पनीर बाल्टी विथ प्रव्न्स

Paneer Balti with Prawns

Ha, google amazes me, I chose Hindi as a language choice not knowing my title space would auto convert. Glorious!

This week's choice turned out to be a restaurant style tasty dish that I sat and devoured my plate with a big, fat ol' smile of 'Hell yeah me!' accomplishment!

Balti is a style of cooking that apparently comes from Baltistan. Duh! Carmen Sandiego taught me Jack about this place, so let me inform you that it lies in the northern area of Pakistan, the southern part of this region borders Kashmir in India. Balti cooking is like a stir-fry. Quick and easy as this dinner took only an hour from start to finish, including prep work. For more details regarding Balti style cooking, this page may be of some assistance:
http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/25/140741.shtml

Paneer is Indian cheese. At first I thought a stir-fry of cheese and shrimp might be a mistake. But Saag Paneer (spinach and paneer) is so tasty and man, I just love cheese, that I had to give this one a shot. Paneer is a firm cheese, that is, it's easily cubed. I will make paneer next time as it's just boiled milk and lemon juice, but for this recipe I bought some packaged paneer. Paneer, paneer, paneer...

The heart of this dish is the spice mixture. And it is here where my learning really begins because I need to know what flavors these spices create. This time around it was only, ground chili powder, ground corriander, Garam Masala and mango powder,of which I was just simply fresh out and substituted the with a pinch of the Pav Bhaji Masala box mix from last week. (I read the box's list of ingredients and mango powder was one of them hence the substitution). These spices are combined with 2tbs tomato paste, 4oz of Greek yogurt. After removing the fried paneer and prawns, ok, I'll stop being pretentious, SHRIMP, you dump this spice mixture in the fat (oil/butter) of the pan. Immediately it fills up your kitchen with a wonderous odor, add the shrimp and paneer again along with 3 chopped jalepenos, a butt load of chopped cilantro and a 2/3 cup of cream. MMM paneer and cream, hello fatty!

I served this dish with brown basmati but it wasn't necessary as we just loaded a piece of naan with Balti. And then I read the above link which clearly states Balti dishes are not served with rice. Oh well, next time. In thinking of how to alter the dish, simply change out the shrimp for cauliflower or chicken, whichever you feel like eating. I'd like to try the cauliflower option for any vegetarians because this dish is PERFECT for a dinner party of 4-6. Seriously, you can prep before and cooking literally takes 30 minutes. You'll do nothing but satisfy your friends. I'm ready to test it out, just need to think about who is next in line for a feeding at the Patelio's...hmmm ...

Ingredients:
1 lb shrimp
1 package of 14 oz paneer
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tbsp Greek style yogurt
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic pulp (food processor a head of garlic and it can last in your fridge for a week or so)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp mango powder
1 tsp ground coriander
butter (calls for 8 tbsp but that is just suicide)
1 tbsp oil (I used more oil than butter, veg, corn, oilve, whichever is clever)
3 jalepenos, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup light cream

1. Peel the shrimp, cube the paneer.
2. Blend the tomato puree, yogurt, garam masala, chili powder, garlic pulp, salt, mango powder and ground coriander i a mixing bowl, set aside.
3. Melt butter with oil in a deep round-bottomed frying pan (skillet or wok if you have one, the Balti style of wok is called a karahi). Lower the heat slightly and quickly fry the paneer and shrimp for about 2 minutes. Remove with a slotted, not slutted ha!, spoon and drain on paper towels.
4. Pour the spice mixture into the fat left in the pan and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
5. Add the paneer and shrimp and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the prawns are heated through.
6. Add the fresh jalepenos and most of the cilantro, and pour in the cream. Heat through for about 2 minutes, garnish with the remaining cilantro and serve.

SAHWEET!

Should you want to make your own paneer, well...I'll include that recipe when I do it as it only seems right. But I did find this recipe in the cook book: INDIAN deliciously authentic dishes by Shehzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez