AACHARI PANEER

Aachari paneer is nothing but the gravy is made with  aachari/ pickling spices and it is without onion and garlic. The flavours are much more intense and the taste is so pleasant. A simple mixture of curds, flour and a few spice powders forms the base of this delectable cottage cheese preparation.  Generally the main ingredients in any pickle is mustard seeds, fennel, cumin and fenugreek seeds. Roasting these seeds and powder them in a mixer grinder and add it to the gravy. The spicy aachar masala brings the unique taste to this dish and you can enjoy the taste of paneer in the aachar gravy. As other paneer gravies this is also an excellent accompaniment for any Indian Breads. I have shared so many recipes with paneer and this time I decided to try this recipe with paneer and it turned out just as super delicious. As a bonus it is also very light on the stomach, having almost no heavy spices. Lets see how to make this aachari paneer recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

200 gms Paneer/ Cottage Cheese, cut into cubes

1 Cup Fresh Whole Milk Curd [dahi]

1 ½  teaspoon Green Chilli + Ginger Paste

2 -3 Dry Red Chillies [sukki lal mirchi]

2 Medium Sized Toamtoes, chopped

10 -12 Cashew nuts [kaju]

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder [haldi]

2 teaspoon Red Chilli Powder [mirchi powder]

2 teaspoon Coriander Powder [dhana powder]

1 teaspoon Cumin Powder [jeera powder]

2 teaspoon mango Pickle Masala [lonche masala]

1 ½ tablespoon Gram Flour [Besan]

1 teaspoon Kasoori Methi

3 tabelspoon Low Fat Cream [malai]

2 tabelspoon Oil / ghee

Chopped Coriander for garnishing

Salt as required

A pinch of Asafoetida

Pickling Spices:

1 teaspoon Fennel Seeds [saunf]

1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds [jeera]

1 teaspoon Mustard seeds [mohari/ rai]

½ teaspoon Nigella Seeds [kalongi]

¼ teaspoon Fenugreek Seeds [methi dana]

METHOD:
Roasting pickling spices:

STEP 1 – Take a small pan, heat it on low flame. Roast all the ingredients under the title “pickling spices”. Don’t over roast. Roast till feel the sweet fragrance.

STEP 2 - Remove it from the pan and cool it completely.

STEP 3 – Dry the spices in a mixer jar to a semi fine powder. Don’t make a fine powder. Keep this aachari masala powder aside.

STEP 4 – Take thick curd and whisk it till it is smooth. Don’t use the sour one.

STEP 5 – Make the fine powder of cashew nuts in the mixer jar. Keep it aside.

STEP 6 – Heat a pan with 2 tablespoon of ghee in it. Add red chillies and hing in it.

STEP 7 – Then add green chilli-ginger paste and sauté for a minute.

STEP 8 – Add chopped tomatoes in it and cook till the tomatoes soften completely and become pulpy.

STEP 9 – Add besan flour and roast for a minute.

STEP 10 – Then add the freshly made pickle masala powder as well as the rest of the spice powders. Give a nice stir and mix well. [see notes]

STEP 11 – Add cashew powder and the readymade mango pickle powder and mix nicely and roast for next 1 minute and incorporate into the rest of the masala.

STEP 12 – Add the whisked curd, mix it and then season it with salt.

STEP 13 – Now add the paneer cubes and half cup of water and give a nice stir. Adjust the consistency accordingly.

STEP 14 – Lastly add fresh cream, kasoori methi [see notes] and again stir and mix the cream with the gravy.

STEP 15 – Garnish with freshly chopped coriander and switch off the flame.

Sprinkle the reserved pickle masala powder and serve the hot aachari paneer with naan, chapatti, paratha or tandoori roti and enjoy.

NOTES: * Keep some fresh pickle powder for garnishing.

Crush the kasoori methi between your palms before adding to the gravy, it gives a nice aroma to your gravy.