My shortcut Palak Paneer with Radish parathas

Ratha thadha the the , Ratha thadha the the..

Yennai Arindhal! The song’s been on my mind ever since I saw the movie a few weeks back.

I have one question for Gautam Menon, many questions, but one most important one – Where are the real life versions of Dev.. Satyadev, Anbu Selvam and Raghavan? Chivalrous, desirable guys opening doors, saying all the right things, cooking meals, spending time with girlfriend’s kids (Jagan checks his records if it is in fact his turn to take the kids to the toilet before bed)! But mine is a ‘Mounam Pesiyadhe’ Surya, an ‘En Rasavin Manasile’ Raj Kiran. So it doesn’t apply. If somebody’s really got a ‘Varanam Aayiram’ Krishnan, ‘Vettayadu Vilayadu’ Raghavan do let me know in the comments box (below the post). I am curious.

And by the way don’t you think that’s a great way to describe someone – short, crisp, spot on and everyone gets it.

Imagine these matrimonial ads:

“Want an “Idhayam Murali” type doctor maapillai (instead of “soft-spoken, sincere, sensitive, doctor cum poet”)”

Or

Want a “Suryavamsam” Sarath kumar (village side, dhuttu party) for a Devyani type IAS aspirant.

Succinct, don’t you think?

Now, where was I?

I like watching his movies. It is just that the men in his movies are too good, too nice, too gentlemanly and the setting unrealistically perfect, stylish, wishful. And rarely ever any interfering family around except maybe a doting “Daddy”. The women are IIT/UCLA grads or in seemingly important positions but carry empty laptop bags. Everybody speaks flawless English, women wear starched cotton sarees and FabIndia outfits, people live in Anna Nagar or Adyar, the men are cops or romantics or both. They get down on one knee, play the guitar, fly overseas to meet you (how many times did you have to catch an auto because your husband couldn’t take a detour to pick you from office? All the time!), propose instantly and say insanely sweet things like so:       

Radish Paratha to Palak Paneer: Ivlo azhagu! I am in love and you are responsible.

Palak Paneer:  I didn’t think much of parathas but now I want to spend the rest of my life with you radish paratha.

I see in his movies things I had written in college slam books, wishful romantic fantasy stuff (Rom-fan?!).

But I really did think the radish paratha and palak paneer went extremely well together. This is my shortcut lazy version (read only version) of Palak Paneer. True for the radish paratha as well. Quick, snazzy yet perfect.

Which character in which movie is your husband?

Prep time: 5 mins (Palak Paneer) + 15 mins (Radish paratha)
Cooking time: 20 mins (Palak Paneer) + 15 mins (Radish paratha)

Serves:  4

Ingredients – Palak Paneer

Paneer – 200 gm cut into cubes, pan fried till golden brown
Palak/Spinach leaves – 1 bunch
Onion – 1 medium chopped roughly
Tomato – 1 medium chopped roughly
Garlic – 5-7 pods
Ginger – 1 inch piece scraped and chopped
Green chillies – 3 chopped
Coriander powder – ½ tsp
Red chilli powder – ½ tsp (optional in case you want more heat)
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch piece
Salt to taste
Oil – 1 tbsp
Butter – 1 tbsp

Ingredients – Radish parathas

White radishes/Mullangi/Mooli  – 3 grated
Wheat flour – 3 cups
Red chilli powder – 2 tsp
Cumin powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Yogurt – 3 tbsp
Water – as necessary to make a dough
Butter/Oil – ¼ cup to fry the parathas

Method – Palak Paneer

1. Heat  a tawa and pan fry the paneer cubes in oil till they turn golden all over. Set aside.
2. Heat a kadai/pan. When hot, add oil. Add the cinnamon stick, ginger, garlic cloves, green chillies and chopped onions and fry till the onions are translucent. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry for a couple of minutes. Add rinsed spinach leaves and toss around. Lower heat to minimum. Add a ¼ cup water if the mixture is too dry and cook on low heat till the spinach wilts. Switch off. Let cool.
3. Transfer the spinach mixture to a blender and blend to a puree. Transfer  the mixture back to the same wok and add in the spice powders – cumin, red chilli (if using) and salt. Mix well and cook on low heat for about 5 – 7 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
4. Tip in the pan fried paneer pieces. Stir in a tablespoon of butter. Switch off. Serve hot with parathas.

Method – Radish Parathas

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, salt, chilli powder and cumin powder. Dump the grated radish and mix well. The radish has enough moisture to bind the flour together but you’ll need just some more. At this point add in the yogurt and bring together the dough.  You may need to add a little water too to make a soft pliable dough. The dough tends to be on the stickier side. Knead well for about 10 minutes. Rest the dough for half an hour.
2. Pinch small lemon sized balls of dough. Flatten with your hand into a thick disc and dust well with flour. Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough into a not too thin circle.
3. Heat a griddle/tawa and when hot, place the paratha on the tawa. Wait for about half a minute and flip over. Drizzle butter or oil all around the paratha and smear some on the surface as well. Flip over and cook both sides till they brown spots appear on both sides and the parathas are cooked through. Transfer to a plate or hot case.
4. Repeat making parathas with the rest of the dough. Serve hot. These parathas stay soft even hours later. You could just reheat them on a griddle and serve.