me and matar paneer

when i moved to hannibal two years ago, my ratio of free time (none) to indian restaurants (a healthy amount) was exactly inverted. after we moved into the "new" house last winter, i finally went beyond dal and palak paneer and started making different indian dishes. a few batches of naan just left me craving the restaurant variety, but the malai kofta was amazing, though labor intensive. (you make a mash of potatoes, veggies, paneer, cream and spices, then roll them into balls that you fill with a cashew and raisin mixture. deep fry them and add them to a sauce, which has at least ten more ingredients.) we bought papadums from ethnic groceries and fried those up as appetizers, and made a couple batches of gulab jamun (those fried dough balls in sugar syrup). one of my most successful ice creams was also indian inspired - cardamom rose - yum.

out of all the new dishes i tried, the one i kept going back to is matar paneer, or peas with paneer cheese in a spiced tomato sauce. the greatest boon to this dish's success in my kitchen was when i found a new recipe for making paneer, using yogurt as a curdling agent instead of lemon. the results are a really rich, milky flavor with a denser texture that holds up to frying well, or is lovely just for nibbling. the paneer recipe comes from Neelam Batra's The Indian Vegetarian, and the matar paneer is Madhur Jaffrey's (plus a couple more spices), from World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. you can double the paneer recipe and freeze the extra cheese. the original recipe calls for low fat milk and nonfat yogurt, but we like as much fat as we can get so i use whole milk and greek yogurt. i also use a combination of yogurt and lemon juice, the ratio depending on what i've got on hand.

Paneer Cheese
makes about 8 ounces

1/2 gallon milk
2 cups plain yogurt, whisked until smooth or 1/4 cup lemon juice

rinse a heavy bottom saucepan, place the milk in, and bring to a boil, stirring, over high heat. before the milk bubbles rise and spill over, add the yogurt or lemon juice and continue to stir until the milk curdles and separates into curds and whey, 2-3 minutes. remove from the heat.

drape cheesecloth over a colander set over a large pot and pour the curdled milk in. you can save the whey to use instead of water in the matar paneer. tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang it from the kitchen faucet to drain further for 5-10 minutes. then twist the cheesecloth to extract as much whey as possible from the cheese. with the cloth still twisted, place the cheese between two plates and put a heavy object on the top plate for at least several minutes or even a few hours. cut into desired shapes and use as needed or freeze.

Matar Paneer
serves 4-6

1 medium onion, chopped
1 inch cube of ginger, peeled and chopped
6 T vegetable oil (i use ghee or butter)
paneer
2 cups whey or water
1 whole dried hot pepper
1 T ground coriander seeds
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t paprika
1 t cumin (you can use whole seeds for crunch!)
3 medium tomatoes peeled and minced or about 2 cups canned
1 t salt
ground pepper
3 cups fresh or frozen peas

put the onion and ginger in a blender or food processor with 1/3 cup water and blend till you have a smooth paste.

heat the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat. when hot, fry paneer in a single layer until golden brown on all (or most, if you're lazy) sides. with a slotted spoon, remove the paneer to a plate. (the hard part now is not to eat all of the fried cheese while you finish cooking the rest). put the hot pepper into the pan and add the contents of the blender. fry, stirring constantly, until the paste turns a light brown color, about 10 minutes.

add the spices and fry, stirring, another minute. add the tomatoes, stirring and frying until tomatoes turn a dark, reddish brown, about 3 minutes. pour in the whey, add the salt and pepper, mix well and bring to a simmer. cover, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. add the paneer and the peas and simmer another 10 minutes. serve over basmati rice. savor and enjoy!