I came back home from a vacation to a shelf full of milk packets in the fridge. There was almost 6 liters of full cream milk. These were all 500 ml packets and the oldest packet was about 12 days old. The best way to use up all the milk is to make it into cottage cheese.
This is how I did it.
Arranged all the packets by date. I started with the newest and progressed to the oldest. I took a large vessel, brought 2 cups of water to a boil.
I emptied the newest packet into a dish. Added this into the container. Now emptied the second packet into a dish and waited for the milk to come to a boil. As soon as it did, I added this milk.
Kept repeating this with every packet till I reached packet number 9. When I added this to the boiling milk, it curdled. So I stopped at the 4.5 liters and started stirring the boiling milk and switched off the heat. When all the milk solids had separated, I added some kasuri methi and chilly flakes to it.
Mixed well and strained the paneer into a cheese cloth. Squeezed out as much water as possible and then left it compressed under my mortar-pestle.
Two hours later, soft and delicious paneer was ready.
A can of Tuna in brine or oil. A 100 grams of Feta.
Mix the two with a fork so they are all crumbly together. Do NOT add salt without tasting this.
Now start adding in flavors and texture. Chopped onion, chopped green chilly, crushed pepper, chopped fresh coriander, capers, olives, a tablespoon of mayonnaise…whatever you like.
Spread on a toasted bun or bread…Enjoy.
The bread I used is of course home made. My new hack for super soft bread, replace butter with ghee. I will post the dough proportions once I am fully satisfied with it.
Moong daal is one of my favourite lentils. It cooks pretty fast and there is no need for a long soaking either.
Moong Daal : About a teacup. Washed and soaked for about 30 minutes.
Onions : Finely diced.
A little ginger-garlic paste.
Green Chilly, chopped up.
Tomato : Chopped up.
Lots of chopped up coriander.
Turmeric Powder.
Coriander Powder.
Oil.
A little butter.
Heat up some oil and saute the onions and green chillies till the onions are just about beginning to brown. Add ginger-garlic paste and once they lose the raw edge, add the lentils. Mix well. Sprinkle the turmeric and coriander powders. When it looks like things are beginning to stick to the pan, add the tomato and salt.
This will give enough moisture to free up everything. Cook till oil starts to separate and it looks like everything is again beginning to stick to the pan.
Now add the coriander and once they have softened up, add enough water to submerge it all. Cover and cook for 7-8 minutes. Check if the lentils are fully cooked.
Dry up the liquids on high heat. Add a little butter to free up everything and make it shine.
Into a pan add some butter and oil. When hot add in a chopped green chilly and lots of crushed garlic. After a minute or two add in half the amount of chopped dill leaves you want in this dish. When they have reduced to just a fraction, add the prawns and remaining dill leaves. Season with salt.
Cook covered on medium heat for about 4-5 mins.
Open the lid and move to high flame. Reduce till there is no liquid left.
This is an easy recipe when cooking a big batch of chicken for a party.
Two kilos of assorted legs and thighs with a couple of slits. Marinate them in a mixture of lemon (2) juice, salt, chilly powder, turmeric, Curd (2 tbsp is enough), ginger garlic paste (1 tbsp) and kasuri methi. An hour is more than enough.
Use a large dish. I prefer using a 8 liter stock pot, which I got from Ikea.
Pour in a neutral oil. I used enough to fill about 1 cm of the pan.
Once hot, spread out the chicken.
Add lots of quartered red tomatoes.
Once it feels hot and you can see some steam, cover the pot and let it cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
When you open the lid, you will find the chicken swimming in tomato juice.
Let it cook on high and keep stirring occasionally. The chicken may break. Don’t worry. That will help as the dish cooks along.
Once the chicken is cooked, test and adjust the seasoning. Remove the pieces and start reducing the liquids till the oil separates. This will make the sauce richer and richer with a beautiful color.
Once its reduced down, add in the chicken pieces and mix well. Cook till a light caramelization starts setting in.