Cooking Is Easy

Learn how to make paneer at home . Paneer or cottage cheese is so easy to make at home that once you learn to make homemade paneer, I promise you will never buy them. Since Homey loves paneer, I make them often; he loves paneer so much that he likes to eat them raw, my MIL says as a child he simply loved munching on it whenever she makes them. That's the best thing about paneer...it can be eaten raw and that means no aging or culturing is required, ah! yes! paneer is fresh cheese....and unlike other cheese, paneer does not melt when added in hot curries, skewer them, add in pulav/pilaf or simply fry them. So, next time you make palak paneer or paneer butter masala just plan ahead and make paneer at home. Now-a-days, because of time constraints people like to buy everything off the shelf; but if you have a little planning .....in about 30-40 minutes preservative free and absolutely clean and homemade paneer can be made....If I plan to make paneer for dinner I make at abo...

Nadan potato roast, or aloo roast is a spicy and easy Kerala style side dish. This is my go to side dish when I want to whip up something quickly. Potato is known as "urulakizhangu" in Malayalam and "aloo" in Hindi. A no oninon, no garlic, no ginger, no tomatoes... easy peasy dry potato dish. This tops my kids lunch box menu as it goes well with roti and rice. Aloo is a very versatile vegetable, and is one of my favorite and its a surprise to me that I have not posted much potato recipes here on the blog other than aloo-baigan and aloo cauliflower . I will try to post more simple and easy recipes which will help both the novice cook and bachelors. Here, in this recipe aloo is cooked in  Kashmiri red chilli powder, you can also use boiled and cooked aloo, but there is a slight subtle change of taste when using boiled potatoes.  To make this dish, all you need is some potatoes, Kashmiri chilli powder and coconut oil (and salt ofcourse!). Oil is heated an...

Tofu matar masala curry is a quick and easy every day peas curry with "tofu" or "doufu" otherwise known as soya paneer. Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and has a subtle flavor and hence can be used in curries and sweet dishes. Tofu is low calorie and is cholesterol free but has high protein. It is said that tofu originated some 2000 years ago in China (wow!!). I have been making some really good things with tofu and when I made this two days back, I thought I'd share this recipe which is just an everyday curry where I added peas and tofu. I did not fry tofu as I wanted it to be as healthy and low calorie as it can be. This is a no frill recipe, just the basic curry which most of us make at home for dinner. For that extra flavor, I add crushed whole coriander seeds to the curry and that made the curry unique and super yum! Yield: 3-4 servings. Method: Wash and clean the tofu under running water and squeeze out or according to the instructions i...

Cinnamon flavored chocolate chip pound cake is a dense and wonderful cake to have with a slice of coffee; what better way to enjoy Kerala Monsoons! Pound cakes are traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients; flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. It is generally baked in a loaf pan or a bundt pan. The cake texture is firm and dense; (if you are looking for a moist cake then this is not for you). Once you start making the cake; you will notice that there is no liquid other than the butter or eggs and hence the batter will be very thick and dense. In cakes other than pound cakes; we add in a bit of liquid in the form of fresh juice, curd, milk, buttermilk, or even plain water....which also results the cake to be moist, light, and airy. Do check out orange cake , chocolate poke cake , and yogurt cake .  I like my pound cake to be plain without any topping; so I increased the sugar and since cinnamon and chocolate can be married off; I add a bit of fresh cinn...

Chena Mezhukkupuratti  is a traditional Kerala side dish. Chena or Elephant Foot Yam is lightly roasted in coconut oil and Kashmiri red chilli powder, a very simple and easy vegan dish. Mezhukkupuratti in Malayalam means slow roasting vegetables in oil, most vegetables can be cooked/roasted in this way. Chena or Elephant Food Yam is available all through out the year here and is added to sambar, avial , and curries like errusseri etc. During the monsoons, I like chena mezhukkupuratti with rice and though it is a very common side dish; thought I will share it for the novice cook. The yam, which I got was very tender and it cooked fast; though sometimes they might take some time to cook and even absorb more water.  I like to cube them, but feel free to slice according to your choice. Since, I used Kashmiri chilli powder, it has that vibrant red color and less spice; if you are using ordinary red chilli powder, reduce by half. The taste and flavor comes from using c...