Achari Paneer

The end of school year in Singapore. My kids have vacations and I seem to be busier in holidays,  than the school days..!! I am not cooking much, and the holidays are just passing by....! My son's friend's mom(Thank-you-- Shuvali), sent me a delicious chicken.... which we all liked so much and made me cook something new again. As I didn't have chicken at home, I decided to make the recipe with paneer. I loved the flavor.

 Would you like to taste....? :)

Ingredients:

• 400 gms paneer cubes
  
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or regular curd. Hang it for an hour to get the thick waterless curd)
• 1 tsp each of nigella seeds, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp of fenugreek seeds
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp of coriander and cumin powder
• 1 tsp of garam masala
• 1 large red onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 4 green chilies 
• salt about 1 tsp or to taste
• 1- 3 tsp of mustard oil (or any regular oil or ghee, mustard oil flavor is really nice)
• More tomato, coriander leaves, or ginger to garnish

Recipe:

• Slit the green chilies, chop the onion and tomato, grate the ginger and garlic to paste.

• Heat mustard oil in a pan.
• Add the dry spices.(cumin, mustard, fennel, nigella and fenugreek)

• Heat them for about half a minute, add turmeric and asafoetida.
• Now add the ginger - garlic paste, onions and then the tomatoes. Saute them for 30 seconds to a minute after each addition. 

• Add the cumin and coriander powder and saute till the masala is cooked.

• Now add paneer cubes and mix well. 
• Cook for about 5-7 minutes.

• Lower the heat, add salt and garam masala.

• Add the greek yogurt and mix it in with the paneer and let it cook on a low flame for 3-5 minutes.

• Garnish with more tomatoes, coriander leaves and slit chilies or ginger matchsticks.

• A very yummy side for roti, parathas or naans.

Quantity:

• 3-4 servings with other accompaniments like roti, chapati, naan or parathas.

Note:

• This recipe can also be made with chicken. As my son says, it tastes better with chicken :) 
• Marinate the chicken with salt, turmeric and greek yogurt (or hung curd) for about 2-3 hours before cooking it.

Paneer with coconut and curry leaves

When we think about a  paneer, we never think of putting curry leaves, in any of the preparation, wouldn't we ?  Paneer is a typical north Indian ingredient, and curry leaves are associated with south Indian recipes. This recipe that I make and like combines the two and also, a Maharashtrian spice mix -- Goda masala, which gives it a unique and delicious flavor to the paneer preparation. A yummy fusion of the three regions..... !!!  :)

Ingredients:

• Paneer -- fresh or frozen around 200 gms
  
• Capsicum -- 1  (optional)
• Red Onion -- 1 (medium sized)
• Tomato -- 2 (medium sized)
• Garlic --- 4/5 cloves grated/minced
• Green chili -- 1
• Coriander powder, Cumin powder, Salt -- 1 tsp each
• Red chili powder, Turmeric powder -- 1/2 tsp each
• Cumin seeds -- 1 tsp
• Curry leaves -- about 25/30
• Coconut milk -- 50 ml (I used about 1/4 of the 200 ml pack)
• Maharashtrian Goda masala --  1 tbsp 
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• Fresh Coriander leaves to garnish

Recipe:

• Defrost the paneer, either by leaving it out overnight in the fridge, or in microwave, or in hot water if you are using the frozen paneer. (I used it straight from the freezer..... it kinda crumbles ..if used like that..and doesn't hold the shape well)
• Chop the onion, capsicum and tomatoes in to square pieces.
• Heat a pan and add about a tbsp of oil to it.
• Add cumin seeds, turmeric, garlic, chopped chili and curry leaves to the hot oil. 

• Once the cumin crackles, stir it for about half a minute and add the onions and capsicum.

• Add the coriander, cumin powder and salt.

• Keep stirring, add tomatoes.

• Once the vegetables are cooked and tomatoes slightly mushy, add the paneer.

• Stir fry continuously on medium heat. 
• Add the goda masala, mix it well.

• Now lower the heat to medium-low and slowly stir in the coconut milk, while continuously stirring the paneer. 

• Cover the pan and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

• Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.

Quantity:

• 2-3 servings

Notes:

• You can increase the quantity of coconut milk and add some water to make it to a gravy.
• You can use punjabi/packaged garam masala, if you do not have homemade maharashtrian goda masala.

Minty Paneer Curry

This is one easy quick-fix recipe, when you are short of time and you wish to eat a full Indian meal. I served it with frozen chapatis that you get in the supermarket here. It was ready in about half hour. 

Ingredients:

• 350 gms paneer(I used frozen)
  
• a big bunch (about a cup and half) of coriander and mint leaves (stems from the mint leaves removed)
• 3-5 tbsp of greek yogurt
• 3 medium sized onions
• 3 green chilies
• 4-5 garlic flakes
• 1 inch piece of ginger
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp of oil/butter/or ghee (or more according to taste)

Recipe:

• Take the required paneer out of the freezer, in case you are using frozen paneer and keep it on the counter to defrost)
• Wash and rinse the coriander and mint leaves and leave it in the strainer to drain out excess water.
• In a grinder, add 2 green chilies and ginger and pulse for a few seconds. Then add the coriander and mint leaves and pulse again till you get a fine puree. 
• Add the greek yogurt and salt and pulse again. 
• Take the puree out in another bowl.

• Add paneer to the coriander-mint-greek yogurt puree, mix well and leave it aside for 10-15 minutes.

• In the same grinder jar, add garlic and the remaining chili(optional) and get a fine paste. Take it out and puree the onions to get fine onion paste.

• Heat oil/butter/ghee in a pan and add cumin seeds and garlic-chili paste.

• Then add the pureed onion paste and saute it on a medium-low flame till it is well cooked and the oil separates ( it will not happen if you use just a tsp of oil :) ... just wait for it to dry, as mine)

• Add the marinated paneer and mix well.

• Cook on low-medium flame for 3-5 minutes.

• Add about 1/4-1/3 cup of water, if u want a wet curry and let it boil for about 1-2 minutes.

• Add garam masala, mix well and turn off the flame. 

• Garnish with mint leaves, hot melted butter or ghee or even a dollop of greek yogurt.

• Serve hot with chapati, naan, paratha or rice.

Quantity:

• about 4-5 servings

Notes:

• Reduce the quantity of greek yogurt to about 1 tbsp, if you want a dry curry or to eat the paneer as a appetizer.
• You can eat the dry version of this curry, as a filling to grilled sandwich (which we did the next day)
• You can substitute normal curd for greek yogurt. Hang the curd to get a thick creamy version, for an hour or two.

Chili Paneer

Indo-chinese is a category of cuisine which is available only in India. Fusion of Indian and Chinese, it is as unique as it is delicious. Chili paneer is one of the popular recipes. I have made a healthier version.

I served it with brown rice and a quick-fix corn-prawn curry.

Paneer Tikka with Methi roti/paratha

There is a place in Singapore, called Little India. If you walk through it, it resembles any shopping market area from India. When I visited it for the first time, I took a lot of pictures and I was so excited to find typical Indian spices and ingredients. I loved the flower garland shops, saree shops and fresh produce shops. After years of not having easy access to Indian stuff, I went on a shopping spree and like many Indians in Singapore,now I visit this place once in 20 days or a month to re-stock. 

Look at the "flower garlands", or the man with the "newspapers and magazines".....it feels like any busy market place in India.

Well, I bought fresh paneer and fresh methi leaves(fenugreek) from one of the stalls here. I haven't seen fresh methi in years :)  I made two popular Indian recipes --> Paneer tikka masala and Methi paratha (fenugreek flat-bread)... :)

Fresh Methi leaves.... aren't they beautiful.... !