Wednesday, November 08, 2006

On Britney, math and paneer...

I don’t know, I should probably start with dinner, cause I actually made one tonight…

But have you heard the news? Britney Spears has filed for divorce… As much as I like to avoid gossip columns and star tracking, for some reason that piece of news stuck with me… For some reason in a positive way… Except I feel really bad for the kids… But the jury is still out whether they are better off or not… I really should stop thinking bout Britney and get a life of my own now… (but, girl, you look great, now get your act together, move on, and please don’t forget about the kids…)

Anyways, those kinds of moments make me want to do google search for totally unrelated things, like jokes and all. And here’s a gem I recently found: math genius at work... Honestly, as a quintessential math geek (I took math as an elective throughout all my four years at university) I found them so hilarious, I almost cried… (Maybe hormones? Doesn’t take much to make me cry nowadays…) Check it out. Seriously. If you remember your basic high school math, you’ll find it funny too. I hope…

Which nicely leads into tonight’s dinner (It doesn’t? Oh well…). Which we actually had. At home. Provided by yours truly. Aren’t you impressed? I am…

Basically after weeks of hinting, asking and begging, I finally got my husband to buy me some paneer (took me only about 10 reminder calls), which is an Indian cheese, which I know can be made at home , but not by me, cause I’m too lazy, and also cause boiling milk has always freaked me out…

So here is what I did with it:

My Indian inspired (only inspired, I hope Indian girls don’t get too mad at me for messing with Indian food… the original recipe was taken from “The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking” and then tampered with) paneer dinner with peas and tomatoes (and bell pepper, cause I felt like adding one...)

Ingredients:
400g of packaged of paneer, cut into grape sized cubes
oil for frying
2 and ½ teaspoons turmeric powder
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tspn of garam masala
3 tspns of salt (maybe more, according to taste)
1 inch cube of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 tblspn of sour cream
2 cups of frozen peas
2 or more tomatoes
1 bell pepper (if you choose to only use 2 tomatoes. If you use 4 or 5 tomatoes, you don’t need the bell pepepr)
1 tblspn of tomato paste (again, if you opted for only 2 tomatoes. Otherwise you don’t need it)

Instructions:
Heat oil.
Fry the paneer cubes turning over so they get a nice brownish crust (the book suggested deep frying, but I don’t have that much oil to spare…).
In a separate bowl mix 2 cups of warm water, 2 tspns of turmeric powder and 2-3 tspns of salt.
Transfer the fried paneer into that mix.
Put it aside.
Now, you still have the frying pan with some hot oil.
Into it add: The cumin seeds, finely chopped garlic and minced ginger (also, for you heat-lovers, you can add some minced chili peppers at this stage).
Fry for a few seconds (till cumin browns, and garlic gives nice aroma).
Throw in ½ teaspoon of powdered turmeric.
Mix it up.
Add the peas, chopped red bell pepper and 1 cup of water (you can add water later depending on how thick you like the sauce), and 1 tblspn tomato paste (optional, but I like it).
Cover and bring to boil.
Let it simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes (till peas and are tender) .
Add the finely chopped tomatoes and fried paneer cubes (without the liquid) .
Cover, simmer for another 5 minutes.
Add 1 tblspn of sour cream (this is my own addition, I find that it makes the sauce thicker…) and 1 tspn of garam masala. Mix, adjust seasoning (salt, pepper…)
Bring to boil, and turn it off…
Done.




And for the boys I made pretty much the same thing, but with chicken. The difference is that you add the fried chicken at the same time as you add the peas, so the chicken cooks through.



They were perfectly happy with it.

But I firmly believe that the paneer version is infinitely better. Really. I just don’t get the chicken fascination…



What can I say... Carnivores...

Posted by vasilisa @ 11:54 p.m.

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Britney wil bounce back. Kevin, well that's another story. I think they both have to mature a little more before they can understand the commitment of marriage. It's tough trying to live in a fishbowl and even tougher with the media recording their every move and invading their privacy.

Posted by Blogger Alexys Fairfield @ 1:31 a.m. #
 

You know, I tried the math link, but I didn't get it AT ALL. I would like to have found it funny, but I just found it confusing. Numbers are not my thing.
I am embarrassingly interested in celeb gossip too, I can't wait for Brangelina to break up. I give them another year or two.
Your food looks great!

Posted by Blogger Judy @ 8:46 a.m. #
 

Poor Britney (although I think a divorce was the right decision - Kevin gives me the creeps!). It's sad how she so quickly plummeted from America's sweet little pop princess to...well, to a complete trainwreck, to be honest. I truly feel sorry for her; she seems like a sweet girl who just wasn't equipped to deal with stardom at such a young age.

And that dinner - YUM! My favorite frozen dinner ever is the Palak paneer w/ chana masala from Amy's Organic. It's a really great substitute when you don't want to go out to an Indian restaurant (or don't want to cook it yourself, in your case).

Posted by Blogger Kelley @ 8:59 a.m. #
 

My opinion on Britney, both her kids and herself are better off without that guy, who married her for money anyway.Now he is going to get some free mils , so hey!:)

I will skip the math ,thank you very much:D

Paneer looks fabulous and colorful.You should be proud, always tweak the original recipe, I would say!Good job..

Posted by Blogger FH @ 9:12 a.m. #
 

Hurray for Britney! Normally, I wouldn't rejoice at the ruin of a marriage, but this one just had to end.

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous @ 1:10 p.m. #
 

Alexys: I hope she does... The press has been so nasty to her, that I actually genuinely felt bad... And Kevin... He certainly needs to get his act together if he hopes to be taken seriously on his own.

Judy: Like I was saying -- I'm a math geek... I'm actually routing for Brangelina. Too many kids to divide if they flop.

Kelley: I think the press loves to build up a person and then smash them down: "Look, she's going bathroom without shoes!" Who the hell thinks it's normal to take pics of people going to the bathroom? It's quite pathetic... As for paneer -- I only bought the paneer, I made the rest myself. Quite proud of it, actually. And I've been craving it so badly, but the restaurants make it too spicy, so I had to do it on my own.

Asha: Thanks! Coming from an Indian girl I take that as a real compliment. Maybe one day I'll actually try to do the paneer itself from scratch too. When I feel very brave...

Leslie: If even 1% of the gossip is true, it's amazing they lasted so long... But I give her credit. She didn't say nasty things, and was trying to be supportive and all. Sometimes marriages just flop. And with all the world's attention on you... It would have to be a really strong one to survive.

Posted by Blogger vasilisa @ 1:08 a.m. #
 

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Posted by Blogger vasilisa @ 1:15 a.m. #
 

I think it was only a matter of time for Britney and Fed-Ex. I'm really shocked it lasted so long.

I do have to admire Britney for having a prenup. Reese didn't have one and may pay heavily.

The dish looks great!

Posted by Blogger Lisa Johnson @ 8:28 a.m. #
 

I'm more "upset" about Reese Witherspoon than Britney. With Britney, the question was just 'when?' With Reese, it looked like they actually tried to have a real marriage. (Sorry, sometimes I can't resist the tabloid gossip!)

Posted by Blogger PunditMom @ 10:23 a.m. #
 

Anali: I guess in the celebrity world you have to have a prenup. Money really brings out the worst in people.

Punditmom: I wasn't really following Reese's marriage. I just always found it strange that she said in virtually every interview that "marriage is hard work". Yes, we all know it's work. But stressing it all the time kinda means that maybe you have more work than you should.

But in reality, celebrity or not, divorces really suck, especially when there are kids involved.

Posted by Blogger vasilisa @ 3:54 p.m. #
 
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About

I'm a 29 year old mom of two! A toddler (kiddo one) and a new baby (kiddo junior). I am also the most horrible (as in I barely ever do it) cook that I have met in my life. This blog is a diary of my attempts to feed my hungry growing family

PS: My name is not actually Vasilisa... But I find that honest reporting comes easier when there is a shred of anonymity. (Apparently, posting pics of my sons doesn't count...)

PPS: For those of you wondering where on the planet I am: I'm cosily tacked away in the Torontonian suburbia of the Great White North (Canada).

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