The Easiest Side-dish

The Chilly Paneer recipe perhaps belongs to the past along with the roadside oily chowmein and slightly metallic tasting manchurian. But on days when you want something quick and tasty to impress without using up a huge chunk of your cooking time this is the dish to make. A little bit of chopping and dashes of sauces and you are good to go. The most important thing in this recipe is getting the balance of the soy sauce and vinegar right.

It was said that when Chinese immigrants landed in Kolkata they adapted their recipes so that their clientele could find the dishes palatable. And thus the Indo-chinese cuisine was born and still goes on in the street-carts and roadside dhabas. This cuisine for me in no way resembles the authentic chinese food, however it is tasty and hits your spice spots very nicely.

The only work you need to do is to chop the base needed for building the chilly sauce. Then you throw stuff together, taste and hey presto - the Chilly Paneer is ready. 

Ingredients:

5 spring onions chopped

1 tsp of minced ginger

1tsp of minced garlic

1 small capsicum chopped

1tbsp soy sauce

1tbsp vinegar

1tbsp Red chilli sauce

salt as required

pepper as required

paneer cut into chunks.*

oil for cooking

Method:

Heat 2tbsp of oil. Add the ginger and garlic. Saute for a minute till they release their aromas.

Add the spring onions and capsicum and cook for 2 minutes till they soften.

Add the soy, vinegar and red chili sauce. This is the tricky part. Taste and adjust the balance till you get all the flavors balanced together. Sprinkle salt and pepper. 

Add the paneer and fold in. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve as a side dish with fried rice or steamed rice and curry. Either way you have a tasty dish at your fingertips. Enjoy!

*The recipe here has used the Milky Mist paneer which for me is the best paneer you can find in the supermarket next to the fresh one.

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And the time to cook....

Kadhai paneer was actually discovered by my father who saw it one day on Sanjeev Kapoor's Khana Khazana. Since its conception Khana khazana has brought indian and world recipes to Indian viewers in simple and easy ways and as a result for two months after that  initial viewing; on every family gathering this was the vegetarian main-course for dinner. After that since half the family loves paneer, it became standard fare for a Sunday lunch or a late Friday night dinner. And moi, a week after coming from home longed for the deliciousness that was fed to her while she spent her time watching Grey's anatomy and Dolce vita. So, standing at the frozen section aisle of the grocery section it was an easy choice to throw a slab of paneer into the cart.

The recipe is actually pretty standard and on the induction cooker - very easy.  It basically consists of throwing together standard ingredients that sit on the back of your fridge or the shelf. The addition of capsicum gives the kicky zing to the dish.The Kadhai paneer recipe that I have made right now is an adaptation of the Sanjeev Kapoor recipe.

Ingredients:
whole spices-
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
4 dried red chillies halved
1 medium onion sliced
2tbsp ginger-garlic paste
2 medium tomatoes sliced
1 medium capsicum sliced
2tbsp coriander powder
2tbsp Red chilli powder
2 slitted green chillies
paneer cut into chunks
salt as required
water[a little bit]
1tsp kasuri methi

Method:
Set Induction temperature to 0800.
Heat oil. Splutter the whole spices[the bay, cinnamon and dried red chillies]. Add a tsp of coriander powder.
Add onions and saute for 7 minutes. Add ginger-garlic paste and mix in. Cook for five minutes.
Add the tomatoes and fold in till the tomatoes mash into the mix. Sprinkle red chilli powder and coriander powder. Cook for two minutes and then add the capsicum, paneer and slitted chillies. At this point if the masala sticks add some water[ no more than 3 tablespoons]. Also, reduce the temperature to 0600.
Cook for five minutes and season as required.Finally add in kasuri methi and simmer for five minutes.
Serve with steamed rice and dal.

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