Punjabi Platter : Kadhai Paneer & Naan!!

#Kadhai #Paneer is a very popular curry/vegetable which tastes best when served with #naan (butter, garlic, plain). I'm not a huge fan of garlic, so my first preference is always butter naan. Garlic just overwhelms the taste of everything for me. '#Naan', I guess needs no introduction as it's a world famous Indian bread. #Kadhai #Paneer is a blend of paneer (indian cottage cheese), kadhai masala (freshly roasted and ground) & few vegetables like capsicum, onions and tomatoes. Kadhai Paneer, when served with naan or lachha parathaa, is a lip smacking #Punjabi platter.

I am a #PaneerLover, who loves every vegetarian dish that contains paneer. Whenever I am in a restaurant, my usual order includes a Paneer Curry, a Daal, and Butter Naan. There are many varieties of paneer sabzi, like shahi paneer, paneer butter masala, kadhai paneer etc. This time I had some colored capsicums/bell peppers left over from my Biryani recipe so I decided to make Kadhai Paneer. In restaurants, mostly green capsicum/bell pepper is used, but as you would know by now, if you are following me/reading my blogs, that I like it a little fancier, so I decided to use yellow and red bell peppers too. For me, kadhai paneer is all about texture, its not at all creamy like shahi paneer or paneer butter masala. I had no plans to make naan, but then I thought - why not enjoy a course of full restaurant-style food, especially when Naan is so easy and quick to make at home. The naan that I'm going to share is no yeast naan. I believe naan should never be made with yeast, because it's naan (soft, yet chewy & stretchy) not a Kulcha (fluffy & spongy). So, here I am, with another wonderful and easy recipe "Kadhai Paneer & Butter Naan". If you don't have kadhai, do not worry; kadhai paneer can be made in a pan too :), and still be kadhai paneer ......... hahahaha :D.

This recipe will serve around 2-3 people. Do try it. I'm certain that you'll love it!

List of Ingredients:

For Naan

1. All purpose flour/Maida - 1.5 cups

2. Curd/Yogurt/Dahi - 1/4 cup (Dilute 4 tbsp dahi by adding some water; total quantity should be 1/4 cup).

3. Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp

4. Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp

5. Salt - 1.5 tsp

6. Sugar - 1.5 tsp

7. Melted butter/Ghee - 2 tbsp

For Kadhai Paneer

1. Paneer (Cut in cubes keeping size per your preference. Bigger look better) - 200gms

2. 1/2 Green, 1/4 Red & 1/4 Yellow Capsicum - Washed and chopped (in rather big cubes)

3. Oil/Ghee - 3 tbsp

4. Onions (Chopped in big cubes) - 3 medium sized.

5. Onion Paste/Grated Onion - 1 small ( This is optional - it'll enhance texture)

6. Tomatoes (Chopped, no puree here) - 3 medium sized.

7. Bay leaf (Tejpatta) - 1-2

8. Dry red chili - 1-2

9. Cloves (Laung) - 5-6

10. Peppercorn (Saabut kaali mirch) - 6-7

11. Cinnamon (Daalchini) - 1 small piece

12. Whole Coriander - 1.5 tbsp

13. Cumin seeds - 1 tbsp

14. Kashmiri Red chili powder - 2 tsp

15. Haldi/Turmeric powder - 2 tsp

16. Green chili - 1 to 2 (Chopped) -you can skip these if you don't like spicy.

17. Salt - per taste

18. Coriander leaves - for garnishing

Easy to follow steps:

First, let's make the dough. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for dough - maida, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Now add butter/ghee and dahi, and mix everything again once more to knead a soft dough as you would for roti/chapati by adding water bit by bit. Cover & let it rest for around 30 minutes while we prepare other elements.

For kadhai masala, roast all the whole spices on low flame until aromatic. Make coarse powder either in a grinder or use mortar and pestle to crush the spices. Be mindful, we don't need fine powder here.

Now, we'll toss veggies and paneer in this masala. In a pan/kadhai, heat 1 tbsp of oil/ghee on low flame, add 1 tbsp masala, roast it for 10 seconds and drop all the veggies in it. Slightly sauté for a couple of minutes and transfer in a bowl. In the same pan, add some more oil/ghee & similarly toss paneer with one tbsp of masala. Sauté to give it a nice golden shine.

At last, just heat 1 tbsp oil/ghee in a pan. If you have some masala left, drop it in the oil; if not, then just add a pinch of heeng, onion paste, green chilies and cook them on medium flame until onion turns golden. Add tomatoes, salt, kashmiri red chili powder and haldi powder; mix well and let the tomatoes simmer until they are mushy and cooked. Now add roasted veggies, a splash of water, mix well and cover the lid. Lower the flame and cook for another 5-7 minutes. Meanwhile, let's check the dough, smoothen/knead it and cover. Now let's continue with our kadhai paneer curry. Add paneer and gently mix with the cooked veggies concoction. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Switch off the flame, garnish with fresh coriander. If you want, you can also sprinkle some kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves). I didn't add it in Kadhai Paneer otherwise all the paneer curries taste the same. This one's different.

And look at that !!!! Kadhai Paneer is ready to be relished...

Let's make naan. Place a tawa/griddle on high heat. Tawa should not be non-stick. Take a lemon sized ball out of the dough. Dust it in dry flour. Roll it by pushing outward with a rolling pin either in oval or round shape as per your preference. Do not use too much of dry flour/maida. Try to be as even as possible when applying pressure while rolling. So that the naan is evenly thick. Apply some chopped coriander leaves, press'em lightly. Pick up the rolled naan onto your hand, then apply generous amount of water on the back side. Check on tawa, it should be very hot. Put naan, water-side down, on the tawa. It'll stick to the tawa. Slightly lower the flame. You'll see bubbles forming up on the top layer. Flip tawa over gas to cook naan from the other side too. You can also cook other side on flame by scraping it and handling it with tong. Once naan is well cooked , top it with a piece of butter and enjoy.

And time to serve the platter..!! Enjoy it with onion and cucumber salad.

Happily Stay Home!

Hope you liked the recipe and didn't find it too difficult. Let me know if this got you high on flavors. Don't forget to subscribe for more updates. Leave a comment for any questions/thoughts. Talk to you in my next mouthwatering recipe!