This "Paneer er Dalna (Paneer Potato Curry)” is my go to recipe for all the time. Whenever there are paneer in my pantry, most of the time I make this recipe. This easy light curry based paneer dish can be made with no fuss. This recipe actually my Maa’s recipe. I inherited it from her. I can remember, this used to be the most common recipe in our home during my study time. I had a weird habit during that time. We normally had rice and some veg or non veg curry in the morning before going to school. But during exam days, I couldn’t able to have any non veg. So, whenever there was some kind of exam I have to take, before exam day Baba used to go to the market in the evening and brought paneer from the shop. In the exam morning Maa would prepare this "Paneer er Dalna (Paneer Potato Curry)” and before going to the exam I would eat it with some rice.
Today I am presenting you my Maa’s recipe "Paneer er Dalna (Paneer Potato Curry)”
Tips:
Don’t fry the paneer pieces too much otherwise it will get hard. If your store bought paneer pieces are hard, after frying the paneer pieces in the oil, soak them in a hot water with a pinch of salt for about 10 minutes. Thus the paneer pieces will be soft.
This curry is based on light and runny gravy. It should not be too thick. Remember that paneer will soak some of the gravy in the course of time so adjust the gravy accordingly.
Paneer er Dalna (Paneer Potato Curry)
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
500g Paneer, cubed in small pieces
150g potato (1 medium sized), cut in cube
50g (1 medium sized) tomato, chopped
50g (1/4th cup) green peas
1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tbsp green chilli paste
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder
2 green chillies, slitted
1 dry red chilli
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds
2 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 small sized cinnamon stick
1 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
50 ml (1/4th cup) vegetable oil
sugar to taste
salt to taste
water for gravy
Recipe:
Take the paneer cubes in a bowl, smear 1/2 tsp of turmeric powder and a pinch of salt, coat the paneer pieces well. Keep it aside.
In a small bowl, take the ginger paste, green chilli paste, turmeric powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, a pinch of salt and sugar along with a small amount of water. Make a smooth spice paste and keep this aside.
Next add half the amount of oil in a deep bottomed pan. Heat the oil in moderate high heat. When the oil starts to smoke lightly, add the paneer pieces and fry them for 3-4 minutes until the edges start to turn golden. Remove the paneer from the pan and keep aside.
In the same pan, add the potato cubes, fry them too until they become golden in all the sides. Remove from the pan and keep it aside.
Next add the remaining oil to the same pan and heat it in moderate high heat. When smokes start to coming out lightly, add the whole red chilli, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, whole cumin seeds for tempering. Fry them for couple of seconds until they splutter.
Now add the spice paste to the oil. Stir it well. Cover the pan. Fry the spice paste in medium high heat for 3-4 minutes until oil separates from the spices and all the raw smell of the spices are gone.
Add the tomato pieces. Mix it well with the spice paste and fry it for 4-5 minutes until the tomato pieces are soft and mushy. Cover the pan and braise the spice paste-tomato pieces mixture in low heat for 3-4 minutes until oil starts to seep out from the side of the pan.
Next add the fried potato cubes and green peas and slitted green chillies in the pan. Stir well and fry them for 2-3 minutes in medium high heat until all the things are well co-operated.
Now add sufficient amount of water to the pan for gravy. Cover the pan and turn the heat to high. Boil the gravy for few minutes (6-7 minutes) until slightly reduced and the potatoes and peas are cooked well.
Add the fried paneer cubes to the gravy and simmer it for 3-4 minutes, while covering the pan.
Adjust the seasoning. When the gravy will be thicker as per your liking (The dalna gravy should not be too thick, it is on the runny sides) add the garam masala powder and ghee. Mix it well in the gravy. Again cover the pan and turn off the heat.
Give at least 5 minutes standing time before serving.
Serve for with steamed rice.
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