Kadai Paneer: A veggie delight from north India

Kadai Paneer is one of the famous flavorful delicacies from North Indian cuisine. Kadai in English means wok and paneer is your good old cottage cheese.  However, paneer is a very Indian style cottage cheese, which unlike American style cottage cheese is firm and can be easily sliced into cubes. Kadai paneer is perhaps among the most delicious dishes made with this Indian style cottage cheese.

Kadai Paneer shouldn’t be confused with shahi paneer and paneer butter masala which generally come across as more rich, and creamy and have slight infusion of sweetness in them, whereas kadai paneer is more tangy, and spicy than them. Of course, there are other nuances of taste differences between these three dishes.

Ingredients of Great Taste

In this tasty preparation of paneer karahi is the most appropriate utensil though a pan may also do the needful. In this wok-based deeply spiced dish, spices and capsicum play major role along with paneer. Onion and tomatoes also often play important roles in a traditional kadai paneer preparation.

Kadai paneer usually comes across as a combination of paneer, onion, and colorful capsicum coated with tomato sauce and infused with flavorful spices and herbs. The ground spices used in this dish is popularly known as kadai masala. The dish gets its appetizing flavor from freshly ground spices, which include coriander and red chilies among others. One can say that in the preparation of a delectable dish of kadai paneer masala or spices play a vital role.

It is one of the extraordinary dishes where easily available ordinary ingredients can create not so ordinary taste which you may cherish in your future memories. However, to create a finger licking kadai paneer, a winning recipe is needed.

Kadai paneer, if prepared well, can add much delight to your dining table. Especially for the people from Indian diaspora, the dish can bring the aromatic flavor from north India to your home; thousands of miles away, possibly in another corner of the planet. Kadai paneer goes well with Indian breads roti and naan. The dish can go well with pulao and basmati rice also.

The Health Quotient

Kadai paneer despite its relatively high calorie content has health benefits. Firstly paneer, with which the dish is expected to be loaded with, is enriched with protein and calcium and is low in carbs.

Onions are a great source of antioxidants. Antioxidants are compounds which impede oxidation, a process that brings cellular damage and can contribute to cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Onions are also high in nutrients like vitamin C, B vitamins and potassium. Coriander is also in rich in immune-boosting antioxidants and is a good source of iron and folate, potassium, Vitamins A and C and K, magnesium and calcium. Garlic, ginger and tomato also have their health benefits.

For the Platter

Kadai paneer is another popular dish which you can come across in a plethora of restaurants and homes in India. The dish is a great option to explore when you are having unexpected guests as the dish, if prepared well, could be ethereal, and it doesn’t take much time or fancy ingredients to prepare. It can be also an appropriate dish for tiffin in office and school.

If you are now toying with the lingering question of how to make kadai paneer then the obvious answer to the question lies in a kadai paneer recipe. It would be still more appetizing if yourkadai paneer recipe happens to also be a restaurant style kadai paneer recipe or a kadai paneer dhaba style (roadside eating outlets in north India are often called dhaba) and an easy kadai paneer recipe at the same time, which would not take much of your time but would have the potential to garner dollops of appreciation from your guests.

The restaurant style kadai paneer is generally semi-dry and home style of kadai paneer generally has more gravy than the former.

Here we are presenting a recipe of kadai paneer from Alok Kumar, Chef de Partie of Hotel Jakson Inns Phaltan, which is projected as India’s first LEED GREEN Platinum rated hotel. Phaltan is an emerging tourist destination in Maharashtra.

Kadai Paneer Recipe by Alok Kumar

Ingredients for Kadai Masala

• 5 to 6 Kashmiri red chilies – broken and seeds removed

• 1.5 tablespoon of coriander seeds

Other Ingredients

• 3 table spoons of oil

• ⅓ rd to ½ cup finely chopped onions – 90 gm or 1 medium-sized

• 2 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste

• 2.5 to 3 cups of finely chopped tomatoes – 400 gm or 5 to 6 medium-sized.

• ¾th to 1 cup of thinly sliced capsicum or 1 large capsicum

• 1 to 2 green chilies or 1 small serrano pepper – slit

• ½ cup water or add as required

• ½ teaspoon garam masala powder

• 250 gm paneer – cubed

• 1 teaspoon kasuri methi – crushed (dried fenugreek leaves)

• 2 tablespoon of chopped coriander leaves (or cilantro leaves)

• 1 inch ginger – julienne

• Salt as required

 Method

 Making Kadai Masala

 In a spice-grinder or mixer-grinder or mortar-pestle take the coriander seeds and red chilies.

Grind to a semi-fine powder or fine powder and set aside.

Making Kadai Paneer

• In a kadai or frying pan, heat oil. Add finely chopped onions and sauté them till they turn translucent.

• Then add ginger-garlic paste. Saute till the raw aroma of ginger-garlic goes away.

• Now add the finely chopped tomatoes. Saute tomatoes for 3 to 4 minutes.

• Then add the ground kadai masala to the tomatoes.

• Saute the tomatoes till the whole mixture becomes like a paste and starts to leave oil. The mixture will also look glossy and you will see oil releasing from the sides.

• Now add the capsicum julienne. Saute the capsicum for about 3 to 4 minutes.

• Then add green chilies and water.

• Mix very well and saute till the capsicum is half-cooked.

• Add salt and garam masala powder. Mix these well.

• Next add the paneer cubes and gently stir to combine with the sautéed masala base.

• Lastly add crushed fenugreek leaves, ginger julienne and coriander leaves. Mix again.

Ready to Serve

Now your kadai paneer is ready to be served. However, there can be several recipes of kadai paneer and this recipe is one of the routes to arrive at this all-time favorite north Indian dish, which can inspire and enhance your culinary repertoire.

Let us explore another method of preparation of kadai paneer from Manoj Rai, Corporate Director, Food & Beverages from Anardana Kitchen. Anardana Kitchen is a restaurant chain having three restaurants and three cloud kitchens within its ambit. Out of these three restaurants, two are in Delhi and one is there in Chandigarh.

Kadai Paneer Recipe by Manoj Rai

Ingredients

Cottage cheese– 200 gm

Oil  – 30 ml

Cumin seeds – 3gm

Coriander seeds – 3gm

Red chilli whole – 5 gm

Garlic – 10 gm

Tomato gravy – 160 gm

White gravy – 80 gm

Onion tomato masala – 160 gm

Garam masala powder – 2 gm

Coriander powder – 5 gm

Turmeric powder – 3 gm

Red chilli powder – 3 gm

Salt – To taste

Capsicum – 60 gm

Diced onion – 30 gm

“Take a pan and heat the oil. Then add crushed coriander, cumin and red chilli to it. After that add chopped garlic and make it golden brown. Thereafter add triangle cut onion, capsicum and sauté well,” Manoj explained.

“Then add tomato gravy, white gravy & onion tomato masala and then add salt. Now add chilli powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and garam masala powder and stiruntil oil comes on surface of gravy. Finish by adding fried cottage cheese. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and ginger julienne & fried red chilli,” he added further leading me to another simple route of reaching for that elusive plate of kadai paneer.

However, one needs to keep in mind some important tips to arrive at a delectable kadai paneer preparation. It is always preferable to use fresh homemade paneer, but if you are using store bought paneer, ideally they should be soaked in warm water for 15-20 minutes before their entry in this recipe.

Always use freshly ground kadai masala for this dish and not your regular masalas.

Adding ginger juliennes to the curry while cooking can infuse great flavour to it.

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