What to do with paneer
I bought a package of paneer the other day at an Indian grocery store, thinking I'd go home and make something fabulous, but now I'm at a loss.
Any suggestions?
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19 Comments:
Buy indian spice mixes, make a sauce, and add it in. Or fry it in oil and serve with mint chutney.
Juman23 at 11:21AM on 07/30/09
Mutter paneer or shahi paneer. Or you could even make paneer pakora which is all kinds of awesome.
SqueezeBottle at 11:36AM on 07/30/09
I recently ate a tandoori paneer sandwich that was amazing -- the paneer was cooked with tandoori spices, then wrapped in warm naan w/ shredded cabbage, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and a mango sauce. YUM.
gbania at 11:45AM on 07/30/09
Head back to the Indian store and get some deghi mirch from the spice aisle. Toss the paneer in a little bit of that and fry it. Or fry it dry and make a deghi mirch cream sauce. I'm drooling just thinking about it. Don't breath in as you open the spice package, it's pretty hot.
Or dip it in chocolate.
Next time you want paneer and you are feeling adventurous, try making it yourself. Bring some whole milk to a boil and pour in a little acid. Stir for a minute. If nothing happens, add a little more acid and stir. Once you have added enough, it will separate into curds and whey. (I usually end up using around 3 Tbs lemon juice to a half gallon of milk). Pour off the whey, put the curds in cheesecloth, and press or hang for 30-60 minutes. Voila, paneer! It is unbelievably delicious when it is so fresh it's still warm. Totally worth the little bit of work. You can use the whey to water plants, make lemonade, or give a little to the cat.
ProfessorChaos at 12:08PM on 07/30/09
few tbsp oil or ghee in a pan, sizzle cumin seeds, add 1 sliced/chopped onion and about 1 tbsp chopped ginger (fresh) and fry until brown. Add spinach (a few handfuls at a time if fresh, just as a thawed mass if frozen), mix in some chopped tomato, a tsp each of turmeric, cayenne, coriander and a karhi leave if you have it. Blend it until smooth, return to a pot, add some heavy cream (you can skip this part, I sometimes do). Fold in the paneer---palak paneer!!
This is how I make it--it's adapted from Raghavan Iyer's recipe.
inothernews at 12:29PM on 07/30/09
I also LOVE what @gbania is talking about--katti rolls. It's best with super thin, buttery, parathas
inothernews at 12:32PM on 07/30/09
A local indian restaurant, Vij's, does this amazing portobello mushroom, paneer and bell pepper in a mild creamy curry. I tried looking online to see if I could find the recipe. This one might be it. http://originalrecipes.com/node/73108
bigfatmouth at 12:48PM on 07/30/09
If you make your own paneer, keep the whey and use it to make Madhur Jaffrey's mutter paneer recipe. It's soooooo good.
Just google "matar paneer madhur jaffrey" to find it.
SqueezeBottle at 1:54PM on 07/30/09
@inothernews -- thanks for posting the name! I had no idea what it was called -- they just had a picture of it on the menu and I ordered it because it looked so good. My husband was very jealous -- he ordered butter chicken and rice, which was quite good, but not as tasty as my paneer katti roll!
gbania at 4:11PM on 07/30/09
i make what in spanish we call Guiso Ananda/Ananda Stew... it's a green peas and sweet peas stew with fried pieces of paneer added. Because paneer is rare here in PR, we use queso blanco/white local cheese.
I didn't use to eat peas just like that until I tried this recipe... awesome.
MadelynRodriguez at 5:00PM on 07/30/09
Saag (Spinach) Paneer - Here are recipes from Aida Mollencamp (easy) and Tyler Florence (more elaborate):
http://www.chow.com/recipes/11759
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_22389_PRINT-RECIPE-FULL-PAGE,00.html
MMinNYC at 6:57PM on 07/30/09
Easy peasy -
Nuke a box of fro chopped spinach.
Melt a stick of butter (less if someone/your conscience is watching) in a pan. When butter is bubbling, add some chopped fresh garlic (or from a tube, but not powdered if at all possible), chopped ginger (fresh if you can, not powdered- there are nice tube and jar options available in the supermarket), and whatever curry powder you have available. When the stuff in the pan is fragrant (keep the flame kinda low so you don't burn the butter), add the spinach and paneer. Stir. When warmed through, add some plain yogurt. Don't boil but do heat through. Taste to correct seasoning/add if desired.
mrsdebdav at 9:32PM on 07/30/09
sorry, - left out the word "salt" in the above - add salt salt if desired.
mrsdebdav at 9:35PM on 07/30/09
@mrsdebav - are you trying to kill someone? A STICK of butter?
My rec is saag paneer. Or palak paneer. They're sort of the same but technically not really (one is all spinach, the other is half spinach half mustard greens).
My recipe is perhaps similar to above -
Use just 2 tablespoons of ghee (if you want a rich flavor) or 2-3 tbls of regular ol' canola oil, add garam masala (no ginger, please!), cook for minute while stirring, add a tablespoon of tomato paste, cook for a minute while stirring, then add either a box of frozen chopped spinach (that has been defrosted and drained) or a few bags of fresh baby spinach, paneer, and a cup of milk, and simmer the hell out of it (like an hour) so the flavors come together well. Add some salt at the end.
charm city cupcake at 12:18AM on 07/31/09
Put it in soup! I kid you not.
I spent most of last summer in the Ladakh region of India, which is inhabited largely by Tibetans and Tibetan-Indians. In my free time, I waited tables and made momos at my favorite Tibetan restaurant in Leh, in exchange for free food and time spent in the kitchen - I really, really missed being in a kitchen - and the proprietress/cook would make these great noodle soups - thanthuk and gyathuk - and put freshly made paneer that we bought from the cheesemaker in the alley in the soup. Paneer in noodle soup is STUPENDOUS and I totally recommend it. The soup broth was vegetable based and the house made noodles were flat and wide, made from flour, water, and salt. While I was traveling in Asia, I made a huge list of things that I promised myself I would learn to make when I got home, so I recently learned how to make my own paneer. Dudes, it is SO EASY, but kind of dangerous. Apparently I get hyper when I consume large amounts of cheese and freak people out at work.
marchpane at 1:10AM on 07/31/09
holy moly! katti rolls??? That sounds too delicious for words!!! Totally making that this weekend.
italiagirl84 at 8:35AM on 07/31/09
How about a classic Palak Paneer? Here is a recipe.
Chew on That at 4:35PM on 07/31/09
Thank you for your suggestions!
@inothernews - I just made your recipe for palak paneer for dinner and it was spectacular! Thank you!
@ProfessorChaos - I'm definitely going to try your instructions for making paneer from scratch. It sounds fantastic.
yayfood at 6:17PM on 07/31/09
Saag paneer (spinach and paneer). Quite straightforward to make and you can use frozen spinach. I made this very dish in the last week. Leftovers taste better than the first day too!
Foodie Penguin at 7:36PM on 08/05/09