Paneer Taka-tak

Amritsar is known as the food capital of the north. And rightly so! Apart from the famous Golden Temple and Jalianwala Bag the streets of Amritsar are teeming with all kinds of food. There are food items that carry the name with them..Amritsarimachli, Amritsari naan!! What can be a greater testament of the food legacy of a place?
I really liked this paneer recipe when I first heard about it. You first marinate and grill the paneer slab. Then you add it to the gravy. There are two layers of flavour here. I simply had to try it out.


Ingredients

½ kg paneer slab

Marinate in 
1 cup hung curd
3 green cardamoms
5 cloves
1 tsp ajwain
¼ ysp cinnamon powder
1 tsp chaat masala
Seeds of 1 black cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
½ tsp turmeric powder

For the gravy
2 onions, sliced fine
2 tomatoes, sliced fine
1” ginger, grated
2 green chilies, slit
1 tsp cumin seeds
4 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
 1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder

Make the marinade first. Grind together green cardamoms, cloves, seeds of black cardamom. Add to the cinnamon powder, chat masala, ajwain, salt, turmeric and hung curd. Apply to the paneer slab well on both sides. Keep aside for an hour. Then heat a pan and add some ghee. Fry the paneer slab on both sides till golden brown. Cut into pieces.

Heat some oil. Add the green chillies and cumin seeds. Add the grated ginger. Now add the sliced onions and cook till translucent. Add the tomato slices and cook some more. Now add the tomato puree and all the dry masalas. Cook till oil starts leaving the sides. Add a cup of water and bring to a boil. Add the paneer pieces and cook till the gravy thickens.