The Spice Center

Masala Idli - A very easy and quick recipe using leftover idlis. My recipe goes in 3 steps -
1) Cut 5-6 idlis into small pieces.
2) Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, turmeric and asafoetida. Add peas (you can also add onions and tomatoes if you like) and idlis.
3) After 2-3 minutes, add 1 tea spoon red chilli powder, 1 tea spoon sambhar masala, 1 tea spoon pav bhaji masala and salt.
Serve it with ketchup/coconut chutney!

Palak Paneer - It is one of the most popular Indian curries, which is made of pureed spinach and paneer (Indian cottage cheese) cooked in a medley of spices.
My recipe goes in 4 simple steps :-
1) Boil spinach and tomato (Ratio - 1 tomato with 1 bunch of spinach about 200 grams). Once boiled rinse it with cold water and grind it to make a smooth paste.
2) Finely chop 2 onions, 9-10 garlic cloves, 1 inch ginger, 2 greens chillies.
3) Put 3-4 tablespoons butter/ghee in a pan and add 3 cloves, 6-8 black pepper, 2 red chillies, 1 black cardamom, 1 cinnamon stick, some cumin seeds and the finely chopped garlic ginger and green chillies. Once the ingredients turn golden brown add the onions. Sauté until the onions become golden. Then add the spinach paste to it.
4) After the spinach starts to boil, add dry spices (including red chilli powder, garam masala and salt) and cubes of paneer. Add some water and let it cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Pav bhaji is an Indian fast food consisting of a spicy vegetable gravy served with soft dinner rolls.
To make my version, specifically the bhaji, it goes in 3 steps -
1) Pressure cook potatoes, peas, tomatoes, carrots and beet root for 5-6 whistles (Ratio-3:2:2:2:1). Add salt, water and some oil to it.
2) Sauté finely chopped onions, tomatoes and capsicum (Ratio-2:1:1) in lots of butter ( ). Add Pav bhaji masala ( ), Kashmiri red chilli powder ( )and kasoori methi ( ). Add the pressure cooked veggies and use a masher to form a fine gravy. Keep adding water to reach the desired level of consistency.
3) Make a fine paste of garlic cloves and soaked kashmiri red chillies (Ratio-1:2). Finally, add this paste to the bhaji.
Serve the bhaji topped with butter and raw onions.

Malai Methi Matar!!

This recipe combines methi, matar (green peas) and malai (cream) in a rich, sweet and seriously creamy curry!