Hello foodies, this is Keato here with a delicious recipe for you. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! As a ten year old when I visited Hyderabad for the first time, it was a culinary eye-opener. I had never experienced such an enthralling engagement of my senses. Every street, every vendor selling their fares were so inviting. So adept at tempting you in to submission. I had a similar experience at the age of twenty, when I landed in Amritsar. The food in both the cities is legendary. I am not talking about biriyanis, haleems or tandoori murgh here. Those things deserve individual attention. I will instead wax eloquent about the various vegetarian food I was gobbling up there, including their heavenly paneer dishes.
You see, Bengalis love the paneer curries. Introduced to us by way of the Punjabi dhabas dotted across national highways, it quickly replaced the once ubiquitous chhana. Paneer was readily available in stores, held it’s shape better while cooking and had a longer shelf-life. So most of us ended up reserving home-made chhana for the special occasions or sweets. Paneer started substituting chhana in all our indigenous preparations. So since childhood, I have had several variations of paneer and am extremely fond of it.
Even though Indias eat paneer in a multitude of avatars, there is no denying, paneer is best celebrated when it is cooked in the styles of Punjab/ Nizami cuisine. In my opinion, they have devised the perfect vehicles to showcase this cheese. Not as substitutes but as crown jewels deserving that reverence. The dish I am presenting today is my go to paneer recipe. It is heavily influenced by the food I have eaten from these cultures. This is not an authentic replication of something. It is as if Methi Paneer and Paneer Noorjahani had a love child who happens to be a Bengali. Catch my drift yet?
This easy recipe is a perfect candidate for a weeknight dinner or if you fancy, for entertaining. The dish is best enjoyed with rice or roti sides. It serves up to four people. It can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. In the freezer it keeps well up to two months when stored in an appropriate container. Usually I am not left with leftovers, as I use it as a filling for wraps with leafy greens and veggies. It tastes wonderful no matter how you choose to eat it.
1 medium sized onion, chopped
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
paneer cubes - 200gms
garlic cloves 4-5, minced
tomato paste 3-4 tsp
coconut oil 2 spoons
grated coconut
whole milk - 150mls
water
chilli powder to taste
red chillies to taste
cardamom powder to taste
cinnanmon stalks
grated nutmeg
kasuri methi
bay leaves
garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin powders
salt pepper as per taste
Heat some coconut oil in a pan and sauté onions until golden brown.
Add the grated nutmeg and coconut and fry for a minute or two. Then add garlic and ginger paste and cook till they turn light brown.
Now add tomato paste and cook on low flame for about 2 minutes. Next add spices except garam masala and and cook for about a minute.
After adding water, milk and garam masala bring it to boil and simmer on low flame for 15 minutes. Finally add paneer cubes and cook for another 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with kashuri methi and serve hot with steamed rice.
Kasuri methi is an herb used widely in Indian cuisine. It has a strong aroma and tastes very similar to basil but is more pungent. Kasuri methi is available at any Indian grocery store. If you cannot find it, you can use regular fennel seeds mixed celery salt instead.
You can substitute whole milk with coconut milk too.
If you are not a fan of spicy food, reduce the amount of red chillies.
Paneer can be substituted by cottage cheese too.
Instead of using paneer, you can also use tofu. Whole milk
can be replaced with coconut milk.
I love this recipe because it's quick, easy, and delicious. I like to pair it with a simple steamed rice. This recipe is great if you're trying to eat healthy or want to incorporate more veggies into your diet.
