Paneer is my all time favourite since childhood. Actually when I first ate paneer I was literally not child anymore, I was at my teenage. Like a typical Bengali household, most of the days, Maa would prepare Daal, Sabji and Fish Curry for lunch or dinner. Rarely there were some days when we would eat a full vegetarian meal in our home. So until my thirteenth or fourteenth, I never had eaten paneer. I still remember, I first ate paneer at the first birthday of our neighbour's kid. They had Indian style Chilli Paneer at their menu and when they served it, I was quite hesitant to try as I don't like any milk products. But when I gave it a first bite, from that moment I fell in love with it so much that after coming home I asked Maa to prepare paneer dishes in home and convinced her to prepare it in very next day :P.
There is no similarity between Himel's and my food preferences. What he likes, I don't and what I eat, he doesn't. But surprisingly we both like paneer. At lunch or dinner, when we finish our meal, we normally used to sit further 5-10 minutes in the table and chat about things. And whenever there is paneer in the table, that day our chatting goes longer and by the time we finish our conversation, all the paneer in the bowl already has finished and only gravy is left out most of the times :) :).
Today I present you Mouri Paneer (Paneer cooked with fennel seeds). It's a very simple yet delicious recipe to try. It goes well with roti, rice both.
Tip: If your store bought paneer is hard, you can soak the paneer in warm water along with a pinch of salt for 5-6 minutes after frying. The paneer turns into soft and gives better taste.
Mouri Paneer (Paneer cooked with fennel seed)
Servings: 3
preparation time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
250 g paneer or cottage cheese, cubed
75 g (1/2 cup) peas
5-6 green chillies, slitted
1 1/2 tbsp fennel powder, freshly ground
1tbsp ginger paste
1 tsp fennel seeds for tempering
2 bay leaves
40 g (1/4th cup) mustard oil
200 ml (1 cup) milk, warmed
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
Recipe:
Take the paneer cubes in a bowl, sprinkle a pinch of salt and smear well.
In a small bowl add the fennel seed powder, ginger paste and a very little water to make a paste. Keep aside.
Now heat the oil in a pan in moderate high heat and saute the paneer pieces until they are just turned golden brown in the sides. Remove from oil and keep aside.
In the same oil, add the bay leaves and fennel seeds for tempering. When they start to splutter, add the ginger-fennel powder paste along with a pinch of salt.
Cook over medium high flame until the oil starts to seperate from the spices. It will take 3-4 minutes.
Now add the green chillies and green peas. Fry them for 3-4 minutes.
Add 1 cup of warm milk along with 1/4th cup of water. Cover the pan and change the temperature to high.
When the milk starts to rolling boil, add the fried paneer pieces and the sugar. Cover the pan, lower the heat and bring it to simmer for 5-6 minutes.
When the gravy will thicken as per your liking and the oil comes over the top, check for seasoning. Add salt if needed. Cover the pan and let it cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
Give it at least 5 minutes standing time before serving.
Serve hot with roti, luchi, rice even pulao.
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