But I Smile Anyway…

One of the numerous benefits of going home to visit my folks is the chance to eat my mum’s wonderful food.  She is  a great cook. And I know most people think that of their mum’s cooking, but my mum seriously is an amazing cook!

Our plan nowadays involves me watching her make certain dishes, at least one every visit, and writing the recipes down, because, as she likes to remind me, “not in a morbid way or anything”, she won’t be around forever!

This time, I requested a particular dish for Hubby Dearest, who is home alone, pining for us.  He often craves for a dish called Shahi Paneer. Shahi is the word associated with the royalty, so it is essentially quite a rich, sumptuous curry with paneer, which is Indian cheese.

Mum had planned to make it for me take home anyway, but the cooking process became a full on tutorial, and I thought I would be a good member of the Blogily, and share the processes.

Please forgive me, but there are no amounts for the ingredients, as my mum uses andaaza. This basically is when you just know! It’s a skill I think many mothers hone over the years while cooking the family favourite dishes!

So here goes…

Ingredients

Some of the ingredients

Paneer, cubed
Onions, ground to a paste
Cumin seeds
Fresh tomatoes
Tinned chopped tomatoes
Turmeric
Salt
Pepper
Garam masala
Kasoori methi
Milk
Single cream
Cashew nuts
Coriander

Method

• Add a little oil to a large saucepan and heat. Add cumin seeds and onions that have been ground to a paste. Cook on a low heat until the onions start to change colour, to a light golden brown.
• Grind ginger, garlic and chillies and add to the onions, cooking for a few minutes.
• Grind the fresh tomatoes, and blitz the chopped tinned tomatoes too. ( You gotta love the grinder!) Add these to the pan. Be generous with the tomatoes, they help to make a beautiful gravy for this dish.
• At this point, add turmeric, salt, black pepper and garam masala, to taste.
• This mixture needs to simmer gently until it begins to separate, and you see the oil rise to the top. Make sure the tomatoes are cooked well.
• Take a handful of dried Kasoori methi in the palm of your hand and grind it to a sort of powder before adding to the pan. Another Mum tip: Griding the dried leaves with your hands actually releases the flavour better!

• Time to prepare the cashews. Toast a handful of cashew nuts. Mum used the microwave for about 2 minutes… Who knew you could toast nuts in the microwave?!  Use a pestle and mortar, or that faithful grinder to grind the nuts then add them to the mixture.

• Using a hand blender blend the masala mixture in the pan. Shahi paneer requires a smooth sauce.
• Add milk during the blending and, and some hot water.Give it a good whizz, then taste, and adjust seasoning if required.
• Add the cream then cook on a low heat for a short while.

• Meanwhile, we need to get the paneer ready.
• Cube the paneer, then lightly fry it until the colour starts to go golden brown. Drain the paneer and add it to the sauce.

• Allow to cook for a few moments then turn off the heat. Sprinkle fresh coriander over the top, and the dish is ready!

Another mum tip, if you are eating straight away that is fine, but if you are planning on allowing it to cool for later, or freezing it, decant into a glass or earthenware container to cool.  She is convinced the tomatoes and cream could react to the pan metal.. though she isn’t sure!!!

Enjoy this dish with naan bread.

FIT FOR A KING!

Mum made a huge VAT of this for us, so I will be freezing some too!