Matar Paneer

On the rare occasion that I end up cooking for a vegetarian that I actually like, I use this recipe for Matar Paneer, which is my favorite Indian dish (and incidentally, 100% vegetarian-friendly without tasting like cardboard). Special thanks to Sasen for sharing her mother's paneer-making tips. The original recipe is from this website. I modified it ever so slightly to include the tips from Sasen and a few ghetto-paneer tricks of my own.

Paneer Ingredients:

1 gallon whole milk

2 tbsp vinegar

Tools:

1 pot

1 colander

1 flat plate or baking tray

1 piece of cotton broadcloth 12" x 12" (cheesecloth is okay too but you need to double or triple it up because the weave is too loose and you'll lose all your curds in the sink)

1 marble slab or object that you can use as a weight, preferably with a density > 1 g/ml (heavier than water)

Paneer has to be made the night before you attempt the curry, and it's a process, so I'm putting it before the rest of the recipe, so people who don't read things all the way through don't get ahead of themselves. If you decide to be a helluva lot less hardcore and go buy the paneer from the corner Indian store, then skip down to the next part. The rest of you who are not pussies will do the following to make homemade paneer. First, get a pot and pour in half a gallon of milk (I find it's easier to make paneer in two batches). Heat up the milk on medium-low and add 1 tbsp of vinegar (add 1/2 teaspoon more if your milk isn't curdling, but don't overdo it). Stir constantly, until the milk comes to a boil. Simmer while stirring and let the milk solids separate and float to the top. You will know that your milk is finished curdling when all that remains are white chunks suspended in a clear/yellowish liquid. Turn off the heat and cover. Let it sit for a couple minutes while you prepare your sink for your payload of justice... I mean curds. In your sink, put down a colander, and line it with the broadcloth. Slowly pour the contents of the pot into the colander, letting the liquid drain through the cheesecloth. Once you have filtered out all the milk solids, gather up the corners and edges of the cloth into a cheese sack. Squeeze the shit out of this bag by twisting from the top down to get any excess liquid out. Careful when you do this - you might want to do it under running cold water so you don't burn the shit out of yourself with the extra hot liquid that comes streaming out of the bag when you squeeze. Now you should have a chunk of curd that you should set aside. Re-line the colander with the cloth. Repeat the curdling and squeezing process with the remaining milk and vinegar. Press the two chunks of curds together and squeeze. Wrap up the single chunk tightly in the cloth and put it on a baking tray. Carefully drop your marble slab (or other heavy weight) on top of the cheese and let it press out the remaining liquid for 3 hours. If you don't have a marble slab, you can substitute with 2 cylindrical take-out containers (cheese curds in the bottom one, top one filled with water and dropped in to fit the bottom one like a stack - doesn't squash as well, but it's better than nothing). Unwrap and make a sling with the cheese-rag and hang your pressed cheese slab over the kitchen sink tap for 5 hours to dry and toss it in a tupperware for storage until needed for curry. Revel in the fact that you've just made homemade cheese.

Matar Paneer Ingredients:

Chunk o' cheese (from above recipe)

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

1/2 cup plain yogurt (beaten)

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped onions

2-3 fresh green chilies (more if you're not a wimp)

2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

Spices:

2 tsp chopped cilantro

1 tsp garlic paste

1 tsp ginger paste (cram a ginger root through a cheese grater)

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala powder (I like Shan brand)

Salt

Cut up the cheese slab into 1" cubes. Heat up the ghee in a big pan. Spread out the paneer cubes and fry them until they are nicely browned on all sides. Remove from the pan and reserve. Pour the melted ghee into a large pot and reheat. Fry the onion in the ghee until transparent and fragrant, add all spices, chilies, and salt to taste. Stir for a few seconds (don't let the spices burn), then dump in the tomatoes. Cook for a minute, then slop in the yogurt and mix. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, then add peas. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the fried cheese and simmer for a minute before serving over hot basmati rice. Enjoy while listening to your carnivorous friends bitch that it would've been better with chicken cubes.