Sunday, September 30, 2007

Paneer 50-50

Parthiv loves paneer. He makes awesome paneer tikkas and the likes, so when he says he is going to dish out something with paneer, I never think twice and assist him happily :)

The other day, we wanted to make something easy and simple. I thought of kadhai paneer (a little on the dry side with chopped onions/tomatoes etc). But he was more in the mood for the matar-paneer kind (made with onion/tomato paste). So he declared he'll make me happy and make 50-50 paneer. Here's how he made it.

Ingredients:
1. About 2 cups paneer - thawed to room temperature and cubed. We used frozen paneer bought from an Indian store ("Nanak" brand).
2. 1/2 cup green peas
3. 1 onion (medium-large). Chop half of it it very fine in a chopper and slice the other half lengthwise.
4. 2-3 tomatoes made into a paste (we put the onions and tomatoes in the chopper together, so they were chopped very fine). 1 tomato, sliced lengthwise.
5. 1 tsp grated ginger
3. Half a green bellpepper, sliced thin lengthwise.
4. Red chilli, turmeric, coriander powder and salt to taste.
5. 2 tblsp of milk (use fat free if you like, worked for us).
6. 1.5 tbsp cooking oil.

Method:
1. Heat half the oil in a non-stick pan, as it heats add ginger followed by finely chopped onions and tomatoes. Saute till oil separates, should take 7-10 minutes on medium flame. You may need to add a little more oil to actually see the oil separating :) If you don't want to use too much oil, just ensure that the color gets darker (you may have to keep sprinkling water once in a while to make sure the paste doesn't burn). We added peas also somewhere in between to make sure they get cooked (when to add them will depend on how long it normally takes your peas to cook).
2. In the meanwhile, in a frying pan heat the remaining oil. Add sliced onions and saute, followed by tomatoes and bellpeppers and a little salt. The onions should become translucent but should not cook too much.
3. Add paneer and toss on high flame. Doing this pan-fries the paneer, making it crispier on the outside and eliminating the need for any deep frying.
4. If your tomato/onion paste is done by now, add red chilli, turmeric and coriander powder and salt and saute for a few seconds.
5. Add the sliced-sauteed veggies with paneer to this and mix well, so that the masala coats the paneer.
6. Add half a cup of water and let it simmer for 5 minutes or so, water will almost dry out.
7. When almost done, add milk and let cook for a minute or two.
8. Sprinkle fresh cilantro and serve with hot thick rotis.

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As easy as that! :) To increase the flavor, you can sprinkle some kasuri methi at the end. Or if you want it spicier you can sprinkle some garam masala.

We turned up cooking our sliced veggies more than we would have liked, but it was delicious anyways :)

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The leftovers had soaked the gravy completely making it a great candidate for kati rolls (there wasn't much left though!). While packing for lunch, I added some sliced onions and lemon juice to it. At lunchtime, I heated a roti and wrapped warm sabzi in it to make a quick, tasty kati roll!

16 comments:

Rajitha said...

looks yummy

Laavanya said...

Looks like something out of a restaurant.. I love the idea of a kati roll.

TBC said...

Beautiful pics!...and like the dish too:-)

amna said...

wow! i love paneer too. this looks just right. yummy!

Timepass said...

Lipsmacking.. Wish I could get my hands on this!!!

Unknown said...

That looks yummy..... and the pics are so tempting that.. I am droolong over them... :)

Finla said...

Wow DELICIOUS paneer dish.
Wish i had a plate full of it...

Anonymous said...

Hey Shweta, paneer looks yummy..and nice foodblog..the pics of all the yummy recipes u posted r awesome nd tempting..keep up the good work!

Shweta said...

Rajitha, It tasted yummy too! Do try it out if you get a chance.

Laavanya, Thanks! I love Kati rolls. Turns out to be such an easy, non-messy way to eat roti/paratha and sabzi at work!

TBC, Thank you :) I have something to learn from the pictures on your blog!

Hi Nags, Thanks for dropping by! Do try it sometime. Made by a paneer lover, I am sure it will make another paneer lover happy!

Timepass, Come over sometime and you can have your hands on it! :)

Cinnamon, Thanks for the note :) Parthiv made sure he zoomed enough to capture the beauty of his beloved paneer!

Happy cook! Lets have a party, we'll make this for you!

Ruchi! Thanks dear. You know what, you should start a food blog! A lot of people can benefit from your creative and delicious cooking!

Richa said...

paneer is my fav too :)
ur dish looks so succulent & full of flavor, the kadai is too cute :)

musical said...

Ooh, what a yummy paneer dish! I would love myself some kati-rolls from this :).

Shweta said...

Richa, Thanks for your sweet note :) Yea that kadai indeed is too cute! My mom got it for me :) In my next trip to India I have to look for serving spoons with copper handles!

Musical ji, Do make the kati rolls. I'll invite you next time we make this, I know you live next door :p

Deeba PAB said...

Looks finger-licking good. Love paneer too, and in as many avatars as possible!! The pictures on yr blog are excellent....

swati412 said...

Really looks out of a restaurant...great stuff!!looks easy too..
Do chk out http://sugarcraftindia.blogspot.com

Surabhi Goyal said...

Hi Shweta,
I was introduced to your blog by Mansi..she is my friend from Interra. Recently I tried your paneer dish..it came out just nice as it looks..i never made paneer like that before. I tried this before serving it to any guest and yesterday made it for an australian guest and he could not stop eating (i reduced the spices) and added cream instead of milk but with milk also it tasted as yummy as it tastes with cream. This has become by husband's fav :)
Thanks :)
Surabhi

Shweta said...

Thanks so much Surabhi! It's so nice to hear from you. Thanks for trying the recipe and your sweet words. And I have to thank Mansi too for directing you to my blog :) Do keep visiting! I am hoping to be back to my regular blogging!