hello my amazing reader... whoever you are :)
last night i made butter paneer! it was just like my butter chicken (chicken makhani) but instead of chicken i used little blocks of paneer. in case i didnt explain it before btw, Paneer is a type of indian cheese.. its consistency is like extra firm tofu, but its waaaaay more flavorful, fatty and delicious! you can get it from any indian grocery store- there are a LOT of them. trust me, once you start looking for indian stores, they'll be there. especially in good ol' cali :) the melting pot of america!... im home sick hah - aaanyway, my paneer makhani turned out sooo good!!
we invited a couple of dipaks school mates over to have dinner with us, and everyone loved it! dipak said it was restaurant quality!! :D so now i feel like this recipe is worthy of the blog :)
the first time i made it, i was like 'wow, CUPS of tomato puree? CUPS of cream??' theres only two of us.. so i left out a bunch of the liquid, assuming itd be way too much sauce, but then it ended up being not nearly enough! so this time, i just used cups :)
and speaking of cups, i should mention that for the first month of my cooking career i thought that "1 cup of butter" was the same thing as "1 stick of butter" ... and its not. apparently 1 cup of butter means TWO sticks of butter- which i just think is ridiculous!! what needs two sticks of butter!? other than frosting! so because of my cooking-ignorance, i was using half the amount of butter that was in the written recipe... but my food still turned out fine!... better than fine actually :) so now, i always cut down the butter. on purpose. and it always works out really well.
so the ingredients youll need are:
1/2 a stick of butter (the original recipe said 1 cup of butter, divided. i made this last night with only 1/2 a stick and it was amazing anyway! - and i took this 1/2 a stick and cut it into 6 tabs)
1 small onion (diced - or half a big onion)
1 tsp garlic (minced - or one clove minced)
1 can (15oz) tomato puree, or crushed tomato
1 cup regular cream (theres heavy cream, theres heaving whipping cream... this one just said regular :/ ?)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garam masala
for the chicken:
boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
1 heaping tsp tandoori masala (also, "masala" just means "spice" - for some reason, knowing that made it less scary lol - if you dont have this, you can also sub it out for paprika, garlic, and a dash of garam masala)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt to taste
and if youre making this with paneer instead of chicken, take out the "for the chicken" part.
for paneer instead:
1 package of paneer (cut up into 1/2 inch or 1 inch cubes - i like the cubes to be smaller, but to each his own)
so if youre making this with chicken, set the oven to 375. -- if youre making this with paneer put your frozen paneer in a bowl of luke warm water to help it defrost so it'll be ready by the time you need it. (it comes in frozen blocks)
for either recipe: take a big, deep skillet and set the heat to medium/low. melt in three tabs of butter and then throw in your onions and garlic. stir them around occasionally, and let it cook for 10-15 minutes... until it smells nice :)
then pour in your tomato sauce and cream together. mix mix mix until you have a pretty, creamy orange color. then toss in your remaining butter and all your spices: salt, cayenne and garam masala.
then mix it all together well, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes! (remember to keep a LID on the pan bc it will splatter) stirring occasionally. if youre making this with paneer, youre pretty done. let the sauce simmer for 30, and then toss in your paneer. let it all cook together for another 5, and serve! :)
if youre making it with chicken, while the sauce is simmering, sprinkle the chicken with salt, toss it with your vegetable oil and then douse it with your tandoori masala (or paprika, garlic and garam masala) and make sure the chicken is all coated. then spread the chicken on a baking sheet and put it in your oven for about 12 minutes (on 375)
when your chicken is done, mix it in with your orange sauce and let it all cook together for another 5 minutes. and then serve! i like to serve it with garlic naan! its sooo good!
i hope that wasnt too confusing with the back and forth. if it is, please feel free to comment and ask questions!
good luck!! and let me know how it goes! :) also if youre having trouble commenting on the blog, as some people have told me they are, you can email me at parya.bahrani@gmail.com!
last night i made butter paneer! it was just like my butter chicken (chicken makhani) but instead of chicken i used little blocks of paneer. in case i didnt explain it before btw, Paneer is a type of indian cheese.. its consistency is like extra firm tofu, but its waaaaay more flavorful, fatty and delicious! you can get it from any indian grocery store- there are a LOT of them. trust me, once you start looking for indian stores, they'll be there. especially in good ol' cali :) the melting pot of america!... im home sick hah - aaanyway, my paneer makhani turned out sooo good!!
we invited a couple of dipaks school mates over to have dinner with us, and everyone loved it! dipak said it was restaurant quality!! :D so now i feel like this recipe is worthy of the blog :)
the first time i made it, i was like 'wow, CUPS of tomato puree? CUPS of cream??' theres only two of us.. so i left out a bunch of the liquid, assuming itd be way too much sauce, but then it ended up being not nearly enough! so this time, i just used cups :)
and speaking of cups, i should mention that for the first month of my cooking career i thought that "1 cup of butter" was the same thing as "1 stick of butter" ... and its not. apparently 1 cup of butter means TWO sticks of butter- which i just think is ridiculous!! what needs two sticks of butter!? other than frosting! so because of my cooking-ignorance, i was using half the amount of butter that was in the written recipe... but my food still turned out fine!... better than fine actually :) so now, i always cut down the butter. on purpose. and it always works out really well.
so the ingredients youll need are:
1/2 a stick of butter (the original recipe said 1 cup of butter, divided. i made this last night with only 1/2 a stick and it was amazing anyway! - and i took this 1/2 a stick and cut it into 6 tabs)
1 small onion (diced - or half a big onion)
1 tsp garlic (minced - or one clove minced)
1 can (15oz) tomato puree, or crushed tomato
1 cup regular cream (theres heavy cream, theres heaving whipping cream... this one just said regular :/ ?)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garam masala
for the chicken:
boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into small pieces)
1 heaping tsp tandoori masala (also, "masala" just means "spice" - for some reason, knowing that made it less scary lol - if you dont have this, you can also sub it out for paprika, garlic, and a dash of garam masala)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt to taste
and if youre making this with paneer instead of chicken, take out the "for the chicken" part.
for paneer instead:
1 package of paneer (cut up into 1/2 inch or 1 inch cubes - i like the cubes to be smaller, but to each his own)
so if youre making this with chicken, set the oven to 375. -- if youre making this with paneer put your frozen paneer in a bowl of luke warm water to help it defrost so it'll be ready by the time you need it. (it comes in frozen blocks)
for either recipe: take a big, deep skillet and set the heat to medium/low. melt in three tabs of butter and then throw in your onions and garlic. stir them around occasionally, and let it cook for 10-15 minutes... until it smells nice :)
then pour in your tomato sauce and cream together. mix mix mix until you have a pretty, creamy orange color. then toss in your remaining butter and all your spices: salt, cayenne and garam masala.
then mix it all together well, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes! (remember to keep a LID on the pan bc it will splatter) stirring occasionally. if youre making this with paneer, youre pretty done. let the sauce simmer for 30, and then toss in your paneer. let it all cook together for another 5, and serve! :)
if youre making it with chicken, while the sauce is simmering, sprinkle the chicken with salt, toss it with your vegetable oil and then douse it with your tandoori masala (or paprika, garlic and garam masala) and make sure the chicken is all coated. then spread the chicken on a baking sheet and put it in your oven for about 12 minutes (on 375)
when your chicken is done, mix it in with your orange sauce and let it all cook together for another 5 minutes. and then serve! i like to serve it with garlic naan! its sooo good!
i hope that wasnt too confusing with the back and forth. if it is, please feel free to comment and ask questions!
good luck!! and let me know how it goes! :) also if youre having trouble commenting on the blog, as some people have told me they are, you can email me at parya.bahrani@gmail.com!
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