Monika Blogwell

Up until recently, the only way to get an Indian meal in this town was to make it myself. Now that a family-owned Indian restaurant moved into town, I don’t have to make my own from scratch every time I have a hankering. However, I still enjoy whipping up an Indian feast from time to time. Particularly now that TP and I are trying to save money (and calories) by eating out less frequently.

Over the weekend, I made my own paneer. It’s such a delicate process and requires so much monitoring, that I wasn’t able to photograph the step-by-step directions. However, you can see how to do it in this post. Or, if cheesecloth is as bizarre a concept to you as Lunchables are to me, feel free to buy paneer at an Indian grocery store should you be so lucky to have one nearby.

Shahi paneer is Indian cheese in a rich cashew cream sauce. Before you balk at my calorie comment from earlier, know that I make this dish with one percent milk, and it doesn’t sacrifice the creaminess of this dish.

I found a good recipe for shahi paneer on the website Show Me The Curry and modified it. And by “modified it,” I mean I cheat. I know that this probably means my shahi paneer isn’t authentic, but it’s a good substitute for the real thing.

Ingredients:

1 onion

1-inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 14 1/2-ounce can of diced tomatoes or tomato sauce

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup cashews

2 green chili peppers, diced

2 teaspoons cumin

2 teaspoons coriander

2 teaspoons garam masala

3/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon sugar

salt to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 cake of paneer, cubed

cilantro for garnish

Here’s how I cheat: I grind the onion and the ginger together in my Vita-Mix. You can use a food processor, too. Heat about half the oil in a wok and add the onion ginger mixture over medium high heat. After about 5 minutes add the garlic and chili peppers.

After a few more minutes add the tomato sauce. If you’re using diced tomatoes, puree them in the food processor or blender at this point. If you have some chunks left, that’s okay. They’ll just add a little more body to the sauce. Add your spices to the sauce.

While the sauce simmers, blend the cashews and the milk. Again, if the cashews aren’t completely pulverized, this will add texture to the sauce. Reduce the heat, and stir the cashew cream into the tomato sauce. At this point, I like to put several ladles (about half the sauce) back into the Vita-Mix and blend it to oblivion. This makes the sauce extra creamy but still keeps some of that delicious texture I mentioned earlier.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the cubed paneer and stir frequently to prevent burning.

Once the paneer is a golden brown on the edges, scoop out with a slotted spoon and gently add to the sauce. Serve sprinkled with cilantro over rice or with naan.