Prarthana's Vegetarian Delight

The buttery Paneer Makhani is a no onion recipe. This is a very simple gravy dish and can be prepared in hardly 10 minutes. Ingredients: 1. Paneer(Cottage Cheese)- 10 cubes 2. Tomato- 2 3. Ginger garlic paste- 1 tsp 4. Coriander powder- 1 tsp 5. Garam Masala- 1 tsp 6. Kitchen King Masala- 1 tsp(Optional) 7. Salt - as needed 8. Cashews- 10 9. Butter- 1 stick Method: 1. Marinate the paneer cubes with all the spices, salt and ginger garlic paste for at least 1 hour. 2. In a 2 litre pressure cooker, add some butter 2 tbsp of water. Add the chopped tomatoes and cashews. 3. Take the marinated paneer cubes in a small cup. Keep this cup of paneer above the tomatoes inside the cooker. Close and cook in high flame for 3-4 whistles. 4. Once the pressure settles, open and take out the cup of paneer cubes and keep it aside. Grind the cooked tomatoes and cashews into a smooth paste. Add some salt for the gravy. 5. In a saucepan, take the grounded tomato cashew paste. M

Semiya payasam is a quick dessert and I make it often for any festivals or when I have sudden guests at home. No feast is fulfilled without a hot payasam. Ingredients: 1. Vermicelli - 1 Cup(Double Roasted) 2. Milk- 2 cups 3. Cardamom- a pinch 4. Saffron- few strands 5. Sugar- Half cup 6. Ghee- 1 tsp 7. Cashews or any other nuts- Handful Method: 1. Take milk in a heavy bottomed vessel and bring it to boil in a very low flame. Let it boil for 10-15 minutes. 2. In a saucepan, add ghee and the crushed nuts. Roast the nuts well until golden brown. Once done, keep it aside. In the same saucepan, add the vermicelli and fry a bit. Add half cup if water and bring it to boil. 3. Once the vermicelli is cooked in water add the boiled milk, sugar, cardamom and saffron strands. Mix well in low flame. Adjust the consistency as preferred. Switch off the flame and add the roasted nuts. Serve hot as a dessert after a good meal.

My mom used to make this coconut milk payasam during festivals. We recently went to Batam, Indonesia. My husband ordered a dessert called 'Kolak Pisang'. I was first freaked out to try the dessert. But, he assured me that it's tasty. It exactly tasted like coconut milk kheer with banana pieces. We both loved the dessert and I tried it once at home. Here's the simple recipe of Kolak Pisang. Ingredients: 1. Coconut milk- 2 cups 2. Banana- 1 3. Jaggery- half cup Method: 1. Freshly made coconut milk is always better. If not available, use the store bought ones. Grind scrapped coconut with water and extract the milk. Keep it aside. 2. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp water. Add the jiggery and heat until the jaggery melts. 3. Once melted, filter the jaggery syrup. This will ensure the impurities are filtered out. Add the filtered syrup again to the pan and heat in low flame. 4. Now add the coconut milk and boil in very low flame for 5-10 minutes. 5. Add chopped b

Pasta is not only my favorite, it's my kid's favorite too. This cheesy tomato pasta could be a quick fixed dish for dinner after a busy day. I always keep some cooked tomato puree ready so that I can make any dish quickly on a busy working day. Ingredients: 1. Veggies- half cup (I used Carrot and peas) 2. Tomato puree- half cup 3. Pasta (any variety)- 2 cups. 4. Grated cheese- as needed 5. Salt- as needed 6. Pepper- as needed 7. Oil- as needed. Method: 1. Pressure cook the pasta with enough water for 2 whistles. Add a bit of salt and oil while cooking. Once pressure settles, drain the excess water and keep aside. 2. In a pan, heat some oil. Add the chopped veggies and saute until the veggies become tender. Add in the tomato puree and mix well. 3. Add in some salt and close cook for few minutes. Once the tomato puree is cooked add in the cooked pasta and saute. 4. Finally add in the grated cheese and saute until the cheese melts.

Gajar ka halwa is my favorite dessert. I have never got the perfect consistency before learning the OPOS technique. This quick method of carrot halwa is just amazing. Ingredients: 1. Carrot- 1 cup 2. Sugar- 1/2 cup 3. Water- 3tsp 4. Ghee- 1 tbsp. Method: 1. In a 2 litre pressure cooker, add 3tsp water, 1/2 cup sugar. Add the grated carrot as the next layer. Finally add the ghee as a last layer. 2. Close and cook on high flame for 6-8 mins. The cooking time depends upon the juiciness of the carrot. 3. Once pressure settles, mix and serve hot. Notes: 1. Add in some ghova or fresh cream for richer taste 2. Add in roasted nuts for nuttier flavor

This is my next favorite OPOS (One Pot One Shot) dish. Spinach is a staple dish in our household and we make sure to consume spinach once in a week. This gravy of spinach and curd is delicious and goes well with rice. Ingredients: 1. Spinach- 1 bunch finely chopped(I used palak) 2. Coconut oil- 3 spoons 3. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp 4. Asafetida- A pinch 5. Salt- As needed 6. Yoghurt- 1 cup thick For ground paste: 1. Urad dal- 1 tsp 2. Channa dal- 2 tsp 3. Cumin - 2 tsp 4. Coconut- half cup 5. Green chilly- 2 Method: 1. In a tadka pan, roast the channa dal and urad dal. Once it turns golden brown, grind it into a thick paste along with coconut, chilly and cumin. 2. In a 2 liter pressure cooker, add coconut oil and 1 tbls water. Add the finely chopped spinach as the next layer. 3.. Add turmeric, asafetida and salt as required for the dish. Finally as a last layer, add the ground paste. Close and cook on high for just one whistle. 4.  Release pressure manual

I recently came across this amazing method of cooking called One Pot One Shot(OPOS). I have tried many dishes the OPOS way but this HSB Style Kurma is the best ever dish. Do you believe, you can cook a restaurant style kurma in less than 10 minutes? Yes, you definitely can. Here's the magic of OPOS. Ingredients: 1. Mix Veggies(Cubed)- 1 bowl (Potato, Capsicum, Peas, Carrot, Beans) 2. Oil- 1 tsp 3. Onion- 1 chopped 4. Tomato- 1 chopped 5. Coriander - For garnishing 6. Milk- half cup For the ground paste: 1. Coconut- 1 cup scrapped 2. Green chilly- 1 3. Cashews- About 10 4. Khus Khus- 1 tsp (Optional) Method: 1. Grind coconut, cashews, green chilly and khus khus into a thick paste. It should be very thick to avoid the cooker bottom burning. 2. In a 2l pressure cooker, add 1 tsp oil and 2 tblsp water. Add the chopped onions on one side and chopped tomatoes on the other half as shown in the below pic. 3. Now layer the chopped veggies above this. Add s