HOME ECONOMICS - Paneer Curry

Parsons and Emslie jump into the kitchen for this episode to teach you, the listener(s), Parsons' very own Paneer Curry. The boys talk all things food, reminisce school dinners and attempt some pretty below par riffs and accents. So grab your wooden spoon, pour a glass of wine and cook along. 

Below is the recipe:

This recipe kind of evolved from a Madras so I’d say this is a coconutty version of a tikka masala. South India apparently like to do coconut curries so lets rebrand it to a South Indian Paneer Curry.

For the curry

1. Finely chop 4 or 5 cloves of garlic, 1 hefty thumb of ginger and 1 or 2 chillis, pop them into a mortar and pestle the shit out of them. Optional tea spoon of mustard seeds can be thrown in here.
2. Add in 2 teaspoons of garam masala, 2 teaspoons of turmeric, half a teaspoon of cumin, 1 teaspoon of coriander and half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Follow this by adding 1/2 tablespoon of tomato puree, a rough tablespoon glug of any oil you have to hand and a tablespoon of chopped tomatoes. Mix together and your paste is complete. 
3. Chop 2 small onions or one big one as finely as you like, pop 2 teaspoons of ghee into a casserole dish on a medium heat and add the onions. Let the onions go nice and golden and catch slightly on the sides for maximum flavour. I tend to keep the heat steady so I can get on with the paneer.
4. Chop the paneer into cubes and in a separate pan, whack a bit of sunflower oil on a pretty high heat. Add the paneer for about 2/3 minutes on each side. I find 2 sides golden keeps a slight bite to them and sill keeps them soft enough. Remove from heat when done. 
5. Add the spice mix to the now beautifully golden onions and cook through for a good 2/4 minutes adding a couple of splashes of water to loosen it up a bit if needed. 
6. Throw in the paneer and chopped red peppers and fry within the mix for a minute or two. 
7. Add in a tin of chopped tomatoes and half a tin of coconut milk. If it's lacking a bit of sauce, you may need some more chopped tomatoes - I’d add more tomatoes rather than coconut milk as coconut milk will make it a bit too mellow. 
8. Leave to simmer for 10 mins or so on a low heat before popping in a preheated oven to 120º fan. 
9. In half an hour to an hour it’ll be done but like with all spiced things, it is always better the longer you leave it. Especially the next day!

For the naan 

1. Plonk 3 cups of strong white flour, just under a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of salt and 1 sachet of dried yeast in a bowl and mix together. 
2. Make a little well in the middle and add 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water slowly mixing with a flat bladed knife to bring together. 
3. Once mixed, pop the little dough baby onto the table and kneed for 5-10 mins. You can tell when the dough is ready by putting it into a ball and on the surface of the dough, stretching it. If it doesn’t tear, its ready! (This might need a demo as its hard to describe). 
4. Lightly oil a bowl and cover with lightly oiled cling film or a wet tea town. 
5. Pop it in a warm place to prove for an hour. 
6. Once its doubled in size, Tip out the dough onto a surface and loosely roll it into a baguette shape. This will knock out any unnecessary air but should still keep its light and fluffy. Split the dough into 6 balls. 
7. On a lightly floured surface, Roll the balls out to create teardrop shapes that are an inch in height. 
8. With a hot griddle pan, place the teardrops for about 2 minutes on each half. 
9. Melt some ghee and brush over the naan and they’re ready to eat!