I love Paneer and love making it myself. In this video I show you how to make rich and delicious paneer curry from the paneer you made yourself. The recipe is going to be very easy that everyone can make and enjoy.
Serves 4
Cooking time 25 minutes and rest to prepare.
Ingredients
300g Paneer
2 large Tomato
4 tbsp Sunflower oil
50g Cashew nuts
2 small Onions
2 Cinnamon leaves or bay leaves
4 tbsp all-purpose Flour
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1.5 tsp Salt or to taste
0.5 tsp Turmeric powder
0.5 Chili powder
2 tbsp Butter
Some chopped spring Coriander
1 tsp Honey optional
To make masala blend
5 cloves of Garlic
1 inch Ginger
1 small stick of Cinnamon
5 pods of green Cardamom
5 Cloves
4 red spicy Chilies
1 tbsp spring Coriander stems
1 tsp Cumin powder
1 tbsp Coriander powder
How to make:
First, cross score on the back of the tomatoes and put them into a bowl then water, pour boiling hot water until it covers them completely and keep it aside for more than 10 minutes.
To make Masala blend, put all the spices into a blender and blend it until it's smooth texture.
Next, 50g of toasted Cashew nuts, soak in 5 tbsp of hot water for 15 minutes and blend it with soaked water until it's smooth and silky texture, and keep it aside.
Now, chop onions finely. Tomatoes peel the skin off and chop them as fine as possible and keep it aside.
Paneer, chop it up into bite size pieces. If you find the cubes are too watery, dry them with a paper towel or clothes and coat them with all purpose flour. Make sure to coat evenly with 4 tbsp of flour then fry them.
Heat a pan on medium heat. Pour 3 tbsp of sunflower oil and let the oil heat up until it reaches 150 to160c or if you put a little piece of paneer in the hot oil, that comes up from the bottom of the pan frying and it floats to the surface of the oil. That means the oil is ready. Place the paneer in one by one. Do not make it crowded. Fry it evenly, flipping the sides until it gets a nice golden brown color. Remove to a paper towel and set aside.
Now it's time to make curry. Heat a pan on medium heat and put 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in. Heat for a few seconds then add cumin seeds, let it brown a bit. Then cinnamon leaves or you can use bay leaves. And the chopped Onion. Cook it, stirring for about 4 to 5 minutes or until the onion caramelizes lightly.
Now, add the masala blend that we just made before. Combine well with onion and add 1 tbsp water, combine well again and cook it for 2 minutes until the masala cooks and separates the oil. After the oil starts to separate, add in the chopped tomatoes and salt. Combine well and cook it with the lid on until the tomato becomes soft for 3 to 4 minutes.
Lid off, the tomato has softened. Combine it well and add turmeric powder and chili powder. Combine it well again then cook it until all the juices from the tomato dries. After it’s dried and the oil has separated. Reduce the heat to medium low and put in the blended cashew. Combine it well then put about 3 tbsp of water in the same bowl, pour it all in and combine it well then cook it for 2 minutes.
After two minutes, mix it again and add 1 .5 cups of water. If you like you can add a bit more water it depends how thick the sauce you like to have. At this point, keep heat to medium. Combine it well again until it is homogeneous and bring it to a boil.
Now, add the fried paneer, 1 tbsp butter or ghee and sprinkle some green coriander then combine it gently very well then cook it for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, give a gentle stir and taste then adjust salt. I’m adding my secret ingredient 1 tsp honey to balance the taste and this is totally optional but trust me it's going be delicious.
Now, combine this well. Remove the leaves and here we have our delicious Nepalese Paneer Curry to be served. Let it rest at least for 10 minutes before serving it to the paneer to absorb all the deliciousness from the sauce. And best to enjoy with Rice or Roti.
