Mutter Paneer!

I have an obsession with Indian food, especially Mutter Paneer. It is comfort food at it's best. Cheese, peas, cream, and tomato sauce come together to form my favorite Indian dish. I have such fond memories of making this, it was the last meal I made for David before he left for his 6 months of Air Force training. Miriam and I took a trip to the Indian grocery store yesterday, so I decided to make it again on this cold and rainy spring day.

Here are the cast of characters. Onions, garlic, ginger, tomato sauce, paneer, peas, heavy cream, bay leaves, garam masala, cumin seeds, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne pepper (cilantro didn't make it to the picture)  YUM! When Miriam and I started cooking Indian food together, I did a lot of research on cookbooks to purchase. I found one that I love! It is 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer and I have attached the link to purchase it on Amazon 660 Curries . It is brilliant, large, and full of delicious recipes. I want everyone to own it. 

My recipe is inspired by the Mutter Paneer recipe in 660 Curries but I had to make some adjustments based on ingredients and spices I had/enjoy. 

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 chunk of ginger, chopped

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf 

1 can of tomato sauce

1 Tbsp garam masala

1 Tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cups frozen peas

1/2 cup heavy cream

8 oz paneer, cut into 1 inch cubes and pan-fried (so worth it!)

Chopped Cilantro to taste

(I do not measure my spices, but I think this is about what I put in, so adjust to your spice preference and tolerance as needed)

First, I chopped up the onion, garlic, and ginger. These will all be going into the food processor so don't worry about finely chopping. 

Pulse to combine. I wait until there are no visible chunks. 

Heat oil at medium heat. Add cumin seeds and bay leaf and cook until the cumin seeds start to crackle, about 10 seconds. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger mixture and cook for 10 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes. This smells amazing!

Add the peas and about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of water. Cover and simmer until the peas are tender and turn darker green. This may take 10-15 minutes. Test a pea!

Fold in cream, pan-fried paneer, and cilantro and heat through. This is a good time to test the spices and see if there is anything else you'd like to add. 5 minutes. 

Then you get to eat this! This is bliss.