Monday 6 January 2014

Paneer and Cheese Pakora



It is amazing the way cooking dawns on you. The very first day you are so reluctant to cook your first dish. Then finally after loads and loads of dishes and many appreciations from your near and dear ones you realize that you have actually started to enjoy cooking. I still remember my very first day in the kitchen. It was the first day after me and my husband had shifted to Hyderabad after marriage. I do not know why I decided to prepare Korolar jhol (bitter gourd curry) for him. And when he tasted it I know what would have gone through his mind. He not being the bollywood style husbands who would eat anything that wife prepares after marriage said after the first bite "Okhaddo hoyeche". It is a bengali term which means "It is not edible and why on earth did you prepare this". So like many other days during those times, we ended up having dinner at a nearby restaurant.

That day and today 3 and a half years have passed, he enjoys what I cook and loves eating food prepared by me. His encouragement and support always makes me try new dishes. Like the one given below which I tried just a few days back:

Ingredients:
- Paneer (100 gms)
- Onion (1 finely chopped)
- Green Chilli (1 chopped)
- Besan (2 tbsp)
- Salt (1/2 tsp)
- Coriander leaves (1/2 cup chopped finely)
- Mozarella Cheese (shredded 1/2 cup)
- Oil (for deep frying)
Preparation:
- Cut the paneer into small cubes.
- In a bowl mix all the ingredients. Mix them well.
Note: Do not add water. There is enough water in the onion to bind the besan to the other ingredients.
- Let the mixture rest for half an hour.
- Then take some mixture in your hands and shape them into rounds or flats.
- Deep fry till brown.
- Serve piping hot with salad and sauce of your choice.
Can be served as a starter for your party or as an evening snack.
Note: Can also be baked at 150 degrees celcius for 10 min instead of deep frying for a healthier version.

This is my entry for Krithis Kitchen , Cook Starters and Soups Contest,2nd Blog-ivrsary Event & Giveaway announced by Simply Tadka, WTML

Sunday 5 January 2014

Cook Starters and Soups Contest

As the name suggests this event is for starters and soups. During this time of the year we shall be attending and hosting so many parties due to the festivities. While hosting parties at home I am always in dilemma as to what I should prepare for starter. In order to make my (as well as all you confused cooks out there who are generally unable to chalk out a party menu plan) life easier I decided to come up with this event. You can enter any dish that you feel can be served as a starter in any party or get together. The rules for the event are given below:

- Give your entries using the linky tool given below.
- You can enter any number of fresh entries.
- Fresh entries should have a link back to my announcement page.
- A maximum of 3 old entries are allowed provided they are reposted with a link back to this announcement page.
- Non bloggers are welcome to send their entries. They can send their recipes and pics to anisham56@gmail.com

There are 2 categories of awards for this event. One is for photography and the other one for recipe.
I shall choose 5 awards for the best food photograhy:











and 5 more awards for good recipes who would get the below badge: