-8Add paneer cubes, kasuri methi and cook for approx 2-minutes or until you get the desired consistency of gravy. step-9Add fresh cream. step-10Mix properly and turn off the flame. l_stepTransfer prepared curry to a serving bowl. Garnish Punjabi paneer butter masala with milk cream or cube of butter and serve. Tips and Variations: Add 1/2 cup water in step-8 and cook for 3-4 minutes if gravy is too thick. You can also use chopped onion instead of using crushed onion for variation. You can also add shallow fried paneer cubes. Spread good quality paper napkin or kitchen paper on plate and put shallow fried paneer cubes on it to soak and remove excess oil from it to make relatively healthy low oil curry. If you like creamier gravy, then add more milk cream in step-10. Alternatively, if you do not like creamy taste, then you can altogether avoid using cream. Use tofu if paneer is not available. Taste: Spicy Serving Ideas: Serve delicious paneer butter masala with naan, paratha, roti or steamed rice for lunch or dinner. The creaminess of gravy and richness of paneer makes it an ideal spicy curry for functions and parties. It particularly tastes best when served with methi roti and glass of lassi. DAL FRY: ngredients: 4 tablespoons Toor Dal (toovar dal/arhar dal/split pigeon pea) 3 tablespoons Chana Dal (gram lentil) 3 tablespoons Moong Dal 3 tablespoons Masoor Dal 1 cups + 3/4 cup Water

1 medium Tomato, finely chopped 1 large Onion, finely chopped 4 cloves Garlic, crushed 1/2-inch Ginger, crushed 2 Green Chillies, finely chopped 2 tablespoons Ghee (clarified butter) 3 Cloves 1 Cinnamon stick, broken into 2-pieces 1/2 teaspoons Cumin Seeds 2 Dry Red Chillies 1/4 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 1/2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice Salt 2 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves Directions: Wash all dals in running water. Mix and soak them in water for 10 minutes. Drain water after 10 minutes and transfer to pressure cooker (3-5 liter size). Add salt and 1 cup water in pressure cooker and pressure-cook them over high flame. When 1 whistle is over, reduce flame to medium and cook for another 3 whistles. step-1Do not open its lid immediately. Let it cool for 7-8 minutes or until pressure comes down naturally. This process is not only for the safety but also required to cook dal properly. Open the lid and keep cooked dal aside until needed. Do not blend or mash them. step-1Now prepare spicy saut. Heat ghee in a pan over medium flame. When it is hot enough to saut, add cumin seeds, red dried chillies, cinnamon

and cloves. When seeds begin to crackle, add chopped onion and stir-fry over medium flame until it turns light brown or for approx. 1 minute. step-1Add crushed ginger, crushed garlic and finely chopped green chilli; saut for 20-30 seconds. step-1Add finely chopped tomatoes and salt (only required to soften tomatoes); cook until tomatoes turn tender. step-1Add garam masala, coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder; mix them properly. Add pressure-cooked dals; mix and cook for a minute. step-1Add lemon juice, 3/4 cup water and cook on low flame for 3-4 minutes. step-1Turn off flame and transfer prepared daal to bowl. Garnish it with finely chopped coriander leaves. Tips and Variations: For yet another variation of punjabi style dhaba dal fry, use 1/4 cup chana dal and 1/4 cup toor dal instead of using all types of dal used in this recipe. Directions for making daal fry remains the same. If you do not like the whole cooked dals texture, then you can mash or blend them using blender or back of the large spoon. This simple and delicious recipe uses ghee, however, you can also use oil or butter too. Taste: Spicy Serving Ideas: Dal fry and tandoori roti is a staple food in Punjab and Haryana and typically served in most of the road side dhabas. It tastes best with jeera rice, glass of salted lassi and onion cucumber salad. The more modern and affluent people love to eat it with butter naan or paneer kulcha. DAL MAKHNI : Preparation Time: 15 minutesCooking Time: 35 minutesServes: 4 servings Ingredients: 1/2 cup Whole Black Urad Dal (black lentils), soaked in water for 6-8 hours 3 tablespoons Rajma (red kidney beans), soaked in water for 6-8 hours 2 tablespoons Chan Dal (Bengal gram), soaked in water for 6-8 hours

1/2 teaspoon Cumin Seeds 1 large Onion, finely chopped 1 teaspoon grated Ginger 3-4 cloves of Garlic, crushed 2 Green Chillies, finely chopped 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric Powder 1/2 teaspoon Coriander Powder 1 medium Tomato, finely chopped 2 tablespoons Butter (makkhan) 3 tablespoons Malai (fresh cream) 2 tablespoons finely chopped Coriander Leaves Salt 1 tablespoon Oil 2 cups + 1 cup Water Directions: step-1Drain excess water from soaked dals and rajma. Add soaked black urad dal, chana dal and rajma, 2-cups water and salt in 4-5 liter capacity aluminum or steel pressure cooker. Close the lid and pressure cook them over medium flame until 1-whistle, then reduce flame to low and cook for 4-5 whistles. step-2Turn off flame and let it sit idle and pressure release naturally, approx. 6-8 minutes. The dals and rajma should have turned softer now, open the lid and lightly mash dals with a large spoon. Do not mash completely, there should be some whole dals and rajma present after mashing, it will give the right texture. step-3Heat oil in a pan over medium flame. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle. Add chopped onion and saut until it turns translucent. Add grated ginger, crushed garlic and chopped green chilli, saut until garlic paste turns light brown, about half minute. step-4Add and mix turmeric powder and coriander powder. step-5Add chopped tomato and cook until they turn soft, about 2-minutes.

step-6Add cooked dal, salt (only if required, because we have already added it in dal while pressure cooking) and 1-cup water. Let it cook over medium flame for 4-5 minutes or until you get the desired consistency. step-7Add butter, mix well and cook for 2-minutes. step-8Add fresh cream. step-9Mix well and cook for a minute. step-10Do not cook for long time after adding cream otherwise it may curdle. Remove pan from flame. l_stepTransfer prepared dal to serving bowl. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves or milk cream and serve hot. Tips and Variations: If fresh cream is not available then add 3/4-cup full cream milk and reduce the quantity of water to 1/4 cup in step-6. Butter and cream are used to get a nice creamy texture as well as flavor. If you are health conscious, then reduce their amount but it may change the taste. Protein rich and nutritious makhani dal is suitable to be served to children along with paratha. Avoid green chilli if you are preparing it for kids. Taste: Mild spicy with creamy ,This Punjabi dal makhani goes well with steamed rice or paratha as a meal for healthy lunch.