Paneer Pulao

Paneer Pulao

The afternoon was grand especially with the end-of-season, discounted rainfall;cooling soaring temperatures and packing off the sun behind the clouds.This was an occassion in itself.And whereas only sometime back the wife and me were discussing on going to a theatre nearby to watch a movie but with the change in weather,the next moment we thought of enjoying some home made food rather and spend the day relaxing.

Since it was already past 12 and the bazaar had shut down so, we decided on trying something with the stuff that was available at home.I normally donot like picking up fish/meat in the afterhours because the quality of the stuff that you pick up becomes a suspect.There were some paneer that I bought the evening before and some Katla fish bought the morning.And because there were only the two of us, so that left us with ample room for experiment.

After some arguments Paneer Pulao and Katla Macher Kalia was decided to be the menu.Both of us got down to the business of preparing the whole stuff.And since there was some beer in the refrigerator it eased the whole process - when the mood isnt light, a little amount of beer just makes it right.So, it was sip of beer all along and it helped cut the vegetables,size the spices and fry the fish and et al.Gradually everything got completed excepting the pulao which was today's experiment.Needless to say, the beer went into my head and it was a pretty exciting experience in the kitchen.

But the wife said the end result was good and loved it especially with the kalia.So here I am,writing down the recipe of what I would call the "Paneer Pulao".

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 20 mins.
Cooking Time: 15 mins.

Ingredients

• Rice: 200 gms.Use good quality Basmati rice.
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp.
• Paneer - 50 gms.Thinly sliced into cubes.
• Cashew Nuts - 50 gms
• Soaked Raisins - 25 gms
• Vegetable Oil - 2 tb sp.
• Melted Ghee for pulao- 1 tb sp.
• Melted Ghee for frying paneer - 3 tb sp.
• Salt - to taste

Whole Spices:

• Bay leaf - 1
• Green Cardamon - 3.
• Cinnamon Stick - One 1 inch piece.
• Cloves - 3-4.
• Jaiphal(nNutmeg) - 1/2.Powdered.

Preparation:
Rice:

• Soak the rice in water for 30 mins.
• Prepare the rice - but add 1 tb sp of vegetable oil(apart from the one mentioned above)and salt to taste during preparing.Spread it on plates under a fan so that the moisture is vapourized and the rice becomes dry and free flowing.

Paneer:

• The paneer should be made into very thin cubes. Fry the paneer in 3 tb sp of ghee and sprinkle salt on the sliced pieces in desired amounts only.Once the paneer surface turns light brown remove it onto a tissue and let the oil soak off.

Cooking:

• Heat the 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a kadai/wok.
• When the ghee is hot, add the whole spices in it.
• Once the aroma of the spices evolve add the prepared rice and turmeric powder.IMMEDIATELY reduce the heat to low.
• Stir for 5 mins.
• Then mix the cashew nuts,raisins and fried paneer and ensure proper mixing of the ingredients for another 5 mins.
• If required, add some salt to taste.
• Add the melted ghee at the last and stir for a further 5 mins.

Remove from the pan enjoy with mutton/chicken dishes. But we enjoyed it with the rich katla kalia.