Paneer

Ingredients

Milk: 1 litre

Lemon juice: ¼ cup

Water: 1 cup

 

Method

Boil milk in a thick bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Mix lemon juice in one cup of water and add it to the boiling milk stirring the milk gently. The milk curdles and will start separating from the whey. Once the milk water looks pale green, remove from the heat and drain it using a strainer with muslin cloth. 

Wrap the muslin cloth and rinse well in cold water so that the lemon smell goes out from the paneer. Squeeze the cloth thoroughly to remove excess water. You can keep the wrapped paneer under a heavy object for about an hour, but this can remove all water and paneer can become little hard. 

After removing water from the paneer, take a pinch of it on your palm and rub with your finger for about 10 seconds and see if you are able to make a firm, but a smooth ball. After removing all the excess water, place the paneer on a dry clean surface and knead it well for 5-6 minutes. This helps to smoothen the paneer like soft dough. If the paneer is too crumbly, you can add half a tablespoon of water.This can be used to prepare sweets or any veg curries.

Crispy Cauliflower

Ingredients 

Cauliflower florets: 4 cups

Salt: To taste
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Maida: 1 cup

Ajwain: 1 tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Yoghurt: ½ cup

Ginger-garlic paste: 3-4 tsp

Garam masala: 1 tsp

Red chilli powder: 2 tsp
Finely chopped coriander: 3-4 tsp

Finely chopped green chillies: 3-4 tsp

Oil: To fry

Method

Boil water and add salt, turmeric powder and cook cauliflower for 10 minutes. Drain and keep aside.

Take a bowl and mix maida, ajwain, lemon juice, yoghurt, ginger and garlic paste, garam masala, chilli powder and salt and prepare a thick batter.

Heat oil in a pan and dip each cauliflower in the batter, coat evenly and deep fry till golden brown. Garnish with green chillies and coriander before serving.

Chickpea Soup

Another simple Middle East recipe which I learnt recently is Chickpea Soup. It is served along with salads, olives, bread and yoghurt. It often forms the centerpiece of simple peasant meals. It is easy to make and very nice to have in winter days and never lasts long at my home. You can make it versatile by adding almost any vegetable to it to suit your taste. You can either add pasta or chopped spinach or broccoli or mushroom or carrot or any other vegetable. And as the name itself says, it is soup, healthy, plus no oil is used! So, forget about your dieting and enjoy this soup.



Ingredients
Chickpeas: 2 cup, washed and drained
Onion: 2, chopped into small pieces
Potatoes: 2 boiled, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
Water: 8-9 cups
Salt: As per taste
Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
Cumin powder: 1 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tsp
Chili powder: 1 tsp
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Lemon juice: 1-2 tsp

Method
Soak chickpeas in water overnight. Drain and rinse thoroughly. Take eight cups of water in a large saucepan and add chickpeas and onion. Bring it to a boil, and simmer it for 1 hour (The more it cooks the more well the soup becomes as the chickpeas become softer and the liquid gets thicker and the soup develops a cohesion that it would otherwise lack). Then add potatoes, salt, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chili powder and ¾ cup of water. Bring it to a boil and simmer again for 1 to 1 ½ hours stirring in between. Check for seasoning and add pepper powder and lemon juice before serving.
Note: It is a good idea to taste the soup before adding lemon juice. Chickpea broth has a natural sweetness that you may prefer to leave untouched.

Hummus and Tahini

Whenever we visit a restaurant in the Middle East, we come across Hummus, one of the most popular Middle Eastern dips. It is served with fresh or toasted pita bread. It makes for a great snack or appetizer. I wondered what it means. Hummus is a dip/spread made from chickpeas. Hummus in Arabic means chickpea. Little search about hummus yielded that it is one of the oldest foods dating back to ancient Egypt. And one more thing, the taste of hummus differ from restaurants to restaurants, it is not constant. Some have lemon flavour, some have garlic flavor and some have a spicy tone. So I came to know that while preparing hummus at home, we can keep our taste buds in mind and add a little of this and remove a little of that and still have a great culinary masterpiece. So here goes the recipe for it.

 

Ingredients
Chickpeas: 1 cup
Lemon juice: 2-3 tsp
Tahini: 1 tsp
Garlic: 2 cloves crushed
Olive oil: 1-2 tsp
Salt: according to taste

Method
Soak chickpeas overnight, drain and cook in a vessel. Set aside the cooked water from the chickpeas. Add ¼ cup of chickpea water and grind all the ingredients to a smooth paste. Put in a serving bowl and create a shallow well in the centre of the hummus. Add 1 tsp of olive oil in the well and garnish with coriander. Serve immediately with fresh, warm or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate.

Note: If you want spicier hummus, add red chilies; if you love yogurt add ½ cup of it to get a creamy dip.
Hummus can be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month. You can add little olive oil if it appears to be too dry.

Now, let me tell you how to prepare Tahini, which is the most important ingredient in hummus.

Tahini

 

Ingredients
Sesame seeds: 1 cup
Olive oil: ¼ cup

Method
Dry roast sesame seeds till you get nice aroma. Do not allow to brown. Cool it and grind it to powder. Add olive oil and grind it to a fine paste.

Note: Tahini can be stored in refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 3 months.

Basbousa with Almonds

During Ramadan I tried some Middle East recipes. Here’s a dessert which is very simple to prepare but yet, very yummy. Basbousa with Almonds is a traditional Middle East dessert and is perfect with coffee or tea.

Ingredients
Water: 2 ¼ cup
Sugar: 1 ½ cup
Almonds: ¾ cup
Butter: ½ cup
Semolina: ¾ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Method
Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to boil in a pan. Simmer the syrup for 5-10 minutes. Cut the almonds into small pieces and fry in butter with semolina until golden brown. Add the syrup slowly to the semolina mixture stirring constantly over a low heat. See to it that no lumps are formed and the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and cover the lid of the pan and allow it to cool for a while. Later, pour the mixture into greased moulds and flatten the tops and garnish with almond pieces before serving warm.

The same can be done in a different manner, but in the oven and we can call it as Semolina Cake. Here’s the recipe for that.




Ingredients
Butter: 1 cup
Condensed milk: 1 tin
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Semolina: 2 cup
Almond pieces: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
For the syrup
Sugar: 2 cup
Water: 1 ½ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Rosewater: 1 tsp
Almond pieces: 2 tsp

Method
Prepare the syrup first. Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan. Add lemon juice and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes on a low flame and keep it aside.

In a bowl, combine butter, condensed milk and baking powder and mix well, before adding semolina, almond pieces and water and stir well. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and lightly grease a baking dish. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and flatten it with a spoon. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Remove the cake from oven and pour the cooled syrup all over. Allow the syrup to be absorbed and place in fridge to cool completely. Cut into diamond shapes, garnish with almond pieces and serve. It can also be served warm without keeping in fridge.

Aloo Shami Kebab

Ingredients
Potatoes: 4-5
Chana dal: 1 cup
Garlic: 12 cloves
Cumin: 1 tsp
Black pepper: 1 tsp
Dry red chili: 10-12
Black cardamom: 1
Green cardamom: 3-4
Clove: 3-4
Cinnamon: 1 inch piece
Coriander leaves: 2-3 tsp
Onion: 2 tsp, finely chopped
Green chili: 1tsp
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Saffron: A few strands
Sweet kewra: A few drops
Salt: As per taste




Method
Peel, wash and boil potatoes with chana dal, garlic, cumin, black pepper, dry red chili, black cardamom, green cardamom, salt, clove and cinnamon, together until chana dal becomes soft but not placid. The water level over the ingredients should be only 1 inch above the ingredients. Grind the cooked ingredients without adding any water. Check salt at this stage. Then add chopped green chili, chopped onion, chopped coriander leaves, kewra, saffron and lemon juice to the paste. Make small balls and flatten between your hands like an aloo tikki. Heat oil in frying pan and shallow fry kebabs till golden brown and serve with pudina chutney.

Note: If the paste becomes too soft, you can add some roasted gram flour as a binding agent.