“Paneer dishes are probably the most common choices in the vegetarian menu while ordering food or cooking something special at home. There are many Paneer options to choose from like Paneer Butter Masala, Paneer Tikka Masala, Kadai Paneer etc. Although all these dishes are great in taste yet it gets repetitive and boring once you have tried all of them with their traditional style. Therefore, I keep exploring new dishes to avoid monotonous cooking process and enjoy new flavors. I posted one such non-typical Paneer recipe, Lehsuni Palak-Paneer sometime ago (I hope you liked it). With the same idea, today I am presenting this very unique recipe which gives you a refreshing tangy-cum-spicy taste with a pinch of sweet (Jaggery). Try this distinguished method for a change and I am sure you will make it more often.”
Ingredients:
- 400 gms- Diced Cottage cheese (chokor kate huye Paneer ke tukde)
- 1 cup- Yogurt/Curd (Dahi)
- 6 to 8- Garlic cloves (Lehsun)
- 1 inch- Ginger (Adrak)
- 1 cup- Finely chopped Onion (Barik Kati hui Pyaaz)
- 1 tablespoon- Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 tablespoon- Coriander seeds (Khada dhaniya)
- 1 tablespoon- Fenugreek seeds (Methi Dana)
- ½ tablespoon- Black pepper whole (Khadi kaali mirch)
- 8 to 10- Dry red chilli whole (Sukhi Lal Mirch khadi)
- 1 teaspoon- Red chilli powder (Lal Mirch powder)
- 1 teaspoon- Turmeric powder (Haldi)
- 3-4 tablespoons- Tamarind paste (Imli ka paste)
- 1 tablespoon- Powdered jaggery (Gud powder)
- 4 tablespoons- Clarified butter (Ghee)
- Finely chopped coriander for garnishing (Bareek kata hara Dhaniya)
- Salt as per taste
Method:
- Take yogurt/curd in a big bowl; add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well to form a paste.
- Marinate diced cottage cheese (Paneer) with the paste (as shown in the Picture-1) made in the previous step.
- Keep the bowl in the fridge to rest for 25- 30 minutes.
- Take cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fenugreek seeds, black pepper whole, dry red chillies (whole) in a pan and dry-roast these whole spices on low- medium heat for 4-5 minutes or until they splutter (as shown in the Picture-2).
- Now transfer these whole spices in a grinding jar. Add garlic cloves, ginger and tamarind paste. Grind these spices into a fine paste.
- Heat ghee in a pan, add chopped onion and sauté till they turn golden brown (as shown in Picture-3). Now add spice paste which was prepared in previous step, mix and cook for 3-4 minutes on low-medium heat.
- Add marinated cottage cheese (Paneer) along with all the marinating paste left, mix gently with spices and cook covered for 3-4 minutes. Add 1 table spoon jaggery powder and salt as required, give it a gentle mix.
- Cover the pan again and let it cook for another 2 minutes on low heat.
- Transfer in a serving bowl and garnish it with chopped fresh coriander.
- Serve hot with Naan/Chapati/Phulka/ Rice.
