Beans -Paneer Malai Sabji (French Beans and Indian Cottage Cheese in Creamy gravy)

This is a wonderful way to include French beans in your diet. Who doesn't like to eat a creamy gravy with soft cottage-cheese cubes in it?

I learnt this recipe from Geetha chithi and immediately tried it. Loved it and so did my hubby, who doesn't eat beans thuvaran or anything with Beans as the major veg. This is simple to make and tastes yummilicious :) It's also different in that, this sabji does not need the ubiquitous tomato-onion base that most North-Indian gravies come with.

This post has been pending for a long time and now, when a friend of mine asked for some easy North-Indian style recipes to whip up quickly, I am sending this one.

Beans-Paneer Malai Sabji with Garlic Rice

Time - 25 minutes
Yield - 2 to 3 adults

You Need -

French Beans - about 15 (chopped into 1" pieces)
Paneer cubes - 150 g
Potatoes - 1 medium (optional, I didn't add any)

Set A -

Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Dhania/Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Jeera/Cumin powder - 3/4 tsp
Green chillies (slit) - 2
Hing/Asafoetida - a pinch
Red chilli powder - 3/4 tsp (Adjust according to your spice tolerance level)
Salt - to taste
Sugar - 1/2 tsp
Fresh Cream or Malai - 5 tbsp

Nestle Cream works too.

To Temper -

Oil - 2 tsp
Whole Jeera - 1 tsp

To garnish -
Fresh Coriander leaves

How To -

• Take a kadai, heat 1 tsp oil and allow jeera to splutter. Try to spread the oil all around the sides of the pan.
• Add slit green chillies, beans, thawed paneer cubes (and potato, if you would like to) and all the spices from Set A along with fresh cream, in the quantities mentioned.
• Mix well and cover the kadai with a lid completely. This is to allow the veg to get cooked, plus get the creamy flavor infused in it in a lovely way :) Please turn the gas mark to Sim/Low.
• After 8-10 minutes, open the lid, the cream would have melted and the beans is now well-cooked.
• Check for salt and spice levels.
• If the veggies do not come together with the gravy, sprinkle some rice flour (~ 2 tsp) while stirring simultaneously. Rice flour binds them all together and the cream now coats the veggies uniformly. Do not add too much of rice flour as it will spoil the rich taste that malai (cream) lends to the gravy.
• Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.

I served this sabji with Garlic rice and we both liked it :)

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

I spent a good amount of time thinking about my first recipe and thought it should be something special that's not eaten everyday, but yummy yet simple! I was quite generous with the quantity of cheese and cream and my hubby just loved it :)

Creamy Cheesy Pasta

Here's what you need for the sauce:

Olive Oil - 3 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp
Onion - 1 (chopped)
Garlic - 3 pods, chopped
Sun-dried tomatoes (can substitute with honey sweet tomatoes) - 10
Gouda cheese - 300 g
Heavy cream - 200 ml
Salt - as required
Parsley

Method:

Let's start with cooking the pasta (I made it with Farfalle and used 350 g for 2 people) with water and salt by following the packet instructions.
One tip is to drain the water after the pasta is cooked al-dente and immediately dunk it in cold water and then rinse. This is to prevent pasta from getting over-cooked.


Now, for the creamy-cheesy sauce...

• Take a non-stick frying pan and heat olive oil and melt the butter
• Sauté chopped onions and garlic for a minute or two
• Add about half of sun-dried or honey-sweet tomatoes
• Pour the cream and add a pinch of nutmeg, if you like it
• Add salt (adjust salt as we have cooked our pasta with salt)
• Give it a boil and then add the cheese (if you don't get Gouda, just add any sweeter variety of cheese, avoid cheddar, if you can).
• Keep stirring till the sauce is smooth. Take care to see that the cheese doesn't stick to the pan.
• Add the cooked pasta and coat it gently with all the cream and cheese....ummm, that sounds delicious, doesn't it?
• Garnish with some more tomatoes and parsley
• Serve immediately!

Tip: If you think the cost of cheese and heavy cream is gonna pinch your pocket everytime, you can go easy on cheese and cream, save some of them for the next time and add Alfredo sauce bought from the stores.