Shahi paneer

R came across some paneer on sale at the grocery store, so we decided to try a new to us Indian recipe. Here is some shahi paneer; a dish with paneer (Indian cheese) and a tomato based sauce. It was pretty easy and I thought it was pretty flavorful. R thought it needed more spices, but to me it was good for an every day supper. I've put the recipe below. If you think your palate is more like R's than mine, feel free to increase the spices, especially the chili powder.



Shahi paneer recipe
(Adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
4-5 Roma tomatoes, pureed
1/2 lb. paneer, cubed
1/4 c water
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/4 c cream
at least 2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until the onions are golden brown -- about 10 minutes (less if you have a more powerful stove). When the onions are brown, add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili powder. Stir it all around and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the pureed tomatoes and cook about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, until some of the liquid evaporates and the oil begins to separate out. You'll see a few pools of oil forming. Add the paneer, water, sugar and salt. From this point on stir gently so that the paneer does not break up too much. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the paneer absorbs the tomato sauce and turns kind of orange-ish, about 10 minutes.

Lower the heat to a simmer and add the cream while stirring. Simmer about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cilantro and serve.

We served this with store bought naan and jasmine rice. Yum yum.

Also, we are still on the hunt for a muttar paneer recipe, so if you have one, let me know!