Chilly Paneer

Chilly paneer, a classic Indo-Chinese dish needs some introduction because its the very first dish that I learned when I was in I guess 11th std. My friend Anshumita taught us chilly paneer, hakka noodles and veg manchurian after learning them in a chinese cooking class :-) I tried it at home and everyone became a big fan of it. After that I made it n number of times and became the chilly paneer expert in my family (I guess that was the only dish I could make at that age :D) It is still quite special to me because my husband LOVES it and pleads me to make it all the time.
The best chilly paneer is still the one you get in Cream Corner in Ramdampeth, Nagpur. We used to bunk college and go here to eat noodles, chilly paneer and mango milk shake :P miss those days!!

Ingredients (serves 2)
Batter: 1 tablespoon maida/all purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
Gravy: 250 g paneer cut in small cubes
soya sauce
chilly sauce
3-4 chillies cut thin and long
2-3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
tomato ketchup
1/4th spoon pepper powder
curry leaves (optional)
1 onion cut thin and long
1 green pepper cut thin and long
1/4th spoon aginomoto
1 sping onion cut in small pieces for garnishing

Method

Mix all purpose flour and cornflour and water to make a thick paste. Add salt to taste. Make sure the paneer dips in it and it coated completely. Deep fry these paneer pieces in oil till they turn golden brown in color.

Now take some oil in a pan. Add garlic and chillies in it (Add curry leaves now if you want). Add the chopped onions and green peppers to oil. Fry till they become soft. Now add soya sauce, chilly sauce, ketchup, pepper powder, salt to taste, sugar to taste, aginomoto and chilly powder if you don't have chilly sauce.
Add some cornflour to give the gravy some thickness. Add water if you wish to have gravy. Dont add water if you want dry chilly paneer (like an appetizer). Add the fried paneer pieces to this and let it cook for 5-10 min. Taste and add the sauces if necessary. Garnish the dish with some spring onions.

Goes well with chowmin or any noodles or fried rice.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in India I used to think of cookies as biscuits. Only after coming to US I got to know the real cookies that are crunchy on the circumference and soft in the center and I totally loved them. The recipe given here is not my own. Its given to me by my friend Bhushan. I tried them once and they came out really well. So I always follow this particular recipe leaving the 100s of chocolate chip recipes that you find on the net.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (Hershey's preferably )
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.
They should look better and thinner than the picture shown here. 

Tiramisu

I am a big fan of desserts. In general I like any sweet which has any dairy product as its ingredient. My most favorite dessert ever is Haldiram's Rasmalai which you get only in Nagpur and the next favorite is Tiramisu. Unfortunately I (and no one except Haldiram's) can make that awesome rasmalai. So I thought I should atleast learn to make my second favorite dessert and hence I went to this cooking class in San Jose. The recipe given here is taught by the lady who takes cooking classes in Cucina Bambini.
Tiramisu is all about coffee and cream and if you are a lover these two, I bet you will love Tiramisu. Other than this home-made tiramisu which is obviously awesome, you get good tiramisu in Cheesecake Factory and P F Chang's.

Ingredients (serves 5-6)

lady fingers (savoiardi brand if possible) - 2 packets

vanilla essence - 1 teaspoon

mascarpone cheese - 1 lb (arnd 500 gms)

heavy cream - 11/2 cups

sugar - 1/2 cup (add to taste)

marsala wine 

espresso coffee 

Method:

1. Let mascarpone come to room temperature. then beat until soft

2. Seperate bowl, beat cream, gradually add sugar and essence (beat until stiff peaks) be careful. even slight excess beating can spoil the cream. look up some videos just to be sure before you do this

3. Then FOLD the cream into the mascarpone. dont mix, but FOLD.

4. Brew the coffee and add some wine to it (few sppons). If you have instant coffee, just add some warm water to it and let it dissolve completely.

5. Dip the lady fingers in coffee and make a layer in a flat bowl. Layer the cream on top. Use half of ladyfingers and cream in the first layer. Add a second layer of ladyfingers dipped in coffee and wine mixture and top it off with remaining cream. Make the surface smooth and even using a knife.

6. For the topmost layer, grate chocolate and put chocolate shavings or sprinkle cocoa powder

7. Keep in fridge for atleast 2-3 hours before serving.

Note: I noticed that tiramisu tastes better the next day. So if you have a party at home, preferably make it the previous day and refrigerate.

Finished Tiramisu

Layering up



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