Spinach Rice

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Basmati Rice
2 Cups of Chopped Spinach
3/4 Cup Thawed Frozen Peas
1/4 Cup of Chopped Cilantro
1 Medium Onion Chopped Fine
1/2 inch Ginger
1-2 Cloves of Garlic
5-6 Green Chillies (More if you want the rice to be spicy)
2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Tsp Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp Garam Masala
2 Tsp Dhania-Jeera Powder
Oil for Seasoning
Salt to Taste
4 cups of water to cook the rice.

Method:
1. Wash and Soak the Basmati Rice for 15 or 20 mins and also keep the 4 cups of water to boil.
2. In a pan, heat the oil, add Cumin seeds. Then add the finely chopped onion and saute for a few mins.
3. Then add the finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chillies and saute until Onion is translucent. You can even make a paste of ginger, garlic and green chillies if you prefer it that way. I personally liked it chopped fine.
4. At this point add roughly chopped (washed and drained) Spinach, Cilantro and Peas. Also add the powder Masala's - turmeric, garam masala and the Dhania-Jeera Powder.
5. Mix all the ingredients well. Once the spinach is wilted (which is quite quick), add the drained Basmati Rice and salt and saute for a few more minutes.
6. Now add the boiling water and reduce the heat to medium and cook the rice. You can cover the pan, but keep an eye open so that the rice does not burn.
7. At the very end when the rice was almost done, I reduced the fire to low and let it cook on low fire for some time. This removed the remaining moisture from the rice while not burning it.
8. Spinach rice is now ready. Serve it hot with some salad, Raita or Papad.

Paneer Stir Fry

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
12 Oz of Paneer - Cut into Pieces.
1 Red Bell Pepper - Cut into Medium sized pieces
1/2 Red Onion - Cut into Medium Sized Pieces
1/2 Poblano Chili Pepper - Cut into medium sized pieces
1/2 inch Piece of Ginger Chopped Fine
1 Tsp - Amchur (Dried Mango) Powder
1-2 Tsp - Cumin Powder
Salt to taste
1/4 cup of Chopped Cilantro Cilantro for Garnishing

For Seasoning:
2 tsp - Cumin Seeds
2-3 - Red Chillies
A few Curry leaves (Optional)
Oil For Sauteing

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a nonstick pan and once it is hot, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves and the Red chillies and saute for a little while. Add the Chopped Ginger and saute a bit more.
2,. Add the chopped Onion, Bell pepper and Poblano peppers and saute until they are slightly soft.
3. Add the paneer cubes and saute for 2-3 minutes more.
4. Add Amchur , Cumin Powder and Salt and mix well.
5. Take it out of fire and garnish with Cilantro. ( In my photo below, there is no cilantro because in a hurry, I forgot to add that, but that definitely adds to the taste).

Notes:
1. You can add Yellow and Green Bell Peppers as well, they add to the taste.
2. I personally like to add the Poblano pepper as it adds some zing to the taste, but if you do not like it, you can leave it out or substitute it with Green Bell pepper.
3. If you want more Veggies in this Stir Fry, you can add Green Zucchini and Yellow Squash, they taste good.
4. If you like the Stir Fry more spicy, you can add some additional red chilli powder (I like the Chipotle Red Pepper powder).
5. I used the Homestyle Low Fat Paneer from the Indian store, but you can make Paneer at home as well.