Tofu and Pea Curry

Six months before, I was watching a cooking show by Anjum Anand telecasted over TV. She was explaining about all the cooking facts, do's and don’ts about Indian cooking which inspired me a lot and made me to look into one of her books "I love curry". I have tried many recipes from that book and today also I am planning to post her Tofu and Pea curry which paired well with hot steamed rice.



Tofu is something which look like a Paneer but it is made by coagulating the soy milk instead of our cow milk. It has low calorie, high protein, iron and has little fat. For more information about tofu, click here.



Basic Information:

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Peas - 1 cup, fresh or frozen

Firm tofu - 1 cup, cut into cubes

Tomatoes - 2 nos, small size

Onion - 1 no, medium size

Ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoons

Oil - 1 tablespoon

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Cinnamon stick - 2 cm length

Bay leaf - 1 no

Black pepper - 4 nos

Cloves - 2

Turmeric powder - 1/4 teaspoon

Chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 tablespoon

Salt - to taste

Whole milk - 1 cup

Water - 1 cup

Coriander leaves - 4 strings, forgarnishing (Optional)



Method:



1) Make a paste of tomato and keep it aside.

2) Heat oil in a kadai/frying pan/sauce pan. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, crushed black pepper and bayleaves.

3) When the spices spreads nice aroma to the kitchen, add onion and cook until soft and brown.

4) Add ginger garlic paste and add saute for few minutes.

5) Add tomato paste (As said in step 1) mix well.

6) After few minutes, add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt.  Reduce the flame and cover the pan. Cook untill the oil seperates from the gravy. Mix inbetween to avoid the gravy sticking with pan.

7) Add peas and tofu and gently stir for 1 minute to 2 minutes. Add milk with a cup of water. Bring this mixture to boil.

8) When the gravy starts boiling, simmer the flame and cover the pan untill you get the think creamy gravy consistency.

9) Adjust the seasoning and sprinkle coriander leaves before serving.

10) Serve with steamed rice.

 

Note:

1) Use only fresh and frozen peas for the best result.

2) As the gravy is little watery consistency, It will go good only with rice.

3) If you are not getting tofu at your place of stay, substitute tofu with paneer.

Almond Kesari

Have you tried my Pineapple Kesari? This is another variation of plain kesari. It tastes really good.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Sooji/Semolina
1 1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup dry Almond powder
5 tsp mtr badam feast (optional)
1/2 cup Sugar
A pinch of Saffron and Cardamom
Handful of roasted Cashews and Raisins
1/4 cup Ghee

Method:
In little ghee, roast cashews and raisins and set aside.
Fry sooji in the same pan on low flame till it turns light golden brown.
Add almond powder, mtr badam feast and cardamom.
In another vessel, boil water and saffron.
Add it to Sooji/Almond mixture gradually and stir continuously to avoid forming of lumps.
When Sooji is cooked, add sugar and mix well. Add ghee and garnish with nuts and raisins.

If you are not using mtr badam feast, increase the amount of sugar to 3/4 cup.

Blueberry Pie with Almond Crust (Made from scratch)

When I create something new with berries I guess I get very excited, cos I love berries and they are so easy to cook with and the results are amazingly delicious. I have made the same recipe with strawberries which I learnt it from a friend of mine, so I thought if I can make it with strawberries then why not with blueberries. :)

Here is the recipe for the Strawberry Pie that I made previously.

When I made with strawberries, I didn't add the cream cheese topping for the pics, so I thought this post would be a new one with all the enhancements and improvements in all aspects like pics, recipe etc.,

Before I could take the pics of the whole pie...we started eating it...so still have to work on that part! :)

 So I hope you all will enjoy it too! :)

Ingredients:
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For the Almond Crust:
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1 1/2 cups finely chopped Almonds (You can use blanched almonds too if you don’t like the whole almonds)
3 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Butter at room temperature.

For the Blueberry Filling:
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3 cups Blueberries washed and keep in fridge to keep it chill.

For the Blueberry Glaze:
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1 cup Sugar
2 tbsp Cornstarch or 1 tsp Knox
1/2 cup Water
2 cup mashed Blueberries

For Cream Cheese Topping:
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8 oz package Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 cup Whipping cream (cold)
3/4 cup powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla

Method:
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To make the Crust:
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1. In a pan add the chopped almonds and roast them in medium low flame until they turn light brown. Allow to cool it and blend them in a mixer with the melted butter and sugar.
2. Preheat oven to 400F
3. Place this mixture in a 9" or 9 1/2" pie pan and press down with a fork in the center and work it through the sides up till you can take it. Make sure it is even.
4. Bake this crust for about 8-10 mins or until the crust turns light brown.
5. Remove it from oven and cool it to room temperature.
6. Now add the blueberries over the top of the crust or you can even place these blueberries over the glaze that we are going to make.

To make the Glaze:
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1. In a sauce pan add all the ingredients and mix it well with a whisk.
2. Bring the flame up to a boil, and then reduce it to low and keep stirring and cook the glaze for about 5 mins or until it becomes thick.
3. Off the flame. Allow it to cool and keep in fridge so that it's is chilled.

To make the Cream Cheese Topping:
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1. In a mixing bowl (make sure even the bowl is cold - to make it cold you can place the bowl in freezer too) add the the whipping cream with an electric hand mixer, beat it until stiff peaks form.
2. Add the powdered sugar and mix again.

3. In another bowl add the cream cheese and carefully add the whipped cream in batches and fold it in the cream cheese, so that you don't loose the air. (I did not use this topping this time, but I topped the pie with Vanilla Ice Cream while serving a piece of the pie - you can do anything of your choice or even you can use just a whipped cream topping and decorate the pie).
4. Keep this topping in fridge so that it remains cold.

Assembling the Pie:
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1. Place the pie crust and pour the glaze over it and arrange the strawberries and top it with cream cheese topping or any topping of your choice or ice cream and allow it to set in the fridge for about 2-3 hrs or overnight would be best to get a perfect slice of the pie.