Red Carrot Pickle

RED CARROT PICKLE 

My family has a craze for pickles. Apart from the long lasting spicy and oily pickles, instant pickles are also a hit for their distinctive tang and the crunch. This is my mother's recipe for an instant Carrot pickle which can be easily prepared. Its shelf life is limited to a couple of days but it is a colourful party delight. 

INGREDIENTS

 Red carrot ( Laal gaajar or Delhi Gaajar) -1 (one cup when chopped)

 Lime (the size of a ping pong ball) - 2 

Green chillies - 3 

Fresh ginger - 2 inch piece 

Salt - 1 1/2 tsp 

Sesame oil - 2 tbsps

Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp

Fenugreek seed powder - 1 pinch 

Asafoetida - 1 pinch 

Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

 METHOD 

1. Wash, peel and cut carrot into slightly thin and long pieces. 

2. Slit the green chillies lengthwise and cut them across similar to the size of the carrot pieces. 

3. Peel and chop fresh ginger likewise. 

4. Immerse the whole lime fruits into boiling water, switch off flame and cover it with a lid. 

5. When thoroughly cooled remove from water and wipe them dry. 

6. Place the fruits on a clean and dry plate or on a cutting board and cut them into small pieces using a very sharp knife. Take care to preserve the thick juice with the cooked pith, which may spurt out of the lime while cutting. 

7. Pick out the seeds using your hand, because filtering will remove the essential pith of the lime along with the seeds. 

 8. Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. 

9. When the mustard seeds splutter add asafoetida and fenugreek seed powder. 

10. When the powders emanate a pleasant aroma mix in the turmeric powder. 

11. Stir in the chopped ginger, green chillies and carrots. 

12. Finally stir in the chopped lime along with the pith and the juice. 

13. Mix in salt and switch off flame. 

14. Allow to cool and store in a small pickle jar. 

You can relish this addictive tangy and crunchy Red Carrot Pickle immediately with your meal. Refrigerate after use. Mangai inji ( a variety of  ginger with mango flavour ) can also be used instead of normal ginger for its special flavour.

Paneer Bhurji / Scrambled Cottage Cheese

Here comes another paneer recipe from me. The recipe was sleeping in the draft section for a long time. Finally, it has come out today to be published for the blogging marathon event. Thanks to the event.



This is one of the easiest paneer recipes, which can be prepared in a jiffy and at the same time gives a delicious taste. You will find a big list of serving suggestions for this recipe. It can be used as a stuffing for sandwich, side dish for roti/rice, stuffing for tortilla roll, can be used as a topping for bruschetta or can be eaten directly with spoon. I prefer the last option :-)



As TH and I like capsicum a lot, I added them with this dish. You can add any vegetables available at hand or simply go only with paneer. Everything goes out well with this dish.



Basic Information:  

Preparation Time: <15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 3

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 cup, crumbled

Capsicum - 1/2 cup, cubed, any colour

Peas -  1/4 cup

Onion - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Tomato - 1/4 cup, finely chopped

Green chilli - 2 no, slice vertically

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon (optional)

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Salt - to taste

Oil - 3 teaspoons

Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Method:



1) Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and sliced green chillies. Allow it to crackle.

2) Add onion and saute well till it turns translucent.

3) Add tomato saute till it get completely mashes.

4) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder and salt. Mix well.

5) Add capsicums and peas. Stir fry for 5 minutes.

6) Add crumbled paneer and continue frying for another 2-3 minutes. Initially paneer forms a sticky texture but after few minutes, it will again get the crumble texture.

7) Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with roti/rice. We enjoyed it as stuffing for tortilla.

Note:

1) If you are making paneer at home, use the excess, shapeless corners while cutting into cubes for preparing this bhurji.

2) Store bought paneer also gives a best result for this dish.

3) Add any vegetables as per your choice.



Check out what others are cooking for Blogging Marathon by clicking it here.

Paneer Jalfrezi

I had been thinking kadai paneer and paneer jalfrezi are one and the same untill I visited an Indian restaurant here. The reason behind my assumption is that the ingredients required for making both the dishes were common. But after seeing the menu card at the curry house here, I was little curious to know what's the difference.



So, once I returned home, after few searches, my conclusion is here.



The dish grabs the name from its cooking method rather than the recipe of it. During the period of British rule, the dish was named as it involved cooking / reheating the left-over roasted meat through stir-frying by adding extra chillies/sauces.



Over a period of time, Indian restaurants have adopted this cooking method, however the meat is not the left-over, instead they use fresh meat/vegetables to make this jalfrezi.



As it is stir fried, the ingredients like onion and other vegetables are clearly visible in this dish.



I hope these details are sufficient to understand what is paneer jalfrezi and how it differs from kadai paneer. Now, off to the recipe.

(Minimised adopted from Indiacurry)

Basic Information:
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

Ingredients:

Paneer - 1 cup, 1 inch cubes

Capsicum - 1 cup, any colour, thinly sliced

Onion - 1 no, medium size, sliced

Tomato - 1 no, large size, sliced

Ginger garlic paste - 2 teaspoon

Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon

Coriander powder - 1 teaspoon (see notes)

Coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon (see notes)

Dry red chilli - 2 nos, crushed

Cumin seeds - 1/2 teaspoon

Amchoor powder/Lemon juice- 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon

Garam Masala - a big pinch

Turmeric powder - a big pinch

Salt - to taste

Oil - 3 teaspoons

Coriander leaves - 1 tablespoon, for garnishing



Method:



1) Dry roast cumin seeds, coriander powder and dry red chilli. Pound coarsely. You can you mortal and pestle for this.

2) Heat oil in a pan and add ground ingredients once it is hot. Fry it well. Make sure not to burn the masala here.

3) Add onion and fry till it gets cooked and retains its shape.

4) Add ginger garlic paste and stir fry for a minute.

5) Add tomato and fry it for another 2-3 minutes.

6) Add red chilli powder, coriander powder, amchoor powder, turmeric powder, garam masala and salt. Cook until the raw smell of masala goes off.

7) Add capsicum followed by paneer and stir fry it till both cook well.

 

 

8) Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with roti or pulao.

Note:

1) I used both coriander powder and seeds as family preference. you can go for any one for preparing this dish.

2) You can also add the ground ingredients (as said in step 1) with masalas instead of adding them initially.

3) Increase the lemon juice/amchoor powder as per taste. If you are using lemon juice add it at the end of preparation.



I'm linking this recipe to Srivalli's Blogging Marathon #12 under the theme of paneer. Check out what others are cooking by clicking it here.