Paneer Butter Masala

So I’m in Pushkar, Rajasthan right now! It’s been ages since I’ve updated this but I’ve been on the move and through places scarce on cooking classes. I landed here on Dewali, the Indian equivalent of Christmas, so the streets have been flooded with milky, syrup drenched sweets that would make even the sickliest of sweet tooth’s ache. Delicious Gulub Jammen and an array of others whose names I won’t even attempt to spell let alone pronounce. If there’s two ingredients that Indian cooking has down it’s sugar and milk. Almost all of their traditional sweets are made from milk in one form or another as this is considered a very sacred thing in Hindu culture that hails the cow as the sacred Mother. I’ve decided that it’ll be my goal to hunt down the motherload of indian sweets recipes. It won’t be easy, the curies are most commonly taught to curious tourists, but if anyone’s taste buds can track them down it’s mine!
This is another recipe from my classes in McLeod and is ridiculously tasty. It’s a smack in face of flavor but the best thing is that this slightly creamy curry doesn’t have that sickly layer of oil that some indian dishes have. Also, you can substitute the paneer for pretty much ANYTHING you fancy. The gold mine of this recipe is the sauce base which was used for three or four different dishes on the restaurant menu. Brilliant!

Ingredients:

• 1 med onion very finely chopped
• 3 med tomatoes very finely chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (any kind, the chef used soybean oil)
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole coriander seeds
• 1 small green capsicum very finely sliced
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp chilly powder 
• 1 tsp tumeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp kitchen king (if you can’t find it, no stress just leave it out)
• 1 heaped tsp garlic ginger paste (or 1/2 tsp each of garlic and ginger)
• 1/2 cup water 
• 200g paneer cheese (can substitute with anything you fancy- cawliflour, tofu, boiled potato, mixed veg, broccoli, a mix of all of them, up to you!)
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp coconut powder
• 2 tsp butter (optional)

Method:

• Heat oil in a hot, dry pan (make the oil really hot using a very high flame, it should be heated till just before smoking. They have huge bunsen burner type stove tops to get everything super hot here)
• Remove pan from flame and add cumin and coriander seeds (oil should be hot enough that they bubble). Stir while off the heat till brown
• Add onion and brown over high heat stirring constantly. The more brown you get it the more flavour (refer to above picture)
• Add capsicum and tomato and fry for a couple of minutes till tomato starts to break down
• Take off the heat and add salt, chilly, tumeric, garam masala, kitchen king (if using), ginger and garlic and put it back on the flame. Mash it vigorously for a few minutes over a very high heat with the back of a ladel/spoon till you get a thick paste
• Add 1/2 cup water and fry for another 2-3 mins till most of the water evaporates and its back to a paste
• Add paneer, milk, water, coconut powder, and butter
• Cook for 2-3 minutes more over high heat and then you’re done!
• At this point adjust your salt and chilly to taste and if you want more sauce just add some more milk (cow or coconut)