Today, we’re talking what to do with that lovely homemade paneer, well, one thing anyway! A delicious paneer curry. I really like this and make it often, usually with shop bought paneer. Maybe not again?

Paneer Curry

Priced at Asda using mySupermarket

250g home made paneer, 55p or
250g paneer 226g/£1.50 (on offer at £1 at the time of writing)
tin of value tomatoes, 30p or 4 large fresh ones
1 onion, 5p
300g frozen peas, 76p/1kg, 23p
thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped very fine, 2p
clove of garlic, crushed, 5p
1 tsp garam masala,  £1.25/92g, 3p
2 tsp turmeric, 70p/45g, 3p
1/2 tsp cayenne, 70p/40g, 1p
1 tsp ground coriander, 70p/34g, 3p
1 tsp ground cumin,70p/41g, 3p
2 tblsp oil, £1/litre, 3p

Total cost £1.36, 34p each for four. Or use paneer from the supermarket, in which case it would be £2.31 at 58p each, or less if you can catch it on offer
Total nutrition, 1060 calories, 50g fat, 80g carbs, 77g protein. Per portion, for 4, 265 calories, 13g fat, 20g carbs, 19g protein
I wasn’t really sure how to work out what the nutrition of the home made paneer is, so I used the info on the back of a pack of Savera, one of the brands you can get in a supermarket.

Have this on its own, which would be good, maybe with some crusty bread, or serve  with sag aloo, a home made nan and some spicy vegetable rice for a delicious all home made Indian meal. If there aren’t enough of you to use the full portions of each dish, everything freezes beautifully for wonderful home made ready meals

Method

Fry the paneer in the oil until golden brown. Scoop out the paneer and set to one side. Slice the onion and saute with the garlic and ginger until transparent. Stir in the spices and sizzle for a bit. Ground spices soak up a lot of oil, so watch it carefully, they catch and burn easily.

Add the tomatoes, and simmer for a few minutes until thickened, squashing the tomatoes down a bit if they’re whole ones. Add the peas and bring back to a simmer.

When I tested this recipe, at this point I added the paneer back in, but next time, I would do it differently and pile the crispy paneer on top of each serving. It will keep that lovely crispness. Season the curry well with salt and plenty of fresh ground pepper.

Variations

I have priced this using home made paneer, but you might not want to make it, so I’ve priced it using paneer from the supermarket as well.  If you don’t have cayenne, just use lots more black pepper. Use ground ginger if you can’t get any fresh. Whole tomatoes seem to have thicker sauce than the chopped ones,so may be better here.
If you don’t have individual spices, use a tblsp of a spice paste (not sauce) or a curry powder mix. The tandoori powder I use on oven wedges would be lovely, or a good dollop of my favourite Pataks brinjal pickle.
Use frozen green beans instead of the peas, or frozen mixed veg. Or any other veg you have. Shredded savoy or white cabbage; runner beans when in season, bit late for those now; broad beans, frozen or fresh; spinach, frozen or fresh; a bag of radishes, sliced; mooli, sliced or diced; or roasted parsnip or swede.
Add a swirl of thick yogurt or value cream cheese if you fancy it.

Verdict

The curry is nicely spiced, the paneer lending a wonderful smooth creaminess. I had some today with sag aloo and a little bit of brown basmati, and it was extremely good!