As the granddaughter of a landowner and farmer from the heart of Punjab, India, I implore you, please do not refer to Punjabi Palak Paneer as simply Saag Paneer. The word saag has become interchangeable in the West to mean cooked, spiced, and pureed spinach with cheese. While the word saag refers to greens cooked and mashed down, this dish when cooked with spinach is referred to as Palak - the Hindi word for spinach. Saag typically refers to a dish that includes other kinds of leafy greens like mustard greens. Typically, this kind of saag does not include paneer, i.e. Sarson ka Saag (Pureed Mustard Greens). I have now perfected Palak Paneer in the...
We grew up eating Amla Chickpeas stuffed into pita drizzled with a fragrant raita (seasoned yogurt). My mother would make up the sandwiches and leave them in the fridge so we could just grab and go. The idea behind the dish is that the white chickpeas are darkened with the Indian gooseberry, or Amla, so they take on a beautiful darkish color and are infused with vitamin C. The tarka is then added after cooking. In a way, it's a reverse tarka. Because the onion, tomato, ginger, and garlic are not cooked down into a paste like a typical tarka, they stay slightly crunchy. The first time I made this for...
Sookhi means dry in Hindi. It means that less water is used to make this dish, so that the dal is cooked, but it's not soupy. Typically, this recipe is made with either a split and skinned green moong dal (though it looks yellow) (pictured above) or a split and skinned black urad dal (it looks white). This may sound confusing at first, but you'll get it once you start working with different dals and their different forms. For reference, turn to the two-page photo spread of legumes on page 118 of my book, Indian For Everyone. The two dals I refer to are...
Folks laugh when I tell them one of my favorite vegetables is squash. They often don't realize I mean the Indian Punjabi version. It's at once spicy, tart, and savory with touch of sweet. I first became obsessed with the heady flavors of this dish when cooking in our shared kitchens in Hale Manoa with my dear friend Mukta in Hawaii. While my mom made it growing up, this recipe tasted slightly different. I was a graduate student there living in the International dorms attached to the East West Center. Because we shared cooking space, I often felt that I...
Dal Makhani, Buttery Black DalPressure Cooker Size: 3 quart or largerWarm Up: 18 minutesCook: 40 minutesCool Down: 10 minutes natural release plus manual release timeTotal: 1 hour 8 minutes plus manual release timeMakes: 8 cups 1 ½ cups sabut urad (whole, dried black dal with skin), picked over and washed½ cup rajmah (dried red kidney beans), picked over and washed1 small red or yellow onion, roughly chopped1 (1-inch piece) ginger, peeled and roughly chopped3 cloves garlic1-4 Thai or serrano chiles, stems removed2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil1 pinch hing (asafoetida)2 teaspoons cumin seeds½ teaspoon turmeric powder1 (1-inch) cinnamon stick1 cassia...
As the granddaughter of a landowner and farmer from the heart of Punjab, India, I implore you, please do not refer to Punjabi Palak Paneer as simply Saag Paneer. The word saag has become interchangeable in the West to mean cooked, spiced, and pureed spinach with cheese. While the word saag refers to greens cooked and mashed down, this dish when cooked with spinach is referred to as Palak - the Hindi word for spinach. Saag typically refers to a dish that includes other kinds of leafy greens like mustard greens. Typically, this kind of saag does not include paneer, i.e. Sarson ka Saag (Pureed Mustard Greens). I have now perfected Palak Paneer in the...
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SOUP RECIPE? THIS IS MINE. There is something so addictive about white bean soup. Maybe it's just me. My family actually makes fun of me over my obsession. Though, when I serve it to them they just as easily gobble it up. I find white beans at once comforting and filling. This recipe started with an Italian White Bean recipe from one of the official Instant Pot cookbooks, but I quickly adapted it to my own tastebuds. I found that I prefer not to add as many greens as the original recipe calls for and...
