Any vegetable recipe

This recipe goes out to all those moms out there whose measurements consist of eyeballing things and pouring it into the palm and throwing it into the pan and continuing that till it tastes just right :-)

Ingredients:

A few chopped onions
A few chopped green peppers (substitute any vegetable for that - squash, mixed frozen mix of any kind ...)
A few cubed potatoes
Salt, red chilli powder, black pepper, ginger, garlic, garam masala to taste

Put enough oil to cover the bottom of the skillet and add onions once the oil is hot. Add the spices to the onions and cook till soft.

Add the potatoes and around a cup of water. Cover and cook on medium heat till potatoes are softer but not fully cooked.

Add the green peppers with a little more water if all the water has dried. Cook till the peppers are soft. Colorful and easy dish.

Oh, and just like all the moms out there, I forgot to mentiont that with the potatoes, I also put in a couple of tomatoes.

Shahi Paneer

Shahi means fit for the Kings. Paneer means cheese. To make paneer at home, you take whatever amount of milk and curdle it by adding a few drops of lemon to it while it's boiling. Then, you hand it in a fine cheesecloth till most of the moisture has dripped out of it and it's taken on the consistency of cottage cheese.

This cheese dish is resplendant with a rich creamy sauce filled with cashews and raisins and spices. A quick warning: this is NOT for the weak hearted. This is a very spicy dish.

The ingredients:

8 oz container of cream, 1 tsp garam masala (available at any Indian grocery store), 2 tsp ginger powder, 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp red chilli powder, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 1 cup cashews and raisins, 2 medium onions, 1/2 lb paneer cubed, 2 green chillis, 3 cloves garlic, 1/2 cup milk

Brown the paneer cubes in the oil for a couple minutes and put them aside. Put the ginger, garlic, onions, and chillis in a blender or food processor and make a paste. Put the paste in the oil and brown it till the oil separates. What does that mean. It's when the oil starts seeping out the edges and bubbles.

Add the red chilli powder, salt, turmeric and garam masala to the paste and brown for a couple minutes. Add the paneer cubes and milk and let the sauce thicken. Add the cream and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Leave the sauce a little thin because it'll thicken more as it just sits.

Yes, I tend to burn the paneer cubes :-)

Hint for the day: Make a pound or two of the ginger, garlic and onion paste and freeze it. It's really easy to unfreeze and use in any Indian dish you are making.

Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

Top line: Can of coconut milk, 1/2 cup unsalted whole cashews, 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup vegetable oils
Bottom line: 1 lb chicken cut in 1 inch cubes, 1 medium onion thinly sliced
Plate: 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp ground coriander, 1 clove garlic crushed, 1 tsp ginger thinly grated

A good way to crush garlic is to hold a braod knife on top of the clove and smash it down with the heel of your hand.

Heat 1/2 of the oil and cook the chicken pieces till golden brown on both sides:

Put the other 1/2 of the oil into the skillet, heat it and add the fennel seeds, curry powder and coriander powder. Wait till the oil starts smelling like the spices, then add the onion, garlic and ginger. Cook till onion is soft and transluscent.

Add the coconut milk to the skillet and bring to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and cook it till tender. Add the frozen peas and cook for 5 more minutes. Put the cashews in the oven at 350 degrees for 5 minutes and sprinkle on top of the chicken.

If you get to buy one thing and one thing only for your kitchen, buy a silicone splatter guard. It was probably one of the best things I ever bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

My first lasagna

This was my first ever attempt at baking a lasagna. This is how it went and the recipe I used: A 26 oz jar of pasta sauce mixed with 1 lb browned beef:

15 oz ricotta cheese, 1.5 cups shredded parmesan-romano, 4 oz shredded mozarella, mixed with 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1.5 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, paprika to taste, 2 eggs

Pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the lasagna pan, then layer three sheets of lasagna pasta lengthwise. Cover with 1 cup sauce, and 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Repeat pasta, sauce and cheese layer. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle 4 oz mozarella cheese on top.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees, covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Things I would change for next time. Do one more layer. Use twice the amount of pasta sauce and cheese mix. Add mushrooms, italian sausage and bell peppers to the sauce mix.It came out a little flat because of not enough layers, but it was still good: