Punjabi Cuisine - Jeera Rice & Shahi Paneer

Regional Cuisines of India : Punjabi Cuisine - Jeera Rice & Shahi Paneer

These recipes had been posted for a cooking contest, for the community "Indian women in Singapore" - Regional Cuisines of India, Punjab!!!


Jeera rice

Ingredients:
Long grain Rice(Basmati rice) - 2 cups
Cumin seeds - 2 teaspoons
Bay leaf - 1
Cinnamon stick - 1
Cardamom - 1
Ghee - 2 tablespoons or Oil - 2 tablespoons
Salt - To taste

Method:
Wash rice, drain and keep aside.

In a pan, heat ghee or oil. Add bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cumin seeds. Fry for a minute, add washed rice, salt to taste and mix well. Add 3 cups of water and bring to a boil. Stir slowly and reduce the flame. Cook it until water drains and rice gets cooked.

Serve hot with Shahi Paneer.

Cooking time : 30 minutes
Serves 4 persons

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Shahi Paneer

Ingredients:
Cottage Cheese (Paneer) - 150 gms
Butter - 2 tablespoons or Ghee - 2 tablespoons
Onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
Tomatoes - 3-4 medium sized, finely chopped
Ginger - 1 inch size
Garlic - 2 cloves
Green chillies - 2 small sized
Cashew nut - 6-7, soaked in water for 15 minutes
Cardamom powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Yoghurt (curd) - 1/2 cup
Red chilli powder - 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Milk - 1/4
Fresh Cream - 2 tablespoons
Coriander leaves - few
Salt to taste

Method:
Grind ginger, garlic, green chillies, cashew nuts to a fine paste.

Heat a pan, add butter. Once it starts melting, add chopped onions and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add the grinded paste and fry until onions turn golden brown.

Add tomatoes, red chilli powder, garam masala, cardamom powder and cook it covered until it becomes very soft.

Smash the tomatoes with a laddle and fry until the water dries out.

Lower the flame, add yoghurt and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water, stir it well and cook it in a low flame until the gravy gets thickened.

Cut paneer into small pieces and shallow fry the pieces in a flat pan, with few drops of oil or ghee. Turn the sides, so that all sides turn pale brown colour.

Add fried paneer pieces into the gravy, add milk, salt and cook until the gravy is thick.

Garnish with chopped coriander and fresh cream.

Cooking time: 45-60 minutes
Serves 4 persons.