No longer missing in action and cooking Indian food
Long time no post.
Suffice to say life has been crazy; my work schedule is out of control, I have 2 new grants for my research and I have been on service almost continuously since June. Yep, a little busy.
I haven't been cooking much lately either (bad E!). But I am getting back into the culinary saddle. I needed some comfort food and decided to make from scratch my favorite Indian comfort food I had been craving: Saag Paneer (Indian Cheese in fragrant spinach sauce with red peppers-the peppers are not traditional but they were yummy). Recipe was courtesy of Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking (thanks to the MIL for giving me this last Christmas). And yes, I made the paneer from scratch; I felt quite accomplished.
Paneer (aka pressed chenna)
8 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Bring milk to a boil in a large stockpot, careful not to burn. Reduce heat, keeping milk at a gentle rolling boil and add the lemon juice (serves as the coagulant). As soon as milk curdles and the white curd forms and separates from the yellowish whey, turn off the heat. Strain through a colander lined with cheesecloth (I quadruple folded mine). Rinse with cool water to wash away coagulant. Bring up the corners of cheesecloth and gently twist to extract as much water as possible. Hang dry for 1 hour. This is chenna, soft and crumbly.
To make paneer, fold cheesecloth around chenna and press on work surface with a large pot filled with water for 30 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch x 1 inch pieces. Store in a bowl of water until needed if not using immediately. It can keep well up to four days covered and refrigerated.
Saag Paneer
Paneer (see above recipe)
2 cups cooked spinach
1 sweet green pepper, cored and seeded
6-8 tbsp light vegetable oil
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 hot green chiles, minced (I used serranos)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp coarse salt or to taste
2 medium sized sweet red peppers cored, seeded and cut into 1 inch wide strips (I used 1)
2 tsp garam masala
Lay paneer in single layer on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and let dry for at least 10 minutes (this helps them hold together in cooking).
Puree spinach and green pepper in food processor until fine and velvety.
Heat 4 tbsp oil in large heavy nonstick pan over medium heat. Dust paneer lightly with flour and add to pan. Fry until light golden (2-3 minutes per batch) and remove. I did 3 batches, careful not to burn. Set aside.
Add 2 more tbsp of oil along with onion. Fry the onion stirring constantly until brown (about 10 minutes). Add ginger and fry for 2 minutes. Add turmeric and chiles, stir a few seconds, then add spinach puree, water, salt and sweet red peppers. Mix and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook covered for 2 minutes. Add fried paneer, mix thoroughly and cook 2 more minutes. Stir in garam masala. If desired, glaze and mellow the sauce by folding in another 2 tbsp of oil (I skipped this).
More pics:
Fried paneer:
Finished saag paneer; looks Christmas-y! The paneer held up really well.
Let me know if you try it!
Suffice to say life has been crazy; my work schedule is out of control, I have 2 new grants for my research and I have been on service almost continuously since June. Yep, a little busy.
I haven't been cooking much lately either (bad E!). But I am getting back into the culinary saddle. I needed some comfort food and decided to make from scratch my favorite Indian comfort food I had been craving: Saag Paneer (Indian Cheese in fragrant spinach sauce with red peppers-the peppers are not traditional but they were yummy). Recipe was courtesy of Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Vegetarian and Grain Cooking (thanks to the MIL for giving me this last Christmas). And yes, I made the paneer from scratch; I felt quite accomplished.
Paneer (aka pressed chenna)
8 cups whole milk
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Bring milk to a boil in a large stockpot, careful not to burn. Reduce heat, keeping milk at a gentle rolling boil and add the lemon juice (serves as the coagulant). As soon as milk curdles and the white curd forms and separates from the yellowish whey, turn off the heat. Strain through a colander lined with cheesecloth (I quadruple folded mine). Rinse with cool water to wash away coagulant. Bring up the corners of cheesecloth and gently twist to extract as much water as possible. Hang dry for 1 hour. This is chenna, soft and crumbly.
To make paneer, fold cheesecloth around chenna and press on work surface with a large pot filled with water for 30 minutes. Cut into 1/2 inch x 1/2 inch x 1 inch pieces. Store in a bowl of water until needed if not using immediately. It can keep well up to four days covered and refrigerated.
Saag Paneer
Paneer (see above recipe)
2 cups cooked spinach
1 sweet green pepper, cored and seeded
6-8 tbsp light vegetable oil
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
4 hot green chiles, minced (I used serranos)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp coarse salt or to taste
2 medium sized sweet red peppers cored, seeded and cut into 1 inch wide strips (I used 1)
2 tsp garam masala
Lay paneer in single layer on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels and let dry for at least 10 minutes (this helps them hold together in cooking).
Puree spinach and green pepper in food processor until fine and velvety.
Heat 4 tbsp oil in large heavy nonstick pan over medium heat. Dust paneer lightly with flour and add to pan. Fry until light golden (2-3 minutes per batch) and remove. I did 3 batches, careful not to burn. Set aside.
Add 2 more tbsp of oil along with onion. Fry the onion stirring constantly until brown (about 10 minutes). Add ginger and fry for 2 minutes. Add turmeric and chiles, stir a few seconds, then add spinach puree, water, salt and sweet red peppers. Mix and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook covered for 2 minutes. Add fried paneer, mix thoroughly and cook 2 more minutes. Stir in garam masala. If desired, glaze and mellow the sauce by folding in another 2 tbsp of oil (I skipped this).
More pics:
Fried paneer:
Finished saag paneer; looks Christmas-y! The paneer held up really well.
Let me know if you try it!