Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Paneer-Mint Rice with Boondhi Raita and Lauki Kofta

When i googled for Lucknawi cuisine, i was really amazed by the variety of Royal Dish's rooted from there, like Dum Briyani, Shahi Paneer, Kebab's and more and more. Shortlisting on what to try was really a tough job, Lauki was one vegetable, which i dont buy at all, RCI-Lucknawi made me buy these LAUKI'S. when i prepared these Lauki Kofta's, it came out so well and tasted to good. my hubby to like it a lot, and am sure i will keep buying this veggie from now on. Thou i have lot of recipe's lying on my draft lap, iam posting these Lucknawi special's that i prepared last Saturday. they were absolutely delicious. Each dish was very unique on its own.

First Pudhina/Mint-Paneer Rice, it is not a part of Lucknawi food, but it went so well along with the yummy Boondhi Raita.

okay here iam gonna parade my entrie's to RCI-Lucknow...

Let me start with Sweet, Gulab Jamun. Thou its a Bengali milk sweet, it also features in Lucknawi Cuisine. An absolute Ghee Fried Khoa ball's in Sugar Syrup. Does'nt it sound Royal?

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I just prepared them with MTR Gulab Jamun Mix. but i want to share some tips.


Tip's for Perfect Gulab Jamun's:

1. The Dough for Gulab Jamun should not be so hard or loose. so exactly follow the measure for water to mix with the flour as per the Packet instructions.

2. The ball's should be immediately fried in medium heated oil in a medium flame.

3. After Frying them, just get them off on a tissue paper. let them cool for a minute, before they are dropped in the hot sugar syrup.

4. The Sugar Syrup consistency should also be perfect, for the gulab jamun's else the sugar get's dried and makes the jamun a dry jamun. so if the packet instruction's states you to boil the sugar water for 15 minute's, do that and keep checking the consistency. the consistency is a before stage of single string consistency.

5. Just put some Saffron strands and crushed Cardamon on the sugar syrup, to get a nice aroma.

and serve them with grated Badam slices for a pefect look.

Now coming to the Starter, Lauki Kofta, i first planned to prepare Lauki Kofta curry, but, the long curry process stopped me. i will try to post a kofta curry recipe soon.

Lauki/ sorakkai Kofta:

Kofta's can be tried with Paneer, Aloo, or Aloo with spinach, etc. Since i have least tasted lauki, i decided to try this Lauki Kofta. hmm..i liked the taste of lauki.(who would'nt like any veggie in the form of kofta?)

To Prepare:

Picture 079
1. First Peel the outer skin of half a Lauki.

2. If possible remove the seed's and grate them.

3. Now squeeze the water from the shredded Lauki with both ur hand's. I did this for 3 times, to remove the water content. [This process is very important, as we are going to deep fry the lauki]


Picture 0814. Mix 3 tbsp of Gram flour/Kadala Maavu, 1/4 tsp of cumin powder, Turmeric powder a pinch and 1/2 tsp of Chilli Powder. and shape them into ball's. i just flatted those balls, so it could get cooked evenly while frying.

5. Heat oil in a pan, and deep fry the lauki ball's in a medium flame, so that it gets cooked inside too.
Serve them Hot or use them while preparing Kofta Curry.

Picture 084
Thank You Nags for your wonderfull Tutorial on How to Blur Background using Photoshop, the ABOVE picture, is what i tried.

After Finishing the Starter, let's come to the main dish Paneer-Mint Rice and its accompanion Boondhi Raita. I just fried small paneer cubes in 1 tbsp of oil and added them to my Mint Rice.

Picture 101

You can check my Mint Rice Recipe Here.
Here comes my favourite Boondhi Raita..

Picture 104Ingredients:
1. Gram Flour-6tbsp
2. Chilli Powder- a pinch
3. Asafoetida- a pinch
4. Cumin Powder - a pinch
5. Oil-1/4 cup
6. Optional's-I added little corn flour and a pinch of sodium-Bi-carb, to make them crisp.
7. Final but not least Jalli Karandi/Slotted Spoon and a spoon, and Ofcourse a cup of Yogurt.

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. In the Mean-time, mix the gram flour with salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, asafoetida. and add little water, say it should be like the consistency of Bajji Mix. a little watery one. When the oil is heated, in the jalli karandi/slotted spoon, pour 2 spoon's of prepared flour batter and keep pressing them on the hole's/slot's. Now fry them. Prepare Boondhi's and keep it aside to let them cool. Then mix with the yogurt. sprinkle some chilli powder and cumin powder as a final touch. this is an absolute drool worthy raita.

Picture 099

Still more to come on RCI-Lucknow
It's nearing the deadline for RCI-Lucknow. So Cook up and post fast.

20 comments:

  1. What a spread!All the recipes are tempting me..Esp the gulab jamun :)

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  2. Great Lucknow treat. Looks delicious.

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  3. Awesome spread Lavi, love the Gulab Jamuns and the Mint Paneer Rice. Can't wait to try the rice, have never paired Mint with paneer. And never cooked with lauki, maybe someday! :)

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  4. Wow....lovely tips for making the jamuns and lauki koftas. Everything looks yummy!

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  5. Loved all the recipes....yummy and delicious.

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  6. Am going to try Paneer Mint rice..love the mixed rice variety

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  7. Send me the gorgeous platter LAvi...am just drooling over the gulab jamuns, boondhi raitha am speechless, wat a delicious array!!!

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  8. oh wat an array of fantstic recipes,nice tips on jamun making and mint rice with raita looks mouthwatering!!awesome post lavi:)

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  9. Wow i love the whole variety of food i see here , they all looks so yumm.
    I too make jammons from a pack.

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  10. Looks lovely! Wonderful clicks and a delicious spread!

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  11. First time here.....gud collection of recipes together!

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  12. Madhu Mathi, Happy Cook, Priya, Chithra, Home Cooked, Namratha, Cilantro..Gulab Jamun had become hit here...its an example for "Keep Trying"!!


    EC, Namratha, Chithra,
    I actually have eggs with Pudhina/Mint Rice, But suddenly i got the idea of using panner, It also worked a lot, finally it was a heavy meal that day!, with lots of paneer and Boodhi Raita!


    Anu Sriram, Priya, Thanks, it happened to post all these in one shot.

    Sharmilee..Warm Welcome!! Thanks Dear!

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  13. Wow, what a spread! Each and every dish is mouth-watering Lavi! Thanks for nice tips on gulab jamoons. So useful!

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  14. That's a great start Lavi :) I love the recipe too! Thanks for the link love girl, glad you found it useful :)

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  15. First time here Lavi...you've got an awesome space here...have gone through some of your recipes..they are all awesome..will be a regular visitor from now on :-)

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  16. Uma..Great those tips where helpfull for you!

    Nag's..Thanks Dear for Sharing such a Usefull tutorial!

    Rathna..Warm Welcome to you! Feel Free to be here!

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  17. I love all of these... lauki koftas are my favorite.. and boondi raitha too.

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  18. wow wow wow that s an amazing feast looks so tempting every dish iam also about to post some Lucknowi recipes will post soon

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  19. What a spread. Mint paneer rice is something i'm looking forward to try it out...
    Lauki kofta n boondi raita, are a all time fav. at my place.

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  20. great dishes., check out more cool stuff at www.bestforchef.com

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