Pudina Paneer

The I wanted to combine pudina with paneer. Started thinking about a recipe. The first time it was fantastic. but wanted to be sure that it was not a fluke so tried it 2 more times before posting the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

there are 2 sets of ingredients. One is for the base paste and one is for the curry itself.

Base Paste

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Whole Spices - Cinnamon (1 inch), saunf / fennel seeds (1/2 tsp), jeera / cumin seeds - (1/2 tsp), peppercorn (1/2 tsp)
3. Fresh Spices - Garlic pods - roughly chopped (4 pods), ginger - roughly chopped (1 inch)
4. Big Onion - roughly chopped - 3/4
5. Chilly (as per taste) if you want to make a mild dish then add capsicum or bull horn chilly instead.
6. mint leaves - roughly chopped - 1 cup
7. coriander leaves - roughly chopped - 1 cup
8. Tomato - roughly chopped - 1 big or 2 small
9. salt to taste
10. Cashew - 10 - soaked for 30 mins
11. poppy seeds - 1/2 tsp

Curry

1. oil - 2 tsp
2. bay leaf / tej patta - 1
3. cardamon / elaichi - 2 pods
4. star anise - 1 
5. saunf / fennel seeds- 1/2 tsp
6. jeera / cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
7. cinnamon - 1 inch
8. ginger garlic paste / roughly chopped - 1 tbsp
9. dried red chilly - 1 or 2 (I used kashmiri chilly but you can pick a hotter chilly if you want)
10. Onion - cubed - 1/4
11. Capsicum - cubed - 1 cup (optional)
12. Mushrooms - sliced or cubed - 1 cup (optional) 
13. Mint leaves - roughly chopped - 2 tbsp
14.  Paneer - cubed - 2  cups
15. Salt to taste
16. Base Paste
17. Garam Masala - for flavour

METHOD

Making the Base Paste

• In a pan add oil and the whole spices. Saute for a few seconds
• then add the garlic and ginger and saute for another few seconds
• add the onions and chilly or capsicum. Saute till the onions start to turn translucent
• Then add the leaves and saute
• Add tomatoes and salt... when the tomatoes start becoming soft turn it off and let the mix cool
• Put all of this along with the cashew, poppy seeds and water in a mixer and make it into a fine paste.

Making the Curry

• In the same pan add oil and fry the whole spices (bay leaf, star anise, elaichi, cinnamon, saunf and jeera) wait till you can get a fragrance of the spices. This will take a few second. Don't burn it. Keep the flame on medium
• Add ginger, garlic and dried chilly.
• Add the onion, capsicum and mushrooms. Saute till onions turn translucent.
• Then add the mint leaves mix well and add the base paste.
• Put it on medium to low flame and it the base paste cook.
• You'll start to see the oil separating
• At this point add the paneer and mix well.
• Add more water and adjust the flavours. Add salt or chilly if necessary.
• Now keep it covered and cook for 5 mins on low to medium flame.
• Add 2 pinches of garam masala and mix well let to cook for another 2 to 3 mins.
• Serve hot with rotis or naan or kulcha

VEGAN VARIATION:

• Am not a big fan of tofu but you van replace the Paneer with tofu and try the recipe
• Or you can do it with Mushrooms