Paneer Maggi

For a lot of us growing up in the late 80's/early 90's India, a bowl of Maggi noodles was equivalent to restaurant goodness at home. It certainly was not made many times in my household,with the kitchen being the domain of  Dida (my Grandmother) - a fabulous cook who prided herself on her repertoire of traditional Bengali recipes and practically scoffed at the idea of 2 minute instant noodles. Mom has always been a full-time working woman (she's a lawyer) and hence never had much of a say in the day to day culinary decisions. I remember when I was in the second standard, it was the year 1992, we were given free promotional samples of Maggi noodles at school, and all through the return journey on the school bus, all of us little excited giggly girls discussed about the upcoming delicious treat that awaited us at home,tightly clenching our individual Maggi packets in our little fists. Dida did grudgingly make the Maggi for me (her logic - processed food not good for kids) and to a seven year old me, that was at that time the best thing I'd ever eaten,even though now twenty years later, at age twenty-seven, I know for a fact that it is her time-consuming and painfully 'recreated from scratch' traditional dishes that I miss the most.
I still make Maggi quite a lot ,after all, it is one of the fastest short-cuts to take in the kitchen when one is tired/has no time/is feeling lazy/stressed/over-worked /is plain bored like our modern lives leave many of us quite often. But I've never been the one to do regular things in the regular way, and making Maggi is no exception. I am an incorrigible experimenter when it comes to food, and cannot even leave instant noodles in peace. A lot of us probably add vegetables to instant noodles to up their nutritional value, I've added all sorts of spices and temperings, cooked them in pasta sauces,cooked them in soups/broths and served them raw smeared with the masala that comes alongside in my cooking lifetime. A lot of college canteen cooks evidently come from the same school as me, our college canteen served Maggi with peas and carrots,spiced with a lot of red chilly powder which was a big time crowd pleaser! The IIT-KGP canteen's Egg Maggi is of legendary stature, a lot of alumni will tell you fondly about how they survived for months on it. I fondly recalled these stories as I read this post on a blog called Healthy Home Cooking some time back, the author mentions Paneer Maggi being a mass-favourite at the BITS, Pilani canteen. It is not an active blog anymore, but has a few very interesting recipes, and earlier this week, for a weeknight dinner, I re-created the Paneer Maggi based on the recipe provided.





                                                              PANEER MAGGI
                                                (adapted from this recipe here, serves 2)

The Cooking Part -
Finely chop 1 carrot, a handful of green beans and cook them on boiling water on stove-top till tender but firm.
Shell about half a cup of green peas.
Cube 200 gms of Paneer and shallow fry on a non-stick pan with 2 tbsp of white oil till the sides acquire a lovely golden brown colour.
In a deep bottomed vessel, heat 1 tbsp of white oil.
Add 2 medium chopped onions and saute till pink.
Add 1/2 a medium chopped capsicum and fry.
Add the peas and carrots and beans.
Lower the heat to medium, add the tastemaker from 2 Maggi masala packets and a tsp of Red chilly powder. Stir well to mix the spices with the vegetables.Fry for 2 minutes.
Add the fried Paneer pieces.
Add about 1 tbsp of tomato ketchup and 1/2 tbsp of chilly sauce (optional).
Add 4-5 cups of water, stir around, check for seasoning, if you need, add some salt to taste at this stage.
Add the 2 noodle cakes,break them with the tip of a spatula, cover and let simmer in the water for 2-3 minutes.
Remove cover and cook for a couple of minutes if all the water hasn't been absorbed as yet.
Serve Hot.

The Eating Part -
I made this on a night when everyone at home was over-worked and over-stressed. There is something sinfully comforting about a hot bowl of Maggi noodles and this was no exception. It was slurpily delicious, and the addition of creamy paneer and crunchy vegetables only upped the taste quotient. Verdict - Too good, and is a keeper recipe! We all need some loving and hugging once in a while, and this is just the food equivalent of that on a cold,tired night.

A Closer Look - :)