Sarina Kamini's Matar paneer is an Indian comfort classic, and when it comes to comfort food keep it simple: textures, medium-plus acid profile and clean flavours. For a white, any Rhône varieties (Marsanne/Viognier/Roussanne) or a blend will be great. For a red, medium-bodied and savoury will sing – Hunter, Grampians or even Canberra Shiraz
INGREDIENTS
Matar Paneer
3 cups vegetable oil
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
2 roma (plum) tomatoes
1 quantity of paneer, whey reserved, cut into 5cm (2-inch) pieces
Main masala
2 tbsp ghee
3 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander powder
1½ tsp fennel powder
1 tsp fine pink salt
1 tsp ginger powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
½ tsp cinnamon powder
Scant ½ tsp amchur
Scant ½ tsp fine white salt
Generous ¼ tsp mace powder
4 green cardamom pods, husks cracked
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2 × 2 cm (¾ × ¾ inch) piece of jaggery
METHOD
1. Heat the vegetable oil over high heat in a stable cast-iron wok or heavy-based saucepan large enough that the oil comes up no more than halfway.
2. While the oil is heating, parboil the peas for 3–4 minutes and dice the tomatoes. Set both beside the stovetop, along with 3 cups (750ml) of the reserved whey. Fill a large bowl with cold water and set it beside the stovetop.
3. Once the oil is hot, fry the paneer in small batches. When slightly browned, carefully remove from the hot oil and drop directly into the cold water. Once all the paneer is fried, drain it and set it beside the stovetop.
4. In a large frying pan that is off the heat, combine the ghee and all of the spices except the jaggery – if you add the spices while the heat is on, you won’t be able to work quickly enough and they will burn. Place the frying pan over medium heat and add the jaggery. Stir until aromatic and tempered. Taste the masala – it will be delicious, a little salty, very warm and ripe, with woody, tangy and embroidered spice. Add the tomato and taste again – it freshens the masala. Cook for 5–7 minutes, until the oil begins to split and the tomatoes form a rich and spicy slurry.
5. Add the peas and the fried paneer, then gently stir them through the spices. Immediately add enough of the whey to not quite cover the paneer cubes – think of them like icebergs, with 70 percent of their surface area below the waterline. Increase the heat to medium–high and cook for 2–3 minutes, until the sauce begins to bubble.
6. Reduce the heat to medium–low and cook, without stirring, for 45–60 minutes, until the paneer is fluffy and there is just a small amount of richly spiced sauce left in the pan. If the simmer gets too strong during cooking, reduce the heat to low. Serve with basmati rice, simple yellow dal and simple aloo gosht.
Images and text from What We Call Masala by Sarina Kamini, photography by Patricia Niven. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99
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