Nimi's Culinary Ventures

Paneer Butter Masala..to butter your senses!

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | March 3, 2011 | By

8 comments

Paneer curries are quite a fav with my kids.Last day when I made Paneer Butter masala for them,Surjeeth was planning a photo shoot with the curry..while my little one was all tears thinkin that my camera was going to  gobble up the curry 😀
Well here’s the recipe

2oog of Paneer
4 big tomatoes
3 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 large onions chopped
25gms of cashewnut paste
3 green chillies (julian cut)
2tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1tsp garam masala
4tbsp butter
1/2 tsp of Kasuri methi powder/dry fenugreek powdered
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp curd
Salt as needed

  • Boil the tomatoes with water and on cooling peel the skin of the tomatoes.
  • In a mixer grind the tomatoes into fine paste.
  • In a heavy bottomed pan pour butter and slightly fry and seperate  the paneer cubes till golden.
  • In the remaining butter saute the onions till brown.Now add in the ginger garlic paste and cashewnut paste and saute for a minute.
  • When well sauted add in the tomato paste.When it starts simmering add in the chilli powder,garam masala and kasuri methi powder.
  • When the flavour comes out and simmers well  , add in the fresh cream.
  • Switch off the flame and granish with freshly cut coriander leaves and butter.

Paneer Magic !

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | February 22, 2011 | By

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Kashmiri Dum Aloo for ICC!

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | December 20, 2010 | By

4 comments

Dum Aloo has been one of my favs for a long time and this month when Srivalli and Lataji chose it as this months challenge..I was quite looking forth  to it.Tandoori Naans was my combi with this curry.I have been posting quite late on my blog these days…with my younger one starting on play school…sorry Srivalli for the late post! 🙂
Reading through this post I’m sure your eyes stop at a snap with scenic snap..u c those white storks..i know i haven’t quite zoomed them(the view was the back part of my house).The reason for the white storks lurking next to the dum aalo …he he..while I was clickin  the curry ..I couldnt help my self from shooting these white beauties..
Ok..guess I have done enough of blabbering ..now off to the Dum Aloo



Baby potatoes  1 Kg
Cumin seeds, – 1 tsp, roasted gently and ground into a powder
Garam masala – 1 tsp
Kashmiri red chillies – 3-4 nos  roasted and powdered
Fresh yoghurt – 2 1/2 cups (must not be sour)
Ginger powder – 1 tsp
Fennel/aniseed powder – 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder – 1/2 tsp
Mustard oil – 4 tbsps
Cloves roasted and powdered – 6
A pinch of asafetida
Vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil to deep fry potatoes
Salt to taste
A cup of firm dough made from flour and water

  • Wash the potatoes well and poke them all over with a fork. Soak them in water for 20 mintues adding a teaspoon of salt to it.


  • Heat a pan with oil and  deep fry the potatoes till golden in colour. Drain them on a kitchen towel  .

  • Make a paste of curds/yogurt, chili powder, ginger, cardamom and fennel powders. Then add the potatoes well with this paste and keep it aside.

  • Heat the mustard oil in another pan, add the clove powder and asafoetida and mix well. 

  • Then add a half cup of hot water and salt to taste and bring to a boil.

  • To this mix, add in the potato-yoghurt mix, stir thoroughly and cover.

  • To do the dum, seal the edges of the pan’s cover with the dough to ensure no steam can escape. Put on the stove, cook on a low flame for 10-15 minutes.

  • Turn off the flame, remove the cover and add the cumin and garam masala powders, and cover again quickly. Leave for 5 minutes.

Serve hot with Chapatis or Naan 

Five Dal Curry a Health Star!

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | September 26, 2010 | By

10 comments

I think I have been a bit too lazy to do my posts in my last days.After my battle in household chores ..I feel like lazin out.Last day I came across a recipe in a local magazine for the diet conscious people.I tried out this recipe as a curry with chapathis for dinner.The mixture of 5 dals gives us the protein content as a bonus.A person gets about 93 calories.Hope you’ll find this recipe helpful..

15 gms of Green gram split
15 gms of Split gram
15 gms of Black gram split
15 gms of Bengal gram split
15 gms of Lentil
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 Large onion chopped finely
1 tsp of Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp of Turmeric powder
1/4 cup of curd(made from skimmed milk)
1 tomato diced into small pieces
1 tbsp of coriander leaves chopped
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
Salt to taste

  • Mix all the dals together in a bowl,pour water and let it soak for 1 hour.Wash and seive them out.
  • In a heavy bottomed vessel lightly fry the cumin seeds without oil.Stir in the diced large onions and fry them till they turn pink .
  • Pour 1 litre of water and add the dals into the vessel.Cover it with a lid and let it cook.
  • When the dal is cooked add in the chilli powder,turmeric powder,tomato and salt.
  • Add in the curd and let it simmer till the tomatoes have been cooked.
  • Stir in the garam masala powder and garnish with coriander leaves. 

CHICKEN ULARTHU

chicken, Curries, Indian recipes, Non-veg | May 31, 2010 | By

10 comments

I was looking forth to try out this recipe since the day I saw it on a television show.Although the recipe was a bit of time consuming Iwas quite happy with the results.I made this for dinner with Paalappams .Well it goes well with rice too.
1 1/2 kg chicken pieces
1 coconut scraped
1 tsp Black pepper
1 1/2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
1/2 tsp yellow turmeric powder
1 tsp Fennel seeds
5 large onions sliced
2 pieces of ginger
10-15 cloves of garlic
Curry leaves
3 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste
For marinating
4 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp yellow turmeric powder
a pinch of fenugreek roasted and powdered
1 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
2 tbsp vinegar

  • Marinate the chicken pieces with chilli powder,turmeric powder,coriander powder,fenugreek powder,garam masala along with salt and vinegar.Keep it aside for 1/2 an hour.
  • Coarsely grind the scraped coconut,large onions,ginger,garlic,black turmeric, fennel seeds , red chilli powder,turmeric powder, garam masala all together.
  • After the time span mix the ground mixture well with the marinated chicken pieces.
  • In a heavy bottomed wok on flame,pour 3 tbsp oil and add in the chicken mix.Stir and cover the vessel with a vessel keeping it on low flame.
  • After 5 minutes you can see the water coming out from the chicken.Stir the chicken and close the lid again.Take care that the chicken doesnt stick to the wok.
  • Repeat the procedure till the chicken is well cooked.If you feel that the chicken is sticking to your pan too much ..drizzle oil lightly on the sides of the wok  and stir well.
  • Stir till the chicken mix becomes dark brown.It took me an hour and half.
  • Add the curry leaves and 1 tbsp of coconut oil over the chicken ularthu.
  • Mix well and remove from flame.

CHEERA THORAN/SPINACH STIR FRY

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | April 6, 2010 | By

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Spinach the multi nutrient has always been my fav.Unlike me,my elder son hates spinach .This recipe that I’m putting up is a variation from the usual cheera thoran.Last day I tried it up for lunch ..and I must my kids loved it.

3 cups finely chopped spinach
4-5 green chillies(julian cut)
1/2 cup scraped coconut
2 eggs(well beaten)
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp urad dal
1/2 cup shallots(sliced)
1tbsp ghee
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
  • In a kadai/wok on flame pour oil pop the mustard ,urad dal and curry leaves.
  • add the green chillies with the shallots and saute them till transparent.
  • To this add the spinach ,salt,and sprinkle about 1/4 cup of water.Cover and let it cook on medium flame for 10 -15 minutes.
  • Stir the spinach well,letting the water content to evaporate.Making a space at the centre of the wok,pour in the eggs and scramble them.
  • When the eggs are scrambled mix it with the spinach
  • Pour ghee ,stir well and add the scraped coconut mixing well.
  • The cheera thoran is now ready to be served!

TOMATO FRY

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | April 4, 2010 | By

One comment


This curry goes well of with chappathis.At times when my pranksters are quite tightened up with their schedules, I pop up this curry

2 Large onions(sliced)
3Green chillies(julian cut)
1/2 tsp Aniseed
3 tomatoes
curry leaves
1tbsp kashmiri chilly powder
2tbsp oil
Salt to taste
  • In a heavy bottomed pan on flame,pour the oil.
  • When the oil is hot add the aniseed, the green chillies , a few curry leaves and stir
  • Add the sliced onions and saute them till they are translucent.
  • Slice the tomatoes and add it to the onions.Saute them well.
  • Add the chilly powder and mix well.Add 1/2 cup of water along with salt and let it simmer.
  • When the gravy thickens you can turn off the flame

Ulli Sambar /Onion Sambar

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | July 10, 2009 | By

One comment


My love for cooking came from my mothers relishing dishes.She pops up a curry within minutes…and I must say it turns out to be a mouth watering one. Ulli Sambar is one of her masterpieces. After marriage I too popped up her recipie….now its one of my husband’s favourite dishes.Be it with dosa/idli or a serving of steaming cooked rice,onion sambar is a good combination.Here is the recipie…

ULLI SAMBAR/ONION SAMBAR

1 Cup Red Gram(thuvara parippu)
2 Green chillies
2 tsp of mustard seeds
1 tsp of Urad dal(uzhunnu parippu)
1 cup of small onions
1 tomato sliced
4 dry red chillies
1 tsp turmeric powder
1tsp kashmiri chilli powder
4 tsp of sambar powder
1/2 tsp Asafoetida
curry leaves
 4 cloves of garlic sliced
salt to taste

  • Wash the redgram in water and put it into a pressure cooker.Now add 2 cups of plain water along with turmeric powder and salt.Close the cooker and place it on flame.After a whistle put out the flame & wait for the steam to release.
  • In the meantime,in a pan pour 1 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil .When the oil becomes hot,put the mustard seeds,urad dal,dry red chillies,garlic and curry leaves.Then add the small onions in to the oil and saute them till the colour of the onion changes to golden brown colour.
  • Now add chilli powder , sambar powder and a sliced tomato to the onions and stir .Soak tamarind in a cup of water and pour the seived tamarind water into the sauted onions and bring it to boil.
  • Now add this onion tamarind gravy into the cooker in which red gram was cooked.Now close the cooker and wait for a whistle putting it on a medium flame.
  • When the steam is let out after a whistle,keeping the cooker without its lid on flame,add asafoetida powder and if you feel the gravy is quite thick add some more water and after that add a small piece of jaggery (u can also add jaggery in liquid form).
  • The main idea behind adding jaggery is to balance the tamarind’s sourness.
  • Now the ulli sambar is all ready to serve.

Paneer tomato Curry

Curries, Indian recipes, veg | July 9, 2009 | By

4 comments

A warm hello to all the food lovers out there!
This is my first attempt at sketching out my cooking experiences in a space of my own .First of all I should thank my lovely friend “Shabeena” for pushing into blogspot.With my two naughty little boys ,cooking sometimes gets on my nerves….but I guess that happens in every home.The recipie that I ‘m keying out here was one that I tried out after going through a magazine.I made a few changes of my own in the recipie .This curry is a wonderful combination with chappathis/parathas.
PANEER TOMATO CURRY

Greenpeas cooked -1 cup
Large Onion(cut in small pieces) – 2
Green chillies -2
Garlic paste -1tsp
Ginger paste -1tsp
Black pepper powder -1 tsp
Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp
Tomato ketchup -5 tbsp
sugar -1 tbsp
salt to taste
coriander leaves 1/4 tsp
water 1 cup
Oil 1 1/2 tbsp
Milk 1 cup
Cashew nuts 6
Tomato(made paste) 1


Pour oil into a kadai and put the cut large onions and saute them until brown.When the colour of the sauted onion changes,add the ginger & garlic paste and saute them .Now add the tomato paste and saute in the oil.When the water is dried and the oil comes on the top,add the turmeric powder.Add 1 cup water & add pepper powder,sugar ,salt and tomato ketchup.When it starts boiling,add the paneer pieces & let it boil for 10 minutes.When the gravy starts getting thick, grind the cahew nuts with the milk.Add this to the gravy along with the boiled greenpeas.When the curry starts simmering,add the cut coriander leaves.

Hi! I am Nimi Sunilkumar…an award winning cookbook author /culinary demonstrator/freelance writer / food photographer/food blogger …spiced with the flavors of food..

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