Baking Extravaganza!

Okay, so as much as the title of this post may seem as if I am a Baker-Extraordinaire, I am not. Quite the opposite..well maybe not so much.

Before I get into the crux of the matter, let me outline a side of my personality which pleases me and disappoints me at the same time. I am the kind of person who loves (and I mean LOVES) taking up new projects because I am bored by routine. Intrinsically though, I am a person of routine -- I need to take a shower as soon as I get up, I need to leave for work by 8:30, I need to follow the same bedtime rituals -- well, you get the drift.

But, on the other hand, I get bored if I eat the same dish two nights in a row or if I am just drifting along the river of life without an immediate, short-term goal in sight.

So.. that's why I take up things to do. Looking back, I took up the preparation for IIT and MBA in a similar fashion - because they gave me a target to look forward to in the near future. I took up the CFA course two years back for the same reason. However, I have to admit to myself that I don't get into my non-academic projects as seriously as I should. Take, for example, this blog. This would be my ... 4th attempt at serious blogging after leaving my young adult blog more than 3 years back. However, it just doesn't go anywhere. And that upsets me, because I want it to go somewhere. I want this space to become popular, interesting and give me something to look forward to. Ironically, I need to work on it for it to become any one or all of those things.

Cooking, I discovered 4 years back, was more my thing than I would have ever thought. Because, cooking requires skill, attention to detail, imagination and because cooking gives you tangible immediate results. As an extension, baking started interesting me sometime back. I have always been the baker in my family, and let me tell you, that doesn't say anything about me or my family. But it has always been the regular chocolate cake baking for an occasional birthday or anniversary. I have never really moved beyond that and even that has never been perfect.

Of late, once again, baking has started to capture my mind space. I have been reading a lot of the internet sites, watching a lot of baking videos. And it struck me yesterday that THIS could be my new project -- Baking. Not just cakes, but muffins and breads and cupcakes etc. And decorating and frosting... :) I feel like Julie of Julie & Julia taking this up but that movie was really really enjoyable.

So, I am interested enough to write about it here. Now, what I need immediately is to get me some tools.. and I am planning to go after office today to scrounge for some bakeware and measuring cups and spoons. Hopefully, this weekend will see me doing some baking.

What is my short-term goal here ? I want to be one of those awesome moms who bake for their own kid's birthday party or for a picnic. About whom other kids and their moms talk about :) By the time R is ready to go to pre-school, I should be the new baker-on-the block!!

Mutter Paneer, anyone?

Although this is an over-abused dish and pretty much everyone know how to make it, I find myself using different recipes every time. No drastic changes, but just a little tinge of this over that. And we all know what a lot of difference that makes in cooking.

Last night, I tried another version of it and loved it. Thought I would write it down here for future reference. This is a jain mutter paneer dish -- no onions, no garlic :)

Things you'll need:

Tomatoes - 4, quartered and blanched

Peas - as much as you like

Paneer - as much as you like

Cloves - 5,6

Cinnamon - a stick

Red chillies - 2

Garam Masala - to taste

Jeera Powder - to taste

Milk - Boiled,1 cup

Almonds - 10

Salt and Sugar, to taste

What you need to do:

* Cut and blanch the tomatoes. I did this in the microwave for 2 minutes.

* Add the blanched tomatoes, cloves, cinnamon and red chilli, sugar and almonds to the mixer and grind to a smooth gravy

* Heat oil in a pan and add jeera to it. Once the jeera sizzles, pour the gravy in the pan.

* Add the peas, garam masala and jeera powder to the gravy

* Add salt, to taste

* Add the paneer to the gravy along with the boiled milk. Reduce the flame so that milk does not get curdled

* You can add more sugar at this point, depending on how you like it

* If the gravy is not thick, you can use some cornflour dissolved in milk to thicken it

Notes to myself:

The dish was tasty but spicier than I would have liked. Next time, I will use one red chilli instead of two.

There you go, the evergreen mutter paneer. I had it with hot phulkas :)