Mahanandi

Living in Consciousness ~ Indi(r)a’s Food and Garden Weblog

Kalakand


On Krishnatashtami, we celebrate the Bhagavan Krishna’s birthday. The scriptures portray bala (baby) Krishna as a happy and mischievous child with boundless energy and great fondness for all things milk. Milk, yogurt, buttermilk, cream, ghee, venna, and milk based sweets are lovingly offered to bala Krishna during this festival time. In our family, for pooja neivedyam we prepare venna (the cream layer from yogurt) and pala kova or kalakand.

Kalakand, an exquisite milk-based sweet preparation is an interesting process. Concentrated milk called khoya and fresh paneer called chhana are mixed and simmered together with sugar to a luxurious thick, firmness. The mixture is cooled, then cut to squares and garnished with pistachios. That is kalakand of my hometown Nandyala. As you can imagine, the kalakand has a rich taste.

Depending on the khoya-chhana ratio and sugar variety, kalakand is 2 types.
Milky-white kalakand: Three parts chhana and one part khoya together simmered slowly with white sugar for hours. Continuous stirring and low heat cooking result in a pure-white kalakand. It’s a labor intensive process and usually you will find this milky-white kalakand at Indian sweet shops.
Coral-pink kalakand. Chhana and Khoya are in 1:1 or 1:3 ratio and unprocessed, old-world style red sugar (turbinado) sweetens and colors the kalakand. This is the type we prepare at our home. Both varieties taste equally delicious, but I prefer the Coral-pink colored kalakand. Here is how I made it for Krishnashtami prasadam.

Recipe:
(takes about 2-3 hours. Makes about 18 to 20 2x2x1 square shaped Kalakand)

½ gallon whole milk and juice from one lime – to prepare chhana
½ gallon whole milk – to prepare Khoya
2 to 2½ cups – unprocessed cane sugar (turbinado)
1 cup, shelled and unsalted pistachios – coarsely crushed for garnish
Silver or gold foil to decorate the kalakand

2 big, sturdy, wide based pots
Lots of patience. Family or friends on the side definitely will help and make the process more enjoyable.


Chhana for Kalakand

1. Milk: Place the pots on stove-top and add half gallon milk to each pot to prepare chhana and khoya simultaneously.

Chhana: In one pot, once the milk starts to boil, reduce the heat. Add the limejuice (lemon juice) and stir. Within minutes, you will see small clouds like white curds floating on top. Wait till they get bigger (if they don’t, add some more limejuice and stir) and the whey below gets less milky. This process takes few minutes, so wait at least five minutes. Switch off the heat and let it stand for few more minutes. Then pour the whole thing immediately into a clean muslin or cheese-cloth in a colander, over a sink. Gather the curds by twisting the cloth into a firm lump. The fresh paneer called chhana is ready.

Milk simmering thickened milk after 1 hour on the stove
Simmering Milk ………….. Thickened milk (khoya) after 2 Simmering Hours

Khoya: In another pot, once the milk starts to boil and lower the heat and simmer, until the milk gets thick and is reduced to about one fourths of the original quantity. This is khoya. (While thickening, stir frequently. Care must be taken that milk does not stick to the bottom of the pot and burn/black.)

2. Add Sugar: To the khoya, add the freshly prepared chhana (paneer) and sugar. On low heat, cook, continuously mixing, until the khoya-chhana mixture thickens to a waterless-firm lump. This process takes about 45 minutes to one hour.

3. Decorate: Pour the firm mixture onto a plate. Level it evenly and allow to cool completely. The mixture thickens and firms up even more on cooling. With a knife, cut the cooled kalakand to squares or diamonds. Place the gold or silver foil on kalakand and sprinkle pistachios. Offer the jewel like decorated kalakand neivedyam to Bhagavan Krishna and enjoy the prasadam pieces with family and friends.

Kalakand stays fresh up to a week when refrigerated.


Kalakand Cooling


Kalakand Cut to Squares

Kalakand
Kalakand Jeweled with Pistachios ~ for Indian Sweets 101

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Indian Sweets 101,Milk,Mitai,Naivedyam(Festival Sweets),Paneer,Pistachios (Wednesday September 5, 2007 at 3:42 pm- permalink)
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Paneer Kadhi ~ for Summer Days

Unusual and distinctive, paneer kadhi has much potential. At the beginning it may seem undefined and unclear, but at the end, it assumes clear and unmistakable identity that is fascinating and enchanting.

Dried mango powder (Amchur), ginger powder (sonti) and kasoori methi adds to the mystique, giving a deeply memorable taste to paneer kadhi.


Homemade Yogurt, Dried Ginger, Kasoori Methi and Paneer

Recipe:

In a small sauce pan, heat a teaspoon of oil.

Add and saute the following ingredients in the order mentioned:

Urad dal, cumin and mustard seeds – half teaspoon each
Green chillies, slit in the middle – 4
Finely chopped onions and fresh green peas – half cup each
Dried mango (amchur), ginger(sonti) & kasoori methi– half tsp each
Turmeric, sugar and salt to taste or quarter teaspoon each
Small, bite-sized paneer cubes, about 12 to 15

At the end, add about two cups of fresh homemade yogurt. Whisk the yogurt, thoroughly mixing with sautéed spices. Garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves and serve warm with chapatis or rice for a delightful meal.


Paneer Kadhi with Chapatis and Pickled Cucumber ~ Our Meal Today

Thank you Musical for suggesting Paneer Kadhi name to this recipe.
Recipe Adapted from Annita’s “My Pleasure and My Treasure”
Yogurt is prepared with 2% milk (so, the thin watery like consistency on whisking).

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What brought on this paneer craving, you might ask?

Party at a restaurant. A platter of most delectable paneer pakoras. Slim pickings, thus born a paneer state of mind.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Ginger & Sonti,Paneer,Yogurt (Thursday July 5, 2007 at 9:23 pm- permalink)
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Pudina Paneer for Picnic


Pudina (Mint) from our Patio Garden

Pudina Paneer has the perfect punch to serve with pulaos and parathas on a picnic party. It’s good with grilled chicken and fish too.

Recipe is easy to execute. Involves grilling and grinding.

Grilling :
On stove-top or on a hot grill, place a slab of paneer and grill each side for a minute. Remove, cool and slice the paneer slab to bite sized cubes.
On stove-top or on a grill, place an iron skillet and heat the oil until it’s very hot. Add and saute Pudina leaves till they wilt. Remove to a plate.
In the same skillet, place onions, tomatoes, garlic and green chillies. Grill to brown.

Grinding:
In a food processor or mixer, take roasted peanuts. Grind to fine consistency.
Add the sautéed Pudina leaves, grilled onions, tomatoes, garlic and green chillies. Also tamarind, salt and two cups of water. Process the whole thing to smooth paste. Remove to a cup. Stir in grilled paneer cubes and serve with pulao or parathas.


Pudina Paneer ~ for Picnic Party

Ingredients
Palm sized, one-inch thick slab of paneer (about 15 to 20 cubes)
1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 bunches of Pudina (mint) – about 4 cups of leaves
1 big red onion
2 semi ripe tomatoes
6 to 8 green chillies
1 small garlic bulb – about 4-6 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
½ cup roasted peanuts
½ tsp salt or to taste

Recipe source: My own creation

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Mint,Paneer,Peanuts (Wednesday July 4, 2007 at 9:32 pm- permalink)
Comments (19)

The New Home of Mahanandi: www.themahanandi.org

Matar Paneer with Fresh Summer Peas

Plump and firm, fresh peas of summer are a sight to behold. Bouncing out of pods, with that smooth pearly finish in pleasant green and warm sheen, they seem fit for a necklace rather than that endless pit we call stomach.

After the classic south Indian style Guggullu, the next best recipe with freshly shelled peas is the famous north Indian specialty called “Matar Paneer”. Matar means Peas in Hindi language. There are so many different ways to prepare this recipe. Mass produced for buffet, the much-maligned style with frozen peas is sadly how most people get acquainted with matar paneer. Over-cooked in overtly-spiced sauces, poor peas and paneer would evoke pity instead of poignant piquancy. Even the hardcore buffet connoisseurs can’t help but pass the peas. Thus punished, the curry remains in the pan, to spend the night in refrigerator feeling the onion raita’s aroma, all to face another day of reheating and rejection. The sob story of restaurant style matar paneer is truly pull-at-the-heartstrings, tearjerker of bollywood.

In contrast, the home-style version is an Indian housewife’s summer romance with sweet peas. It’s a joyous celebration of nature’s bounty. Fresh cow or buffalo milk churned to paneer, a cup of peas freshly shelled from the pods, few tomatoes plucked from the vines – if you stop and think for a minute, it’s easy to imagine how the recipe originated and the reason it got so famous. A treat for dulled taste buds as well as a sight for sore eyes, fresh peas of summer make matar paneer a pleasure to savor.


Peas, Paneer, Tomatoes and Cashews ~ Ingredients for Matar Paneer

Recipe:

1 cup fresh shelled peas
½ cup each – paneer cubes and roasted cashews
4 tomatoes and 1 onion – finely sliced
1 tablespoon – ginger, garlic and cilantro (GGC) paste
1 tablespoon – clove,cinnamon,coriander and cumin (CCCC) powder
½ tsp each – salt and turmeric (or to taste)
¼ tsp – chilli powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon oil

Grind roasted cashews to fine powder in a mixer or spice grinder.

Heat oil in a saucepan. Add and saute finely chopped onions till translucent. Add the GGC paste, cook for few seconds. Next, tomatoes turn. Cook them till they turn to mush when pressed with the back of spoon. After spoon-mushing tomatoe pieces, stir in cashew powder, CCCC powder, salt, turmeric and chilli powder. Also green peas and paneer cubes. Add about a cup of water. Mix and simmer covered for about five to ten minutes, until the sauce thickens.

Enjoy with rice, parathas or chapatis.


Matar Paneer with Parathas and Cucumber Raita ~ Enjoying the Goodness of Seasonal Vegetables

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Cashews,Paneer,Peas (Bataani),Tomato (Thursday June 28, 2007 at 9:02 pm- permalink)
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Green Garbanzo and Paneer

Chana Masala with Green Garbanzo and Paneer


Green Garbanzo and Paneer Curry with Chapati ~ Our Meal Today

The last few days have been wonderfully pleasant here. The kind of weather that warms the heart and pulls us away from the spell of blank-screen bewitching ways. I took a break from routine house/blog chores and went out for shopping. Among other things, I also bought supplies needed to set up the container garden. I had to leave my neat garden setup when we moved from Ohio to Seattle last fall. Time for fresh start again. The planters, the potting soil and of course the plants. 4 cherry tomatoes, mint, a yellow rose and some marigolds. Peas and methi plants that I started from seed last month are now about 8 inches tall. I transferred all of them to the new and freshly filled big containers. I passed on planting cilantro this year. We get two to three bunches for a dollar anyway, so the loss will not be missed at all. New thing I am trying out this summer is growing lemon grass and taro plant for nutritious leaves. That’s my garden log for summer 07.

One another thing I did was, I shopped at Pike Place Market after a long time. Guess what I found there – green garbanzos in pods. I bought about 4 pounds. Freshly shelled from the pods, the lively green garbanzos were a treat. I divided them to two portions. One for the timeless classic, guggllu type preparation and with the second portion I’ve prepared the chana masala style curry for today’s lunch. Green garbanzos and creamy paneer cooked in garbanzo-sesame sauce. A fresh tasting paneer chole with chapatis, good meal!


Green Garbanzo and Paneer Cubes

Recipe:

1 onion – finely chopped
2 cups fresh green garbanzos (chickpeas, dubba sanagalu)
½ cup paneer, cubed to bite sized pieces

2 tablespoons – chana masala powder (readymade or homemade)
1 tablespoon –Amchur powder or tamarind juice (acts as souring agent)
1 tablespoon – jaggery/sugar (brings sweetness)
½ teaspoon each -salt, chilli powder and turmeric (the much needed spices)

For Garbanzo-Sesame Sauce:
In a blender, take about
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds – grind to fine paste. To it, add
½ cup green garbanzo
3 tomatoes and 1 inch sized ginger – finely chopped
Add about a cup of water and grind to smooth consistency.

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In a saucepan, heat about a teaspoon of oil. Add and saute onions to golden. Add the garbanzo-sesame sauce.

Stir in green garbanzo, chana masala powder, amchur powder, jaggery, salt, chilli powder and turmeric. Stir in about a cup of water. Cover with a lid and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes on medium heat, stirring in-between.

When the sauce starts to thicken, add the paneer cubes. Simmer another 5 to 10 minutes on low heat so that paneer could absorb the sauce.

Serve warm with chapati/paratha or with rice.


Green Garbanzo and Paneer Curry

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Hara Chana(Green Chickpeas),Paneer,Sesame Seeds (Wednesday May 16, 2007 at 6:52 pm- permalink)
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Paneer Naanini

Today’s meal is inspired by menu from Indian Bread Co. of New York. Rectangular shaped store-bought, whole-wheat naans are stuffed with spinach curry and crumbled paneer. Grilled in oven and served hot with split pea~spinach stew.

We like paneer naaninis for three reasons. One, they are quick and easy to prepare, two, they taste really good – all the great ruchi(flavor) of grilled naan with spinach and paneer goodness and three, just by changing the toppings, we can customize them to our mood/taste. Stuffed parathas in a new avatar, needless to say good food!

Naan layered with spinach curry and crumbled paneer
Naan layered with spinach curry and crumbled paneer – ready for grilling

Recipe:

2 naans
½ cup crumbled paneer or scrambled eggs/tofu
Spinach curry stuffing:
1 small bunch of spinach – finely chopped
1 big red onion and tomato – finely sliced
¼ cup of fresh peas
1 teaspoon – red chilli flakes
¼ teaspoon each – turmeric and salt

Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a wide skillet. Add onion, tomato and peas. Cook them stirring occasionally until onions are soft. Add spinach, sauté until the leaves wilt on high heat. Sprinkle red chilli flakes, turmeric and salt. Mix and cook for few more minutes and remove from heat.

Slice each naan lengthwise (like shown above) in the middle into two layers. (Sharp knife and skilled hand are essential to slice the naan). Top with spinach curry and sprinkle crumbled paneer. Cover the naan with second half. Broil for about 4 to 5 minutes. Keep a watchful eye and remove as soon as brown spots start to appear. Cut into two or three pieces and serve hot with a cup of dal soup or stew.

 Paneer Naanini with Split Pea-Spinach Stew and Dried Sweet Mango Pieces
Paneer Naanini with Split Pea-Spinach Stew and Spicy-Sweet Dried Mango Pieces (Maamidi Tandra Coated with Chilli Powder) ~ Our Meal Today

Source:
Paneer and Naans – from Indian grocery shop
Spicy-sweet dried mango pieces – from Trader Joe’s grocery shop

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Paneer,Spinach (Thursday January 18, 2007 at 2:23 pm- permalink)
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Sarson da Saag (Mustard greens, Spinach & Paneer)

Baby Sarson (Baby Mustard Greens)
Baby Sarson (Baby Mustard Greens ~ Japanese Variety)

“Mustard greens originated in the Himalayan region of India and have been grown and consumed for more than 5,000 years. Mustard greens are a notable vegetable in many different cuisines, ranging from Chinese to Southern American. Like turnip greens, they may have become an integral part of Southern cuisine during the times of slavery, serving as a substitute for the greens that were an essential part of Western African foodways. While India, Nepal, China and Japan are among the leading producers of mustard greens, a significant amount of mustard greens are grown in the United States as well.”

– Says the WHFoods, a website which provides unbiased scientific information on nutrient-rich World’s Healthiest Foods. If you think history of this green leafy vegetable is impressive, check out the detailed nutritional information listed. It has antioxidants like Vitamins A, C, E to mineral – Magnesium, that would help to deal with lung problems (asthma) etc, – almost everything that a health(label) conscious person desires in a vegetable. Not only that mustard seeds (aavaalu) that we use regularly in our tadka and mustard oil comes from this vegetable.

When it comes to cooking mustard greens, the famous Punjabi’s ‘Sarson da Saag’, is THE recipe. Mustard Greens (Sarson Patta in Hindi), spinach and paneer along with traditional Indian seasoning are all cooked together. Like Punjabis, the end result is attractive and vibrant – in a nutshell, wholesome food experience. Give it a try!


Fresh Baby Mustard Greens, Spinach, Onion, Ginger, Garlic, Cashews, Paneer, Green Chilli

Recipe:

1 bunch fresh, baby Sarson (mustard greens)- chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach – chopped
10 green chillies – small Indian variety
1 small onion – finely chopped
1 tsp of ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp of cccc powder (cumin-coriander-clove-cinnamon) or garam masala
15 cashews – roasted and powdered
15 paneer cubes – grilled or pan-fried to light gold
Limejuice to taste or 2 tablespoons
Turmeric and salt to taste or ½ tsp each

1. In a big skillet, heat a teaspoon of ghee. Add and saute the sarson, spinach and green chillies. Within 2 to 3 minutes, the leaves start to wilt and come together. Turn off the heat and remove them to a plate. Let cool and then take them in a blender or food processor. Grind to coarse paste by adding a pinch of salt.

2. In the same skillet, add and heat a teaspoon of ghee. Add and saute onions to gold color. Add and fry ginger-garlic paste for few seconds. Add pureed sarson-spinach-green chilli and half cup of water. Stir in cashew powder, garam masala, turmeric and salt. Mix thoroughly. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat. Before turning off the heat, add paneer cubes and sprinkle in limejuice.

Serve hot. Tastes great with rice and roti or chapatis.

Sarson Da Saag with Chapatis
Sarson da Saag with Chapatis.

I purchased these fresh, baby mustard greens from an Asian grocery shop (Uwajimaya).
Recipe adapted from: Basant. I have added cashews to bring some nutty sweetness to the curry.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Cashews,Paneer,Sarson (Mustard Greens),Spinach (Monday November 6, 2006 at 4:29 pm- permalink)
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The New Home of Mahanandi: www.themahanandi.org

Paneer Pad Thai with Bok Choy


Paneer Pad Thai with Pistachios and Bok Choy

This is an eggless version of pad thai and prepared in response to this comment. Dear Terri, this recipe is for you.

Paneer is prepared in bhurji style and has been added to rice noodles. When all done, it almost looks like fried eggs of padthai but with paneer taste and smell. I have also added pistachios in place of peanuts and lots of bok choy, a green leafy vegetable of Chinese. I am able to purchase all the ingredients listed for this recipe at affordable prices, that means at the prices I am willing to spend:) here in Seattle, and because of that I could experiment however I like.

So here it is, with paneer, pistachios and bok choy ~ My version of pad thai.


Ingredients for Paneer Pad Thai

Recipe:
(for two, for one meal)

Flat rice noodles (two bundles)
(Soaked in hot water for about 15 minutes, drained just before the start of stir-fry.)
Paneer – cubed and crumbled – about 1 cup
Baby Bok Choy – 8 bunches – finely chopped
Pistachios – ½ cup
Shallot (Indian onion) – 1, and green onions – 1 bunch, finely chopped
Fresh bean sprouts – 2 cups
Fresh Cilantro – few sprigs, finely chopped
Soy Sauce – 1 tablespoon
Padthai Sauce:
10 fresh red chillies (pandu mirapa kayalu)
1 T of jaggery
1 T of tamarind juice
½ tsp of salt
Take them all in blender, add half cup of water, grind them to smooth paste

Keep all the ingredients ready by the counter.

Place a big skillet or wok on stovetop. On high heat, add and heat about 2 teaspoons of peanut oil.

When it is hot, one by one add the ingredients listed below in that order.
shallots, green onions, crumbled paneer, bok choy, bean sprouts, pistachios, soy sauce and pad thai sauce. Do the quick stir-fry and add the rice noodles. Sprinkle in a quarter teaspoon of salt, mix and saut? briefly and serve with some limejuice sprinkled.

That’s it, a very quick meal to prepare and to have. And this time, I applied the traditional Thai advice and soaked the rice noodles in hot water instead of cooking them in boiling water. They tasted much better this way.

Recipe adopted from Thai food and travel.com

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Bok Choy,Paneer,Pistachios,Rice Noodles (Friday October 27, 2006 at 5:53 pm- permalink)
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Kadai Paneer (Paneer Jalfrezi)

I prepared a big block of paneer this weekend. Half of it went into the palak paneer and with the remaining half, I prepared this tasty kadai paneer, today.

Ingredients:
Three ripe juicy tomatoes, 4 bell peppers, small onion – all cut into small pieces
Half tsp of ginger- garlic-cilantro paste
Cumin-coriander powder, salt and red chilli powder~ each half tsp or as per your taste
10 to 15 paneer cubes.

Kadai Paneer Ingredients

Preparation:
Cooking all the Ingredients - Kadai Paneer in making
Just like the regular curry, first fry the onions in 1 tsp of oil, then add g-g-c paste and c-c powder, sauté them little bit, then add salt, red chilly powder, tomatoes and bell peppers. Cook them for few minutes until the gravy (juice from tomatoes) thickens, then add paneer cubes. Simmer them for few more minutes in the gravy.

Kadai paneer and chapati- that’s one good and filling combination

Chapati and Kadai Paneer(Paneer Jalfrezi)

You can always substitute paneer with very firm tofu. I often make paneer curries with tofu. Different taste, but after knowing how they obtain milk here, I cautiously use milk and its products.

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Bell Pepper,Paneer,Peppers (Tuesday June 7, 2005 at 8:21 pm- permalink)
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The New Home of Mahanandi: www.themahanandi.org

Palak Paneer (Sag Paneer, Spinach Paneer)

I learned the organized approach to cooking North Indian dishes from Deviji, a kind Punjabi lady, our neighbor in Pittsburgh, when we were living there. She taught me how to cook my favorites, she insisted that I come and see how she prepares in her kitchen so that I won’t forget. She used to say if you see, you won’t forget, particularly cooking. I think that is true. My entire north Indian cooking is her recipes including the paneer post below. Hope you try them and enjoy as much as we do. Here is one…The famous palak paneer

Recipe:

One big bunch of spinach (fresh green ones)
Paneer ~10 to 15 cubes
One medium sized ripe tomato
Green chillies 5, half onion~ chopped finely into small pieces
Half tsp of garlic-ginger-cilantro paste
One tsp of dhania-jeera (coriander-cumin) powder
Quarter cup cashews
Half tsp of salt

Palak Paneer Ingredients

Preparation:

Spinach and Green Chillies – Wash the spinach, cut or tear them into big pieces. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a wide skillet. First add green chillies to hot oil, then spinach. Saute until the leaves are wilted. Turn off the heat. Wait few minutes to cool. Add them to a blender and also a pinch of salt – blend to smooth paste. Adding green chillies to spinach puree is very important step; it gives punch to bland spinach.

Tomato- Boil tomato in hot water till the skin break down, remove the skin, mash the tomato to a pulp.

Cashews- Roast cashews lightly, make fine powder of them.

Paneer- Lightly saute paneer cubes in one teaspoon of ghee till they are golden brown. (This is optional, you can add paneer cubes just as they are.)

Palak Paneer-Preparation

Now with the curry:

Add one teaspoon of ghee or oil to a wide skillet. When it is hot, fry the onions till translucent. Add ginger-garlic-cilantro paste and dhania-jeera powder, mix them and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Now add pureed spinach, tomato and cashew powder along with a pinch of turmeric and salt to taste. Mix thoroughly and add water if needed. Do not dilute the curry too much. It should not spread like flooding river when served on a plate.

Cook it covered on low flame for about 5 to 10 minutes. Just before turning off the heat, add the paneer cubes. Mix them with the spinach (palak). Let simmer for 2 or 3 minutes and then turn off the heat.

Serve the curry hot with chapatis (rotis) or with rice. Also for novelty, you can make a Palak Panner Naanini (Split naan into two layers, apply generous potions of palak paneer in-between. Grill or Oven-broil for few minutes and serve with yogurt raita.) Anyway you prefer, palak paneer is truly a guilt free, satisfying, well balanced delicious dish.

Palal Paneer with Chapati
Palak Paneer with Chapatis ~ Our Meal Today

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Paneer,Spinach (Monday June 6, 2005 at 6:20 pm- permalink)
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The New Home of Mahanandi: www.themahanandi.org

Delightful Paneer

What you need: Milk, Lime and Cheesecloth

Whole Milk – half gallon

Juice from one lime, about 2 to 3 tbs

Muslin cloth (gangi gudda)

Boil the milk in a thick-bottomed vessel on medium heat, stirring occasionally (sometimes milk stick to the bottom and burns, so take caution). Once the milk starts to boil, reduce the heat and add the limejuice, stirring continuously.

In few minutes, you see small curds like white clouds floating on top. Wait till they get bigger (if they don’t, add some more lime juice and stir) and the whey below gets less milky. This process takes few minutes, so wait at least five minutes. Switch off the heat and let it stand for few more minutes. Then pour the whole thing immediately into a clean muslin or cheese cloth in a sieve, over a sink. Gather the curds and discard the whey.

Milk turning into paneer seperating paneer from whey

Keep the curds in the cloth, tie a knot much above their level and hang it over a kitchen sink. Let the whey drip for half an hour. Now remove the knot, twist the cloth several times to make it tighten, squeeze out any remaining whey, make a tight knot just above the paneer, shaping the paneer into a round ball. Keep it hanging for another 30 minutes.

draining the whey tightening the cloth to squeeze out the remaining whey from paneer

Remove the paneer from the cloth. Now with the all the whey gone, it turns out into a firm ball. Store this in the refrigerator, 2 to 3 hours, for further solidification. After that, you can use the delightful paneer in curries or just plain fried, as you wish.

Paneer

Try it, if you have not already, this easy to make, pure, rennet free, Paneer~ the Indian cheese.

Paneer Recipes I have blogged so far on Mahanandi:

Palak Paneer ~ Paneer with Spinach
Pudina Paneer ~ Paneer with Fresh Mint
Paneer Jalfrezi ~ Paneer with Green Bell Pepper and Tomato
Kadhi Paneer ~ Paneer with Spicy Yogurt Based Sauce
Matar Paneer ~ Paneer with Fresh Peas of Summer
Hare Chane Paneer ~ Paneer with Fresh Green Garbanzo/Chickpeas
Sarson da Saag ~ Paneer with Baby Mustard Greens and Spinach
Paneer Pad Thai with Bok Choy
Paneer Naanini ~ Naan stuffed with crumbled paneer & spinach curry

Posted by Indira©Copyrighted in Milk & Products,Paneer (Monday June 6, 2005 at 9:18 am- permalink)
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