Paneer, a kind of farmer's cheese is very common in vegetarian Indian cooking and is often made fresh. It is actually not that complicated to make. I will post step by step instructions for you the next time I make some. It is, however, fairly easy to find frozen paneer from Indian grocery stores for a quick weeknight meal. I recently found my old favorite, Amul Malai Paneer at the Indian store, so you can expect a few paneer recipes coming up on this blog.
Heat the rest of the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds start to sputter, add the hing, turmeric and red chili powders. Lets it all sizzle in the smoking oil for a few seconds.
Add the tomato-onion puree that you prepared in the last step.
Add garam masala powder and Coriander powder and stir it all together and cook it all together for a 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently till it starts to stick to the bottom.
Add the yoghurt now and turn the heat down low to medium hot, as yoghurt has a tendency to split.
Cook this for 3-4 minutes on low heat and add a cup and a half of water.
Bring it to a slow simmer.
Add Paneer and green peas and cook it all together for another 3-4 minutes.
Stir in chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves.
Serve with rotis or rice.
Matar Paneer first! Matar (pronounced "Mutter"), meaning peas, and paneer cooked generally in a tomato based sauce. In this recipe I use yoghurt, but you can substitute it with cream or evaporated milk if you like, for a richer sauce. The yoghurt also gives this a bit of tang. The recipe matures well, i.e, leftovers taste great the next day!
Yield - Serves 4
Prep Time - 10 Minutes
Cook Time - 30 Minutes
Matar Paneer |
Ingredients
2 Cups Green Peas
250 g Paneer
1 Onion, sliced
1 inch Ginger
4-5 cloves Garlic
3 Medium Tomatoes, diced
1 Teaspoon Cumin seeds
1.5 Teaspoons Garam Masala Powder
1 Teaspoon Coriander Powder
1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
1 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1 pinch Asafetida (Hing)
1 Green Chili
3 Tablespoons Yoghurt
2 Tablespoons Oil
A few Sprigs Cilantro (Coriander leaves)
A few Sprigs Cilantro (Coriander leaves)
Method
Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the onions till they start to turn translucent.
Add the diced tomatoes and roughly chopped green chili and cook the tomatoes down to a pulp. Add a little salt to help it along. Cooking the tomatoes this way, instead of pureeing them raw, retains their vibrant color.
Once cooked, grind this tomato-onion mixture. I use a Ninja, so I don't have to wait for it to cool.
Click here to get yoursHeat the rest of the oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds start to sputter, add the hing, turmeric and red chili powders. Lets it all sizzle in the smoking oil for a few seconds.
Add the tomato-onion puree that you prepared in the last step.
Add garam masala powder and Coriander powder and stir it all together and cook it all together for a 5-6 minutes, stirring frequently till it starts to stick to the bottom.
Add the yoghurt now and turn the heat down low to medium hot, as yoghurt has a tendency to split.
Cook this for 3-4 minutes on low heat and add a cup and a half of water.
Bring it to a slow simmer.
Add Paneer and green peas and cook it all together for another 3-4 minutes.
Stir in chopped cilantro (coriander) leaves.
Serve with rotis or rice.
4 comments
LABELS:
Indian,
Vegetarian,
Weeknight Lifesavers
Hi.. Very nice receipe :) but wanted to know if you have used raw peas or cooked peas?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I have used frozen raw peas. They cook very quickly!
DeleteThis was absolutely yum and easy to follow thanks. Must try making the Paneer next time :)
ReplyDeleteYay! Thanks heaps for stopping by. Here is a recipe to make paneer at home if you want to try it - http://www.cooklikemom.net/2012/04/how-to-make-paneer/
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