PANEER BITES

It's weekend and our hearts do crave for some fries. At least, my senior loves them during his wine sessions. But he has limited intakes. The more we are aging, we prefer quieter weekends, at times accompanied by few friends. However, our movie going session with a couple friend continues. Going out for night shows when the rest of the city retires for the day is thrilling. Cooking is equally thrilling for me, whether it is for the family or friends. How much of big talks I give on health, when it comes to cooking, I give utmost importance to our tastebud. The resultant fact ..... yesterday's blood report says the blood sugar level has gone quite high. I am not surprised anymore, for emotional fools like me, stress is a major factor besides unhealthy food habits. 

The concern is that the junior should grow up quick enough to take hold of his father. The fiercely independent father says he can take care of himself till his last breathe. I remember all the incidents, from severe illness to sudden accidents that proves what he says. I never get angry when he threatens me to throw out of the window for been a fool. It is the same man who handles my extreme level of nausea with much of care. In the journey called life, we lose many a precious thing, but we gain too. My weekend take this time is that however threatened or dejected we feel, we should accept it gracefully, need not play a victim either. As they say, learn to ignore.

Let us ignore all that hurts us and do what we love doing. For me it is cooking, reading and travelling. With a son gearing up for the 10th board examination, exploring new places will not happen this year, the reading thing is going slow too. Having all the attributes of Uncle Podger in me, I forgot all the books I bought this time back in Kolkata. Hence, let us cook to keep ourselves happy. This time I wished to share a low oil, healthy starter / appetiser recipe with my favourite ingredient paneer. I am also using fresh herbs in my cooking these days, don't they add a lot of flavour to dishes? I was trying my hands on these mint, curry leaves and coriander coated grilled stuff as a starter. They were crisp and yum. My family loved it, you too will. Let us prepare these paneer bites together and enjoy with tea, coffee, wine.

INGREDIENTS :

Paneer Cube : 200-250 gm

Fresh Coriander Leaves : A sprig or two
Fresh Mint Leaves : 7-8

Fresh Curry Leaves : 9-10
Green Chilli : 1-2
Carom Seed : 1/4 tsp
Refined Flour : 2-3 tbsp

Corn Flour : 2 tsp
Lemon Juice : 2tbsp
Salt : As Required

Turmeric Powder : 1/4 tsp
Oil : 1-2 tbsp

METHOD :

Marinate the paneer cubes with salt and lemon juice for 1/2 an hour.

Wash and mince the fresh coriander, curry leaves, mint leaves, green chilli together. Transfer to a bowl.

Add the salt, turmeric powder, refined flour and the corn flour to it. Add 1tbsp water and get a paste like consistency.

Grease an oven proof grill with a bit of oil and place the paneer pieces on it.

Mine is a convection mode microwave oven, I had placed the high wired stool inside the oven. Thereafter, I had placed the plate atop it.

I had grilled the marinated paneer for 15 minutes and you can see, they were crisp from outside with a soft interior!

Enjoy hot with a choice of sauce.