I have been in love with Sandeepa's blog - Bong Mom's Cookbook for as long as I can remember. Her writing is warm and funny and her recipes are fabulous. They actually turn out to be much better than what the photos/recipe promise and I have never been unhappy about trying out any of her posts as of today.My bookmark folder is overflowing with must-cook-asap posts and her posts take up a major chunk of that folder. To put it simply,I want to cook and eat her whole blog. Everything in it just appears incredibly warm and nice and honest to me.Here is a fabulous paneer recipe from her's that I have been meaning to try out for some time now. It just so happened that last Monday, the pantry had almost everything that this recipe called for, and I jumped at the opportunity of cooking some delicious hot buttery Paneer for dinner. I tweaked in a few things here and there, made an addition of fresh green peas to the curry and omitted the cashew paste that the original recipe called for, plus controlled the butter and cream part as best as I could. It didn't really make any difference to the taste part - the resulting dish was as buttery and flavorful as any good Butter Paneer I'd ever eaten.
PANEER MATAR BUTTER MASALA
(serves 2-3)
Heat 2 tbsp of white oil in a nonstick pan. Sprinkle some salt and rub some kasoori methi over cubed 300 gms of Paneer. Lightly fry the pieces till they acquire a light golden colour. Take out and keep aside.
Cook half a cup of shelled green peas in salted water till done, about 6-8 mins. They should be cooked but yet have a bite to them.Take out and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter/ghee in a kadhai.
Temper with 1/2 tsp of methi seeds and 2 big,black cardamoms. I used the small green ones as I didn't have the black ones. When the spices splutter, add 2 medium sized finely chopped red onions. Fry till the onions change colour to a light brownish golden.
Add 2-3 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste. Stir and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes.
Add about a cup of tomato puree. Stir and cook till the water dries up, about 7-8 minutes.*
(see note below)
Sprinkle 1 tbsp of Kasoori Methi,1-2tsp of Red chilli powder/Kashmiri mirch and 1 tsp of Garam Masala Powder.
Fry till the raw smell is gone, and at the stage when you will find the oil separating from the mixture, add about 1.5-2 cups of milk, and salt to taste. stir well to combine in the gravy. Taste and add 1 tbsp of sugar if you feel the need.Let the gravy come to a boil,add the green peas, cover and simmer till it thickens a bit.
Add the fried paneer pieces a few minutes before serving and let it absorb the gravy for some time. You can add more milk if you want a lighter gravy at this stage.Check for seasoning and Serve hot with Rotis/Naan and a fresh salad on the side.It even tastes fabulous the next day on a thick slice of toast for a midday brunch.
*(Note : Sandeepa adds almost double the amount of puree, but since I decided to skip the sweet fatty stuff like heavy cream and cashew that she adds later,this is the right amount else the resulting dish will be too sour)
This post goes to Vardhini of Zesty Palette's brainchild event 'Dish it Out'. This blog event celebrates the pairing of two fabulous culinary ingredients, and this month the theme is 'Tomato and Cheese'. Anamika at Taste Junction is hosting it. This is also my first participation in a blog event ever and I'm mighty excited.
PANEER MATAR BUTTER MASALA
(serves 2-3)
Heat 2 tbsp of white oil in a nonstick pan. Sprinkle some salt and rub some kasoori methi over cubed 300 gms of Paneer. Lightly fry the pieces till they acquire a light golden colour. Take out and keep aside.
Cook half a cup of shelled green peas in salted water till done, about 6-8 mins. They should be cooked but yet have a bite to them.Take out and keep aside.
Heat 1 tbsp oil + 1 tbsp butter/ghee in a kadhai.
Temper with 1/2 tsp of methi seeds and 2 big,black cardamoms. I used the small green ones as I didn't have the black ones. When the spices splutter, add 2 medium sized finely chopped red onions. Fry till the onions change colour to a light brownish golden.
Add 2-3 tbsp of ginger-garlic paste. Stir and cook on medium heat for 4 minutes.
Add about a cup of tomato puree. Stir and cook till the water dries up, about 7-8 minutes.*
(see note below)
Sprinkle 1 tbsp of Kasoori Methi,1-2tsp of Red chilli powder/Kashmiri mirch and 1 tsp of Garam Masala Powder.
Fry till the raw smell is gone, and at the stage when you will find the oil separating from the mixture, add about 1.5-2 cups of milk, and salt to taste. stir well to combine in the gravy. Taste and add 1 tbsp of sugar if you feel the need.Let the gravy come to a boil,add the green peas, cover and simmer till it thickens a bit.
Add the fried paneer pieces a few minutes before serving and let it absorb the gravy for some time. You can add more milk if you want a lighter gravy at this stage.Check for seasoning and Serve hot with Rotis/Naan and a fresh salad on the side.It even tastes fabulous the next day on a thick slice of toast for a midday brunch.
*(Note : Sandeepa adds almost double the amount of puree, but since I decided to skip the sweet fatty stuff like heavy cream and cashew that she adds later,this is the right amount else the resulting dish will be too sour)
This post goes to Vardhini of Zesty Palette's brainchild event 'Dish it Out'. This blog event celebrates the pairing of two fabulous culinary ingredients, and this month the theme is 'Tomato and Cheese'. Anamika at Taste Junction is hosting it. This is also my first participation in a blog event ever and I'm mighty excited.
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