How to blanch Palak / Spinach in 7 steps

To make the most of the goodness of palak (spinach in English), blanching it properly is most important. This not only imparts a good green color to any palak dish but also improves the flavor and the aroma. Here are the 7 steps that go behind blanching palak / spinach perfectly:

1 - Separate the palak leaves from the stem
2 - Wash them them properly
3 - Add some salt to water and bring it to boil.
4 - Blanch the palak leaves in this water for a couple of minutes
5 - Drain the hot water from the leaves
6 - Dip them in cold / ice water for some time
7 - Squeeze out all the excess water

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DINING OUT POLL: Punjabi cuisine preferred over others

This is true for my blog visitors, if not the entire country. I am running a poll on which cuisine people prefer while dining out. After 101 votes, the data shows that 38% of my visitors prefer Punjabi cuisine while 30% will go for Chinese (most of my visitors are Indians). Well, still many days are left to vote. So go ahead and let us know what would you like to indulge in while dining out. To find the poll, scroll down the blog and check out the extreme right hand side column.

PS Don't mind the typo error in the poll, can't change it now.

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My Maggi Recipes: Maggi with Dal Tadka

Maggi, like many others, is my all-time favorite. And nothing can beat Maggi Masala Noodles. Now the other day we felt like having Maggi at midnight. And we added a little Indian twist to it - Dal Tadka. It tasted yummy!

How to make Maggi Dal Tadka? Prepare Maggi Masala Noodles as you always do and then mix some hot dal tadka (thick consistency) to it. It's simply irresistible and would leave you only wanting for more!

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Idli coconut chilly chutney recipe

The entire credit of this idli coconut chilly chutney recipe goes to my mother-in-law. Before I got married, my favorite chutney with idli was the one provided with the idli vendor who roams around in our area on a bicycle and sells yummy idlis and medu vadas. You just need to call him out from your window and he'll come upstairs with your order. I remember how we used to buy some extra chutney as it would taste great even with bread!

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Yellow Moong Dal / Split Bean Recipe

Yellow moong also known as mung bean and split bean in English has many delicious recipes to its credit. The fastest and simplest of these is Moong Dal. Here's how you prepare thick moong dal:

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Chole Bhature recipe by Sanjeev Kapoor

Think of Chole Bhature and your mouth starts watering. But another thing happens simultaneously, the thought that bhature involves too much oil occurs to your mind and leaves you in a dilemma. Not anymore! Our smart chef Sanjeev Kapoor has a way out.

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How to store Paneer?

If you get fresh paneer from the dairy store and want to keep it in the fridge for a while, there is a way to do that.

Once I had bought malai paneer but by the time I reached home after shopping, I was too tired to cook. So I kept the packet in the fridge. The next morning, the paneer was all spoiled!

Why? Well, our milkman told us the reason. He suggested that we should immediately remove the paneer cube from the plastic packet and keep it soaked in some water. Then we can leave it in the fridge until next day.

I tried it the next time and it worked!

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Which Paneer is better?

If you have to choose between regular paneer and malai paneer readily available at Dairy stores in India, opt for fresh malai paneer. It is much softer and tastier.

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Oil-free steamed dosa – A healthy dosa recipe video in Hindi

The key to a perfect thin dosa is oil. But if you are conscious about your oil and fat intake, you need not think twice before eating a yummy and soft dosa. My favorite chef Sanjeev Kapoor has a superb recipe for oil-free steamed dosa! Check out the steamed dosa recipe in this Khana Khazana video:

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Meaning of fennel seeds in different languages

When it comes to spices and certain ingredients, we tend to use the local name in the kitchen / grocery store. So when I am reading a recipe and I come across certain words like fennel seeds, I would generally get confused whether it means jeera, methi daana or saunf. Actually saunf did not even occur to me when I first read fennel seeds ;)

I thought it’s a better idea to keep a note of what certain spices and ingredients are called in various languages. It also helps when I visit a supermarket like Hypercity or DMart store just before trying out a new recipe. Hope this helps you too.

Here's the meaning of fennel seeds in various languages:

Fennel seeds in Hindi and Urdu - Saunf
Fennel seeds in Bengali - Mouri
Fennel seeds in Gujarati - Variyali
Fennel seeds in Kannada - Badesoppu
Fennel seeds in Malayalam and Tamil - Peruncheeragam / Shombu
Fennel seeds in Marathi - Badeeshep
Fennel seeds in Telugu - Sompu / Peddajeelakarra

Fennel seeds are used after meals as digestive. They are also used as breath freshener.

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