“You don’t have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces – just good food from fresh ingredients.”
– Julia Child
Being vegetarians, paneer is a choice ingredient at our household and is purchased almost once a week to have a Sunday blowout or to make a weekday dinner a little more special. So, I am always trying to find ways to make different paneer curries, wanting to stay away from the comforting but cliched paneer butter masala.
During one such venture to find a paneer dish, I stumbled upon paneer handi. While I did not have the actual implements to make the dish in an earthen pot, I tinkered around a little and found that having the right mix of spices does duplicate that smoky flavor. And the results were so good! A completely different flavor profile and yet reminiscent of a good Indian curry. Shows that good food, always finds a way.
RECIPE
For 4 hungry people
INGREDIENTS
- 1 small bay leaf (dried or fresh)
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 2 cloves
- 2 green cardamoms
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 tablespoon oil (or ghee/clarified butter)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 1 tablespoon milk powder
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt, or as per taste
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek)
- ½ tablespoon coriander leaves, finely chopped
- ½ cup water or as required
Masala Paste
- ½ cup of onion (1 medium sized), roughly chopped
- ½ cup of tomato (1 medium sized), roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon of cashews
- 1 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste
- 2 teaspoon of green chili
- 1 tablespoon water, or as required
Cooking Paneer
- 100grams of paneer (cottage cheese), cubed
- 3 cups of water
- ½ teaspoon salt
METHOD
- Mix all the ingredients of the masala paste in the blender and grind until smooth. Add water as required to help with the mincing.
- In a pot, heat the water and salt of the paneer. Once it comes to a boil, switch off and add your diced paneer cubes. Let it sit for 15-20 minutes and then drain.
- In a pan, heat the oil and add all the dry spices – bay leaf, cinnamon, clove, fennel seeds, and cardamom. Once fragrant, then add the masala paste.
- Add in the rest of the powders – salt, sugar, milk powder, turmeric, red chili powder, kasuri methi, and garam masala. Stir to combine and simmer till you see the oil seeping out of the mixture. This may take up to 20-30 minutes.
- Add in the paneer cubes and some water to help the gravy cling to the paneer. Cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Finally top with some more kasuri methi and coriander leaves.
- Enjoy with naan bread or fluffy rice!
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- You can replace the paneer and ghee with tofu and oil to make it a vegan recipe.
- You can remove the onion and ginger-garlic paste and add just a teaspoon of ginger to make it suitable for the Jain diet.
- Milk powder is optional and can be replaced with some milk or cream.
- You can add in vegetables like capsicum and more onions if preferred.
