Paneer and other Indian goodies

[Jrichard]

Hi everyone,

I absolutely love Indian food. My husband bought me a book by "Miss Masala" and in it she takes lots of traditional recipes and has reduced the fat content significantly.

A lot of Indian food, especially the vegetarian type, is really good for protein. The book makes the trickiest of dishes really simple.

Anyhow, paneer can be found in Indian curries as a kind of cheese. Now you can buy it but the fat content is quite high. Making it is really simple, tastes better and has a fraction of the fat making it ok for bypassers.

1 litre of whole milk (must be whole)
1 lemon

Bring the milk up to the boil, then reduce the heat and squeeze in half of the lemon juice

Stir and you should see the milk start to curdle, if this is slow or limited add more lemon juice

After a few minutes take the milk off of the heat and leave to rest for about 5 minutes

Get a muslin cloth or a non fluffy tea towel and place over a sieve, drain the curds from the whey

Then tie the cloth around the curds and hang for 30 minutes to release the rest of the whey

Then place the curds under a heavy ish weight to flatten into a more usable state, this will also release any remaining whey, for 2 hours

Ta da you have made paneer

This can be kept in a container in the fridge for a maximum of a week

Over the next week I will include some recipes to go with the paneer and other exciting curries. I will also include the fat, sugar and protein content.

Happy munching

Julie

 

[Miss Tickle]

Brilliant. Saag paneer is my favourite and it's very encouraging to think I could have it again

 

[Ankaas]

Yea I've made paneer and it's lovely to get some low fat spicy food into the diet again.

 

[Jrichard]

Palak paneer

Ingredients

225g homemade paneer
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves
2 1/2 cm (1 in) root ginger
2 tsp sunflower oil
1 large green finger chilli
1 tsp cumin powder
500g frozen spinach
1/2 tsp Garam masala
Salt to taste

Method

1. Chop the paneer into bite size pieces and mix with the turmeric, chilli powder and salt.
2. Chop the onion, peel and puree the ginger and garlic.
3. Spray fry light in a pan and add the paneer to colour on both sides, remove and set aside.
4. Add the oil to the pan, fry the onion, garlic and ginger on a high heat until translucent. This will take about 5 minutes, you must keep stirring to avoid burning.
5. Roughly chop the green chilli and add to the onions with the cumin, cook for a further 5 minutes until golden brown
6. Add the frozen spinach and cook for 5 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, add 1/2 mug hot water and liquids with a hand blender until smooth.
8. Put spinach mix back in pan and add the paneer and Garam masala, cook on a low heat for 10 minutes, until the liquid has evaporated.
9. Add salt to taste and enjoy!

Nutritional info

Recipe feeds 4 "normal" people

Per portion;

Calories 208
Fat 8g
Protein 14g
Carbohydrate 20g of which sugars 5.4g

Stage

Can be eaten at puree stage minus the paneer
Excellent for the mushy stage and beyond

I hope you enjoy

Julie

 

[Miss Tickle]

Thanks. I shall look forward to this in about 6 weeks time xx

 

[Jrichard]

Cod korma

Ingredients

300g fat free Greek yoghurt
3tsp sunflower oil
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
4 black whole peppercorns
2 small bay leaves
1/2tsp granulated sugar
2 large onions
4cm (1 1/2 in) root ginger
4 garlic cloves
3/4tsp turmeric powder
3/4tsp chilli powder
750g cod (skinless, boneless)
3/4tsp Garam masala
1tsp salt

Method

1. Heat oil in pan till hot, add cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar.
2. When sugar has caramalised add finely chopped onions and cook on high heat for 10 minutes until translucent. Keep stirring to avoid burning.
3. Add finely chopped garlic and ginger to onion mix and cook for 5 minutes until mix turns brown.
4. Add turmeric and chilli and cook for 5 minutes until pungent smell tones down.
5. Add room temperature yoghurt and cook for 5 more minutes. The yoghurt may split but will reconstitute while cooking.
6. Stir cubes fish into mixture and brown on all sides. Then lower heat and cover with a lid, until fish is cooked through. Then remove lid and cook for a further 10-15 minutes.
7. Stir in Garam masala and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Nutritional info;

Serves 4 "normal" people

Calories 266
Fat 5g
Protein 39g
Carbohydrates 16g of which sugars 5.2g

Stage

Suitable for soft food stage and beyond

Happy munching

Julie

 

[Peterborough Guy]

Cod korma

Ingredients

300g fat free Greek yoghurt
3tsp sunflower oil
4 cardamom pods
4 cloves
4 black whole peppercorns
2 small bay leaves
1/2tsp granulated sugar
2 large onions
4cm (1 1/2 in) root ginger
4 garlic cloves
3/4tsp turmeric powder
3/4tsp chilli powder
750g cod (skinless, boneless)
3/4tsp Garam masala
1tsp salt

Method

1. Heat oil in pan till hot, add cardamom, cloves, peppercorns, bay leaves and sugar.
2. When sugar has caramalised add finely chopped onions and cook on high heat for 10 minutes until translucent. Keep stirring to avoid burning.
3. Add finely chopped garlic and ginger to onion mix and cook for 5 minutes until mix turns brown.
4. Add turmeric and chilli and cook for 5 minutes until pungent smell tones down.
5. Add room temperature yoghurt and cook for 5 more minutes. The yoghurt may split but will reconstitute while cooking.
6. Stir cubes fish into mixture and brown on all sides. Then lower heat and cover with a lid, until fish is cooked through. Then remove lid and cook for a further 10-15 minutes.
7. Stir in Garam masala and salt and cook for a further 5 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

Nutritional info;

Serves 4 "normal" people

Calories 266
Fat 5g
Protein 39g
Carbohydrates 16g of which sugars 5.2g

Stage

Suitable for soft food stage and beyond

Happy munching

Julie

Thanks for that, but now all I need, is for you to cook it for me, or is that just being too cheeky. lol

 

[Jrichard]

Curry night it is then!

 

[Peterborough Guy]

Sounds good to me, well, a couple of mouthfuls anyway lol