Muttar Paneer

Recipe courtesy Nigella Lawson

Show: Nigella FeastsEpisode: Spiced Up

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (17)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(17)

Cook Time:
30 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
8 servings

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 30 min
Total:: 40 min

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Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 ounces paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1-inch piece ginger, roughly chopped
Sprinkling of salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 (10-ounce) packets frozen peas
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1 cup vegetable stock
Special equipment: food processor

Directions

Heat the oil a large skillet and add the paneer cubes, in 2 batches, and fry until they are golden. Remove the golden cubes to a double thickness of kitchen towel. (It is possible to dry fry the paneer cubes in the pan with no oil, to avoid the oil splashing you. Then continue with the recipe below.)

Pour all but about 2 tablespoons of the oil out of the pan. Put the onion, garlic cloves, and ginger into a food processor and blitz to a coarse pulp. Fry gently for about 5 minutes with a sprinkling of salt. Stir in the garam masala and turmeric and cook for another 2 minutes before adding the still frozen peas.

Dissolve the tomato puree in the vegetable stock and pour over the contents of the pan. Stir again and turn the heat down to low, cover with foil or a lid and cook for 15 minutes, tasting to check that the peas are tender. You can cook muttar paneer up to this stage, if you like, uncovering and then reheating gently with the diced, oil-crisped cheese, or proceed directly now.

In which case, take off the foil and add the paneer cubes to warm them through before serving.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Muttar Paneer
dalene Bethel Park, PA 03-15-2009
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Dissapointing
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

I really wanted this to be good, because I LOVE Indian food and have always wanted to learn to cook it myself, but this is NO... substitute for the real thing. It tastes like something is missing and it was rather bland-- probably needs some more spices (I have no idea what exactly) and more tomato flavor. Read more
recipe Muttar Paneer
Paula North Hollywood, CA 03-15-2009
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Easy and very good with modifications
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This tasted great with the following modifications: I used ground ginger (about a teaspoon) instead of raw. I used tofu... instead of paneer because of availability. I cut the tofu in large strips to fry and sliced into smaller cubes after I fried it. This makes frying easy and fast. I carmelized finely chopped red onion instead of pulverizing the onion. I used a whole can of tomato paste as well. I like the tomato flavor, so use a bunch of this and water it down with broth. Fast, easy and full of flavor. Great as a main dish if you are vegetarian. Read more
recipe Muttar Paneer
Kenneth Strasburg, PA 02-08-2009
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Authentic
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

Very authentic Indian veg. Not mind blowing like the Mughlai Chicken, but very good.
recipe Muttar Paneer
Kate Sacramento, CA 01-27-2009
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Something missing
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

I made this recipe, incorporating the suggestions for a little cayenne and more tomato paste. It was still pretty... dreadful. The ginger and onion flavors tasted raw and overpowering. I was able to resuscitate it a little by adding a half-cup or so of milk at the end to take some of the raw edge off. Yogurt would have been better, but I didn't have any in my fridge. That was enough to make it edible, my husband and I decided. Just barely. We were seriously considering tossing perfectly good food otherwise. As written, this recipe simply didn't work. I have used Nigella's recipes before with success, but this one was just bad. Read more
recipe Muttar Paneer
Gayle Beaverton, OR 07-26-2008
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Absolutely love it!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Can one become addicted to paneer? I think so. I made this dish shortly after seeing it on the show and now make it all the... time. Found the best way to fry the paneer is in a deep fryer; that way it doesn't spatter all over the kitchen. I make it exactly the way the recipe states except for perhaps adding a bit more tomato paste, and wouldn't change another thing. It has become a mainstay in my recipe file.Read more
recipe Muttar Paneer
Anonymous 07-14-2008
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close, but no cigar
Rated: 3 stars out of 5

While this recipe is good, it did not have enough tomato taste to it. It also seemed to more oily than I'm used to. Despite... this,I would definately make it again. My changes would be to increase the tomato, try to reduce the oil, and reduces the amount of ginger ( I was too generous last time).Another review suggested adding some flour to the sauce and I'm going to do that also.Read more