Muttaring

I've been remiss, but perhaps I can make up for it.

Now that the cold has retreated a bit, London is left under its usual blanket of grey wet, but I find I don't mind very much. The new term is already three weeks old and I feel as though I'm drowning under readings and upcoming papers, not to mention the looming spectre of a dissertation.

I'm also drowning under an assault of new potatoes, a new batch of which arrives each Thursday. Although I love potatoes, I simply cannot eat them fast enough to use them up. Desperate times have called for desperate measures: I am marshaling the troops on Sunday and, under the guise of a roast chicken and an awesome movie, I plan to stuff H. and I. with potatoes. I shall report on the success of my (frankly, foolproof) plan.

Meanwhile, I made a delicious, rather improvised muttar paneer this evening -- satisfying, warming, simple, healthy. It's exactly the kind of dish I have been striving toward for the last year. There will always be a place in my palate for restaurant Indian food, but I've been trying to develop my confidence with the spices and methods common in Indian cuisine. I feel the same way about Chinese food -- I will never be able to replace the satisfaction and indulgence of restaurant chow fun or braised bean curd, but I love being able to whip up a competent eggplant-broccoli-tofu stir-fry in my little wok.

Thus, I have been particularly pleased with my two latest efforts in the kitchen, the first of which is this muttar paneer. The second will follow.




To pretend there was a recipe here would be ludicrous. However, I'll provide a general guideline, both to help you on your way and to demonstrate how easy it was to create such a delectable Wednesday night dinner.

Muttar Paneer
- cubed half a package of ready-made paneer, tossed around in a sea salt/turmeric/curry-powder (probably turmeric/cumin/coriander/mustard/a few other things) "rub", then pan-fried in a little bit of vegetable oil
- sliced half an onion and, when the paneer cubes were brown on a couple of sides and removed to a bowl, sautéed the onion in a little more oil and a touch of butter
- added salt, pepper, turmeric, coriander, cumin, tomato paste, half a sliced chili (best guess? jalapeno) and garlic
- almost immediately added a tin of chopped tomatoes, plus a bit of chicken stock I'd recently made (but water would be fine, just not as ludicrously tasty and self-satisfying)
- let that simmer for a while, then added back in the paneer, plus some frozen peas
- simmer, simmer, simmer (muttar, muttar, muttar)
- added a generous couple of dollops of greek-style yoghurt

I probably should have remembered that I had fresh cilantro/coriander in the fridge, but... I didn't. I usually don't have it when I need it. Luckily, this made enough for two meals, so I shall certainly remember the cilantro next time (aka: 'tomorrow').

Served over an improvised pulao which goes something like this:
- toast sliced almonds in the dry saucepan; remove when fragrant and golden (or longer if you're chopping onions at the time and forget)
- add a bit of veg oil and sautée half a sliced onion
- add the (rinsed) rice, stirring around to coat and lightly fry
- add some sultanas, and the almonds
- add a pinch of salt, then water (about 1.25 parts of the rice); stir around, cover, and turn the heat down
- let cook until done; fluff with a fork*

*I always thought it was funny that directions for steaming rice ended with this. I mean, the fluffing is entirely unnecessary to the proper execution of steaming rice. Or so I thought. Now I've realized that, while it doesn't change the actual cooking of said rice, this step aerates the rice and makes a bit difference to its texture when it's served. Plus who doesn't like a little rice-fluffing action?