Cooking - Day 1

Mum is not there.. so for a month i'm the queen of the kitchen.. day1 in the kitchen and yippe its a holiday.. and whats cooking as per my menu?? umm Palak Paneer.. cooking really is a stress buster.. anyway to get on with making palak panner.. dad got the palak and 2 bunches of it (previous experience told me one bunch ain't enough for the whole family) so there you go.. onions and tomatoes are on the kitchen table.. but oops first i have to make the paneer.. so there goes one liter milk on the gas and to curdle it i squeeze lime juice.. so as the milk gets curdled.. i get all the other ingredients...

Then for cleaning the palak, graciously i'd admit that i had quite lot passive learning in the science of cooking, so one such tip i learnt was to wash and clean the greens properly and second always boil and then chop them. so tediously i clean the palak and put for a light boil, meanwhile i chop the onion, tomato and garlic and grind them into a paste... the milk and curdled and been strained into a muslin cloth to give the paneer shape. the palak has boiled and cooled a little and that goes into the mixer too.. a smooth Green paste is ready..

so all the basic preps are done.. now is my time to have fun.. The kadai is on the gas.. 2 tablespoon oil.. the onion- tomato paste goes in first.. till it gets a little golden brown.. then the spices.. (whenever i get confused i use all mum keeps in the spice box and whenever is most of the time). then the palak goes in and a sliced chilly.. a little cooking for about five minutes..(you dont cook greens for too long they lose the vitamins).

ok the gas is off.. and so am i.. i have notes to copy till lunchtime..

at lunchtime the gravy is on the flames.. the panner is being cut into cubes.. salt is added to gravy(adding salt at the end lets the palak be green).. the papad is roasted. the maid has already cooked the chapathis...

and lunch is served..

Verdict on the palak paneer.. Good but salt is a little less :(