Home Made Tomato Sauce

I came across the recipe at Nisa Homey's Cooking is easy.

My daughter is a great fan of tomato sauce. Shegrabs those little tomato ketchup sachets you get along with the chicken, at the fried chicken shop. I hate and worry too much when she has so much of them.

But not any more...

I made my own Tomato sauce....Hurray !!! and to know it was this simple ...!!!

She loved it so much ..Now mom and daughter are really happy ..:)

Here is the link to the original recipe Original recipe at Cooking is easy by NisaHomey

Ingredients:

Tomato 1.2 kg

Onion 1 medium

Garlic cloves 4

Sugar 2 tbsp

Salt as required

For the Spice Bag:

Cloves 3

Cardamoms 3

Cinnamon Stick 1 "

Cumin Seeds 1/2 tsp

Pepper Corns 1 tsp

Vinegar 1/4 cup (I reduced the volume, original recipe says 1/2 cup)

Method:

Wash and chop the tomatoes, garlic and onions. Put them al in a pressure cooker and do 2 whistles. Allow to completely cool. Put this in the mixie and grind it for 30 sec and pass it through a sieve in to a vessel. Add sugar, salt and vinegar. Add the spice bag also. Spice bag is a neat and clean cotton cloth to tie up all the given masalas. This is to be dumped in the sauce while you cook it. Put on fire. Simmer it and its better to stir it continuously till the sauce thickens.

Paneer Pepper Masala

This was the first time I ever tried a paneer dish. It was great ! I wanted to make a simple dish when I came across this recipe original recipe @ cooking and me . It really goes well with rotis or rice.

Ingredients:

Paneer cubes 250 gm/ 1 cup
3 onions, sliced thin
1.5 tsp of ginger-garlic paste 
2 green chillies, slit lengthwise 
1 1/4 tsp of whole black pepper, crushed 
1/2 tsp of garam masala 
1/4 tsp of fennel (perum jeerakam) powder 
1/4 tsp of turmeric powder 
1 tsp of soya sauce 
2 tsp of tomato ketchup or sauce (I dint use both the sauces as they werent available, but still the Masala was tasty)
A few curry leaves 
1 tbsp of oil 
Salt to taste 
Coriander leaves for garnish, chopped 

How to Make Paneer Pepper Masala:

1. Soak frozen paneer cubes in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Cut into smaller cubes / halves.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and add sliced onions. Fry till golden brown. Add green chilli and sauté for a minute.

3. Add the ginger-garlic paste. Let it cook till the raw smell leaves the paste (about 2-3 mins).

4. Add turmeric powder, garam masala, fennel powder, and crushed pepper. Saute for 1-2 mins.

5. Add soya sauce and tomato ketchup. Mix well.

6. Add 1/4 cup water and salt and mix well. 

7. Add paneer cubes and mix well till the masala coats the paneer. Bring to boil. 

8. Add curry leaves, cover the pan and cook on low flame for about 5 minutes. You should cook till the masala turns darker ( a deep dark brown/black) and dry with the masala coating the paneer pieces 

9. Add some finely chopped coriander leaves and mix well.

Serve hot with rice or rotis. 

Tadka Dal

This is a very simple dal curry that goes well with chappatys and parathas. I came across the recipe @ vegrecipesofindia while I was searching for some curries for Aaloo paratha. This is super easy, tasty and very healthy and it will be a definite hit with kids.

Ingredients:


Dal 1 cup
Onion 1 chopped
Tomato 1 chopped
Green chillies 1 or 2 chopped
Ginger 1 small piece chopped
Coriander leaves 1 tbso chopped
Astofeida a pinch
Turmeric Powder 1 tsp
Garam Masala Powder a pinch
Water 2 cups
Salt as required

Tadka tempering

2 tbsp Ghee
1tsp cumin
2 redchillies cut small
Garlic cloves 5 - 6

Method

Cook dal along with onion, tomato , green chillies, ginger, astofeida and the powders except garam masala, adding 2 cups of water.
Do atleast 5 6 whistles
Smash the dal using a wooden spatula.
Now add garam masala powder, kasuri methi and chopped coriander leaves.
Cook for 2 mins covered with a lid

Tempering the tadka

Heat 2 tbsp Ghee and fry the cumins. Add red chillies followed by garlic. Fry till the garlic cloves are brown in colour.
Now pour this over the dal

Garnish with coriander leaves.