Indian Curry with Paneer
Lately, paneer has started popping up in mainstream markets. This is fantastic news for anyone who likes Indian food, cheeses of all kinds, or likes to try out new ingredients. You can substitute a firm fresh cheese like queso fresco for paneer — or even tofu, if you’re so inclined — but paneer is tops at sucking up deep, earthy flavors like curry and adding a satisfying texture to dishes. I know I was thrilled when I found in my local grocer’s cheese case!
Paneer can be made from any kind of milk (cow, sheep, goat, buffalo), but it’s characterized by its fresh unsaltiness. It’s basically milk curdled with lemon juice and then drained and pressed. The resulting hard/soft cheese won’t melt the way most cheeses do, which means you can add cubes of paneer to your curries and other hot dishes and be confident that the cubes will hold their shape. The toothsome chewiness of paneer makes a nice contrast to crunchy vegetables and warm curry spices, plus it’s an economical way to extend a dish. (Good-quality meat costs more than good-quality paneer.)
Curries are simple: you need vegetables, curry powder (make your own blend or buy a pre-made powder), coconut milk/yogurt if you’d like your curry to be thick and creamy, and paneer if you’d like to add a touch of cheesy oomph. You may have come across saag paneer in an Indian restaurant — that’s a spinach-based curry with paneer. (“Curry,” by the way, means “sauce,” so there is no specific curry recipe out there — the sauce is what you make it. The same goes for “salsa,” which also means “sauce” and can be red or green or whatever your culinary creative side desires.)
Last-Minute Quick Curry
An assortment of vegetables: peas, cauliflower, spinach, onions, garlic, lentils, chickpeas, bell peppers, and potatoes are some favorites
Curry powder
Paneer, cut into cubes
Coconut milk or yogurt (optional)
Sautée the vegetables in coconut oil or ghee in order of longest-time-needed to shortest-time-needed, adding the veggies to the same pan as you go. (Peppers and onions take longer than garlic, for example; cauliflower is best separately simmered for 5 minutes and then added to the mix at the end. Lentils should also be cooked separately according to package directions and then stirred in at the end of the cooking time.) Sprinkle in curry powder to taste. A general rule of thumb is 1 teaspoon for every 2 cups of veggies, but you may prefer more or less curry in your curry depending on how accustomed you are to Indian seasonings. Stir well and reduce heat to low.
Add paneer and cook for another minute to allow the paneer to soak up the spices. If you’re using coconut milk, you can add it now and then let the curry simmer for another 5 minutes or so for the flavors to marry. If you’re using yogurt, though, it’s best to remove the pan from the heat and then stir in the yogurt — it doesn’t take much heat to make yogurt separate. Trust me, separated yogurt isn’t very appealing!
Serve hot, garnishing with a sprig of fresh cilantro or parsley if you like.
Enjoy!
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Tags: cauliflower, cheese, chickpeas, curry, curry powder, Indian cuisine, lentils, paneer, peas, spinach
