Weekday Dinner with Paneer Gravy-ed and Sumac-ed Cous-cous!!

Zouqh got a mention recently in DNA after hours. Apparently our Pinwheel Kachoris is in the must watch list from Famebox Webchef channel. So that propelled me to do more all veg recipes. A very good veggie friend of mine, since school, had always been asking me to give her recipes which are easy main course and non-baked. And so we figured, let’s go 100% veggie this time!

This is my go to meal on a boring Tuesday. After all the hoopla in the day, I would settle for a nice plate of warm curry and cous-cous. Intererstingly, this is very simple to conjure up, as it has no weeping onion or smelly hand garlic, involved!

Week day Dinner 2:- Curried vegetable-Paneer with Sumac cous cous with Nimbu ka achar (Lemon Pickle) and home-made curd.

          

Carbohydrates, in the form of Sumac cous cous

Protein and veggies in the form of curried vegetables and paneer

A fresh zing in the form of fridge cold, fresh homemade curd and nimbu ka achar (Lemon Pickle)

The pickle was store bought, from a certain gujrati food stall. The tangy sweet taste of the pickle was perfect accompaniment for the dinner. If you don’t have it, you could easily substitute it with homemade imli chutney (tamarind chutney) or mango chutney.

For the gravy dish, you would need:

200 gms Fresh Paneer (cottage cheese)

A handful of peas

3 small potatoes, cubed

½ tsp nigella seeds

Fresh coriander powder chopped

3 Green chillies slit

2 small tomatoes, pureed

½ tsp cumin powder

½ tsp coriander powder

¼ tsp red chilli powder

¼ tsp cinnamon powder

Salt to taste

Oil as needed

Water for the gravy

1 tsp Ginger paste

1 tsp of wholewheat flour

Method:

I know, the big list of ingredients look endearing, but these are very basic things which you would find lying in your kitchen shelf anyways.

In a non-stick wok, put in a couple tbsp of oil to heat up. Any flavourless oil will do. Once hot, let the nigella seeds crack in it.

I like to crack up my nigella seeds first so that I m ensured it’s got cooked and flavoured out. 

Now scatter the seeds on the sides, while u put half of the fresh cubed paneer in the hot oil to grill. I do just half as I like the flavour profile of a grilled paneer in a gravy, but I enjoy the soft creamy texture of the non grilled ones. So I went through lord buddhas’s middle path and grilled half for the flavour and kept half raw for the texture.

Once, both sides are seared, take them out and drain on a paper towel.

Now put in the cubed potatoes and fry till golden. Take them out and drain.

Now, put the nigella seeds back on the mid section and add the tomato puree mixed with turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilly powders. Let all the spices cook down well and reduce. The best way to know when it’s done is by checking the sides of the paste. If oil seeps out, the spices are well toasted and aromatic.

Now add in your peas and fried potatoes. Mix well and add water to the mix. Add enough water to cover all the veggies and let it come to a boil.

Once there, add the paneer and reduce the gravy to your liking. Check and season well.

As the last step, in a small bowl mix together the flour, ginger and cinnamon powder with a tbsp of water. Add it in the gravy and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle on the coriander leaves and take it off the heat.

Serve hot with a simple dish of cous cous which needs:

A big bowl with a tight lid

A cup of cous cous

Boiling hot water in a jug

Olive oil

Salt

Sprinkling of sumac powder (to your taste)

Put the couscous in the bowl and salt it well. Add the oil and mix well.

Now cover the cous cous with an inch more of hot boiling water and clamp on the lid.

Let it stand 5 minutes and fluff it well with a fork.

Now sprinkle on the tangy sumac powder to taste or squeeze on some lime juice.

Cous cous ready in literally 5 minutes!

Home-made creamy curd and some chutney; and you have a wonderful dinner ready in 30 minutes. Hot and steamy, perfect vegetarian comfort meal for the cold weather! 

Cheers!!

Famebox Webchef Contest - Pinwheel Kachori!

Hey people, Here is another recipe for the contest Famebox Webchef. This time Zouqh goes vegetarian gourmet.  Pinwheel Kachori are a great starter to whip up during a party. 

We have sent an entry and now I need your help to win it!! If you want to see Zouqh as a YouTube Channel, Please View, Share, Like and vote for our video...

                                                                          Cheers!!

Weekday Dinner with Bulgur Wheat Stir Fry!!

A weekday dinner is a chore everyone hates! Takeout foods, frozen food all are born from that hatred and we get addicted! And Addicted to it, for months on end. In India somehow the delivery system is so strong, that you hardly ever feel like coming back from work and tiring yourself silly in kitchen. Frozen food is a relatively new concept, and yet to make its lasting impression in the Indian markets. So I am thinking of writing in a series of weekday and weekend dinners for a couple of days now. These are easy to make in half an hour kind of meals. I am striving to make it as modern Indian and flavourful as possible by tweaking the classics to suit my ever so Indian curry taste buds, and yet a balanced meal owning to nutrients!!

Week day Dinner 1:- Stir fried bulgur wheat with crunchy veggies and boiled egg, served along with a chorizo flavoured sauce.

Carbohydrates in the form of Bulgur wheat, a recent addition in my kitchen!

Veggie portion in the form of stir fry, 2 ways!

Protein in the form of a perfectly boiled egg, served with a sauce falvoured with 2 thin salami pieces of chorizo!

Let’s tackle from the last- Protein. An egg boiling is not a new concept, but a perfectly 

boiled egg is a difficult concept to arrive on to. What is perfection? For me it is to get a slightly softish yolk which is set, yet not hard and powdery. And to get to this point of hardboiled egg perfection, you need to follow a few steps religiously as I mention here.

·         

•          A fridge cold egg goes in a water-bath and right on top of a medium flame. You may add vinegar or a matchstick in the water to prevent the eggs cracking up.
•          Now let it take its own sweet time to come to a boil. Keep the heat medium and do not disturb it.
•         Once it starts boiling, let it boil for a minute and switch off the gas.
•          Let the eggs remain in the hot water and slowly come down to room temperature with the water.
•         Once you are ready to plate, peel the shells and halve it. Perfectly set egg white with a just set soft pasty yolk, perfection achieved!!

While you were waiting for the eggs to start boiling, you could take a cup of bulgur wheat and soak it in water. And prep your veggies to get the stir fry started.

For stir fry, you would need:

1 ½ onions chopped in thin strips

3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped

½ a cup Capsicum chopped in thin strips

½ a cup carrots chopped in thin strips

½ a cup of broccoli stems chopped in thin strips

2 tbsp of oil

A big pinch of paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a wok or a pan, heat the oil and garlic together till they are fragrant.

Add in the paprika, once the garlic starts sizzling. Let both these spices mingle and flavour the oil.

Once the garlic turns light brown, add in the onion and on a high flame, let it cook down and gather some colour.

Next dump in the broccoli and carrots and on high flame, let it cook and get crisp.

Last to go in the pan should be capsicum, give it a good stir and let it stand on high flame for a minute.

Sprinkle salt and pepper and stir well. Now, lower the gas flame and remove half the stir fry and let it stand uncovered, while you prep the bulgur wheat.

Soaked bulgur wheat, which has doubled its original size, will take far less time to cook. Tip in the wheat in the remaining veggies and stir well.

On high flame once again, cook the grains to add some flavour on to it.

Now, submerge the wheat and the veggies in salted warm water and a dash of freshly ground ginger, to cook the wheat completely. Let your stove be on medium flame and partially uncovered. Once all the liquid evaporates stir and check for doneness. It should be soft with a resistant bite.

PS: Now, to explain why we stir fried the veggies and took out half of it. For me cous-cous and bulgur wheat are both very cardboard-y and flavourless. So they need some sort of a flavour which came with the stir fried veggies. But as we need to add water, the crispness of stir fry is lost. Hence, reserving some out to add a crunchy element to the dish, seemed like a great idea!

Finally, the chorizo sauce:

2 big chorizo salami pieces chopped

Half an onion sliced

2 tbsp tomato sauce

A few dashes of worcestershire sauce

A few dashes of tobasco

2 tsp oyster sauce

A pinch of paprika

And water to thin it out

Method:

In a small pan let the chorizo simmer and give out its orangey flavoured oil.

Once it’s hot and crisp, add in the onions and cook for a minute to soften it.

Add in all the sauces and paprika, and let it simmer to concentrate the flavour.

Once it reduces, thin it out with water to your liking. I didn’t have to season beyond this, but taste and season as required.

And just in about 30 minutes, you have hot dinner, perfect to be coupled with a glass of slightly chilled chardonnay! 

Cheers!!