Pats Luncheon November 17th 2014

This is Pat our cook for the month of November, and she and her daughter Ashley went to so much for for this luncheon, and it paid off as everything was so good.  They cooked East Indian food and this was the first time that I have eaten this type of food.  So thanks for all your hard work. I have too much reflection in this pic and it made Pats glasses shine so to speak.  

In Pats hand is a East Indian Drink called Mango Lassi

Judy you were missed, but we know your sister appreciates you there with her.

                           This is her pretty table setting with flowers from her yard, they were so pretty, and Pat has a big fat green thumb!!

          This is how our plate looked, and at the end of this blog I will put all the recipes.
The Green is: Palak Puree, with Paneer cubes...
The red sauce is: Palak Curry, The chicken is: Chicken Makhani,  also the rice...and she served this with Naan: East Indian Bread she bought at Costco and it is little round patties of bread.

 Two pics of the dessert as I liked it a lot,  Kheer, it was so good, also the drink when we first came in
that she gave us was delicious also, Mango Lassi, those were my two favorites, but everything was very good,  I liked it all!!!

East Indian Dessert:  Kheer

Clarisse and hubby went on a trip to the East Coast the southern route and brought us all back a package of spices...Thanks Clarisse.  

The Recipes Below:  And you all can see how much work Pat and Ashley went to for our luncheon.

Pats Luncheon

November 17^th 2014

Makhani

Ingredients:

1-tablespoon peanut oil

1-shallot, finely chopped

¼- white onion, chopped

2-tablespoons butter

2-teaspoons lemon juice

1-tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1-teaspoon garam masala

1-teaspoon chili powder

1-teaspoon ground cumin

1-bay leaf

¼-cup plain yogurt (not Greek)

1-cup half and half

1-cup tomato puree

¼- teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1-pinch of salt

1-pinch of black pepper

1-tablespoon peanut oil

1-pound boneless, skinless chicken

   thighs, cut up into bite size pieces

1-tablespoon garam masala

1-pinch cayenne pepper

1-tablespoon cornstarch

¼-cup water

Heat 1-tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.

Then sauté shallot and onion until soft and translucent. 

Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, 1-teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf.  Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in half and half and yogurt.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat 1-tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat, and season with 1-teaspoon garam masala and cayenne.  Stir in a few spoonful’s of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink.  Stir cooked chicken into sauce.

Mix together cornstarch and water, and then stir into sauce.  Cook for 6 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Wow Pat that was a lot of work!!!!  Just me typing this up for the blog made my head spin!!!  We appreciate all the work that you and Ashley went to making this luncheon so special for all of us.  

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

November 17^th 2014

Makhani

Ingredients:

1-tablespoon peanut oil

1-shallot, finely chopped

¼- white onion, chopped

2-tablespoons butter 

2-teaspoons lemon juice

1-tablespoon ginger garlic paste

1-teaspoon garam masala

1-teaspoon chili powder

1-teaspoon ground cumin

1-bay leaf

¼-cup plain yogurt (not Greek)

1-cup half and half

1-cup tomato puree

¼- teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1-pinch of salt

1-pinch of black pepper

1-tablespoon peanut oil

1-pound boneless, skinless chicken

   thighs, cut up into bite size pieces 

1-tablespoon garam masala

1-pinch cayenne pepper

1-tablespoon cornstarch

¼-cup water

Heat 1-tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.

Then sauté shallot and onion until soft and translucent.  

Stir in butter, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, 1-teaspoon garam masala, chili powder, cumin and bay leaf.  Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add tomato sauce, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. 

Stir in half and half and yogurt.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat 1-tablespoon oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Reduce heat, and season with 1-teaspoon garam masala and cayenne.  Stir in a few spoonful’s of sauce, and simmer until liquid has reduced, and chicken is no longer pink.  Stir cooked chicken into sauce.

Mix together cornstarch and water, and then stir into sauce.  Cook for 6 to 10 minutes, or until thickened.

Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

For the palak puree:

1-bunch fresh spinach/palak (Costco size box)

1 or 2 green chilies

1-garlic, roughly chopped (optional)

½ inch ginger, roughly chopped

For the palak curry:

1-small or medium sized onion, finely chopped

1-small or medium size tomato, chopped

4-5 garlic/lahsun, finely chopped

½ or ¾ teaspoon cumin powder

¼- teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi

½-teaspoon red chili powder (optional)

½-teaspoon garam masala powder (add more if required)

1-bay leaf/tej patta

½ inch ginger, roughly chopped

For the palak curry:

1-small or medium sized onion, finely chopped

1-small or medium size tomato, chopped

4-5 garlic/lahsun, finely chopped

½ or ¾ teaspoon cumin powder

¼- teaspoon turmeric powder/haldi

½-teaspoon red chili powder (optional)

½-teaspoon garam masala powder (add more if required)

1-bay leaf/tej patta

paneer 8 ounces

1 or 2 tablespoon cream low fat 25% to 35% (I used amul cream)

2-tablespoon oil or ghee or unsalted butter

salt as required

water as required

a few teaspoon of cream or butter for topping the palak paneer (optional

2-tablespoon curry powder

1/2-lemon juiced.

Paneer Marinade:

2-tablespoon oil

1-teaspoon turmeric

¼-teaspoon cayenne

1/2-teaspoon salt

cubed paneer

Instructions:

Making the spinach puree:

Rinse the spinach very well in water.  Boil water in a pan with some salt.  Switch off the fire and add the spinach leaves in the hot water.

Close with a lid and let the spinach leaves sit in the water for 2-3 minutes.

Drain and immediately add the leaves in the pan or bowl containing

Ice cold water.

This method helps in preserving the green color of the spinach.

Drain and then puree the spinach in a blender or hand help blender with ginger, garlic and green chilies.

Make a smooth puree.

Making the palak curry:

Heat oil or ghee in a pan or kadia.  Fry the cumin first and then add the bay leaves and onion’s.  Sauté until the onions become browned.  Now add the garlic and sauté until the raw aroma goes away.  Add the tomatoes, sauté until the tomatoes become soft.  Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder and asafetida.

Stir and sauté for some seconds.  Add the spinach puree and add some water if required.  Simmer for 6-7 minutes or more until the spinach is cooked. Lastly add salt and garam masala.  Stir and add the paneer cubes.  Cook the gravy until the paneer cubes become soft and succulent, about 1 to 2 minutes.  Add cream and stir, simmer for 30 seconds or a minute.  At this stage you can also add some crushed kasuri methi leaves.  Stir and serve the palak paneer hot and some rotis, nann or jerra rice.  You can top the palak paneer with some butter or cream also while serving.

Note:

The paneer of tofu cubes can be also lightly friend and then added to the curry.  In this case, you don’t need to cook the paneer or tofu in the gravy as when frying they are already cooked.

Mango Lassi

Ingredients:

9-fluid ounces plain yogurt

4-1/2 fluid ounces milk

4-1/2 fluid ounces canned mango pulp or 7 ounces from 3 fresh mango, stoned and sliced

4-teaspoons sugar, to taste, or feel free to try salt and cardamom seeds.

Directions:

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend for 2-minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve.  Feel free to try salt and cardamom seeds.  The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.

Kheer

3/4-cup uncooked white rice

2-cups milk, divided (coconut milk)

1/3-cup white sugar

¼-teaspoon salt

1-egg beaten

2/3- cup golden raisins

1-tablespoon butter

½-teaspoon vanilla extract

Toasted almonds

Bring 1 vand ½ cup water to a boil in a saucepan, stir rice into boiling water.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a clean saucepan, combine 1and ½ cups cooked rice, 1 and ½ cups milk, sugar and salt.  Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes.  Stir in remaining 12 cup bilk, beaten egg, and raisins, cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.

 Wow Pat that was a lot of work!!!!  Just me typing this up for the blog made my head spin!!!  We appreciate all the work that you and Ashley went to making this luncheon so special for all of us.