I am going to share one royal Paneer dish i.e. Paneer Kali Mirch. This mouthwatering Kalimirch Paneer is coated with cashew- onion paste and cream. One thing that I feel extremely proud as an Indian is the success of curry all across the world. Just now I was chatting with my sister over Whatsapp, she was telling me how surprised she felt on seeing Sarvana Bhawan and Desi Indian Restaurants in Paris. It’s so popular that in UK there is a yearly curry festival where various veg and non-veg curries are savored by people and attracts lots of visitors from around the world. Paneer means cottage cheese and Kali mirch is Black pepper, hence the name Kali mirch wala Paneer. Basically cubes of cottage cheese is marinated with mix of spices and then simmered slowly with Cashew paste to bring out the flavor. The end result is before you...
Coming from North India it was obvious for us to love Paneer Dishes like Methi Mutter Paneer, Paneer Bhurji, Shahi Paneer, Tandoori Paneer and we Bengalis are fond of Paneer Paturi.
For the marinade:
200 gms Cottage Cheese (paneer), Cut into small cubes
4 tbsp Hung curd
1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tsp Ginger paste
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Black pepper powder
To make gravy you need:
2 Onions
1" inch Ginger
2 Green chillies
1 cup Yogurt
1/2 tsp Red chilly powder
1 tsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp Pepper powder (adjust as per your taste) + 15 Pepercorns*
2 Cloves
2 Tej patta
8-10 Cashews, soaked in warm water
1 tbsp fresh Cream
Salt to taste
3 tbsp Oil
Method:
Start with the marination of cottage cheese, Mix everything together under "For the Marination" and keep aside for 2 hours.
Heat oil in a non-stick pan. Fry the paneer pieces until turns to light pink (be careful as frying them too long will make paneer lose it's softness). **Save the left over of marinade to use later. Dip the fired paneer pieces into 1/2 warm milk.
We need to blanch the onions for this recipe so after you peel them, cut onions into four pieces. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, drop the onions in the hot water and continue to boil for another 4-5 minutes or till soft. Remove the blanched onions immediately and place them in cold water. Once they cool completely, drain from cold water and keep aside.
Now make a paste of blanched onion, ginger, green chilies, cashews with 15 peppercorns*. In the remaining oil add tej patta and cloves and stir it for a second.
Add onion-cashew paste and fry till it's light pink or till you see oil leaving the sides. Take the marinade leftover **add little water and mix in salt, red chilly powder, coriander powder and pepper powder and stir well for 3-4 minutes. Later add whisked yogurt. Stir fast so that it doesn't curdle. Add one cup of water and salt to taste and bring it to boil.
After first boil add fried paneer pieces and let it cook on medium flame for another 3-4 minutes. Mix in cream and garam masala. Adjust the seasoning and consistency of the gravy, cover the pan and cook it for another 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and garnish with freshly grounded black peppercorns and serve hot with Peshawari Paratha or Kulcha.
