PANEER REZALA

For a hardcore non vegetarian fan like me, vegetarian food is a complete No!! I always skip the part of the vegetarian menu whenever I go to any restaurant. But yes, as there are exceptions, I love to have paneer and mushrooms. Maybe they are not as good as chicken, but it can match up a bit at least. Personal thoughts, you know! While returning from college, I picked up a packet of mushrooms and some paneer. What I did with those mushrooms will be in the next blog post. So now, let me tell you what I did with the paneer. I had chili paneer recently at an invitation, so I decided not to go with Chinese and make something Indian. I found a handful of cashew nuts in the kitchen and Viola, I got an idea what to make. I love Chicken rezala, the richness of the gravy and the amazing aroma of the spices. So, I decided to make paneer rezala today. I have had paneer rezala many days before, when Maa used to make it. But now, I did not have it recently. So, I thought of cooking it in the traditional way of cooking chicken rezala.

Paneer Rezala

Recipe:

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

What you need?

• 250 g Paneer(cottage cheese), Cut into cubes
• 2 onions, boiled and pureed
• 1 Tbsp cashew-nut paste
• 2 tsp poppy seed paste
• 1 Tbsp cream
• 1 Tbsp yogurt 
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 bay leaf
• 4-5 black peppercorns
• 1 green chili, chopped
• 1 tsp Kashmiri Red chili powder
• 3 Tbsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Kewra water
• 1 pinch garam masala powder. 

How to make it?

• Heat ghee in a kadhai or a wok, and add the spices( cloves, cinnamon, peppercorn and bay leaf) in it. Saute it till you get the beautiful aroma of it.
• Add the green chilies along with the boiled onion paste in it. Saute it for a few minutes on low heat. After that, add the ginger paste and the garlic paste and then continue to saute it.
• Mix the cashew nut paste along with the poppy seed paste and then pour it in the kadhai. 
• Add the yogurt to it till the water in the yogurt is absorbed.
• Add the cream in it and stir it well till a nice gravy is formed. After that, add a pinch of garam masala powder in it.
• Add the salt and sugar to it according to your taste. 
• Gently put the paneer in and stir it. You must take care that the paneer must not break as it is very delicate. 
• Sprinkle kewra water in it and then turn off the heat.

P.S:

• I generally put the paneer in hot water with a little bit of salt before I add it to the gravy. My father is not a big paneer fan as he says the salt does not enter the paneer. So I try this step in order to please him and change his thoughts.
• Adding kewra water is optional. I use it because of the amazing fragrance the dish emits.