Channa masala

My brother always tells me his friend's mom is a great cook, she cooks so many varieties for hs friend and packs for lunch. My bro said tat guy s too proud of his mom n makes others envy for her cooking. So i decided to get her number n talk to her. She was also showing off initially..but I got my job done. She gave me this idea of making gravies in cooker as its time saving , uses less oil and tasty too. From then i follow her recipe for cooking in the mornings. Channa can be replaced by vegetables, paneer, peas / cauliflower. Here goes the recipe:
Ingredients:
To Grind:
Onion - 4
Tomato - 2
Cashewnuts - 5
Fresh Ginger - 2/3 pieces
Fresh Garlic - 5
Cloves(optional) - 2
Cardamom(optional) - 1
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green chilli - 1
Red Chilli - 1
Kasoori methi(optional,mandatory ingredient for panneer butter masala) - few leaves


Powders:
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp (according to taste)
Garam masala powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste

Oil - 2 tsp
Channa - 1 cup(Boiled)
Coriander leaves(for garnishing)


Method:
* Grind all the items under To Grind section nicely.
* Heat oil in a pressure pan.
* Add turmeric powder.
* After 2 min, add the mixture, thereby adding the powders except turmeric.
* Add channa to the gravy and close the cooker.
* Let 3 whistles after placing weight.
* Open the pan and garnish with coriander leaves.
* Channa masala is ready.

Simple & Tasty Paneer Butter Masala (for 3 servings)

This is a common dish which is ordered my most of the paneer lovers in the restaurants... Nowadays its more of a routine for many people to make this dish frequently but some avoid making this as it might be time consuming..buth here is a simple procedure to tasty gravy for your chapathi/roti which gets ready in minutes once ingredients are ready.
Ingredients:
Paneer loaf/Frozen Paneer( available in departmental stores)
Onion – 4
Tomatoes - 2
Fresh Ginger&Garlic - 4/5 pieces
Cashewnut – 5/6
Kasoori methi(Dried methi leaves, which adds a great flavour) – 2 tsp
Green chilli – 1
Red chilli – 1
Green Cardamom(Elaichi/Elakkai) - 3
Bayleaf(pattai) – ½
Cloves - 3
Black bell pepper – 2
Coriander – ¼ bunch
Pudina leaves – one small cup
Oil – 4 tsp

Powders:
Kashmiri Red chilli pd.(has a mild taste but gives red color to the dish) – ½ tsp
Garam masala pd - ½ tsp
Roasted jeera pd (cumin seeds) - ½ tsp
Turmeric – ¼ tsp
Salt to taste


Method (Cooking time: 30 minutes)
• Grind all the ingredients (leave alone the oil, paneer and powders) finely and keep aside.(Hold some coriander & pudina leaves for garnishing)
• Heat oil in a pressure pan.
• Add turmeric and sauté for 2-3 min.
• Cut paneer into cubes and add to the pan, sauté for few minutes until light golden, remove them and keep aside.
• Add the ground paste to the pan, add salt and stir for 5-10 min.
• Add fried paneer and close the pan with weight.
• Allow for 3 whistles (which is approx. 12min) and put off. Let it stand for 5 min to let go the pressure.
• Open the pan, garnish with Coriander/pudina.
• Delicious paneer butter masala is ready.