Mutter Paneer (Green Peas and Cheese Curry)

Would you like to treat yourself with a true Punjabi meal? Then you?re at the right place. The striking feature of most of the Punjabi dishes is that they are mostly rich and copious, with an abundant use of butter, cream, ghee and cheese in the preparations which are furthermore royally spiced and flavored. Even more, than for their food, I love the Punjabis in a special way because, like me, eeeehhhhh, the Punjabis are hearty people who love to eat and enjoy every bite of their food to the fullest.

There are so many lip smacking curries both in their Vegetarian and the Non-vegetarian specialties and one among them is this creamy Mutter Paneer!!!



This was my first attempt to do this at home and I?ve been googling for the authentic recipe in so many websites but then, I would not even be sure that I found the original method?since I was totally lost in the 1001 variations of this wonderful dish.



So, I don?t know if this could be one of the ways a true Punjabi prepares this dish but this is how I concocted with what lingered in my memory about the taste of this dish (delicious memories of a Punjabi restaurant at Agra) and of course with the example from My Dhaba?s recipe, that I slightly modified according to my personal likings, but I can guarantee the Goodness of the deadly combination of Paneer with the amazing flavor of the soft peas in this truly irresistible gravy, which I?m sure will take you away to the land of 5 Rivers!!!!



Ingredients we need:



For the Paneer (for a little more than 500g of Paneer):

2 liters of full fat milk

4 tbsp of lime juice

¼ tsp Salt and Pepper (optional)



For the gravy:

500g Paneer

500g Green Peas

Whole spices (1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 3 cardamom pods, ¼ tsp peppercorns, 1 tsp fennel seeds)

1 tsp whole cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp hot chilly powder

6 cashew nuts

1tbsp of ginger julienned

1 tbsp of garlic julienned

5 green chilies deseeded and chopped

5 chopped tomatoes

2 big onions

200 ml yoghurt

Salt

A pinch of sugar

½ a tsp garam masala

Ghee

2 sticks of Salted butter

Coriander leaves for garnishing



Method:



To prepare Paneer:

Pour the milk in a double bottomed vessel along with salt and pepper and bring it to boil on medium heat.



Simmer and add drops of lime juice little by little into the milk, in order to curdle the milk slowly.



Stir gently leave it for a few minutes off the fire so that the whole milk curdles.



Remove from the heat, rinse with some cold water and pour into a colander which has been lined with cheesecloth or some fine muslin cloth. Hold the corners of the cheesecloth and bring them together to make a knot and tie them together. Hang it for about half an hour (I hang it right above the sink, just an idea).



Squeeze out slightly if there are any more liquids and now place the cheese tightly together in the cloth and keep it pressed under something heavy and place this in the refrigerator until ready to use.



After a few hours, once the paneer gets firm, remove and cut into desired shapes.



To prepare the gravy:

Chop the onions and the tomatoes.



Shell the green peas (if you?re using fresh ones) and cook for about 5 minutes in salted boiling water. Drain and reserve. (Frozen peas can also be used, in that case, defreeze them and keep it ready)



Cut the paneer into bite size cubes.



Heat sufficient ghee in a pan on medium flame and fry the Paneer cubes until golden brown.



Remove and drain them over a paper towel to remove excess oil.



In the same pan, add the chopped onions and fry until slightly brown. Add the tomatoes and fry them until slightly soft. Let it cool down completely before blending it to a smooth mixture.



Heat another vessel on medium flame and add 5 big tbsp of ghee.

Splutter all the whole spices with the cumin seeds and the cashew nuts and fry until the cashew nuts brown.



Add the julienned ginger, garlic and the green chilies, followed by the coriander and chilly powder and fry for a few seconds.



Add the tomato/ onion mixture and fry until oil oozes out (I suggest you may close the vessel partially with a lid to avoid getting burnt by the hot splashing liquid)



Beat the yoghurt slightly and add it to the above. Stir well until the yoghurt is well incorporated in the sauce. Add the salt and the sugar.



Add the green peas and the paneer cubes and simmer for about 10 minutes.



Sprinkle some garam masala and spoon some salted butter on top. Serve it perfumed with a bouquet of coriander leaves and enjoy it with any Indian Breads like Naan /Parotta / Chapati?.. !!!