Shaam Savera - Spinach and Cheese Dumplings in Gravy

Those of you who are readers of the blog, know that I love cooking and entertaining.
All my friends know that I am a foodie. Last month my friend (K.J.) had invited us to a party at her house and naturally my first question to her was "What's on the menu?". She shared the basic outline of what she had planned but didn't want to reveal the big surprise that she had made for the day. I was curious and couldn't wait for the evening. We reached her place and her husband also told me that she had spent hours in the kitchen and that I would be absolutely taken by the dish. Finally, the wait was over and it was time to eat and time for the unveiling. The food spread was elaborate and she had made a lot of dishes and then she presented the surprise dish. What a spectacular sight it was!!! Not only was the dish absolutely delicious, it was beautiful to look at. It was a curry with beautiful koftas nestled in gravy.
After the party I asked her if there was any leftover, since everyone was raving about it. There was just a little left for me to photograph. I asked her if she would be willing to share this wonderful recipe and the process involved in making it. My dear friend graciously accepted to be a guest blogger and share her recipe of this gorgeous gravy with us. Not only did she write up the ingredients and the process, but also following the format of the blog, provided a great introduction and tips. So without much ado, here is the recipe in her own words.

Thanks K.J.!!!

"When Diwali- the Festival of lights is around the corner; I start planning the menu for the upcoming party. Every year I want to try out at least one dish that I have not tried before and which seems a bit challenging for me. That gives me a chance to explore in the culinary world. I’m always on lookout for new recipes; yet I would not consider myself as an expert in cooking at all. I like recipes which are simple to follow yet give an amazing end result. This year I joined ED group on Facebook; where lovely ladies share their recipes, pictures of the amazing food that they prepare and so on. Sometime back I saw one photo shared on ED, of the curry called –“Shaam Savera” and I really liked her presentation. I thought of noting down the recipe but as usual forgot about it. And when it was time for planning for Diwali, I thought making that dish. But alas, I couldn’t find that recipe on ED. And now my mind was set on it. So I started searching online, on YouTube, everywhere. Because to be honest I didn’t even remember that name of the curry; but just that photo and description of that curry in her post was good enough to mesmerize me. I remembered three vibrant colors- green koftas/fritters cut in the middle to reveal the soft inviting white paneer balls just dipped in the red smooth gravy; which was enough to get me into drooling. And as the fate would have it; I found a step by step video of Sanjeev Kapoor explaining this very recipe. I was so ecstatic to find this recipe and I followed most of his recipe; with added twist or rather cheat sheet to make this dish to give my touch to his wonderful recipe. So here it is.

Ingredients

For the koftas

1 lb Spinach,

2 green chilies

2  tbsp garlic, finely chopped 

salt to taste,

1/4 tsp turmeric,

1 tsp cumin

¼ cup of chickpeas flour (besan)/rice flour,

1/2 lb paneer

2 pinches cardamom powder

corn Starch just enough to roll the koftas,

oil to deep/shallow fry the koftas

For the gravy:-

2 cans Tomato Sauce,

¼ cup heavy cream,

¼ cup golden raisins,

2 tbsp of poppy seeds,

cashews (optional, I didn’t use them),

1 pinch cardamom 1 pinch,

1 stick cinnamon 

salt,

honey,

1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee

Procedure

For the koftas

Boil a large potful of water. Once it starts boiling, add the spinach, put the lid on and turn off the heat. Let it get partially cooked in the hot water for about 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile prepare another pot with ice cold water, to blanch the spinach without losing its green color. Later drain the spinach from hot water and put in the cold water to stop the cooking process. Let the spinach enjoy that cold bath until you gather rest of the ingredients. Finely chop chilies and garlic. Grate the paneer finely. To that add some salt and cardamom. Now make tennis sized balls with that mixture. Now squeeze out as much water as you can from the spinach. Then finely chop the spinach. Heat some oil and once it is heated add some cumin seeds. Once they start crackling add the finely chopped chilies and garlic. Now add the spinach and keep sautéing it. Add the chickpeas flour and/or rice flour, bit of salt, turmeric and keep sautéing till the whole mixture becomes bit dry. In this process the flour gets cooked and is absorbed in the spinach as well. Let this cool down completely. Once it is cooled down make a flat disk of this spinach mixture on your palm with help of drops of oil. Now place the paneer ball on that spinach disk and roll it into an enclosed ball. So you should not be able to see any white of paneer in it. This way finish rolling all of the koftas. 

At this stage either you can deep fry the koftas as Sanjeev Kapoor has explained in his recipe; or you can shallow fry or use appe pan like I did. For that heat up the appe pan. Add a teaspoon of oil. Now sprinkle some corn starch in a plate and roll the koftas in it to get it coated uniformly. Now carefully place each kofta in the appe pan. And put a lid on it and let it get cooked on low flame. This process is time consuming. Once it is cooked from one side, flip it and remove the lid. Wait till you get nice browning done on both sides. This way koftas would be crispy form outside and yet soft and gooey from inside. Let all the koftas cool down and get started with gravy.

For the gravy

You can make any tomato based gravy that you are comfortable making it. This is my standard gravy for most of the rich Punjabi dishes I make. It goes well with paneer butter masala, paneer tikka masala and such. Soak the golden raisins and poppy seeds in some milk for at least 2-3 hours before hand. If you want to add cashews then soak those as well. Once it is soaked and become soft; blend all of it together. Now heat up ghee/clarified butter and add the cinnamon stick and a pinch full of cardamom. Once that gives nice aroma add the raisins/poppy seeds paste and sauté it for couple minutes. Now add two cans of tomato sauce. And let the gravy cook for about 5 minutes on very low flame.  At this point add salt to taste, a teaspoonful of honey and crushed kasoori methi. At the very last add the cream, stir it and turn off the heat. You can adjust the salt/honey per your taste.

For assembling this dish, get a flat dish and pour the gravy in it. Now cut each kofta in two equal parts.

And place each of kofta in the gravy. You can get creative by decorating it per your style-like drizzling it with some cream last minute or if you like add finely chopped cilantro.

Tips

Make sure that there are no lumps in paneer. You will need to mash it smooth like dough for rotis. If you can make paneer form scratch then that would be the best option. You can find how to make paneer from scratch; in this blog. And if you are like me; you would buy frozen paneer.

Make sure that paneer is at room temperature; so that it can regain its moisture. In time crunch you can microwave it for 15-20 seconds to get the rock like to soft-mushy transformation.

Another key point to remember is to add salt as the last ingredient in spinach mixture. Adding salt tends to generate moisture and we want to have dry mixture to make koftas.

For gravy you can follow Sanjeev Kapoor’s recipe with fresh tomatoes; but this gravy dish is my goto recipe which can be prepared in less than 10 minutes. "

Minestrone Soup

This is a wonderful soup. My mom used to make it quite often, especially when Dad would travel. I understand beauty of this soup now that I am a Mom.  There are often times that I need to put a meal on the table which is wholesome but am too tired to make multiple dishes. By making just one dish, I am able to take care of all the nutritional facets, put something new on the table and since it is so delicious, it is a sure hit.

This soup has multiple vegetables, pasta and beans and is a complete meal by itself.  I make a large batch and enjoy it through the week. If you don't add the beans and pasta to it, then it is a very low fat (almost zero fat), high fiber, delicious snack or appetizer. Also, it is a forgiving recipe. Even if you don't have all the vegetables that the recipe calls for, as long as you have the basic carrots, onions, celery and tomatoes, you will be able to achieve the desired taste.

Ingredients
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, sliced
1 small onion, diced
1 celery stalk, sliced thinly
2-3 garlic cloved, finely diced or crushed
5-6 tomatoes/ 1 can of whole tomatoes - diced
a wedge of cabbage, thinly sliced (about 1/8th or less head of cabbage)
5-6 green beans, diced
1 zuccini, slit it into two lengthwise and then slice it thinly into semi circles
water/ broth
1 cup spinach leaves
1/4-1/2 cup white or cannelini beans cooked (can also use red beans)
2 cups cooked pasta (use small pasta is possible like shell or macaroni shape. In the pictures here, I used penne as that was the only pasta I had on hand)
parmesan cheese, to garnish (optional)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional)
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method
In a deep vessel (deep enough for the soup to boil in), heat the oil. Add garlic and stir for a minute or two. Once you get the aroma of the garlic, add the onions. Then add the Italian seasoning if you are using it. As they soften, add the celery and the carrots. Cook this mixture till the vegetables are slightly softened. Next add the green beans and cook for a few minutes. This is the time to add the tomatoes. If using canned ones, add the tomatoes as well as the juice they are in. (If adding fresh ones, then let the tomatoes cook through by boiling them in the water/broth.) Then add enough water or broth (about 3-5 cups) to make this into a water consistency.  The soup base is not very thick. Then add the zuccini and cook. This cooks very fast. Then add the cabbage slices.  Once these are semi cooked, add the spinach leaves.

Once all the vegetables are added, add the beans and pasta. Cook the pasta separately per directions on the packet. Add the cooked pasta to the soup. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese.

Serve hot as a meal, a starter or an afternoon snack.

Tips
If you don't have italian seasoning, try adding just oregano and basil if possible. This makes it more flavorful. You can skip the seasoning alltogether. If you are starting with dry beans, soak them for 6-8 hours or overnight. Then either boil them till softened or pressure cook them. It is a good idea to add some salt to the beans while being cooked so that it gets absorbed in the beans and makes them flavorful. If you are using canned tomatoes, use whole tomatoes and then dice them into cubes. Whole canned tomatoes are more flavorful than diced ones. You can also add the dry pasta to the soup and boil it in the soup directly. If you are doing that, add it as soon as the broth/water is added and then add the zuccini and spinach. If you are using canned tomatoes and beans, then taste the soup before adding more salt, as canned foods already have salt added.  You can skip or do any combination of the beans, cabbage, spinach and zuccini and still get a great tasting soup.

Naan Pizza - Indian Flatbread Pizza

This is one of the simplest and fastest dishes you could make. Definitely something that you can make in a jiffy if you are pressed for time. And while it can be made fast, you do not have to compromise on the taste. I was inspired by my greek pizza recipe. I thought "if pita bread can be made into quick pizzas then why not naan (which is an Indian flatbread)?" Naan is a flat bread, made in a hot kiln or tandoor. The dough is fermented and then stretched into a triangular shape before being baked. It is one of the most popular Indian breads and can be found in most Indian restaurants.  In fact it is becoming so popular that I have seen ready made naans popping up in local grocery stores everywhere. I no longer need to drive all the way out to the Indian store to buy frozen naans. I can just walk into the nearby grocery store and buy fresh naan. Another feature of the recipe is that you can use any vegetables that you have on hand to make the toppings. Quick, easy and delicious and kids love it too!

Ingredients
4-5 naans (Indian flatbread)
1/2 cup crushed tomato
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ginger -garlic paste
salt to taste
red chilli powder to taste (optional)
1/2 cup grated cheese
 sliced red onions
1 cup baby spinach or regular spinach

Method
Heat the crushed tomato and add the garam masala, ginger garlic paste, red chilli powder and salt. Reduce this to a thick consistency. The consistency should be similar to ketchup consistency. Take this off the heat and add the ketchup. Let it cool down till warm. You can make this sauce in advance and store in the fridge in an airtight container for a week or freeze it for a few weeks. Then take the naans and apply an nice even coat of the sauce over one side of each naan. Then sprinkle about 2 tbsp of grated cheese on each naan and add the onion and spinach toppings. You can add any vegetables you want as toppings. Bake these in the oven till the cheese starts to melt. You can cook it for an additional time if  you want the base to get crispy.  Serve hot.

Tips
If you have bought frozen, pre-cooked naans then cook them according to the instructions on the packet before adding the sauce and toppings. The ginger and garlic proportions are about equal in amount. So, if you are using fresh ginger and garlic, add about half a tsp of each. If you are using fresh tomatoes, then you will need to dice them and cook these down to a thick sauce (ketchup like consistency) before use. If you use a very watery sauce (this applies for any pizza), your base will become soggy, especially in the center.

Palak Paneer

I met a couple of friends last night who mentioned that they really enjoy reading the recipes and try them out occasionally. I must say that it definitely motivated me to update the blog more frequently. So keep posting and emailing your feedback and comments. Also, requests for recipes are most welcome. Today's recipe is one that you can find at most Indian buffets in the US. The problem is that most of the times it is one of the worst vegetarian dishes on the menu. I am talking of none other than the famous palak paneer. I think it is one of the most well known Indian dishes here and have even seen it in the frozen section of grocery stores. But none of the versions I have eaten here in the past several years have come close to being tasty or appetizing.

This is my mom's version of palak paneer. I had prepared it a couple of times when friends came over for dinner and I was asked for the recipe on all occasions. Well, I finally got a chance to take the requisite pictures for the blog and here it is. Palak paneer does not need to be bland and flavorless anymore!!

Here is a detailed video on how to make palak paneer. This is a great curry to include other leafy greens as well (except mustard, since the leaves are spicy). 

Ingredients
1 bunch spinach/palak - chopped coarsely
3-4 cloves of garlic - finely chopped or grated
1/2 inch ginger - finely grated or ground into a paste
1 tomato - diced
1 red onion  - diced
1/8 tsp - cinnamon
2 tsp garam masala
4-5 mint leaves
green chillies to taste, diced
salt to taste
paneer - cubed
1 tsp ghee
1 tbsp oil

Method

Heat oil and to it add the onions, ginger and garlic. Fry till the onion transluscent, then add the chillies and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes till the tomato is cooked and then add the spinach to it. Cook for a few minutes till the spinach is wilted. Add the spices - garam masala, cinnamon and if you want add the mint at this stage. Add the salt, stir and cook for a couple of minutes and then take it off the heat. Puree it in a mixer/blender. Add a 1-2 tbsp water if needed to grind it.

In a pan, heat the ghee, sprinkle a pinch of salt and add the cubed paneer to it. Roast it on a least two sides of the cube. Add this to the pureed spinach mixture and heat for a few minutes. Serve hot with chapati, naan or jeera rice.

Tips

The little amount of mint and cinnamon enhance the palak taste. If you want to make it more decadent, you can add a tbsp of cream to finish it off after you heat the puree with the paneer.