Epitomized by a culture of warmth, music and richness in its cuisine, Punjab is close to my heart and never too far from my mind... And so this is where my journey begins... through the winding roads, that take you through the lush green fields of sarson, to the farmer’s home and the inviting aroma of freshly made white butter to be had with stuffed parathas, gobi matar, palak paneer, pyaaz ke pakore ki kadhi, butter chicken (ummmm, how can a meal in a Punjabi household be complete without this heavenly chicken preparation that the world knows as Chicken makhani, butter chicken, my-dream-come-true)... such a variety of flavors, and each one so different, yet a perfect complement to each other. Brings back a host of memories from once upon a time... But, I digress.
Punjab is where it all started... I could go back a few generations, and my girls wanted in on the stories... I brushed the dust off the snippets in my mind, and talked to them about their Nana (maternal grandfather), his childhood memories from Shakargarh (now part of Pakistan), their bicycle rides across 12 kilometres each way to school, crop fields they would pass through, and the general festive spirit that always hung around in the background, beginning from Lohri in January, through Baisakhi a few months later, and the folk songs and dance that the family and their friends would enjoy, warranted as festivities to celebrate a festival, or to celebrate life, or just the day :). And the common thread through all of these festivities: good old wholesome, rather rich, Punjabi food. So here's the menu I put together for my girls:
For starters, pyaaz ke pakore (onion fritters, with gram flour), and a meethi lassi (chilled yogurt smoothie, with a sweet & savoury flavour);
Then the main course, which included butter chicken, kadhii chawal (a creamy gram flour and yogurt based gravy, tempered with red chillies, asafoetida, coriander, cumin and fenugreek seeds, with its signature pyaaz ke pakore, served over fragrant basmati rice), palak paneer (spinach, sautéed with fresh garlic and home made cottage cheese cubes) & Amritsari sookhi daal, with garlic naan (you want to take a look at the variety of possibilities that Indian breads have to offer? Do visit my friend's blog at https://www.breadsofhindustan.com/post/garlic-naan) and boondi raita as accompaniments;
Followed by a dessert combo of kheer (a creamy rice pudding, topped with almonds and a hint of saffron) and maalpuas (an Indian version of a pancake like dessert, rich with nuts and the undertone of a fennel flavour - goes back to an era a few thousand years ago). Clearly, the Punjabis are smitten with milk derivatives' based desserts!
Pyaaz ke Pakore
What you'll need:
2 onions, thinly sliced; 1/2 cup of gram flour; 4 Indian green chillies, finely chopped; 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1 tblsp dried pomegranate seeds; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1tblsp cumin/coriander pd; 1 tsp dried mango pd, 1tsp salt; 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup water to make the onion fritters batter; canola oil for frying
The path to happiness is simple: Mix all ingredients, including the water, to make the mixture for onion fritters. Heat the oil in a deep pan, and check the temperature of the oil by dropping a small drop of batter in the oil - if it starts bubbling and rises up immediately, your oil is ready for frying the fritters. Carefully make fritter balls (you could use an ice cream scoop - I/2 a scoop per fritter should do it), and lower them slowly into the pan. Fry in the oil on medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown on all sides. Voila - pyaaz ke pakore are ready to be served hot with mint or tamarind chutney!
Butter Chicken
What you'll need (you can reduce the quantities proportionately of course...):
1.5 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1"x2" pieces; 2 tblsp ginger garlic paste; 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli pd; 3 tblsp oil for sautéing the marinated chicken
2 tblsp butter, 1 large red onion, roughly chopped; 3-4 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped; 2 tblsp ginger garlic paste; 1/2 cup cashew pieces; 1 cup water
1 tsp salt; 2 tsp Kashmiri red chilli pd; 1 tblsp Garam Masala; 1 tblsp jaggery
1 tblsp butter; 1/4 cup heavy cream; 2 tblsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves, very flavourful)
Marinate the chicken with the ginger garlic paste, Kashmiri chilli and salt, mix this up well and set aside for about 20 minutes. Then, warm up the oil, and lightly sauté the chicken pieces turning them frequently so they get a light brown tint on all sides. Next, we go for the gravy - the bestest (is that even a word?) part of this recipe... I took a moment here to explain (to my girls) that the name Chicken Makhani comes from the fact that there's copious amounts of butter in this recipe (makhan=butter), and, the fact that the gravy is velvety and creamy and smooth (makhani=velvety, creamy, smooth in punjabi). Back to the recipe now: for the gravy, heat up the butter and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes till they become translucent, and then add in the tomatoes, ginger garlic paste, cashew, plus the salt, chilli pd, garam masala and jaggery, and the water, and let this simmer, covered, for at least 15-20 minutes. Once this is done, you want to blend this to a smooth gravy to get to the makhani consistency.
Back to the pan, and add in the sautéed chick pieces, with the dollop of cream and butter, and the kasoori methi, and let this cook (covered) for another 20 minutes on low-medium heat. Serve it hot with a garnish of cream and fresh coriander leaves... best had with naan!
Kadhii Chawal
What you'll need:
1 cup gram flour; 2 cups yogurt, beaten to a smooth creamy texture; 1 cup of water in case you want to make the gravy a little lighter; 10-12 pyaaz ke pakore (see recipe above)
3 tblsp oil (or ghee... yummmmm!); 1 tsp each of coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds; 3-4 dried red chillies; 1 sprig curry leaves; 1/2 tsp asafoetida; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tblsp coriander pd; 2 tsp salt
Slowly add the gram flour to the creamed yogurt, ensuring that a smooth mixture is formed, without any globs of flour suspended in the yogurt. Separately, in a kadhai (an Indian version of a wok, except it has a thick base), heat the oil/ghee. Once heated, add in the asafoetida, and the coriander, fenugreek and cumin seeds until they start crackling. Add in the curry leaves. Once the spices start giving off the aroma, add in the yogurt mixture slowly stirring continuously - you want to make sure the flour doesn't stick to the base of the kadhai. Reduce the heat to low, add in a 1/2 cup of water and stir to a smooth mixture. At this time you can add in the remaining condiments as well. Now cover and let it simmer for 10-12 mins, stirring it every couple minutes.
The kadhi is ready! It's at its yummiest best when had hot, with freshly made basmati rice. Add the onions fritters in to the hot kadhi, approximately 10-15 minutes before serving.
Amritsari Sookhi Daal
What you'll need:
1 cup white urad lentils, soaked for about 4 hours
2 tblsp ghee; 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp asafoetida; 1 sprig curry leaves (not typically used in Punjab, but I just love the flavour so always add it in); 1 medium red onion, finely chopped; 1" ginger root, finely chopped; 1 Roma tomato, finely chopped; juice of half a lemon
1.5 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli; 1 tsp coriander pd
The quickest recipe ever, a lip-smacking lentil delight as the outcome! This will require a pressure cooker, or an instapot (or equivalent) as your cooking pot of choice. Heat the ghee, and add in the asafoetida, cumin seeds and curry leaves in that order. Once these start crackling, throw in the chopped onion and sauté on medium heat until they turn translucent. Then add in the ginger and tomato and sauté for another 5 minutes. Finally, drain and add in the soaked lentils with about 1/4 cup of water, and the remaining spices and lemon juice. Pressure cook on high for 8 minutes, and only open the cockpit top once the pressure has released naturally. You can garnish with chopped cilantro and drizzle a tsp of hot ghee over it.
Note: Home-made ghee is a staple in a punjabi household... in the days of yore, and likely to a large extent today as well, farmers would leave for their day of work in the fields after a breakfast with stuffed parathas accompanied with white, soft churned butter, lassi, and a mix of ghee and jaggery for dessert (we can't do without dessert, even at brekker!!).. wholesome, yummy, calories enough to keep you nourished through the day...
Saag Paneer
What you'll need:
1lb of washed fresh baby spinach;
1lb cubes of paneer, lightly sautéed in 1 tblsp of butter till browned on all sides
2 tblsp ghee; 2 tblsp garlic, finely chopped; 1/4 tsp asafoetida; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 3 dried red chillies, whole; 2 tsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1/2 tsp paprika pd
Heat ~1 litre of water until it starts boiling. Drop in the washed spinach into the boiling water and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Get a pot of ice cold water ready... once the spinach is done, take the spinach out of the boiling water and blanch it in the ice cold water (this helps arrest the cooking process, and the spinach retains its bright green colour, which makes this preparation look amazingly festive and appetizing!). Puree this blanched spinach in a blender to a smooth, velvety gravy. In a separate pan, warm 1 tblsp of butter and sauté the cubed paneer pieces, turning them over so they get slightly browned on all sides - what you don't want is for the paneer to crumble when we add it to the spinach. Remove the paneer from the pan, and now add in the ghee to sauté the asafoetida, cumin seeds and garlic. Once the garlic is browned (you'll be able to savour the aroma at this time), add in the spinach gravy, and the remaining spices. Cook, covered, over low to medium heat for about 10-12 minutes. Then add in the paneer cubes, and let it cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve hot (of course!!), garnished with a spoon of heavy cream, just for good measure!
So so many more favourites I want to talk about here, and I've promised myself that I'll come back to Punjab again... I mean, I haven't even talked about Makki ki roti, with sarson ka saag! this deserves its own blog... why its a favourite, the origin, a typical meal had especially in the winters in likely every household in the state of Punjab. I told my girls that I'd come back to them with the story, and of course, accompany the story at our dining table with the meal itself. An old adage: they can take you from Punjab, but can never take the Punjabi out of you :)... will be back soon, with a tale of the next state of incredible India!
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