Paneer Chettinad

I tasted this dish first time in a famous chettinadu restaurant in U.S and it was so delicious and flavorful with the freshly ground masala.It is a fusion of South and North India spices and flavor in which paneer has simmered in the fresh ground masala.I tried this many a times and came out very well and can be eaten along with roti,naan,parota and rice.Yesterday I made this one for dinner and we had it with Lacha paratha.

Ingredients

Ingredient	Quantity
Panner(cubed)	300gms
Onion(chopped)	1no.(medium size)
Tomato(chopped)	2nos.(medium size)
Ginger&garlicpaste	2tsp
Turmeric powder	1/2tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig
Coriander leaves	to garnish
Salt	a taste
Oil	2tbs

To roast and grind

Ingredient	Quantity
Red chilly	5-6no.
Coriander seeds	11/2tbs
Fennel seeds	1tsp
Cloves	3nos.
Cinnamon	1 inch piece
Black pepper corns	5-6nos.
Poppy seeds(optional)	1tsp
Coconut(grated)	4tbs

Method

           Dry roast the ingredients given in the table to roast and grind it to fine paste with water.
  

Heat a pan with a tbs of oil,fry the paneer to a golden color.Drain it from the oil and soak the fried paneer in a cup of a warm water.

In the same pan add a tbs of oil,saute the onion and curry leaves till it becomes transparent.Add the ginger&garlic paste and fry it for a while,follows the tomatoes.

Once the tomatoes become mushy add in the ground paste,salt,turmeric powder,saute it for a minute and add water as needed.Let it cook  till the raw smell goes off.

 Finally add in the fried paneer pieces and cook it for couple of minutes.Garnish it with coriander leaves.

 

Enjoy....

• Here I used the ginger&garlic paste,instead ginger and garlic can be sauted in the whole garam masala.
• Pureed tomato or tomato paste can be used.
• Cashews can be added, while grinding the masala gives thickness and extra richness to the recipe.