Methi Paneer/Cottage cheese with dried fenugreek leaves

Paneer recipes are myriad because of the simple fact that paneer can absorb and preserve the flavour of any spices of condiments that you add to it. Today you shall find restaurants serving cottage cheese steaks, to paneer cooked in Chinese style gravy; from shasliks to curries – paneer is omnipresent. This is a curried version here that uses curd for the gravy and relies on kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) for flavour.

Ingredients:
• Paneer (cottage cheese)
• Yogurt
• Turmeric powder
• Chilli powder
• Green chillies (chopped)
• Garlic (chopped)
• Onion (chopped)
• Green peas
• Tomato puree
• Kasoori methi/dried fenugreek leaves
• Whole garam masala (roughly pounded)
• Oil
• Salt

Preparation:
• Dice the paneer into small cubes
• Heat oil in a wok and deep fry the paneer pieces till golden on all sides, and keep aside after draining from oil.
• Beat the yogurt with turmeric, chilli and salt
• Now add a little oil in the wok
• When hot, add green chillies
• Keep frying and add garlic
• Add the garam masala next followed by chopped onions
• When onions are fried, add the beaten yogurt
• Cook the masala and then add tomato puree
• Mix well
• Add water and bring to boil
• Add green peas followed by the paneer cubes
• When the curry boils nicely, lower the flame and add kasoori methi (don’t add a lot of it as that will make the curry taste bitter)
• Bring to a boil again, then turn off heat, allow some standing time, and serve