Sunday, January 15, 2006

Paneer masala with green peas and Potatoes

The secret of making paneer unvieled!!! It turned out to be quite simple, and the secrecy around it that I presumed was much like the Coca Cola Secret formula.



Prepared this myself. This was just manufactured, just off the Assembly line ;-)
I prepared it with inspiration from Atabela.. Muchas Gracias Jen!!! Thanks to Jen , and Jen, it turned out better than the available in the Diary.. Also thanking "Mydhaba" who linked this great preparation I wouldn't have found otherwise..
WIP--- Just Cut, and the texture was just perfect...
Fry just till this brown.. Is it golden brown?
This was what it looked like when I fried the potatoes and peas in the usual masala mix. Work in progress!!

And.....Here you go!! Howzzat, I have another picture if this don't look too good.. Me is tired after all the cooking... Will post the preparation details by the midnight Indian time..... Ricky Bhai!! Its for you!!

And people!! the Indibloggies Awards are out, and guess what? One of the Foodbloggers won the best new indi Blogs award... My Congratulations to Meena.

About the recipe:

When I first read at mydhaba, how he got inspired to prepare paneer at home after seeing a post at Atabela's, the first thing that came to my mind was, is it that simple?

Well, if it weren't so simple, I won't be posting it.. This a bachelor's cooking blog right? And I can't afford to post difficult posts.... My recipes have to be simple and tasty. And preparing Home made paneer was as easy as any bachelor cooking recipe..and I was thoroughly surprised when it turned out tastier than the Market bought Paneer.. Oh, by the way paneer is Indian for cottage cheese. In fact this is the only indegenious Indian Cheese, I presume..

I boiled 1 litre of milk for the purpose..I boiled the milk in low heat( Low heat so that the milk don't spill, no use crying over spilt milk right?) till about 1/4 has evaporated...well only 3/4th or 3 quarters were left. Then I squeezed some lime juice. A few drops, and well the Milk didn't break!!!(solidify) Holy cow!! Was Jen of Atabela wrong? Was VKN wrong?? Shit!! the milk didn't turn part solid as the recipe say at Atabela's.....

I got worried, so i put out the heat and fired up the laptop instead and visited Atabela.com, and reread... There she had said, 3 TBS.. holy cow, 3 TBS of lime juice in milk, won't the paneer turn sour??? But nonetheless, I did as read. I put on the milk on boil again and squeeze about 3 TBS of lime this time and the milk curdled up suddenly.. Thank God, and....Thank you Jen!!

Turn out the heat again, and poured the contents or milk into a Vessel through a muslin cloth. Then I wrung the cloth hard with the mixture inside to squeeze out excess water......and when I open the cloth, I got the first Picture above..... Well textured and looking very paneer...
And it wasn't sour as I feared..


I cut them into cubes(pic-2) and then fried till golden brown(pic-3) in 3 TBS oil. Then, I kept it aside.

  • In the same Pan with about 2 TBS oil remaining, I put 1 tsp of cumin seed and put finely chopped onions( 1 onion)..and two green chillis sliced in halves(for flavor)
  • When the onions are transparent, I added 4 cloves garlic and half inch ginger both crushed together..
  • Now I added one poatato cut into half inch cubes, and half a cup of green peas, and one tomato finely chopped.
  • I added half tsp of cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander seed powder, half tsp Chilli powder, and turmeric to your measurement-half tsp should do.
  • Cover and cook till potatoes are done in low heat.
  • Add the paneer and fry together for 5 minutes, add salt.
  • Add one and half cup of boiling water.

I didn't add any other masala and I hate garam masala, but if you like garam masala, you may sprinkle some at this point. When gravy becomes thick, garnish with coriander/cilantro and serve.

Enjoy....

If only I could prepare chicken from eggs.....lol

33 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love Paneer! yum :)!

Will you make saag paneer for me?

1/15/2006 05:53:00 PM  
Blogger Kalyn Denny said...

Very interesting. This is an Indian food I haven't tried, but I do want to. Thanks for the heads up about Meena. I like that blog.

1/15/2006 06:16:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@Clare: Sure.. WIll do it..maybe next sunday... K!! or sooner

@Kalyn: Try it its vey simple. wait till i post the recipe later tonite...

1/15/2006 08:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am honored Sirjee!! You are the bestest of the best. I will try it this week for sure. It looks so yummy in pictures only. I think cottage cheese is called panner here, so will have to check it out. Oh Man!! I am already excited. I will give you my review as soon as I make it. Thank You once again!!

1/16/2006 08:20:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

@ Melissa: *hugs* to Panama from india ;-)

Will Answer the Meme soon, and do try it out.. Its really simple and you will have fun trying it..

1/16/2006 09:52:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeah it is Paneer no less... And do try out the hwole hog, you will have fun making the paneer from milk.. it takes 15 minutes to get the paneer out of Milk..lol

1/16/2006 09:53:00 AM  
Blogger silverine said...

I have to try this out as paneer is my all time fav ingredient! Will let you know.

1/16/2006 09:35:00 PM  
Blogger Shammi said...

Wow, Anthony, your paneer has kept its shape beautifully! Mine came out looking like paneer bhurji - so crumbly I couldnt cut it. And your green peas paneer masala looks scrumptious. You're one heckuva cook! :)

1/17/2006 11:17:00 PM  
Blogger Swamy VKN said...

Anthony - Thank you for taste-testing and posting about My Dhaba's mattar paneer masala. I have noticed that you have made few changes to My Dhaba's recipe. How did it go without garam masala and few other ingredients? Addition of potatoes is a great thought too.

1/17/2006 11:54:00 PM  
Blogger Admin said...

@ Silverine... DO try soon... and lemme know

@ Shammi: Thanks dear.. You have to squeeze when the Milk is hot I guess, and you may sueeze it under running water if it is too hot...

@ VKN: I don't like garam masala somehow(somehow I think it is bad for stomach lol), and other than dhania Jeera, I always keep the recipes simple... You know Bachelor cooking LOL.. It came out amazing though... If i want to put Masala, I always put Chicken masala... My favorite...lol.. try putting chicken masala instead of garam masala.. It is different and wonderful LOL..

But of coursee, I will make your Recipe too..exact to the Tee,,, OK and try Garam Masala for you..

1/18/2006 11:12:00 AM  
Blogger Kay said...

Hey Anthony, I've been thinking Paneer making is way too time consuming and very difficult, There goes your post crumbling that thought. I'll certainly try making Paneer using your recipe. Hate those store bought ones (Allergic to aged cheeses.)

1/18/2006 11:37:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anthony, your peas and mattar masala looks yummy . your paneer cubes have turned out great !

hey, reading your line about the egg and chicken ..did remind me about a picture ,which sure would make you pause for a while.you can check on this link...

http://www.geocities.com/namasthe11/Fun.html

1/20/2006 09:18:00 PM  
Blogger Stephanie said...

One of the reasons why I never make my fave paneer saag is because I cannot get fresh paneer where I live. Now I can! Thanks so much for this post.

1/22/2006 09:17:00 AM  
Blogger Admin said...

@ Kay Please do.. it was quite easy.

@` lera: DO try it out.. it was quite delicious.

@ MM: my Pleasure..

1/22/2006 02:38:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Anthony,

I've tried this recipe of yours and it was amazing!! I bought the paneer from outside as I was not yet confident of making it. This was the first time I made paneer ki subji and it was very good just because of you.

Thank you. I've been following your blog since many months and this is the first time I'm actually commenting on it.

Take care,
Sushma

6/29/2006 11:26:00 AM  
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10/04/2007 03:22:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what an appetizing curry! The curry is very popular high home cooking in Japan! I am interested in the food culture of your country very much. Please come to my site to play once if good.

4/08/2008 07:58:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Really a delicious dish. This dish goes with any rice dishes as ell as rotis & parathas.

5/21/2008 05:52:00 PM  
Blogger Shan said...

Its wonderful to have a blog for bachelor cooking(simple recipes).. i am gonna try this panner masala today...thanks..yaar..

8/01/2008 11:00:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow....ummmmmmmmmmmm
I like it very much.It looks nice.
Paneer is best dish for me.I'll make it soon.

8/06/2008 12:46:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice recipe.. Very informative,Hey, great post. Really great tips for beginners,Thanks...Very informative website with important details.
This article does help with me learning how to swim. here we are also having some cooking article plz visit..thanks

2/05/2009 02:00:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm a little bit new to Indian cooking. What exactly is Paneer? I'm excited to try it out. Thanks for the post.

3/02/2009 07:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I liked this recipe very much. I will defenitely try out this tommorow
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3/06/2009 06:21:00 PM  
Blogger Food and Experience Lover said...

wow! looks delicious! i am someone who just started cooking, might try your recipe once i get better in cooking!

3/12/2009 09:27:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The paneer masala dish looks good. I am sure it will taste as good as the picture. the flavor can be enhanced by adding a spoonful of clarified butter. Garam masala will add a richer flavor.

3/18/2009 06:24:00 PM  
Anonymous Easy recipes said...

I love curry and this is a great recipes. Looks delicious! Thanks!

6/12/2009 03:42:00 PM  
Anonymous Nayan Kale said...

This is the curry I have eaten like 1000 times until now. But the important thing is to make it in Patan ghee... Instead of that the curry does not feel good..

12/30/2009 02:24:00 AM  
Blogger Slick said...

hmm...that actually seems like alot of effort though. I guess my keywords of searching for bachelor cooking on google were misinterpreted. I need a "really" easy recipe. Oh well.. nonetheless this was interesting.

2/18/2010 02:39:00 AM  
Anonymous Amy B. said...

I dont know much about Indian food but what I know is I love curry!!! Hope I can make a good Indian dish myself, thanks for the post. ;-)

3/28/2010 09:26:00 AM  
Anonymous Maaya said...

wow what a great recipe thanks!
it looks amazing and with so much taste and aroma

4/01/2010 04:52:00 PM  
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6/23/2010 08:06:00 PM  
Blogger Venkat said...

It looks delicious! Thank you for the recipe, Wonderful writing ... I have everything at home, and will try it this weekend and also check out my video
How To Make Thai Red Curry

9/04/2012 04:04:00 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

yummy recipe.. i have tried this..it was awesome.. thanks a lot. for beverages check Drink Recipes

4/03/2013 03:31:00 PM  

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