anyway, at first i was VERY intimidated by the thought of making indian food. very. and when dipak moved to florida initially, my second mom (dipaks mom) helped him move and set us up with all the spices that are fundamental in indian cooking! which is so helpful.. especially considering it took me a month to find the indian store... which ended up being down the street :| however, she has way too much faith in me and put the spices in these cute little unmarked jars. they look adorable! however... it took me a session with google, and dipak sitting next to me to figure out what was in them. i was too embarrassed to call her and ask "whats the yellow one? okay... and whats the less yellow one?" haha so NOW i finally know what i have... in hindsight, i shouldve just called her a month ago.
anyway, i think ive figured out one of the secrets to amateur indian cooking.. if i use 4 specific spices in my cooking, dipak likes it! those are: turmeric, chili powder, garam masala (which i bought like 5 pounds of and keep in a giant tupperware in my spice cabinet) and cumin powder/seeds. im pretty sure if you put those spices in equal parts on anything, itll taste indian. it seems simple enough, but i am literally stoked out of my mind at figuring this out!
So i always begin a new dish by looking up a recipe. i go to google, and type in "simple _____ " and then tweak the recipe to taste better while im making it. at first though, i was too scared to even deviate from the written recipe by 1/4 of a tsp! so everything took longer.. and ended up being a little weird.
i realized its almost impossible to perfectly duplicate someone elses food from just a written recipe. the only recipes that turned out perfectly when i didnt try to make it my own, was Alton Browns'! and thats bc i watched it on youtube :) which i HIGHLY recommend!!
anyway, i googled simple matar paneer and got a dish that had a bajillion steps to it and had about 6 ingredients that i didnt possess at that time. so i changed it.
the ingredients that i used are:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion (diced)
1 heaping tsp garlic (minced)
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin powder or seeds
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
2-3 tbsp of tomato paste
water
1 tbsp ketchup
1 packet of paneer (cubed)
1/4 cup of peas (but i substituted peas for edamame)
a splash of cream, half & half, or whole milk
take a big skillet/pan (what is the difference between a skillet and a pan???) and put the heat on medium. heat up your olive oil, and throw in your onions and garlic. hit it with a little salt. (apparently the salt brings out the flavors).. saute the onions and garlic for about one minute on medium, and then turn the heat down to med/low and add all of your spices. stir around, and let the onions absorb the spices (about 1 minute) and get "aromatic" haha, then turn the heat to low.
separately, take your tomato paste and combine it with one tbsp of water at a time. stir stir stir until the tomato paste has the soupy consistency you want... i like it to be like the consistency of a thick tomato soup! during this step, you can add as much or as little tomato paste as you want! if you want extra sauce, then use a lot! if you want less sauce.... use less- you get it lol. you'll see, while youre doing this step, how much the paste turns into when you mix it with water. then you can decide :)
take that tomato-soupy-love that you just made, and add it to your onion-spice skillet. mix it all together and then add your ketchup. (i think thats in lieu of sugar. but it was in the original recipe and i dont know why i didnt change it.. but it tasted good, so now its in the recipe forever! lol) so add your ketchup, and then throw in your paneer! fold it into the sauce you made (i find that if im too rough when im mixing the paneer, that i crumble the edges of it.. so "FOLD", dont just stir, willy nilly)
when its all folded together nicely, spill in a little cream. id say maybe... 3 tbsp's? just however much you want until the color is the way you want it. -i seem to judge my food by its color... seems to work :).. also, at this point, taste your sauce. if its not.... flavorful enough, go ahead and add another teaspoon of garam masala and re-fold. (also garal masala is VERY powerful. i think if youre not used to eating indian food, the food must be very flavorful at this point, but dipak is a veteran and needs a LOT of spice in his life lol.. so i tend to over-flavor things- for him i add extra chili powder AND garam masala)
so then, i took my edamame (which should be peas) and microwaved it for about a minute, until i knew it was fully cooked through and not frozen anymore. I then turned the heat up to medium on my paneer skillet, and added my veggie. (traditionally, this meal is made with peas.. but dipak doesnt like peas. he really likes edamame, so i took a chance and subbed it in. he loved it! :D) anyway, cook it on medium for another few minutes and then serve with either naan or rice!
i prefer naan.. i buy it from the store (i have yet to make any kind of bread... although tonight im going to try making banana bread! which isnt the same lol but ill let you know how it goes) so i buy it from the store, turn the oven to 375, put butter and minced garlic on the naan, and bake it for about 8 minutes. its my favorite part of every meal! :)
enjoy!! and let me know if you make it and what your experience was! <3
OH cool! i just figured out how to make my pictures bigger! lol - it takes me a while, but eventually i learn things haha
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