Shahi Paneer

This is one the basics os the Mughlai/Punjabi cooking repertoire. Surprisingly there appear to be few recipes for this dish on the blogs...more restaurant cooking than home cooking maybe?
I was able to find a few good version though - al quite different. Enjoy.


http://janasudipa.blogspot.com/2008/05/shahi-paneer.html

An interesting recipe with melon seeds and cashews lending the creaminess. No actual cream, but some sour cream in the end.

http://www.paajaka.com/2006/11/shai-paneer.html

This version uses evaporated milk as the thickener to the sauce. Beautifully simple, this post also includes a recipe for homemade paneer - a great addition for those of you in the US.

http://luv2eathate2cook.wordpress.com/2007/04/30/shahi-paneer/

This may not even be a shahi paneer according to some, as there is no cream/milk/nuts in it. It is however a perfect recipe for a simple curry with tomato gravy and pneer. Royal or not, I would love to eat this.

http://illatharasi.blogspot.com/

This is a more common recipe, using a paste of cashews, garlic and ginger as the base. Easy to follow recipe.

Bisi Bela Bhath

(aka Sambar Saadam, Bisi Bela Huli Anna)

Aaah BBB! It is the taste of home...sunday mornings with Amma stirring it in a large copper vessel. I like a very simple Raita/thair pacchadi with it, and appalam ofcourse.

http://www.sailusfood.com/2006/02/07/arf-6-bisi-bele-bath-rice-lentils-cooked-with-vegetables-and-spices/

An authentic Kannadiga version, with a complex masala including cloves, cinammon and marathi moggu. Includes a recipe for Curd Rice.

http://premascookbook.blogspot.com/2006/09/bisibelebath.html

prema's version is more US-friendly and includes tamarind, which is omitted in some versions.

http://smitaservesyouright.blogspot.com/2007/11/bisi-bele-bath.html

This is a health-friendly version with brown rice and no ghee. Though the idea of BBB without ghee upsets me greatly, this is a fun post to read.

http://theyumblog.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/express-cooking/With peanuts!! I love peanuts in my BBB. This is a very detailed post- if a little more suited to a kitchen in India. Also shows what one can do with a suitable sized pressure cooker.

http://khanapina.blogspot.com/2007/08/bisi-bele-bhath-rice-lentils-and.html
here is a simple version..with a reccomendation for a brand of BBB store-bougth masala.

Bisi Bela Bhath Masala:

http://www.aayisrecipes.com/2006/07/31/bisi-bele-bhath-masala/

This is an interesting take on making Bisi Bela Bhath masala. Garam masala is used in place of clove and cinammon.

The Master-List Idea

So, when I am looking for Indian recipes, I always go to the best source- the Blogosphere. Truly, there has been an explosion of Indian women and men writing about the food they love to cook. What a wonderful way to learn how to cook anything - from home cooks like me!

But often I find myself navigating back and forth through Google, trying to compare and contrast various recipes on different blogs. The differences maybe in just method, but also from regional differences etc. I find these differences really interesting and found myself thinking, how wonderful it would be too have them all listed, by dish name, in one place for me.

So, if Bisi Bela Bhath is the order of the day, I just look at the following post, scroll though and make a choice (or even better, make my own amalgam of a couple of versions).

Here goes....