Broccoli Naan

Weekend is the time I like to cook elaborate meals. A few months back, I was at an Indian restaurant for a  lunch buffet where they served broccoli naan. I am not a big fan of this vegetable and never really enjoyed eating it - be it baked or boiled - the flavor is a little too strong for my taste. Naturally, I was a little skeptical as to how the naan would taste. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. It was really amazing and it didn't taste at all like broccoli.  It was a good revelation for me as it gave me a way to eat broccoli - sneak it in parathas or naans. After all you cannot give a miss to eating something that is so packed with nutrients.  

Broccoli naan has been on my to do list of recipes ever since I had it at the Indian buffet. Making this naan is just like making any regular naan. The only addition is stuffing the broccoli.  

Broccoli Naan

Ingredients:

(Makes 6 palm sized naans)

1.5 cups APF (I used equal amounts of APF and whole wheat flour)

1 tsp instant/rapid rise yeast

1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp lukewarm water

1/4 cup yogurt (at room temperature)

2 tbsp melted butter/oil

Salt to taste

1/2 cup shredded broccoli  

Water/Milk to knead the dough

Recipe: 

Making the naan is a simple 3 step process - 

1. Make the dough 

2. Make the stuffing 

3. Stuff and roll the dough out, and bake the naans

Start by preparing the dough. The dough needs to be rested for at least half an hour (more is always better). Since we are using instant yeast, the dough rises pretty quickly and you can make naans with as little as 30 minutes of resting time. 

1. The Dough:

• In a bowl, mix sugar and yeast together and pour lukewarm water over the mix. Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes. 
• In another bowl, take flour and add salt to taste. Mix well and pour the yeast mixture over along with yogurt and melted butter/oil. 
• Mix all of the ingredients and add water/milk as required to form a loose, sticky dough. 
• Oil the dough, cover it with a damp cloth and let it rest for at least half an hour.  

2. The Broccoli Stuffing: 

To use broccoli as stuffing, it needs to be finely chopped, or shredded in a food processor. I find it easy the food processor way. All you need to do is clean the broccoli, put the florets in the food processor and pulse it a couple of times. 

I used just the shredded broccoli without even the added salt, but you can spice the broccoli up and use a spicy stuffing if you like. I prefer mine the simple way. 

3. Making the Naans:

• Now that the dough has been resting for some time, divide it into 6 equal balls. 
• Dip the ball in flour and spread it out with your fingers or simply roll it out to about 3" diameter.
• Put 1-1.5 tbsp of shredded broccoli in the center, and gather all sides around the stuffing to form a ball.
• Dust this ball with some flour and press it between your palms. At this point, you can choose to either roll it out or stretch it from all sides to form a triangular/oval naan. It should be about a quarter inch thick.  

Before baking, sprinke some dry flour onto a baking sheet/pan and then lay the naans over it. Bake the naans in a preheated 500 F oven for 10-15 minutes or until done. Apply butter on top and serve hot with your favorite curry.

The naans turned out really soft and stayed soft even the next day. 

Homemade Paneer and Paneer Butter Masala

It feels like it's been so long since I last wrote. There is really no reason why I wasn't writing. In fact I had cooked a lot during the last couple months of 2010 and tried quite a few dishes that I had been wanting to make for a long time.

There are certain things such as ghee, yogurt, paneer that I would always prefer homemade. There is definitely a great difference in taste as compared to store bought items. Plus you have total control over the quality of ingredients that go in making of these foods and of course freshness of final product. I have been making ghee since a few years now, and have been making yogurt at home since about a year. Paneer is one thing that I have been wanting to make for a really long time. Since A doesn't like paneer, I didn't pursue making it at home. Since about a week or so, thoughts of trying out paneer started creeping in and I knew that I would be making paneer very soon.

Making Paneer At Home:
Recipe for paneer is pretty straightforward. All you need is some milk and vinegar or lemon juice. Hundreds of bloggers have posted this recipe in the past. Add to it another few hundred websites that prescribe this method. So I guess this is the best way of making paneer. Detailed posts about paneer making can be found here and here. This is how I made my very first paneer -

1. In a heavy bottom pot, bring 4 cups milk to a boil (I used whole milk) and add 2 tbsp vinegar to it. You can add a little more if required.

2. As soon as the vinegar hits the milk, milk will start to curdle. Let it boil for another minute and then turn the heat off.

3. Strain the contents of pot. Make sure you collect whey as it is nutritious.

I did not use a muslin cloth as I don't have one. I simply strained the paneer, kept a dish on top of strained paneer and put a weight on it in order to remove excess water. I also used my food processor to smooth out paneer a bit (I wasn't sure if I should do it, but thankfully it turned out great). I then firmly pressed it in a plastic box and let it sit in the freezer for about an hour before cutting it into cubes.

Excluding the time in the freezer, all the time it took me to make paneer was about 30 minutes. The paneer turned out extremely soft. I am sure that I am going to make it often.

As it happens to me most of the times, I forgot to take a picture of paneer before I used it in the curry. May be I will add one next time I make it.

(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
12-15 paneer cubes
1 medium onion - diced
2 Roma tomatoes
1/2" fresh ginger
2 big cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp red chilli powder (more or less as per your heat preference)
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp kasuri methi
2 tbsp alomnd meal (optional)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp oil
3 tbsp butter (1 tbsp for frying paneer and 2 tbsp for gravy)
1 tbsp heavy cream or half and half (optional)
Salt to taste

1. Before you start with gravy, fry paneer cubes in butter and set aside. If you prefer, you can use paneer without frying as well.

2. Halve the tomatoes, put them skin side down in a bowl in little bit of water and microwave for about 2 minutes. Remove the skin and set aside.

3. In a pan take a teaspoon of oil and add onions, ginger and garlic to it. Saute until onions are tender.

4. Grind onions, ginger and garlic with tomatoes to a smooth paste. I happened to have some almond meal on hand and also added it while grinding for a rich and creamy texture. Alternatively, you can use some cashew paste.

5. In a pan melt 2 tbsp of butter and add tomato-onion paste. Add salt, red chilli powder, cumin-coriander powder, garam masala and sugar, and saute for 2 minutes. If the gravy is too thick, you can add some water to loosen it.

6. Add kasuri methi and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add fried paneer and continue to simmer for another minute. Turn the heat off and add a touch of heavy cream if you like.

Top it off with some shredded paneer and chopped cilantro (I usually reserve a piece of paneer before frying and grate it directly over the curry). Serve with naan, paratha or steamed rice.