Palak Pulao Recipe - Indian Spinach Rice - Step by Step Recipe

My mom-in-law made this amazing Palak Pualo (Keerai Sadam or Spinach Rice) when we had gone back to India last year. I very diligently took pictures as she cooked and then duly forgot to take a picture of the final dish. The palak pulao taste lingered in my mind for a long time and I finally made it a few days back. Spinach rice is a great one pot meal and doesn't need any elaborate side dishes as it's balanced and nutritious on its own. Also, since we use the pressure cooker for making this spinach rice, it makes our job much quicker and easier.

What I loved about her spinach rice recipe is the ground coconut-coriander leaves paste that adds a wonderful flavour and makes the rice delicious. Since spinach is a bit bland on its own, I highly recommend adding all the ingredients mentioned so that you can serve it as a one-pot meal.

Since TH and I love spinach in pretty much any form - his favour dish ever is Palak Paneer - this rice is a welcome lunch for us. You can use any variety of spinach that's available, just make sure to use green spinach and fresh leaves if you can.

PALAK PULAO RECIPE (SPINACH RICE)

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe source: Mom-in-law

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of rice, washed
• 1 large bunch of spinach, washed and coarsely chopped
• 1 tomato, cubed
• 1 onion, sliced
• 2 green chillies (optional)
• 2 tsp ghee or oil
• 1/2 tsp jeera or cumin
• 10 roasted cashew nuts, for garnish (optional)

To grind:

• 1/4 cup of grated coconut
• 1 small bunch of coriander leaves (cilantro)
• 1 onion or a few shallots (chinna vengayam)
• 1 tsp of red chilli powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala

How to make Spinach Rice:

1. Heat the ghee in your pressure cooker pan (we used a wider pan to make it easier to take pictures). Add the sliced onions and saute until it lightly browns.

2. Then add the cubed tomatoes and the green chillies, slit lengthwise (if using).

3. Add the chopped spinach and mix well.

Let it cook for a while. The spinach will let out water so there's no need to add any more at this time.

5. In the meantime, grind the ingredients under "to grind" with some water to a smooth paste.

6. Add this to the spinach mixture and mix well.

Next, add the rice and some salt and mix again (we transferred the spinach rice mixture to the pressure pan now to finish the cooking process. As mentioned, you can do all the steps in a pressure cooker pan since this is a one-pot rice dish). Add about 2.5 cups water, close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles or about 15 mins. The amount of water required will depend on the type of rice you are using.

Once done, garnish with roasted cashew nuts and serve hot with curd / cucumber raita and appalam / vadaam.

Notes:

1. Add a fistful of mint leaves to the paste while grinding for some added flavour
2. If you don't want to use garam masala, use biryani masala, or even some coriander powder. The flavours will be different and more subtle/pronounced depending on your choice
3. You can omit the coconut but the pulao will definitely lack in some flavour. 
4. If you don't want to use a pressure cooker, use a wide pan and cook closed on low flame until the rice is cooked and soft. 
5. Add a clove of garlic to the paste. Try it!

For Palak Pulao recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, please use the Google Translate button on the top right of this website.

Paneer Paratha Recipe - Punjabi Paneer Paratha - Step by Step Recipe

Paneer Paratha is a popular Punjabi paratha recipe. A delicious double-layer of paratha filled with spiced paneer or cottage cheese is our idea of bliss for a weekend meal. Learn how to make easy Punjabi paneer parathas using this easy step by step recipe. 

I learnt how to make parathas quite late in life - especially the stuffed parathas like aloo paratha. When I tried gobi paratha for the first time, I used a different technique (check the post to see what I did) since I was worried my parathas will tear and all the filling will spill out, ruining my parathas and so, dinner for that night. So yeah, it does take practice to get paratha right but once you have done it a few times, parathas become much easier to make.

Paneer parathas are delicious and definitely work the extra time if you decide to use homemade paneer for the parathas. The filling can be spiced the way you like and there are different varations. I decided to keep it simple since anything too large in the filling can cause a tear in the paratha and I am quite paranoid about that.

I figured out, thanks to quite a few blogs and books out there, that one of the tricks to making smooth parathas without them tearing while rolling is to add some maida or plain flour to the atta while making the paratha dough. The extra elasticity that plain flour gives is truly magical and gives you a very pliable dough that's more forgiving of a novice trying to make parathas at home.

You can adjust the proportions and go 100% atta if you'd like but if you are new to making parathas, then I highly recommend adding some plain flour to your dough and make your life a bit easier. It's especially useful for Paneer Parathas since the filling will be a big grainy.

The good part about making parathas for lunch or dinner is that you don't need very elaborate side dishes for them. Just a bowl of plain curd (you can make curd at home) and some spicy pickle will make the meal complete. I had some pudalangai kootu which I felt went fabulously with the paratha but I think that's a bit of an abomination so don't be like me and mix Punjabi parathas with South Indian kootu. Unless, of course, you really want to.

PS: I love paneer. Here's a list of all Paneer Recipes on Edible Garden.

PANEER PARATHA RECIPE

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes ~7 parathas

Ingredients:
For the dough:

• 1 cup of atta or Indian whole wheat flour (chapati flour)
• 1/2 cup of maida or all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp of salt (adjust to taste)
• 1-2 tsp of ghee or oil

For the filling:

• 2 cups of paneer cubes (how to make paneer at home)
• 3/4 tsp of red chilli powder (or use finely chopped green chillies)
• 1 large pinch of kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• 1/2 tsp of powdered cumin or jeera
• A small pinch of omam or kalonji seeds
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of oil

How to Make Paneer Paratha:

1. First make the dough by mixing all the ingredients for dough in a bowl. Add about 1 cup water in intervals until a soft non-sticky dough is formed. I use my kitchen to make paratha dough and it works fabulous. Cover and set the dough aside for about 30 mins and make the filling in the meantime.
2. For the filling: grate the paneer into a wide bowl. You can also crumble it with your fingertips but grating is best for making filling for paneer paratha.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients for filling to the paneer and mix well. Cover and set aside.
4. To make the parathas: pull out a lime-sized ball of dough and roll between palms into a smooth ball.
5. Using the palm of your left hand and the fingertips of your right hand, form an even-sized 'cup' with the dough that can hold the filling. The process is very similar to how we make modak (see pics below).
6. Add a lime-sized amount of filling in the centre of the cup and cover with the dough.
7. Dust generously and roll gently into a 1/4" thick circle
8. Heat a pan or griddle and cook the paratha on medium flame until puffy and both sides have brown flecks
9. Just before removing from the pan, brush both sides with ghee and transfer to a plate.
10. Make the rest of the paratha and stack them up on top of each other
11. Serve hot with plain curd and pickles.

Step by Step PIctures for making Paneer Paratha:

1. Mix the ingredients for dough with about 1 cup water and form a smooth yet non-sticky dough. Cover and set aside.

2. For filling, start by grating the paneer

3. And add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

4. When ready to make the parathas, make a smooth ball out of a lime-sized amount of dough. Gently use your palm and finger tips to flatten it into a "cup".

5. Place an equal amount of filling (equal to the size of the dough you used) in the centre

and seal with the dough.

6. Flatten between palms and dust generously.

7. Roll into a 1/4" circle. If there are air pockets while rolling, prick with a fork and continue to roll.

8. Transfer to a heated pan and cook both sides until it's puffy

and brown flecks appear on both sides. Keep flame at medium and take care not to burn the parathas.

9. Brush the cooked parathas generously with ghee and stack them on a plate to serve.

Notes:

• Take the extra time to grate the paneer, please.
• You can add any spices of your choice to the filling. While I love the flavour of green chillies, they may cause the dough to tear as you roll, and also, biting into spicy pieces of green chillies is not our idea of a pleasant surprise.
• You can also lightly saute the filling in some oil and cool before using it. I think the parathas are delicious without that step so why bother. But that's just me. You may want to try it.
• Adding some minced onions to the filling would be yum too.
• If using homemade paneer, it will be more moist than store bought ones. Make sure you freeze them for a while before grating, and if it's very moist, squeeze out the excess water completely. You don't want a soggy filling to work with, trust me. Sauteeing may help in this case, especially.

Torcetti Cookies Recipe - Mini Torcetti or Italian Twisted Cookies Recipe

Yeasted cookies! Who would've thunk? I mean, I never even gave yeasted cookies any thought until Aparna introduced these Torcetti Cookies  as the bake for April in our We Knead to Bake group. I loved the idea of these cute little Torcetti cookies, or Torcettinis, a yeasted cookie from Italy that's made with a dough of flour, butter and yeast and rolled in sugar before baking.

What we baked this month are actually Torcettini or mini Torcetti cookies, meaning small twists. They were extremely fun and easy to bake and tasted great with a chilled glass of milk (Singapore is too hot now to even think of a hot drink at 3pm) but the traditional combination for Torcetti cookies is espresso.

As with a lot of recipes, Torcetti took shape (quite literally) when a baker had leftover bread dough from making bread sticks and dipped them in sugar and created a different twisted shape to tell them apart from the bread sticks and create something different. The result is a lovely crusty cookie with a soft doughy interior. I found that serving them on the same day as they are baked is best but a few leftovers for the next day can't hurt. They don't smell or taste of yeast at all but I did sense a very faint sour taste the next day.

I halved the recipe below and got ~18 small torcetti cookies.

TORCETTI COOKIES RECIPE

Preparation time: 3 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes ~ 30 small cookies
Recipe source: A Baker's Tour by Nick Malgieri

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of plain flour (maida or all-purpose flour)
• 1/2 cup of warm water (check notes)
• 1 1/4 tsp of active dry yeast (or 1 tsp instant yeast)
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of lime or lemon zest
• 40 gm of unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup of sugar, for rolling cookies in

How to Make Torcetti Cookies:

1. Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 10-15 mins until mildly frothy and bubbly

2. Mix the flour and salt together until well combined. This dough doesn't need much kneading so you can use your hands the entire way. I used my Kitchenaid because I feel guilty if I don't use it often enough. We all have our problems, eh?

3. Add the cold butter and mix on low speed or gently with fingertips.

The dough will look like coarse sand at this point.

4. Add the lemon zest and mix some more.

5. Pour in the yeast mixture and gently mix (on low speed if using a mixer) until the dough comes together in a ball.

It will be soft and moist and does not need any kneading.

6. Transfer dough to a well-oiled bowl and turn to coat it well. Keep closed (I just used a plate) for an hour.

After an hour - the dough will be puffed up quite a bit and when you pinch off some dough, the inside will look like a honeycomb. This is perfect.

7. Punch down the dough and cover with clingwrap. Refrigerate atleast an hour or up to 24 hours.

8. When you are ready to make the cookies, take the dough out and let it rest for about 10 mins until it becomes soft enough to work with.

9. Roll out into a square (or if you are not that good with rolling dough into geometric shapes, any shape like mine will do, your cookies won't be even-sized, that's all) and cut into smaller portions equally. Each square should be roughly 2x2 inches.

10. Take each small square of dough and roll between your palms into a long rope (see below). Then shape them each into a knot by twisting the rope.

11. Liberally coat each cookie in sugar and plate on a line baking tray.

12. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 160C/325F for about 20 mins. The cookies didn't change colour much but the sugar will get beautifully caramelised. I used raw sugar so this was harder to see but with white sugar, you can see the difference.

Serve warm for best results and ideally on the same day as baking although they can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Notes:

1. To check the warmth of water to proof yeast, I always do this test. Once you have warmed the water, insert your pinkie or index finger in the water and see if you can hold it for 10 seconds comfortably without getting burnt. When you take your finger out, it should be warm to touch
2. To make chocolate-flavoured torcetti cookies, remove 2 tbsp flour and replace with 2 tbsp cocoa powder in the above recipe. Also, replace lime zest with orange zest
3. Torcetti Cookies are #4 in the list of 12 things we are baking as part of the We Knead to Bake group initiated by Aparna 

Green Chilli Chicken Recipe - Andhra Chilli Chicken Recipe

I love Chilli Chicken and Chilli Fish. Or wait, I should say I loved Chilli Chicken. I have been vegetarian for the past 2 months and going strong so far. It's easier than I thought and although I didn't want to talk about this too soon, 2 months is a good milestone. I know it's ironic I am "celebrating" by posting a Chilli Chicken Recipe but this one is from a couple months back and this Green Chilli Chicken came out so good that I couldn't keep it away from some of chicken lovers out there.

I had bookmarked Sig's Green Chilli Chicken Recipe ages ago and made it for a few friends finally. I didn't have enough green chillies to maker her super fiery version so compromised by adding some red chilli powder as well. The colour was beautiful and it was probably one of the easiest Indian chicken recipe I have made. A friend commented that this is how Andhra Chilli Chicken tastes so in case anyone is looking for a recipe for Andhra Chilli Chicken, well, here you go! Here's another great recipe if you are looking for an easy chicken curry recipe.

ANDHRA-STYLE GREEN CHILLI CHICKEN RECIPE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from: Live to Eat

Ingredients:

• 400 gm of boneless chicken pieces, cubed
• 1/2 cup of sliced shallots or onions
• 4 green chillies, sliced
• 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
• 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste (ideally freshly made)
• A few of curry leaves
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp of fennel powder
• 3 tbsp of oil
• 2 tsp of lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric powder

How to Make Green Chilli Chicken:

1. Heat oil in a large pan and saut� the shallots till soft and slightly browned
2. Add the chicken pieces and some salt and saut� on medium-high heat stirring frequently till the chicken pieces turn white on all sides. The chicken will give out water at this point
3. Cook covered on low heat for about 12 mins until the chicken pieces are tender
4. Uncover and stir in the green chilies, chilli powder, turmeric, ginger-garlic paste, coriander, fennel, and curry leaves
5. Saut� on medium high heat for a few minutes, stirring frequently till the chicken pieces are cooked through and the pieces start to brown
6. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander leaves if desired

Gajar ka Halwa Recipe: Condensed Milk Carrot Halwa in Pressure Cooker

Gajar ka Halwa or Indian Carrot Halwa is one of the most popular desserts I know from our country. Gulab Jamun is a strong competitor but I see Gajar ka Halwa being served in pretty much all Indian buffet here, usually with a scoop of ice-cream. I've detailed the easy method of making it - Gajar ka Halwa made in the pressure cooker with condensed milk. It took about 30 mins from start to finish and is really easy, especially if you get someone else to grate the carrots for you!

One thing I love about Singapore is the availability of Indian seasonal vegetables. There's no way I could have had access to these gorgeous red winter carrots from Delhi if I were in Kerala but here, you get them throughout the season time in India. Using these red carrots gives the Carrot Halwa a lovely depth in colour and flavour. If you can't find Delhi carrots where you live or they are not in season, you can substitute regular carrots in a pinch.

Winter Carrots

Before I started making this batch of gajar ka halwa, I had a distinct idea how I wanted it to taste. I wanted the carrots to play main character, for the flavour of ghee to shine through, for the sweetness to be an undertone, and for there to be a nice crunch and texture from the nuts and raisins. I eyeballed measurements and added as I went, so consider the recipe below an approximation (as you should every recipe in here, actually). It's hard to mess up gajar ka halwa, trust me.

Serve warm or cold, it's up to you. I personally don't like gajar ka halwa with vanilla ice cream but it seems like a popular combination so go for it if it pleases you.

{You may also like this carrot kheer recipe}

GAJAR KA HALWA (CARROT HALWA) RECIPE

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of grated carrots, packed
• 2 cups of milk
• 1.5 cups of water
• 1/3 cup of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tbsp of ghee
• 12 cashew nuts
• 10 raisins
• 3 pods of cardamom, powdered

How to Make Gajar ka Halwa:

1. Add the grated carrots, milk and water to a pressure cooker pan. Mix well and pressure cook for 2 whistles - about 7-8 mins. Turn off flame and let the steam release on its own.

2. Meanwhile, heat the ghee and fry the cashew nuts and raisins until golden. Set aside.

3. Once the pressure cooker is ready to be opened, turn on flame again and keep it on low. Bring the carrot milk mixture to boil again and continue to cook on low flame for 10-15 mins...

... until the mixture thickens and the milk becomes a bit grainy.

4. Add the condensed milk and mix well. Let it cook for another 2-3 mins. Adjust the amount of condensed milk to suit your sweetness levels. I didn't add any sugar or other sweeteners beyond this.

5. Next add the roasted cashew nuts and raisins and the ghee it was roasted in. Top up with the cardamom powder. Mix well. Taste test and make sure all is ok and remove from fire.

Notes:

1. You can make gajar ka halwa in a rice cooker too using same measurements and method. It will take longer to cook than a pressure cooker
2. Much of the milk+water will still remain after pressure cooking. This is great because you can reduce it easier than starting from scratch in a pan and the halwa tastes great as a result
3. You can add grated khoya / mawa to the carrot halwa to make it richer. In this case, omit the condensed milk and add sugar to taste
4. Adding a few drops of vanilla instead of the cardamom would give it a different flavour that you may like
5. Cool completely and chill if you want to serve it cold. The halwa stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to two days
6. Adding pistachios instead of cashew nuts is a great option too.