It was again a Monday!!
No no..I am not taking you through my Monday Mania story but Monday holds more significance because that day I fast the entire day and only eat dinner which too has to be cooked without onion and garlic.
So what’s the big deal right?
It is!! I have my four year old who doesn’t want to settle with anything less than Paneer and I have to make sure he eats some greens too. So this inspired me to make Lauki Kadhai Paneer. Now don’t go by the name for Lauki Kadhai Paneer just tasted too good and Lauki gave a base which otherwise onions give.This also camouflaged Lauki in the gravy and no one actually realized that what they ate was a non onion dish and even more a Lauki dish.
So in Lauki Kadhai Paneer ,I just like original Kadhai Paneer you can add capsicum too and that would simple add more taste. If you are not very particular about calories or making it only for kids just add some fresh cream to give it more creamy texture. This one recipe turned out great for me and I did make this couple of times more and every time came out well. So next time you have to try something interesting and don’t have to use onions…try this Lauki Kadhai Paneer.
- Paneer: 250gms cut in cubes
- Bottle gourd: 1 cup grated
- Green chilles: chopped
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Tomato: 2 pureed
- Ginger: 1 tbsp paste
- Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
- Coriander powder: 1 tsp
- Red chilli powder: 1 tsp
- Salt: as per taste
- Cumin powder: 1 tsp
- Oil: 1 tbsp
- Yoghurt: ½ cup
- Coriander: 1 tbsp chopped
- Kadhai Masala
- Coriander seeds: 1 tbsp
- Cumin seeds: 1 tbsp
- Red chilles: 2
- Black pepper corn: 4
- Bay leaves: 2
- Cloves: 5
- Black Cardamon: 1
- Green Cardamon: 2
- Dry roast all ingredients of Kadhai Masala in the wok and make a coarse powder of it.
- Now in a separate wok heat oil and add cumin seeds and then ginger paste.
- Add finely grated bottle gourd and sauté till it gets cooked, changes color and becomes little brown.
- Now add tomato puree, turmeric masala, cumin powder, coriander powder and let it cook till it leaves the sides of the wok.
- Once masala is cooked well, add yoghurt and then paneer cubes.
- Now cover the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes.
- After this add 1 tbsp of Kadhai masala and let it cook for another 10 mins and then serve hot with chapatis