Paneer Capsicum masala (Cottage cheese and capsicum masala)

I have been trying out a few vegetarian recipes in the last few months and the recipe I share today is a source of great joy and pride for me. My son, who refuses to eat vegetarian food in any form or fashion loves this dish and to me that is a winner.

Don't let the laundry list of ingredients and cooking instructions daunt you. I promise, it is much easier and simpler once you read it and understand the instructions. It is basically the same process followed for many Indian vegetable preparations. 

There are two methods you can follow for the preparation of the sauce or masala:

1) Fry the sliced onions till they soften, then add sliced tomatoes, ginger and garlic in the pan. Cook till they soften and change color. Switch off the flame, cool and make a fine paste in a blender. Heat a pan, add the whole spices and the paste, once it starts boiling and leaving the sides of the pan, add powdered spices and continue with the rest of the instructions below.  

Or. 

2) Grate onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic or chop fine and cook as per the instructions below.

I have kind of gone mid-way and tried to shorten the whole process, by finely chopping onions in my vegetable chopper that gave me a grated consistency. And I used tomato paste to get a rich red color and texture. I also used roasted besan or gram flour to thicken the sauce a bit. The end result was just yummilicious..... and worthy of being served in a restaurant. So here goes!

Ingredients:

• Paneer - 250 gms
• Bell peppers - 2 medium sized
• Onion - 1 medium sized
• Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp

For the sauce:

• Cumin - 1 tsp
• Cardamom - 2 nos
• Cloves - 2 nos
• Cinnamon - 1 inch pc
• Bay leaf - 2 nos
• Onion - 1 large
• Tomato Paste - 3 tbp
• Ginger paste - 1/2 tbsp
• Garlic - 1/2 tbsp
• Red chili powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Roasted besan - 1 tbsp
• Yoghurt - 1/4 cup
• Kasuri methi - 1 tsp
• Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander leaves - garnish
• Salt and oil as needed

Preparation before cooking the sauce:

• Cube the paneer, peppers and onion into  same sized pieces.
• Roast the besan or chick pea flour in a pan for a minute or so. It will change color and smell. Once it looks toasted and smells nutty, remove from the hot pan and and set aside to cool. Once  it has cooled down add it into the 1/4 cup yoghurt, and mix well and keep aside.
• In the same pan, add a little oil and stir fry the cubed onions for a minute or two on high heat and set aside.
• Add a little more oil to the pan and add the red chilly powder and turmeric powder and quickly add the paneer cubes, sprinkle salt and gently mix the cubes and fry on high heat till they get a good color and set aside.
• Be careful while frying paneer as it can break and crumble if not handled correctly. Also once you add the spice powders in the oil, quickly add the paneer so that the spices are not burnt. Typically chili and turmeric powder burn easily in hot oil and hence speed is of essence.
• Chop the onion as fine as you can, you could also make a paste or grate it.(The large onion listed under sauce)

Method:

• In the pan used above to fry the vegetables, heat 2 tbsp of ghee or oil, add all the whole spices - cumin, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. Fry it for a minute and then add the grated or chopped onion, salt and the ginger garlic paste. Fry well on medium to low flame till the raw smell of the onion is gone, this could take a few minutes.
• Add the spice powders - red chili, coriander and turmeric and give it a good stir, add the tomato paste and continue cooking and stirring as needed. Add half a cup of water to mix all the contents well, cover and cook on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes or till the oil separates from the masala.
• Once the water has evaporated and the masala and oil separate, add the yoghurt-besan mixture and 1/4 cup water and mix well, let it come to a boil and then add the stir fried vegetables. Add more salt if needed and gently mix the vegetables, so that each vegetable is coated with the sauce, cover the pan and cook for a five to seven minutes.
• Add more water if needed in the above step and also check for seasoning.
• Lastly sprinkle the kasuri methi and garam masala on the vegetables, give it a last stir and switch off the flame.
• Finally garnish with coriander leaves and it is ready to be served with roti, paratha or rice.