Sunday, August 14, 2011

Achari Paneer with Jeera Rice and Chicken Nibbles

A visit (thanks to Jethro) to the Mudgeeraba Spices has rekindled my curry fervour. When I spied Paneer as a new arrival in the supermarket cheese section, I thought yes, I'll try that. Vague memories of having seen Paneer in an Indian cookbook.

Having not had the time to make it during the week, I decided to take the ingredients to Canberra and cook it for Kristel's birthday.

Ingredients:
200g paneer
200g farm cheese
1 red capsicum
1 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 T sunflower oil
garlic
ginger
red chilli
1 t fennel seeds
1/4 t black mustard seeds
6 fenugreek seeds, ground
1 t kalonji seeds
1/2 cumin
1/2 t aesofoetida (optional)
1/2 t turmeric
1 tin diced tomato
2 T mango pickle
1 t garam masala
salt to taste
1 t coriander leaves chopped

Roughly cut the vegetables and set aside.
Cut the paneer and farm cheese into 1 1/2 cm cubes and set aside.

Heat the oil, add ginger, garlic and chilli and simmer for 8 - 10 minutes.
Add all the spices (except the masala) and fry until aromatic.

Add the tinned tomato and simmer for a few minutes then set aside while you prepare the rice.
Add the veggies and simmer for about 5 minutes before adding the cheese, pickle and masala.
Gently combine and cook until heated through. Add the coriander just before serving.


For the rice you will need:
1 1/2 cup basmati rice
2 t cumin (Jeera)
1/2 cup salted roast cashews
3 whole peppercorns
2 bay leaves
3 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1/2 t cinnamon pdr
1 onion finely sliced
2 T ghee (1T butter 2t peanut oil)
salt

Wash the rice and soak for 1/2 hour.
Heat ghee, fry the onion until soft, then add the bay leaves and spices.
Add the rice, salt and about 2 1/2 cups water, stir then cover and simmer until done. (We also added the juices from the roasted chicken nibbles).

The chicken nibbles were Kristel's recipe that she had made-up the night before. It was a marinade of dukkah, harissa, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil and white wine. The chicken can then be either fried or baked.


Swadisht mazedar!
The experiment was a great success and I will definitely make this again.


1 comment:

Thank you for your comments.