For Hindu families who are either strictly vegetarian or that pick one day of the week to forego meat, paneer is a perfect plant-based protein option. It was part of every party growing up. I would beg for it because the chunks of homemade paneer floating in a spicy broth were so tempting. At the time, I could do without the peas and often pushed them to the side, opting to either gobble up the wobbly chunks of delicious paneer first or at the very, very end to savor slowly after eating the required peas and rice. The last tactic had its risks, which I learned the hard way when Dad swooped in one meal with his fork and pronged a few of my treasured chunks, claiming he thought I was throwing them out. Argh!
Times have changed, and now, as an adult, I can finally appreciate the light backdrop of peas to paneer. And, the memories of making it from scratch. We would trudge to the grocery store for gallons upon gallons of milk, gently boil it, and then add either lemon juice or vinegar and wait for the ingredients to magically separate – the solid curds on top swimming in a pool of liquid whey underneath that mom always saved and used for the curry. That was the easy part. What followed took hours upon hours.
The loose paneer was gathered in a cheesecloth, which would be tied in a tight knot and hung from the kitchen faucet. All day, it would drip away all the moisture from the freshly made paneer, and we’d be left with a nice, hard ball of cheese to dice up for dinner. In the early days, my mother would deep fry the paneer nuggets. Eventually, we realized frying wasn’t necessary – it tasted delicious as is in our curries.
We started to find more and more paneer in grocery stores, and today it’s more common than ever. I would encourage you to do your homework, however. Some brands add unnecessary ingredients like guar gum to bind and whitening dye. Look for a clean label that lists simple ingredients like milk, vinegar, or lemon juice. Or, try making it yourself!
xoxo Anupy
A gila masala, or 'wet' masala, is created by cooking your key ingredients down (as seen above). Think of it like a soup starter, but for curry! I laugh that it looks like mud and call it 'mud masala'. It's where all the flavor is! Keep it on hand as a shortcut to make your favorite curries even during the busiest of weeks. Check out our ready-to-use curry starters, too, like our Punjabi Masala and Tikka Masala. Use our jarred gila masala in our quick and easy mattar paneer recipe.
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: ~30 minutes
Makes: 6 cups (~4-6 servings)
* We keep the seeds and membrane, but if you don’t want the heat, you can remove them. You can also add the chiles whole and then remove before serving for flavor minus the heat.
** We normally eat and include the skin of the tomato, but the curry will be smoother without it. Up to you.
*** A tip on paneer: cube it and then boil it. This will soften it up. Then, use that water in place of the cooking water above. You can do the same with the tofu and either use it as is or then bake or pan fry it. To bake it, use extra-firm, ideally organic tofu and cube it. Spray a baking sheet and then lay out the tofu so that the pieces do not touch. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, flipping in between.
[[ recipeID=recipe-2mjrmw1tv, title=Stovetop: Scratch Mattar Paneer, Spiced Peas with Homemade Cheese or Tofu ]]
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by Anupy Singla, Indian As Apple Pie
Servings: 4
Keywords: Indian Recipes, Curry, Vegetarian, Vegan, Vegetable Curry, Gluten Free
* We keep the seeds and membrane, but if you don’t want the heat, you can remove them. You can also add the chiles whole and then remove before serving for flavor minus the heat.
** We normally eat and include the skin of the tomato, but the curry will be smoother without it. Up to you.
*** A tip on paneer: cube it and then boil it. This will soften it up. Then, use that water in place of the cooking water above. You can do the same with the tofu and either use it as is or then bake or pan fry it. To bake it, use extra-firm, ideally organic tofu and cube it. Spray a baking sheet and then lay out the tofu so that the pieces do not touch. Bake at 350°F for 30-40 minutes, flipping in between.
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