Prabha Sridharan [Sridharan - Paneer Platter: OPOS Cookbook

I have tried my best to provide infallible recipes. So, I have tried each of them at least 5 to 6 times to freeze the final recipe. The videos have the final version.

I hope you enjoy these recipes just as much as my delight in exploring new recipes and sculpting them. This cookbook has a combination of rice dishes, starters, dry sabjis, gravy items and some desserts ... all using the eternal paneer.

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to Mr. B. Ramakrishnan, the founder of OPOS.

I owe a lot to him for bringing OPOS into our lives and making cooking a cakewalk.

Never had I imagined that I would indulge in such extensive cooking and explore the arenas of new cuisines and dishes. Thank you very much sir, for the opportunity to co-author this book and most importantly, share a platform with you. This has been a life changing experience and I have learnt a lot in this enriching tenure.

Thanks to Ashwini Bee for having confidence in me and propelling me to ignite this project.

Thanks to my perennial critic and supportive husband, Prabakar Sampath, for fuelling my idea and helping me put my best foot forward. The seed of embarking on Mission Paneer was first sown by him.

I record my gratitude to my MIL, Hema Sampath, for encouraging and being my rock all through. Thanks to my parents and FIL for their unrelenting support.

A word of appreciation for my sister, sisters in law and their families for trying out the recipes and giving their critical feedback. Thanks to my cousin Divya for helping me out and clarifying all my doubts.

Appreciate all my friends who tasted my food and gave their honest opinions, after which I tweaked the recipes till we all were satisfied.

I also must appreciate the members of OPOS school who have validated my recipes. Thanks for the support guys!

Special mention my food connoisseurs Sahana and Siddharth - who light up my life in countless ways!

Abbreviation and Acronyms

OPOS Primer

1. The OPOS Magic:
15 years, 780 blog posts, 26097 volunteers, 52 children, tonnes of provisions, 1208 files, 10411 Facebook posts, 5601 photos, 320 videos, millions of arguments, 1 dictator, 15 comedians, 1 world record, 4 restaurants, 16 chefs, 14 events and 22 corporate demos have gone into creating the OPOS magic. You now hold the key to this magical world!

2. What is OPOS?
OPOS (One Pot, One Shot) is a set of scientific cooking techniques designed to unchain you from the kitchen, cut drudgery and empower anyone to cook confidently. All OPOS recipes use One Pot and all cooking is done at One Shot. No steps. No supervision. From Pastas to Paneer Makhni, Malai Kofta to Mysorepak, OPOS recipes are easier and faster than cooking instant noodles!

3. The OPOS Promise:
OPOS is the cleanest, greenest, healthiest, tastiest and fastest way to cook just about anything.
OPOS works for anyone, anywhere, anytime.

4. Why OPOS?
OPOS is Green. One pot to wash.
OPOS is Clean. Hygienic. Less mess.
OPOS is Fast. Fresh food in minutes.
OPOS is Liberating. No supervision.
OPOS is Healthy. Maximises nutrition.
OPOS is Flexible. Cook your way.
OPOS is Economical. Saves fuel and water.
OPOS is Tasty. Intense flavours.
OPOS is Transparent. Works for all.
OPOS is Consistent. Works every time.
OPOS is Universal. Cooks all cuisines!

5. Tried and Tested:
Every single OPOS recipe is debated, tested, fine-tuned and validated hundreds of times by members of OPOS School & OPOS Support Group Facebook groups. The work of this passionate group of doctors, nutritionists, dietitians, bloggers, authors, chefs, food stylists, artists, homemakers, actors, scientists, caterers and many others continues to shape OPOS.

6. I was always OPOSing!
OPOS is not a fancy word for pressure cooking. Very few OPOS recipes follow the "Dump all into a cooker" technique. Most OPOS recipes are built on pressure baking, a brand new cooking technique. Pressure baking, in addition to the techniques listed below is responsible for the intense taste, textures, colours and flavours of OPOSed dishes.

7. OPOS Techniques:
Attalysis, Bottled tadka, Controlled evaporation, Dum cooking, Emulsification, Flash Cooking, Grits, Hydro distillation, Inner pot cooking, Just enough liquid, Key building blocks, Layering, MPOS, No Prep, Oil free, Pyrolysis, Queuing, Retained heat, Sugar Syrup hack, TurboFlavours, Use of cooked bases, Very Long Marination, Waterless cooking, Xtra long storage, Yolk colour retention and Zoned flashing.

8. OPOS vs. Tradition:
Traditional recipes were not designed for todays lifestyle. Many of us lack the time, skill and support to make traditional recipes work. OPOS replaces manual skill with the right equipment and technique. OPOS standardises cooking conditions to make all recipes work the same way for anyone, anywhere, anytime. Use right equipment and follow recipes to experience magic!

9. Equipment needed:
OPOS works best with the OPOS kit available at www.oposkit.com . The pressure baker has been specially designed for OPOS. It is built to cook without water and over high heat. It comes with a silicone gasket to withstand dry heating, a lead free safety valve and precisely calibrated weight set to ensure healthy whistles. It has a set of stainless steel measuring cups, inner vessel with lid, flash separators and flash cards with step by step lessons. Normal pressure cookers are not designed to cook without water or over high heat. The safety valves blow, gasket melts and food burns. The manufacturers insist you never cook without water and never to cook over high heat. However if you know what you are doing, you can use any 2L Indian whistling pressure cooker.