Paneer-Mint Rice with Boondhi Raita and Lauki Kofta

When i googled for Lucknawi cuisine, i was really amazed by the variety of Royal Dish's rooted from there, like Dum Briyani, Shahi Paneer, Kebab's and more and more. Shortlisting on what to try was really a tough job, Lauki was one vegetable, which i dont buy at all, RCI-Lucknawi made me buy these LAUKI'S. when i prepared these Lauki Kofta's, it came out so well and tasted to good. my hubby to like it a lot, and am sure i will keep buying this veggie from now on. Thou i have lot of recipe's lying on my draft lap, iam posting these Lucknawi special's that i prepared last Saturday. they were absolutely delicious. Each dish was very unique on its own.

First Pudhina/Mint-Paneer Rice, it is not a part of Lucknawi food, but it went so well along with the yummy Boondhi Raita.

okay here iam gonna parade my entrie's to RCI-Lucknow...

Let me start with Sweet, Gulab Jamun. Thou its a Bengali milk sweet, it also features in Lucknawi Cuisine. An absolute Ghee Fried Khoa ball's in Sugar Syrup. Does'nt it sound Royal?

I just prepared them with MTR Gulab Jamun Mix. but i want to share some tips.

Tip's for Perfect Gulab Jamun's:

1. The Dough for Gulab Jamun should not be so hard or loose. so exactly follow the measure for water to mix with the flour as per the Packet instructions.

2. The ball's should be immediately fried in medium heated oil in a medium flame.

3. After Frying them, just get them off on a tissue paper. let them cool for a minute, before they are dropped in the hot sugar syrup.

4. The Sugar Syrup consistency should also be perfect, for the gulab jamun's else the sugar get's dried and makes the jamun a dry jamun. so if the packet instruction's states you to boil the sugar water for 15 minute's, do that and keep checking the consistency. the consistency is a before stage of single string consistency.

5. Just put some Saffron strands and crushed Cardamon on the sugar syrup, to get a nice aroma.

and serve them with grated Badam slices for a pefect look.

Now coming to the Starter, Lauki Kofta, i first planned to prepare Lauki Kofta curry, but, the long curry process stopped me. i will try to post a kofta curry recipe soon.

Lauki/ sorakkai Kofta:

Kofta's can be tried with Paneer, Aloo, or Aloo with spinach, etc. Since i have least tasted lauki, i decided to try this Lauki Kofta. hmm..i liked the taste of lauki.(who would'nt like any veggie in the form of kofta?)

To Prepare:

1. First Peel the outer skin of half a Lauki.

2. If possible remove the seed's and grate them.

3. Now squeeze the water from the shredded Lauki with both ur hand's. I did this for 3 times, to remove the water content. [This process is very important, as we are going to deep fry the lauki]

4. Mix 3 tbsp of Gram flour/Kadala Maavu, 1/4 tsp of cumin powder, Turmeric powder a pinch and 1/2 tsp of Chilli Powder. and shape them into ball's. i just flatted those balls, so it could get cooked evenly while frying.

5. Heat oil in a pan, and deep fry the lauki ball's in a medium flame, so that it gets cooked inside too.

Serve them Hot or use them while preparing Kofta Curry.

Thank You Nags for your wonderfull Tutorial on How to Blur Background using Photoshop, the ABOVE picture, is what i tried.

After Finishing the Starter, let's come to the main dish Paneer-Mint Rice and its accompanion Boondhi Raita. I just fried small paneer cubes in 1 tbsp of oil and added them to my Mint Rice.

You can check my Mint Rice Recipe Here.
Here comes my favourite Boondhi Raita..

Ingredients:

1. Gram Flour-6tbsp

2. Chilli Powder- a pinch
3. Asafoetida- a pinch
4. Cumin Powder - a pinch
5. Oil-1/4 cup
6. Optional's-I added little corn flour and a pinch of sodium-Bi-carb, to make them crisp.
7. Final but not least Jalli Karandi/Slotted Spoon and a spoon, and Ofcourse a cup of Yogurt.

Method:

Heat oil in a pan. In the Mean-time, mix the gram flour with salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, asafoetida. and add little water, say it should be like the consistency of Bajji Mix. a little watery one. When the oil is heated, in the jalli karandi/slotted spoon, pour 2 spoon's of prepared flour batter and keep pressing them on the hole's/slot's. Now fry them. Prepare Boondhi's and keep it aside to let them cool. Then mix with the yogurt. sprinkle some chilli powder and cumin powder as a final touch. this is an absolute drool worthy raita.

Still more to come on RCI-Lucknow
It's nearing the deadline for RCI-Lucknow. So Cook up and post fast.