How To Make Kadhai Paneer
Kadhai Paneer Recipe. Alfred Prasad, Head chef at London's Michelin-starred Tamarind shows how to make his Kadhai Paneer. Kadhai Paneer is a Punjabi dish which can be enjoyed with the many varieties of Indian breads. It is made with Indian cottage cheese and has a thick, spicy sauce. This is a particularly popular paneer dish in north India. Relish our Kadhai Paneer recipe.
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Step 1:
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You will need…
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Step 2:
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Kadhai sauce
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First, put two whole red chillies and 3 teaspoons of coriander seeds into a blender or food processor, and blend for about 20 seconds until you have a coarse powder.
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Put 3 tbsp of oil into a frying pan to heat over a hot flame. Add the coarse powder to the frying pan. Stir, turn down to a low heat, and leave to fry for about 3 minutes
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Use a sharp knife to finely chop the 6 cloves of garlic. . Add the garlic to the frying pan and fry for about 5 minutes until golden.
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Chop up the tomatoes and add them to the pan. Turn the flame up to a high heat and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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Add 1 level teaspoon of red chilli powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric powder, and stir. Turn down to a medium heat, cover, and leave for about 20 minutes until the tomatoes are pulped.
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Step 3:
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Paneer
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Paneer is a homemade or farmhouse cheese originating in India. It's made with cow's milk, is white in colour and soft in texture. It has a mild flavour, and is great in heated dishes, as it retains it's shape, and doesn't melt. It can be bought already cubed like this. If you have bought it whole, cut 250g of paneer into 1cm cubes.
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Then, fill a small bowl with warm water. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a high heat. Add the cubed cheese, and fry for about 1 minute. Then, carefully take the cheese out of the pan and place into the bowl of warm water for later.
Cut the green peppers into squares of a similar size as the cheese.
Heat about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the frying pan, over a medium heat. Now, add 5g of coriander seeds. The seeds will start to crackle, and pop. When this happens, add the paneer cheese. Fry for about 2 minutes until a little bit golden. Then add the chopped peppers. stir for about 1 minute.
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Step 4:
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Mix
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Add a little water to the pan. Keep stirring until it comes to the boil. Pour in the Kadhai sauce you prepared earlier.
Add a large pinch of Kasoori Methi to the pan, and stir. Kasoori methi are dried fenugreek leaves. They are often used in Indian cooking and taste similar to celery and fennel, with a slightly bitter flavour.
Finally, roughly chop a small bunch of fresh coriander. -
Handy Hint: Wash the coriander after you've chopped it. Put the leaves into a bowl of cold water and swirl them around for about 30 seconds. The freshest leaves will float to the top. Remove these from the bowl and leave to drain. Then gently stir them into the sauce. Add a handful of coriander to the pan.
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Add half a teaspoon of salt. Stir for a further 30 seconds and then serve.