Paneer curry

Tam West

This curry is perfect if you don’t have many Indian spices in your pantry as it needs only a couple and is not too spicy, so kids enjoy it.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp	Vegetable oil
½ tsp	Cumin seeds
1	Bay leaf
6	Green cardamom pods
1	Onion, finely chopped
1 tsp	Salt
½ tsp	White pepper, ground
2	Garlic cloves, chopped
1 piece	Ginger, 2cm, peeled and grated
1 tsp	Chilli powder
1 can	Chopped tomatoes, or pureed tomatoes (Main)
80 g	Ground almonds
500 g	Paneer, we use Gopala paneer from New World, cut into rounds or 2.5cm cubes (Main)
1 tsp	Fenugreek, leaves, fried (optional)
½ tsp	Garam masala
½ tsp	Sugar
3 Tbsp	Cream
25 g	Unsalted butter, diced
½	Lemons, juice only
1 handful	Fresh coriander, to garnish

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan (with a lid), add the cumin,bay leaf and cardamom. Once these crackle add the onion and cook on high heat for 2-3 minutes. Do not let the onion colour. Add salt and cover the pan with its lid. Reduce the heat and let the onion cook slowly for 10 minutes.
2. Uncover the pan and increase the heat to medium. Add the pepper, garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have reduced by half and you see the oil leaving the sauce.
4. Add the ground almonds (this will thicken the sauce further and give it texture). Cook another 3 minutes.
5. Add the paneer and stir gently, making sure you don't crumble the paneer, paneer will soften the more sauce it absorbs. Stir in the dried fenugreek if using, followed by garam masala, sugar and cream. Lower the heat and simmer for a 2 minutes.
6. Remove from the heat, add the butter slowly, a couple of pieces at a time so you emulsify the sauce. Add lemon juice and garnish with chopped coriander.
7. Serve hot with parathas, roti or naan (we use Kawan frozen wholemeal roti from New World) and basmati rice.