Sunday, June 13, 2010

Shahi Paneer

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It's raining outside as I write this post, and believe me, it feels good. The temperatures had been on a steady incline for the past 2 days and this afternoon it felt as if we were in for a tough week. Of late, rains preceded by a storm and lashing winds reminds of my visit to Palampur last month. The night before we were to leave, there was a huge windstorm, followed by rains and hail. In the wilderness with only trees and tea plantation around for miles, it can be a really scary experience watching nature's fury in full force.
A week after coming back from the vacations I had my in-laws over for the first weekend and since they are vegetarians, I got down to making the fool proof- always get rave reviews- shahi paneer. Now Shahi literally translated to English means Royal. Shahi dishes are meant to evoke a feeling of feeling royal, by having food using rich ingredients. This enrichment is usually provided by adding dried fruit or nuts or even dairy products like cream. Therefore, dishes having the shahi name are by nature very rich. The usage of rich ingredients like cashew, almonds, raisins or large quantities of cream in Indian dishes lends to the Shahi name being used. There are several variations of this dish available involving cauliflower, chicken, mutton, lamb, potatoes etc. and it is not uncommon to walk into a roadside eatery in India or the popular restaurant overseas and find this dish on the menu.

Other paneer recipes on this blog:
Paneer Moghlai Kofta in Palak Gravy
Paneer Ki Seekh
Achari Paneer Tikka
Kadhai Paneer
Qasar-E-Pukhtan
Paneer Makai

Shahi Paneer

Ingredients:
Paneer (Cottage Cheese), cut into 2" dices : 250 gm
Yogurt: 1/4 Cup
Milk : 1/2 Cup
Cashewnut, ground into paste: 1/4 Cup
Onions, finely chopped: 1/2 Cup
Ginger, finely chopped: 1 Tblsp
Green Chillies, chopped fine: 3
Tomatoes, chopped : 4
Green cardamom, crushed : 2
Coriander Powder : 1 Tsp
Red Chili Powder : 1 Tsp
Ghee : 3 Tsp
Salt: To Taste
Oil: For frying paneer
Coriander, chopped : 1 Tsp (For Garnish)
Cream, for garnish

Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok and fry paneer in it till it turns golden brown.
2. Drain and put in a bowl containing water.
3. Heat ghee in another wok.
4. Add onion and cook till it starts to turn light golden.
5. Add in the ginger and fry for 2 more minutes.
6. Add in the green chili and cardamom. Fry for a minute.
7. Add in the coriander powder and red chili powder. Fry for a minute.
8. Add in the tomatoes and cook for 6-7 minutes.
9. Add the beaten yogurt and cook for 5 more minutes.
10. Take off flame and cool.
11. Blend in a mixer till smooth.
12. Add the paste back to the wok and put back on flame.
13. As it comes to a boil, drain the paneer from the bowl of water and add the paneer pieces to the gravy.
14. Add milk and adjust consistency.
15. Add salt as per taste.
16. Serve hot garnished with chopped coriander and cream.

3 comments:

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Srivalli said...

Hello Gaurav..hope you are doing good..guess work is keeping you busy..that's a yummy paneer and quite a list of paneer items..:)

Gaurav said...

Hi Sri, yes doing good and extremely busy. Been caught up with work and family, however, am going to get back to the blog this year and start updating in a week's time. How have you been ???

 
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