Best Recipes For Date Night At Home

So you have a dinner date planned at your home? We have two recipes that can be made without needing anything apart from ingredients that you can ideally find In your kitchen.

Kadai Paneer

Kadai paneer is a paneer dish, with spicy Kadai gravy in combination! An unmistakable trademark of this Kadai paneer recipe is the scent of spices cooking in fresh tomatoes!  This famous Kadai Paneer is served in every Indian Punjabi restaurant.

Ingredients For Gravy

• 1 tbsp seeds of coriander
• Ten whole dry red chilies Kashmiri
• Oil 2 1/2 tbsp.
• Two squashed tbsp perfect garlic (lehsun)
• 1 tbsp of green chilies finely chopped
• Tomatoes 2 1/2 cups finely chopped
• Tomato Puree 1/4 cup
• 1 tsp dry leaves of fenugreek (Kasuri methi)
• 1 tsp garam masala
• Pinch of salt

Kadai Paneer Ingredients

• Break paneer into 37 mm cubes, making it 1 1/2 cups
• Oil 1 tbsp
• 1/2 cup of onions finely chopped
• 1 tsp seeds of dhania-jeera powder
• Powder of 1/4 tsp turmeric (Haldi)
• 1 tsp powder of chili
• Garam Masala 1/2 tsp.
• Fenugreek leaves dried 1/4 tsp (Kasuri methi)
• Chopped Capsicum 1/2 cup
• Pinch of salt
• Fresh Cream ½ cup

For Garnishing

• 1 tbsp coriander chopped (dhania)

Instructions For Gravy

1. On a hot tava for 30 seconds, mix the red chilies with coriander seeds and the dry roast.
2. Take it away and let them cool.
3. Mix to a fine powder in a mixer. Keep them aside
4. In the kadhai, heat the oil, add garlic, then sauté for a few seconds on medium flame.
5. Add in the powder and sauté a couple of seconds on a medium flame.
6. Stir in a medium flame for another 30 seconds and apply the green chilies.
7. Now add the tomatoes, blend thoroughly and cook for 10 to 12 minutes on medium flame, or stir regularly until the oil separates.
8. Use a potato masher to mash it a bit.
9. Add tomato puree, garam masala, and dry fenugreek leaves into the mix and cook for 1 to 2 minutes on a medium flame.

For Kadai Paneer

1. Heat oil in a Kadai and fry the paneer cubes to make the paneers turn light brown. Drain them out on an absorbent paper and keep it for around 10 mins in warm water
2. Now add 1 tsp oil in a kadhai, add the onions and sauté until they. Translucent. Do it for around three or four minutes.
3. Add the gravy, chili powder, Haldi powder, dried fenugreek leaves, coriander-cumin leaves, garam masala, and sauté for another minute over medium flame.
4. Add 1 cup of water, 1 cup of capsicum, mix well, cook 2 to 3 minutes on medium flame, and stir once in between.
5. Now add the paneer, salt and cook on a slow flame for around 3 mins.
6. After that, add some cream and mix well. The Kadhai paneer is ready to serve. Garnish it with coriander.

2. Veg Biryani

Biryani is an aromatic rice dish made of basmati rice and a combination of vegetables, herbs, and biryani spices. It becomes much easier to create a vegetarian version as veggies do not require marination.

Before we begin, here is a prerequisite. First of all, soak the basmati rice in a pressure cooker for 30-45 minutes. This not only speeds up the cooking process but also ensures the rice and vegetables are equally cooked.

Ingredients

• Three tbsp ghee
• Two pieces of tej patta/bay leaf
• Cinnamon stick/dalchini: 2 sticks
• One pc Moti saunf
• Five cloves lavang
• Four pcs elaichi
• 1⁄2 tsp of black pepper.
• 1/2 cumin seeds (jeera)
• One onion (medium-sized, chopped)
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• Five chopped beans
• 10 pcs gobhi (cauliflower)
• ¼ cup Matar (peas)
• One carrot
• One potato
• 1 cup of yogurt
• 1⁄2 tsp turmeric.
• Powder 1 tsp Kashmiri chili powder
• ½ cumin (jeera) powder
• Biryani masala 2 tsp
• Pinch of Salt
• Coriander, 6tbsp, finely chopped
• 20 pudina (mint) leaves, finely chopped
• 6 tbsp chopped onions, fried
• 1 ½ cups of Basmati rice, 30 minutes soaked
• 2 tbsp of water with saffron
• Water for 2 cups

Steps

1. Heat ghee and sauté spices in a large cooker first.
2. Then, sauté onions and ginger garlic paste in it
3. Now add all other vegetables until they become light brown
4. While keeping on low flame, add in curd
5. Add salt and spice powders to taste as well. Mix them well.
   1. Now add the mint, coriander leaves, and fried onions
6. Now further add the soaked basmati rice
7. Add the salt and biryani masala powder
8. Keep adding mint, fried onions, and coriander leaves.
9. Furthermore, pour in the saffron water and ghee as well.
10. Now the biryani is ready, served hot and fresh.