Learning from a past blog post, I've finally found success with a recipe I have long wanted to master at home. Paneer Makhani, this rich North Indian-inspired dish can be mine, all mine! And this version is probably much healthier than whatever you get at restaurants to boot.
This recipe produces a creamy, smooth light tomato sauce with a nice and unexpected tang from the inadvertent idli podi that I added, thinking it was chili powder. I'll report back if the podi is a necessary ingredient, or just something that helps mix things up.
Otherwise though, the below ingredients produce an evenly spiced dish, not the too-often harshly flavored North Indian recipes one finds on the internet or in books.
Ingredients
- 1/2 block of store bought paneer, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1 thai green chile, sliced lengthwise
- 2 green cardamon pods, left whole
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp idli podi or chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- ~1/4 cup heavy cream (eyeballed amount)
- sea salt
- olive oil
Directions
- Heat 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a skillet or sauce pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add the paneer and saute, tossing every minute or two, until all of the sides are lightly browned. Transfer paneer to a plate or bowl.
- In a blender, puree the onion, garlic and tomatoes until smooth.
- In the same skillet, add another tbsp. of olive oil and heat until warm. Add the chile, cardamon, cinnamon stick, podi, cumin and turmeric, and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until fragrant.
- Then stir in the tomato mixture, reducing heat and simmering the sauce for 10 minutes or until lightly reduced.
- Then mix in the heavy cream and the paneer, and cook until the paneer is re-heated through. Season with salt to taste.
- Remove the whole spices before serving.
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