Veggie and Paneer Kababs

Summers are meant for barbecues and lazing by the pool side. Or at the beach. Well, we planned to do that all summer too but never really got around to it. School started back on but we were not the ones to let go of the idea just as easily. Its still a little hot out there and technically it still is summer. Why not make use of it, right? So, our group of friends planned to do a barbecue party over the weekend. And our family is the only one vegetarian one in the group. So the minute the barbecue was being planned, I knew I was going to get my favorite paneer kababs. I've posted a simple recipe of this before on the blog but this time wanted to make it a little more detail with all the step by step pictures. So, here we go.

This is a really easy recipe but it takes a little planning to marinate the veggies ahead of time. But with just a little effort, the reward is plenty. Imagine yourself sitting on a lounge chair, sipping on some beer or margarita in hand, chatting with your best buddies while the kids are busy by themselves. And in between every sentence, you get to bite into a juicy tangy piece of grilled paneer or veggie dipped in a flavorful mint chutney. I mean, are these not why weekends are made for? To stop and smell the roses or at least the kababs?

Let's get going with the marinade. Prepare this marinade a day ahead so the veggies and paneer get to soak in them for hours and pull in the flavors.

I was doing this for a big batch of kababs. Please adjust the quantity according to your needs.

Take about 2-3 cups of slightly sour yogurt in a mixing bowl. Add salt to taste.

Add 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder to the curds.

Then add about 1-2 tsp of red chilli powder - this will also add spice to the kababs not to mention the color.

In a small pan, dry roast these ingredients -

2tbsp of Coriander seeds
1 tsbp of Cumin seeds
2-3 dried red chillies

Grind the dry roasted ingredients above to a coarse powder.

Add the powdered spices to the yogurt mixture.

And now for the flavor kick, add about 3-4 tsps of ginger -garlic paste to the yogurt mix. This adds a whole ton of flavor to the kababs. I've made kababs before without this stuff but trust me, this version is definitely better. So, unless you don't eat garlic, don't skip this step. And if you are not a garlic person, at least add fresh ginger paste.

Whisk all the ingredients with the yogurt and make a smooth paste.

Finally add about 1-2 tsps of chat masala and whisk together well. Set aside. The marinade is ready. Now on to the veggies chopping.

These veggies tend to hold up well to grilling and maintain a good texture to eat.

Onions
Bell Peppers - Green, Red, Yellow
Zucchini

You can also use eggplants - my friend had bought a few grilled eggplants and they were absolutely delicious - so I'm adding them the next time for sure.

Wash and chop the veggies into big bits and move all the pieces to a ziploc bag where you can marinate them overnight.

Here's the zucchini chopped up.

Also chop paneer into big thick chunks that hold up well on skewers and offer a good bite.

Get all your veggies into individual ziploc bags. Or if you want it easier, just mix them up all together and soak together in one big bowl. But I somehow always like it when they are individually marinated. Makes me feel happy for them that each of them has its own space. Its my choice - so you decide what you want to do.

Pour equal amounts of the yogurt marinade into each of the bags and give the veggies a gentle rub so that the sauce gets in between spaces.

Seal tight and refrigirate the packets overnight. Every maybe 6-8 hrs, just pick them up and give a gentle rub so that all sides are mixed well.

When you're ready to barbecue them, arrange the veggies in order (or not!) on skewers. You can also get the kids to do this if you want to keep them entertained. I'm sure they'll enjoy getting their hands messy. I did these though - not the kids - they were no where to be seen - they just showed up when food was ready!

Grill on medium to high heat for about 20-30 mins or until you see them well done. Save some of the marinade and brush on top as your barbecue for added flavor.

Turn the skewers around in between so that all sides get cooked evenly.

They turn from this -

- to this in about 30 mins.

So get your grill going and start up some veggie panner kababs. And yes, don't forget some grilled corn on the side - make sure you rub that with a wedge of lemon dipped in salt and red chilli powder for a perfect bite.

You can either serve them on skewers itself or just remove the veggies from the skewers and serve alongside with some green coriande-mint chutney.

You can also serve these kababs along with some simple saffron tinged pulav. They go great with just plain jeera rice or ghee rice too. We actually had some simple Kadhi Chawal along with all the barbecued stuff and it was a perfect summer evening. Good food. Good friends. Great evening!

So wait no more - get kababing before the sun goes down!

Enjoy. Peace Out!

Red White and Blue - A colorful dessert with Pound Cake

The timing to bake a cake for the Sweet Punch Series could not have been better. It was the 4th of July weekend and like every other year, we attend a neighborhood potluck to get together, chit chat and get to know our neighbors. And of course, all the getting to know happens in the middle of a lot of food. And I did not have to think twice on what to take. I just had the pound cake recipe ready and knew exactly what to do with it.

This is a really easy and basic recipe but gives you the the perfect pound cake. However, this recipe yields a  smaller cake - perfect for one loaf pan. So, if you need more quantity, either double or bake it twice. I've made many pound cakes before because the pound cake is probably the only cake that my hubby actually eats. He calls it his tea cake and loves to bite into it with a cup of hot tea or coffee. Simple pleasures! Here another pound cake I baked for his birthday!

Pound cakes can be used as a base for many desserts or of coruse can be eaten as is. One of the best ways to use them is to make a trifle with some pound cake, whipped cream and fresh berries or cherries. That is a combination from dessert heaven! This time though, I wanted the same combination but wanted to change the presentation a little bit and make it all red, white and blue to celebrate the special day. So, I baked the pound cake, chopped it up into little biteable pieces, added some fresh strawberries for the red and blueberries for the blue and of course topped it off with some whipped cream. What's not to like in this!

Here's the recipe from Rose's The Cake Bible for a perfect pound cake. I actually made two cakes. Used one for the potluck and the other was just for the family to munch on and shared a little with friends from work too. Like I always say - good things are meant to be shared!

3 tbsp Milk
3 large Eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 1/2 cup sifted cake flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
13 tbsp Unsalted butter , softened

Let's get started.

Sift together all the dry ingredients and keep in a small mixing bowl.

In another small bowl, add the milk, vanilla essence and 3 eggs. Whisk together well and set aside.

In the mixer bowl, add all the dry ingredients, softened butter and sugar and mix together, starting at low speed and moving up to medium speed. Add 1/3 of the egg mixture and mix till the moist batter starts to form. Then, while the mixer is still on, add the rest of the egg mixture in two batches. Scrap down the sides if needed. Mix just until you see no more dry ingredients. The batter is ready.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan or a square pan. Since I was anyways going to cut them into small bits, I did not mind that this could be a flat cake. If you need tall slices, use a loaf pan or a small bundt pan.

Bake in a 350F preheated oven for about 25-30 mins or until the toothpick test passes.

Cool down the cake and serve it any way you like.

If you are making dessert for a small party at home for a few friends, this makes a wonderful individual trifle dessert. Mix it up with whipped cream or even condensed milk and add some fresh fruits in here. Can you imagine a condensed milk soaked pound cake topped off with mangoes?? How awesome would that be? If I made that, I doubt there will be any left over for the friends!

For a bigger party or a potluck, get your creative hat on and present it in a way to suit the occasion. You have one of the most versatile ingredients at hand - so go as crazy as you can and pep up the party.

Here's my red, white and blue platter lined with whipped cream and topped with some festive 4th of July confetti.

Thank you Sweet Punch team for making my potluck planning easy and also for a wonderful pound cake recipe!

Enjoy. Peace Out!

Corn Ball Pick Me Ups

I saw. I want. I made.

That's pretty much the story behind this little find here. It was one of those day when we wrapped up dinner and sat down to watch my fav channel - Food TV and my little one's fav show - Good eats by Alton Brown. He as usual had a hilarious episode while trying to use up left over corn tortillas. He called these Masa Tots.

And then he made these. And my heart stopped. Well..not really. But I just had to eat these. And it was perfect timing as superbowl sunday was just coming up and this was THE dish for me to make.

These are super easy to make. While Alton used his left over tortillas, I went and bought a pack of yellow corn tortillas from the store. Who's got time to wait for leftovers?

Tear them up or if you are OCD like me, you can cut them into long bits.

Add the cut bits to a food processor with a chop blade and just chop fine.

 

Get it to almost this stage.

Then, keep processing and add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of just plain cold milk to bring it all together into a big mass. Don't add too much milk and make it watery. No good. Add enough - maybe in drops so that the corn mix comes together and starts forming a ball.

Alton added an egg here - but I just skipped that. These remind me of corn pakodas and we desis never use eggs for our pakodas. So this should work fine without that too. Right? You bet.

Can you see how find this has been ground up because of the milk? Now, add salt to taste for the corn mix.

Then add about 1 tsp of paprika powder or red chilli powder to the mix.

Throw in some finely grated carrots and about 1/2 onion finely chopped to the mix.

Here comes the kicker. Add about 2 jalapenos roughly chopped. Alton of course wore gloves while doing this. But we are hard wired to take this heat on our hands. Ah..nothing. Sissy matter. 

Mix all the ingredients well and make small balls. The pic you see below is actually before I added the jalapenos. I made a few of these for the kids first before I added the spicy stuff in.

 Fry the corn tots in hot oil until golden brown.

These were super soft to eat inside. I had a feeling while watching the show that it might be a hard one to bite - but was totally wrong. Loved these little balls. And they were awesome when eaten right out of the oil. Aaah..perfect!

I used up all the tortilla. There were 30 small ones and this gave me about 55 corn balls. Perfect to share. And I was good and I did share. Took it to my friends house to watch the big game together.

You could enjoy them just as is.

Or make them prettier and attractive. Poke a little toothpick and serve. The kids and the grown up kids both get a little lollipop.

Thank you Alton. You know we all love you here at our home!

Enjoy. Peace out!