Restaurant Style- Easy Paneer Tikka Masala (Vegan) & Garlic Naan Recipe

Hi guys! I hope you all read my previous post regarding managing anxiety in current times of COVID_19.

Keeping in mind the situation that we all are facing, it is very essential for all of us to keep ourselves busy at home. Hence, I am coming up with interesting content for all of you.

From today, I am starting a 10 days 10 posts event on my blog where I will be posting a new article everyday on different topics.

In today’s post I share 2 recipes. Tomorrow’s post will be on a different topic. Since the main niches of this blog are Food & Recipes. Health & Wellness, Travel and Poetry & Musings, I shall be sharing on topics related to these niches.

Anyway, coming back to today’s topic- Food & Recipes; Now cooking can be quite therapeutic and can be fun, especially if one decides to try out new recipes and prepare a variety of dishes. At times, it can get tedious too and I feel bored to cook at times, nevertheless, I try to keep it fun so that I feel motivated to cook. Cooking it is an essential lifeskill, especially in current times where we are restricted to our homes. Also, nothing beats the satisfaction and comfort of a well-cooked meal.

In today’s blog post, I will be sharing 2 recipes.

1. Vegan Paneer Tikka Masala
2. Garlic Naan

If you want to know why I quit dairy in my diet- Read here.

These recipes that I have shared in this post are simple and easy to prepare and yet give you a restaurant style taste and that is why I am sharing them. It will require a just a tiny bit of preparation but it is quite hassle-free.

RECIPE FOR VEGAN PANEER TIKKA MASALA

This is not the elaborate North Indian recipe where one grills the tikkis first. It is a quicker version of the same recipe and results are almost similar and the taste is very restaurant like and extremely delicious!

Ingredients:

1. 2 blocks Tofu. (diced) (Substitute with Paneer if not vegan)
2. 1 packet Suhana Paneer Tikka Masala (Recommended. Read Procedure for recipe without this masala)
3. 4 pods cardamom
4. 2 tsps saunf (fennel seeds)
5. 1 tsp mustard seeds
6. 1 tsp jeera seeds (cumin seeds)
7. 3 green chillies
8. 1 tsp turmeric powder
9. 1/2 tsp dhania powder (coriander powder)
10. 1/2 tsp jeera powder
11. 4 medium sized tomatoes (chopped)
12. 1 big sized onion (finely chopped)
13. 3 tbsp oil or more if needed. (I used olive oil, you can use any oil you wish to use)
14. Salt according to taste

Procedure:

1. In a heated pan, add 2 tbsps oil and add the diced tofu cubes. Pan fry them, add salt and pepper. Once they turn golden-brown and a little crisp, switch off gas and keep them aside. The tofu cubes should not be too golden brown or hard else they will not absorb the flavours. A medium golden-brown colour is sufficient.
2. In a wok or kadhai, heat oil. Once oil has heated enough, add the mustard seeds & chopped green chillies. As soon as the popping sounds reduce, add the jeera (cumin seeds). Add finely chopped onion and let it caramelize and change colour.
3. Once the onions turn soft & caramelize, add the turmeric powder, dhania & jeera powder and the cardamom seeds and sauf. Saute for a minute or so.
4. After a minute add the chopped tomatoes. Saute till the tomatoes are mushy and the water in the tomatoes starts evaporating and they start thickening and become gravy like.
5. Once the tomatoes turn mushy, add 1 whole packet of Suhana Paneer Tikka Masala.
6. **If you do not have Suhana Masala, add yoghurt/ cashew paste/ milk/fresh cream in this recipe, along with 1 tsp chopped garlic. Also add 1/2 tsp red chilli powder & 1 tsp garam masala as well. (For the cashew paste, just soak 10-12 cashews in water for 1 hour, drain water & grind cashews to a paste in the grinder)**
7. Add salt as per taste.
8. Add the tofu cubes that you had kept separately and mix them into the gravy.
9. Let the gravy simmer on low flame for a bit and once the gravy is thick enough and not runny, switch off the gas.
10. Let the gravy sit for atleast 15 min before serving as the tofu cubes will absorb all the flavour.

That’s it! Your Vegan Paneer Tikka, resturant style is ready. Garnish and serve with rotis, naan or phulkas.

I served it with garlic naan and it tasted amazing .

RECIPE FOR GARLIC NAAN

This Garlic Naan is mouthwatering and tastes amazing. Also, this is a healthier version of the naan where I have substituted half part of the flour with whole wheat flour. So don’t feel guilty about eating this naan!

Ingredients:

1. 1 and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2. 1 and 1’2 cup plain white flour
3. 1 tsp sugar
4. 1 & 1/2 tsps salt or according to taste
5. 1 cup water
6. 2 tbsp oil
7. 1 packet of dry active yeast.
8. 3 cloves minced garlic
9. 2-3 tsps kalonji (nigella) seeds (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and water and let sit until very foamy. Warm water works best for activating yeast. The water should not be hot or it will kill the yeast. If you are not sure about the temperature, just add normal room tempabout 10 minutes. Meanwhile,in a large bowl add the both the types of flour & whisk them together. Create a well in the center.
2. After the yeast has activated & become frothy, add it to the well inside the flour, add oil as well and mix. After you have mixed it a bit, add salt. ( Never add salt directly to yeast as it will kill the yeast and not let it activate.)
3. Knead the mixture till it forms a dough. Dough should be pliable and it can get a bit stretchy.
4. Knead until the dough is formed, then turn out onto a lightly-floured surface and knead until smooth, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Transfer the dough to a large, lightly oiled bowl and cover loosely with a damp kitchen towel. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
6. After 1 hour, knead the dough briefly and shape the dough into dough balls.
7. This recipe will make approximately 11-12 dough balls depending on what size you make them into.
8. Heat a large, heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat. Roll each dough ball out until it is about 1/4 inch thick.
9. On one side, add sprinkle the minced garlic and kalonji seeds and roll over that side again so that they stick to the naan while cooking.
10. Place the naan carefully onto the hot skillet with the other side (which doesn’t have the garlic & seeds) down on the pan.
11. Cook until large bubbles form on the surface, about 2 minutes. Flip the dough and cook the other side until golden, about 1-2 more minutes.
12. Sprinkle oil as and when needed, while cooking the naan,
13. Stack the cooked naan on a plate and cover with a towel to keep warm as you cook the remaining pieces.

Naan in the making 🙂

That’s it your naan is ready. You can use butter in place of oil while making the naan.

You can garnish with coriander/cilantro as well. I didn’t because I did not have them in my kitchen.

Serve with your favourite sabzi or gravy. (Goes best with the Tikka Recipe above :D)

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Do try out these recipes whenever you feel like eating restaurant style food. You will not be disappointed.

Keep a watch for my blog post tomorrow.

10 days, 10 posts..

See you all tomorrow!

Till then,

Dream. Imagine. Be Crazy. Be You!