Flavour Diary: Achaari Paneer ( Pickle flavoured Cottage Cheese)

Paneer is unsalted cheese which is very much famous in south east asia (India and its neighbours). Paneer is so versatile that we make use of it in preparing curries and desserts. Famous dishes with paneer are Paneer Butter Masala, Palak Paneer,Paneer Kurma,Shahi Paneer, Sandesh, Rasgulla, Rasmalai, Gulab Jamun and on and on.
Today post is Achaari Paneer, where shallow fried paneer is soaked in pickle spice gravy. Its spicy and little tangy. Achaari Paneer uses of lot of spices in it and most of them readily available in every indian household.So it becomes easy to dry roast them and make gravy out of it. If you don't find any whole spices then you can make use of powder form but half the quantity mentioned. Serve this Achaari Paneer with roti/Naan/paratha/Jeera Rice/any flavoured rice.
You may also be interested in other vegetarian indian curries
Shahi Bhindi(Royal Style Okra Curry)
Easy Potato Curry
Tindora Coconut Fry
Courgette Lentils Tangy Curry
Spinach And Black Eyed Bean Curry

Level: Moderate
Total Time: 40 min

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

Paneer - 250 grams
Oil - 4 tablespoons(includes shallow frying and cooking)
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1/4 tsp
Cream - 1/2 cup
Fresh Coriander - 3 tbsp chopped
Salt as per taste

Tomato Puree
Tomato - 3 (150 grams)
Green chilly - 2
Ginger - 1 inch piece

Achari Spice Mix
Fenugreek seeds (Methi dana)- 1/4 tsp
Mustard seeds (Raya) - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds (Jeera) - 1/2 tsp
Fennel seeds (Saunf)- 1 tsp
Coriander Seeds (dhaniya) - 1 tablespoon
Cinnamon stick (dalchini) - 1 1/2 inch
cloves (laung)- 4
Cardamom (elaichi)- 1 or 2
Black pepper (kalimirchi)- 4

Directions

Making of Achari mix:
In a pan dry roast all the ingredients under achari spice mix section and process it to fine powder.

Making of Tomato Puree:
Roughly chop and blend tomatoes, green chilli and ginger to fine paste.

Making of Achari paneer:
In a pan add oil, add diced paneer and fry it golden brown and keep it a side.

In the same pan, asafoetida and then add achari mix powder and fry for 20 secs.

Mixture will start bubbling then add the tomato puree, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Mix and cook till oil starts leaving.

Now add water and fried paneer and when water comes to boil, cook till desired consistency and serve hot with roti/Naan/paratha/Jeera Rice/any flavoured rice.