Tuesday 11 May 2010

Paneer Mattar Masala

Well, I had to get off my ass and start cooking something, otherwise we would have had to survive on love and fresh air..with love not doing that good a job...hmpfff! All the lethargy and sickness made me very bitchy and made Ro very pushy or whatever he was then. We started off this decent discussion on why i didn't want to vote at the General Elections, and then it somehow took off on a different tangent and ended in a fight...and now I'm not talking to him.
On a nice note, I finally "woke" up yesterday, did my laundry, cleaned up..well to an extent and also went out and shopped...grocery obviously..but still..and picked up lots of shit like Nutella and mini toffee yumyums and crisps. I also had this longing for paneer and so picked up a slab and made this paneer mattar masala which turned out quite nice (Well anything after 1 week of eating leftovers would have tasted heavenly).
Because i am an awesome, loving wife, i shared it with Ro who was mean and didn't even say it tasted good. Now the mean bitchy me wouldn't have packed him lunch today, but i did and then in the afternoon he sends me a mail (well because my phone's conked that's why!) saying some nice things and so I've decided to forgive him.

Paneer- 225 gms, cut into medium size cubes

To marinate:
Yogurt- 1 tbsp
Kashmiri chilli powder- 1/2 tsp
Fenugreek powder- 1/4 tsp
Lime juice- 1/2 tsp
Salt- to taste

White onion- 1 large, thinly sliced
Tomatoes- 2, medium, thinly sliced
Green Peas- 1/4 cup (I used frozen peas)
Ginger paste- 1 tbsp
Garlic paste- 1 tbsp
Jeera seeds- 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Coriander powder- 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder1/4 tsp
Kashmiri Chilli powder- 1/4 tsp (if required)
Salt- to taste
Garam masala- 1/4 tsp
Oil- 2 tbsp

Coriander leaves- to garnish

Marinate the paneer cubes with all the ingredients in the 'to marinate' section. Keep aside for 15 to 20 minutes.
(You can get the onions and tomatoes ready during this time)
In a non-stick frying pan, heat the oil and shallow fry the marinated paneer, in batches if required, till lightly brown on all sides...don't over cook. Drain on kitchen towels, keep aside.
Pour the remaining oil from frying the paneer into a wok and once hot, throw in the jeera seeds.
Once they start to sizzle, add the onions, ginger paste and garlic paste and sauté on low heat till they turn golden brown.
Throw in all the powders, except garam masala and sauté well till you get rid of the raw smell.
Add the chopped tomatoes, stirring in between till the oil separates.
Add the frozen peas and mix well into the masala.
In goes the fried paneer. Mix it all together, making sure the paneer slices are well coated with the masala.
Sprinkle the garam masala, give it one final stir, sprinkle the coriander leaves, turn off the heatand cover and leave for about 5 minutes.
Serve hot with rotis.
Notes: You can loosen up the mixture a bit with some water or cream.
The oil was a tad too much, I'll definitely reduce it the next time.

PS: This post is dedicated to my cousin in ND with whom i caught up after so long and we yapped for about 2 hrs. Even though we keep chatting on FB and the like, I miss her terribly. She loves paneer so so much and so here S, I'm virtually treating you. Muah!

25 comments:

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Well..at-least he apologized via email..don't expect these things 5 years from now..they won't cough up a sorry or take time to send a mail..enjoy it while it lasts..
Umm..lovely mattar paneer. Now I am craving for a bowl of that as well.

divya said...

Very healthy and interesting recipe.it looks sooooooooo tempting...

Pavithra Elangovan said...

Wow thats drooling curry .. which goes very well with roti and rice...

Pointblank said...

ha ha ha... nishi... u and ur love story... and roshan is damn lucky that he has awesome, loving wife who doesn't starve him...

Priya Suresh said...

Slurpp, am inviting myself to ur place to enjoy these beautiful paneer masala...drooling here..

Sushma Mallya said...

Love this combo,really delicious to have with roti...

Ms.Chitchat said...

Hehehehe,lovely amicable ending love story:):)Awesome dish and a superb click.

Unknown said...

Haahaa...love the read....the dish looks superb..one of my favourites...

Sanyukta Gour(Bayes) said...

my favorites...lovely pics..wanna hv the bowl...awesome dish..

Unknown said...

Loved reading your story :) Paneer mattar masala looks really colorful and tasty..

Manju said...

lol..too cute a post!! :)

matar paneer, now thats something I havent made in a while now. On my menu planner for next week! :)

PJ said...

oh these small fights.. they are the best part of living together i think! the paneer matar masala looks a very make-up worthy dish :)

Shabs.. said...

Oh, i hate these kind of small fights especially in this coutry where u havw no one to turn to!....how much of distress it can lead into and that too for silly yeeason, it happens with me at times....Its always better to get rid of that silence soon else it will end up in depression......But i guess its women who almost everytime end up breaking the silence bubble and starts talking....Egotistic men wont do, i wish one day they do that...:)...cheer up..

Pinney, zabin....ariyaathey pinney....i just talked to her sometime back and she was in gym....we are having a family get together at centreparcs at the end of this month...will be meeting her there....Iam quite close to her as well....she is my hubby's friend's wifey.....why?...How do u know her?Oh i shud tell her about u....us name is nisha na..?

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Ur Space is filled with so muc delcious food galore :-)))

Hullo PAL,

I love giveaways , as muc as u do!!!!

So Am also here to tell u something interesting!!!
SUper giveaway at this link...psst psst, am sure u love LE CRUESET ,dont ya?
Well its jus one of the goodies u can chose:-))))

http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/04/my-1st-sunshine-giveaway-thanxxx-aton.html
end05/14

and a few pans and cutters too...baking is fun aint it...

http://brightmorningstarsfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/05/summer-poemes-on-mothers-day365-jam.html
ends05/28

Shabs.. said...

Oh, i see....when u told me about her, i just thought about how small the world is!!And you just wrote that to me..Quite amazed..will surely say ur hi to her...:)

Nitha said...

Paneer looks delicious and colourful....

Namitha said...

Paneer is one of my fav...paneer mutter is classy :-)Love the clicks !

♥Sugar♥Plum♥Fairy♥ said...

Hey thanxxx a ton for dropping by:-)))

For the sunshine giveaway yup its US and Canada sweets but for the Tart pan and cutters , its India as of now, since the supplier is from there , but am working on international , so if ur In UK and say u win , if u have a pal in India ,we send it to her/him,and may add a few more things too:-)))

Suja Manoj said...

cute post..paneer looks delicious.

Unknown said...

Wow delicious!!!Looks real inviting and ur pics are making it more tempting....U have an amazing space here....

keep up the good work
Njoy blogging n happy cooking...

Malar Gandhi said...

It happens...but its good to break the silence, soon. Mattar paneer looks delicious.

Reflections said...

I love the way u write....candid and getting us to sympathise with u inspite of all of us knowing tht Ro is the better half;-D

I'm going, I'm going....and oh the mp looks delicious!!!

Reflections said...

I thought I was the only one who visited u all the way from Dooobai....but ur feedit is showing hordes of ppl visiting from my end;-o

Sunitha said...

I read your pana cotta recipe and then read this one and I was wondering if you guys patched up :) Have a good one!

Reflections said...

I made this 2 weeks back; tasted good but didnt look anything like this picture...came out darker maybe bcoz I used normal chilly powdr;-P