PANEER CASHEW CURRY

Paneer is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with.Every time i make some paneer at home i want to cook something different.This time as the title says i combined paneer and cashews.Here the Paneer/cottage cheese is cooked in a combined onion ,tomato and cashew gravy.This is one of the tastiest dish i have cooked.Simply melts in your mouth.The green bell pepper compliments the paneer well.

INGREDIENTS

Paneer cubes - 20 nos
Onions - 2 medium size , diced
Tomatoes - 2 medium size, diced
Green bell pepper - 1 medium size, diced
Frozen green peas - 1/4 cup
Ginger- Garlic - 1 tbsp, finely chopped
Green chillies - 3 nos ,slit
Curry leaves - 1 whole sprig
Broken Cashews - 3 tbsp, divided 2 + 1
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Turmeric pdr - 1/2 tsp
Chilli pdr - 1/2 tsp
Coriander pdr - 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp
Sugar -1/2 tsp
Salt to taste
Oil,Butter
Water as reqd

METHOD

First we need to brown the paneer cubes.For that spread some butter on the bottom of a pan.Put the paneer cubes  on it and brown 2 sides of the cottage cheese/paneer.Remove and keep it aside.

Next step is to prepare the gravy.For that heat some oil in a pan.Add finely chopped ginger garlic, green chillies and curry leaves.Saute for a few secs.Add chopped onions and some salt.Let it caramelize.Then add turmeric pdr,chilli pdr and coriander pdr.Saute for a minute.Now add the diced tomatoes.Let it cook for some time.Check salt.Transfer the contents into a food processor ,add 2 tbsp of cashews and enough water to help grind it smoothly.Keep aside.

In the same pan heat a tsp of butter and oil.Add cumin seeds and 1/2 tsp of oriander pdr .Then add the diced green bell pepper and the remaining broken cashews.Add salt.Saute until the pepper is slightly soft.Add the frozen peas.Saute until the peas get warmed up.Add the onion tomato gravy.Pour enough water to make the consistency thin.Stir in the Paneer cubes.Cover and let it simmer for 5-8 mins.Serve warm with rotis,rice,bread.

ENJOY!!!

PANEER CORN PULAO

Paneer is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with.Every 2 weeks i prepare paneer with the leftover milk we have.I try to prepare different dishes with it everytime i make a fresh batch.Most of the time i end up cooking varieties of sidedishes with it but this time i made a rice dish by combining it with corn.Its a very simple pulao with not much spices, the flavor of corn and paneer makes it exceptional.I cooked the rice and the corn and spices mixture separately and then mixed it together.Finally topped it with fried paneer.The result is something out of the world.

I am sending this dish to Valli's Rice Mela .This is my post on day 19 of RM 2.

INGREDIENTS

Basmati rice - 1 cup

Paneer - 2 cup , diced small

corn kernels - 1 can

cinnamon - 1 stick

cardamam - 2 whole

gin-gar paste - 2 tsp

green chillies - 3 nos, slit

coriander leaves - a bunch, chopped

water

salt

oil

METHOD

Clean and soak the rice for 20-30 mins.In a vessel boil some water.When it starts to boil add the rice into it.Do not cover the lid.Stir the rice ones in between.Keep checking the rice since it will cook fast ones its soaked in water before.When the rice is just cooked drain the water completely.You will see that the rice is very fluffy.Keep aside.

In a wide flat bottom vessel heat some oil.Add cinnamon and cardamam.Stir for a few seconds and then add gin-gar paste.Stir for a few more secs and then add the corn kernels( drain the water from the can).Add salt and stir for some time about 5-6 mins or until any liquid in the pan evaporates.Add the coriander leaves and rice.Slowly mix in all the ingredients.Be careful not to break the rice ,it will loose its fluffiness.

In a pan heat some oil.Drop the paneer cubes and fry it until it turns brown on 2 sides.Reserving half of it aside, add the rest into the rice and slowly mix it in.Put the remaing on top of the rice to garnish.Serve hot with raita.I had it with some deliciously roasted cumin potatoes(recipe tomo).

Dont forget to chk my fellow marathoners blog.I cant wait to see what these gals have posted today!!!

1) DK 2) Srivalli 3) PJ 4) Curry Leaf 5) Medha 6) Priya 7) Bhawna 8) Raaji 9) Ruchii 10)Anu 11) Kamala 12) Roopa13) Divya Kudua 14) Rekha 15) Divya M 16) Lakshmi 17) Raaga 18)Lakshmi Venkatesh 19) Sripriya 20) Viji 21) Pavani 22) Kamalika 23) Karuna 24) Roochi

PANEER in TOMATO-CASHEW GRAVY

Paneer is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. I love any dishes made with it. Paneer in tomato-cashew gravy is one of the best. Cashew paste reduces the tartness of the tomatoes. I add a pinch of sugar which makes it slightly sweet but not overly sweet.
This is my post for day 4 of RM.

INGREDIENTS

Paneer - 12-18 cubes( i used homemade paneer)
Onions - 1 medium size (grind to a paste)
gin-gar paste - 1 tsp
tomato paste - 2 tbsp
cashew - 1/4 cup(grind to a paste)
red chilli pdr - 1 tsp
sugar - 1/2 tsp or according to ones taste
garam masala - 1 1/2 tsp
whole cardamam pods - 2 nos
curry leaves - of 1 sprig
butter or oil
salt

For tomato puree :-

Tomatoes - 2 medium size

ginger - 1" piece

kashmiri chilli - 3 nos (if using pdr then 1 tbsp)

salt

METHOD

First pressure cook all the ingredients required for the puree.Cool and grind it.

Heat some butter in a pan and brown the paneer cubes on 2 sides and keep aside.In the same pan pour some oil.Then add ginger garlic paste,curry leaves,red chilli pdr and onion paste.Cook it until the onions loose their raw smell.Add the cardamam pods,tomato paste and the puree and cook until the raw smell disapppears.Add the garam masala pdr.Then add the cashew paste and paneer cubes.Close the lid and let it simmer for 5 mins.Add sugar and salt to taste.Serve hot with chapathis.

Have you checked the blogs of the gals listed below???If you havent then you dont what you are missing!!!!

1) DK

2) Siri

3) Srivalli

4) Ranji

5)PJ

6)Curry Leaf

7)Medha

8)Priya

9)Bhawna

10)Raaji

11)Ruchii

12)Anu

13)Kamala

14)Roopa

15)Divya Kudua

16)Rekha

17)Divya M

18)Lakshmi

19)Raaga

20)Lakshmi Venkatesh

21)Sripriya

22)Viji

PALAK PANEER

Palak Paneer is one of the most popular paneer dishes.It is made of spinach ,paneer cubes and other indian spices.Its a Punjabi dish and is eaten with any Indian flat bread.
A great substitute for paneer is chinese firm tofu which is made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into blocks.

I am sending this post to 2 events Susan's Beautiful bones-an osteoporosis event and for Joelen's tasty tool challenge for May-The Mighty blender.

For osteoporosis event,calcium rich ingredients used here are:

Paneer - Indian cheese and spinach

INGREDIENTS

Paneer -20-25 cubes-i used home made

Spinach - A whole bunch

water

onion - 1 medium size ,diced

tomato - 2 medium size,diced

cinnamon stick - 1/2 a piece

cloves - 2-3

cardamam pods- 2

cumin seeds - 1 tsp

turmeric - 1/2 tsp

chilli pdr - 1 tsp

gin-gar paste - 1 tsp

coriander pdr - 1 1/2 tsp

garam masala - 1 tsp

curry leaves - 1 sprig

salt

butter and oil

METHOD

In a vessel bring some water to a boil and switch off the flame.Drop the spinach leaves into the hot water for just 30 sec - 1 min or just until it gets soft.Then immediately remove it from the hot water and put it in ice cold water.This will help in keeping its green color and stop further cooking.Then grind it smoothly in a blender and keep it aside.

Heat a pan coat the bottom of it with little butter.Place the paneer cubes in 1 layer in the pan and brown any 2 opposite sides of the cubes,remove and set aside.In the same pan pour little oil.When it gets hot add cumin seeds,whole cinnamon stick,cloves and cardamam pods.Stir it for a minute and then add the onions,curry leaves,gin-gar paste ,turmeric and salt.Ones the onions are slightly translucent then add tomatoes,red chilli pdr,coriander pdr and garam masala.Saute everything till its raw smell goes.Sprinkle with water if it gets too dry.Fish out the whole cardamam pods from the masala and transfer it all into a blender and grind it smoothly and keep it aside.

In the same pan pour the pureed spinach and cook it until its raw flavor goes.Add in the onion-tomato masala puree to it and bring it back to a boil.Add the paneer cubes and simmer for 10 mins.Serve hot with any indian flat bread.

HOME-MADE PANEER

Paneer is the most common cheese used in India. It is an unaged, acid-set, non-melting cheese made by curdling heated milk with lemon juice or vinegar.The former is added when one has to make a sweet paneer dish and the latter is added when making a savory dish.
Like most of the Indians i also prefer to make paneer at home.Its very easy to make ,just follow some simple steps so if have lots of milk leftover and is few days away from its expiry date then this is the best way to get rid of it.

INGREDIENTS

Milk - 8-10 cups(preferably whole milk or 2 %)

Vinegar or lime juice or yogurt - 1 tbsp

muslin cloth

METHOD

In a vessel pour the milk and bring it to a boil.When it starts to boil reduce the flame and add the vinegar.This will enable the curds to separate from the whey.Let it boil till the whey turns pale green in color.Switch off the stove and let it cool a little before handling it.Ones it cools discard the whey using a strainer.Wash the curd under a running tap to get rid of the sour vinegar smell. To remove the remaining excess water from the curd pour it onto a 2-4 layer muslin/cheese cloth.Bring the 4 corners of the cloth together and gently twist it as much as u can to squeeze out the liquid and keep it under a heavy weight for 3-4 hrs as shown in the photo below.This will produce a very firm paneer.For a more softer version reduce the time to half an hr or so.The softer ones can be turned into a dough and used to make rossogulla and rasmalai which i will post some other day.

Cut the pressed paneer into cubes and use it in curries.