Vegetarian cooking school. Shahi Paneer. Traditional Indian holiday dish How to quickly prepare fluffy unleavened flatbreads
I made it for the first time after the New Year, but never had time to post the recipe. In India they ate it, but in fact, I like what I cooked better. A wonderful hot dish with low-fat cheese from Indian cuisine.
For all lovers of exotics, Ayurveda and lacto-vegetarians!
Ingredients for Shahi Paneer
Cheese(paneer, can be replaced with Adyghe cheese) - 400 g
Tomato(medium size, can be frozen) - 2 pcs.
Bulb onions(medium size) - 1 piece, but today I will try to replace it with asafoetida
Garlic(medium size) - 2 teeth, but today I will try to replace it with asafoetida
Ginger(fresh, grated) - 0.5 tsp.
Cream(10%) - 250-300 ml.
Garam masala(heaped teaspoon) - 1 tsp.
Cardamom(ground, level teaspoon) - 1 tsp.
Salt(to taste), but I usually use soy sauce, although it’s not a fact that it will work here
Sugar(to taste) - 1-2 tsp, brown is best of course
Vegetable oil(for frying) - I use only olive oil, here - refined
Tomato paste- 2 tsp.
Bulgarian pepper- 1 PC
Shahi Paneer Recipe
| Now it's time for the cream. I indicated the approximate quantity. Add cream gradually. They will thicken and you will be able to determine how much sauce you need. The sauce doesn't have to be very thick - something like pancake batter. After this, add salt to taste and be sure to add sugar, because... tomatoes and tomato paste will give a rather sour taste. I usually put 1-2 tsp. Sahara. But you try and focus on your feelings. As a result, the sauce should have a pleasant sweet and sour taste. When the taste of the sauce is adjusted, add bell pepper and stir. |
Cooking instructions
30 minutes Print
1. Chop the onion, scald the tomatoes with boiling water, peel them and cut into pieces. Subsequently, it is better to grind the tomato sauce with a blender to get a smooth sauce, then the size of the onion and tomato pieces is not important, and if you chop finely, they will almost dissolve on their own. Crib How to cut onions
2. Saute the onion in a saucepan; when it becomes transparent, add a grated 2 cm piece of ginger and 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed with a garlic press.
Crib How to prepare garlic
3. Add tomatoes to the onions and simmer everything together.
Crib How to prepare tomatoes
4. Grind 15 cashew nuts into a paste and add to the tomatoes. You can do without cashews, although they give an interesting shade.
5. Add spices. If you plan to add a blender to the process, then take out the cardamom boxes and add only the seeds (if not, you can crush the box with your hands and throw it in whole) and add the bay leaf after. 0.5 tsp chili - it will be a little spicy, adjust the pepper to your taste. Blender tool Any blender can handle turning soup into puree. Be it Braun, or Bosch, or Kitchen Aid. This is still not grinding ice. The main thing is that the jug is glass or steel. Hot soup is not for plastic. There are, of course, immersion blenders that can be used to make puree directly in the pan. But the editors of the Afisha-Food magazine give preference to those with jugs. Their results are more tender.
7. Adyghe cheese (or better yet, paneer (homemade cheese), cut into cubes of a comfortable size for eating and add to the sauce, cook for a few more minutes: give the cheese the opportunity to absorb all the flavors.
8. Serve with Indian naan, other bread or rice.
Shahi Paneer is a richly flavored main dish for big celebrations. This dish is prepared on special occasions, most often in restaurants, because it is believed that it is incredibly difficult to maintain the necessary consistency and flavor of the gravy, so few people prepare this dish at home. Although, in essence, Shahi Paneer is homemade Indian cheese in milk-creamy-tomato gravy. The additives vary, but the gravy should contain several tastes: sweet, sour, salty, spicy. Shahi paneer can be served with any Indian bread, nan or rice.
Recipe for 4 servings
Ingredients:
1/2 pound paneer* (about 1-1/2 cups paneer, cut into cubes)
12 cashews
2 chopped tomatoes
1 green chili, chopped
1/4 inch ginger
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/8 teaspoon asafoetida (Hin) (asafetida is an Indian spice that tastes and smells like onion and garlic combined)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tablespoon coriander powder (dhanya)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric (Haldi)
1/4 teaspoon red chili powder, to taste
1/2 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon sugar (sugar can be omitted or replaced with brown sugar)
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon garam masala (see recipe for making garam masala at home below)
2 tablespoons chopped coriander (Hara dhanya)
Cooking method
1. Cut the paneer into 3/4 inch cubes. Set aside.
2. Grind the cashew nuts to a powdery consistency. Set aside.
3.Mash the tomatoes, green chillies and ginger.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Fry the paneer cubes on the surface until golden brown. Remove from pan and place on paper towel to remove excess oil.
5. Increase the heat to medium-high and check the oil by adding one cumin seed. If the seed cracks immediately, the oil is ready.
6. Add the cumin seeds to the oil and when they start to crack, add the asafoetida and bay leaf. Stir for a few seconds.
7. Add tomato paste, coriander powder, turmeric, red chili powder and paprika. Cook the mixture, stirring for 2-3 minutes. The volume will be reduced to half and the oil will begin to separate.
8. Add sugar, cashew powder and yogurt. Cook for another minute, then add 1 cup water, salt and bring to a boil.
9. Add paneer and cover with lid. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until slightly thickened.
10. Remove from heat and add garam masala and chopped coriander. Stir gently, cover and leave for a couple of minutes.
Shahi paneer tastes better when served hot.
Shahi paneer (“Royal cheese”) is a truly royal dish of Indian cuisine, which is prepared very simply, moreover, from a minimal and affordable set of products. In India, Shahi paneer is usually prepared for festive occasions, but we really liked the dish even for no reason. Serve it with rice or just any kind of bread. Indeed, the Shahi paneer dish is so self-sufficient that it is enough to serve it with freshly baked bread, but pasta is also perfect.
The main colorful shade of the dish is given by it, which is best prepared at home. The taste of the dish itself depends on the correct mixture of spices. Although every garam masala mixture contains the same ingredients, a couple of additional ones radically change its overall taste. In the recipe I will give you a set we love, maybe you will like it too. The mixture is so aromatic that apart from the spice of red pepper and ginger, I didn’t want to “clog” it with anything else.
There are recipe options with fried cheese and with unfried cheese. In my opinion, with fried, the taste of the dish is more colorful, and the cheese holds its shape better when stirred. In addition, the airy soufflé mass inside the piece and the crispy crust on the outside are unlikely to leave anyone indifferent. The thickness of the sauce can also be adjusted to suit your preferences. For example, if served with a side dish, it is better to make the sauce less thick, but with bread, you can make it thicker. Cook for fun!
