So I never post in this board (although I should.... I make some excellent food
) and now I finally remembered to take pictures while cooking and come here to post, and my dinner is on the first page! But upon further inspection I see that it was posted a year ago, so I will go ahead and post mine as well because I have managed to simplify it pretty well.
I LOVE Indian food but the recipes can be pretty daunting and full of ingredients I've never heard of. The pre-made Indian dishes (i.e. tv dinners) and sauces just don't cut it for me after frequenting my local Indian restaurants. THEN, I discovered Pataks concentrated curry paste, and my life will never be the same.
What you will need:One half gallon whole milk
Lemon juice- one quarter cup or more
Olive oil
Onion
Red peppers
Garlic
Frozen peas
Tomatoes
Tomato paste or sauce
Pataks concentrated curry paste (I've found in most local grocers that have an international section)
Basmati rice (white rice will work, in a pinch)
Cheesecloth
First, make your paneer (cheese). Don't freak out, it's super easy. Dump the whole milk in a large pot and heat to a hard boil, stirring almost constantly. Once boiling, add about a quarter cup of lemon juice and keep stirring. It will separate and turn into curds and whey. The whey/liquid will be grayish. I usually dump some salt in at this point.
Have your strainer lined with cheesecloth. Once separated, dump the curds and whey through the strainer. As soon as it is cool enough to touch (by cool I mean still as hot as you can possibly handle) squeeze the excess water out of the curd. I usually do this by twisting the cheesecloth at the gathering and pressing it with whatever objects I have laying around- because it needs to still be very hot.
Plop the cheese, in the cheesecloth, onto a plate with a kitchen towel on it. Put a plate on top and press, and then place a heavy object on top to keep the pressure on. Let this sit while you do the next steps- at least 20 minutes.
What you will have when you are done is this:
Start your rice.
Chop your onions and peppers and saute them in olive oil. Add garlic at some point. Chop your tomatoes but don't add them yet.
Remove cheesecloth from paneer and cut into bite sized pieces. Push onions and peppers aside and saute paneer in the same pan:
Once lightly browned, add tomatoes, a couple large spoonfulls of Pataks, and either tomato sauce
or tomato paste and water. Simmer on low-medium til it's a little bubbly, then add frozen peas and simmer until its bubbly again. Once it's hot, plop it on top of your rice and enjoy!
