10.21.2008

Paneer Stir Fry


After making the paneer palak, I had some of that marvelous Indian cheese left over, so I made this. Absolutely delicious! I think frying lightly in ghee (clarified butter) really brings out the flavor of the cheese.

I started with this recipe, then diverged to the following:

Food process until chopped:
1 serrano pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 large shallots
1 TB grated ginger


Fry this mixture in 1 TB olive oil or ghee until becoming golden.
Add the spices & stir:
1 TB garam masala
1 scant TB turmeric
1 TB cumin
1 tea red pepper flakes


Meanwhile, cut paneer cheese into bite size pieces. Heat 2 TB ghee (clarified butter, you could substitute oil, but it won't taste the same) in a pan. Carefully and gently fry the paneer in batches (don't burn yourself like we did!). Don't burn it, it tastes best when golden brown. Set aside.

Add sliced/cut veggies and 1/4 C raw cashews to the shallot/garlic/serrano pepper mixture and stir to combine. Add a water as needed to create a thick sauce. Cover and cook until veggies are soft.

Stir in fried paneer and a couple TB plain yogurt or milk to make the sauce more creamy. Taste and season with salt (you can also add salt at the table, so go easy. Heat through and serve over rice with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

No comments: