The I Made It Challenge: Paneer Curry

The weather man must have known what I had planned in the kitchen yesterday, and kindly arranged a cool and drizzly day in between the gloriously hot summer ones we have been experiencing lately. Perfect for being in the kitchen, and perfect for making a curry!

If you're a regular reader then you'll no doubt by familiar with the "I Made It" challenge run by Tandy over at Lavender and Lime which I have participated in and hosted in previous months. Good on you, you can skip to the next paragraph! If you haven't heard of the challenge, the basic idea is that every month Tandy's readers are given a particular dish to create at home. No prizes, it's just for a bit of fun and to broaden our foodie horizons!

November's challenge is being hosted by one of my blogging pals, Nicola over at Wots For Lunch? and I love what she chose for us - paneer, made from scratch and then used in a dish of our choice. I have never tried this at home, so this was as good a time as any.

I found a fantastic recipe by Kulsum Kunwa on her beautiful blog Journey Kitchen. I followed the instructions exactly and was rewarded with the delicious and rich paneer you see above. (You can get Kulsum's original recipe by clicking here).

Paneer can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes, but inspired by the "Cook With Spice" workshop I attended recently, I decided to use the paneer in a curry and had great fun rummaging through my spice rack and mixing up my own spice blend for this dish. The end result - a rich and warming bowl of yum!

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PANEER CURRY

Serves 2

2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 quantity paneer, cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 x 400g tin tomatoes
250ml water
salt
pepper
60ml cream
rice and/or naan bread to serve

Step 1.) Heat 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a large saucepan. Gently fry the paneer cubes until golden on all sides. Set aside on some kitchen towel. 

Step 2.) Heat the remaining tablespoon of sunflower oil in the same saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes. 

Step 3.) Add the coriander, cumin, garam masala, tumeric, chilli flakes and cinnamon to pan. Stir well and cook for a further minute. 

Step 4.) Add the tin of tomatoes and water. Season with salt and pepper, cover and simmer for 20 minutes until thickened. 

Step 5.) Stir the cream and paneer into the curry. Check the seasoning, heat through then serve with rice and/or naan bread.