Paneer Chettinad

Chettinad cuisine is one of the spiciest, oiliest and most aromatic in India. The name Chettinad cuisine comes from the fact that it is prepared by Chettiars – a community known for their extravagant lifestyles in southern Tamil Nadu. Pepper, chilly, garlic and ginger are some of the key ingredients, which are used by our chefs in Chettinad preparations. And since most of the masalas are home-made, they give a distinctive taste to the dishes. If you have a taste for the hot and spicy, this is the cuisine made for your palate!

Preparationa time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves : 6

Ingredients:
200gm of paneer cut into big squares. Pierce the paneer with fork or knife
3 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp maida
1 tbsp besan
1 tbsp chilli powder
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup corainder leaves
8-10 green chillies finely chopped
2 tbsp jaljeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
salt to taste
1 tbsp curd
Pinch of tandoori color or orange food color
1 lime ka juice
4 tbsp of water
oil for deep frying

For the Garnish:
1/2 cup onions
salt to taste
1 tsp red chilli powder
few drops of lime juice
1 tsp oil

Method:

1. In paneer, add all the ingredients. Mix well with hands.
2. Marinade for 1/2 - 1 hour.
3. Shallow fry it in the tava with little oil or deep fry it in a kadai till it becomes crisp.

For the Garnish
a. Cut the onions into thin slices round.
b. Take oil in the pan add onions and fry it for few minutes till translucent.
c. Remove from pan and add lime juice, red chilli powder, pinch of tandoori color or orange color and salt to tste. Mix well
d. Place it on the side of the plate and place the paneer chettinad in the middle.

Vegetable Manchurian

This is my husband 's all time favourite dish, and understandably, I make this dish very often. This is a popular In0-Chinese dish (which means Chinese cuisine-Indian style). It sounds difficult, on the contrary, it is really easy to make. When you eat these deep fried vegetable balls in a soya sauce based gravy, do not let mundane things like the weighing scale bother you! Just dig into these deep fried delights and enjoy!


Preparation Time : 15 mins.
Cooking Time : 20 mins.
Serves 4.


Ingredients:
For the Vegetable balls:
3 cups cabbage, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups carrots, grated
1/3 cup onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp cornflour
5 tbsp all purpose flour (maida)
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 green chilli, finely chopped
1/4 tsp Ajinomoto powder (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
oil for deep frying


For the manchurian sauce:
1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup spring onions both greens and whites, finely chopped
1 tbsp of garlic, finely chopped
2 green chilli, finely chopped
2 tsp of ginger, finely chopped
1 cup of clear vegetable stock or water
1 tbsp of soya sauce
1 tbsp og cornflour mixed with 1 cup of water
2 pinches of sugar
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp of oil
salt to taste

For Garnish:
1 tbsp Spring onion


Method:
For the Vegetable balls:
1. Combine the cabbage, carrots, onions, all purpose flour(maida), cornflour, garlic, green chilli, Ajinomoto, salt and pepper in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Shape spoonfuls of the mixture into a small balls. If you find it difficult to form the balls, sprinkle a few drops of water to bind the mixture.
3. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown on a medium-high flame. Drain on absorbent paper and keep aside.

For the sauce:
1. Heat the oil in a wok or frying pan on a high flame. Add gralic, ginger and green chillies and fry for few minutes.
2. Add onions and fry till they are translucent.
3. Add the cornflour paste, stock, soya sauce, sugar, ketchup and simmer for few minutes.
4. Add spring onions and cook it for few more minutes and the sauce is ready.
5. Just before serving, put the vegetable balls in the sauce and bring it to a boil. Serve hot.

Note: Add some water or vegetable stock if the sauce becomes too thick.