KADAI PANEER

My DH and I love paneer in almost any form and taste. In fact, we loved it when we found it in our pasta :) ( I will post that recipe later). Now, the recipe for the addictive Kadai paneer. Before that, the word 'Kadai' means wok or pan, in case you are wondering.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

2 cups paneer, cubed

1 medium sized capsicum / green bell pepper, cubed

1 large onion

2 green chillies

2-3pods of garlic, crushed

1 piece of ginger, crushed (or 1tsp ginger paste)

2 medium sized tomato, pureed

A pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves

1 tsp red chilli powder

A pinch of turmeric powder

1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp oil

1 tsp of Lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh curd

Salt to taste

How to make it

- Deep Fry the Paneer cubes in Oil, until they turn to golden brown in color.( I generally don't fry paneer for other recipes, but for this one, I have tried both and they have a taste of their own. So, frying is purely optional. If you don't fry paneer, you can skip the next part. It might turn too soggy or even break.)

- Remove from the Oil and transfer them to a bowl containing 1/2 cup of Fresh Curd and keep them together for 10 min. Mix the Paneer cubes well with curd, so that the Paneer turns soft and fluffy. Keep aside.

- Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a Pan, add Chopped Onions and Turmeric Powder and fry until the Onions slices turn transparent. Then add Ginger and Garlic and fry for a minute.

- Now add chopped Green Chillies, Chopped Tomatoes and fry until the Tomatoes turns soft and are cooked properly. It might take nearly 5 minutes to have the Tomatoes cooked.

- At this stage, add all the powders listed in the ingredients box above – Chilli Powder, Coriander or Dhaniya Powder, Cumin or Jeera Powder and Garam Masala Powder to the pan.

- Add Salt and half cup of Water to this mixture and cook for 5 minutes.

- Now add Green Capsicum (Bell Pepper) to the pan and cook for 5 min by closing the lid. Ensure that the Capsicum or Bell Pepper pieces do not turn too soft.

- Add fried and soaked Paneer or Cottage Cheese with Curd to the above mixture along with dried Fenugreek leaves or Kasuri Methi and cook for 2-3 minutes so that the aroma of the Kasuri Methi spreads into the Curry.

- Next add Lemon Juice and mix well.

- Once done, garnish with cilantro and serve hot with naan/kulcha/chapathis