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.

Potoler Dolma

Potoler Dolma

My son simply hates parwal...especially the seeds that go crunch in your mouth. I have to threaten and cajole him to eat them but he makes his displeasure felt by making all sorts of faces. So once in a while I make this dolma stuffed with his favorite chicken to make it more appetizing for him. Today, however, I have made a totally vegetarian version using paneer.

10 parwal ( or as many as you want)

For filling

300 gm freah paneer

2 onions, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

2 green chillies, chopped

1 tsp garam masala

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

For the gravy

2 onions, pureed

1 large tomato, pureed

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp coriander powder

½ tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

A pinch of sugar

2 green cardamamoms

1 small piece of cinnamon

3 cloves

Using the blunt portion of the knife sand away the top layer of the parwal which is a bit gritty. Do not, repeat do not, skin the parwal. Slightly cut off the two ends of the parwal. You need a spoon with a small handle, something that would fit inside the parwal.

Using the spoon handle scoop out the fleshy part and the seeds from the innards.

The choice of filling is totally up to you. It can be paneer, tofu, soya, chicken, mutton, pork etc. here I have made a paneer filling.

Heat some oil. Lightly sauté the chopped onions, green chillies and tomato. Once the onion turns translucent add the crumbled paneer, garam masala, salt and turmeric. Fry on high flame. Add tomato ketchup. Turn off the heat and cool.

Stuff the paneer filling inside the parwal. 

Seal the tops with a thick paste of besan. 

If you don’t seal the top the filling will come out while frying. Sprinkle some salt on the parwals and leave for 10 minutes. heat some oil in a flat saucepan. Lightly sauté the parwal on low flame. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the gravy. 

Heat oil. Add the cloves, cardamom and cinnamon. Add the ginger garlic paste and lighly sauté. 

Now add the pureed onion. Once the onion starts changing color add the pureed tomato. 

Cook for 5 minutes.

 Add the coriander powder, cumin powder, garam masala, salt, sugar  and turmeric.

 Stir well so that the masalas are mixed well. 

Once they start leaving oil add a cup of water. 

When the water comes to a boil, lower the flame, add the parwal and cook till the gravy thickens.

Garnish the dish with chopped green chillies.