Chilli Paneer my style

My kinda chilli paneer recipe for you! And I mean pepper/capsicum! Not that I don't like the green one but this special recipe is incomplete without one yellow and one red capsicum at least.  And what do I do? I cut them in small pieces while the oil in the pan gets heated. I fry the paneer and set them aside.

And then I add the onion to the oil and fry them till golden brown before adding some tomato pieces. I add a bit of coriander seeds as I love the flavor  a lot! Next step is to add the capsicum pieces, add salt according to taste, and cook till done. I will never add water to boil it but will let the steam do the job. Remember to put your gas on sim, so as not to burn while the capsicum gets cooked on a gentle flame.

And as the capsicum gets cooked, add the paneer and mix well and let it cook for a while!

And then garnish it with black pepper. Your lunch is set!

Black Rice Kheer

The first time the black rice was brought home, it looked so strange but that it was brought my brother's friend made us trust it. It's no different, trust me and though it tastes different it's very good for the health.

The preparation is no different than how one prepares kheer. You only need to soak it for longer and boil it for a little longer. And garnish as per your creativity. Next time I am going to garnish it with coconut.

The Delhi tomato tadka appetite

Much as I love to say everything and anything against Delhi, I don't seem surprised that I do get new things to say anyway! This time it's the food and when it comes to food, Delhi has got many an option. But, but the fact of the matter is that you can't escape a Punjabi style, tomato tadka added to every food and that's where I would rather stay home and eat my favourite 'daal bhaat' sans tomato tadka.

Okay, here we go! Delhites will add onions and tomato to each dish they cook, you will literally see the oil floating and red chilli flakes swimming in there. And what's every Delhite's favourite dish, well it's Rajma Chawal of course. The pride they exhibit when they cook this dish or the excitement they feel at just the mention of rajma chawal is beyond all kinds of imagination. What's the next favourite dish? It's curry chawal ofcourse; oh what joy!!! And let me not miss 'Chole chawal'. Ok, that's the choice of dishes they have, well well, there is also a paneer speciality which I don't mind actually.

That's far as what Delhites cook, but let's come to what Delhites eat. They basically eat what they cook. They have not developed or will never develop any taste for any other food. When my mom or my sis-in-law prepares something special and we share it, the kind of reaction we receive from these few neighbours is as though they rather not look at it. It's such a pity! The other day someone at work said no to a dish simply because the looks didn't attract him. He even refused trying, pity isn't it how they refuse to come out of their shell?

Once we happened to visit Shirdi with some of these people who never want to change anything about themselves and though the rest of us wanted to taste Poha, these guys spent their morning hunting Paranthas. And you will not believe me when I say that once in an international flight, I have come across a family who demanded paranthas for breakfast.
And that's not it. When they cook Pasta or when they cook Dosa, they will not forget adding a tomato tadka and change the taste forever!

Portuguese food

Yes, I am a fan of whatever I know and have tasted of Portuguese food. My brush with Portuguese food happened in Sydney where I was introduced to 'Ogalo'. I love Ogalo food a lot and often wonder why they don't have chains in most other places. I enjoy the spicy taste and it feels so much 'desi' as in Indian!

Nandos comes to a close second. They are more we ll known too and Peri Peri is a personal favourite too! I hear we have one in Delhi now but I am too laxy to go to Vasant Kunj to try the same.

But I really miss Ogalo!!!

Struggle with coffee

I am not much of a coffee person now. That is a different story though when I hadn't taken to drinking tea that I would say that I preferred coffee to tea.

Now, my first visit to US happens and in the hotel where I am put up, they have enough supply of milk and sugar and so my coffee does not taste so bad but at the office, it's a struggle. First the machine fills the cup to the brim and I have to spill it a bit so I can take it to my desk. Next the first sip leaves me almost dead as it is as bitter as bitter can be. I take my time and give it some time before the second sip and the next and then the taste slowly settles in.

My friend then suggested adding a bit of creamer and then it started tasting worse. Somehow soon, someone had the sweetner placed in the kitchen and then with the sweetener and the creamer, I could somehow manage a cup of coffee in the office.