Paneer Korma

Paneer Korma

It was quite sometime that I had returned back home from office with the sun for company. So, when this Thursday I managed to beat the office work for an early time back home, I knew what I wanted - To get busy in the kitchen.Cooking is something that reflects your state of mind. A cheerful mood coupled with the monsoonal weather always uplifts the spirit. I wanted to make something delicious,rich and spicy and not to forget with oodles of calories. The Indian house of cooking may be unhealthy but its unfailingly tasty.So, if you want to satisfy the taste buds, read on the recipe of Paneer Korma!

Kormas, as I have mentioned earlier are the stuff of nawabs and festivals. Any good Muslim will prepare the Korma during festivals.And now that Id is due on the 15th of August, let shoot for the Korma straightaway.

I bought 200 gms of Paneer. For Mutton/Chicken there are certain elaborate preparations to be made, but here we will discuss on Paneer, which, I my opinion(and I believe in slow cooking over long time) should not require more than an hour.

Preparation(15 minutes)

Ingredients:

• Paneer - 200 gm. Cut into cubes.
• Ghee - 2 table spoon.
• Salt to taste.
• Onion - 150 gm(2 medium sized ones).Sliced longitudinally.
• Vegetable Oil - 3 table spoons.
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp.
• Curd/Yoghurt - 100 gm. Finely whisked. Ensure that no granules are left.

Procedure:

Fry the Paneer:

• Heat up the ghee in a pan.
• Lightly fry the paneer in it so that the pieces turn light brown. Sprinkle salt in the paneer during frying as per taste.

Fry Onions:

• Heat some vegetable oil in a pan.
• Fry the onions until they turn golden brown. Use some sugar for caramelization. 
• Once brown, grind them in a mixer. Keep aside.

Whisk the curd.

Cooking(40 minutes):

Ingredients:

Whole Spices:

• 1/2 Jaiphal(Nutmeg).Powdered.
• 3-4 petals of Jaitri. Powdered. 
• 3-4 Green Cardamon.
• 1 inch cinnamon stick.
• 1 black cardamon.
• 2 bay leaves.
• 4-5 Cloves
• 1.5 tsp - Sa jeera.Powdered.
• 5-6 black pepper(Kali Mirch). Powdered.
• 5-6 white pepper(Sa-Marich). Powdered.

Powdered Spices:

• 1 tsp Kashmiri Mirch Powder
• 2 tsp Coriander(Dhaniya) Powder
• 1.5 tsp Turmeric Powder.

• Garlic - 5 cloves.Finely crushed and made into a paste.
• Ginger - 1/2 inch slice. Finely crushed and made into a paste.

Scents/Aroma:

• 1/2 tsp Kewra Water
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 drop meetha itra.

Ghee: 4 table spoon.Liquified.

Procedure:

• Heat up the liquified ghee in a pan.
• Add all the whole spice ingredients. Wait till the crackling commences and the aroma releases.
• Then add the Ginger and Garlic Pastes. 
• Wait till the raw feel of the ginger/garlic is gone.
• Add the Fried Onion Paste prepared earlier. This will be the base of the gravy. 
• Top it with the Powdered Spices. Increase the heat to high.
• Mix them thoroughly until the oil starts separating from the mixture - at which point you should introduce the fried paneer.
• Reduce the heat and let the gravy cook under a lid for 15 mins.
• After 15 mins, add the whisked curd. Stir the mixture once again and cover it with the lid.
• Let it cook for 5-7 mins.
• Once the cooking is done, sprinkle the scents in the mentioned quantities.Note that this is extremely crucial. Overdoing any of the scents will surely ruin the smell of the garam masalas and brown onions.

It shared the thing with some of my office folks the next day. And they liked it!